Muffler swap

[D.L.]

I bought an aftermarket exhaust and plan on doing the install myself. Does anyone have any tips or hints they can offer before I jump into this project? Is it worth it to just pay someone to do it? I can't imagine it costing too much. Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

[nola911]

Couple hints...
1) Buy the boxster Bentley manual
2) Don't try to do it with the bumper on

It is very easy once the bumper is off. I tried twice with it on and spent more time busting knuckles than anything else. A shop would be intimidated by the swap unless it has done a boxster.

I wouldn't pay for it. It's an easy DIY and you learn a lot about the car when you do it yourself.

[John V]

There was a crossover point at which Porsche changed the mounting. On all "S" cars and 2000 and later non-S cars, it's easiest with the bumper on. For 1997-1999 cars, it's basically impossible to do with the bumper on.

I drop the exhaust fairly frequently for competition, and I have never once removed the bumper on my 2000 S. Piece of cake. Do not attempt on the earlier cars!

[D.L.]

Thanks for the reply. So, are you suggesting that it's worth having a shop do the swap for a nominal fee? Any other opinions out there in the 986 world want to chime in... please...

[Chris_Craft]

I did it recently on my 99, first with the bumper on then i did it the right way with the bumpber off. It is very easy. Would i have paid $100 for a shop to do it? Probably.

[John V]

Originally Posted by D.L.

Thanks for the reply. So, are you suggesting that it's worth having a shop do the swap for a nominal fee? Any other opinions out there in the 986 world want to chime in... please...

I would never pay for it. It's easy, doesn't take much time (especially if you have one of the later cars where you don't remove the bumper) and don't risk some goon at a shop screwing your car up.

[D.L.]

Okay.... so the stebro exhaust I ordered is coming in Monday. I have an earlier 98 boxster, so other than removing the bumper during the install, are there ANY other tips you guys can give me. I'm a little nervous to be honest.

I think the bumper removal will be okay, but there's not much information on removing the stock exhaust and installing the stebro. I tried looking for hours on this forum and renntech and there's plenty on how to take the bumper off, but not so much on actually removing the exhaust How many bolts are there for the exhaust, are some bolts hidden, is there a sequence in which bolts to take off first, do I need jack stands or a lift, do I need a second set of hands to help, etc.

PLEASE HELP before I take this on.