2003 Porsche Boxster S

2003 Porsche Boxster S

Author
Discussion

TheLordJohn

5,746 posts

145 months

Tuesday 9th May 2017
quotequote all
geraintthomas said:
Ah for me it has to be a manual coupe, nothing else smile
Same as mine, then wink I think they'll always be the most desirable from a drivers POV.
That one isn't even worth £6.5k, TBH. Maybe worth £4k if you were to do the engine rebuild yourself and have it as a weekend and track car.
Anything other than that wouldn't make sense, financially.

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Tuesday 9th May 2017
quotequote all
TheLordJohn said:
Same as mine, then wink I think they'll always be the most desirable from a drivers POV.
That one isn't even worth £6.5k, TBH. Maybe worth £4k if you were to do the engine rebuild yourself and have it as a weekend and track car.
Anything other than that wouldn't make sense, financially.
Totally agree, definitely not worth that. I normally buy a car that's mechanically sound but with the paintwork being a bit iffy, because I know I can make it look new again. Luckily this Boxster came in pretty amazing condition, it was just incredibly basic.

Looking at what I've done so far, it's quite extensive!

- Full detail with 2-stage paint correction
- Roof coated with hydrophobic sealant
- Exhaust Bypass Pipes
- 18" 987 Boxster S alloys in anthracite
- Android In-Car Entertainment
- One-touch roof relay
- Coloured centre caps
- Front Cree LED DRL's
- Bi-Xenon Headlights with H1 5000k bulbs
- Rear LED lights
- Matt black rear badge
- Replaced all Porsche caliper decals
- Wheel nut caps
- Parking Sensors
- Aluminium dust caps
- LED Cree indicators
- LED Cree numberplate bulbs
- Hybrid aero wipers
- Silver ash tray
- Original Porsche mats
- Ambient night footwell lighting
- Courtesy footwell lighting
- Door sill 'Porsche' umbrella
- New rigid brake lines all round
- New front brake hoses
- New rear control arms
- New drivers window regulator
- New coolant cap

Medic-one

3,105 posts

202 months

Tuesday 9th May 2017
quotequote all
geraintthomas said:
Looking at what I've done so far, it's quite extensive!

- Full detail with 2-stage paint correction
- Roof coated with hydrophobic sealant
- Exhaust Bypass Pipes
- 18" 987 Boxster S alloys in anthracite
- Android In-Car Entertainment
- One-touch roof relay
- Coloured centre caps
- Front Cree LED DRL's
- Bi-Xenon Headlights with H1 5000k bulbs
- Rear LED lights
- Matt black rear badge
- Replaced all Porsche caliper decals
- Wheel nut caps
- Parking Sensors
- Aluminium dust caps
- LED Cree indicators
- LED Cree numberplate bulbs
- Hybrid aero wipers
- Silver ash tray
- Original Porsche mats
- Ambient night footwell lighting
- Courtesy footwell lighting
- Door sill 'Porsche' umbrella
- New rigid brake lines all round
- New front brake hoses
- New rear control arms
- New drivers window regulator
- New coolant cap
Impressive indeed, and with a stunning car as a result!

You wouldn't fancy reposting that list above again, but then with the (rough) costs you've spend on each item would you ? I'm still debating getting a 986 and everytime i saw a black one i'm like 'nah', but then every time you update you this topic i go looking for black ones! :-D

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Tuesday 9th May 2017
quotequote all
Of course!

This is VERY rough.

- Full detail with 2-stage paint correction - Free (I did it)
- Roof coated with hydrophobic sealant - £12 (product)
- Exhaust Bypass Pipes - £130
- 18" 987 Boxster S alloys in anthracite - £500
- Android In-Car Entertainment - £300 (inc. fascias)
- One-touch roof relay - £20
- Coloured centre caps - £10
- Front Cree LED DRL's - £30
- Bi-Xenon Headlights with H1 5000k bulbs - £100 (inc. HID kit, lenses, dremmel and glue)
- Rear LED lights - £110
- Matt black rear badge - £10 (spray & pads)
- Replaced all Porsche caliper decals - £5
- Wheel nut caps - £5
- Parking Sensors - £15
- Aluminium dust caps - £5
- LED Cree indicators - £30
- LED Cree numberplate bulbs - £10
- Hybrid aero wipers - £10
- Silver ash tray - £12 (spray & lacquer)
- Original Porsche mats - £30 (used)
- Ambient night footwell lighting - £10
- Courtesy footwell lighting - £10
- Door sill 'Porsche' umbrella - £5 (plain umbrella with calliper decal on it!)

Total: £1,369

Maintenance:
- New rigid brake lines all round - £300
- New front brake hoses - £40
- New rear control arms - £150
- New drivers window regulator - £80
- New coolant cap - £10

Total: £1,949

Consumables:
- 4x tyres - £450
- All new brake discs & pads - £230

Total: £2,629

Thought I'd break up the list into things I wanted to do, and things I had to do. Some are incredibly cheap because I do everything myself. Parking sensors are eBay sensors that I put in myself, hence only £15.

Medic-one

3,105 posts

202 months

Wednesday 10th May 2017
quotequote all

Cheers much appreciated!

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Wednesday 10th May 2017
quotequote all
Had a productive day today!

Caught up with a friend of mine who owned a lovely Corvette C4.







After that, I couldn’t stop staring at the gap beneath the radio



So I tried to make a temporary fascia to fill it.

Found an old drawer that I was throwing out and it was the same thickness











Sprayed it matte black





Voila!



It’ll do for now!

After this, I decided to take the plunge and spray the exhaust tips and diffuser area matte black, so that of a 987 black edition. The diffuser fins on mine were the part I hated most. Stainless steel exhaust tips, grey exhaust surround, with black paint?

So I was going to spray the diffuser and tips matte black, so the rear looks more purposeful (like a diffuser), separates itself from the bumper, and to give a clean look for the exhausts.

Decided to do the tips separate from the fins.



Underneath of them weren’t too clever



And after:





Masked them up to do the fins and exhaust surround



And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the final result.









So much better smile



What do you guys think?

jackroutly

43 posts

101 months

Wednesday 10th May 2017
quotequote all
That looks fantastic, really modernises the rear

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Wednesday 10th May 2017
quotequote all
jackroutly said:
That looks fantastic, really modernises the rear
Thank you!

Medic-one

3,105 posts

202 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
geraintthomas said:


 
I think i prefer the silver exhausts, but i guess that's just personal taste. I think they stand out a bit more because of the difference in colour.

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
Medic-one said:
I think i prefer the silver exhausts, but i guess that's just personal taste. I think they stand out a bit more because of the difference in colour.
Ah but that was my issue, I wasn't a fan of them standing out as much as they did see.

You look at newer Porsche models with them and it really suits it smile GT3RS, GT4, Boxster Spyder, etc

Quickmoose

4,482 posts

122 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
I was all ready to say that it's all too much black!.... but in reality that looks superb.
For me though it's win, win, I'm old enough to appreciate a sparkly and proud exhaust tip....but with modern trends being what they are I don't mind the diffuser finish separation, or these carbon tipped-look exhausts...
Really enjoy checking out the latest amendment you've made....
I'm waiting for the day you change your wheels... I'm a wheels man smile

LordHaveMurci

12,034 posts

168 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
Medic-one said:
I think i prefer the silver exhausts, but i guess that's just personal taste. I think they stand out a bit more because of the difference in colour.
I'm with you on that, still think they look good though smile

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
Quickmoose said:
I was all ready to say that it's all too much black!.... but in reality that looks superb.
For me though it's win, win, I'm old enough to appreciate a sparkly and proud exhaust tip....but with modern trends being what they are I don't mind the diffuser finish separation, or these carbon tipped-look exhausts...
Really enjoy checking out the latest amendment you've made....
I'm waiting for the day you change your wheels... I'm a wheels man smile
Thank you! Yeah I would have been happy with either, as the stainless tip was polished and really showed cleanliness, but the matt black shows the shapes off without having fussy reflections. It looks so much more aggressive too.

The wheels are a constant battle in my head. I'm refurbishing them in the next week or two though - they'll still be anthracite, but with a darker shade, more metallic, and a silver barrel. The barrels aren't coated with lacquer at the moment so they stain quite easily, but I'm going to go to town with the refurbishment and put multiple coats of lacquer on the barrels. Looking at a wheel that has a perfectly clean silver barrel that pops from behind a dark anthracite face would look (and does look on other Porsche's) gorgeous.

I'm going to be using my local friendly garage's 4-post lift soon as they said I could use it whenever they're not, which is nice of them. I want to paint the metals and underside of the car. So the wheel arches will be black, suspension components will be silver, and so on. This, along with taking the back bumper off to sand and machine polish the exhaust, will make the car cosmetically stunning. The fact you could look through the alloys and look at the suspension and underneath of it, all in new-looking silver and black. It's the details that count smile

Quickmoose

4,482 posts

122 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
flippin'ell....that is detailed.... thumbup
is it going tobe completely monotone though?
let a bit of red pop.... springs?...seatbelts...

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
Quickmoose said:
flippin'ell....that is detailed.... thumbup
is it going tobe completely monotone though?
let a bit of red pop.... springs?...seatbelts...
Nail on the head there smile

Red seat belts, wheels are staying anthracite and the red calipers are staying, also the 'compound' sticker is going, and being replaced by a 30cm 'Boxster S' decal in silver to go on the bottom front section of the door, as per the new models.

Quickmoose

4,482 posts

122 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
nice.
How about an nice Alcantara steering wheel with a red twelve O'clock stripe...

Royalsteeringwheels.com are excellent....

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
That's on the list, but I don't want to reveal everything wink

LanceRS

2,171 posts

136 months

Thursday 11th May 2017
quotequote all
The car still looks stunning and better with everyone of your updates. The only thing that I would disagree with is the wheels. I am a great advocate of silver wheels and I think with your's especially they would set it off perfectly.

DC240

15 posts

96 months

Friday 12th May 2017
quotequote all
Exhaust looks good! Can I ask what paint you used on the tips?

DC

TR4man

5,207 posts

173 months

Saturday 13th May 2017
quotequote all
geraintthomas said:
It's the details that count smile
So very true.

It is your attention to detail (almost an obsession smile) that makes this such an inspiring read.