The weekend started early, Saturday morning. Two things had to be closed out.

First: finish welding the exhaust completely and seat it right, that is, close out what we started last week. Porsche has plenty of tight spots, and pulling the whole system off again was not something I wanted, so the four barrels got welded in place.

It took some contortion, but after an hour and a half Felix and I finished the work. Four exhausts finally sit where they belong.

The wing is also seated tighter now and no longer walks anywhere. What remains is aligning it to the main lines, and that is not done yet: it will be mounted permanently, and today it is not in the right state for that.

Second: the rear bumper. The outer side was done, but small things remained, and the main one, the back side had to be set in fiberglass. Making a mold for the sake of one extension is not worth it, so the solution is simple: weld it into a sandwich, fiberglass on both sides. Beyond laying a layer around the whole exhaust zone, it effectively removes any question of panel flex.

The extension sits on panel adhesive and on bolts. Panel adhesive alone I do not trust, ask Elon Musk about his Cybertruck. And the bolts gave an excellent opportunity: bringing the fiberglass all the way to the bolts and seating it right onto them, you get a panel held from both sides. Which is, without question, stronger than one.

We finished late at night, aligning the lines of the rear bumper to the quarter panels by flashlight. This matters: the top of the bumper did not change, no overlays on top, only the lower extensions. The plan was to spread the upper sections along the new line of the quarters, and that is what was done. It came out well.

It was too late for photos, so just a couple of angled shots for now. In the morning I will shoot it properly and add them to the journal.

The evening started with good news. The rear bumper is coming into shape. After I covered it with a coat of sealer, which is not how it is usually done, I wanted to see a more or less final look and spot every problem, and it actually helped a lot. I went over it with a final coat of filler, mostly very small places: little dips, pinholes and other small things. So seven in the evening came in fairly packed.

Felix was gathering his tools, and I finally talked him into changing the plugs. I would tell you a funny story here, but it seems Felix is already writing an episode about his Cedric, so I will not run ahead and will let him tell it himself. While he picked away at Cedric, I was finishing sanding the rear bumper.

When the task was more or less settled, I realized this was a good moment to weld the four pipes under the rear bumper. I could have waited, but there is no strength left for waiting. I want to see the final look: not an exhaust propped up on filler cans, but an exhaust welded to the car. Not the final weld, but metal sitting on metal at last.

One thing I have understood, and it tends to be extremely challenging for everyone who does custom exhaust: setting the pipes right. The first side comes more or less easy, though easy is a very relative term here. The second one is a nightmare. You not only have to set the depth, the position left and right, up and down. You have to mirror the first side exactly. Anyone who has done this in a shop knows what I mean. A single exhaust is more or less manageable, though far from simple. Twin, and in our case four barrels, is a nightmare. Simply a nightmare.

The left side took me a whole hour to weld. The right one nearly twice as long: fit it, step back, look, tack on metal, move it again. Madness. And the main thing, you can trust this to no one. Felix tried to help, but everyone's hands move their own way, like everything else about us. So we were stuck there for a long time.

It was already dark when I finished the right side. Then my wife arrived. I tell her: look how great the exhaust looks. Outside you could not see your own hand. She asks: where? I say: right here. She says: I don't see anything. Dark.

So the exhaust reveal is postponed until tomorrow.

This part is not finished, but it is set. The fine adjustment and tensioning of the metal will come through additional metal rods, which are sometimes welded on, sometimes seated on rubber. And that is the whole episode for today.

The final steps take the longest. Not designing a new bumper and printing it, but bringing it to a perfect state. That is what eats the most time.

Fairing in here, fairing in there. Tedious, slow work, but the closer you get to the end result, the more satisfaction the process itself gives back. The evenings took their time, and with them came plenty of pleasure, bringing out the rear bumper. And now I am almost at the finish. Small things remain, but the bumper is close.

Sometimes it is good that you buy some piece for tuning and never use it. It sits on the shelf for years, months, weeks, and then a place is found for it. So it went with the quad tips: the left pair sat in the shop, and the right one I could not find anywhere, until I looked into the fastback. Opened the trunk, and there was the second pair. Excellent. No need to buy tips, this weekend I just weld them on.

One drawback: the carbon is on the thin side. Maybe it is worth carefully wrapping them in one more layer and reinforcing the structure. On the other hand, the process becomes significantly more challenging, so maybe not. Something to think about.

Next, bring out the small flaws on the rear bumper, cover it in primer, and leave it that way until I sort out the rear OLED bar.

I came back to the front as well. The bumper is done, all that remains is to reprint the lower lip. Hopefully a couple of days, and by Sunday it will be ready. We will see how it goes, but I hope it will be simple. Then bring out the front bumper for the side markers. On one hand simple work, on the other, plenty of small things, because they have to hold.

And the final touch: the fuel filler door. It also has to be brought out to the widebody line, right now it sits sunk in. And I do not want to build a recess for the sake of a fuel door, so I will simply make a spacer and bring it up higher. The door will close the same way, just a little higher, level with the body of the car itself.

Something like that. Tomorrow we will see how it all looks. And then, to work.