2003 Porsche Boxster S
Discussion
I’VE DONE IT!
I’ve managed to edit the Kernel and flash a custom start image, rather than the android one! I’m not talking about the boot animation, I mean the ugly ‘Android Lollipop’ image before the animation that you’re not supposed to change.
Lots of work, including literally re-writing numbers in the kernel and using a terminal on the device, as you can see:
Looks complicated, it absolutely was. But the result is this:
https://youtu.be/97NJs7Sxi08
Looks almost exactly the same as the boot of the 991’s radio’s.
I’ve also finished my Torque theme, for anyone who wants it:
And finally, it’s installed into the dash:
It’s brilliant. The screen saver where it just displays the amber ‘Porsche’ logo is really nice on they eyes in the night. I’m going to add a reverse camera and DAB soon (both of which the radio is capable off out of the box). I’m struggling to think of what this radio isn’t capable of now for the money it’s outstanding.
So that’s it in terms of the radio! I still haven’t had chance to fix the AOS or subframe, it’s just been far too cold, snowy or rainy. I wish I had a garage…
But yeah, if anyone wants the Torque theme, feel free to message me!
I’ve managed to edit the Kernel and flash a custom start image, rather than the android one! I’m not talking about the boot animation, I mean the ugly ‘Android Lollipop’ image before the animation that you’re not supposed to change.
Lots of work, including literally re-writing numbers in the kernel and using a terminal on the device, as you can see:
Looks complicated, it absolutely was. But the result is this:
https://youtu.be/97NJs7Sxi08
Looks almost exactly the same as the boot of the 991’s radio’s.
I’ve also finished my Torque theme, for anyone who wants it:
And finally, it’s installed into the dash:
It’s brilliant. The screen saver where it just displays the amber ‘Porsche’ logo is really nice on they eyes in the night. I’m going to add a reverse camera and DAB soon (both of which the radio is capable off out of the box). I’m struggling to think of what this radio isn’t capable of now for the money it’s outstanding.
So that’s it in terms of the radio! I still haven’t had chance to fix the AOS or subframe, it’s just been far too cold, snowy or rainy. I wish I had a garage…
But yeah, if anyone wants the Torque theme, feel free to message me!
Eddiie said:
Wow, just read from start to finish. Amazed at your attention to detail. You have made this car look £1000s above it’s true value. Keep the ideas coming ????
Very flattering, thank you! Always nice to see people who have spent the time to read the whole journey. I really appreciate it 
Trust me, the car is no where near what I'd call 'finished'. There's a huge amount to come yet!
Podie said:
Nice work!
Thanks!Captain Smerc said:
Top job 
Cheers pal.Guys, I've got all of the LED's and equipment to perform a whole amber to white conversion in the cabin (gauges, switches, etc). I've done it to previous cars, and am thinking of doing it to this one too as it would match the newer models, as they're all white. Here's what it would look like (quick photoshop):
Thoughts?
Podie said:
I think the white looks a lot better
Shame the heater display looks so dated really.
True that.Shame the heater display looks so dated really.
Captain Smerc said:
You know your gonna do it , so ...
make it so ! As the good Captain Picard would say .
I'm still undecided! In one hand I'm modernising it, but in the other I don't want to make it something it's not. Does the amber reflect the fact that it's a good classic? Then again, I've added DRL's, so where do I draw the line...make it so ! As the good Captain Picard would say .
shalmaneser said:
I really like the orange.
From a technical perspective I'd have thought it's better too, longer wavelengths (orange/red) affect night vision much less than shorter ones (which white will contain as a mixture of all the colours...
I always thought blue interior lighting like in VWs was the worst of all worlds!
Ah! One of my favourites was the VW blue and red! It was so aesthetically pleasing on the eyes and hugely calming, but I suppose it's swings and roundabouts. I get what you're saying about the amber and you're totally right (I work in TV in Visual Effects, and am accustomed to colour grading), but the white just looks so much cleaner and more modern.From a technical perspective I'd have thought it's better too, longer wavelengths (orange/red) affect night vision much less than shorter ones (which white will contain as a mixture of all the colours...
I always thought blue interior lighting like in VWs was the worst of all worlds!
TXG399 said:
I have never been a fan of the 986 Boxster. However, the work you have done on yours is seriously impressive! Maybe a rethink of my 986 opinion is due. I'm very interested to see where this goes.
The original 2.5 Boxster isn't a great car at all. Cable workings (throttle body, etc), horrendous interior, structurally weaker (can't fit wheels bigger than 17" due to damage to the chassis). It wasn't built the best, but with the 2.7's things got better, then the facelift in 2003 corrected all areas that were lacking, and then the S variant on top of that had the power to match - which is what this is, a facelift 3.2 S variant.It's a TOTALLY different car to the original 1997 2.5 litre car. Everything is different from the bodywork, to the mechanics, to the electrics, to the interior. That may have been what your original thoughts were based on
Podie said:
I'd assume it's all CANBUS, so it must be possible...
But how would you get the information into the head unit?Captain Smerc]halmaneser said:
I really like the orange.
From a technical perspective I'd have thought it's better too, longer wavelengths (orange/red) affect night vision much less than shorter ones (which white will contain as a mixture of all the colours...
Mmm , this is a good point . Maybe stay with the orange ?
But you'll need to ask yourself as to why all modern cars are going for white, rather than orange. Yeah technically a warmer colour is better on the eyes than a colder colour on the spectrum, but if it's not hugely bright and in your face, it won't make much of a difference. My last car was white and it was lovely at night From a technical perspective I'd have thought it's better too, longer wavelengths (orange/red) affect night vision much less than shorter ones (which white will contain as a mixture of all the colours...
Mmm , this is a good point . Maybe stay with the orange ?
Ste372 said:
Car is looking really smart now.
Any links to the head unit and is it a standard double din head unit fitment?
I was wondering how you'd managed to connect two Bluetooth interfaces up till I saw the WiFi obd reader. What a great idea any links for that too please?
Not a standard fit, quite a bit of work was needed to fit it into the dash unfortunately!Any links to the head unit and is it a standard double din head unit fitment?
I was wondering how you'd managed to connect two Bluetooth interfaces up till I saw the WiFi obd reader. What a great idea any links for that too please?
WiFi OBD2 readers can be found all over Ebay, they all work the same, just find the cheapest
Currently looking into creating my own red gauge faces too. It's easy enough if you have the time.
DIY gauges consist of 3 layers. The front layer is the coloured face, printed on transparent overhead projector film. The middle layer is extremely thin white diffused plastic that you can find on paper folders. The rear layer is another version of the face on transparent overhead projector film, but this time totally black aside from the areas that you'd want light to escape from. Very cheap to do, and obvious gains from doing it.
I'd be designing with the non-italic numbers (which are actually the front 'DDT'). Saves buying them from Porsche for around £300, when I can do it myself for around £20.
Will probably do it the same time as the LED's I'd imagine. I'd try it with mine first, and if it goes well, I'd be happy to design and supply to others.
Spent some time today re-creating the dials from scratch in Illustrator, so they're vector based.
They're not accurate until I get scans of my actual faces, but I can tweak them to fit when I do.
Ones I've made so far:
GTS 01 (my favourite):
GTS 02
GTS 03
Boxster S
GT4
Just need to take apart my gauges, scan the faces, re-create them accurately and do a test print to ensure they're correct, then print and create them!
I think this with the LED overhaul in the interior would make such a difference.
DIY gauges consist of 3 layers. The front layer is the coloured face, printed on transparent overhead projector film. The middle layer is extremely thin white diffused plastic that you can find on paper folders. The rear layer is another version of the face on transparent overhead projector film, but this time totally black aside from the areas that you'd want light to escape from. Very cheap to do, and obvious gains from doing it.
I'd be designing with the non-italic numbers (which are actually the front 'DDT'). Saves buying them from Porsche for around £300, when I can do it myself for around £20.
Will probably do it the same time as the LED's I'd imagine. I'd try it with mine first, and if it goes well, I'd be happy to design and supply to others.
Spent some time today re-creating the dials from scratch in Illustrator, so they're vector based.
They're not accurate until I get scans of my actual faces, but I can tweak them to fit when I do.
Ones I've made so far:
GTS 01 (my favourite):
GTS 02
GTS 03
Boxster S
GT4
Just need to take apart my gauges, scan the faces, re-create them accurately and do a test print to ensure they're correct, then print and create them!
I think this with the LED overhaul in the interior would make such a difference.
LordHaveMurci said:
Agreed, I think GTS 01 is my fav too.
Agreed Bowen86 said:
Amazing work mate. You're just around the corner from me, surprised I haven't seen you about.
Keep it up. Love coming back to read your updates.
Ah! You're in Penarth/Cardiff? What do you drive? If I see you I'll flash/wave Keep it up. Love coming back to read your updates.
Thanks for the kind words though
R8Steve said:
I see you'd mentioned retrofitting heated seats in an earlier post.
How are you planning to do that?
Lovely car and great work so far. So much so it's inspired me to buy one.
Do it! There's lots to look for and lots to avoid when it comes to Boxsters, as they vary hugely through the years, with problems that can be avoided if you know what to look for. Send me a message and I'll be happy to help How are you planning to do that?
Lovely car and great work so far. So much so it's inspired me to buy one.
With the heated seats, the Ebay ones come with 4x heated filaments. The seats will come out, covers off, slide them in, then put them back. I'll buy the original Porsche switches, and will cut off the Ebay switches to wire them up to the Porsche ones instead so they look the same.
Problem with that is the fact that the Ebay heated seat switches are rocker switches (physically clicks into an on/off position), where as the Porsche ones are touch buttons, so that won't work - it'll only come on for the duration I hold the buttons down otherwise! As the Porsche ones don't click down. Therefore I just need a relay in the circuit to tell the circuit to stay open when it receives power (a single button push), and to turn off when receiving another.
Unless I can find Ebay heated seats that have push buttons rather than rocker switches, then it'll just be a case of cutting the wires and putting them on
but I've not found any yet. Or unless the Porsche button switches have that functionality built into them... I'll have to test one of them on a light bulb and see what happens...Edited by geraintthomas on Wednesday 7th March 14:13
Replaced the AOS! And HOLY COW, the difference is immense! All issues have been fixed, car idles stunningly (can barely tell it's on if listening to music), performance is great, response is awesome... all fixed.
And then I went and did something stupid.
This LED conversion, thought I'd make a start. Took the dials out and pulled them apart successfully. Started to de-solder an LED and the amount of force it was taking me to get the single LED off was ridiculous. It got to the point where I hadn't damaged said LED yet, so I had the chance to stop and put it all back together - so I did. I'm not doing the upgrade, it's far too risky damaging the board.
Put it all back together and I seem to have broken my rev counter. The needle is very loose and doesn't react at all anymore. Tapping on the housing bounces the needle, so looks like I've buggered it. I've already placed an order for new dials. As I'm changing them, I've gone for the DOT-Matrix dials (the ones with the proper LCD panel on). It's a direct replacement, and it'll let me upgrade to the on board computer and cruise control in the future. I'd do it now but it'll cost me a lot of money all at once, so that'll have to wait.
Replacement dials were £100 on ebay.
Ah well. Win some, loose some. I do everything myself so this was bound to happen wasn't it! At least the car performs stunningly.
And then I went and did something stupid.
This LED conversion, thought I'd make a start. Took the dials out and pulled them apart successfully. Started to de-solder an LED and the amount of force it was taking me to get the single LED off was ridiculous. It got to the point where I hadn't damaged said LED yet, so I had the chance to stop and put it all back together - so I did. I'm not doing the upgrade, it's far too risky damaging the board.
Put it all back together and I seem to have broken my rev counter. The needle is very loose and doesn't react at all anymore. Tapping on the housing bounces the needle, so looks like I've buggered it. I've already placed an order for new dials. As I'm changing them, I've gone for the DOT-Matrix dials (the ones with the proper LCD panel on). It's a direct replacement, and it'll let me upgrade to the on board computer and cruise control in the future. I'd do it now but it'll cost me a lot of money all at once, so that'll have to wait.
Replacement dials were £100 on ebay.
Ah well. Win some, loose some. I do everything myself so this was bound to happen wasn't it! At least the car performs stunningly.
And voila, dials replaced!
The newer dot-matrix display gives a lot more information now, even without the extra stalks! Seatbelt, dimmer amount, key in ignition, temperature, etc.
I'm going to fit the extra stalk, but I'm waiting until a 4-stalk one appears as I'll get that so that I'd have cruise control too. With these newer dials, cruise control is built in, so they just need wiring in from the stalk and enabling. Pointless buying the 3-stalk one as I'd just have to swap it again when that time comes. They're rarer than hens teeth though.
Mileage correction is happening Wednesday - £80 to correct it back to the ECU mileage.
Nice having the new display though
In the meantime, I've taken out the faces to my old dials because I'm going to scan them in.
I know I said I wouldn't do the face upgrade, BUT there's a company in America (whitefaces.net) that do faces that slip over the needles. They also take custom requests, so I'm going to see if they can make mine. They have Boxster ones already but not of the 'S' variant. I was thinking of making some but put a slit at the bottom as I'm not risking removing the needles again, but that wouldn't work for the fuel and temperature gauges. Will need a think.
I had a look in my old projector lenses too, and found out why they started to dim.
Here's the reflective bowl:
And here's the inside:
It's just coated silver. You can see it peeling and burnt off completely! Obviously these are cheap £15 projectors, the same as the ones I've just put in. My new ones will eventually go the same way, so that'll be the time I invest in Morimoto projectors.
That's it for now
The newer dot-matrix display gives a lot more information now, even without the extra stalks! Seatbelt, dimmer amount, key in ignition, temperature, etc.
I'm going to fit the extra stalk, but I'm waiting until a 4-stalk one appears as I'll get that so that I'd have cruise control too. With these newer dials, cruise control is built in, so they just need wiring in from the stalk and enabling. Pointless buying the 3-stalk one as I'd just have to swap it again when that time comes. They're rarer than hens teeth though.
Mileage correction is happening Wednesday - £80 to correct it back to the ECU mileage.
Nice having the new display though
In the meantime, I've taken out the faces to my old dials because I'm going to scan them in.
I know I said I wouldn't do the face upgrade, BUT there's a company in America (whitefaces.net) that do faces that slip over the needles. They also take custom requests, so I'm going to see if they can make mine. They have Boxster ones already but not of the 'S' variant. I was thinking of making some but put a slit at the bottom as I'm not risking removing the needles again, but that wouldn't work for the fuel and temperature gauges. Will need a think.
I had a look in my old projector lenses too, and found out why they started to dim.
Here's the reflective bowl:
And here's the inside:
It's just coated silver. You can see it peeling and burnt off completely! Obviously these are cheap £15 projectors, the same as the ones I've just put in. My new ones will eventually go the same way, so that'll be the time I invest in Morimoto projectors.
That's it for now
I've just thought of a wicked idea.
I can't change all of the dial faces, but I [U]can[/U] change the centre one. Notice how small the gap is between the bottom of the needle and the bottom of the dial? There can be a tiny slit there which you'll never notice, which is how you can slip the new face on.
The beauty of this? I only have to print a singular face - the colour face on transparent paper. As I'll be re-creating the face using the scans of the original, I just need the block colour printed on a transparent sheet.
Like this:
Keeping all original holes, so slipping it over the original face would then look like this:
And because I have spare faces, I can keep testing until I get a perfect fit. Once it's done, pop open the dials (easiest thing in the world to do), slip the new one over the old, and job done!
Some more colours:
So yeah, going to try that ASAP! Will scan in the dials tomorrow and should be able to print them by this weekend!
If this works, I'll have the template for re-creating these for anyone - a very easy upgrade!
I can't change all of the dial faces, but I [U]can[/U] change the centre one. Notice how small the gap is between the bottom of the needle and the bottom of the dial? There can be a tiny slit there which you'll never notice, which is how you can slip the new face on.
The beauty of this? I only have to print a singular face - the colour face on transparent paper. As I'll be re-creating the face using the scans of the original, I just need the block colour printed on a transparent sheet.
Like this:
Keeping all original holes, so slipping it over the original face would then look like this:
And because I have spare faces, I can keep testing until I get a perfect fit. Once it's done, pop open the dials (easiest thing in the world to do), slip the new one over the old, and job done!
Some more colours:
So yeah, going to try that ASAP! Will scan in the dials tomorrow and should be able to print them by this weekend!
If this works, I'll have the template for re-creating these for anyone - a very easy upgrade!
Plate spinner said:
Could you not set the dash backlights to be permanently on?
Still isn't bright enough, you can't see the illumination in the daylight.Podie said:
Later dot matrix screen looks a lot nicer
It absolutely is!By the way...
A perfect fit.
Cut it out
Removed the gauges
Placed the overlay onto the face
Tadaaah! All without removing the needle. You can't even see the slit.
Haven't got any photos inside the car yet as it was too dark. Will get some tomorrow!
With red, it's hard as the numbers are already black. The only thing I can do is add some sort of dropped stroke to that they ping out:
trails said:
Such a good thread, the ever evolving car is a credit to you...thanks for sharing
Yellow dial cover is pretty darn fine too!
Much appreciated! Thank you!Yellow dial cover is pretty darn fine too!
Tomorrow I thought "Ah, day off. I can get round to changing that sub frame and getting it aligned, so the car is back to normal". But no, snow is forecast. Damn it.
I've also booked in a steering wheel re-trim. Black perforated leather left and right, black plain leather top and bottom, grey stitch, padded underneath, normal grey airbag. Should look incredible as I've had this guy do it for me on my last car and he did a stellar job.
leighlo said:
Hi Geraint,
I've stumbled across your posts from another website and have just spent the last couple of hours reading through your progress. I have screenshots, notes and lots of work planned.
I have a 2004 Boxster S, one of the last of the original Boxsters in Lapis Blue. It's fairly stock, but does have the same wheels as you! Maybe you inspired it's last owner.
Mine needs lots of body and interior TLC, but is mechanically sound.
So, I get through all of your posts and then realise you are local... I'm in Caerphilly.
Small world!
Ahh amazing! Thanks for reading through, I really appreciate it. How's it treating you?I've stumbled across your posts from another website and have just spent the last couple of hours reading through your progress. I have screenshots, notes and lots of work planned.
I have a 2004 Boxster S, one of the last of the original Boxsters in Lapis Blue. It's fairly stock, but does have the same wheels as you! Maybe you inspired it's last owner.
Mine needs lots of body and interior TLC, but is mechanically sound.
So, I get through all of your posts and then realise you are local... I'm in Caerphilly.
Small world!
Aifos said:
That's an amazing post. I registered to the Forum just for this. Near week I am gonna upgrade my 03 986 with a 05 987 Boxster S and I am planing to buy an Xtrons head unit like yours and I was wondering if I can buy from you the theme and the splash screen.
Thank you! No need to buy the theme and splash screen, I'll give them to you for free. The theme is easy (wallpaper and an app that changes the app icons to custom PNG's that I designed), but the splash screen is tricky as you need to make a custom ROM and inject the new splash screen into it before flashing your unit with it. It's easy, just you have to follow the guide perfectly as if it goes wrong you've had it.Podie said:
Any updates...?
Heaveho said:
Have a look on Boxanet.................
Right. Time for an update I think?Apologies for being so quiet, but I gave up on the car. It had been broken for such a long time (over a year now) that I'd just fallen out of love with it, and ended up buying a car cover, SORNing it and cancelling the insurance, and basically leaving it under a cover on the drive connected to a trickle charger so that I could forget about it until I could be bothered to think about it again. Which didn't turn out to be long.
Driving my little Fiesta TDCi around everywhere made me pine for the car. Not that the fiesta wasn't good (this thing cost me £500, does 75mpg and is bullet proof), but I completely took the Porsche for granted. It's one of those things which you don't realise how good it is until it's gone. There were a few things I needed to do to the car to get it back on the road but I decided to get Christmas out of the way first, as it'll cost around £800 to get it going again (with doing all of the work myself).
The whole engine problem was previously fixed, but it still needs:
- Service
- Subframe replacement & four wheel alignment
- 2x rear tyres
- Alloy wheel refurb
- New battery
- New roof tension cables (the short clip-on ones)
- Mileage correction (remember I replaced the dials?)
Everything I'll be doing myself as it's all easy, just takes time. But, once it's done, it'll be back on the road.
I'm hoping to get it back on the road this month or early February. I've been starting the engine now and again to let it turn over for a while, but I've got two sticking lifters. It's just lack of use - a good run will loosen these up, it's happened before.
Going back briefly to the fiesta - what an amazing car. Fiesta mk6, TDCi, as basic as you can get (wind up windows, too!). But it costs £30 annual tax, cheap insurance, 75mpg, comfy, quiet and easy to drive. This will be my daily car too and from work, while the Porsche will now be a weekend and fun car, rather than my daily. Didn't realise how much fuel I was spending before...
That's pretty much where I'm at. The car is now back in the middle of my drive with the cover off so I can work on it. It's currently jacked up with no front wheels (I'm Nitromorsing the wheels at the moment). Another beauty of having another daily - I can spend time on this and not rush.
But yeah, I'll update you as I go. I'll be back on here now!
Podie said:
We’ve all been there with cars... hang in there, and hope to see it back on the road soon.
Aifos said:
Sorry to hear that and I feel for you. Being there (and not only once). Keep going and never give up. Thanks for the the splash screen. Hope I can mange to do it. I bought this unit for my Boxster https://www.navi4all.com/en/product/8-android-8-0-... so not sure if it's the same splash screen.
Appreciate it guys. I got put off by a lot, by the on-going issue with the car, by other things happening in life, and so on. Whilst everyone else on other forums took time to help get to the bottom of my issue, I made a thread on here asking for help with the same engine issue and was greeted by several pretentious keyboard warriors who essentially took joy in shooting down someone who wanted to troubleshoot an issue themselves, with comments such as "you've wasted so much money by doing this yourself because you were too tight to visit a mechanic". Also due to the fact that I didn't know how to check if an ECU is going into closed loop or not, and that I didn't know how to test the O2 heater circuits, I was apparently incompetent as these are the most basic tests a dummy could do. That's right, apparently they're the most basic tests. My jaw literally hit the floor with the audacity, pretentiousness, and the judgemental attitude of some people on here, so I decided to avoid this place. So much for a sense of community.So if you wondered why I was gone for a bit, it's due to that. No need to have such negativity in my life.
Anyway - back to it.
Had a load of things delivered a few days ago, including this wee little thing:
I've got the black and red ones of these, but the yellows were discontinued years ago. Managed to get it still in its box/packet off someone for £15! The normal colours are £25 new, and the yellows are seriously rare. So yeah, quite happy with that. Goes with my dials too:
At the moment though, I'm stuck with a little problem.
I need to get this nut off:
Trouble is, the socket on the bolt has rounded and I can no longer stop it from spinning while I attempt to undo the bolt. I've bought another arm to go on so I'm happy to butcher this one.
Initial thought was a nut splitter, but would it split the nut this thick?
Another idea is to cut a groove in the top to place a flat head screwdriver (or socket) into it, but the nut rising may close this gap.
I've tried forcing a bigger head into this but he aftermarket part has such soft metal that it didn't work.
Bit skeptical of dremelling the nut off due to how close it is to the hub, but it may be an option.
Thoughts?
Podie said:
Very good shout. I've not tried one but my brother in law has one - may borrow it off him. It's such a small hole though for the allen key that I'm not sure that would work, but I'll try his.In the meantime I've bought a nut splitter, so hopefully that'll do the trick.
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