Ger's 2003 Porsche Boxster S

[geraintthomas]

Thanks

Early morning drive through the pier proved to have some nice views. Google Pixel proving to have a stonkingly good camera.

[geraintthomas]

I've taken the side vents off and gave them a lick of matt black paint. The 987 and onwards have this and it looks lovely with the contrast between the paint and the vent.



I'll also be doing the front fins on the bumper, as per the newer models. So the only bits that will be matt black are the exhausts, rear diffuser, rear badge, side vents and front fins. Basically the modern variants of this car have these parts in ABS plastic, so painting in matt black gives the same effect.

Whilst the side vents were off though, I've de-snorkel'd it.

This is a common thing to do, which removes the 'snorkel' restrictor from the intake which in turn allows more air in. Two resulting things happen, the first is a much louder intake sound which sounds gorgeous, and apparently there's a 5bhp power increase which someone proved with a dyno.

Seen here:****Finally: Dyno charts of de-snorked 986S!!!

Whether or not that's true, I don't know and I don't really care, I did it for the sound, but the fact that someone had a 5bhp increase from it just gives me peace of mind that I won't loose any power by doing it.

The sound is lovely now! Sounds exactly the same unless you bury the accelerator, and around 4,000rpm you get this snarl which sounds reminiscent of the induction noise on an E30, or a McLaren F1. No I'm not saying it sounds like a McLaren F1, but find an on-board video (EVO on YouTube) and listen to the snarl of the induction - that's the sound you start to get, and it's lovely.

[TrumpyAl]

Somewhat ironically, the newer models offer these parts painted in body colour as an (expensive) option.

Loving yours though!

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by TrumpyAl

Somewhat ironically, the newer models offer these parts painted in body colour as an (expensive) option.

Loving yours though!

Interesting! And thank you

[geraintthomas]

Gave the car its second wax and sealant of the year. I only do this twice a year as my drying technique tops up the wax layers (spray wax onto a wet drying towel to dry the car, adds the protection afterwards).















Remember the issues I was (and still am) having with the handling and alignment? Well something's happening to the car which is usually bad news, but is great news for me as it pin points what it is.

Under acceleration, the car is turning slightly left, and under deceleration, the car returns to steer right. This pretty much confirms that it's the alignment, and not loose ball joints. If it was loose bushes, the car would turn either left or right under acceleration/deceleration. This is consistent, with the car turning more left the harder I accelerate. It's subtle, but it's there.

I'm going to take it back to the alignment centre as I'm hoping that the alignment bolts weren't tightened properly, and I'm going to tell them to really tighten them up.

After that, I'll change the knocking front drop links, and the car's back to perfect mechanical condition.

[geraintthomas]

Found out from a friend that the lip that was cracked on the sub frame that the eccentric bolt pushes against to allow the toe to be adjusted is causing all of the issues. I was told that the torque of the bolt keeps the alignment, whereas in fact the bolt needs this lip to rest against, and as it's not there, the alignment will and has changed drastically.

Going to order a new rear left subframe in the next few days to fix it, as well as some drop links for the front. After I replace the sub frame, drop links, then get it aligned, it should feel and drive like new again and I seriously can't wait.

Second hand subframe is £25 on Ebay, drop links are £45, alignment is £60 for all four wheels. So £130 to get the suspension sorted. Happy days.

[BruceH]

Glad to hear it is not going to be too much to sort out. The car looks beautiful as always

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by BruceH

Glad to hear it is not going to be too much to sort out. The car looks beautiful as always

Thank you

Whilst I’m waiting to buy the parts to fix the suspension issues, I already had the kit to refurbish the alloy wheels.

The last time I did the wheels they looked great, but eventually they became a lot more matt than gloss for some reason. Not sure if it was the lacquer I used or the technique.

This time I’ve coated the lacquer on seriously thick. The result is a wheel that’s not perfect by any means (with orange peel and the odd lacquer defect here and there due to thick build up), but it’s a lot more glossy.

I could get them professionally done but, to be honest, this is good enough for me.











I tell you what though, I used black primer before putting the coat on. When the primer dried, the wheel was satin black…

…and it did look quite nice.

[grc0456]

Wheels look great to me, Ger. Nicely done!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Froggo]

Ger , What tyres are you running , size / brand ?

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by grc0456

Wheels look great to me, Ger. Nicely done!

Thanking you!

Originally Posted by Froggo

Ger , What tyres are you running , size / brand ?

Front: Falken FK510 - 225/40/18

Rear: Falken FK510 - 255/40/18

[geraintthomas]

Haven't actually posted in a while due to being ridiculously busy. Being a lecturer I've got assessments and marking to do outside of work, as well as the fact that I work in a TV studio and normally work overtime, as well as a PGCE to study for, as well as freelance work to do... you can see how I've got no time to wipe my own ass lately.

Even so, thought I'd update you on it all.

The car's still brilliant, going strong. I haven't done much to it as the plan was to buy an Mk1 MX5, spend a few grand on it and turn it into a track car on the side (as well as keeping the Porsche, don't worry). But with everything that's going on lately, I'm having to put that on hold due to time. That's all good though, just means I can focus on the Porsche a little more!

There's a few things that started to pile up due to having no time, but nothing substantial. Here's some of the****things I need to do:

Drop links. The front left drop link is knocking since changing my control arms, so I just need to quickly change that. I'm going to attempt to do it myself but it'll probably be a garage job due to the seized bolts.

Control arm nut. Had a bit of an issue here. The rear control arm that I replaced has a nut that holds it to the wheel hub, but weirdly this nut keeps coming loose which results in the rear wheel starting to move. I've got a new arm but I'm using the old nut, so I popped into Porsche and bought a new one. I'll put it on with thread lock and that should be fine. I may even put the old nut on top of the new nut as a sort of locking nut.

Alignment. The alignment is out due to the fore-mentioned nut, and I don't want to do it until I get this nut sorted with thread lock. After that, should be good!

HID's. My left HID is dimmer than my right and has been fore quite a while, but it's still my old HID's Direct kit (which are absolutely dire). I'm going to get one of the £85 Hid4U kits which are apparently astonishing. I'm also going to try 6000k as I normally do 5000k, but as my DRL's are 6000k, I'd like to try them. If not, I can always buy 5000k bulbs separately and keep the 6000's as a backup.

Door window drop. Since changing my window regulator years ago, this happens now and again where the window doesn't drop as much as it should. I've got a few cable ties that take away the slack but over time they get crushed and it goes back to not dropping much. Just needs a bike brake cable adjuster and it should be fine. Even so, it's never as good as it used to be. But, if I disconnect the battery of the car then reconnect it, the window drops perfectly. But 30 seconds later, it'll go back to being rubbish again. I've re-trained it but perhaps I'm doing it wrong?

Dent/scuff. Someone decided to open their door into me and dent the rear quarter, then drive off and scuff the front bumper. Lovely! Luckily I've got the scuff off the front bumper with 2000grit wet and dry, but the rear will need a paintless dent repair specialist. I've had someone repair far worse than this, so I'm not worried! Will only cost around £40.

Starter motor. Sounds like a donkey, just need to clean it.

That's about it! Will keep you guys updated.

[geraintthomas]

So I may have had a slightly whoopsie. I clipped the rear of the car against a bollard!

The good news is that the metal bollard had a plastic covering, so while it's scratched the paintwork it hasn't gone through much at all - a quick buff of the machine will get them out.

The bad news comes in two parts. It's dented the panel gradually so the wheel arch sits a little further in than the other side, so I may be able to pull that out. The other bit of bad news was that it wrecked my track arm as the rear wheel was pointing out, so I had to get a recovery home.

This was the part I took out. Unbelievable...



That's the track arm's carrier bolt. Bent like a banana. It's weird, the nut on this kept coming undone and, after putting the new one on, the nut was lovely and tight whilst going down the thread. The old one wasn't at all, so I wonder if there was a fault with the part.

Either way, I've fitted the new part and had the car aligned, and it's driving perfectly again. Just need to machine the scratches out, and look at pulling the arch back out slightly.

This is how much the panel is bent in.

This is the good side:



And this is the bad side:



Notice you can see more tyre?

I'm thinking of taking the wheel arch off, heating the whole panel and finding some way of just bending it out slightly. That's the theory anyway...

[geraintthomas]

Couple of updates:

- Finally replaced the front left droplink that was causing a small knock ever since I had the car - woah! Obviously the car doesn't feel different but it seems to, as it's amazing how much noise came from that droplink.

- One of my projector lenses that I put in has suddenly got dimmer over time (I've tried new bulbs/ballasts), and this is to do with the inside of the projector bowl being burnt. The result is a coating of orange, which yellows the light slightly and dims it. Just need to open it, replace and re-seal - easy peasy.

- I've been having low coolant levels for a week or so now. Decided that it could just be air in the system as when I checked, the overflow pipe was wet. I've already got the new coolant cap so it's not that.

Then I saw this in front of the O/S front wheel...



Looks like I've got a leaking radiator!

Going to order one on ebay - before anyone starts to go "Ohhhhhhh don't get those ebay ones get a genuine Porsche one!" while sitting in their genuine leather chairs and red trousers, I haven't got that sort of cash to throw at it at the moment when there's an equivalent on ebay for £65. I've had ebay radiators in my previous cars which I've had for years and they've been fantastic. The worst that would happen is that it'll either start leaking again, to which I just stop driving, or it won't cool as well which, I just stop driving. If either of those happen I can invest in a better one, but for £65, as with previous cars I've had (performance ones too), it's worth a go.

So £65 for the radiator, some coolant and a couple of hours work. Should be back to being normal.

Annoyingly though one of my DRL's has failed, so I'll need to be replacing that too. The weather effects so much - I'm normally on top of the car but in the winter, it gets dark early, it's always raining and I've got no garage, so things start to build up. Especially since the car seems to constantly look like this:



Still, doesn't stop me from having some roof down fun.



Bring on the summer!

[Silver']

I'd definitely try the eBay options at that price.

Get the bumper off first and eyeball it though, preferably with a pressure tester attached, it may not be the radiator?

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by Silver'

I'd definitely try the eBay options at that price.

Get the bumper off first and eyeball it though, preferably with a pressure tester attached, it may not be the radiator?

Well the leak is directly below the radiator, and I very much doubt it's the pipes as on further inspection the bottom of the bumper has had a decent scuff. There's a hill on the way to my parents' place that the bumper scuffs on if I go up it too fast, so that would have been it.

But yeah, definitely trying it with that price!

[geraintthomas]

Right, so a few updates. Rad went on fine and has been absolutely perfect! No problems there at all.

Now onto the next big(ish) problem.

I've got the following problems:

- Codes P0171 + P0174 (too much air on both banks)
- Impossible to remove oil cap while engine running
- Rough idle
- Loss of performance
- Oil smelling smoke on start up
- Occasional lifter sound

Which, thankfully, all point to one thing - the air oil separator. It started with a vacuum leak, then onto rough idle, then power loss, then smokey start up, etc. I've bought a new one so I'll be replacing that in the week or on the weekend, depending on what time I have.

That last one, the lifter sound, is interesting. About a year ago I had a ticking on the engine which worried me - went in time with the engine revs. Sounded like a seized lifter, but it went after 10 minutes and never heard it again. Today I just had the same sound, and again after 10 minutes of driving, it went. Whilst roaming on YouTube, a guy posted a video with the identical sound. Turns out he said it was a 'lazy lifter from low oil pressure due to a faulty AOS'.

So there we are, hopefully I'll replace it and all will be well. After that, I'll be replacing the rear subframe (still haven't) so that the alignment can be perfect once again. The car should be mechanically spot on after that.

In the meantime though, DRL's have been fixed, ordered new ones but turns out it was a loose wire - at least I have spares.

Along with that, my new projector lamps came! The black ones. They're gorgeous! I split the headlights again, removed the old projectors and put the new ones in. The old ones were slightly oxidised on the inside of the bowl, which dimmed the light output. As well as this, I buffed the inside of the headlights and what a difference it's made!

Here's a difference in the headlights. Old left, new right. Notice the old silver projector vs the new black one, and also note how faded the lens is on the left to how clear the right one is! All of that was on the inside - no wonder I couldn't ever buff it out!



And two of the light output (yes I took one whilst driving 20mph on a quiet road, shush)





Here's some photos in the day:


















Just have to fix the AOS and subframe, and the car will be back to mint condition

[geraintthomas]

Just cancelled my order for the AOS on ebay for £75.

Just rang Porsche (I live 2 minutes from an OPC) and they have one in stock for £65 including VAT.

It's the cheapest I can find anywhere, and it's direct from Porsche.

How the...

[TrumpyAl]

Wow. There’s a lesson for us all there. My dealer puts the parts in Porsche labelled bags sealed with a sticker that has my name on it. Makes me feel special

The lights look mint now, why so hazy on the inside do you think? Was there any moisture getting in? Did you use any paint or sealant that should have been left to cure before assembly perhaps?

[BRAN]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

Just cancelled my order for the AOS on ebay for £75.

Just rang Porsche (I live 2 minutes from an OPC) and they have one in stock for £65 including VAT.

It's the cheapest I can find anywhere, and it's direct from Porsche.

How the...

If you want new consumables (which I normally prefer), Porsche dealership is where I go. They know, it is just a matter of time for you to pick up a higher margin or more expensive item
Always check their online data base for prices. and when I found something I get an 18% discount on it due to my Porsche classic card. Btw, gives you an idea what margins are on spare parts. But afterall I am happy and that is what counts.
PORSCHE is NOT necessarily the greediest fish in the tank.

Your Boxster looks so special, and the "new" lights are really nice.