With the insurance off, I can tackle some of the tasks on my list. The car is getting there!

Up 1st: I broke a bolt on my sway bar bushing retainer at the front passenger corner when I rebuilt my suspension in spring this year. Like an idjit, I just kept driving with the clunking. I will admit that the suspension rebuilt has been an amazing change to the car. So even with this clunking issue, the car felt way better than before the rebuild. That's what I tell myself to justify continuing to drive it. Aaaaaand here is what I'm left with. Serves me right.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1602816513.jpg

Anyways, wish me luck as I try drilling out this broken bolt! I've heard this can be a real goat rodeo.

Preparing for hibernation
 

Changed the oil and filter, filled her up, and gave her a thorough cleaning on Saturday in preparation to put her to bed for the winter. We had a great start to fall this year but the forecast is for much colder weather starting now.

Tomorrow I will switch insurance over to my ‘winter beater’ and start counting the days till spring. I always hate that day.

Changed my dashboard gauge cover
 

My Boxster has a grey dash and interior. In certain lighting conditions the reflection from the grey dash onto the windshield makes it difficult to see out.

I found a black gauge cover on EBay for cheap and swapped it with the original grey one. It makes a very noticeable improvement on the drivers side! There is a lot less reflection now. I wish there was an easy fix for the passenger side, changing out the entire dash is more than I want to get involved with!

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1603060781.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1603060836.jpg

That looks way better. Just the way it offsets the giant grey blob in the middle of a grey area. Fits with the black speaker grills.

I haven't driven my grey interior car yet, but I'll take your word that the glare is obnoxious at times. At anyrate it looks good.

I have grey also and have never noticed the glare. And I do like the black contrast with your change. Have you given any thought to dyeing the rest of the grey dash leather black? I used a national company to freshen up my grey drivers seat. I am still thoroughly happy with the way it turned out. fibrenew.com

I had not considered dying the rest of dash black... interesting idea. I'll have to look into that. I think my dash may just be vinyl covered rather than leather.

I saw a post (maybe yours?) about the seat refurbishing, my drivers side is showing typical wear on the outside bolster. I'm going to see if there is a franchise in my area, last time I looked the closest one was not near me. I have considered swapping the backs of the seats as the passenger seat is in excellent shape.

I did have a couple of seat posts. One asking about swapping and another after the refresh. I was going to try and swap the back rests. I started the project and quickly opted out after another member posted his seats reworked via Fibrenew. I valued my time over the cost. My rep lives about three miles from me. I have the full leather option. I think they can also color the vinyl

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IMPCO-DUAL-FUEL-PROPANE-GASOLINE-KIT-V8-V6-ENGINES-350-5-7-454-7-4-360-383-305/181211710461?hash=item2a310f43fd:g:fLQAAOxyuCJRcUO t


I made my last BIG purchase for my "thing" in my garage. :D

Figure if it doesn't fit I'll slap it on my pickup.

I've always wanted to try that on one of my cars, Qingdao! Good luck and let us know how it works!

Last weekend took out the cupholders from between the air vents on teh dash. Same time I installed the AC/heater control unit to the same location and also to the previously AC/heater control location at the very bottom, I installed a storage cubby.

This was pretty fiddly task, since I took some under dash elements away from the wireing re-route. This allowed the wires to be loose enough for the AC/heater control unit to be easy to remove at the later date.

Forgot to take a picture from the starting point but here's the first image from past summer at Kymiring where the original set-up can be seen.
Second image is when the dash was taken in part.
Third image is when all is done :dance:

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1603292231.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1603292253.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1603292297.jpg

An engineer buddy of mine made the point of "how is propane going to take to compression of the supercharger; will it fall out of suspension in the air?". I don't think its going to be a big issue being that propane gets squanched in the cylinder just before ignition. BUT if it doesn't fit or if it just flat out doesn't work I can always put the kit on my pickup truck.

I just installed Ben's Short Shift Kit (available at Uniwerk's design). Easy install and can't beat the price. It made a marked improvement in shifter feel. Read a few posts about this SSK on this here forum. It's a great upgrade for anyone considering it.

Make sure you turn the engine and ignition off if you cut the wires. Or cut them one at a a time. I cut mine with the engine running (I was trying to keep the exhaust as hot as possible after a blowtorch session) and blew up my DME, or at least the circuit that controls that sensor.

Best of luck

Berni

Made my second 2000 mile move in less than a year.
Got some neat gifts from my new neighbor (car cover and sun shade, both with original Porsche Tequipment bags). ;)

Nice neighbor! Where are you now?

Hi Bruce!
Wife got an Army job at Ft. Leonard Wood, so right back where I started...basically.
Ozarks...

The shutdowns killed jobs and everything else in WA. Nothing there for us, unfortunately.

At least you are familiar with the area :cheers:

Drove the car to California and it did great on the 1,500 mile trip
 

And my dog loved the trip too.
Was scared driving a 20yr old car that far, but it did great.

Picked up some paint and a 5 gallon bucket of primer at the paint store. The guy there helped me outside with the stuff on a hand truck. He saw the car and looked worried and as he looked at the trunk, said I hope it fits. I popped the frunk, and he said, wow, that's deep. :-)

It wasn't today, but Tuesday I put the hardtop on for the winter. It had some wind whistles at the windshield header bar, so Wednesday I loosened the five screws in each B-pillar and realigned the top to snug up the gaps. Good thing because we had some rain yesterday, at times heavy. It was quiet and snug and dry. I love that my car came to me with a hardtop.

Scott

Drove my oldest son up to my friends house so he (my son) could buy and pick up his first Porsche! He bought it from a good friend of mine after my son drove it down the mountainside when my friend had to evacuate due to the fires here in Colorado. He told him if he ever wants to sell it to give him a shot. 2 weeks later he is the proud owner of a beautiful 1970 911T.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/My-s..._1_201_a-L.jpg

Well...I’m jealous :cheers:

@BruceH - Me too(jealous) but he has worked very hard(unlike his dad...) to get to a place where he could afford this. He has wanted one for 20 years and at 41 everything aligned and he was ready to pounce...

Good for him, it looks like an outstanding car!

Nice 911!

I hit a raccoon a few a nights ago. Luckily he only scratched the bottom of the front bumper. I am glad I took a look under the car since one of the plastic air dam things was barely hanging on.

Wonderful story.

Sadly put it into winter storage. Only put 1900 miles on it this year, usually drive between 5 and 6k. No where to go when sheltering in place. Hopefully I'll make it up next year after we've "turned the corner."
Larry (the bald eagle)

That is one hell-uv-a 'First' Porsche. Too bad he couldn't get something newer. :D

Installed a new Alpine receiver with all that bluetooth and outer space radio stuff. It completes the audio upgrade, including new dash speakers, rear deck speakers and amp in the frunk finished over the past couple years. I am well pleased.

Mounted by winter wheels and A/S tires this week, and now it feels like summer in MA.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d05ee3caf4.jpg


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Installed a new glass window top from AutoTops Direct. Not bad for a first time...http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1604795226.jpg

Well done. How long did it take?

It took 2 days. I don’t have a garage so I had to wait for a window of good weather here in NC. The directions that autotops provides plus a few YouTube videos are all you need. There was really only one tricky part. I was quoted $1,000 to $1,200 at the local shops. This is definitely a job anyone can do with a little patience.

I paid a shop $500 to install mine

Spent yesterday doing my annual service/oil change, and two repairs. I replaced the airbag retaining plate so I can stop honking at everyone when I brake, and I repaired my leather door pocket lid. :cheers:

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1604870215.jpg
Installed an extended Raceseng shifter that I got a great deal on via rennlist. Nice to have the shifter closer to the wheel, but I think a console riser would be a better solution.

Looks good.

How’s the throw now?

TO

I have the 997 factory short shift kit, so the feel with the SSK + weighted knob is good, but the throws are certainly longer.
I think the console riser would have been a better solution to keep the throws tight, but they went out of production and are hard to find these days.

Southern California finally received some rain on Saturday and Sunday. 170 days after it rained last. Drove up to Mt Baldy to stretch my and the car's legs. Snow in the village at 4,200 feet. Pictures are at the end of the road +/-6,000 feet.

Forgot to attach pictures. See next post.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1604968190.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1604968294.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1604968337.jpg