996 Gurl

I may be the only chic on this forum, but here goes... I recently acquired a 2000 996 via eBay. LSS, the vehicle needs some love. Buyer beware! eBay offers no protection on vehicles more than 10 years old. The Black Dawg currently has 121k mi, so it just underwent a 120k mile service and I replaced the air mass flow sensor. I am not prepared at this point to discuss other non-urgent mechanical items or all the cosmetic things I will do one day. For now, it suffices to say, I am sticking to the mechanical projects. That said... what advice does anyone have on the headlights? The covers are cloudy, which I understand can be professionally buffed-out, but the internal headlamps are toast - burned out/through. Pelican gave me a quote to replace driver's and passenger's headlight assemblies for about 1/2 what my mechanic could get them for through his sources. My question is, should I replace the whole headlight assembly on both sides, OR is there another more affordable option to fix/replace the headlamps and assembly I currently have?

Welcome to the forum... Cheapest option would be to try buffing them out. You may able to locate complete assemblies for even cheaper than what you've been finding so far with a little more searching. You might also try a Porsche salvage yard like Parts Heaven or 20th Street Auto and ask if they have some very clean, new looking headlights. You might be surprised what turns up and the money you can save.

I had someone buff the headlights for me, turned out much better, but I want to do it myself and do it right. but it's a lot of stages from 600 grit wet sand to 1200 or higher and then polish with plastic polish. And you should seal it with a UV clear coat too... As for the lamps if they're dead, I think they're dead. Unless it's just the bulb. Someone on rennlist has been making some pretty cool HID conversion lights that can be installed into the old lights... http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-forum/788975-cgt-style-headlight-bi-xenon-projectors-retrofit-kit-for-996-and-986-a.html

You wouldn't be the only "chic" on this very active 996 forum. 996 Forum - Rennlist Discussion Forums

Thank you all so much for your advice and encouragement. I've been rather bummed until lately, but now looking forward to getting the Black Dawg fixed up so I can drive her in SoCal sunshine without being embarrassed. So you're saying I can buff the headlights out. That's good news! I will definitely check on those parts salvage options. Happy to hear I'm not the only chic on this chat. Ha! The piece I'm still unclear about is, if I buff out the headlight covers, can I replace only the internal burned out and cracked lenses? I really would like to be able to drive the Dawg after dark. Thanks again for your suggestions.

Depends on how bad they are, post pictures so we can see how bad they are.

Welcome to the forum SeasideBlondie! Just a word of caution on the buffing issue...just thought I'd pass this on, FWIW. My neighbour was in the process of buffing his headlights on his Boxter when apparently the static build up triggered a strange service code on the car's computer. It cost him a $150 to have it reset. Has anybody else experienced this? Cheers! Alex

Sorry, I meant to say Boxster.......

SeasideBlondie, if the internal lens is burned out and cracked there is no replacement other than replacing the whole headlight, as far as I understand. But that makes it/them a perfect candidate for the GTC conversion I linked to earlier... 2porscheguy, never heard of that before. Did he wet sand it or just dry sand? They're easy to pull out so that's prob the best way. I'll do that when I tackle the headlights again.

...pretty sure it was dry sand with an orbital sander. Good plan mhariush! Just to be on the safe side it's probably best to remove them from the vehicle to buff/sand!

Given how easy the are to remove it just makes sense to so. That way just need to mask the washer and not have to worry about masking or damaging paint. Keep in mind that polishing is not a panacea. If you have anything that is not on or just under the surface, those problems will remain and a new headlight assembly is your only (expensive) option. What's really annoying is that the nicer you make the rest of the car cosmetically, the more those headlights are going to be like sore thumbs Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just did mine yesterday

Just did mine yesterday (refinished one is on the right and shows less yellowing.) I had already polished them a couple of months ago but they were still yellowy.

welcome. the 996 is a great porsche, a practical and reliable sports car you can drive every day and not worry about depreciation. parts and service are not bad as well, especially if you can do a few things yourself. the headlights as mentioned above are easy to remove. please do not buff them while they are on the car. have you replaced the bulbs? here's a link on how to polish the headlights: http://www.renntech.org/forums/tutorials/article/38-polishing-acrylic-headlights/ register on renntech to check out loren's great site at 996 (Carrera) - DIY - Tutorials - RennTech.org Forums also get a rennlist membership and spend lots of time on the 996 board there. hope to see you at the next cars and coffee to show off your "black dawg."