Stephen's journey with the yellow 986
 

What's up 986forum. I've been working on my car for quite a few months now. I thought I'd create a thread here as a journal of sorts, for everyone's entertainment (and for my own motivation). So you can see the car come apart, and HOPEFULLY make its way back together. I bought this car late last summer from a gentleman in Portland, OR.

To start, my old man brought up his 911 from 'back in the day' a few times while I was growing up. He's owned many collectable cars in the past, but this one was the one. He didn't have any photos to show me, until I found one while cleaning the garage one day. He told me it was an unsightly boring color when he first bought it. I think it was a tan color, sorta like something grandma would drive (hopefully not offending anyone here.) He spent many many nights after work meticulously taking it apart and sanding it for a perfect yellow paint job. The color a Porsche really ought to be, he's always said. The photo shows a beautiful car completed with his own hands. I told him he shouldn't have sold it, but they weren't worth such a pretty penny back then. Who would've known. Plus, he needed money to start his family when I came around. Darn. Happy to be here though! Don't get me wrong haha. So yeah, there's some backstory behind my inspiration.


So a Craigslist ad popped up last summer for a stock speed yellow 986 in excellent condition with ~60k miles. It's got quite a few options on it too. What a find! I thought this was a great opportunity. I checked it out, liked what I saw, and bought it on the spot. I think my dad is more into the car than I am myself hahaha. Good! It's something we both can enjoy.


The PO stated that the IMS bearing was never changed. All the paperwork was in order otherwise. I took the gamble that this car was most likely in fine mechanical condition. I drove it around until February when the weather really started to get bad. I thought about having a shop install the bearing for me, but ultimately decided this was a great opportunity to turn some wrenches. This is definitely the most I've ever worked on a car. The IMS swap is no small feat. Fortunately my dad was a gas/diesel tech for a good portion of his life so I have his help at my disposal (and tools lol).

I started by putting the car up on jack stands and taking all the wheels off. I cleaned up all the brake calipers before calling it a night. There's some stuff I can't seem to get out of the paint. Maybe I'll repaint them one day. They look good enough for now though.


Next, I put the car in service mode. The PO had thoroughly refreshed the top before I had bought it, so it's in excellent condition cosmetically and mechanically. I'm very happy with that. I then removed the carpet and the rear storage deck. I didn't know it had rear speakers until I pulled the deck off. Maybe if they weren't so quiet I may have realized they were there.


I took the engine cover off and gazed upon the 3.2L M96 for the first time. The engine was so well hidden I thought the car ran on magic up until this point. Man was it dirty. The papers say the first owner lived in Arizona. I believe it.


I gave it a quick wipe down to ease my mind. How could someone let it get so dirty! It was like cracking open a thousand year old tomb. After my refresh, I moved onto removing the carpet behind the seats as well as the front engine panel.


I then moved my attention to the washer reservoir. At some point in the summer I noticed that the low washer fluid level light came on. I thought that was weird... I never use the washers. Turns out the headlight washer pump was rusted and leaking. Great. A new one cost a fortune. I found one on eBay that looked solid for a good price and picked that up. I wanted to get rid of this light on my dash. Even if I don't ever use the washers.


Then I moved to the front of the car and decided to clean out the radiators. They were packed with dirt. About 60k miles worth of accumulation. Very satisfying to see such clean radiators now that I've been through them.

I can't remember who gave me this poster but I like it.


Anyways. The Litronic headlights liked to flicker and not come on sometimes. I researched that problem on this lovely forum and came to the conclusion that the headlight switch was the likely culprit. Cue headlight switch replacement.


Next, I started taking the bottom of the car apart. I removed the CV axles, the support braces, the other stuff, the exhaust, the rear bumper, etc. I removed the starter and took apart the intake in order to remove the flex plate bolts. I also picked up an engine support bar and got that hooked up while I was in there. There was quite a bit of oil in the intake so I'm thinking the AOS is the culprit. I have one coming in the mail now. Hopefully, with the transmission out, the AOS swap will be an easy job. Knock on wood with me please.


While I was waiting for some parts to come in (namely some triple square bits to remove a transmission-bellhousing bolt), I installed the A2D-BKR bluetooth kit for the factory radio. I like it a lot. It's totally invisible and is powered by the radio's CD changer plug on the rear (which I don't have, who uses those anymore anyways). It feeds the bluetooth audio into the radio's aux input. Cool.

The radio knobs were sticky so I cleaned both of them off with some iso alcohol. Unfortunately the shiny finish is now gone on one of the knobs. Looks like some replacements are in order. Also, I haven't had the chance to test my installation because the battery is out of the car while I have the car half apart. I'm sure it'll work great though! (fingers crossed).


Alright! So I dropped the transmission as soon as my triple square bits arrived. The RMS looks good. I'll replace that anyways. The IMS seal seems to be leaking because I noticed there was a thick layer of oil/dirt on the bottom of the bellhousing. No matter. I cleaned it up and everything looks good.

I locked all the cam shafts and removed the cam chain tensioners. I had a hell of a time getting the one below the A/C compressor off. Swearing at it seemed to help. God knows if I'll ever get it back in without a miracle. Let's hope for a miracle, I'd rather not have to deal with the A/C system, it blows cold as is. I had my old man help with the bearing pulling and bearing installation.


Tons of oil sloshed out from the IMS shaft. Old man says that's not supposed to be in there, but it hasn't hurt anything. Likely caused by the IMS seal going bad. So I violated the shaft with some shop towels and got most of the oil out.


We installed the new bearing with no hiccups. The new dual-row bearing was sitting in the freezer for a week. Definitely do that, it makes the installation very easy.


Looking at the bearing we took out... nothing seems to be wrong with it. Go figure. At least I can sleep easy. So now we're at present day. I've got new CV axles coming in because the current ones are starting to show signs of wear (they're almost 20 years old, so no surprise there). I'm installing new spark plugs/tubes, new low-temp thermostat, new water pump, new AOS, new idler pullies, new A/C pulley, new serpentine belt, new seals/o-rings on everything I've taken apart. I may as well while I'm in this deep. Plenty more I'm gonna do I'm sure, the fun just never ends with this car. Sunday is my "working on the car day" so I'll try to keep this thread going on a weekly basis. Cheers.

Stephen

Great read! Enjoyed every second of it!

Good read!

Great read and great pics!

Love your thread, keep it coming!
I really like the A2D-BKR bluetooth kit.. I kept my cdr220 in case I changed my mind, but put and Android auto aftermarket unit in. Truth be told I could care less if my boxster has navigation Bluetooth audio would have done just fine. Good choice!

Thanks! Yeah I don't like the flashiness of all the aftermarket radios. None of the them actually look like they belong in a Boxster. The Continental radios that many get are probably the only ones I'd consider. They look very close to the factory radio, with the exception of the display not matching the climate control's display. Getting the bluetooth kit was a good compromise. If I want to use nagivation, I would just install a mount for my phone and use that.

Plus, the A2D-BKR kit is simply plug-and-play. I like that.

Nice work. Thread title is funny to me since I'm also a Stephen.

You also have a speed yellow 986 by the looks of your profile pic. Hmm. What’s your favorite color?