What did I do to my Boxster today?
 

Cut it in half. :eek:

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Pulled her out of hibernation today. Replaced a disintegrating belt and the ignition switch then took her around town. She starts up so much quieter now!

Ok, I'll bite! More please!

Went with my wife's cousin for a spirited drive in the Box (he left his Cayman in hibernation) for a spirited drive in southern Maine - Eliot, Ogunquit and Kittery for lunch. Drove up little (692 ft.) Mt. Agamenticus for a stunning view of the Presidentials to the North/Northwest, and Casco Bay and the Atlantic to the east. Cool!

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As always, the Box never fails to impress!

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World's first two seat, mid-engine Boxster roadster stretch limo build? Hot tub in the middle?

Pulled it from storage, earliest ever but it has been in the 50s for a week and the forecast is for 50s - low60s for the next week plus. Only lost 3 months use to Winter this year. Gave it a good wash an went for a 2 hour drive!
Saw a few motorcycles and 2 early 70s Chevelles, but the only other convertible was a 80s Cavalier.

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I’m playing around with engine swap ideas. The front half of the car is stripped out bare and is going to the scrap yard. The back half will make a good mock-up to sort some things out without having to disturb any of the ‘good’ Boxsters. For the moment I have a VW 2.8L V6 that is far from an upgrade, but makes similar power to the 97-99 2.5s. I don’t expect to complete the swap, but work through the process as an education.

If I get anywhere interesting I'll start posting. For now, I'm working my way up to 25 posts on the Passat Forum so I can sell off the VW parts in their classifieds:
A V6 2.8 and a Bad idea: My Engine Swap Education

Ripped (Literally) the old intake out, and replaced it with a evo ms kit. I sent them an email to get a new tube for the throttle body.

Started the car up for the first time in 2 months. She didn't seem too happy - got some blue smoke, and 2 or 3 random pops. Let it idle for a short while, then took it around the block. It is VERY loud without an engine cover.

A simple thing that gave me a big smile :)

Installed the AUX input adapter in the back of the CD 220. All the speakers have been upgraded and I have been contemplating an amp and HU upgrade but I like the stock look. At least I was able to take the Box out on Sunday and visit some country roads with the top down and playing music on my Iphone.

Dave in TX
2001 S

Dsallean - Which speakers did you upgrade to? Is the sound quality a drastic difference?


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01Boxys - I followed some instructions (here I think) on removing the dash speakers and doing some simple surgery on the existing brackets and replacing the speakers with some 4" 2-way speakers. I used the Pioneer TS-G1043R. I added the rear speaker brackets, as I already had the box for them, just not the brackets. The brackets allowed me to add 2 3.5" Pioneer speakers to each side in the rear for a total of 4. I got new door speakers as well but haven't installed them yet. If I recall they are just woofers (small) but I will get to them when I feel like removing the door panels.

I don't know if "drastic" would be the word to describe it. But since all I had to start with was some paper dash speakers that literally fell apart when I removed them, the new speaker are much clearer and the rear speakers fill the sound out a bit. With the AUX input for the first time I actually liked listening to the stereo. I think there is hope for it now if I can figure out what amp to install with the Becker radio and then maybe a new HU at some point if necessary.

Dave

Time to replace my nitto tires and after checking some options online I ended up getting the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A from 4 wheel online. Can't wait to try them on the road.

I finally bought some new shoes for my car and I went with Sumitomo HRZ III's. I found the best price from tire rack and he reviews were very good. I can't wait to get them on the car and try them out! They have to be better than the originals I have on there... Almost 15 years old with 20K miles. I will feel a little safer this year pushing the car around corners this year.


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Installed Osram headlight bulbs for better night vision. First time removing the headlight units in the Boxster. Not too difficult once I figured out how to do it. I wasn't too sure I wouldn't break something so I was extra careful. Did find out one of the small orange corners that clip in the headlight units had broken clips and had been epoxy-ed in place. I doubt its a big deal but there does seem to be moisture in that one.

Dave in TX

Let us Halogen users know what you think of them. Are they Night Breakers? I'm considering doing the same with highs, lows and fogs. And you were right to be careful. Some of the old wiring in there deteriorates.

I had the exact same problem with one of my amber corner trim pieces, but upgraded to new clear ones. They were pricey (surprise!) but look much better.


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Yes, they are the Night Breakers. I am hoping for some real improvement over what was in there before...which I have no idea what they were.

Ideally I need to replace the bad corner piece but if I went with clear on just the corner pieces it would look odd (I think). I don't want to hassle with modifying the existing headlights to be all clear and new headlights are just so expensive...
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Nice car! I am generally not a fan of white cars, but the Box looks great in white I think.

I hear you on the cost of "going clear." My car is an 03 which was stock clear, the PO had upgraded to HID and used ambers. It just bugged my a$$. I'd rather have the stock clear halogens.

Btw, you can pick up a used set of clears from here or ebay, and then sell on your ambers to recoup a lot of the cost.


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Thanks. Ironically I am not a fan of white cars either but I think the Box wears it well and when I saw the white one a knew immediately that's what I wanted.

I've toyed with the idea of the 2.7T in a boxster. I say start a thread because I'd love to see it

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That's about it

Swapped out a leaky spark plug tube...

Just put her in the shop to finally get the suspension repaired correctly. Hoping that after missing the last two summers, I'll finally be able to drive it for a few months before putting it away.

Old screen
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New screen
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Put it in wrong the first time and thought I somehow damaged the circuit board. All good when installed right!

Washed mine and got her out of hibernation! Now just need to out her new tires on! http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...9335ba81fd.jpg


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Dropped the Box of at the shop for the roof swap. Should have waited until yesterday since the weather is perfect for a ride today.... :(

Replaced the front/rear trunk lift supports it's nice not to get konked in the head :D . Took her for a spirited drive the weather was nice today.

Debadged the trunk, adjusted and greased the front lock mechanism (now only needs 20lbs of pressure vs 100+) Cleaned the tray around the latch.

Also removed the stock bose dash speakers and made a temp mount for the tweeter I may run. Pics to come.

AOS baby.
4 hours. 1/2 hour to put new in. 1-1/2 just to get the one hose off side under secondary air pump

2 uglies down, Coolant tank in December, now AOS.
Next WP, termo, coolant flush and brake fluid change

I might even get to drive it between working on it

In case any halogen equipped Boxster owners are interested, the OSRAM Night Breaker Unlimited is an awesome bulb! Used them on Saturday night for the first time and compared to whatever H7 bulbs were in there before, the Night Breaker was a huge improvement in visibility. I drove the car on some dark country roads and these bulbs did a great job of lighting up the road.

Now I need to get some for the highbeams.

Dave in TX

Get back to us in 6 months to update on if or how bad they've burnt the inner lenses. Until then, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. ;)

Thanks for the heads up.

I dreamed that little elves had gotten into my garage last night and actually got the Boxster running so I could have my first test drive in a Porsche. Unfortunately, it was just a dream. It was still in the garage collecting dust doing nothing.

Osram is a good brand, so hopefully they will be fine. However, I've yet to see a halogen bulb that doesn't cause brown spots or burning eventually. Design flaw with the headlights. :(

I do appreciate the advice particlewave. I also have an HID kit but thought these bulbs are just a few minute job and less likelihood of odd electrical issues. I might be better off with the HID kit...or just never drive in the dark. For now I will just leave them in and monitor them closely and if I notice anything out of the ordinary then make a change.

Got the car out of the shop. Didn't know what to expect for cost and it only ran me $200.
Turned out the guy who installed the rear suspension didn't tighten up something or other. No damage caused and I'm back in business.

Here's the adapter I fashioned to attach the 3.5" filter I had to the OEM maf.

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Then installed;
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Roof exchange completed. Just labor cost, roof assembly with updated top? $0.00

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Got my new BFG Comp-2's installed! Did a full wheel detail when I got home...

Took the day off work and re-installed the cv axles after replacing the boots and repacking the cv joints. Struggled for a while with the aluminum skid plate but eventually buttoned everything back up. How do you torque the axle nuts to 340 ft-lbs? My torque wrench maxes out at 250 ft-lbs :confused:

How I did it
 

I used my torque driver that goes to 150 ft. Lbs, then use a 32 inch breaker bar and stood on the end with my 230 pounds of weight....actually bounced a bit two or three times