Boxster Resurrection: 2001 Boxster S back from the Dead

[bwdz]

You got Porsche dealer to charge you 15 minutes for something? Dude, you are a hero to everyone on here now. Excellent news that it is running decent.
As far as big, unnecessary charges go here is a story. 20+ years ago I used to drive a tow truck. I brought a Mercedes in to the local dealer and the service lot was so packed I went inside and asked where I should put the car, as a smart alec I also said "I thought Mercedes were pretty good cars so why do you guys have 100s back here for repair?" Writer replied: "they just need regular service but if we don't do a bunch of crap and tell them we have to wait on special parts from Germany they don't think their car is special enough and won't trust us unless it takes lots of time and costs lots of money, they want to tell their friends and neighbors how much special care their car requires"

[Paul]

I've had similar experiences.

Dealers are more willing to help when you order the fobs and immobilizer from them. Not so much when you order them from Sunset Porsche at a much lower cost.

[P_Carfahrer]

Originally Posted by Paul

I've had similar experiences.

Dealers are more willing to help when you order the fobs and immobilizer from them. Not so much when you order them from Sunset Porsche at a much lower cost.

Yeah, I had to do some talking to get him to even do it as I did not get it from him.

As a side note, I had a cool experience while there to have the immobilizer programmed that I thought you all might appreciate. A 918 sat two bays down from where we were working on my car and I got to take a nice look at it after my car was done and out and I was able to talk to another service manager and technician about it. The manager told me it had already changed hands twice in its short life. The original “owner” never took delivery of it as he sold his purchase place with Porsche to another for a cool $200k above his deposit. The second owner took delivery of it but never drove it when he sold it to a woman who ‘just had to have it as a surprise’ for her husband’s birthday. The second owner supposedly profited another $200k on this transaction. The car was absolutely stunning in its options. It was very humorous to me to have my ‘ball of yarn and bellybutton lint’ priced Boxster S next to the 918. Quite opposite ends of the price/performance spectrum though both carry the Porsche legacy.

















P.S. - The thought of somebody who can buy a spouse a $1.4 million car as a surprise birthday gift blew my mind.

[BFeller]

Originally Posted by P_Carfahrer

Yeah, I had to do some talking to get him to even do it as I did not get it from him.

As a side note, I had a cool experience while there to have the immobilizer programmed that I thought you all might appreciate. A 918 sat two bays down from where we were working on my car and I got to take a nice look at it after my car was done and out and I was able to talk to another service manager and technician about it. The manager told me it had already changed hands twice in its short life. The original “owner” never took delivery of it as he sold his purchase place with Porsche to another for a cool $200k above his deposit. The second owner took delivery of it but never drove it when he sold it to a woman who ‘just had to have it as a surprise’ for her husband’s birthday. The second owner supposedly profited another $200k on this transaction. The car was absolutely stunning in its options. It was very humorous to me to have my ‘ball of yarn and bellybutton lint’ priced Boxster S next to the 918. Quite opposite ends of the price/performance spectrum though both carry the Porsche legacy.
P.S. - The thought of somebody who can buy a spouse a $1.4 million car as a surprise birthday gift blew my mind.

I Live about two miles from Rhodes Scholars in NC. They host a monthly cars an coffee. It is a wonderful place to see vehicles like that one.

[marcoc]

Great to see you bringing your Boxster back to life. I bought mine from a guy in NY that pretty much did nothing but change the oil, brake pads, and tires. Bought my 986 S a year ago and invested about $8k in it (wife wasn't happy ). needed the major service done at 60k which I did. I did 90% of the repairs but new top with glass window, RMS, LN IMS, clutch, flywheel done by a Porsche shop local to me. Not sure why owners let these cars go to **** and treat them as appliances. Nice job with your car. I always have a project planned, next ones are suspension work, brake caliper refresh, maybe a coolant tank replacement.

[P_Carfahrer]

Originally Posted by marcoc

Bought my 986 S a year ago and invested about $8k in it (wife wasn't happy ). needed the major service done at 60k which I did. I did 90% of the repairs but new top with glass window, RMS, LN IMS, clutch, flywheel done by a Porsche shop local to me. Not sure why owners let these cars go to **** and treat them as appliances. Nice job with your car. I always have a project planned, next ones are suspension work, brake caliper refresh, maybe a coolant tank replacement.

I know how it goes with the wife push back. I bought this car so cheap and then added the upgrade and maintenance costs to my budget so my wife knew what it would take in the end to realize my vision for the car. She still doesn't understand why I am doing much of what I plan because as she says 'the car works now’ and constantly asks if I am done buying parts and stuff. I have to remind her that I will spend what I budgeted to finish it.

The last few days I have spent refurbishing the calipers. Cleaning and sanding them was a huge pain. Brake cleaner didn’t work very well so I used an industrial parts washer I have access to for cleaning and sanded them completely. Here are some pictures of the process. I hope to have my caliper rebuild parts here before the weekend, along with all the other parts I have on order to get it rolling again this weekend.


Primed.


Painted.


Cleared.

[P_Carfahrer]

The car is back on its ‘feet’ again. Brake calipers have been rebuilt, rotors turned, stainless braided hoses installed, complete brake fluid flush/bleed, and system bedded. I almost got rear ended during the brake bedding even though I live in a rural area. By the time I finished the last brake cycle a car had caught up to me and so I sped up to give myself more distance and misjudged how much I would need and I was still slowing down when the car caught me. Needless to say the other driver thought I was nuts. I guess I am a little to be doing this resurrection project…

Four of the six plug tubes were cracked and I have to say Pedro’s tip of using a 1” boat transom plug worked perfectly for removal. New plugs were installed and I am sure the plugs removed were original.

The LN spin filter adapter is a very nice piece of machine work and I am happy with it. The water pump and thermostat were changed though the 160 degree thermostat was a bit of a pain as I didn’t buy a new housing and had some trouble getting the thermostat spring compressed while turning the thermostat tabs into my used housing.

I drank the Porsche koolaid and bought Porsche branded coolant for my coolant flush and don’t think I will do it again as it is ridiculous what is costs. However, I don’t expect to be doing another flush for some time.

I will say that using a brake bleeder pump and cooling system vacuum for the fluid changes sure make the job quick/easy.

I am happy that the oil/coolant/brake fluid has been changed and I expect the car feels better too. It is sure running good now.

Also, upon re-installing the wheels I also installed eBay wheel spacers (15mm front/20mm rear) and I really like the way the stance is improved.

Just a couple of pics.


Front Wheel/Caliper/Rotor


Wheel Spacer Quarter View

[marcoc]

Originally Posted by P_Carfahrer

I know how it goes with the wife push back. I bought this car so cheap and then added the upgrade and maintenance costs to my budget so my wife knew what it would take in the end to realize my vision for the car. She still doesn't understand why I am doing much of what I plan because as she says 'the car works now’ and constantly asks if I am done buying parts and stuff. I have to remind her that I will spend what I budgeted to finish it.

The last few days I have spent refurbishing the calipers. Cleaning and sanding them was a huge pain. Brake cleaner didn’t work very well so I used an industrial parts washer I have access to for cleaning and sanded them completely. Here are some pictures of the process. I hope to have my caliper rebuild parts here before the weekend, along with all the other parts I have on order to get it rolling again this weekend.


Primed.




Painted.


Cleared.

Looks really good. My clearcoat is chipping slightly but I stopped it from continuing with some clear coat touch up. Eventually I will refinish them.