Fish8

Hey Tom, Thanks for the reply! Actually, I made the decision a few years back to swap out the OEM bumper covers with aftermarket covers. I understand that the OEM is a urethane but the aftermarkets that I chose are fiberglass. The questions is with that situation should I expect wavy effects on the paint? It's not something most people walking by the car would notice (you can't even tell when you take pictures of it), but when you look at the reflection of a sign in the paint job it is perfectly smooth on the body panels and turns wavy when it hits the bumper. With that additional clarity, does that change your option about the situation?

Howdy, Back in May I got rear ended by someone and I just got the car back last Friday (don't even get me started.....). I wanted to post to see if anyone could give me some insight into a discussion I had with the body shop about my aftermarket bumpers. I actually replaced the stock bumpers a few years back with a fiberglass kit from Better Bodies Motorsport out in CA. Back then the body shop (a different one than the one I used for this job) also took forever to get the car put together but when I got it back I was pretty happy with the results. Unfortunately, this time around I'm not as happy. Don't get me wrong, in general the car looks fantastic (especially after not having it for 3 months), but the paint job on the aftermarket bumpers is a bit wavy. What the body shop is telling me is that due to the nature of fiberglass when the parts go into the oven to bake it causes the air pockets in the product to move and create the "wavy" look. He said the only real thing to do is put on tons of clearcoat and even that will not solve the issue 100%. I'm no paint expert nor am I a fiberglass expert. All I know is that the last time someone painted these bumpers there did not seem to be as many waves in the paint. If anyone can provide me with insight I would appreciate it. I just want to know if I'm unintentionally busting the balls of the body shop on something that nobody can really make perfect, or if they are trying to pull one over on me because the insurance company only paid them a certain amount and they don't want to put in more time, or if it is something in between. Thanks!

Marc, Well that is interesting because when I was speaking with him last week, he gave me the the information I posted about fiber versus urethane. He said something along the lines of saying that the Porsche factory mold for the urethane bumpers is an $80,000 mold and the mold for others can be a $3,000 mold. He also said that his mix for his bumpers were good to the point that there was some flex if it were to be "bumped" Part of me feels that the answer you might tend to get depends on what is currently in stock. -Joe

Deckman- Good deal. I'll keep an eye out...and if you see a Korean guy in a blue cab looking like he should be pulled over for speeding..then that should be me :) Also....I was speaking with Mike over at MA Shaw and he said that outside of the factory urethane bumpers, you should always get some sort of fiberglass bumper. He said the reason for that is they will keep much better shape as nobody (outside Porsche) uses the best molds and urethane to make their bumpers. Thus, he said aftermarket urethane bumpers are sloppy to fit and get mushy in heat. He said that his (and some others) have a good mix of fiber and flex resins that allow for some give in the bumper without breaking/cracking. Interesting eh? -Joe

Deckman, Yeah...I am aware of the issues that come with a fiberglass piece. I originally thought that the piece I was looking at was poly...but I was mistaken...it is fiberglass. So I'm back to the drawing board. I called a parts dept at Porsche to get some prices on factory stuff...and I'm going to call Mike over at MA Shaw and see what he can do. Thanks for the heads up! -Joe

Cool...I appreciate hearing that! (And by that, I mean that someone has similar setup and is loving it). And your thinking was my thinking when it comes to the existing rear spoiler...but I think the guy racing GT3s is just used to running the car at a different level. Thanks for the response!

Deckman, Huh...ok...well that is interesting and good to know. As I said...if my car was a coupe then I would have no problems with the rear spoiler...but since its a cab I don't think the lines work. I'm planning on getting all my parts from Better Bodies Motorsports. Here is the GT3 front bumper and sides: http://www.betterbodiesmotorsport.com/inte...bodykits19.html Here is the Turbo rear: http://www.betterbodiesmotorsport.com/inte...s1/996turbo.htm Thanks for the info!

Howdy all, I have a 2000 C4 Cab and I'm looking to put on a body kit in order to change up the look a bit. I plan on adding a GT3 front bumper, GT3 rocker panels and a turbo rear bumper. A guy I know who races GT3S made mention that I should be careful about those changes due to the fact that it will change the aerodynamics of the car. He said the GT3 front bumper would add downforce to the front of the car and thus I should get a fixed rear spoiler to add additional downforce to the rear of the car. He said the turbo rear would help, but he would prefer if I got a rear spoiler. My issue is that I not a huge fan of the look that a fixed rear spoiler would add to the Cab. If it were a coupe then it wouldn't be a problem...but since the lines on the cab are different I'm trying to forgo the rear spoiler. Ultimately, he thought the setup would be fine, but he said at some point I may want to consider adding a rear spoiler. I'm wondering if this is just a concern because he is used to taking these cars racing. For me, I use the 911 as a daily driver and while I may push it here and there...I don't think I put the pressures on it to the point that a fixed wing rear spoiler would make all that much of a difference compared to the factory one that comes up at 75 mph. Anyway, I'm hoping that I can get a larger data set before making this decision...so if you have any thoughts I would appreciate it. Thanks!