Route to 987 Cayman 2.7 ownership - Did I buy the right car?

[53x11]

As we are all stuck indoors and probably spending far too much time on Pistonheads I thought I'd share my route to Porsche ownership, buyers remorse and work in progress refresh of my 2.7 Cayman.

As i'm going to hit the big 50 this year and being a fan of Porsche since I could buy Athena posters of 930 Turbos and 959's I was swayed into buying a 'cheap' 2.7 on a great road trip in France with a 997 C4S X51 owning friend last summer.

I do 100 mile a day commute up and down the M6 to work so my daily and 'continental cruiser' is a 2016 Jag XJ. Our first stop was the old racing pits at Riems where we met a couple of Dutch guys taking pics of their stunning Alfa that was about to go up for sale.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5rYsrT1cj9BcCFq98

After a visit to the Porsche Museum, most nights were spent either watching "Harry's Garage" or checking the classifieds.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/r8PXCEvcsKJaJ86P8

I'd decided that for the money I had available I didn't want to take the risk on the 3.4 S engine so kept my search for a 2.7 in good condition. My budget meant a Gen 1 car rather than a Gen 2. 'Budget' was £15k all in............ Early Gen 2's were starting at £20k and Gen 2 S's were at £25k for something that didn't look a bit iffy.

I ended up putting a deposit on a 2007 Meteor Grey car with 70K on the clock. It had the rather rare combination of PASM, Sports Chrono and the 6 speed box (error number 1 - this put the car into the £550 tax bracket by 1gm ) as well as a Dansk exhaust including the 200 cel cats. Maintenance wise it had a recent clutch, brakes, water pump and pipes and alloy refurb and looked lovely in the pictures. Paid just under £14k.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pVhTKJGJYUW6MtJS8

So on my return from France I trundle off from Manchester to Ipswich to collect the car from the dealer having ignored the advice to get a PPI

Test drive was great, if not quite as solid feeling as my mates 997 but my going over of the car at that point seemed to suggest it was a 'good un'. Drove home in biblical rain so couldn't really get a good feel for the car.

Then the 'bringing it up to my standards' began..........

I'll update this as I continue. Need to get a repainted damper out of the airing cupboard and re-fitted while its nice outside.

[KPB1973]

Sounds great. Good luck with it.

I think the 2.7 engine in an absolute peach and I can't stop looking at 981 Boxsters with it.

What are you refresh plans? suspension? oily bits or cosmetic?

[supersport]

Wow a 2.7 in the 550 tax bracket. I didn’t realise any of them made it. Our 3.4 Boxster is but I thought it was only that one year that was.

Smarts a bit that it is more than my F430.

[deebs]

supersport said:

Wow a 2.7 in the 550 tax bracket. I didn’t realise any of them made it. Our 3.4 Boxster is but I thought it was only that one year that was.

Smarts a bit that it is more than my F430.

Ditto, I didnt realise they ever offered a 6 geared 2.7s, I thought they were all 5 - and I thought they were all in the lower tax bracket. I have a (5 speed) 2008 2.7. Great car

Every days a learning day

[ollyh1988]

OP - I had a 2.7 Boxster with the 6 speed. When I came to sell it, those that wanted to view it (including one car dealer), said the reason they really wanted the car was because the 6 speed was so rare in the 2.7.

[RiccardoG]

This is a nice thread, always enjoy reading about other enthusiasts and their ownership journey.

The Cayman looks lovely (and so does that red 997, so few around in that colour).

Sounds like you bought this unseen while on holiday?

[53x11]

Thanks all

Yep, reading a few threads on here about the gear ratios and the fact this will be a continental road trip car made me think the 6 speed would be good for cruising. When I was looking I just missed out on a Speed Yellow car at RPM Specialist Cars that was similar spec but with the 5 speed box. It was over what I wanted to pay as well but after what I found when getting into this one would have been the better buy I think

Anyway. Still sorting all the pics I've taken.

One of the first jobs I did was to check out the front radiators. They looked dry when I checked the car pre purchase but there did seem to be loads of 'stored' crap in there. So, after faffing with various vacuum pipes I decided to bite the bullet and take the front end off. This had two outcomes. One, I got all the crap out and two, I realized how easy(ish) it was to work on these cars on the drive!

Once all the crap was removed (including the remains of a small bird!!) I added some Zunsport Grills to keep out future crap. These were gloss black so I thought I'd paint the black plastic inserts to match as one was looking a bit sorry for itself. Also upgraded the yellow tone bulbs to a whiter tone while it was in bits.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HaGKsvWBn38ZEHCLA

Unfortunately when I popped the lights out it revealed a very poor front end respray as the lacquer was peeling.I then went round the car with a paint depth gauge and a closer inspection and discovered the only original paint was bonnet, roof, rear hatch and front wings. The rest had been painted with various levels of competence from 'pretty good' to 'could have done better with a rattle can'. There is a horrendous run just in front of the drivers side air intake and the lacquer is also peeling on the rear bumper, again under the lights where they have just masked up and not painted the bumper off the car.

Got slightly deflated at this point when two garages quoted me the same. To get it perfect would be a glass out respray to both sides plus front and rear bumper.

To get it looking "Nice" would be Front and Rear bumper, sills (the stone chip prone front inner sill was down to bare metal on a few spots) and a blend into the wings (to take out some scratches that would not polish out.

After that bit of buyers remorse I decided to pop it over to Sports & Classics Ltd on Cheshire to have a mechanical appraisal.

Will update with pic of the conclusion of that finding!

[LennyM1984]

I wouldn't be too disheartened about the paint. It's pretty common despite what some Porsche people may have you believe. Unlike cheaper cars, I think porsche owners are more willing to have scratches etc repaired.

My Cayman had had a smart repair on the rear quarter which I totally missed when viewing. I've recently had it properly fixed and it looks great again.

[53x11]

LennyM1984 said:

I wouldn't be too disheartened about the paint. It's pretty common despite what some Porsche people may have you believe. Unlike cheaper cars, I think porsche owners are more willing to have scratches etc repaired.

My Cayman had had a smart repair on the rear quarter which I totally missed when viewing. I've recently had it properly fixed and it looks great again.

Thanks. The more time I have spent on the car (and with this lockdown its been a lot in the last two weeks!!) the more I've learned. It's become a bit like archaeology.

The history file was full of receipts for things like the clutch, water pump etc.and all the service history and original sales invoice was there but some things were not. E G. the Dansk exhaust invoice was not there, just a comment from the dealer that the owner who had it fitted had chosen a different brand at first but didn't like the drone of it so swapped it out. Comparing the images on the web to whats on the car suggests that this is the back box and sports cats rather than back box only so a nice 'bonus' to net off the poor paint :-)

Anyway. Back to the journey :-)

Dropped the car off at Sports and Classic Ltd for a post purchase PPI

An hour up on the ramps and a test drive later and the conclusion was.........."you have a nice car there". And relax! The list of jobs to do was:

Coli packs - These were original and cracking
Tyres - slight cracking due to age rather than wear. I was aware of this one and planed to fit new all round.
Rear brake pipes - The short 'hard' pipe to flexible hose was showing quite a bit of surface corrosion.
Track Rods - slight play starting in the front track rods.
Front Bump Stops - badly perished.
Exhaust mounting bracket - S&C "Did you have the exhaust fitted?" Me "nope". S&C "Good as come and have a look at this". Whoever fitted the exhaust to the OEM mount had used bolts about 40mm too long for the job on one side (crossthreaded as I later found out) and a ziptie on the other!!

My original plan was to let S&C do the jobs with a service in March (inspection was September) so feeling a bit better about it continued with the deep cleaning.

Pulled off the front under bonnet trims and vacuumed out 12 years worth of twigs, leaves, dead spiders etc. and gave it a good clean up.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4DLQSgWAfXx89owW7

Then tackled the door shuts, steam cleaned the seats (didn't take a picture of the drivers seat but the muck killed two steam clean bonnets ) and polished up the exhaust.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xpuX1XZQi3BKJY9s7

Next up the rear bumper comes off.

[LennyM1984]

Might be worth pulling out the side vents and taking a look in the rear quarters. It'll help you see if there was any really damage or just paint scuffs.

Good work on the seat cleaning. I cleaned the steering wheel recently and it was thoroughly gross

[Dr S]

First of all, congratulations to your new car! Great colour and the 987 is a joy to drive.

Personally, I prefer the more agile handling of the 987s to the 981s (bar the GT4 that is). Hope you soon get to move beyond "archaeology" and enjoy the car on the road

[RiccardoG]

53x11 said:

Pulled off the front under bonnet trims and vacuumed out 12 years worth of twigs, leaves, dead spiders etc. and gave it a good clean up.

Make sure you properly clean and unblock all the 4 water channels. You actually might need to take the battery out to reach one or two of them (can't recall as I did mine years ago now).

Is it safe for the leather to just steam clean it like that? Its something I've always wanted to do but am always too concerned to make more damage than good.

[53x11]

LennyM1984 said:

Might be worth pulling out the side vents and taking a look in the rear quarters. It'll help you see if there was any really damage or just paint scuffs.

Good work on the seat cleaning. I cleaned the steering wheel recently and it was thoroughly gross

Thanks. Yes, have done this and thankfully its a straight car with nothing major to report. It has had a couple of 'bumps' that I will get to but I think all the respray work has just been due to chips and probably wear and tear over the years.

Anyone know if the arches in front of the rear wheels came with the paint protection film from the factory as per 911's? This one didn't have it fitted. I've fitted some myself but should have filled the new chips in the paint before fitting as its a bit 'bubbly' to me. I'll order a new set and do it correctly this time

[53x11]

RiccardoG said:

Make sure you properly clean and unblock all the 4 water channels. You actually might need to take the battery out to reach one or two of them (can't recall as I did mine years ago now).

Is it safe for the leather to just steam clean it like that? Its something I've always wanted to do but am always too concerned to make more damage than good.

Thanks. Yes, all the the drain channels were completely clogged with dirt. Another bonus of having a hand steamer was I could give them a quick blast with steam to get the stubborn stuff out :-)

There are plenty Pro detailers posting on YouTube using the steam method for really dirty seats. My seats are the usual all black leather and it actually felt hard like old vinyl on the drivers side. The heat opens the pores of the leather apparently to help was the crap out. The seats are still absorbing conditioner now. Probably on their 5th treatment but are back to being nice and soft and leather feeling. Also, after having a scuffed bolster repaired at a local interior trimmers who has done a lot of Porsche Seats, only the seat facings are leather. That is anything your bum and back rest against. The sides with the airbags and the backs are fake leather (to cut costs apparently)

[53x11]

Continuing on....

While washing the car I noticed that the bumper on the left side of the exhaust exit was solid but the right side was loose. Sticking my head under the rear I spotted that behind that part of the bumper there is an additional plastic reinforcing part with two 'tabs' for fixing to a horseshoe shaped metal bracket. This was broken on one side.

Those with a keen eye may have spotted a small deformity in the rear bumper in the exhaust pics. Looks like a previous owner may have reversed into a low post at some point (probably explains the rear bumper respray - on the cheap). As this car does not have parking sensors I can attest that its not the easiest thing to judge when reversing so I don't think its been driven badly. I've even scuffed the bumper on a brand new BMW M135i with parking sensors in the past on a low wall that the sensors didn't pick up.

First bit of additional spend on an new supporting bar. Not actually a bad price from Porsche Wilmslow and it arrived in a couple of days. Rear bumper came off easily (no fiddly sensors) and the supporting bracket just clips in. Tried to refit the bumper but it would still not fit to the metal bracket. Lots of swearing and buyers remorse again I put it in the garage bumperless and have a think. Then take the metal bracket off and see that it's badly misshapen!! Bit of re-shaping with a vice and hammer later and the bumper re-fits like a dream :-)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q1sM4J6xZY6BsoUX9

[Drekly]

Please keep the updates coming - good or bad - (after lockdown ends), as I was thinking a 987.1 2.7 Cayman would be the best budget porker for just over 10 grand.
Will make sure I avoid the 6 speed gearbox tax....

[53x11]

Drekly said:

Please keep the updates coming - good or bad - (after lockdown ends), as I was thinking a 987.1 2.7 Cayman would be the best budget porker for just over 10 grand.
Will make sure I avoid the 6 speed gearbox tax....

Thanks.

Still uploading pics!!

One of the biggest pains was fixing the badly fitted exhaust bracket, This is mounted on to the back of the gearbox. I have no idea why this would have been removed to fit the Dansk Exhaust as the Dansk mates up to the OEM fixing perfectly with just 4 bolts. Maybe it was removed to fit the exhaust that was tried before the Dansk but it should have had 4 30mm M8 bolts holding the top two clamps on. It was pointed out to me on the inspection that these were now held on with one 80mm bolt and a zip tie!!

Bumper had to come off again to get at the bracket then a number of bolts snapped off so there was a day of drilling out bolts, tapping threads ans lots of swearing!!

Eventually all the bolts replaced with stainless items and nylock nuts on the adjustable plates that fit to the back box.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ENsNAjZsnDkepJmk7

[davo238]

Reading this with great interest as I have been offered a 2007 2.7 manual with 65k. Absolutely standard and untouched. Just waiting on some more pictures now.

I know it has only had one lady owner as I know the people selling it. It’s in decent condition all round and just had a new battery. Tax isn’t a worry, I’m selling a 370Z GT edition so used to the massive tax bill. Will get it for around £11k if I go ahead with it.

What issues should I be looking for? And what have people done to get a bit of extra oomph from theirs?

Thanks in advance.

[53x11]

davo238 said:

Reading this with great interest as I have been offered a 2007 2.7 manual with 65k. Absolutely standard and untouched. Just waiting on some more pictures now.

I know it has only had one lady owner as I know the people selling it. It’s in decent condition all round and just had a new battery. Tax isn’t a worry, I’m selling a 370Z GT edition so used to the massive tax bill. Will get it for around £11k if I go ahead with it.

What issues should I be looking for? And what have people done to get a bit of extra oomph from theirs?

Thanks in advance.

Davo. I can only comment on mine but most of the work I have done so far, bar the exhaust bracket, have been age/use related. I'll do an update on the coil packs but they were absolutely knackered after 13 years and transformed the car from being a bit grumpy from cold to a dream of a car at start up and tickover. Anti-roll bar bushes were also on the way out and the front ones were a pig to get out as the brackets that hold them on the chassis had started to oxidize. Same with the dampers. Bump stops had just perished and once I got the dampers off the car I could see the top mounts were also not long for this life.

I'm still undecided if I paid too much for it at £14k but I've still not seen one with a similar spec since I got it. The £1200 aftermarket exhaust that it came with does make a lovely noise but its going to be £2k to get the paint to something i'm happy with and probably on par with a generally well looked after car of the same age. If you have a couple of £k to go on top of your £11k purchase price you can cover most bits that will be wearing out at 13 years.

As for extra performance, I'd suggest that you give it time to get under your skin. I have a diesel Jag XJ with 50 more BHP and god knows how much extra torque as a daily and prior to that had two BMW M135i 3.0 Turbos with around 330bhp. The Jag is perfectly suited to its auto box as you just hit the pedal and it goes and does a better job that I can do using the paddles. Its relaxing and a perfect partner for my slog up and down the M6 and has been wonderful of Euro trips if its just A-B you want. The first 135 was manual and was fun but still a bit compromised on a winding road. The second was auto and got boring. The car did everything for you and you ended up going far too fast if you stretched it up the rev range.

The 2,7 makes you 'think' about what you are doing, learn to understand where its strengths are. Its making me want to go out and drive just so I can 'learn' the car. Now the coil packs are sorted I'm learning where the engine performance is. No point booting it from 30 in 3rd if you want a quick overtake but if you keep it above 3k revs it is responsive. Mine has Sports Chrono and PASM. PASM in Sport is too hard but its lovely in Normal however the Sport throttle map is really nice for learning to heal & toe. Now the dampers are refreshed the steering is on another level and I still need to get the Geo checked!!

If you are not bothered about being left for dust by Golf R's and get pleasure out of keeping the momentum going on a quiet winding road, listening to the engine note rise and fall and not having to be at warp speed to do it then don't worry that it looses at top trumps. To me its mechanical heaven :-)

I'm sure i'll keep looking at Cayman R's and Gen 2 S's but this one is making me grin like a loon and I can't wait to get it on its first road trip through France and into Italy.

[RiccardoG]

53x11 said:

... I can't wait to get it on its first road trip through France and into Italy.

That really is the best way to enjoy them! Can't wait for things to get back to "normal", already had to cancel our April road trip to Italy.