Staying Entertained

Only a week until Christmas, which means only three months (likely) until the 718 can poke her nose out and sniff the cool spring air. In the meantime, one has to keep busy with things. My forum reading has dropped off considerably since Europe (gee I wonder why?) so time to get back to a bit of that to while away the winter nights. A couple of new videos have managed to pop up on YouTube to keep me entertained with Porsche news there as well, though the 718 content is sparse these days, what with it getting close to the end of the model and all.

Of course I have been continuing to spend time in the garage, and have to say the 1/3 of the car that I have tackled so far is looking rather good. With some careful compounding and polishing, I've managed to pretty much eliminate the Europe scratches on the rear deck, which now sits protected under a sealant and a 'ceramic' wipe-on topcoat. I have discovered a scratch on the front fender that is proving extremely resistant to polishing though. So much so, that I am starting to believe that it is actually underneath the clearcoat - which would mean that it was there from the factory. Hard to believe, but in the garage it is hard to see in all but the closest light and just the right angle, so I shall have to have see if it jumps out at me in the sunshine in the spring. Obviously I didn't notice it in the summer, so it can't be that bad in natural light. We'll see. Not that there's anything I can really do about it - it's not worth sanding down and re-clearing!

Thanks to a fellow 'forumer' who had some mad graphic design / drafting skills, I've 'upgraded' the garage a little with a new poster. Based on the original 3D cutaway views Porsche produced when the 718 first was revealed, this clever artist redrew the drawing on his computer, in high resolution, and then starting refining and customizing his 3D model to basically be able to provide anyone with a perfect render of their own specific car. We went back and forth a few times over the months of waiting for the car, and once my spec was locked down, he finished up my personalized model and sent me the file.

Last week I printed and framed it, in a fairly large format (24" x 36"), and I have to say, it turned out spectacularly well. The detail really is impressive, and the only difference between the drawing and my car is that the drawing shows the car has a fire extinguisher, whereas mine currently does not. Oh yes, it is supposed to, and it was there in Europe, but now, not so much...

More on that later. Grrrrrr.

For now though, with winter not being too cold just yet, the garage is a fun place to work (if somewhat tight quarters) and little upgrades like that poster make it just that little bit nicer. Definitely with the paint job last summer, the tool racks and the wall art just so, it feels like a space now worthy of the car.

I know, I know - cue eye-rolling from all my friends.

Until next time...

~ Luke