1998 Boxster modification/fixes/advice

[Sammyj]

Hello everyone!
As I stated in the intro section I bought a 1998 Boxster at auction last year that was in a minor front end collision. I had mostly fixed the car last year and did get to drive it for a little over a month before winter then throughout the winter I have been working on smaller issues and maintenance for the car. Now I have a few modifications/personal touches that I plan on doing for the spring and am seeing if anyone would like to provide some input or recommendations.

Things that have been done so far,
-Front end fixed
-Radiators replaced
-Broken door locks fixed
-Air filter and oil change
-Desnorkled and non-stock intake tube (previous owner)
-Maf replaced
-New summer uhp tires, 8.5 wheels for the front.
-Bilstein B6 rear struts, fronts look like they are stock?

Things I plan on this spring

-Rest of the maintenance parts, like belts, brake fluid, trans fluid, water pump, thermostat and spark plugs. I don't plan on changing the IMS at this point, I'm not sure if it has been changed but the car does have 92k on it. I will watch for any signs of failure and when the car need a clutch see if it has been changed.

-Performance alignment, driving last fall with new 225/255 tires the car would still understeer. I plan on dremeling out the strut mounts for more negative camber for the front and hope to hit specs somewhere around -1.5-2.0 front camber zero toe, -1.5-1.9(max) rear camber as long as it is not too much more then the front and slight toe in. All of this to get the car a little sharper and neutral.

-Short shifter, is the ball bearing shifter really that much better then a standard bushing shifter?

-Aftermarket muffler or modify the stock one. I just want a little more exhaust tone.

-Clutch helper spring, thinking about removing/changing the spring for better clutch feel. Sounds like some have problems removing this altogether and causes other issues with the car. My best guess is that once it is removed then the Clutch Delay Switch, not sure of the actual name but the switch that pulls timing once the clutch is depressed is now in a limbo mode. I guess this is one thing I will just have to mess around with until I find a combo I like. (what do Spec Boxsters do?)

-Double check front struts, maybe replace them if they are stock? I would like to lower the car at some point but probably not right now.

-Also my wheels are out for powder coating right now, going for a Brass/Gold color and hope it looks good on a black Boxster.

My plan for the car is to just have a fun drivers car that will probably see a couple autocrosses. My last car was a NA Miata which was a very fun car to drive.

If anyone has any advice, other modifications or maintenance items they are willing to share I am open.

[Anker]

Why not address the understeer with simpler measures like:

Higher front tire pressure.

Firmer sway bar in front.

Wider tires in front.

[Cunningr]

I would make the IMS a priority, mine was done already when I bought it. Not sure of the failure rates, but it may not give warning. I supposecthere is a way to have it checked. When you do the clutch consider a lighter flywheel. Good luck!

[Ciao]

Check the age of the coolant reservoir for replacement (yellow color indicates it is old); it has a tendency to leak without warning; the AOS is another part that will cause havoc without warning also the air filter and cabin filter (if yours has one)

[Sammyj]

Thank you all for the replies and advice so far.

For the understeering issue I just bought new tires and upsized the front to 225 from 205. I think i will stay with these for now just because they are brand new and mounted on the 8.5" wheel as opposed to the 7". This should provide another small improvement to understeer. I need to get the alignment done anyway because the car was in a minor accident and need to make sure nothing is bent. I don’t really like the factory spec of near zero camber on the front. I think this could lead to uneven tire wear if driven hard. So add a few hours of grinding to get more negative camber and this should provide a good base for a neutral car. If those do not work and the car still understeers some then i think a sway bar will be in my future.

As far as the IMS goes being a 1998 model it did come with the dual row bearing which i guess had a much lower failure rate and being that the car has 90k on it i feel/hope the IMS would have already given up the goat if it was going to. Also lightweight flywheels any opinions on dual mass vs single and typical cost?


I will add both the coolant reservoir and AOS to the to-do list. I see that the particle board by the coolant reservoir has been wet at some point and I will keep my eye on this as could have just been me spilling little bit of coolant when I had to refill and burp the system a few times do to a radiator end tank leak. The AOS could probably be done at the same time as cleaning the throttle body and plenum tubes.

One other question, the interlock under the driver side seat, how often do these go bad? I see most of them fail due to water damage. As long as I keep the drains at the front and rear of the car clear is there any other way water gets in or the interlock gets damaged?

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by Cunningr

I would make the IMS a priority, mine was done already when I bought it. Not sure of the failure rates, but it may not give warning. I supposecthere is a way to have it checked. When you do the clutch consider a lighter flywheel. Good luck!

Replacing the IMS bearing on a '98 is not really necessary. There's a 99% chance it will not fail.

Stay away from lightweight flywheels unless you plan to have the crank/flywheel balanced. The 986 does not have a harmonic balancer. Crank balance is achieved with the dual mass flywheel, so installing a lightweight flywheel could result in vibrations and even broken crankshafts.

[Cunningr]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Replacing the IMS bearing on a '98 is not really necessary. There's a 99% chance it will not fail.

Stay away from lightweight flywheels unless you plan to have the crank/flywheel balanced. The 986 does not have a harmonic balancer. Crank balance is achieved with the dual mass flywheel, so installing a lightweight flywheel could result in vibrations and even broken crankshafts.

Learn stuff everyday! My 996 turbo owner said that was a good thing for more performance.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by Cunningr

Learn stuff everyday! My 996 turbo owner said that was a good thing for more performance.

I considered one years ago...until Jake Raby posted pictures of broken crankshafts and the resulting carnage.

BOOM! The tale of the two piece Crankshaft

[Sammyj]

Wheels are back from powder coating! Now I need to decide what to do about the center caps. Let me know what you think.

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by Sammyj

Wheels are back from powder coating! Now I need to decide what to do about the center caps. Let me know what you think.

See if your PC has a rattle can of matching paint... tape off the cap emblems... and go a matching gold. That'd be my approach.

They look great!

[Quadcammer]

Originally Posted by Anker

Why not address the understeer with simpler measures like:

Firmer sway bar in front.

no. You want a stiffer bar in the rear to decrease understeer.

Originally Posted by particlewave

Replacing the IMS bearing on a '98 is not really necessary. There's a 99% chance it will not fail.

Stay away from lightweight flywheels unless you plan to have the crank/flywheel balanced. The 986 does not have a harmonic balancer. Crank balance is achieved with the dual mass flywheel, so installing a lightweight flywheel could result in vibrations and even broken crankshafts.

No. The DMF doesn't balance anything. It simply absorbs some vibrations and lessens the shock to both the engine and transmission.

[Brian in Tucson]

Just the facts: you have a 98, with a 2.5 liter engine. It's the smallest Boxster engine and you won't wring much more performance out of it. Maybe an underdrive pulley would provide a little increase. But it really is what it is.

You can get better tone with any aftermarket muffler, and they can be dirt cheap. I have this one on mine, makes it sound like a fire breathing dragon. Looks cool, too. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042LLELW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The thing with your car as it sits, it probably runs well and is fairly reliable. Getting spendy and fancy will just make those attributes go away. You'd do well to make it fun to drive, comfortable, and pretty.

[Boxstard]

Nice wheel job, I’d like the the same with mine! What was the cost? If it’s me I’d leave the cap off for outlaw look, topped with studs/ lug nuts conversion and some spacers later.

I love my Porsche Sports Exhaust with manual valving, but it could be one more notch louder after a year... maybe because of winter driving with my hard top on over the last 4 months...

And as already pointed out, you can try stiffer rear sway bar to make it less understeer. Try to find M030 ‘sport’ version for non-S, thicker than that of an S. I scored mine last fall and like it, and I still have 205 fronts.

[Sammyj]

The powder coat was $200 but I had a friend who works at a powder coat place do it for me so it could be on the cheaper side. Over all I really like the color and the way it turned out. They did not have any spray paint for the centers and I don’t think color match is gong to be an option. I was thinking maybe black center caps to give a good contrast for the emblem. I do have two extra center caps to experiment with. The other option would be to have some thin stainless or aluminum cut at my work then coated the same color, epoxy it down to the existing centercaps and epoxy the existing logos.
The car is getting aligned this week. I already drilled/ground the top strut mounts. That and now the front 225mm tires are mounted on the 8.5” wheel most of the understeer should be dialed out. I’m getting excited!

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by Quadcammer

No.

Crank imbalance is compensated for by the DMF. Bad wording on my part, but the end result doesn't change, nor does the point I was making.

[Sammyj]

I'm looking to buy the short shifter soon and I was just wondering if the Ball bearing version that ben makes is worth the extra $100 bucks. 45 on eBay vs 145 for ball bearing? Has anyone tried both?

[Quadcammer]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Crank imbalance is compensated for by the DMF. Bad wording on my part, but the end result doesn't change, nor does the point I was making.

well, kinda. You don't want people thinking that they need to have their new flywheel balanced.