What did you do with/to your Boxster today?

[Starter986]

Got the rebuilt alternator installed. Took me a couple of hours, spent mostly finagling the thing back in. I did remove the passenger seat rails from the floor... moving the seat forward. Did not disconnect the harness under the seat. That gave me some wiggle room. Others have said the German engineers could have given another 1/4"... even 1/8" for the short bolt.

The longer bolt (idler pulley) necessitated the use of the short crowbar and long screwdriver to line up the unit so the bushing (in the rear) received the pulley bolt. That took ~5 minutes.

It was an exercise in patience.

Tightened everything back up, and tomorrow I'll go back in to make certain everything is snugged up. The"new" unit sounds very quiet. It's clear, now, that the 2 years I've owned the car... the alternator was noisy.

I failed to take the ibuprofen 30 minutes beforehand, and I'm certain I'll be feeling the effects of that failure in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

Many thanks to all who have, over the years, shared their tips and tricks.

[rexcramer]

There seem to be a lot projects with these cars that statement can apply to.

Originally Posted by Starter986

It was an exercise in patience.

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by rexcramer

There seem to be a lot projects with these cars that statement can apply to.

Seriously. 30 minutes of the time spent was walking back and forth from the house, with the voice in my head saying things like:

"If push comes to shove I can have it towed to the shop and let them install it." (Doing the math in my head)

"Jim, you're not the first wonk to install an alternator."

"Maybe I should go on CL and find a mobile mechanic." (Doing the math in my head)

"Dude, what else have you got going on today, just be patient." (Reminding myself I raised kids)

"Where's Nick? That facker is never around when I need a hand." (He phones me at 5P, two weeks after last I heard from him)

"If you don't get it in today, you're pushing it back into the carport space." (Visualising the struggle with my 5' 90lb wife pushing it from behind)

"Thank goodness it's halfway warm outside."

"Be cool. You tell people you exercise a greate degree of patience since owning this thing. Act like it."

"You're saving ~$1,000."

And, after finally getting in the bolts, looking at the car and in the Jesse Pinkman voice saying, "Yeah, b*tch."