OK, these pics were actually taken over a period of a few days. The tires arrived on a Thursday, and the bulk of these pix were taken on the following Sunday after I had given the shark a clean & wax. Now look, some of you reading this are well aware that I have been waiting for these wheels for quite some time. I want to give Jeannie Roberts at 928 Specialists a big, big THANK YOU for helping me through this difficult procurement process.Jeannie was brokering a deal with Tire Rack, which deserves a big, big
for their creativity in screwing up in so many ways I never dreamed of. They made a real circus out of the whole situation. Jeannie was fantastic about the whole thing, patient with my incessant "Where's my wheels" phone calls(well, I tried to keep it to once a week), and in general trying to make every effort she could to make this happen. Once it was clear that Tire Rack couldn't come through(damaged rims, etc) Jeannie helped me arrange to get the chroming done at California Chrome Wheel. I have to say they did a fabulous job. The chrome is good and thick all the way up under the center caps and around the backside where the hub flange is... unlike what Tire Rack sent:
I called John at CalChrome and told him how impressed I was with his work and asked for tips on the best way to care for the plating. He told me that I want to avoid metal polishes; never try to clean them while hot, and never put anything on them that I wouldn't put on the hood of the car. Treat it like paint he said, clean it with mild soap and if you want to wax it to protect it that's OK. So, that's what I'll do.
So, moving right along... Here is what the nice UPS lady dropped off for me
just before I left for work Thursday the 17th:
Later that evening, I took one last pic of how the front and rear dials looked on the car, from a camera angle that helps judge relationship to fender lips:
Sometime back around the beginning of February of this year I had purchased a set of Boothe Locking Center caps and had kept them safe all this time, occasionally taking them out to look at them and fondle them... They are genuine Porsche hood crests, imbedded in epoxy on a chrome-plated aluminum cap(to match the wheels) against a black field(to match the paint). These caps are really works of art. The three stainless screws on the backside hook under a lip in the center of the wheel and have pointy tips that really hang onto the wheel. There's no way these things are coming off without defeating the wheel locks.
What with mounting up the center caps to each wheel, I used up the last of the daylight getting the center caps installed and the wheels on the car. It wasn't as dark as it seemed to be in these pics but it was obviously too dark to get decent pics. Now, is this shark begging for me to go out and "settle the suspension" or what?
After a nice trip to settle the suspension I took it out on highway 280 northbound past 85, which is a smooth, hilly 4+ lane that was originally designed for speeds well in excess of 70mph. Late at night, that's a perfect place to test for highway vibration, and I didn't notice any at any speed I tried. She was still pulling firmly and smoothly when I gave up at 130. Er, yah, it was late, that was the time I was talking about.... *cough*cough*
The next day, with suspension well settled, I took pictures of the car in it's usual place for comparison with other pics on this site. Below, for example are pics of the rear before and after; you can see that the phone dials were set inward quite a bit:
And the obilgatory "4 quarter views":
Here is what the center cap looks like on the wheel, close-up. Following that are the front then the rear, installed on the car with the suspension 95% settled. BTW, some of the rattles I had been trying to chase down were in fact loose center caps on the phone dials. I can really tell the difference on small stutter bumps.
Now, You knew this was going to turn into a bunch of beauty shots.... well, here goes: To navigate to any of the subsections of pics, click one of the links below. Return here by clicking "Choose Perspective".
Here are some pics from close, dramatic angles:
Now for some from a more distant perspective, more like the way it looks from 20 or so yards away:
Here are some "walkaround" shots. This is one of two sets, one set from a standing perspective and the following pics from a lower perspective. This page is set up so that if your screen resolution is high enough, you can view two columns of pictures. To jump to either section, click the "Choose Perspective" link and pick the area you want to view.
Here are some "walkaround" shots. This is one of two sets, this set from a standing perspective and the other pics from a lower perspective. This page is set up so that if your screen resolution is high enough, you can view two columns of pictures. To jump to either section, click the "Choose Perspective" link and pick the area you want to view.
