You have eclectic tastes...Morris minor?

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Yeah, that is a long term project, an Austin Mini Traveller Woody. It's a 67 that came off the ship and into a barn. We have been replacing the sheet metal from the doors forward. It's a full right hand drive car and I bought for Missus better 7/8ths as a gift. Barb is left handed and has never been able to have a car that was truly built for her. This will be her summer, beach, run around car once done,
this spring.

We do have an eclectic collection! I just love cars but only buy and keep the ones that are special to me in some way. Here is a pic of our Alfa GTV with the Mini

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1453354568.jpg

Ahh - another 105 devotee.... I've owned 6 Alfa's, first a 1750 Berlina (kids growing up), then 2 x 1750 GTV's, a 1300 GT Junior, an Alfetta 1800 GT and a Sud.

Strangely enough, I was cleaning out my garage over Christmas and came across my old workshop manual (very grubby) and a set of genuine handbooks that came with one of the cars. Don't know why I kept them but perhaps the inner me wants another GTV.... I gave away all my spare valve shims and micrometer to a GTV driving stranger I got talking to last year.
I know I wouldn't get any problems from my wife buying another 105 as she learnt to drive in my 1750 and loves the way they drive.

Update....Finally!

After moving from NY to MD during the month of December and the leaving town for the moth of January, there has been NO time to work on the box. We left off with replacing the drivers side radiator and then loaded it into the trailer for the trip down south-ish. I was not convinced that the cooling system was at 100% working properly and the past few days of getting back into it, my suspicions were confirmed. Before it got real cold 2 weeks ago, I once again drained the water and installed antifreeze. I then took it on short to medium length rides to burp the air out and see how it was going to work. Every time I was back at the sop and it had cooled, I added a bit of coolant. This was expected as I knew there was air in the system coming back to the tank.

BUT each time I lifted the trunk, there always seemed to be a bit of moisture in the top of the coolant rez area. Then because it was cold, I was also seeing steam. I should not be seeing steam back there anymore with the new tank and release valve diaphragm. Well, when the diaphragm was leaking, that should have led me to look further. Whoever assembled the tank and it's parts was having a very bad day. First the top of the diaphragm was leaking:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pshme58sbt.jpg

Not knowing exactly how the valve area worked, I took the top off but didn't know there was another part of the assembly below that. I thought it was all 1 piece, not a stacked assembly. I must say that Vertex was very helpful in getting me some parts to fix the tank at no charge. The second time around they sent the full valve including screws. This is when I realized there was more to the problem. Well, today I pulled the valve off and then popped the spacer below the top section and found that the small round gasket in the center was installed off center and causing a leak.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psyicsfkhx.jpg

The new parts from Vertex included a new rubber thing and that was installed easily. After putting it in and topping up the tank, it was off for another ride. Well the temps regulated properly and the top area had no moisture or steam coming out when the trunk was opened.

So although the cooling system seems solid, Im going to drive and monitor for a week or 2. I really do hope that I'm at the end of the cooling system woes....

An off topic update. i'm a serial car buyer and when I see a good deal I jump on it,especially if it;s one of my deep lust cars. I picked up a Lotus Esprit Turbo last weekend as my next project once the Box is done and Allie takes it out of the shop.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...slztitfmg.jpeg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...sffwf37hv.jpeg

2 of my girls already beginning to fight over who gets this car once done!!

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pss726cbjq.jpg

The timing belt broke in 2011 and bent some valves. The head has been rebuilt and mounted but the PO ran out of energy and this is where I get in.The car is now in MD waiting for space in the shop.

Keeping it stock?

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The Lotus Esprit is a great looking car. I suggest you modify it to go under water as well. ;)

Other than losing the emissions equipment, yeah. The original cast pistons won't take much boost over stock so no reason to get much modding done. It's a 43000 mile car so the engine should have some good like left in it as stock. If it needs a rebuild at some time, I would upgrade to forged pistons and then go a little crazy with the power, but then the gearbox is the limiting factor.

Always thought the Esprit was a great looking car, Congrats!

1986 Lotus Turbo Esprit HCI 50k Miles, Fully Serviced – RonSusser.com

They look great in glacier blue too
http://www.ronsusser.com/listings/im...499/133810.jpg

Nice Lotus. Always wanted one but at 6'4" it doesn't work from me. Always loved the Lotus in the film The Spy Who Loved Me.

It is a cool car and I have always loved the design. That blue car is awesome too, not so excited about that blue interior.

On the Boxster, I think I have finally bottomed out the cooling issues. After fixing the bleeder valve issue I thought I still had issues as I can hear some hissing and gurgling when listening to the tank top area. Last night I took it out for a ride, got it good and hot and brought it back into the shop. I grabbed an ear plug and jammed it in the drain hole, filled this top area with water and looked for bubbles. Not a single bubble emerged from the valve or the cap. I think this resolves my cooling system issues. The temp needle gets up to right at the 8 and 0 and stays there like it's painted on. At Idle the fans come on and the needle goes up and down very slightly as the cooling system does it's thing.

Now on to some electrickery jobs. Wipers don't park, horn blows the fuse. Install new stereo.

Pics will follow later!

It's been about a month and time really does fly. Getting on to those final few electrickery jobs created or coincided with the cluster failure, which drove me mad and made my brain hurt for a month. We have been working to move to move the car to VA where before it can be registered must go thru a safety and emissions inspection, Well a non working horn and wipers that won't park might be a failure.

The tracing of the horn issue was no wiring problems but just 2 burned out and shorted horn units. Strange that they were BOTH dead and shorted but that is Stella for you. These are tucked away in a nice tight spot that is hard to get your hands into so changing is not the easiest of tasks for my big fat hands. New horn, new fuse and horn now works like it should.

The wipers were and easy fix, as the relay looked right but was wrong. I think it had a mirror/rear window defrost relay in there. They all have the same pins but one is black and one is blue and they different part numbers. But they look so similar, someone put it in there and the replacement from Woody fixed it right up.

Ok now, we are getting somewhere! Horns fixed and wipers work as they are supposed to. Lets take this baby out for a quick ride to make sure we have it all under control......

Well, 3 minutes out on the road and Allie says the dash isn't working. WTF? Well, we were under the dash so maybe we pushed a wire or something and knocked it loose. We pull over and check plugs and wires near the fuse and relay panel, check fuses but no joy. Dead as the Dodo. Car runs great so we head back to the shop and begin to scratch heads and think of how we broke the cluster or the wiring to the cluster. Pull cluster, pull center stack, pull ignition switch, etc..., looking for a loose or broken wire, particularly the grounds as multiple things were not working that SEEM unrelated. All gauges and the LCD's are dead as well as the dash lighting. These to me seem completely unrelated so I'm thinking broken ground under the dash. Nope, all grounds are solid. Stare at wiring diagrams that some kind folks sent me, by the full factory manual and stare at this wiring diagrams too. Read everything, post here get some excellent responses but no fixes. Chat with Woody and he thinks it's grounds but sends me a cluster to test it with. Plug in replacement cluster and BOOM everything works!!! PLUS some stuff that didn't work before :-) Outside temp is now reading and we didn't even know that was there, Bonus.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psqw5t17pv.jpg

New dash in, re-install all the other center stack stuff, replace some light bulbs, finish attach the door panels with new plastic easy-break pins and load Stella into the trailer. A side note, now that Stella is OUT of the shop permanently, the Lotus Esprit, my girls have named Vivian, is in.

Yesterday we drove over to VA to drop that car, take it to inspection and have dinner with Allie. All is good, we go to inspection and the car passes the safety inspection with flying colors. GREAT!! The emissions test we didn't pass or fail. Not enough miles to put the computer into "ready" mode so Allie and I went for a long ride of 93 miles and today she will get back and see if it will read now.

Stella runs perfectly and drives really well. Allie is so happy and excited to have the car up and running after so much work and money spent on it. She will get it to inspection and begin using it as a DD now. We have more cosmetic stuff to do but as far as a driver it looks solid and trustworthy.

I'm glad I was wrong. That 2000 S cluster looks better too. I've heard sometimes when the immobilizer gets wet, it can take out a lot of electrical items with it. Maybe that why you're having all these electrical issues?

I'm glad you were wrong too !! But as I have told, you, I'm good with it and appreciate all the support over these past months. Lots of Woody's used parts in Stella.

The Immobilizer under the seat is dry as a bone and is working fine. It's packed in 2 zip locks with desiccant in there for the "belt and suspenders" level of security. Perfectly dry and the immobilizer issue was a loose plug that was resolved in minutes...once the seat was out.

I will report back with some more info once she gets back, on the emissions test.

Great story. Felt like I was along for the ride. Amazing how much stuff you have done. Post some pics of the finished product if you get a chance! Great work!

So, we drove the car a bit and Allie took it back for the E test. Well it didn't have enough miles for the ECU to get into ready mode, so out she goes again for another 50 miles. This time she pulls in and the computer is ready but it reads the 1128 code. This has to do with idle trim and probably indicates a vacuum leak. Well, back under the hood we go this weekend to do a smoke test to try to find the false air.

I wonder if she just clears the code, will the ECU stay in ready mode or will it fully reset and need all the miles again to be able to pass the test. So no updates for another week or so.

if you clear codes, often it resets the readiness monitors
Some of them are a PITA to get to reset, but the good news in many states, those don't matter

I recently purchase a 2000 Porsche 996 instrument cluster for VW project. I just want to know how I can turn it on? Have so many cables. I appreciated every body helps.


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Jay, you were right. Clear codes and it resets the ECU ready monitors.

So, might need a new thread on this but here is some info from last nights test:

We did a smoke test and can find NO leaks in the intake and vacuum system. We used up 2 cigars doing the test.

Plugged in Durametric and read the codes and actual values. The car was not how when we first started but the reading we very similar whether hot or cold.

So, the 1128 and 1130 codes indicate this:
Fuel/air mixture so lean that the ECU has reached its rich threshold.

Adaptation range 2 FRA Bank 1 =1.10
Adaptation range 1 RKAT Bank 1 =3.95
Adaptation range 2 FRA Bank 1 =1.10
Adaptation range 1 RKAT Bank 2 = 3.95
MAF at idle flow showed about 17Kg MAF IS NEW!!!!

So no visible vacuum leaks. MAF is new.

I think the AOS might be bad and Allie will pinch off the hose (replaced with rubber hose already) to see if we get a significant change int here adaptation range readings.

Any other ideas????

I'm not familiar with the values on these cars, including the MAF value, so this may be off the mark, but...

It could be too much air, or also too little fuel?

Blocked injector/s, low fuel pressure, bad fuel pressure regulator.

But the car runs ok?

Great write
up many thanks , you said that you used a low cost fault code reader and cable , could you tell me what brand / model so I can get one , once again thanks

I bought one for $20 on Ebay. It's a chinese version with the older software. DO NOT try to upgrade the software as it will render the cable useless. It worked fine for the basics but it did not work for the Alarm.

Any updates?

Just a bit. We are still still struggling with a code now only on the drivers side. We replaced the fuel pressure regulator and that fixed most of what was going on. Allie has yet to check the power brake vacuum line as the code it's throwing, is just lean at idle. I hope we can get it solved with the power brake hose.

What products/method did you use to polish the car? It looks great!

We have been using an Orbital polisher and Griots polishing products for a few years. They do a superb job for us. Some areas were wet sanded first to remove the bumps that are created when touch up paint is used. We have lots more work to do.

Update time:

It has been a while and the Box has just of late been running and driving just great. We worked thru a few issues to transfer the car here to MD as my daughter has bought a home here in MD and it has to pass safety inspection here. The clowns at the local service shop found a bad ball joint in the L front, cloudy headlights, cloudy rear plastic window and a non factory muffler. Well, the muffler fail is a joke because almost no 15 year of car has an original factory muffler. To top it off, the guy was a bit rude to my daughter by advising her that maybe her boy friend can fix these things. This set her to Steaming MAD at them and resolved to never go there again!.

Allie is becoming a good wrench and was so insulted. Here is a picture of here setting the ring and pinion backlash on my Dodge Cummins that needed new bearings a few weeks back.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps2psj5kkr.jpg

She still needs guidance but who doesn't when doing these types of tasks? Well, in defense of the guy at the shop, he had no idea she is a gear head..... Back to the Box.

The Box took a back seat to the new house project for 2 months but now that is settled (new kitchen, 100% new heating system, fence, etc... The last real issue was the lean condition/hard starting HOT and the battery (new 10 months ago) will go flat after 5-8 days if not used. That hot hard start was the biggest problem. I have replaced the MAF in the past and it seemed good but I kinda figured something was wrong there. I bought a new older style MAF that has the right part number for the early 2000MY and installed that. this made the car run better in my opinion, but had no effect on the hot hard start, car starts up quick and fast when dead cold. Durametric shows perfect driving trims but still high-ish idle trims. Lower but not real low. Still work to do there...

Battery and electric system still causing problems. So, the Saturday we rebuild the diff on the Ram, we have the box there and use it to run for lunch, get back to the shop, clean up and fiddle around for 20 minutes before leaving. I take the truck and Allie gets in the Box to head for home. Truck always starts instantly, nice thing about a diesel, but the Boxster cranks with the hard start issue and won't start, after 2 minutes of trying to start it, the battery is flat. Allie is pissed, gets out of the car locks it and jumps in the truck, a dark look on here face. Her comment: that car us dead to me.

Well, it occurs to me that we just drove for 20 minutes for lunch from a cold start and all was well, we drove back and the car sat for 20 minutes and mow the battery is flat after cranking for maybe 2 minutes tops. The new battery must be bad and the reason it goes flat so easily. I was thinking that we had some kind of draw in the elektrickery system that would pull it down after 5-8 days of non use and that is used regularly it would be ok until we had time to diagnose that. I was pissed about the new battery being bad so during the week I returned the one we had for a refund (3 year replacement warranty) and got a new one but the bigger one for the Tiptronic cars. Why not? It's a size 48 vs. 94 and has about 100 more CCA. I throw the battery in and immediately I notice a difference in the cranking speed of the starter, the car starts right up (cold) and I take it for a 25 mile drive to get the computer learning and charge the battery up. I return to the shop, once again spend 15-20 minutes cleaning up and lock up, go out to the box to drive home and dread the hot start nonsense.

Miracle of MIRACLES, it starts up immediately with very little cranking!! This has NEVER happened before :-) I sit for a minute and savor this event and drive home. Call Allie to tell her the new battery cranks much faster and the hard start issue didn't happen when heading home. She's quite skeptical but may think it a 1 time event. We use the car for a week every day and the slow crank (cold or hot) is GONE and the hard start problem is GONE too. This hard start issue may have been a weakish battery all along!! Once way to tell is to use it more and see what happens. I have a 3 day trip that past few days and i drove it 500 miles total. Not 1 time was there an issue with hot start. I stopped at least 10 times for anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes along the way and it started perfectly every time.

That is the long and long overdue update for now. It looks like we finally have a solid 2000 Boxster to use as her DD and continue to refine the car now that she is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY and getting confidence in the Box.

Wow. I'd have never guessed it.

Although.....had you reset the ECU after changing the MAF? Or was the battery swap the first time the ECU has been reset since the new MAF went in?

It doesn't make sense either, just kicking possibilities around in my head is all..

It was fully reset after the MAF change. The new battery provides better steady voltage and as I mentioned, cranks much better. Raining hard here today, so no Durametric time to read some numbers.

I might have gone with "Sandy" after the storm that flooded it out...:(


You're doing an amazing job with this car, but I think this thread proves how worthless a $3K Boxster really is to the average buyer out there.


/

Awesome thread as others have stated. Definitely a good read for anyone considering rescuing a Boxster and may not know what they are getting themselves into lol This thread should be posted every time someone asks about perspective new ownership, possible problems, costs and how lack of mechanical skills (tools, diagnostic tools, garage space, etc.)--can translate into $$$$ purchase cost!

Thanks for the kind words!!

Not a Sandy car. I can't find any signs of flooding or salt water ingress anywhere. Anything is possible tho...

I should add up the repairs that were made to get her on the road and useable. Much of what we have done is purely optional and wasn't "needed."

I have said/written it a thousand times... "There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche"
Our journey with Stella is fun and rewarding for us ,and cannot be used to compare for the average guy/gal. We have tools and skill that most don't. We also have multiple cars and there was NO pressure to get this all sorted for use as a DD.

So, this is an interesting question. I have replace many items over the course of the past year to get this car 100% reliable and on the road as a DD. Some parts were changed at our discretion, so I have listed the must do parts only.

Cost of car = $3000.00

Parts:

Seats (electric vs original manual) = 400.00
Touch Up Paint = 20.00
Cubby Hinge = 32.00
Ignition Switch (Audi) = 7.00
Headlight Bulbs = 20.00
Engine Mount = 35.00
Cam Chain Tens = 85.00
Oil Cooler (S Type 2x Larger) 121.00
MAF = 125.00
Coolant Tank = 320.00
Thermostat = 44.00
Water Pump = 76.00
Coils 2x = 84.00
O2 Sensor 4x = 260.00
Coolant = 100.00
CPS = 72.00
Coolant Cap = 35.00
Radiator DS = 120.00
Horn = 15.00
Gauge Cluster = 125.00
Control Arm PS = 115.00
Battery = 122.00

Total spent to make a $3000 car into a durable dependable DD = $2,333.00

Its a good job you aren't including your's & Allie's hourly labour rate jc - the bill would be significantly more....

Yes, but a lot of that stuff can be done by anyone who is handy. That's still pretty cheap money for the end result :cheers:

Wow
 

Wow, a rough car, but good luck and enjoy the project.

I guess it's just sweat equity and the opportunity to work with my daughter on another Porsche. This is the replacement for her 944 DD. She also didn't have 6-7K to get a better car and would rather spend a a bit at a time as we worked thru it. It also builds her mechanical skill-set up as well as her confidence. I have 4 girls and they call do some things on their cars. Keeps them safer and better informed when they have to deal with service shops. Dear old dad won't be around forever!!

Some people just like saving things. In my opinion, they should be applauded for it.

Besides, it's rewarding. The more infuriating the process, the sweeter the final reward!

Exactly. Many of us consider this stuff to be rewarding recreation rather than labor. To many of us the monetary value or balance sheet of these cars means very little.