Niggles
 

Sweet mother 'O!

There's these little split nuts in the windshield hoop fastening the roof latch/dome light ass'y on the windshield side. They appear to have been designed with some give.

And give they have. To the point where the latch is floppy, and I can't get it down tight.

And can you get them out and replace them?

NOOO. Tried a bunch of obvious things. Shimming the threads for example.

Solutions?

Also...it's blowing a little cloud of smoke upon startup after sitting overnight.
Valve seals? Rings? Do I care?

Are you talking about those little brass nuts that hold the convertible latch down? If so there is a great link (I just can't find it) that shows you how to fix it. Lot's of inexpensive tools and parts to get that probably cost less then $40...in the end I decided to battle the little brass nuts myself and remove them piece by split piece (so much fun and a sore neck for a week). I then took it to a paint and body shop in Charlotte that put in permanent ones for $35 including tax...problem fixed forever now! Call your local Porsche parts department and ask them where they get them fixed. If you don't remove the split ones yourself it will cost more.

I'll wait for the experts on the black cloud :)

Here's a link for the DIY I wrote up (cut and paste into your browser since URL links are now banned thanks to the a$$clowns at Righthaven):

986forum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13799

This is one of the threads I posted it in but there are others:
986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27895

Good luck :)

It is not unusual at all for the Boxster to put off an occasional puff of smoke at start up. The smoke is caused by the flat engine design. No big deal.

But, if its a big cloud of smoke (crazy billowing clouds of smoke that mess up the entire neighborhood) then it could be caused by the air/oil separator failing which requires a repair.

Weeel..
 

I have noticed lately something seeming to run on too long after I shut off the motor.
As I sit behind the wheel it is high behind my right shoulder and sounds like a tiny turbine. "Phweeeeeeeeeeeeee".

Yeah right eltren. I think I encounter the same. What should we do about it?

My guess is that you're hearing the engine compartment cooling fan. It blows air out of the passenger side vent behind the door (the driver's side vent is the engine air intake, of course). This fan often sounds like a hovercraft - especially if you're not used to hearing it all winter.