Not a bargain Boxster? 2001 2.7 986.1
Discussion
Foreword
Technically the story begins in early 2014.
I sold my VX220 Turbo the previous summer and am tooling about in a leggy Ford Focus 1.6 Ghia saloon, while at this time my wife has a 2005 Honda CR-V that we’ve had almost from new.
It’s my wife’s turn to get a new car, I’m doing ok at work, so we order a brand new F31 330dx, with a lovely spec.
Taking delivery in May, my plan is that my wife gets the 330d and later in the year I will drop £15k or so on a good 996.
Within a couple of months of taking delivery, EV charging points appear at my wife’s work.
A few months after that, she finds out that if she gets an electric car, then she will 100% get a parking permit. From a quality of life perspective this becomes a no brainer, so Silent Bob, an ex-demo 2014 Leaf gets bought with my £15k, and I inherit a very nice 5 month old 330dx.
The 330 was a great car, lovely powertrain, but the chassis let it down. SE spec springs, dampers and ARB’s just didn’t offer adequate body control. ACSchnitzer springs did help, but the handling still wasn’t as great as I’d hoped.
Over the next 3 years I spent far too much time online in 3er forums and had my heart set on the best driving version of what I currently have - an M3.
So, August/September 2017, I’m in the market for a new car.
Favourite is a nearly new F80 M3, at the time they were circa £50k for a pre-reg. Also on the short list is a 12/12 991.1 C2S and a new Civic Type R.
Looked at the 911, but for the money this 50k mile example looked to have done way more work, and had way more abuse than my 330d.
Booked a test drive in the Civic, but before it took place I’d found an 11month old F80 with 1,500 miles, good spec, perfect condition, good price, and I was on a path, and my Porsche journey was postponed again.
The F80 was a brilliant car, over nearly 3 years it did 20,000 miles including Cadwell Park, Nurburgring and a trip around Europe. The car was great, phenomenally quick and great fun.
I fell into the trap however of spending too much time on the forums…
The internet told me that because my M3 wasn’t a Competition Pack car, the exhaust and suspension were both complete garbage, so clearly I needed to address these points; cue procuring a used ACSchnitzer branded Remus exhaust, and ACSchnitzer branded KW V3 coilovers, along with some more robust 2 piece discs and RSL29 pads.
The exhaust was largely a success.
The suspension was not.
The pads offered great stopping power, but rattled - which then led to the dismantling of the rear suspension looking for the issue.
This, coupled with C-19 and not going anywhere, and the certainty (LOL) that the economy was knackered, made me throw my toys out of the pram.
I put the car back to standard (what a brilliant car!), and sold it. Idiot. On the plus side, saved me another alignment, and a £900 service.
Overall the M3 had cost me about £15k in depreciation for 34 months of use.
Meanwhile that 12/12 991.1 C2S would probably still have been worth the same £50k I saw it advertised for 3 years earlier…
So, M3 is gone, I’m now tooling around in the old CR-V (bought back as an MoT fail earlier that year), and would spend the next 8 months watching 911 values go up.
My wife is now on her third Leaf, a 17/17 that gets used pretty much every day. Great little car, though not exciting. Limited range. Not practical for longer distances, hence the family weren’t keen on me dropping £50k on a less practical 2dr car.
The Boxster journey;
So, it’s March 2021, and while truly fond of Rhonda the Honda, I was hankering for something more interesting.
Around this time, a friend of my wife’s was moving house, and had a 2001 Boxster sat in the garage that she wanted to get rid of. This had been a birthday present from her now ex-husband, and had done almost no miles over the preceding 2 to 3 years.
One day in early March, I made arrangements to go and have a look at a 996 Targa locally. On paper it sounded quite reasonable, but upon inspection, it was cosmetically quite rough, didn’t idle particularly well, had no recent maintenance spend, and the guys who were selling it did not come across as being the most genuine of sellers (bought from an auction about a year earlier, hardly used now being sold with no additional investment, lots of deferred maintenance, looking a bit sorry for itself, add a price somewhat in excess of what they paid for it).
I dismissed the Targa, and went along to have a look at this Boxster.
What I found was a car that was in a cosmetically reasonable condition, not a bad spec, glass rear window, good matching N rated tyres, 9 owners, battery completely dead, displaying around 74,000 miles.
Factory spec
197 Stronger battery
232 Internal production code related to tyres
375 2-way electrical sports seat, left
376 2-way electrical sports seat, right
391 17" Boxster 986.1 wheels
424 CD Compartment
441 Radio preparation
490 Sound system
502 Produced at Valmet plant in Uusikaupunki
551 Wind deflector
567 Top tinted windscreen
571 Activated charcoal filter
573 Automatic air conditioning
584 Storage box on engine cover
689 Preparation for CD changer
695 CD-radio Becker Porsche CDR-22
983 Leather seats
Throwing all logic out of the window, I figured that this type of purchase would be much easier to justify back at home than a £50k purchase. It was though much nicer than the Targa, about 25% of the price, and I was excited about buying a car…
I immediately agreed to buy it, despite not yet having heard it run, for a price that in hindsight was more fair to the seller than the buyer…
Off I went to EuroCarParts for a new Bosch S5 battery, and the battle against deferred maintenance began.
On the plus side, with a new battery she started straight up, and idled smoothly, without any untoward smoke, smells or sounds. Once she was moved outside, I was pleased to notice a lack of oil drips on the garage floor.
I then sorted insurance (nice surprise) and booked her in for an MoT, if only to find out what was wrong…
At this point I had to drive my new purchase for the first time, from the seller to the MoT station. This was especially exciting as it was quite a bright day, and the last time I had a convertible was back in around 2013 when I sold my VX220 Turbo.
The reality was perhaps a little disappointing, I’m driving this car with what felt like 50 pence pieces for tyres, windows that haven’t been cleaned for over two years, and an exhaust that would make a Saxo VTR blush.
After waiting with bated breath, she passed her MOT with no advisories! This meant I could tax her and actually use this machine!
Over the next week or so I did the usual stuff, changed the oil, pollen, air, sparks, brake fluid
Spent a fortune at Design911 (great service, but don’t be intimidated by your local OPC, who are likely to be cheaper for Porsche parts), and dealt with a long list of very minor issues;
Sorting things how has offered many generous learning opportunities, and I have learned a lot, had some hurdles to jump (uncooperative drop links and seized caliper bolts anyone?), and was now into this “cheap” car for a further £1,650.
That spend should have told me that the clean MoT pass had of course lulled me into a false sense of security.
Shortly after buying the car I’d booked it in with Revolution for a post-purchase (LOL) inspection.
I took it in, impressed by the other metal they had, but feeling quietly confident that my little car was in reasonable shape…
Cue some concerning (if not surprising) findings;
The car then spent most of the next month without any wheels on the ground.
I was kept busy, and found myself an extra £2,600 lighter. To be fair, this did include a new stalk assembly (I missed my cruise control and wanted a trip computer) and a CarPlay head unit, but those two together only accounted for around £700, so that was still £1,900 of mechanical and trim parts, along with the inspection, AC regas and some work on the exhaust studs.
Several goes to stick the heated window element back on came to naught, so I’ve accepted that my glass rear window isn’t heated.
By now it’s late May.
The car next decides to surprise me with a broken radiator fan, so gets treated to a new one, along with a pretty tidy used OEM rear box, elbows, new clamps, etc. this improves the cabin comfort enormously, and makes the car waaay nicer to drive.
Over the next few months the car gets an alignment (well 2, one rough & ready at Halfords “front camber isn’t adjustable on these mate, and yours is way out” the technician was very helpful and learned something that day, and a proper setup at Spires), Cruise Control & trip got coded in, new front discs & DS2500 pads, and a few other minor bits. Or in other words, another £1,050.
After a busy summer the car went back into Revolution to get the rear brake lines sorted, and investigate any oil leaks - noting that over the preceding 4,000 miles the oil level hadn’t dropped at all. Cue replacement AOS, couple of spark plug tubes.
By now it’s Autumn, taking the Revolution bill, along with some used air vents with cup holder mounts, new cup holders, a replacement bush for the roof, front number plate plinth, and a few other bits, and I’m into the car for another £1,000 or so.
So 10 months and 6,000 miles later, where am I?
I’ve got a pretty well sorted little car, that’s great fun to drive, and that I wouldn’t hesitate to jump into to drive to the other end of the country, or even the other side of Europe.
She still needs a hood polish and a tiny bit of paint to the underside of a sill.
I’ve added a hard top, which certainly makes the car a nicer place to be in winter.
Looking forward to getting her to the odd track day this year, and I’ve picked up some sticky rubber for this.
What conclusions can I share?
I was lucky; I bought a pretty clean, low miles car that flew through her MoT.
I’ve had no major failures.
I’ve done a few bits that were perhaps excessive (CarPlay, cruise, replacement undertray), but most of my spend has been on deferred maintenance.
Nonetheless this is a 21 year old car that has had little maintenance spend before I bought it.
Ignoring the hard top and second set of wheels, I’ve put £6k into this car on top of the purchase price.
I’ve done most of the labour myself.
Had I been unable or unwilling to do the work myself, I would guess that the £6,000 could easily have been £8,000 or even £10,000.
On the plus side though, this car makes me smile more than the M3. It’s much easier to live with that the VX220, and probably at least as much fun. It’s not “blink and you’ve overtaken” fast, but its far from slow, and despite being over 20 years old, it generally acquits itself well – albeit with more cabin rattles than either of our softer sprung Japanese hard top cars.
Technically the story begins in early 2014.
I sold my VX220 Turbo the previous summer and am tooling about in a leggy Ford Focus 1.6 Ghia saloon, while at this time my wife has a 2005 Honda CR-V that we’ve had almost from new.
It’s my wife’s turn to get a new car, I’m doing ok at work, so we order a brand new F31 330dx, with a lovely spec.
Taking delivery in May, my plan is that my wife gets the 330d and later in the year I will drop £15k or so on a good 996.
Within a couple of months of taking delivery, EV charging points appear at my wife’s work.
A few months after that, she finds out that if she gets an electric car, then she will 100% get a parking permit. From a quality of life perspective this becomes a no brainer, so Silent Bob, an ex-demo 2014 Leaf gets bought with my £15k, and I inherit a very nice 5 month old 330dx.
The 330 was a great car, lovely powertrain, but the chassis let it down. SE spec springs, dampers and ARB’s just didn’t offer adequate body control. ACSchnitzer springs did help, but the handling still wasn’t as great as I’d hoped.
Over the next 3 years I spent far too much time online in 3er forums and had my heart set on the best driving version of what I currently have - an M3.
So, August/September 2017, I’m in the market for a new car.
Favourite is a nearly new F80 M3, at the time they were circa £50k for a pre-reg. Also on the short list is a 12/12 991.1 C2S and a new Civic Type R.
Looked at the 911, but for the money this 50k mile example looked to have done way more work, and had way more abuse than my 330d.
Booked a test drive in the Civic, but before it took place I’d found an 11month old F80 with 1,500 miles, good spec, perfect condition, good price, and I was on a path, and my Porsche journey was postponed again.
The F80 was a brilliant car, over nearly 3 years it did 20,000 miles including Cadwell Park, Nurburgring and a trip around Europe. The car was great, phenomenally quick and great fun.
I fell into the trap however of spending too much time on the forums…
The internet told me that because my M3 wasn’t a Competition Pack car, the exhaust and suspension were both complete garbage, so clearly I needed to address these points; cue procuring a used ACSchnitzer branded Remus exhaust, and ACSchnitzer branded KW V3 coilovers, along with some more robust 2 piece discs and RSL29 pads.
The exhaust was largely a success.
The suspension was not.
The pads offered great stopping power, but rattled - which then led to the dismantling of the rear suspension looking for the issue.
This, coupled with C-19 and not going anywhere, and the certainty (LOL) that the economy was knackered, made me throw my toys out of the pram.
I put the car back to standard (what a brilliant car!), and sold it. Idiot. On the plus side, saved me another alignment, and a £900 service.
Overall the M3 had cost me about £15k in depreciation for 34 months of use.
Meanwhile that 12/12 991.1 C2S would probably still have been worth the same £50k I saw it advertised for 3 years earlier…
So, M3 is gone, I’m now tooling around in the old CR-V (bought back as an MoT fail earlier that year), and would spend the next 8 months watching 911 values go up.
My wife is now on her third Leaf, a 17/17 that gets used pretty much every day. Great little car, though not exciting. Limited range. Not practical for longer distances, hence the family weren’t keen on me dropping £50k on a less practical 2dr car.
The Boxster journey;
So, it’s March 2021, and while truly fond of Rhonda the Honda, I was hankering for something more interesting.
Around this time, a friend of my wife’s was moving house, and had a 2001 Boxster sat in the garage that she wanted to get rid of. This had been a birthday present from her now ex-husband, and had done almost no miles over the preceding 2 to 3 years.
One day in early March, I made arrangements to go and have a look at a 996 Targa locally. On paper it sounded quite reasonable, but upon inspection, it was cosmetically quite rough, didn’t idle particularly well, had no recent maintenance spend, and the guys who were selling it did not come across as being the most genuine of sellers (bought from an auction about a year earlier, hardly used now being sold with no additional investment, lots of deferred maintenance, looking a bit sorry for itself, add a price somewhat in excess of what they paid for it).
I dismissed the Targa, and went along to have a look at this Boxster.
What I found was a car that was in a cosmetically reasonable condition, not a bad spec, glass rear window, good matching N rated tyres, 9 owners, battery completely dead, displaying around 74,000 miles.
Factory spec
197 Stronger battery
232 Internal production code related to tyres
375 2-way electrical sports seat, left
376 2-way electrical sports seat, right
391 17" Boxster 986.1 wheels
424 CD Compartment
441 Radio preparation
490 Sound system
502 Produced at Valmet plant in Uusikaupunki
551 Wind deflector
567 Top tinted windscreen
571 Activated charcoal filter
573 Automatic air conditioning
584 Storage box on engine cover
689 Preparation for CD changer
695 CD-radio Becker Porsche CDR-22
983 Leather seats
Throwing all logic out of the window, I figured that this type of purchase would be much easier to justify back at home than a £50k purchase. It was though much nicer than the Targa, about 25% of the price, and I was excited about buying a car…
I immediately agreed to buy it, despite not yet having heard it run, for a price that in hindsight was more fair to the seller than the buyer…
Off I went to EuroCarParts for a new Bosch S5 battery, and the battle against deferred maintenance began.
On the plus side, with a new battery she started straight up, and idled smoothly, without any untoward smoke, smells or sounds. Once she was moved outside, I was pleased to notice a lack of oil drips on the garage floor.
I then sorted insurance (nice surprise) and booked her in for an MoT, if only to find out what was wrong…
At this point I had to drive my new purchase for the first time, from the seller to the MoT station. This was especially exciting as it was quite a bright day, and the last time I had a convertible was back in around 2013 when I sold my VX220 Turbo.
The reality was perhaps a little disappointing, I’m driving this car with what felt like 50 pence pieces for tyres, windows that haven’t been cleaned for over two years, and an exhaust that would make a Saxo VTR blush.
After waiting with bated breath, she passed her MOT with no advisories! This meant I could tax her and actually use this machine!
Over the next week or so I did the usual stuff, changed the oil, pollen, air, sparks, brake fluid
Spent a fortune at Design911 (great service, but don’t be intimidated by your local OPC, who are likely to be cheaper for Porsche parts), and dealt with a long list of very minor issues;
- Key fobs
- Bonnet & boot struts
- Heater not working (cabin temp sensor)
- Aux drive belt
- Various bits of trim (I.e. rear arch mudflap things)
- Front tuning forks
- ARB bushes
Sorting things how has offered many generous learning opportunities, and I have learned a lot, had some hurdles to jump (uncooperative drop links and seized caliper bolts anyone?), and was now into this “cheap” car for a further £1,650.
That spend should have told me that the clean MoT pass had of course lulled me into a false sense of security.
Shortly after buying the car I’d booked it in with Revolution for a post-purchase (LOL) inspection.
I took it in, impressed by the other metal they had, but feeling quietly confident that my little car was in reasonable shape…
Cue some concerning (if not surprising) findings;
- Water pump (urgent!)
- AC condensers (necessary)
- Rear tuning forks (ah, so that’s what’s causing that new noise, that I hadn’t noticed before I sorted the noises from the front)
- Aftermarket hood with broken heating element connector (5h1t, but never mind)
- Cracked CV boots (that’ll be something new to learn)
- Minor oil leaks (???)
- Corroded exhaust studs
- Insecure back boxes (bugger)
- Corroded rear brake line, with poor quality previous repair (according to the SH from another specialist, elsewhere in the country)
- Alignment (yes)
- Machine polish (soon)
The car then spent most of the next month without any wheels on the ground.
I was kept busy, and found myself an extra £2,600 lighter. To be fair, this did include a new stalk assembly (I missed my cruise control and wanted a trip computer) and a CarPlay head unit, but those two together only accounted for around £700, so that was still £1,900 of mechanical and trim parts, along with the inspection, AC regas and some work on the exhaust studs.
Several goes to stick the heated window element back on came to naught, so I’ve accepted that my glass rear window isn’t heated.
By now it’s late May.
The car next decides to surprise me with a broken radiator fan, so gets treated to a new one, along with a pretty tidy used OEM rear box, elbows, new clamps, etc. this improves the cabin comfort enormously, and makes the car waaay nicer to drive.
Over the next few months the car gets an alignment (well 2, one rough & ready at Halfords “front camber isn’t adjustable on these mate, and yours is way out” the technician was very helpful and learned something that day, and a proper setup at Spires), Cruise Control & trip got coded in, new front discs & DS2500 pads, and a few other minor bits. Or in other words, another £1,050.
After a busy summer the car went back into Revolution to get the rear brake lines sorted, and investigate any oil leaks - noting that over the preceding 4,000 miles the oil level hadn’t dropped at all. Cue replacement AOS, couple of spark plug tubes.
By now it’s Autumn, taking the Revolution bill, along with some used air vents with cup holder mounts, new cup holders, a replacement bush for the roof, front number plate plinth, and a few other bits, and I’m into the car for another £1,000 or so.
So 10 months and 6,000 miles later, where am I?
I’ve got a pretty well sorted little car, that’s great fun to drive, and that I wouldn’t hesitate to jump into to drive to the other end of the country, or even the other side of Europe.
She still needs a hood polish and a tiny bit of paint to the underside of a sill.
I’ve added a hard top, which certainly makes the car a nicer place to be in winter.
Looking forward to getting her to the odd track day this year, and I’ve picked up some sticky rubber for this.
What conclusions can I share?
I was lucky; I bought a pretty clean, low miles car that flew through her MoT.
I’ve had no major failures.
I’ve done a few bits that were perhaps excessive (CarPlay, cruise, replacement undertray), but most of my spend has been on deferred maintenance.
Nonetheless this is a 21 year old car that has had little maintenance spend before I bought it.
Ignoring the hard top and second set of wheels, I’ve put £6k into this car on top of the purchase price.
I’ve done most of the labour myself.
Had I been unable or unwilling to do the work myself, I would guess that the £6,000 could easily have been £8,000 or even £10,000.
On the plus side though, this car makes me smile more than the M3. It’s much easier to live with that the VX220, and probably at least as much fun. It’s not “blink and you’ve overtaken” fast, but its far from slow, and despite being over 20 years old, it generally acquits itself well – albeit with more cabin rattles than either of our softer sprung Japanese hard top cars.
Edited by FlashBastd on Saturday 15th January 13:06
Edited by FlashBastd on Saturday 20th August 09:32
So now it’s mine, I’ve already put a new battery on, and filled with VPower, back in the drive at home;
She passes the MoT with flying colours, so time for my first wash;
Comes up pretty well
Needs a buff, but that’s to be expected.
The more I used it, the more “round” the tyres became, which was a great relief.
Time for the maintenance to begin, as she’s been sat for a while, I figured it was best to replace all of the consumables;
Oil was pleasingly clean, though to be fair it had been in for less than 300 miles - though also 3 years.
An oil filter tool that I already had fitted nicely;
Oil filter looked fine.
Air filter that came out was OE Porsche, but pretty clean;
Bosch pollen filter also pretty good
I usually rate Mann, so that’s what I used, but the car looked to have been reasonably well maintained.
Beru spark plugs
Old ones were in pretty good shape
Learning how to access the engine bay was interesting, I’d had mostly front engined cars in the past, but even my VX220 Turbo was just under a “lid”
Taking the relevant carpets out did identify some past spillage though;
Addressed with some good scrubbing
My CDR-22 had some sticky knobs and dodgy pixels, so I popped this Alpine in as a temporary measure - worked better with an IPhone 4 than a 12 though…
Swapped out the factory option Fischer C-Box for something more useful;
I noticed that the cabin fan didn’t work, which led to some speculative purchases, but was ultimately identified as a resistor;
I then swapped around the remainder of the “53”s to make sure the rest were sound.
As I was still getting to know the car, I found myself sorting various little jobs;
Replacement wheel crests
These are the old ones, non-genuine, so I didn’t feel bad replacing with non-genuine.
Both keys had failed micro switches, so I had them both refurbished and got new genuine Porsche button sections
This was a great result, and returned some retry knackered keys to pretty much like new.
I’d noticed the wind deflector was vibrating, so bought new clips
I’d also noticed that both the front and read bonnet / boot lids weren’t keen on staying up, I found that Stabilus were the OE supplier, so bought some new struts from Carparts4Less (front) and Design911 (rear).
I had a knocking noise from the front, so after some strictly internet driven research, invested in some new tuning forks from Spyder Performance;
Unfortunately the inaccuracy of the internet bit me in the bum, and the knocking noise was still there…
Next up I decide I was committed, and this noise was annoying, so would swap out all of the front suspension, cue bump stops, coffin arms, dampers, top mounts, bearings and drop links, along with front ARB bushes.
Also note my learning that I should have just waited and done the tuning forks at the same time.
For some reason, despite significant research, I ended up buying my dampers from carparts4less. Carparts4less we’re not the cheapest place to buy the dampers from, which I only realised once I had received them! Upon receipt one had a conical colour come of the other one did not; EuroCarParts exchanged that one for me, which was great, but the replacement also came with a new top nut, which neither of the other two had!
Taking everything apart, the old dampers weren’t actually that bad; a little crusty but they still had good pressure.
It’s around this time that one of my calliper bolts decides it wants to stay in the hub forever, and gives me the learning opportunity of how helicoils work
So, 8 new caliper bolts, and much swearing later, we’re starting to make progress.
While the front end was in the air, I noted that one of the air deflectors underneath was knackered, so something else was added to the basket;
It was around this time that I impulsively opted to replace the wipers and all of the brake disc retaining bolts.
Investigating something under the front, I discovered a historic tracker;
This is a bit weird as I’d found similar on my F80, and I think also on a past Lexus.
With the car back on it’s wheels, I was again reminded of just how significant work bushes are; changing from worn to new tightens up the feel so much.
Next up - the Boxster is back on its wheels, and goes to an actual Porsche specialist for the inspection that it should have had before I bought it…
So the car goes in to Revolution (who were excellent), for a check over, and a possible concern over a noisy water pump.
I later get the call that the car is ready, but there quite a laundry list of issues;
This was not the news I wanted, but did present an explanation for the noise from the engine.
This then led to some pretty significant shopping;
And my getting acquainted with the very friendly and helpful parts desk at OPC Leeds.
So the car spends the next few weeks looking like a hovercraft;
Exploring the water pump etc. identified a damaged rear undertray, so a new one was procured at greater expense that I would have liked.
At the same time various clips were replaced.
I decided to get the wheels and rear ARB powder coated
Clean up some grubby radiators
Paint the lower grills black
Break and repair a rear arch trim clip
Relearn how to tighten up the oil filter housing
Get my Porsche Classic number plate surrounds
While she was off the road, I also plucked up the courage to get the wiring for the trip and cruise, and to place another call to my new OPC Parts friends.
With the front bumper off, I repaired some damaged tabs underneath and decided to try a self adhesive vinyl front plate
Trying to get this straight, and have it covering the holes from the number plate plinth was quite a challenge. The old number plate plinth was damaged, I’d ordered a new one and did eventually and up removing the vinyl item and replacing with the plinth and a proper plate from my local OPC.
I had a go at the corroded exhaust flange bolts myself, but ultimately once back on its wheels it went to the local garage for these to be sorted.
Given it took the garage 2 hours using a ramp and oxyacetylene, I think this was a wise move.
The garage had gifted me some A/C refrigerant to lubricate the replacement condenser O rings, and following an optimistic AC regas I now had working AC!
The next stop was a Halfords Autocentre for a provisional alignment, enough to give me some confidence pottering about that the wheels were all pointing in roughly the right direction.
The guys there were great, but this clearly wasn’t their forte, as I had to explain how to adjust the front camber (reflected in the bill, thankfully).
At this point, I’m thinking everything is sorted, the big money is spent, and I can get on and use the car, so I treat it to a new CarPlay head unit & relocated the climate control.
I'd previously bought a spare stereo surround / vent assembly, knowing it would need to be modified to fit a double din unit. It was only when I removed the old one that I realised a double din had been in there before. The existing DAB aerial should perhaps have alerted me to this, but I'd assumed it was from a previously fitted single din installation.
(Yes, this pic is from later)
Having the climate display right at the bottom isn't ideal, hard to see in 5th, but this isn't a significant hardship.
Within a few days, the car illustrated my misplaced confidence by car generously giving me the opportunity to replace one of the radiators due to a failed resistor
I think this would have been a whole lot easier with the bumper off.
This was sorted I’m time for my first long journey, down to Bicester for the Scramble, popping in to Spires on the way back for a proper alignment, which made the car so much nicer to drive.
What I did notice though was an intermittent vibration, resolved by taking the wheels off and removing the powder coat from the mating faces.
I manage to find a good OEM back box, this was fun as it wasn’t until it was all in bits and I was trying to make it fit, that I realised I was missing a bracket
without the missing bracket
this should have been mounted between the L shaped bracket and the gearbox
Once fitted though that car was so much more pleasant to use.
Into Revolution to get the cruise & trip coded in.
Look, cruise control warning light, AND the outside temperature!
Before the long trip down to Goodwood for the FoS.
After this the main focus was actually using the car, which I did as much as I could. Over those two quite long trips, the car acquitted itself well, performing impeccably, and giving me confidence that maybe, just maybe this hadn’t been a complete financial catastrophe!
There were a few minor issues still remaining though…
The intermittent wipers were terrible, with a delay that was waaaay too long. This turned out to be due to a 911/Boxster S relay. Replaced with a memory type variable item from a Sharan.
Not the relay you want
Next problem was working out why the heater didn’t work; I’d solved the fan previously, but hadn’t noticed that there was no heat until it was turned right up. A replacement cabin temp sensor from Douglas Valley and it was sorted.
I’d noticed that the passenger door didn’t sound quite right, this was largely solved by tightening the upper hinge, though I did also strip the interior door down and tightened up the inevitable loose screw.
Back into Revolution for brake lines, transmission fluid, and to investigate an oil leak that led to a couple of new spark plug tubes and an AOS; yes, I could have done this myself but it just felt easier - the AOS sounds like a pig of a job.
Scored front discs, reported by Revolution back in April, but I now opted to replace with new Brembo discs and to add Ferodo DS2500 pads.
I was concerned that the PAS fluid would be possibly very old, so undid the connection under the passenger side sill and replenished with new.
I had been chucking my phone in the pocket about the climate control, but this could get in the way of the gear lever, so I got hold of a metropole blue phone console and an MagSafe phone mount
Replaced one of the coil packs that hadn’t been replaced back in 2015; 5 were replaced, one wasn’t for some reason.
I’d noticed previously that a bushing for the hood cover was deformed, this went onto my next OPC parts order and fortunately was both inexpensive and very easy to fix
GT3 brake ducts, these were so cheap and so easy to do.
My car has Hi-Fi sound, so door mounted woofers and the external amp, but no rear speakers.
Easy enough to add with the excellent mounts from super_paulie
Not a transformative difference, but does help.
The OEM Metropole blue carpet mats were fine, but the driver side was quite worn under the right heel, so those were replaced, doused with Gtechniq Smart Fabric, and fitted when I next vac’d out the car; with hindsight, this was completely the wrong time of year…
Beyond that I’m hoping the big spends are taken care of, just booked this years service & MoT, so keeping my fingers crossed!
As we are right now, there are of course still some minor niggles; next up on the list will be to sort an intermittent rattle/vibration from the passenger airbag cover; hopefully a contortionist act accompanied by some felt tape will sort that one, but in the meantime wish me luck!
She passes the MoT with flying colours, so time for my first wash;
Comes up pretty well
Needs a buff, but that’s to be expected.
The more I used it, the more “round” the tyres became, which was a great relief.
Time for the maintenance to begin, as she’s been sat for a while, I figured it was best to replace all of the consumables;
Oil was pleasingly clean, though to be fair it had been in for less than 300 miles - though also 3 years.
An oil filter tool that I already had fitted nicely;
Oil filter looked fine.
Air filter that came out was OE Porsche, but pretty clean;
Bosch pollen filter also pretty good
I usually rate Mann, so that’s what I used, but the car looked to have been reasonably well maintained.
Beru spark plugs
Old ones were in pretty good shape
Learning how to access the engine bay was interesting, I’d had mostly front engined cars in the past, but even my VX220 Turbo was just under a “lid”
Taking the relevant carpets out did identify some past spillage though;
Addressed with some good scrubbing
My CDR-22 had some sticky knobs and dodgy pixels, so I popped this Alpine in as a temporary measure - worked better with an IPhone 4 than a 12 though…
Swapped out the factory option Fischer C-Box for something more useful;
I noticed that the cabin fan didn’t work, which led to some speculative purchases, but was ultimately identified as a resistor;
I then swapped around the remainder of the “53”s to make sure the rest were sound.
As I was still getting to know the car, I found myself sorting various little jobs;
Replacement wheel crests
These are the old ones, non-genuine, so I didn’t feel bad replacing with non-genuine.
Both keys had failed micro switches, so I had them both refurbished and got new genuine Porsche button sections
This was a great result, and returned some retry knackered keys to pretty much like new.
I’d noticed the wind deflector was vibrating, so bought new clips
I’d also noticed that both the front and read bonnet / boot lids weren’t keen on staying up, I found that Stabilus were the OE supplier, so bought some new struts from Carparts4Less (front) and Design911 (rear).
I had a knocking noise from the front, so after some strictly internet driven research, invested in some new tuning forks from Spyder Performance;
Unfortunately the inaccuracy of the internet bit me in the bum, and the knocking noise was still there…
Next up I decide I was committed, and this noise was annoying, so would swap out all of the front suspension, cue bump stops, coffin arms, dampers, top mounts, bearings and drop links, along with front ARB bushes.
Also note my learning that I should have just waited and done the tuning forks at the same time.
For some reason, despite significant research, I ended up buying my dampers from carparts4less. Carparts4less we’re not the cheapest place to buy the dampers from, which I only realised once I had received them! Upon receipt one had a conical colour come of the other one did not; EuroCarParts exchanged that one for me, which was great, but the replacement also came with a new top nut, which neither of the other two had!
Taking everything apart, the old dampers weren’t actually that bad; a little crusty but they still had good pressure.
It’s around this time that one of my calliper bolts decides it wants to stay in the hub forever, and gives me the learning opportunity of how helicoils work
So, 8 new caliper bolts, and much swearing later, we’re starting to make progress.
While the front end was in the air, I noted that one of the air deflectors underneath was knackered, so something else was added to the basket;
It was around this time that I impulsively opted to replace the wipers and all of the brake disc retaining bolts.
Investigating something under the front, I discovered a historic tracker;
This is a bit weird as I’d found similar on my F80, and I think also on a past Lexus.
With the car back on it’s wheels, I was again reminded of just how significant work bushes are; changing from worn to new tightens up the feel so much.
Next up - the Boxster is back on its wheels, and goes to an actual Porsche specialist for the inspection that it should have had before I bought it…
So the car goes in to Revolution (who were excellent), for a check over, and a possible concern over a noisy water pump.
I later get the call that the car is ready, but there quite a laundry list of issues;
- Worn water pump
- Corroded AC condensers
- Poor quality section repair to rear brake lines, with the less accessible bits being quite corroded
- Corroded manifold to cat fixings
- Insecure exhaust
- Minor oil weep
- Cracked inner & outer CV boots
- Rear tuning forks
- Broken power connection to the heated rear screen on my aftermarket hood
- Insecure back boxes
This was not the news I wanted, but did present an explanation for the noise from the engine.
This then led to some pretty significant shopping;
- Spyder coffin arms & tuning forks
- Airtex Water pump & low temp thermostat - again from Spyder
- EIS condensers (note, if you want to modify fit the Porsche air deflectors, be careful, they are easy to puncture - hisssssss
- Mahle fuel filter (easy to do with the coolant pipes disconnected)
- GKN CV boots
And my getting acquainted with the very friendly and helpful parts desk at OPC Leeds.
So the car spends the next few weeks looking like a hovercraft;
Exploring the water pump etc. identified a damaged rear undertray, so a new one was procured at greater expense that I would have liked.
At the same time various clips were replaced.
I decided to get the wheels and rear ARB powder coated
Clean up some grubby radiators
Paint the lower grills black
Break and repair a rear arch trim clip
Relearn how to tighten up the oil filter housing
Get my Porsche Classic number plate surrounds
While she was off the road, I also plucked up the courage to get the wiring for the trip and cruise, and to place another call to my new OPC Parts friends.
With the front bumper off, I repaired some damaged tabs underneath and decided to try a self adhesive vinyl front plate
Trying to get this straight, and have it covering the holes from the number plate plinth was quite a challenge. The old number plate plinth was damaged, I’d ordered a new one and did eventually and up removing the vinyl item and replacing with the plinth and a proper plate from my local OPC.
I had a go at the corroded exhaust flange bolts myself, but ultimately once back on its wheels it went to the local garage for these to be sorted.
Given it took the garage 2 hours using a ramp and oxyacetylene, I think this was a wise move.
The garage had gifted me some A/C refrigerant to lubricate the replacement condenser O rings, and following an optimistic AC regas I now had working AC!
The next stop was a Halfords Autocentre for a provisional alignment, enough to give me some confidence pottering about that the wheels were all pointing in roughly the right direction.
The guys there were great, but this clearly wasn’t their forte, as I had to explain how to adjust the front camber (reflected in the bill, thankfully).
At this point, I’m thinking everything is sorted, the big money is spent, and I can get on and use the car, so I treat it to a new CarPlay head unit & relocated the climate control.
I'd previously bought a spare stereo surround / vent assembly, knowing it would need to be modified to fit a double din unit. It was only when I removed the old one that I realised a double din had been in there before. The existing DAB aerial should perhaps have alerted me to this, but I'd assumed it was from a previously fitted single din installation.
(Yes, this pic is from later)
Having the climate display right at the bottom isn't ideal, hard to see in 5th, but this isn't a significant hardship.
Within a few days, the car illustrated my misplaced confidence by car generously giving me the opportunity to replace one of the radiators due to a failed resistor
I think this would have been a whole lot easier with the bumper off.
This was sorted I’m time for my first long journey, down to Bicester for the Scramble, popping in to Spires on the way back for a proper alignment, which made the car so much nicer to drive.
What I did notice though was an intermittent vibration, resolved by taking the wheels off and removing the powder coat from the mating faces.
I manage to find a good OEM back box, this was fun as it wasn’t until it was all in bits and I was trying to make it fit, that I realised I was missing a bracket
without the missing bracket
this should have been mounted between the L shaped bracket and the gearbox
Once fitted though that car was so much more pleasant to use.
Into Revolution to get the cruise & trip coded in.
Look, cruise control warning light, AND the outside temperature!
Before the long trip down to Goodwood for the FoS.
After this the main focus was actually using the car, which I did as much as I could. Over those two quite long trips, the car acquitted itself well, performing impeccably, and giving me confidence that maybe, just maybe this hadn’t been a complete financial catastrophe!
There were a few minor issues still remaining though…
The intermittent wipers were terrible, with a delay that was waaaay too long. This turned out to be due to a 911/Boxster S relay. Replaced with a memory type variable item from a Sharan.
Not the relay you want
Next problem was working out why the heater didn’t work; I’d solved the fan previously, but hadn’t noticed that there was no heat until it was turned right up. A replacement cabin temp sensor from Douglas Valley and it was sorted.
I’d noticed that the passenger door didn’t sound quite right, this was largely solved by tightening the upper hinge, though I did also strip the interior door down and tightened up the inevitable loose screw.
Back into Revolution for brake lines, transmission fluid, and to investigate an oil leak that led to a couple of new spark plug tubes and an AOS; yes, I could have done this myself but it just felt easier - the AOS sounds like a pig of a job.
Scored front discs, reported by Revolution back in April, but I now opted to replace with new Brembo discs and to add Ferodo DS2500 pads.
I was concerned that the PAS fluid would be possibly very old, so undid the connection under the passenger side sill and replenished with new.
I had been chucking my phone in the pocket about the climate control, but this could get in the way of the gear lever, so I got hold of a metropole blue phone console and an MagSafe phone mount
Replaced one of the coil packs that hadn’t been replaced back in 2015; 5 were replaced, one wasn’t for some reason.
I’d noticed previously that a bushing for the hood cover was deformed, this went onto my next OPC parts order and fortunately was both inexpensive and very easy to fix
GT3 brake ducts, these were so cheap and so easy to do.
My car has Hi-Fi sound, so door mounted woofers and the external amp, but no rear speakers.
Easy enough to add with the excellent mounts from super_paulie
Not a transformative difference, but does help.
The OEM Metropole blue carpet mats were fine, but the driver side was quite worn under the right heel, so those were replaced, doused with Gtechniq Smart Fabric, and fitted when I next vac’d out the car; with hindsight, this was completely the wrong time of year…
Beyond that I’m hoping the big spends are taken care of, just booked this years service & MoT, so keeping my fingers crossed!
As we are right now, there are of course still some minor niggles; next up on the list will be to sort an intermittent rattle/vibration from the passenger airbag cover; hopefully a contortionist act accompanied by some felt tape will sort that one, but in the meantime wish me luck!
Sounds like it’s been a fair bit for work but his getting there now.
I guess part of the problem is that these cost a fair bit to fun and as they get cheaper the maintenance gets skipped or bodged.
A family member had an early Boxster in the same colour and it was a nice thing to drive. Not crazy fast, but it felt good and made a lovely noise.
I guess part of the problem is that these cost a fair bit to fun and as they get cheaper the maintenance gets skipped or bodged.
A family member had an early Boxster in the same colour and it was a nice thing to drive. Not crazy fast, but it felt good and made a lovely noise.
FlashBastd said:
So now it’s mine, I’ve already put a new battery on, and filled with VPower, back in the drive at home;
She passes the MoT with flying colours, so time for my first wash;
Comes up pretty well
Needs a buff, but that’s to be expected.
The more I used it, the more “round” the tyres became, which was a great relief.
Time for the maintenance to begin, as she’s been sat for a while, I figured it was best to replace all of the consumables;
Oil was pleasingly clean, though to be fair it had been in for less than 300 miles - though also 3 years.
An oil filter tool that I already had fitted nicely;
Oil filter looked fine.
Air filter that came out was OE Porsche, but pretty clean;
Bosch pollen filter also pretty good
I usually rate Mann, so that’s what I used, but the car looked to have been reasonably well maintained.
Beru spark plugs
Old ones were in pretty good shape
Learning how to access the engine bay was interesting, I’d had mostly front engined cars in the past, but even my VX220 Turbo was just under a “lid”
Taking the relevant carpets out did identify some past spillage though;
Addressed with some good scrubbing
My CDR-22 had some sticky knobs and dodgy pixels, so I popped this Alpine in as a temporary measure - worked better with an IPhone 4 than a 12 though…
Swapped out the factory option Fischer C-Box for something more useful;
I noticed that the cabin fan didn’t work, which led to some speculative purchases, but was ultimately identified as a resistor;
I then swapped around the remainder of the “53”s to make sure the rest were sound.
As I was still getting to know the car, I found myself sorting various little jobs;
Replacement wheel crests
These are the old ones, non-genuine, so I didn’t feel bad replacing with non-genuine.
Both keys had failed micro switches, so I had them both refurbished and got new genuine Porsche button sections
This was a great result, and returned some retry knackered keys to pretty much like new.
I’d noticed the wind deflector was vibrating, so bought new clips
I’d also noticed that both the front and read bonnet / boot lids weren’t keen on staying up, I found that Stabilus were the OE supplier, so bought some new struts from Carparts4Less (front) and Design911 (rear).
I had a knocking noise from the front, so after some strictly internet driven research, invested in some new tuning forks from Spyder Performance;
Unfortunately the inaccuracy of the internet bit me in the bum, and the knocking noise was still there…
Next up I decide I was committed, and this noise was annoying, so would swap out all of the front suspension, cue bump stops, coffin arms, dampers, top mounts, bearings and drop links, along with front ARB bushes.
Also note my learning that I should have just waited and done the tuning forks at the same time.
For some reason, despite significant research, I ended up buying my dampers from carparts4less. Carparts4less we’re not the cheapest place to buy the dampers from, which I only realised once I had received them! Upon receipt one had a conical colour come of the other one did not; EuroCarParts exchanged that one for me, which was great, but the replacement also came with a new top nut, which neither of the other two had!
Taking everything apart, the old dampers weren’t actually that bad; a little crusty but they still had good pressure.
It’s around this time that one of my calliper bolts decides it wants to stay in the hub forever, and gives me the learning opportunity of how helicoils work
So, 8 new caliper bolts, and much swearing later, we’re starting to make progress.
While the front end was in the air, I noted that one of the air deflectors underneath was knackered, so something else was added to the basket;
It was around this time that I impulsively opted to replace the wipers and all of the brake disc retaining bolts.
Investigating something under the front, I discovered a historic tracker;
This is a bit weird as I’d found similar on my F80, and I think also on a past Lexus.
With the car back on it’s wheels, I was again reminded of just how significant work bushes are; changing from worn to new tightens up the feel so much.
Next up - the Boxster is back on its wheels, and goes to an actual Porsche specialist for the inspection that it should have had before I bought it…
So the car goes in to Revolution (who were excellent), for a check over, and a possible concern over a noisy water pump.
I later get the call that the car is ready, but there quite a laundry list of issues;
This was not the news I wanted, but did present an explanation for the noise from the engine.
This then led to some pretty significant shopping;
And my getting acquainted with the very friendly and helpful parts desk at OPC Leeds.
So the car spends the next few weeks looking like a hovercraft;
Exploring the water pump etc. identified a damaged rear undertray, so a new one was procured at greater expense that I would have liked.
At the same time various clips were replaced.
I decided to get the wheels and rear ARB powder coated
Clean up some grubby radiators
Paint the lower grills black
Break and repair a rear arch trim clip
Relearn how to tighten up the oil filter housing
Get my Porsche Classic number plate surrounds
While she was off the road, I also plucked up the courage to get the wiring for the trip and cruise, and to place another call to my new OPC Parts friends.
With the front bumper off, I repaired some damaged tabs underneath and decided to try a self adhesive vinyl front plate
Trying to get this straight, and have it covering the holes from the number plate plinth was quite a challenge. The old number plate plinth was damaged, I’d ordered a new one and did eventually and up removing the vinyl item and replacing with the plinth and a proper plate from my local OPC.
I had a go at the corroded exhaust flange bolts myself, but ultimately once back on its wheels it went to the local garage for these to be sorted.
Given it took the garage 2 hours using a ramp and oxyacetylene, I think this was a wise move.
The garage had gifted me some A/C refrigerant to lubricate the replacement condenser O rings, and following an optimistic AC regas I now had working AC!
The next stop was a Halfords Autocentre for a provisional alignment, enough to give me some confidence pottering about that the wheels were all pointing in roughly the right direction.
The guys there were great, but this clearly wasn’t their forte, as I had to explain how to adjust the front camber (reflected in the bill, thankfully).
At this point, I’m thinking everything is sorted, the big money is spent, and I can get on and use the car, so I treat it to a new CarPlay head unit & relocated the climate control.
I'd previously bought a spare stereo surround / vent assembly, knowing it would need to be modified to fit a double din unit. It was only when I removed the old one that I realised a double din had been in there before. The existing DAB aerial should perhaps have alerted me to this, but I'd assumed it was from a previously fitted single din installation.
(Yes, this pic is from later)
Having the climate display right at the bottom isn't ideal, hard to see in 5th, but this isn't a significant hardship.
Within a few days, the car illustrated my misplaced confidence by car generously giving me the opportunity to replace one of the radiators due to a failed resistor
I think this would have been a whole lot easier with the bumper off.
This was sorted I’m time for my first long journey, down to Bicester for the Scramble, popping in to Spires on the way back for a proper alignment, which made the car so much nicer to drive.
What I did notice though was an intermittent vibration, resolved by taking the wheels off and removing the powder coat from the mating faces.
I manage to find a good OEM back box, this was fun as it wasn’t until it was all in bits and I was trying to make it fit, that I realised I was missing a bracket
without the missing bracket
this should have been mounted between the L shaped bracket and the gearbox
Once fitted though that car was so much more pleasant to use.
Into Revolution to get the cruise & trip coded in.
Look, cruise control warning light, AND the outside temperature!
Before the long trip down to Goodwood for the FoS.
After this the main focus was actually using the car, which I did as much as I could. Over those two quite long trips, the car acquitted itself well, performing impeccably, and giving me confidence that maybe, just maybe this hadn’t been a complete financial catastrophe!
There were a few minor issues still remaining though…
The intermittent wipers were terrible, with a delay that was waaaay too long. This turned out to be due to a 911/Boxster S relay. Replaced with a memory type variable item from a Sharan.
Not the relay you want
Next problem was working out why the heater didn’t work; I’d solved the fan previously, but hadn’t noticed that there was no heat until it was turned right up. A replacement cabin temp sensor from Douglas Valley and it was sorted.
I’d noticed that the passenger door didn’t sound quite right, this was largely solved by tightening the upper hinge, though I did also strip the interior door down and tightened up the inevitable loose screw.
Back into Revolution for brake lines, transmission fluid, and to investigate an oil leak that led to a couple of new spark plug tubes and an AOS; yes, I could have done this myself but it just felt easier - the AOS sounds like a pig of a job.
Scored front discs, reported by Revolution back in April, but I now opted to replace with new Brembo discs and to add Ferodo DS2500 pads.
I was concerned that the PAS fluid would be possibly very old, so undid the connection under the passenger side sill and replenished with new.
I had been chucking my phone in the pocket about the climate control, but this could get in the way of the gear lever, so I got hold of a metropole blue phone console and an MagSafe phone mount
Replaced one of the coil packs that hadn’t been replaced back in 2015; 5 were replaced, one wasn’t for some reason.
I’d noticed previously that a bushing for the hood cover was deformed, this went onto my next OPC parts order and fortunately was both inexpensive and very easy to fix
GT3 brake ducts, these were so cheap and so easy to do.
My car has Hi-Fi sound, so door mounted woofers and the external amp, but no rear speakers.
Easy enough to add with the excellent mounts from super_paulie
Not a transformative difference, but does help.
The OEM Metropole blue carpet mats were fine, but the driver side was quite worn under the right heel, so those were replaced, doused with Gtechniq Smart Fabric, and fitted when I next vac’d out the car; with hindsight, this was completely the wrong time of year…
Beyond that I’m hoping the big spends are taken care of, just booked this years service & MoT, so keeping my fingers crossed!
As we are right now, there are of course still some minor niggles; next up on the list will be to sort an intermittent rattle/vibration from the passenger airbag cover; hopefully a contortionist act accompanied by some felt tape will sort that one, but in the meantime wish me luck!
I owned this car around 6 years ago!She passes the MoT with flying colours, so time for my first wash;
Comes up pretty well
Needs a buff, but that’s to be expected.
The more I used it, the more “round” the tyres became, which was a great relief.
Time for the maintenance to begin, as she’s been sat for a while, I figured it was best to replace all of the consumables;
Oil was pleasingly clean, though to be fair it had been in for less than 300 miles - though also 3 years.
An oil filter tool that I already had fitted nicely;
Oil filter looked fine.
Air filter that came out was OE Porsche, but pretty clean;
Bosch pollen filter also pretty good
I usually rate Mann, so that’s what I used, but the car looked to have been reasonably well maintained.
Beru spark plugs
Old ones were in pretty good shape
Learning how to access the engine bay was interesting, I’d had mostly front engined cars in the past, but even my VX220 Turbo was just under a “lid”
Taking the relevant carpets out did identify some past spillage though;
Addressed with some good scrubbing
My CDR-22 had some sticky knobs and dodgy pixels, so I popped this Alpine in as a temporary measure - worked better with an IPhone 4 than a 12 though…
Swapped out the factory option Fischer C-Box for something more useful;
I noticed that the cabin fan didn’t work, which led to some speculative purchases, but was ultimately identified as a resistor;
I then swapped around the remainder of the “53”s to make sure the rest were sound.
As I was still getting to know the car, I found myself sorting various little jobs;
Replacement wheel crests
These are the old ones, non-genuine, so I didn’t feel bad replacing with non-genuine.
Both keys had failed micro switches, so I had them both refurbished and got new genuine Porsche button sections
This was a great result, and returned some retry knackered keys to pretty much like new.
I’d noticed the wind deflector was vibrating, so bought new clips
I’d also noticed that both the front and read bonnet / boot lids weren’t keen on staying up, I found that Stabilus were the OE supplier, so bought some new struts from Carparts4Less (front) and Design911 (rear).
I had a knocking noise from the front, so after some strictly internet driven research, invested in some new tuning forks from Spyder Performance;
Unfortunately the inaccuracy of the internet bit me in the bum, and the knocking noise was still there…
Next up I decide I was committed, and this noise was annoying, so would swap out all of the front suspension, cue bump stops, coffin arms, dampers, top mounts, bearings and drop links, along with front ARB bushes.
Also note my learning that I should have just waited and done the tuning forks at the same time.
For some reason, despite significant research, I ended up buying my dampers from carparts4less. Carparts4less we’re not the cheapest place to buy the dampers from, which I only realised once I had received them! Upon receipt one had a conical colour come of the other one did not; EuroCarParts exchanged that one for me, which was great, but the replacement also came with a new top nut, which neither of the other two had!
Taking everything apart, the old dampers weren’t actually that bad; a little crusty but they still had good pressure.
It’s around this time that one of my calliper bolts decides it wants to stay in the hub forever, and gives me the learning opportunity of how helicoils work
So, 8 new caliper bolts, and much swearing later, we’re starting to make progress.
While the front end was in the air, I noted that one of the air deflectors underneath was knackered, so something else was added to the basket;
It was around this time that I impulsively opted to replace the wipers and all of the brake disc retaining bolts.
Investigating something under the front, I discovered a historic tracker;
This is a bit weird as I’d found similar on my F80, and I think also on a past Lexus.
With the car back on it’s wheels, I was again reminded of just how significant work bushes are; changing from worn to new tightens up the feel so much.
Next up - the Boxster is back on its wheels, and goes to an actual Porsche specialist for the inspection that it should have had before I bought it…
So the car goes in to Revolution (who were excellent), for a check over, and a possible concern over a noisy water pump.
I later get the call that the car is ready, but there quite a laundry list of issues;
- Worn water pump
- Corroded AC condensers
- Poor quality section repair to rear brake lines, with the less accessible bits being quite corroded
- Corroded manifold to cat fixings
- Insecure exhaust
- Minor oil weep
- Cracked inner & outer CV boots
- Rear tuning forks
- Broken power connection to the heated rear screen on my aftermarket hood
- Insecure back boxes
This was not the news I wanted, but did present an explanation for the noise from the engine.
This then led to some pretty significant shopping;
- Spyder coffin arms & tuning forks
- Airtex Water pump & low temp thermostat - again from Spyder
- EIS condensers (note, if you want to modify fit the Porsche air deflectors, be careful, they are easy to puncture - hisssssss
- Mahle fuel filter (easy to do with the coolant pipes disconnected)
- GKN CV boots
And my getting acquainted with the very friendly and helpful parts desk at OPC Leeds.
So the car spends the next few weeks looking like a hovercraft;
Exploring the water pump etc. identified a damaged rear undertray, so a new one was procured at greater expense that I would have liked.
At the same time various clips were replaced.
I decided to get the wheels and rear ARB powder coated
Clean up some grubby radiators
Paint the lower grills black
Break and repair a rear arch trim clip
Relearn how to tighten up the oil filter housing
Get my Porsche Classic number plate surrounds
While she was off the road, I also plucked up the courage to get the wiring for the trip and cruise, and to place another call to my new OPC Parts friends.
With the front bumper off, I repaired some damaged tabs underneath and decided to try a self adhesive vinyl front plate
Trying to get this straight, and have it covering the holes from the number plate plinth was quite a challenge. The old number plate plinth was damaged, I’d ordered a new one and did eventually and up removing the vinyl item and replacing with the plinth and a proper plate from my local OPC.
I had a go at the corroded exhaust flange bolts myself, but ultimately once back on its wheels it went to the local garage for these to be sorted.
Given it took the garage 2 hours using a ramp and oxyacetylene, I think this was a wise move.
The garage had gifted me some A/C refrigerant to lubricate the replacement condenser O rings, and following an optimistic AC regas I now had working AC!
The next stop was a Halfords Autocentre for a provisional alignment, enough to give me some confidence pottering about that the wheels were all pointing in roughly the right direction.
The guys there were great, but this clearly wasn’t their forte, as I had to explain how to adjust the front camber (reflected in the bill, thankfully).
At this point, I’m thinking everything is sorted, the big money is spent, and I can get on and use the car, so I treat it to a new CarPlay head unit & relocated the climate control.
I'd previously bought a spare stereo surround / vent assembly, knowing it would need to be modified to fit a double din unit. It was only when I removed the old one that I realised a double din had been in there before. The existing DAB aerial should perhaps have alerted me to this, but I'd assumed it was from a previously fitted single din installation.
(Yes, this pic is from later)
Having the climate display right at the bottom isn't ideal, hard to see in 5th, but this isn't a significant hardship.
Within a few days, the car illustrated my misplaced confidence by car generously giving me the opportunity to replace one of the radiators due to a failed resistor
I think this would have been a whole lot easier with the bumper off.
This was sorted I’m time for my first long journey, down to Bicester for the Scramble, popping in to Spires on the way back for a proper alignment, which made the car so much nicer to drive.
What I did notice though was an intermittent vibration, resolved by taking the wheels off and removing the powder coat from the mating faces.
I manage to find a good OEM back box, this was fun as it wasn’t until it was all in bits and I was trying to make it fit, that I realised I was missing a bracket
without the missing bracket
this should have been mounted between the L shaped bracket and the gearbox
Once fitted though that car was so much more pleasant to use.
Into Revolution to get the cruise & trip coded in.
Look, cruise control warning light, AND the outside temperature!
Before the long trip down to Goodwood for the FoS.
After this the main focus was actually using the car, which I did as much as I could. Over those two quite long trips, the car acquitted itself well, performing impeccably, and giving me confidence that maybe, just maybe this hadn’t been a complete financial catastrophe!
There were a few minor issues still remaining though…
The intermittent wipers were terrible, with a delay that was waaaay too long. This turned out to be due to a 911/Boxster S relay. Replaced with a memory type variable item from a Sharan.
Not the relay you want
Next problem was working out why the heater didn’t work; I’d solved the fan previously, but hadn’t noticed that there was no heat until it was turned right up. A replacement cabin temp sensor from Douglas Valley and it was sorted.
I’d noticed that the passenger door didn’t sound quite right, this was largely solved by tightening the upper hinge, though I did also strip the interior door down and tightened up the inevitable loose screw.
Back into Revolution for brake lines, transmission fluid, and to investigate an oil leak that led to a couple of new spark plug tubes and an AOS; yes, I could have done this myself but it just felt easier - the AOS sounds like a pig of a job.
Scored front discs, reported by Revolution back in April, but I now opted to replace with new Brembo discs and to add Ferodo DS2500 pads.
I was concerned that the PAS fluid would be possibly very old, so undid the connection under the passenger side sill and replenished with new.
I had been chucking my phone in the pocket about the climate control, but this could get in the way of the gear lever, so I got hold of a metropole blue phone console and an MagSafe phone mount
Replaced one of the coil packs that hadn’t been replaced back in 2015; 5 were replaced, one wasn’t for some reason.
I’d noticed previously that a bushing for the hood cover was deformed, this went onto my next OPC parts order and fortunately was both inexpensive and very easy to fix
GT3 brake ducts, these were so cheap and so easy to do.
My car has Hi-Fi sound, so door mounted woofers and the external amp, but no rear speakers.
Easy enough to add with the excellent mounts from super_paulie
Not a transformative difference, but does help.
The OEM Metropole blue carpet mats were fine, but the driver side was quite worn under the right heel, so those were replaced, doused with Gtechniq Smart Fabric, and fitted when I next vac’d out the car; with hindsight, this was completely the wrong time of year…
Beyond that I’m hoping the big spends are taken care of, just booked this years service & MoT, so keeping my fingers crossed!
As we are right now, there are of course still some minor niggles; next up on the list will be to sort an intermittent rattle/vibration from the passenger airbag cover; hopefully a contortionist act accompanied by some felt tape will sort that one, but in the meantime wish me luck!
Looks like a lovely motor! I like your attention to detail and thorough approach to maintenance. It makes absolutely no financial sense whatsoever but there is something quite nice about running an old Porsche which is kept I'm great order.
I have an 05 987 which I bought about 3 yrs ago. Your post and description of the work you've done on your 986 is very very similar to the work I've done on mine to bring it back up to a good standard.
I'm about £12k in I think over 3 years. I've had nearly all of the work done by my local specialist though (Strasse in Leeds).
I have an 05 987 which I bought about 3 yrs ago. Your post and description of the work you've done on your 986 is very very similar to the work I've done on mine to bring it back up to a good standard.
I'm about £12k in I think over 3 years. I've had nearly all of the work done by my local specialist though (Strasse in Leeds).
Edited by John Laverick on Sunday 16th January 21:41
John Laverick said:
Looks like a lovely motor! I like your attention to detail and thorough approach to maintenance. It makes absolutely no financial sense whatsoever but there is something quite nice about running an old Porsche which is kept I'm great order.
I have an 05 987 which I bought about 3 yrs ago. Your post and description of the work you've done on your 986 is very very similar to the work I've done on mine to bring it back up to a good standard.
I'm about £12k in I think over 3 years. I've had nearly all of the work done by my local specialist though (Strasse in Leeds).
Cheers, we seem to be very lucky around Leeds; Porschetek, Strasse, Revolution and RPM all seeming to have good reputations.I have an 05 987 which I bought about 3 yrs ago. Your post and description of the work you've done on your 986 is very very similar to the work I've done on mine to bring it back up to a good standard.
I'm about £12k in I think over 3 years. I've had nearly all of the work done by my local specialist though (Strasse in Leeds).
Edited by John Laverick on Sunday 16th January 21:41
You are absolutely right though about no financial sense; financially I’d have been better breaking this one, and instead buying a 987S retail. It’s been a good experience though, and I do enjoy doing some of the fettling myself.
edoverheels said:
Wow
That is a lot of work. Worth it. Everyone needs a convertible.
Don’t keep adding up the costs. It doesn’t change anything and just makes you feel worse.
Good to keep a record, but I agree that ignoring the “sum” function is a good idea!That is a lot of work. Worth it. Everyone needs a convertible.
Don’t keep adding up the costs. It doesn’t change anything and just makes you feel worse.
DuncanM said:
Really enjoyed reading this, 9 owners is a lot but it looks like it's now in the right hands 
It is, and nearly put me off. To be fair though two were husband and wife, and it was 20 years old when I bought it. These cars do seem to attract a lot of short term ownership. That probably doesn’t help with the deferred maintenance - if the car passes an MoT, only gets used for 2k/year, why spend more money on it? - certainly not my view, but an understandable perspective.jamie w said:
Enjoyed that, thanks.
Should be mandatory reading for anyone contemplating a 986 purchase and hoping it will be problem free and inexpensive to run
Absolutely, I love it when someone with a late model A class on PCP looks at a Boxster thinking it’ll be cheaper to run.Should be mandatory reading for anyone contemplating a 986 purchase and hoping it will be problem free and inexpensive to run
Court_S said:
Sounds like it’s been a fair bit for work but his getting there now.
I guess part of the problem is that these cost a fair bit to fun and as they get cheaper the maintenance gets skipped or bodged.
A family member had an early Boxster in the same colour and it was a nice thing to drive. Not crazy fast, but it felt good and made a lovely noise.
Exactly that, it’s nothing like as quick as my old M3, but it’s quick enough to be good fun.I guess part of the problem is that these cost a fair bit to fun and as they get cheaper the maintenance gets skipped or bodged.
A family member had an early Boxster in the same colour and it was a nice thing to drive. Not crazy fast, but it felt good and made a lovely noise.
Mikebentley said:
Fair play OP and great write up. You’ve saved this car and clearly enjoy it.
Cheers, if only I’d known when I bought it just how much saving it needed!I certainly do enjoy it though.
Edited by FlashBastd on Sunday 16th January 22:16
FlashBastd said:
John Laverick said:
Looks like a lovely motor! I like your attention to detail and thorough approach to maintenance. It makes absolutely no financial sense whatsoever but there is something quite nice about running an old Porsche which is kept I'm great order.
I have an 05 987 which I bought about 3 yrs ago. Your post and description of the work you've done on your 986 is very very similar to the work I've done on mine to bring it back up to a good standard.
I'm about £12k in I think over 3 years. I've had nearly all of the work done by my local specialist though (Strasse in Leeds).
Cheers, we seem to be very lucky around Leeds; Porschetek, Strasse, Revolution and RPM all seeming to have good reputations.I have an 05 987 which I bought about 3 yrs ago. Your post and description of the work you've done on your 986 is very very similar to the work I've done on mine to bring it back up to a good standard.
I'm about £12k in I think over 3 years. I've had nearly all of the work done by my local specialist though (Strasse in Leeds).
Edited by John Laverick on Sunday 16th January 21:41
You are absolutely right though about no financial sense; financially I’d have been better breaking this one, and instead buying a 987S retail. It’s been a good experience though, and I do enjoy doing some of the fettling myself.
I've used Strasse on my boxster for 3yrs but I must admit they feel like they're getting expensive the last couple of times I've been.
I took my previous Cayman to Revolution and I'm going to go back to them next time as M I remember them being good value for money.
Cambs_Stuart said:
Really interesting thread, and a really thorough maintenance catch up of the car.
Are you planning to take it on track?
Cheers, they say a picture speaks a thousand words, but in this case I guess a simple “yes” would have sufficed;Are you planning to take it on track?
986.2 wheels & tyres, actually a little wider at the front (215 vs 205) and narrower at the rear (235 vs 255) than the standard size, so might make it a touch sharper at the front. In any case should have lots of grip - so going faster when it does let go!
Edited by FlashBastd on Monday 17th January 10:27
Edited by FlashBastd on Monday 17th January 11:33
Edited by FlashBastd on Monday 17th January 11:34
Edited by FlashBastd on Monday 17th January 11:35
Edited by FlashBastd on Saturday 20th August 08:57
R56Cooper said:
Great write up, I always find these threads the most interesting!
Also love your style "gives me the learning opportunity of how helicoils work", there are no challenges, just opportunities to learn!
Cheers, there’s no point in getting too worried about it; it’s not the only car in the family, and with a bit of planning I shouldn’t need to have 2 off the rod at the same time.Also love your style "gives me the learning opportunity of how helicoils work", there are no challenges, just opportunities to learn!
Learning to do stuff yourself is so satisfying, and gives much better understanding of how the car works. I do cheat sometimes though and get some work done by a garage.
Worst case scenario I can always get it dragged out and taken to someone who knows what they’re doing!
Was more worrying with the M3, which was obviously much more complex and expensive.
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