my 1st year as a p car owner and doing the 60k service
 

I picked up my o2-s march 1 2009. on the ppi it needed, a battery, alignment, brake fluid flush, spark plug tubes(o-rings), brake flush, rms, inspection, cv boots, aibag inspection, 60k service and i'm sure there was something else. oh yeah the tires were starting to wear a little from the alignment.

I got the inspection in april and there weren't any issues. I then waited too long to get the alignment and i wore the tires. So i got an alignment for ~$120 and new sumitomo tires for about 600.

the power steering fluid reserviour was also empty, i filled that

I changed the cv boots myself (and knock on wood they are dry and still intact) before the tire change and alignment. The parts were ~60 and $145 for the lower control arm where i fawked up the ball joint. that was fun.

I bled the brakes with the tool from www.motiveproducts.com and it worked very well with one container of brake fluid. ~$15
Not knowing that there are two bleeders per caliper after i just completed the flush, i decided that i will do the proper flush in the winter.

I purchased a trickle charger ~50 sometime in the summer since i would drive the car once a week and it was ~3 years old. since november the car has sat but i am performing the 60k service and other things that i needed to repair/replace.

I purchased a battery when the old one completely died. Even after sitting on the charger it wouldn't give me enough juice to open the hood.

So $75 for a 3 yr free replacement battery from sears.

I replaced the serp belt, Took me a while to figure out which pulley was the tensioner. Once i figured it out it was easy.

Spark plug tubes; this isn't hard at all.

I purchased new bosch plugs and all new o-rings for the tubes.
The old plugs were beyond worn. They were evenly worn with no uneven wear. No bad spray or deposits were left.
I bought a transom (per pedrosgarage.com) and pulled the tubes and cleaned them lovingly. The tubes were fine, but the o-rings def needed to be replaced.
The coil packs have a few cracks in them and i don't have any drivability issues and no codes, so i'll let them be at this time. Just cleaned all the oil and residue and reassembled.

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL168.../381648019.jpg

I will replace the aos and the updated hose in a couple weeks when i get my lazy but to order the parts.

I also had a rattle that i wasn't sure where it was coming from. It was the heat shield that was covering the passenger side catalytic converter. So i'll have to order the bolt and support for that. There is a shield that covers one of the pipes that is loose, but i'll figure that one out later.

The driver side wheel liner (small piece) and splash guard needs to be replaced, both are cracked. I replaced the passenger side splash guard last summer.



to the front of the car..................

i needed to replace one of the horns ~$15 ea, so i replaced both. You just never know when the other would fail.

these are easy to replace when the bumper is off. You just need to remember the position of the horns when reassembling.

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL168.../381648158.jpg




In order to get to the horn, you need to take off the bumper. I knew the surprise i was about to get. And damn, there is a lot of **************** in there.

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL168.../381648276.jpg

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL168.../381648249.jpg

and of course behind the condensor or radiator(i forget)

http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1685/10157662/21637224/381648077.jpg


So i will either vaccum this out or take the hose to it, i haven't decided yet since i would have to put the wheels back on and unfreeze the hose.

The car was in some sort of fender bender before i got it and i knew about it and it didn't worry me since i was going to drive the car and it was just bumpers and hood damage.

The hood is in reasonably good condition, but i was thinking of having it repainted. There are a bunch of scrapes on teh bottom from the previous 2 op's.

I also noticed that the center hole was installed by someone and i always wondered why it looked a little off. Most people wouldn't notice it but i do since i was the car.

So after almost a year of ownership things are well so far.

I have performed all services required from the ppi which would prob scare off a lot of people, but since i can do most myself, it wasn't an issue.

The rms does not drip nor can i even see where it may be leaking so i am assuming that it was barely wet at the time of the ppi.


i am thinking of adding the Porsche decal that is on the new spyder to the sides of my car. Also painting the bumperettes and the side vents if i get the bumper repainted.

that is all

Nice work. For having it less than a year, you seem to know your way around the car pretty well. Feels good to DIY doesn't it? :cheers:

oh yeah.

this boxster is relatively straight forward in fixing. The wife thinks i am a little nuts for disassembling the car but she wouldn't expect anything less from me, and i save a ton of money.

today i spray painted the openings on the shrouds on the front end. I used flat black paint and it dried nicely and looks new now. There were a couple of overspray spots from the po and i wanted to get rid of them. So now the radiators are clean, the shrouds have a new coat of paint, and the bumper is in its proper position. Now i need to order my new aos, splash guard, nuts and bolts and a couple other small parts. :dance:

ordered teh splash guard for behind the drivers door, wheelwell liner, aos and it's updated tubing, various screws and plastic rivets. Should be here in a couple weeks once all the parts some over on the boat from germany.

about the "****************" in the radiators

a) did you take the (rubbery) plastic covers off the radiators?
the radiators are actually two radiators put together and there's A LOT of sh** collecting between them

b) I installed wire mesh in the three openings in the front bumper and am trouble free ever since, with the exception of the bird which shot right through the wire mesh and had a "hard stop" on my center radiator :eek:

i did remove the black shrouds and i also removed the condensors/radiators or whatever was in front of the other. There was a lot of crap in between that i cleaned out. I used the hose to get most out and then i used a wide thick bristled paintbrush to sweep out the stuff i couldn't get with the hose.

There was some yellow paint on the black shrouds, so i painted the openings with flat black paint. It actually looks much cleaner now.

Good idea on the mesh, and ouch on the bird.

Not mine....

http://kensingtonvictoria.com/blog/w.../2008/12/2.jpg

http://kensingtonvictoria.com/blog/w.../2008/12/3.jpg

son of a ********************, what was that? a pteradactal(sic)?

That has to be a bird strike test or a tornado. Notice both seats are dirty, it doesn't look likeanyone was seated in either seat when that happened.

Just changed the oil, buttoned up the front bumper and replaced the trim buttons in the front trunk that were missing.

Replaced some rear wheelwell plastic. I dropped off the 2 rear rims at the shop to see what they can do to refinish or exchange out.

The next project before the winter ends is to replace the aos and fllush the coolant.

btw that pic looks like a 150mph direct hit by a suicidal bird

Do you really want to fly...bird strikes on jets is scary. :cheers:

did the aos today. It took about an hour or so. That bottom clamp was a mother f____.

All i need to do is get my wheels back and do a coolant flush.

Just did my coolant and brake flush. Indy labor rate was $85 and they billed me for 3 hours. Porsche coolant and brake fluid brought the total to $400.
Need to do the clutch ASAP...man when it goes it goes fast. :(

damn, $150 for fluids????

just looked a the bill. Porsche coolant x's 3 at $30 and $25 and change for the brake fluid which they said they had to order since they don't usually stock for the older Porsche's the service.. the blue stuff. The rest was tax. I usually order parts from AutohauzAZ they charge $33 for the factory coolant and $15 for the ATE blue.
The dealer wanted $350 for the coolant flush and I'm guessing $150 for simple brake flush. yikes....oh and get ready for this...$3,800 for the clutch job and no that doesn't include the IMS upgrade.

the one shop that is 45 minutes from me said it would be about $800 to do the job. plus the cost of the clutch kit/rms and ims parts.

That's pretty darn good. I think I was quoted 11 hours for the clutch, rms and another 4 hours for the IMS...so like $1200-1300.

wow, this guys rate is $75 an hour, a true bargain.