Well gee golly, Cam… sure are blogging a lot about your car these days, aren’t you? Yes. I am. But great news: I have a whole post about why I blog about my car. Have a look- it’s insightful. Moving even. And if you’ve taken then time to read that post then when I say “there’s a lot going on right now” everything will make sense.
I decided to add a couple of carbon fiber TechArt parts to my car: a rear window spoiler and side air intakes. Just cosmetic modifications- nothing that will void the warranty just yet. I loved all the carbon fiber pieces on the Z07 and I plan to add quite a few more to the 991.
My last 911 (997) had a similar Techart window spoiler and I always thought it looked great. It’s a quick easy way to add some CF bling to a 991.
Installation of the spoiler is pretty straight forward. Clean & degrease the back of the spoiler & window area where the spoiler will go. Per the instructions apply the adhesive(s) and position the spoiler (two people here makes it much easier). You can move the spoiler around even after it’s been placed so no need to worry if it’s not perfect yet. Once you’ve got everything aligned, clean off any extra adhesive, use some painter’s tape to secure everything and let it dry for 24 hours. Remove the tape and Presto!
My old 911 also had carbon fiber air intakes (made by ROTtec) which I enjoyed. Since TechArt offered a set I decide to try them out. The Techart intakes are more aggressively styled than the OEM part and similar parts by other competitors. The design is larger and the shape has been slightly altered. Having had the pieces installed for a few days now it’s clear Techart knows how to make quality and complimentary products.
Installing the inlet ducts is more of a challenge. First you have to remove the originals. Good luck. I couldn’t find a helpful online tutorial anywhere. In the end I used my trim tools and poked, prodded and pulled until I got the stupid things out (having to do it twice is the worst part). Honestly, I feel lucky I didn’t break any of the clips. I wish I had something really useful to pass on (maybe “don’t pull the ducts toward you- that’s not how the clips unhook”). At least you can see where the clips are all located on the pieces below. The Techart intakes don’t come with an option for a core swap so this makes them a more expensive relative to other lines and leave little recourse if you’e not truly committed. But I say “Go for it!”
Once the OEM ducts are out you need to prep the parts with the Betaclean wipes. Then apply the Betaprime primer everywhere the parts will have contact. Then apply the adhesive over the primer. Place the carbon fiber inlet trim over the original part. Lining them up properly is very important- you need to make sure the bottom edges are the ones that align (there will actually be a gap at the top- see pic, below, far left). Clean any adhesive off the visible carbon fiber. Tape everything together and let the parts dry for 24 hours. Remove the tape and reinsert the inlet ducts back info the car (this can be tricky- push hard).
I bought these two parts from World Motrosports. They said the items were in stock but when there was no shipping notification after a few days I contacted them and it turned out there was an stock issue on Techart’s end. To their credit they were eventually able to have the items overnighted (for free) from the manufacturer. The turbo inlets didn’t have instructions and although World Motorsports repeatedly promised they would get me the info they forgot. My contact there, Craig, is a super nice guy, but maybe he’s just got too much going on. Despite the issues I’d probably order from them again. There are a couple more carbon fiber parts I’d like to get my hands on…
