01-04-2015, 06:43 PM
If you own a Tiptronic transmission 968, or any automatic transmission vehicle, the following may be useful for you. The letters, numbers, and the plus (+) and minus (-) signs on my Tiptronic shift cover plate had been worn away over time and cleaning. The only letter still somewhat visible was the 'P' and the plus (+) symbol. I wanted to restore the cover plate to its former glory, but I wasn't sure how to go about it.
I've been a modeler since I was a boy, and I've assembled my fair share of planes, boats and cars, and all of them came with decals in one form or another. Most of the decals were the wet transfer variety, which required you to soak them in water and then slide them onto the model's surface and blot to dry and hold them in place. This variety of decal requires additional surface area surrounding the letters, numbers or designs being transferred, and you could see the fringe material once the decals were in place. The other variety was the adhesive backed type, These required you to peel them from a sheet and apply them directly to the model's surface. These decals had edges that you could feel when you ran your finger over the surface.
Neither of these types of decals was going to suffice for restoring my shift cover plate. I recalled another decal type that I'd used and that is the dry transfer decal. The dry transfer decal is affixed to a semi-transparent sheet that shows you the decal as it will appear once it's applied. The desired dry transfer decal is placed on the surface where it is to be applied, and then you rub the surface of the semi-transparent sheet, which forces the decal to adhere to the surface.
This was the perfect choice for restoring the shift cover's letters (P, R, N, D), numbers (1, 2, 3) and symbols (+ and -). The transferred letters, numbers and the plus (+) and minus (-) symbols are flush with the surface, have no fringe or extra material that shows, and they look factory applied. The only negative with dry transfer decals are that they are not durable with respect to rubbing or touching them repeatedly. You could seal them with a clearcoat, but I decided to leave them as they were, and will avoid rubbing them or applying any cleaners to the surface.
I bought my dry transfer decals at my local hobby shop (Hobby Works). I wasn't able to figure out what the font type was that Porsche used on the shift cover plate, but Gothic appeared to be pretty close, at least for the letters. The letter 'P' was still faintly visible on my shift cover plate, and I was able to measure it as being approximately 3/16" tall. The sets of dry transfer decals I purchased included the 3/16" size. I took a pencil, and made a small dot on the shift cover plate at each of the shift stop points. Then I removed the shift cover plate and carefully applied each of the letters, numbers and symbols where it looked like they belonged. When all was said and done, the result looked pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. The numbers aren't exactly as those the factory used, but they'll work for me. I made the '1' from a '7', with a little modifying. I also had to make the plus (+) symbol from two lowercase 'l's. Took under $17.00 and a steady hand, but in the end, my shift cover plate now looks factory fresh. Give it a try and good luck!
I've been a modeler since I was a boy, and I've assembled my fair share of planes, boats and cars, and all of them came with decals in one form or another. Most of the decals were the wet transfer variety, which required you to soak them in water and then slide them onto the model's surface and blot to dry and hold them in place. This variety of decal requires additional surface area surrounding the letters, numbers or designs being transferred, and you could see the fringe material once the decals were in place. The other variety was the adhesive backed type, These required you to peel them from a sheet and apply them directly to the model's surface. These decals had edges that you could feel when you ran your finger over the surface.
Neither of these types of decals was going to suffice for restoring my shift cover plate. I recalled another decal type that I'd used and that is the dry transfer decal. The dry transfer decal is affixed to a semi-transparent sheet that shows you the decal as it will appear once it's applied. The desired dry transfer decal is placed on the surface where it is to be applied, and then you rub the surface of the semi-transparent sheet, which forces the decal to adhere to the surface.
This was the perfect choice for restoring the shift cover's letters (P, R, N, D), numbers (1, 2, 3) and symbols (+ and -). The transferred letters, numbers and the plus (+) and minus (-) symbols are flush with the surface, have no fringe or extra material that shows, and they look factory applied. The only negative with dry transfer decals are that they are not durable with respect to rubbing or touching them repeatedly. You could seal them with a clearcoat, but I decided to leave them as they were, and will avoid rubbing them or applying any cleaners to the surface.
I bought my dry transfer decals at my local hobby shop (Hobby Works). I wasn't able to figure out what the font type was that Porsche used on the shift cover plate, but Gothic appeared to be pretty close, at least for the letters. The letter 'P' was still faintly visible on my shift cover plate, and I was able to measure it as being approximately 3/16" tall. The sets of dry transfer decals I purchased included the 3/16" size. I took a pencil, and made a small dot on the shift cover plate at each of the shift stop points. Then I removed the shift cover plate and carefully applied each of the letters, numbers and symbols where it looked like they belonged. When all was said and done, the result looked pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. The numbers aren't exactly as those the factory used, but they'll work for me. I made the '1' from a '7', with a little modifying. I also had to make the plus (+) symbol from two lowercase 'l's. Took under $17.00 and a steady hand, but in the end, my shift cover plate now looks factory fresh. Give it a try and good luck!
