Ger's 2003 Porsche Boxster S

[BenWillok]

Hi Ger,
I just acquired a 986 from 1997 and after following since several months your amazing posts, DIY tuto, comments, etc., I'm just totally over-excited to start making the old lady look young and great again!
But I just don't know where to start, while thinking that the engine and other mechanical parts should have my attention before starting to work on the looks, right?
Problem is that the car is 20 years old, only 65.000 miles and not having been on the road for more than 2 years, except for a few rides within the compound of the car seller (shop seller, not private), which means not more than 3rd gear and 2k rpm
When I got it last Friday and took it on the highway, it wouldn't go higher than 3k rpm and 60 mph, until I used the tiptronic to pass from 5th gear to 4th and create a small bang from the exhaust, hence dusting out all the exhaust line, brutal but effective
Anyway, engine oil is new, that's about all that has been done to the car by the seller
And problem here is that I can't ask Porsche workshop for a checkup and service as the car is older than 10 years and they don't take responsibility for it blablabla usual BS to make you pay extras
And experienced independent Porsche workshops don't exist here either
So, being quite handy, I'm thinking of doing it myself but would greatly appreciate some guidance from you guys!
Well, that's about all I have to say for now, sorry for the long post hahaha
Ben (Belgian guy living in Malaysia)

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by BenWillok

Hi Ger,
I just acquired a 986 from 1997 and after following since several months your amazing posts, DIY tuto, comments, etc., I'm just totally over-excited to start making the old lady look young and great again!
But I just don't know where to start, while thinking that the engine and other mechanical parts should have my attention before starting to work on the looks, right?
Problem is that the car is 20 years old, only 65.000 miles and not having been on the road for more than 2 years, except for a few rides within the compound of the car seller (shop seller, not private), which means not more than 3rd gear and 2k rpm
When I got it last Friday and took it on the highway, it wouldn't go higher than 3k rpm and 60 mph, until I used the tiptronic to pass from 5th gear to 4th and create a small bang from the exhaust, hence dusting out all the exhaust line, brutal but effective
Anyway, engine oil is new, that's about all that has been done to the car by the seller
And problem here is that I can't ask Porsche workshop for a checkup and service as the car is older than 10 years and they don't take responsibility for it blablabla usual BS to make you pay extras
And experienced independent Porsche workshops don't exist here either
So, being quite handy, I'm thinking of doing it myself but would greatly appreciate some guidance from you guys!
Well, that's about all I have to say for now, sorry for the long post hahaha
Ben (Belgian guy living in Malaysia)

A gorgeous example, and I'm very jealous of the roof and interior colour! It's lovely.

That's quite alarming that a 20 year old Porsche never got driven the way it should have. But thankfully it sounds like its new owner will start driving it the way it should!

You're absolutely right in stating that the mechanical condition comes first. My honest opinion would be to change the oil again. The seller has changed the oil, but you've no idea the condition of the engine before hand. The oil could have had metal shavings in it for all you know, indicating that there could be big problems. Do a small service yourself on it that includes:

- Transmission Oil
- Transmission Oil Filter
- Engine Oil
- Engine Oil Filter
- Engine Oil Washer & Plug
- Spark Plugs
- Air Filter

By changing the oil and filter, you can check for any shavings, and if there aren't any, you're good to go and at least you know you've checked everything yourself. The transmission oil and filter will breathe new life into the transmission.

Doing all of the above is quite easy and can be done in a couple of hours. While you're at it, check the condition of your brake discs and pads all round, and make sure the tyres aren't cracked. Even if there's decent tread on tyres, they deteriorate if too old or stood too long, so check for cracks.

If all that's good, then you can go nuts on cosmetics, but you don't want to just mask up problems

Also, get that 'S' badge off the boot. You don't want to be one of those people who tries to make the car into a fake by being something it's not.

[WillokBoy]

Okay, so the forum blocked my other account for having posted a link to a great tutorial about how to maintain your 986 yourself, sad...
So, I'm (was) BenWillok and I have to say Thanks a LOT for your feedback! I'll get my hands dirty right after work today and start changing and checking on those oils and filters
Yeah I found the added "S" sign looking idiotic too and I can't wait to remove it but then I'll need to think of the paint first, since the entire existing paint is a mess, they painted cheap black on top of original silver...
So I'm still hesitating between putting a nice brown colour like this (I know it's not the 986):



Or grey (I know it's not the 986 either but still looks amazing!):



Or blue:



Your opinion guys? :-)

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by WillokBoy

Okay, so the forum blocked my other account for having posted a link to a great tutorial about how to maintain your 986 yourself, sad...
So, I'm (was) BenWillok and I have to say Thanks a LOT for your feedback! I'll get my hands dirty right after work today and start changing and checking on those oils and filters
Yeah I found the added "S" sign looking idiotic too and I can't wait to remove it but then I'll need to think of the paint first, since the entire existing paint is a mess, they painted cheap black on top of original silver...
So I'm still hesitating between putting a nice brown colour like this (I know it's not the 986):



Or grey (I know it's not the 986 either but still looks amazing!):



Or blue:



Your opinion guys? :-)

You're going to paint it?!

Wow. If you're willing to spend that much money on it, be absolutely sure the car is mechanically perfect. You don't want to go spending thousands of dollars on something that could potentially break! But if you do, go for the grey

The colour it is now looks fine, give it a machine polish and it'll be gorgeous. You could then spend the money on something like the Aerokit for it, really make it look gorgeous.

Anyhoo. Slight problem for the MOT that's in two months, but it could be okay.

After installing my projectors, you'll notice that my sidelight bulbs have been completely obscured by the lens:



That's why I've installed the DRL's, so they act as sidelights. Unfortunately, I've found out that DRL's cannot be used as sidelights, so this setup would fail an MOT.

Luckily, due to the bizarre setup of the 996 and 986 headlight, the foglights are part of the main headlamp cluster as you know. The plan is to put much dimmer H7 bulbs (warm white LED for example) to match the brightness of a 501 W5W sidelight bulb, then wire those up to the sidelight loom.

The DRL's won't fail the MOT as they're not a testable item, but having no sidelights will. Front foglights also won't fail as they're not testable either, so this will completely solve the problem. I've just called the garage to confirm and they said as long as it's the same on both sides then they'll pass for a sidelight. Awesome.

I don't think I'd want those two lights to light up as sidelights all the time, but for the MOT it'll be fine. When I come to sell the car in the future, I'll just wire the DRL's as the front foglights and the original foglights as sidelights with smaller bulbs, like previously mentioned. Then all lighting will be covered and the new owner will be able to ignore everything and carry on as normal.

So yeah, didn't see that one coming! Should be fine though.