Opinions Please- Interior mods..type/color?

2000 996 Coupe black/black Hi everyone, I may be asking for it with this post, but I guess its more out of interest (and indecision) on my part.... I just can't decide what (I want, sigh), or what "looks good" inside my car...Carbon fiber (real only), artic silver accents, aluminum, gloss black, some sort of combination, or just leave the damn thing stock. In order to help me make up my mind, I am appealing to other black/black 996 owners for interior photos, opinions, suggesstions...whatever. All I know is that I don't want any wood. So please, interior photos- post 'em if you got 'em.......opinions welcome!! Thanks! msrc2

Silver looks best, start with gauge bezels...New carbon/silver shift **** is nice to...Don't to too much because you will be looking at a new one in the blink of an eye! Robert

I like the carbon fiber or the silver with black. I have some of both in different cars. Take a look at this link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...943932273&rd=1 The seller has a bunch of very reasonable artic silver interior items. If you want to try the artic silver you won't find a much better starting place than this.

I put carbon fiber parts in my MY2003C2 Cab. Since I bought the car from dealer inventory and it didn't have a full leather interior I thought this was the best way to get rid of the black plastic look in the black interior. I've included an interior photo.

I have a full black interior with a silver rear center console, silver instrument dials, and aluminum shifter and hand break. They all look great against the black interior. Don't go too crazy. I have seen some that have gone so far that the car looks like it belongs to a pimp. Good luck

send me a email and I will send pictures of my black interior with a complete carbon fiber set and some extra silver accents [email removed]

I will take some pictures and post them, but I tried carbon fiber first, real, then arctic silver, and now aluminum. It is easy to get too much of anything. With these cars, I have concluded less is more. I like the aluminum much better on my blk/blk 996, although I am keeping the CF steering wheel.

I like the balance in Henry's car for carbon fiber and silver accents. The only thing I might add would be silver (or chrome?) gauge trim. But then THAT'S IT! It's so easy to go overboard...especially if you've got an all black car.

Msrc2 I think your 2000 has the same 3 piece upper center console that my 1999 has. In that case, do you know of a source for the 3 piece console in carbon, silver or alluminium? I have not been able to find one, and have been reliably told that the stock units can't be repainted. Regards. J.Wood

GREAT stuff so far....You've all addressed my concerns, especially the fact that its very easy to go overboard with any type of trim. This has been one of my dilemas...how to make a TASTEFUL upgrade. Its just too costly to "try stuff out"... Thats why I REALLY APPRECIATE the photos!. Henry, your interior is the closest to mine (except no glovebox), and I'd have to agree, yours looks nicely done. Where did you find the aluminum horseshoe piece?? THANKS everyone! msrc2

The one carbon fiber option that was already installed on my car as it came from the factory was the shifter/hand brake. I believe the silver horse shoe is part of the carbon fiber shifter option. I bought all my added Porsche Tequipment carbon fiber parts (control/switch panel, rear center console, door handles) from the Suncoast Porsche dealer in Florida (I'm just another customer). I found their price was much better than any of the dealers here in the Chicago area. If you call them via their 800 number you can usually negotiate a lower price than what they advertize on their website. They list the "control panel parts - 996 vehicles up to 07/01" as available. I believe moderation is key in enhancing the interior of a 996. With a black interior I find the silver/aluminum look parts to distracting. The carbon fiber adds a little variety to the black interior that I find appealing. If I add anything else to mine it will be aluminum gauge trim rings.

Henry Thanks much! Suncoast does have the central panel in carbon.... ordered one toiday! Regards. J.Wood

msrc2 - I'll agree that Suncoast is great. I just purchased a couple of items from them at a great price. But...the price on item #7943932273 on ebay is really great if you are looking for artic silver interior items. I tried to list a link above, but it was not usable. The same seller has several items for sale that are listed as new items. I don't have anything to do with the seller, I just think it might be something you or anyone in this thread might want to see if you are wanting these types of items.

Msrc2, I sent you an email on eBay. My eBay name is drill_lt. Please disregard it if you are not interested. have a great day....Eric

Does Suncoast have the older 3 piece style in CF? If so, how much? BTW, I have painted quite a few of these things arctic silver. Upper and lower consoles, trim pieces, door cubby's etc. I used Porsche U2 paint with proper gun and nozzle, clear coated with the correct compounding process. It is difficult to do on plastic, even harder on the soft feel stuff used in full leather interiors, but I finally managed to make them look right. I lost money doing it though. I had to start over so many times, the paint is expensive, and people just aren't willing to pay a lot for painted pieces. Dollar wise, I probably broke even on what little I sold, but if you count my time, it was a bust. Several Ebay sellers started selling pieces painted with cheap spray can paint and the price points went below the price for non painted stock parts. I have a lot of stuff left over, some painted, some not. I am probably going to sell the whole lot to a guy who owns a carbon fiber company. I bought some door sills from him and they look great, they match the factory pieces, in fact they have a bit more shine, for about half the price. He will apply his CF to the interior pieces. It will be interesting to see how they turn out and how much they sell for compared to factory. If any Rennlist Members need interior parts to repair damage or wear, let me know what you need before I let this guy have it.

On a black interior the light color like silver or aluminum accents look best, the contrast is just right.

MSRC, I don't know if I answered you in another forum or not. I put some Arctic Silver and Carbon Fiber mods on exterior and interior. Some of the pics on the link are high res so you have to open them up larger. From the pics the mods look like bling-bling, but in person it's all in proper perspective considering the expanse of Met Blue in my case all around the car. It looked like a coffin before. MISTY's Pictures

im curious about the OEM carbon fiber pieces, are they full carbon fiber? or just plastic covered with carbon fiber?

Smshirk Suncoast told me they could get the 3 piece upper console unit for $710. I would have preferred allumimiun, but they are apparently not available. Of note is the fact that " Eric, the Bumper plug guy" states that the y found it unsatisfactory to try and paint the OEM rough grey pieces. It is also my understanding that the Porsche consoles are real carbon fiber. Regards. J.Wood

JRW911 It is hard to paint those rough pieces, but it can be done. I used filler primer spray to smooth the surface, sanding each coat with fine grain paper. Once the surface was smooth, I used paint from paintscratch.com. They sell it in quarts, around $80 by color code, for use in a gun, but also in 12.5 oz cans. I wouldn't advise using the can, unless you are going to do just one upper console. It doesn't go far. 2 or 3 cots of the paint, fine sanding betwen each coat. Let the last coat dry for an hour before applying 2 coats of clear, just a few minutes between clear coats, it dries quick. Wait 24 hours minimum then compund the surface to bring out the shine. Number of coats is relative to how much you screw up. It is easy to cause a run on the center console especially due to all the curves. You can buy stock pieces pretty cheap and work on them until you get it right. You can match your exterior or use arctic silver for black interior for about 200 to 250 for a center console, half that for upper, and then sell your take-offs if you get it the way you want it. The factory CF does appear to be all CF to me. I'm no expert, but it is very light and the back of the pieces feel almost like rough carboard to the touch. I can't see any lamination, just the clearcoating stuff that makes it shine. The clearcoat fades and/or turns green if it spends much time outside in the sun. The pieces only look good fora couple of years from what I understand, unless it's a garage queen. I have a factory CF steering wheel and it's not looking so great anymore. In fact, I bought a new three spoke black leather wheel recently, minus the airbag. I'll swap it when my steering wheel starts looking bad to me. Right now, it's just not great. The upper console looked pretty bad and hence the beginning of my painting experiences. In the end, I didn't really like the arctic silver and found a new soft feel to match the rest of the interior. There is a guy in the UK who makes billett aluminum pieces that fit on top of the interior trim pieces. Those look good, IMHO. They match the aluminum on door handles, door cubby's etc. I have 3 of his pieces. CD holder surround, hazard surround, and batwing, in addition to the gauge rings. I may have too much though. It's easy to get carried away.