Off Topic: How to Coil a Cable, Hose, Cord, etc.

I found this video eye-opening. I have always tried to wrap cables, hoses, power cords, etc. neatly, but it never seems to work well. Turns out I was trying to do the wrong thing all along...

Grounded!

As summer heated up here in Texas, Ella's AC seemed to be growing weaker.  After one miserable hour driving around Dallas in the summer heat without effective AC, I took her in to the shop.

The Culprit?

The mechanic noted the refrigerant was almost completely depleted, but couldn't find the source of the leak.  He added dye and refrigerant and told me to return if I noticed poor AC performance.  A few weeks later, it was time to head back to the mechanic.

This time, he diagnosed the problem as a leaking seal on the AC compressor.  No problem, except that it would cost $2000 to repair with $1500 in parts alone.  After a quick look at the DIY instructions and a search for parts prices indicating I could get the parts myself for $300-$400, I decided to tackle it myself...

It seems that maybe I got myself into a bit more than I first realized, but that story is for another post. :-)

Porsche 993 Fog Light Reconditioning

Ella's fog lights needed some reconditioning.  The passenger side fog light had been cracked by a large stone, and was very yellow.  The driver side looked much newer -- like it had been replaced once already (hmm...don't remember that in the car's history, oh well...).

Porsche 993 Headlight Overhaul (or Ella's New Glasses)

Ella's headlights were looking a bit tired from the rock chips to the yellow-hued bulbs to the yellowed headlight lenses.  She was ready for a makeover.

Replacing Porsche 993 Third Brake Light Bulbs with LEDs

When I purchased Ella, she was sporting a gap-toothed look on the 3rd (middle, high mounted) brake light.  This is really no surprise as the design uses 24 (yes, you read that right, 24) individual incandescent bulbs.

A quick search on rennlist revealed several others had the same thought I did: replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs.  Even better, several options had already been tried and validated.  I just followed their lead.  Read on for the details and lessons-learned in my install.

[Update 12-Feb-2016]  I recently noticed that Tore at Bergvill FX is selling a kit to replace these incandescent bulbs with LEDs.  While I haven't tried this specific product, my experience with Tore has been great on other products, and I would use his kit if I was to do this job again.

Ella's 5-year PIP (Porsche Improvement Plan ;-))

My back log of projects is nearly complete, so I started day dreaming of where to go next.  Based off a list I put together a while back, here's my "plan" for the next five years.  The only thing that is certain is that this project that won't go according to plan.  Have suggestions; please leave them in the comments below.

"Temporary" Rock Guard Replacement for My 993

The clear rock guards on my 993 are in pretty sad shape.  On both sides, chunks are missing and multiple rock hits have gone all the way down to the paint.  They are also anything but "clear" or "paint colored".

I have been wondering if re-doing them in black would lend a nice retro look, and I found the perfect way to give it a trial:  magnetic rock guards from MagnaGrafik (thanks to Bruce7 on rennlist for the pattern)..

I installed them over the existing stone guards so that I can go back anytime.  Someday I hope to get the paint fixed, but until then this is a very budget friendly way to improve Ella's appearance.  These looks so nice, we may even play with some additional magnetic decals :-).

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