Replace oil filter housing?
 

I am in the middle of an oil change on the car at the moment and was in the process of removing the old o-ring from the filter cover when it slipped out of my hands and hit the ground. The spring loaded piece inside at the bottom of the filter cover popped out and one of the three pieces in the bottom of the filter cover that seem to hold and center this spring loaded piece broke free and fell out. It seems the spring loaded piece stays centered for the most part unless you really try to push it out of the way and I would guess that the filter would have to stay centered due to the piece that goes through the center of it connected to the block. Is the cap needing replacing now or is it not that big an issue? I have not put anything back together yet, but the chances of getting a new cap today locally (assuming it even existed) is too late.

That's the filter bypass. Chances are it had already failed and dropping it just made the issue apparent. Replace it, else your oil my not be filtered.

The housing is not expensive - I paid about $35 including a filter a couple of years ago.
The new housing spring feels much stiffer than my original one, so replacing it every 50,000 miles is probably not a bad thing....

Thanks...
 

just ordered one from vertex for about the same with filter. I tried to purchase one off of ebay from a parts place just to get going ASAP but they wanted more than vertex for a used one....crazy how people think used parts for these are like gold sometimes.

ECS only wants $24 for both a filter and the plastic shell. 2000 Porsche Boxster Roadster H6 2.7L Engine Oil Service - 99610702055 - Complete Oil Filter Replacement Kit - ES#1483464

Papasmurf,
Interesting that you did not use this as an opportunity to upgrade to a full-flow/100% filtration system. The P.O. fitted the LN kit to my car and it saved it from potential major collateral damage when a bearing failed. The filter caught all the debris instead of it being distributed throughout the oil galleries. A very good value in my case.