2002 Boxster project car
 

Hello all,

I'm usually found over on Rennlist but I know this forum is the place to be for 986 stuff so posting over here.

My wife and I have been multiple Porsche owners, including 928's, 996's, 987, 986 and now a cherry 997 Turbo cabrio. We wanted to get back into a roadster that we could modify and play with a bit but not break the bank.

Found a 2002 Boxster S locally, advertised with an engine rattle. Made a lowball offer and got it. Top is rough, had some bodywork on the right quarter panel but brakes tires and interior were all very nice. Brought it home and thought maybe we could save it with an IMS change if it wasn't too far gone. The guy I bought the car from said he had located a low mileage engine in Nova Scotia so at least I figured that would be the backup plan.

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We put the car on the lift, and dumped the oil and sump plate. It is wayyy beyond repair, oil looked like chocolate milk and huge pieces of metal in the sump. The oil filter had more glitter than a stripper's outfit!


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So I called the place in Nova Scotia, and of course the engine is sold. So I started looking for a motor or a parts car. Happened upon a car advertised on Ebay in Louisiana. It was a 2002 S that had just had flywheel, clutch, rms, single row pro IMS, and AOS replaced and was hit while parked by a drunk driver. Insurance wrote it off but owner kept the car. After some polite negotiating over the phone, I Paypaled cash, rented a trailer and went on a road trip to get it

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Home now

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I managed to get the parts car into Canada with a clear title and was considering fixing it. But it shows total loss on the insurance record and I would have to pay a body man for the work. Two broken control arms and front one bent almost 90 degrees! Apparently it knocked the front wheel of an F150. Tough little car!

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So, we decided to keep it as a donor and take all the good stuff, like the engine, top, heated sport seats, Bose sound etc and sell off any other parts I don't need. More work, but will be a fun project to do in the evenings.

Will keep updating the thread with pics of the progress as we go!

Yikes...lots of debris in the 3rd pic there, is that black stuff plastic? Maybe bits of water pump impeller or vario-cam pads...

The Louisiana car looks like it was taken care of, too bad. Good luck with the engine swap.

I am looking for a 4 stalk steering column controls if your white parts car has the OBC function.

Yes the white car has the OBC not sure if I will take it or sell it. Will PM you if I do.

The black pieces are variocam pads. The big shiny pieces are the inner race of the IMS bearing. Believe it or not this engine would still start and run albeit extremely rough and noisy with misfires.

When it’s out I’m donating the motor to a friend of mine that is an apprentice mechanic in his final year. He has to take an engine apart and measure it at his school this will be a good one for him to learn on!

Thank you, enjoy your project!

Engine and trans is now out on the black car. On Youtube, there is an excellent 3 part series on removing the engine on a channel called Roaring Tigers Garage. They did it on a 2001 S, only a couple of things different on our 2002 (no return fuel line and return power steering line was routed differently). I suggest unbolting the bracket that holds the shift cables to the transmission as it was very tight squeezing the right side axle past it. The exhaust bolts were really rusted on so we dropped it with the exhaust bolted on. Much easier to grind off the bolts once it's out. You can unbolt the two cross members and leave them dangling and they will lower out with the transmission.


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The donor car is sitting nose down on my sloped driveway and has exhibited a trans leak will have to see what has happened when it gets on the lift. May have to use my transaxle.

More details to come!

Pulled the exhaust and transmission. The exhaust on bank one had about a cup of intermix oil come out of it. Something is broken in there!

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Clutch and flywheel are worn out. Good thing these are new on the donor car. Surprisingly the IMS is still OK, I thought for sure IMS failure.

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Check out the spark plug from Cylinder 1. The pieces of metal in the oil pan were piston skirt not IMS bearing. Looks like the piston blew apart. I fished around through the spark plug hole with a screwdriver the the piston has a huge crack though the crown. Probably the cylinder is cracked too. Very surprised this engine still started up.

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Donor car will be going on the lift next for engine/trans removal.

This is cool, keep it coming


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So, luckily the transmission leak on the donor car was nothing major. When the rear wheel was pushed forward, it pulled the axle yoke out and right out of the seal. These are designed with a spring clip that retains them from inside the transmission. To remove the yokes all you do is give a quick snap with a pry bar and they come out, then to reinstall push them in until they click. I guess the accident mimicked the "quick snap" of the pry bar, lol. No damage to the seal or shaft. Good to go!

Will probably have the spare 6 speed S transmission for sale in the classifieds in a few weeks



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Engine is out on the donor car. Took only 5 hrs this time!



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Well everything went back in with little drama and it fired right up. I am getting codes for O2 idle adaptation. When I dropped the engine from the donor car I missed the MAF wire and I pulled it a bit. Will data log it with my Durametric and see what’s up. Otherwise it’s great, runs smooth and steering is super tight. You never know when you buy a non runner.

Needs LOTS of cleaning up, headlights polished etc.

Wife had it out yesterday and is happy. ;)

Congratulations! Happy to hear that your 'project had a happy ending, your wife looks happy indeed and that is always a good indicator :-)

very cool, took 2 to make one and you did it.

Glad I could save it. This car was destined for a part out, but everything came together nicely. The chassis has 166000 miles on it, donor powertrain has 100,000. I can’t believe how tight the chassis is for the miles must have been a highway commuter car.

Another update on this thread. Stripped the engine down to a long block so the students could tear it down in shop class. Check out the chunks of metal and intermix that blew back through the intake valves and into the intake runners! When they take this thing apart the damage will be epic! I will get pics when they do it.

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Our car now has the convertible top, heated sport seats, OBC/gauges, tires/wheels and aftermarket stereo from donor car. Also has been polished up a bit and looking better! She's a bit dirty in the pic but you get the idea....


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First, congratulations on the save! Great work and glad it has all worked out.

With 166K miles, it is likely that the the suspension has already been refreshed. Otherwise the shocks would be completely gone and the handling would be rather imprecise due to the many years and many, many miles on the various suspension components.

Yes the front has Bilstein struts but the rear looks like original struts. I will but a matching set of Bilsteins in the rear probably this winter. All the control arms and such don't look original either.

Great post! Lets see more!

Nice job, Cosmo!! Thanks for sharing!

I have to admit, I have lift envy!:D:D;)

I'm also impressed with your plywood platform on wheels!