Essential tools?

[hfb]

Hiya

Have a 2000 year 986 3.2S in silver.

It is in spot on condition (apart from one rattling Dzus type fastener on the nearside exhaust heat shield - RHD UK car) and hoping it stays that way.

I am not a spanner monkey, and can only do basic stuff (changed wheels, adjusted chain tensions, oil and filter changes, suspension swap outs) when I had motorbikes, and only plan on doing general maintenance on the car.

Only thing I have done so far is remove the fastener that rattled and replaced the original basic dash speakers with some Alpine ones (although not made a huge improvement).

Found I needed a stubby screwdriver for that due to the screen being in the way!

Not exactly a special tool, but in general, are there any tools that you would consider essential to have in my kit to allow me to work on the Boxster and not catch me out half way through a general maintenance task?

Thanks

HFB

[rene525d]

I would suggest a 5000 piece socket wrench set due to all the different sizes!!!

[CoBeerToad]

I have yet to do it yet, but if you have a stock oil filter, you may need a filter wrench.

[grubinski]

On the theme of oil changes, an 8mm allen socket for the oil pan plug. And a torque wrench capable of accurately producing 25 N-m (filter) and 50 N-m (drain plug) of torque.

[Meir]

First, welcome to the forum.
Based on your description, you are more then qualified to do most jobs on the boxster.
(suspension swap? ).
You will find this car to be very easy to work on (surprisingly)
The best 3 tool you can buy, are (in that order):
The book "101 projects for your Boxster"
The Boxster "Bentley book"
Durametric diagnostic tool.
The two books will show you all the common fixes for the car, in a step by step manor.
The diagnostic tool will help you find any issue that might come up.
Using the books, you can look at one project at a time, and prepare your self with the correct tools for the job ( that's what I do).
Ha. And I forgot the most important one.
This forum. :dance:

[Topless]

After wrenching American and Japanese cars for 40 yrs I find the Boxster to have a lot of oddball one-off fasteners that are completely unnecessary. Common bolts that I access often will get the upgrade treatment to a proper metric hex or phillips fastener. This would certainly confound a dealer service tech but I am pretty certain a dealer service tech will never have the opportunity to wrench on my car.

Tamper-proof torx heads are the bane of any experienced mechanic. A set of these along with a set of star sockets is useful to remove these silly barnacles and deposit them in the metal recycling bin where they belong.

[thstone]

A full set of Torx bits (from T8 to T60)

A full set of hex or allen sockets

A swivel socket adapter for the hard to reach places (which seem to be everywhere)

A 18"- 24" breaker bar (to remove those 14-yr old bolts)

A good light that has a stand and an adjustable head so you aim it right where you want and don't have to hold it while you're working

[copsahl]

A low profile racing jack

[Skrapmot]

Ditto on the Durametric.

[Kenny Boxster]

A beer and high blood pressure medication... But not at the same time!