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I’ve been into Boxster rear struts several times. The shock absorber metal tab welded to the lower part of the shock tube slides into the ‘gap’ of the knuckle aluminum casting. The top of the tab is bent at a right angle to serve as a stop to govern the position of the shock tube within the knuckle casting, at which point the hole in the shock tab lines up with the holes in the knuckle. The long bolt which goes through to pinch the knuckle tightly to the shock tube serves also as part of the downlink to the anti roll bar.
Apparently the limit tab on the shock must be missing, else the shock could not slip so far into the knuckle that the holes don’t line up.
With the suspension off the ground at full droop, the weight of the knuckle and the parts attached to it serve to move the knuckle down the shock tube. All that should be needed would be to break the static friction that holds them together.
I would suggest:
a) apply a penetrating petroleum- based lubricant ( not silicone, not WD 40, not colloidal graphite) at all accessible points of the shock tube, and then apply 30-60 minutes.
b) use a steel or brass hammer, not a rubber, nylon, or dead-blow hammer. You don’t need to strike the knuckle hard, but you must apply the strike downward along the axis of the shock tube. The purpose of the blow is to create an acoustic shock wave within the aluminum knuckle with a rapid ‘rise time’ to overcome the static friction holding the knuckle to the shock. ‘ Tap-tap-tap, not beat-beat-beat’.
c) If the hole in the shock tab has not completely occluded the hole through the knuckle, you could use a long, tapered drift (looks like a punch but is much longer) placed through the small opening and driven in with taps from a metal hammer. As the drift forces the shock tab upward you’ll need successively larger drifts, until the holes line up again.
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