I'm new to Porsche ownership, having recently purchased a 2008 987
Cayman S
. The interior is very clean for its age but both A-Pillars are slightly damaged.
It appears the part numbers for the left and right A-Pillar trim in Sand Beige are 987-555-181-05-5Z1 & 987-555-182-05-5Z1, respectively.
If that's correct, what I can't make sense of is the price disparity. The left side is listed for about $175, while the right side is $595. Any ideas why there's such a large price differential between left and right?
Also, which site is best for OE parts lookup (diagrams)?
TIA.
Yes those are the correct part numbers. I'm guessing that the disparity is due to availability and supply/demand.
What is the damage to your current pillars? When I had my roof head-liner replaced by a local upholstery shop, my pillars were pretty scratched-up. I just got a paint color match at HomeDepot and touched up the scratches. I used a sponge to blot the paint and match the texture.
I decided to check a different interior color (black) and the left and right pieces were each about the same price (around $575 at Suncoast). So the real question should be "why is the sand beige left so cheap?". Leads me back to supply/demand
At those sort of prices I'd be looking at simply refinishing the existing ones.. it's not that hard.
They're both cracked. Rather than buying new, I'd actually like to find a used set in any color, as long as they're not cracked.
I'd like to try my hand at respraying them with a thinned mix of the Home Depot matched paint. If the results are good, there are several trim pieces back by the engine cover that I'd like to refinish as well.
Overall, the interior is in great shape for its age but these 18 year old plastic surfaces scratch just by looking at them. I'd rather strip and refinish all of the interior trim a piece at a time, if the sprayed results are acceptable.
In the long run, the plastic trim will be more durable with a new finish, rather than continuously spot repairing the inevitable scratches and scrapes in the original finish.
Instead of painting, I recommend wrapping the A pillars and other scratched sand beige trim with foam backed faux suede headliner material. Looks better and won’t scratch or chip. Caramello suede is a good match to sand beige. I did most of my interior plastics with it. The time consuming part is stripping off the soft touch paint and scuffing the plastic which you would need to do anyway for painting. I used 3M Hi Strength 90 spray adhesive with good results, but 3M now has a Headliner Adhesive which might be even better. You can also use the same materials for your headliner if it is starting to sag. As others said, buy any color used A pillars for relatively cheap on eBay.
That's a +1 for this idea. I actually thought about recommending recovering with Alcantara.. but the vinyl wrap will hold up better long term.
Perhaps consider Porsche part resellers. It’s not an item of vigorous wear there should be availability but I’m typing that without looking too, good luck. If it comes down to paint, I recommend looking at M&M metalizing in Cali, it will cost more than doing it yourself, but their work is impeccable and their options numerous. I once had some parts done for my 986.
As I dig into researching more, I'm surprised the headliner isn't falling down. It seems they all do at this age? Given the cracks in the A-pillar trim, I wonder if the headliner's been replaced?
The interior is really remarkably clean for 18 years old. The previous owner drove it 6500K in 13 years of ownership and kept it garaged.
Dud thr headliner in microfiber suede a few years back.
I plan to wrap mine, just haven't done it yet.
