What did you do with/to your Boxster today?

[jrgill]

Tastefully done! Great looking car. What did you use to affix the side skirts?

Originally Posted by Oldcarguy

Finished the refurb, paint and install of my Aerokit I side skirts. perfect understated look I was going for.




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[tommy583]

Looks perfect Fred

[Oldcarguy]

Thanks Tommy, JR and Kram for your comments on my Aerokit I skirts. You can still get them new from Porsche but they’re around $1,400 for the set IIRC.

I bought mine used on eBay and they were really in rough shape. Because Porsche meant them to be permanently mounted they’re hard to take off without destroying the upper mounting rails which are molded into the skirts. It required lots of work to refurb them. Someday I’ll do a detailed post.

I mounted the upper edge with 3M VHB automotive tape and the lower edge to the pinch weld with Porsche Aerokit II mounting clips. Thanks to Tommy for the pics of his mounted and to whoever sent me the AK I & AKII install bulletins. They were both invaluable.








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[BRAN]

Really nice, Fred. Perfect. Oh...and some old info from the Seal gray thread, which I posted there:
Yup, they hang on that rail...and are additionally glued to them, bullet proof.



takes a strong arm and a (professional) power-tool to drill those screw-bolts into the metal
Drilling holes beforehand is not recommended due to corrosion issues.

Take your time!!
...if you slip off while drilling, pushing with full power --> free dents and scratch marks

[Oldcarguy]

Originally Posted by BRAN

Really nice, Fred. Perfect. Oh...and some old info from the Seal gray thread, which I posted there:
Yup, they hang on that rail...and are additionally glued to them, bullet proof.



takes a strong arm and a (professional) power-tool to drill those screw-bolts into the metal
Drilling holes beforehand is not recommended due to corrosion issues.

Take your time!!
...if you slip off while drilling, pushing with full power --> free dents and scratch marks

Thanks Bran. I think the only way you find used Aerokit I skirts is from a wrecked car. I can’t imagine anyone taking them off for any other reason if they were installed per Porsche instructions. As usual the top flanges on mine were destroyed for the most part. I had to fabricate a new lip for the length of the skirt so that I could have a surface at the correct width, depth and angle to which I could attach to the car using the 3M VHB tape. The Aerokit IIs are much easier to deal with used because Porsche used tape from the start on the upper edge rather than the rail and glue.

[jmitro]

Originally Posted by Oldcarguy

Thanks Bran. I think the only way you find used Aerokit I skirts is from a wrecked car. I can’t imagine anyone taking them off for any other reason if they were installed per Porsche instructions. As usual the top flanges on mine were destroyed for the most part. I had to fabricate a new lip for the length of the skirt so that I could have a surface at the correct width, depth and angle to which I could attach to the car using the 3M VHB tape. The Aerokit IIs are much easier to deal with used because Porsche used tape from the start on the upper edge rather than the rail and glue.

I have the identical side skirts as yours; I just cleaned off the inside mounting surface and used 3M auto tape like you did. Looks great.

[Boo]

So, seasoned Boxster veterans, laugh if you must! But, since getting my 2002S in the Fall I have not had the opportunity to really check out my car to the level I've wanted. Call it Chicago winter weather and a tiny (heated) garage in our tiny house that wouldn't allow me to open it up. But, yesterday was the day and I thank you all for the guidance of these months of lurking, so I knew pretty much what to do and what I'd see! I put it into Service Mode, opened up and cleaned up some things that I am sure have never been cleaned up and really got to check it out! I love the way these cars "go together!" No real mystery of the mid-engine-d car anymore! I've seen it! Again, thanks!

[PaulE]

Originally Posted by Boo

So, seasoned Boxster veterans, laugh if you must! But, since getting my 2002S in the Fall I have not had the opportunity to really check out my car to the level I've wanted. Call it Chicago winter weather and a tiny (heated) garage in our tiny house that wouldn't allow me to open it up. But, yesterday was the day and I thank you all for the guidance of these months of lurking, so I knew pretty much what to do and what I'd see! I put it into Service Mode, opened up and cleaned up some things that I am sure have never been cleaned up and really got to check it out! I love the way these cars "go together!" No real mystery of the mid-engine-d car anymore! I've seen it! Again, thanks!

I'm not laughing, you're way ahead of me! I've owned my 2003S since 2003 and haven't taken my engine cover off yet. (I have done lots of other stuff myself on the car over the years, replace front brake pads and rotors, short shifter, OBC, remove front bumper cover and clean radiators and ducts, clean and re-lube rear spoiler mechanism, just nothing under the engine cover!)

[palmhero]

Replaced the brake booster servo (got a used one from this UK shop, and it was MINT/NEW condition). What can I say... the previous owner of the car never knew the joy of life! He was struggling with a sticky ON/OFF type of brake pedal, and a new one feels sooo much different. If your brake pedal feels heavy and way too sensitive, replace the brake booster, I absolutely recommend doing that. The old servo contained about one liter of rain water, and as much rust flakes. It was surely not looked after, and never replaced (was a 1998 pert like the car itself).

p.s. don't think the TWG brake servo upgrade is really worth the extra x10 markup on the price. You just need to make sure the drain holes are not plugged, and avoid parking on an incline nose-down during a rain, and you'll be fine with the stock Lucas part.

[Ciao]

Used Brake Test tool to test water in Brake Fluid. This year makes 2 years since I changed it. Drive only in Summer/Fall. Seems there is less than 1% water in fluid after 2 years.

[Lew]

I have one of those and they work great. Some say after you open a bottle of brake fluid and recap it, it will not be good to use later.....My tool says different on unused brake fluid. Still good to use in my opinion.

[KRAM36]

Had to reattach the horn and Tiptronic shift selector buttons wire again today. This time I soldered the wire. Notice my car had just hit the 128K mile mark and yes that's on the stock IMSB.

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by KRAM36

Had to reattach the horn and Tiptronic shift selector buttons wire again today. This time I soldered the wire. Notice my car had just hit the 128K mile mark and yes that's on the stock IMSB.

You mean those wires come loose?

It's nice to see 128K on the original IMSB. Mine has a little over 92K and no records of it being replaced.

[PaulE]

Today I removed my front bumper cover, cleaned out my radiators and ducts, made sure both horns are working and installed a new frunk latch. The radiators were pretty clean. It wasn't really due yet, but I wanted to get the new latch in.

[Most_Wanted]

Installed the Cayman spoiler.

[Deserion]

Installed a new headlight switch last night. The old one was getting rather crunchy inside.

[Traco]

Installed a new head unit

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[piper6909]

So the other day I ripped apart my interior because I realized that the carpeting never dried out from a water leak before I bought it. (check out my panic post when it didn't start!)

So since everything was apart, I decided to do something about the scratched interior plastic parts, specifically, the console. I didn't want to paint them because that'll end up getting scratched, and probably quicker than the original coating. I've seen spray interior 'dyes' which are nothing more than thin paint that could get scratched with a fingernail.


I first stripped off the 'soft-touch' coating, or whatever it's called, by soaking the parts in hot water and laundry detergent. In some cases, I was able to rub it off with my thumb, but most of it had to be scrubbed with a stiff nylon brush.

After I stripped the coating, some pieces had discoloration, most notably again, the center console. So, after some online research and some experimenting, I used Rit Dye-More Graphite color (because they don't make it in black) and acetone. The directions say to soak the parts in 200 degree water with the dye, and a blog I found says add acetone to the brew. I had no vat large enough for the console, so I decided to add the acetone directly to the bottle of dye and rub it on directly. I added a little acetone at a time until I got the desired results, while being very careful not to add too much to deform the texture. I ended up adding a total of 2 - 4 tablespoons of acetone to the bottle.

Here are the pics:

Console with scratched coating:


Coating removed and discoloration:


After dyeing process. There is a slight discoloration up top because, don't laugh, I tried to use a black sharpie to cover the discoloration before I went with the dye. It's not as bad as it looks in the pic.:
http://986forum.com/forums/attachments/boxster-general-discussions/21952d1560035089-what-did-you-do-your-boxster-today-20190607_190716_resized.jpg

[dghii]

That's great work! The interior part finish on our cars is so disappointing. I have the console out of my 996 right now. Thought I'd get it painted by local body shop but all the shops in our area are backed up due to cars damaged by hurricane Michael last October.

The rest of our country has no idea how bad that storm was....historic. Businesses you'd never thought of being affected are struggling as they can't hire enough labor because the labor can't find an affordable housing. Crazy!

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by dghii

That's great work! The interior part finish on our cars is so disappointing. I have the console out of my 996 right now. Thought I'd get it painted by local body shop but all the shops in our area are backed up due to cars damaged by hurricane Michael last October.

The rest of our country has no idea how bad that storm was....historic. Businesses you'd never thought of being affected are struggling as they can't hire enough labor because the labor can't find an affordable housing. Crazy!

Thanks! I'm hoping to have it all back together this weekend.

I also hope that things normalize for you. Unfortunately, with what seems like a new 'event' every day and our short news attention span, the plights of too many people have been forgotten. Heck, even the flooding and tornadoes of last week have been forgotten.

Best wishes.