Restoration

[pauljmcnulty]

Hi all,

Given that my car needs some work, and it's subject to some insurance work that requires paintwork at least, I've had a quote from a well-recommended bodyshop that's within my budget. It should be only the usual areas; front wings, sills, rear arches, odd little bits of surface rust elsewhere and essentially a full respray. The roof and bonnet are ok, but if there is less work needed once the sills are off it's possible to include these as well.

So. Thoughts are turning to details. Firstly the side rubbing strips; as I've got plenty of dinks on all four wings, but no damage to the doors, are they necessary? What do they look like without them?

Major question is sill trims. I don't like them, and they are a dirt-trap. But, what does the S2 look like without them? Does the front end look wrong with them removed, spoiling the line fron the front PU? I kow the answer is to fit new ones, and clean them out regularly, but that's two things I'd rather not do.

Lastly, to re-badge the back. My S2 badge is wrongly-fitted, and has always bugged me. Would an S2 or turbo look wrong with no badges? It's always looked wrong to me that the badge is stuck on one side. i would keep the Porsche script on the back, but is de-badging it going to look too much like I'm hiding my 316 rep-mobile by deleting the badge in the hope you think it's an M3? [8|]

 

[andy watson]

Personally I think all three items need to be in place,

Rubbing strips might give a more sleek line - but will always look just 'missing'

Wing trims when not fitted looks funny - looks like a repair not been completed

Rear badge well looks better on - pretending, nicked or unfinished body shop repair.

You see where I am going? []

 

[944 man]

urpose. The S2 badge is ugly so itd be no great loss, and you could easily refitThe cars can look smarter without the rubbing strips, but they serve a practical purpose. The S2 badge is ugly, so itd be no great loss and you could alwys fit one if you wished to later.

Considering that the mouldings must be removed to paint the car properly, Id suggest painting them and not refitting, seeing if you like it and then taking it from there...

 

[944 man]

Where has the beginning of my post gone???

Id said, I believe: the cars do look smart with the rubbing strips removed, but they also serve a useful purpose.

 

[Neil Haughey]

I much prefer the clean look myself, like on my race car, no side strips, no skirts, no rear badges at all. Reminds me to take a load of pictures of it when I get it back here.

 

[DavidL]

Sill trims - I took mine off when I had some bodywork done. I don't think it looks quite as finished without them but the difference isn't great. You do get the lift points sticking down and visible - mine are now painted body colour which helps. I suppose they could be ground back a little to make it less visible.
Given the choice I'd have them on but have a way of getting under the car quickly and easily to clean them fairly frequently - quarterly. Without this option leave them off!

 

[PSH]

Well things like this are always going to be to personal tastes, as far as I'm concerned leave as god ( Porsche) intended, any deviation from this IMHO is sacrilege. Do what you want to improve performance but keep the differences purely on the inside, leave the body as is... after all Porsche did a pretty good job that is recognised by many, why change it?

Pete

 

[Super_Marv]

If I was having my 968 resprayed, I'd have the side rubbing strips removed. Porsche actually did this on alot of 968s and it looks alot cleaner IMO.

Think they're just stuck on and there's a revit which can be removed from the inside of where it joins the door.

 

[944 man]

As above - Porsche removed the trims and the cars looked better without.

 

[Copperman05]

Difference is on the 968 it was designed out, take the trims of a S2 and you have the front of the PU sitting lower than the sills, on the 968 Porsche designed a whole new sill (in look anyway).

Once you know that the trims catch dirt and crap all the time its pretty easy just to make sure you jet wash it out occasionally...


Edd

 

[944 man]

I was talking about the body side mouldings Edd, not the under body mouldings. These are missing on my car and it looks rubbish without them.

 

[Frenchy]

I prefer them as it divides the lines of the car and offers some protection, they were actually a "delete" option from new.

 

[zcacogp]

Badge; a matter of preference.

Side strips; they serve a practical purpose, as Andy said. And I quite like them, too!

Under-sill trims; nope, they are both hard to see most of the time and a problem in the making; they catch crud against the metal and rub the paint off. Definitely better removed.


Oli.

 

[GPF]

IMO the cars look better without the rubbing strips and stoneguards. See link in sig for pics.
The undersill trims can be spaced away from the sills with washers when refitting.
As suggested above, why not get the rubbing strips painted but don't refit straight away?

 

[T3rra]

Iv removed the door trims on both my cars, but nicer. Sure there's a risk off door dings. But if u look at the hight off most door dings and door shapes, the trims wouldn't stop the contact.