Chuck Jones

Took a trip up the Calif Coast Hwy and busted the front aero air dam going in and out of the little shop areas along the highway. Can you tell me if I can get a replacment from a decent aftermarket company, or is this a Porsche part since it's a Porsche factory front/rear aero install. Also....do they make one out of black rubber that might be a little more forgiving? As careful as I tried to be, there's just no way that this isn't going to happen again...but I want to make sure that the front and rear aero designs are complimenting each other and not throwing off the aerodynamics for high speed running.

Suggestions? Right now, I'm just running without it...but it looks funky without one on there because of the tabs that normally hold the air dam in place.

I guess that there's always a "technicality" that would give grounds for Porsche, a dealership..... or any insurance company to try to deny coverage....however in the language I've read, it becomes incuimbent upon Porsche to demonstrate that the modification has a nexus to the failure and can be directly attributable to that failure. The only thing the Europipe would do would be to allow the turbos to spool faster....not exceed the rev limiter, but just to spool faster....so the fail safe mechanism built into the rev limiter is still there.

Insurance companies use this tact all the time when trying to mitigate their vulnerability....they use the "but for" approach in their effort to wriggle out of financial responsiblity.

Some of the author's points would seem to be logical, however I find it somewhat incredulous that an entire aftermarket industry that brings in millions of dollars would base their profits on a process and product that was overly detrimental to your engine. It would also suggest that Porsche or any other manufacturer for that matter.....would be justified in voiding a warranty based upon the chipping or flashing of an engine.

What I do find interesting is the concept that it's all tied together and in order to get more power you need more air to mix with more fuel, bigger/better fuel pumps, larger turbos, bigger valves etc etc. All that simply means a lot more $$$$ so that you can get from stoplight to stoplight faster? For the racing crowd I can see the logic....but for the streeters, it's just feeding egos at the expense of your VISA and potentially the longevity of the engine. But in the final analysis...and given the fact I'm not an automotive engineer, it's just my opinion.

I'm not stumped....I just put those on myself when I did the install of the Europipe. Those are the eight nuts that bolt the cats up to the turbos....I ordered eight from Sunset. They have a metal friction ring inside so that they stay on tight....they were number 7 on the PET chart Loren sent to me previously. It takes (IIRC) three of them to hold that turbo shield over adjoining space at the top of the turbo and uses the same nuts that bolt the cat/muffler system to the turbos. I think they're a 10mm nut.

I just re-read the question and he's not after the nut...he's after the bolt. On my 02TT, none of those studs came out...there were four that remain in there and the shield attaches to three of them....I don't know how you got the "bolt" out because they're studs.

So....I'll join Loren....I'm stumped. The only thing I can see is #29....but I don't recall taking any bolt out.

I had one of those pump up lumbar supports in there, and ended up pumping it up too much and breaking the clips that hold the seat back pad onto the wire frame. That whole back part will actually unclip from a wire frame that it's stretched on. At a number of points behind that back pad are small white clips that snap onto the wire backing....there are three or four along the top. You might try unclipping that back piece and going to a wrecking yard and buying a replacement from a wrecked car. If you unclip the top three or four clips, the whole back pad actually flops forward and you can gain access to whatever it is that's in there poking you in the back.....feel along the top for the snap clips...they're on there pretty tight.

When I broke the clips on mine, I replaced the back pad with another one from a wrecked car....just have to match the color, and mine was black...easy fix.

You might try Alex at SharkWerks.....I think he's seen the product line...and he may have installed some IIRC....not 100% sure, but give it a try. I looked into them early on when I was on the hunt for a nice exhaust system...I know another model of their line is the Romulus....to wit: Romulus and Remus. I ended up with Europipe....top quality stuff.

Also try a search on Rennlist. I recall seeing a discussion thread about the product.

Doug: the wheels are CCW and are forged out of a single block of aircraft aluminum....beautiful work and the price was only $2600 for the set. That puts them substantially below the other high end sets that usually run in the $4-6K range. If you go to the CCW site, take a look a their product line and I'm sure you can read the ensorsements from other folks. They did a lot of sales to the Corvette crowd....and are now breaking into the Porsche folks. Mine are the T-10's.

For the money, I don't think you can beat them. I can't answer the question about their track-ability.....but I wouldn't want to track a beautiful set of wheels like this anyway....I'd put the stock twists back on and run those.

Unless you've got an oilwell in your backyard, you dont' want to order a replacment wheel thru Porsche. I've seen the walnut interiors go up on eBay periodically....usually posted by the wrecking yards as they buy up the wrecked cars and part them out. Oklahoma Foreign is a good place to look as well as some of the others....just stay away from L.A. Dismantlers.

You can set up a customized search on eBay that will notify you if something fitting your description goes up on the auctions....that way you have an automated search doing some of the looking for you. The rest is based upon a tenacious effort on your part to keep looking. You can also post to the Wanted to Buy boards on the various Porsche forums...but in some cases you have to be a contributing member to post those kinds of ads. Good luck in your search.

Today I installed the Europipe Stage 1 exhaust system on the 02 X50 and I have to say that the sound is exactly what I wanted. You can tell there's an upgraded exhaust there, but it's not obnoxiously loud....however as you hit 4000 to 6000 rpms, it opens up very nicely. Since it has 100 cell cats, the turbos spool up quicker and the back pressure has been reduced considerably, but there's no CEL's thrown at all...and absolutely no drone at any rpm. I bought the system off another Rennlister who wanted to mod his Porsche to 700 and the Stage 1 is limited to 600 HP. I'm content to stay where I am and enjoy the wonderful sound of a great system. The downside of Europipe is the cost, but I couldn't be more pleased.

If you go to the Europipe website, it has all the db ratings from inside and outside measured at various rpms, and compared to the stock systems....so it gives you a fairly accurate way to judge the sound levels.

I'd be up for it, but I just got a set of Europipes that I'm going to have an indy install on the TT this week...and while he's at it, I'll have him take a look at the oil and other fluids....so I won't be up for a Work on Cars Day in the immediate future. I'll be going the lazy way and having it done this time.

If there are projects that require a lift, I have two possibilities lined up that I could try to coordinate for you. Just let me know...it's just that we'd need at least 5 or more folks lined up in order to arrange for the lift. The locations for the lifts are in Rocklin and up in Placerville.

FYI...I have a complete set of maintenance "stuff" for a 99 996 that I bought for the 30K maintenance on my car...but it burned before I could install it. There's the cabin filter, plugs, and whatever else is in the box from Sunset...I didn't even open the box...but if someone is interested, take a look at what's required for the 30K and that's what I have brand new.

I sent all the 30K maintenance parts back to Sunset for a credit...so they're no longer available...someone missed a good deal.

Chuck

Rdoine: That's going to be the best money you ever spent. I've literally saved hundreds of dollars thru this site. Welcome aboard as a dues paying member..... :)

WROSS et al: I read the various threads...the pros and cons....yea's and nays....and it still doesn't make much sense to me that you can blow by the limiter on the way up. I do not have an engineering background....so I'm basing my comments on what I would consider as logic......if the rev limiter cuts off the gas at the threshold (for most it's 7200)....then I am having a hard time visualizing how you continue to power the engine to blow by the threshold.....no gas...no power, engine stops accelerating.

Let's say you were driving along and suddenly you hit a patch of ice when you were accelerating....and the rpm's suddenly shot up.....would the engine have enough rpm's or energy to keep accelerating past the threshold? I don't know the answer....and after reading the links and reading all the comments about people calling each other stupid etc.....I certainly don't want to start anything. Suffice it to say....I am having difficulty figuring out a Stage II over-rev on the upshift. Guess I'm just dumb.

Thanx....that picture and your further explanation did help to visualize it a bit better.....

WROSS: I've never heard of a Stage 1 over rev becoming a stage 2 on an up-shift.. I'm not sure how you would accomplish an overrev on the way up.....if the rev-limiter is working as it should, and it's cutting off the gas at 7200...how would you suppose that it would in some way go into a Stage 2? I can't visualize how this would occur.....

If you have the accordian outlet pipe on your muffler, then you've got the 3.6L muffler....the 3.4L is smooth for both the inlet and outlet pipes....Do a search on Rennlist under Modding the mufflers.....or any terminology that includes Muffler mods, and you'll see pictures of both the 3.4 and the 3.6 mufflers and be able to see the difference. There's a lot written up on this subject with pictures of the entire process.

I stopped at a rural bar and it must have been quitting time, because even though I parked away from the building, my Porsche had been boxed in by several pickup trucks. I asked the bartender who's truck was blocking my car....and he announced.....Someone's blocking this guy's car. The bar got quiet and one of the guys asked....which is your car? I responded.....The little one. :)

Spawney: Is your car a 996TT? I find it curious that the almost universal oil usage rate for these cars is one quart every 1K to 2K miles...yet you are saying that you use but a minute amount (1 pint) for 6000 miles?

For the record, mine uses about 1 quart every 2K miles.

I dont' want to be the first to cry wolf...but those sypmtoms are akin to an intermix issue. Have you looked into the coolant tank for any sort of yellowish gooey substance.....then pull the dipstick and look for a foreign looking substance there too? If it's intermix you'll find oil in the water, and water poluting the oil. Do a search for intermix and see if any of the symptoms or descriptions fit what you're experiencing. I am sincerely hoping that this is not the case, becasue if it is....it's not good.....

Unfortunately, the 99's are known to periodically have a number of common failures....intermix is one; intermediate shaft failure is another, and coolant tank failure is another. The RMS issue also occurs but is not a major thing to worry about.

RG955: I guess I'd have to start out with....what exactly are your expectations of a forum such as this? You have indicated your diappointment with the forum, but you haven't really defined what it is that you expected. If you could define your disappointment, we might be able to direct you to somewhere that might fulfill what it is you're looking for.

This forum had a lot of DIY info....the How-To of doing things to save money rather than sending your car to a dealership...more technical info. 6Speed has a lot of ...."Nice Wheels"...."Cool Carbon Fibre:" etc.....and Rennlist has a lot fo discussion about a variety of topics. I've literally saved over an easy $1K from DIY and technical how-to from this forum. To me...that defined the value.

It's one thing to express your disappointment....but it's quite another to define what you were expecting.....thereby giving some of the particpants the opportunity to try to fulfill those expecatations or perhaps direct you elsewhere.

Chuck Jones

I just bought the Europipe Stage 1 exhaust system for the 996TT, and I have the X50 option. I know that the Stage 1 limits your upper HP rating to 600..which is more than I really intend to go...so what you're saying is that the majority of the performance gains come from the cats and mufflers...some from the increased size of the pipe, which I think goes up to 65mm with the Europipe Stage 1 system....70mm with the Stage 2...but that the implementation of headers will bring you very little...which makes it less of an attraction to buy the X51's. Since there have been no dynos of the headers themselves, there's no empirical data to support whether they add anything or not.

Maybe someone with an engineering background can step in here.

chuck

I don't think they can resurface drilled rotors....the lathe cutting blade catches in the holes and tears up both the pad and the blade.

I like the looks of them. They really seem to compliment the silver paint. Nice choice in my book.

Roadster: I dont' think either of us were trying to use scare tactics or dissuade the guy from modding his car the way he feels he wants to.....we just interjected a note of caution about the use of aftermarket parts when your car is still under CPO warranty. You are quite right when you say that the cars are well built....but there are a lot of threads here and on Rennlist where things went wrong....that happens with the best of engineering.....and it's the times when things go wrong that you have to deal with. I can't see why I would want to jeopardize my CPO warranty or put myself in the position of having to fight it out with either the dealership or Porsche over an aftermarket part......those fights are nothing more than self inflicted gunshot wounds.

If you want to mod...go for it. Just remember that there's a downside. 700 HP is fantastic...but it comes at the potential price of less longevity out of your engine. A plenum is an attractive mod....but it comes at the price of potentially being denied by Porsche if somehthing even remotely associated with the plenum goes wrong. The warranty guys are nothing more than insurance companies....all looking for a reason to reduce their liability.

Too bad you didn't take pictures. I....like a lot of the guys here...are visually oriented and sometimes even the best description leaves something to be desired. A picture is truly worth a thousand words.

I saw the wheels Carrera Mike had made up by CCW wheels in Florida. I really liked them so I ordered a set from John. You won't find a more helpful or informative guy when it comes to wheels and tires. He offered to sell me the tires for the Tire Rack price and send me a complete set of wheels and tires...already balanced with center caps ready to just bolt on.

I ended up ordering a set of the T10...which have fewer spokes and let the rotors show through...also a lot easier to keep clean. John put them on a Southwest airplane and had them to me within one day after they were completed. That's service with a smile!!

I stayed with the 18 inch for a number of reasons....and the tires are Michelin Pilot Sports..... sizes are backs: 315/30/18 and fronts: 235/40/18. They look great...and give the car a more aggressive look.

For those who will say that they look too "blingy"....I like them that way....and no, I wouldn't consider going with the black centers.

Hopefully the picture will come thru....I'm not very good at this photo stuff.

chuck