About to purchase 2004 50th anniversary

[paulofto]

Originally Posted by ReallyDirtyThirty

If you're in South Florida you should consider taking it to Pedro for a PPI. He is in the Ft. Lauderdale area and is an expert on the 986 chassis.

+1 on seeing Pedro.

[batshapedheart]

Originally Posted by dijinn

I REALLY need to find some 986 owners in the Tampa area that like to work on their own cars. Everyone I've met has been a 911-snob or doesn't touch their cars. I'm amazed everytime I hear someone has never performed an oil change.

If you ever come down here, lemme know!

[Myoung73]

Pics? We love pics!

[GTsilber]

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Originally Posted by batshapedheart

GT! Where in South Florida are you? I'm close to Coral Gables and me and ChrisZenithBlue get together and work in our cars! We should link up!

I am in Boca, would like to meet up...are there any 986 meets around here?

Originally Posted by rick3000

The top could be just the cables, unless they tried to run it with bad cables and bent something. Also, I have never heard of paint bubbling on a 986, my guess is that it is from a bad repair job. My general advice is, if a 986 costs less than $10k you are going to spend double what you paid repairing it. That said, I hope you don't encounter too many issues. No SE should be neglected like that, and it's great you plan to restore it.

To source parts, you will want to download the 986_Kataloge.pdf available from Porsche's website.

Thanks for the pdf link. Yeah I think its the cables but without a thorough inspection its hard to say...I really hope I am able to restore it, will take a lot of time though!

Originally Posted by mipstien

Well, pics or it isn't real???? jk

I am curious to see the paint of all things but pictures would help.

I don't have any pics, don't know why I didn't take any yesterday...I can post some tomorrow night

What if I used this car as a track car, cosmetics don't have any significance if I plan on tracking it...just a thought

[Muskoka Minute]

I have the same car and you will love it once it is restored.

If you don't get it let me know.
I might pick it up as a parts car.

Cheers!
Bart

[GTsilber]

Just purchased the car, here are pics



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Giller]

Originally Posted by GTsilber

What if I used this car as a track car, cosmetics don't have any significance if I plan on tracking it...just a thought

Be nice if you could restore it....hate to see a nice special edition be used only as a track car. You got it for a good price - fingers crossed it's not too bad mechanically and you can bring her back to life!

[Muskoka Minute]

Congrats! and enjoy.

[10/10ths]

:c heers:

[Jager]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Not sure if I should congratulate you or not. On your test drive, you fell in love with Boxsters but I'm not sure you should fall in love with this one. Kind of like dating a hooker and falling in love with women.

That said, are you mechanical? You may be able to do a lot of the minor jobs and find info via search. But if this is your first German car, you'll find part prices 4x normal American or Japanese parts. There could be lots of worn out parts on a 12 yr old neglected car.

You don't say where you live but you make it sound like it's near the middle of nowhere. Do you have a good upholsterer in your area?

If the PPI comes back with issues, you would be much better off walking from this one and expand your search and get a better one. As mentioned earlier, Porsches do not have paint peeling issues, so the guy is fibbing about that. What else is he fibbing about or not telling you?

It has been said here many times, so please keep this in mind: the cheapest Porsche you buy can become the most expensive one you'll own.

What do you know about dating a hooker??

[Tcar]

Looks like commont clear coat failure. No big deal.

Look for another seat from a salvage yard.... maybe cheaper than re-upholstering / rebuilding that one.

[tada]

Congratulations! Have some fun with it.

[Chuck W.]

The '04 SE 550 is my favorite 986. IF the PPI is good go for it and put it back to pristine condition. Keep up posted.

[GTsilber]

Thanks everyone! I drove the car about 50 miles already, initial impressions are that the motor is responsive and the handling is really great - suspensions seems stiff and don't hear any squeaks or rattles coming from the shocks.

2 observations - 1. I went to put gas in the tank, the tank overflowed immediately even though I was on E...have been reading that this might be related to a fuse? 2. The top is not working at all, I don't hear the motor even turn on, yes the parking brake is applied and the light is illuminated in the dash. The windows go down when I pull down the lever but upon hitting the top down switch nothing happens Any ideas?

[Smallblock454]

Hi,

will not be easy to get an original seat from this edition car in gray. This is not the standard leather.

This is how it should look like in the color cocoa:


Clear coat can shurely be fixed.

Hope the overall mechanical state is better than on the photos and you don't have to throw tons of money in.

Regards, Markus

[tada]

Here's a link to the wiring diagram for your car. You can start there with trying to fix the top. Also look at the repair guide on Pelican Parts website.

http://www.wolfetone.com/carstuff/boxster/986%20Group%209%20Circuit%20Diagrams%20From%2000.p df

[GTsilber]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Hi,

will not be easy to get an original seat from this edition car in gray. This is not the standard leather.

This is how it should look like in the color cocoa:


Clear coat can shurely be fixed.

Hope the overall mechanical state is better than on the photos and you don't have to throw tons of money in.

Regards, Markus

Thanks for posting the interior shot Markus, it looks great in cocoa! I'm going to do my best to try and locate the gray seats, worst case scenario is reupholster. The mechanical state seems decent, I have tons of receipts of work maintenance work done over the past 8 years.

Originally Posted by tada

Here's a link to the wiring diagram for your car. You can start there with trying to fix the top. Also look at the repair guide on Pelican Parts website.

http://www.wolfetone.com/carstuff/boxster/986%20Group%209%20Circuit%20Diagrams%20From%2000.p df

Thanks for the link, big help!

[Ckrikos]

Enjoy the new car. I just have one question, how do the seats get that way? I have owned a 986 and 996 for the last 15 years and my seats are still wrapped in leather. You'll likely need to reupholster those seats are very rare, especially in that color.

[Retroman1969]

Congrats, it's a great version of the Boxster and one worth restoring.
Honestly, I've seen many high mileage and dogged out 986s before but I've never seen peeling paint or clear coat on one before. I'd almost guarantee that there has been some damage repair on that car. The seat looks like it has been severely water damaged at some point judging by the pattern of disintegration of the leather. (Also notice the wrinkling-shrinkage around the edges)
The top issue could easily be the micro switch in the parking brake handle. It's a very common failure, and it will act like the whole system is dead. (But the parking brake light will still come on like normal).
I can say fairly confidently that you are going to have the same or more invested in this car as the price of a low mileage super clean example before it's over, but you will have the confidence that every possible issue has been addressed and that it will be solid car at that point.

[GTsilber]

Originally Posted by Retroman1969

Congrats, it's a great version of the Boxster and one worth restoring.
Honestly, I've seen many high mileage and dogged out 986s before but I've never seen peeling paint or clear coat on one before. I'd almost guarantee that there has been some damage repair on that car. The seat looks like it has been severely water damaged at some point judging by the pattern of disintegration of the leather. (Also notice the wrinkling-shrinkage around the edges)
The top issue could easily be the micro switch in the parking brake handle. It's a very common failure, and it will act like the whole system is dead. (But the parking brake light will still come on like normal).
I can say fairly confidently that you are going to have the same or more invested in this car as the price of a low mileage super clean example before it's over, but you will have the confidence that every possible issue has been addressed and that it will be solid car at that point.

CarFax indicated no major or minor accidents...do they miss stuff, yes, be if all front panels were replaced I would assume that would be a significant accident, and would have been documented.

Previous owner left the car outside, car has never seen a garage...I took it to a body shop and see to think the paint is original. It's my understanding that there were only 2 colors offered for the box that required clear coat, maybe that's why we don't see as many failures? Regardless, it doesn't bother me tremendously and I will have the car repainted GT Silver.

The seats look horrible, the leather is brittle so I'm thinking water damage as well...how else could I validate that thought?