tcrown

just as one more plug for the company/guy who came out and did my headlights, he used a pneumatic air sprayer to apply a clear coat epoxy at the end.... he described that as one of the main differences between his process and standard kits. it is a UV protector and the company guarantees no future oxidation. having said all that, i will NEVER be using a machine to do anything on the exterior of my car again!

thanks for all the replies. i'm so relieved with my outcome. my local porsche dealer recommended www.drheadlight.com. they have dealers in 10 states or so. John, the owner of the South FL location, came to my house today and in 90 minutes completely resurfaced my headlights - they look new. i'm pasting pics of the afters. unfortunately i never took full befores, but the closeup is the same headlight that i damaged 2 days ago (shown above). my headlights were pretty dull and foggy prior to this weekend.

F me.... what a disaster. any reco's on where to buy headlamp covers? i've done about 20 min of research and sounds like i have to buy the whole assembly.

In an attempt to remove the oxidation off my headlight covers, i bought a 3M sandpaper/polish kit from autozone that came highly recommended by the manager. the sandpaper padding attaches to a drill. I feel like such an idiot..... Despite following all the instructions, the sandpaper has created white marks that seem permanent. they're not really scratches as much as they are just opaque marks that seem embedded into the plastic. Have i ruined the headlight? I re-did the entire process hoping a second round would remove the scratches. What are my options here? i am literally sick to my stomach at the thought that i damaged my baby. it looks much worse in person - the pictures don't capture the extent of the marks.

Hi - Two days ago i noticed a small leak in this spot. The water drips very sporadically... The drips increased when i started driving, and this was hours after it had stopped raining, so that to me implies that it's a leak out of some drain (?) The weather seals look fine... I can't seem to figure out where the water is coming from... i'm attaching a picture of the leak with the place where the water drips circled. the water drips right out of the corner onto the passenger seat. the picture is pretty terrible - sorry. any thoughts on what to do? i searched for cab water leaks but there didn't seem to be much past history.

it's listed on my invoice as 997-561-945-01 (i guess the 997 part is the same as the one for the 996?) don't know if you're considering a used part, but in case you are, i got both of mine replaced last month. the drivers side one was fine but i decided to replace both. my mechanic kept the other one (that was part of our deal) - perhaps he still has it and would sell to you. i got mine done at gulf performance in pompano beach, fl. (954) 783-7345.

Yes - the fluid leak was dripping down the interior side of my rear wheel well. if you disconnect that fabric cover which hides the inner compartment where the hydraulic cylinder is housed (my mechanic did this without tools in about 20 seconds), you can see the hydraulic cylinder pretty clearly. in my case, you could see the fluid had poured out of it. sorry if my description is confusing - don't know the lingo...

tried to PM SMAK but my PM doesn't seem to be working... hi - i saw your post about repainting. sorry for my naive questions but, 1) when someone wrote "press fit", does that mean i can just pop out the silver knob (without detaching the how compartment lid)? 2) if the knob just pops out, why can't i just buy a new knob? any idea what the part # is? 3) how did you repaint it? is this something i can do myself (a novice) or do i need to take it to a paint shop? thanks so much for any help, mark

Did you ever figure this out? I need to replain that silver knob also... i was thinking of trying to do this without taking the cover off but just taping/covering the surrounding area and delicately air brushing the knob... thoughts?

Loren - i'm in fort lauderdale, FL and work in pompano beach, FL. I found Gulf Performance Center (Vincent Colosino) through reviews on this site, and intend to have the work done there. He's got a couple good reviews here....if anyone has any add'l reviews on him i'd of course appreciate it.

I had posted earlier about problems with my convertible top. I met with an independent mechanic this morning who looked at my car and showed me where hydraulic fluid was leaking out of one of the cylinders, dripping down into the wheel well. The part is $680. He recommends replacing both at the same time, even though the other side is not leaking. Is it worth spending an add'l $680 (plus more labor) to get them both replaced now, or can i get away with just replacing the broken one?

loren - how (if at all) is the hydraulic fluid in the convertible mechanism related to the hydraulic fluid that is measured/added inside the engine compartment? i'm trying to understand whether the fact that i'm low on hydraulic fluid as measured in the engine compartment is relevant here. also, why have some threads i've found online talked about adding hydraulic fluid to the engine compartment vs. adding per the steps in the link you sent?

first time poster - don't know too much about the mechanics of cars so my apologies in advance if i'm using improper nomenclature. Realized my dream of owning a Porsche and a convertible last week with the purchase of a 1999 Carrera Cab with 44k miles on it. Had it inspected beforehand by an independent mechanic experienced with Porsches, who said everything looked perfect / no leaks. A few days ago I noticed the convertible top didn't fully retract. I could hear motors moving but it wasn't going all the way down. At first it wouldn't close but then finally it closed. I took it to a Porsche dealer today to have it looked at. The dealer said i have a hydraulic leak and the hydraulic system needed to be replaced. All in estimate with labor was about $2,200. I've spent a few hours online especially on this site which has been quite helpful. I checked the hydraulic fluid level myself and see it's virtually empty. I'm now left trying to figure out: 1) how did the mechanic miss this upon inspection?; 2) is $2,200 reasonable for this work or am i being screwed by the dealership?; 3) why can't i smell any hydraulic fluid leaking either in the car, or near the engine or opening to where the top goes during retraction? To be clear, i purchased the car for $23k and plan to have tons of fun driving it with no concern for resale value. I am looking for cost effective fixes. I want to take excellent care of the car and am happy to spend when warranted, but based on everything i've read so far, this doesn't seem like a $2,200 problem. I am meeting with an independent mechanic tomorrow morning that i saw recommended on this site. Any thoughts / perspectives?