Woody's build thread - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

itsnotanova · 11-07-2015, 04:21 PM

I don't see too many build threads on here and I thought you guys might enjoy seeing one. For those who don't know me, I have a small salvage yard specializing in the 986 Boxster. I stumbled into them after buying a flood damaged S at auction. I had bought it for the calipers to put on my 911sc. That one boxster turned into two, and two turned into four, and so on and so on. The problem was I don't even have my own boxster. Here I am, the self proclaimed "King of the Boxsters", and I don't even "own" one. It's not that I didn't want one. It's that I couldn't afford one. Any money I made went back into the business. I was hooked on the boxster by the second one and knew I wanted one for myself. I would have to wait for the right one to come along.

As I waited, I started collecting parts that interested me. I've been able to collect quite a collection these last three years. Most of the boxsters I get don't come in with anything special or aftermarket. The biggest source of "cool stuff" has come from trading with people or shops. I'm not sure if I'll ever be done collecting anything 986 related. I have double of some things so I can compare. Like mufflers for instance. I have a Dansk sausage and a Chinese knock off. I plan on trying both and keeping the one I like best. I have a feeling i'll be disappointed with both though.

Back to the search for my own 986. The right car would have to have a good title. that means a clear title or a salvage title that I could later get turned into a rebuilt title. It can't have a nonrepairable title. Nonrepairable title means the car can never see the road again. Surprisingly a lot of very clean cars get branded with a nonrepairable title by the insurance companies. I bought a beautiful 99 with only 43k with a nonrepairable title and it didn't have a speck of damage to it. It happens often. The right vehicle couldn't have any major body damage either. I don't mind replacing a body part that unbolts, but I don't want to do any welding or body pulling. I thought I had found my car. It was a 97 that had been ran into something and also vandalized. Someone shot the cluster?! I started to prepare that vehicle when a 2003 with water damage came in. The 2003 was in better condition and only had a bad immobilizer. It had it's own wear problems too, but otherwise was a great candidate. Both the 97 & 03 were base models. I had all the parts to convert either over to an S. That was all fine and dandy until I got this 2000 S. It only had 52,000 with full leather interior! Sorry 97 & 03, you've been replaced. Arena red isn't my favorite color, but I can live with it. The car as a whole was light years in better shape than the other two and already has the S upgrades. The only thing wrong with it was a wet immobilizer. I threw another ECU/immobilizer in it and it started right up. I can't imagine a better 986 coming along, so here I go.

I had a buyer for the 3.2 motor before I even bought the 2000 S. I decided to sell the motor for two reasons. One, I needed to keep the money ball rolling. The 2000 S was the most I ever spent on a boxster. I didn't want to take that kind of hit $$. And Two, the 2.5, 2.7 and 3.2 don't have enough power for my taste. I want a 3.4, 3.6 or even better a 3.8. The 3.4 will be the easiest and cheapest motor to swap. Until I find a donor motor, I'm going to progress with the build. So follow along if you like.

Sorry about the picture quality on these three pics. They're the only pics of the car I have before I started messing with it.

911monty · 11-07-2015, 05:17 PM

Well I certainly enjoyed the top swap story with RandallNeighbor, so I'm in!

Porsche9 · 11-07-2015, 07:47 PM

Nice Boxster. It's even got a glass rear window.

GTA_G20 · 11-08-2015, 05:08 AM

subscribed

steved0x · 11-08-2015, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTA_G20

subscribed

Me too, I want to see how it turns out!

78F350 · 11-08-2015, 10:28 AM

Glad you are making a thread for it. I'm excited to watch. That arena red might grow on you. Now get some better pictures for us!

itsnotanova · 11-08-2015, 07:22 PM

To bring the car and story up to date. Since getting it, I've sold or traded some parts that I didn't want or need. As some of you have alluded to, I no longer have the glass window top. I traded RandellNeighbor for a set of coilovers he took off his car. The top was like new, but I hate trying to work on a glass window top. I have a feeling I'm in the minority when it comes to preferring the plastic window. I also sold the radio, wheels, front bumper cover, taillights and headlights.

Today was it's first day on the operating table. I've had the car for a few months, but it's been so hot or I've been too busy to start working on it. I got a few hours of free time to work on it today and it's a great feeling when you get to work on your own car! I decided to start at the front. I bought brand new radiator hoses when I had plans to convert the 97 or 03. This boxster might only have 52k on it, but it's still 16 years old. The factory hoses were still pretty good, but I had brand new hoses so I went ahead and replaced them while I'm was there. It's not real hard and worth the piece of mind.

Taking the radiator and most of the hoses off are pretty self-explanatory once you start digging into it. The only real tricky part, are the second set of rubber hoses right before the long coolant tubes that lead to the back.

They have a tube clamp that can be a real PIA to get off in such a confined area. I hate that type of hose clamp and will be replacing them with the normal screw type hose clamps.

Three of the four clamps I was able to get off with this type of plier.

The forth clamp was a little harder because I didn't have a good set of pliers to reach it and had to get creative.

Here's a good pic with everything removed. I also removed the suspension so I could replace the factory struts with coilovers.

martsink · 11-09-2015, 11:03 AM

Woody you are the man! Looking forward to build updates. Something tells me this will be a pretty special car when finished.
I can't thank you enough for helping me out w my own project. I really don't think I'd be able to afford it without you.

tommy583 · 11-09-2015, 11:38 AM

Hey Woody. I'm proud I'm able to partly finance your build lol. You should have one of the most sorted Boxsters when you are all done.

RandallNeighbour · 11-09-2015, 01:36 PM

I recognize those coilovers and adjustable arms! And I sure do love my glass window top! Great talking to you this morning Woody. Keep posting pics of the build. I learn a lot from these kinds of threads. Subscribed!!!!

itsnotanova · 11-09-2015, 05:17 PM

Thanks guys. Vlad I look forward to your build thread updates too. I'm half tempted to go the LS route after reading you and John's build. I'm going crazy on the 911sc and plan on keeping this one a little tamer.

Had a WTF moment while trying to loosen the nuts on these arms.

I'm glad it happen now instead of going down the road. There was hardly any penetration on the weld. Fired up the mig and layed down two beads. I rewelded the other one too.

All better now

RandallNeighbour · 11-10-2015, 08:22 AM

Yikes! Never saw that when I installed or removed them. Sorry buddy!

itsnotanova · 11-10-2015, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Yikes! Never saw that when I installed or removed them. Sorry buddy!

No need to be sorry. You might need to say an extra thank you to the man upstairs though. I had the fork part in a vice with a wrench on the nut and another wrench on the tube. I put less effort on it than you would for a lug bolt and it snapped right off.

itsnotanova · 11-10-2015, 05:09 PM

I mostly have the suspension and brakes done. I forgot to order two hoses, but that's all that's keeping me from finishing the radiators too. I don't like red calipers on an arena red car. I think I would prefer silver and will rebuild/powder coat some old calipers later on.

Toppy986 · 11-10-2015, 07:52 PM

I hope the color grows on you, subscribed

TrumpyAl · 11-11-2015, 04:31 AM

Clearly this is going to be a wealth of information, from the pics alone!

Subscribed.

BruceH · 11-11-2015, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I mostly have the suspension and brakes done. I forgot to order two hoses, but that's all that's keeping me from finishing the radiators too. I don't like red calipers on an arena red car. I think I would prefer silver and will rebuild/powder coat some old calipers later on.

Silver would look good, but why not powder coat the calipers in Arena Red? I think that would look great and be unuiqe at the same time

Xcellr8 · 11-11-2015, 02:57 PM

As an occasional customer and admirer of your Boxster knowledge, I'm looking forward to your advances in this thread. You buy Boxsters to dismantle, I buy Boxsters to recondition and get back on the road. Once you get your Arena Red back on the road, you may come to appreciate the satisfaction I get when another one goes out the door to a happy customer.

Enjoy,
Joe

itsnotanova · 11-11-2015, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BruceH

Silver would look good, but why not powder coat the calipers in Arena Red? I think that would look great and be unuiqe at the same time

I might if I can find it in that color. My wheels are silver but they need some attention too. I bought a powder coating kit a few months back and hope to start experimenting with it soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xcellr8

As an occasional customer and admirer of your Boxster knowledge, I'm looking forward to your advances in this thread. You buy Boxsters to dismantle, I buy Boxsters to recondition and get back on the road. Once you get your Arena Red back on the road, you may come to appreciate the satisfaction I get when another one goes out the door to a happy customer.

Enjoy,
Joe

It's not easy taking some of these cars permanently off the road like I do and it does feel good being able to save one.

TrumpyAl · 11-13-2015, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

The only thing wrong with it was a wet immobilizer. I threw another ECU/immobilizer in it and it started right up.

Hopefully you won't consider it rude to try and leech off your knowledge in your build thread?
If it turns out that I have a dead immobiliser module under the seat (it looked fine to me but I did notice the carpet is wet on the underside), I was under the impression that you needed to change the ignition, immobiliser and DMU as a set. Is that right?

I ask as it sounds like you didn't change the ignition?

Also, mine is a Tiptronic S, but it has a %]#{¥ 2.7 in it - so if I'm buying a set, to avoid costly reprogramming by Porsche I'd buy a set for a matching model year 2.7 Tiptronic, is that right?