Ger's 2003 Porsche Boxster S

[Dubaday]

with the inner barrels painted silver to match the lip, those wheels will look sick!(in a good way of course)

Randy

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

One thing I've loved on Porsche's are black wheels with a silver lip. In the summer, I may do this to mine.

I'm also painting the inner barrels of the alloys silver too so you get a clean inner wheel. Like these:

Those wheels look superb .
Makes me think I should paint the side vents, radiator vents black and do the wheels like you suggest on my speed yellow boxster. Not sure I should do it to the oem 5 spoke wheels though, what do you think?

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[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by RichRobby

If I split my lights again I would dremmel off part of the projector shrouds to allow the longer sidelight bulb and make it more visible. A bulb with a lens on it would then be fine I think. Seems the current clearance is about 38mm and the bulb I bought was 45mm long. Ordered the 15w which is 28mm so will see how that is when it arrives.

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Unfortunately I've just read the MOT guidelines and they say the surface of the bulb cannot be 50% covered.

BUT, it also states that the front 'positioning lamps' (sidelights) should just be two lamps, either side of the car, are forward facing, same height (no specific height), white in colour (blue tint is acceptable as long as it's predominantly white), and that's it. It states that DRL's aren't testable unless they are replacing the positioning lamps, in which case they must dim when the positioning lamps turn on, and extinguish when the headlamps turn on. But mine aren't running as DRL's as they don't activate with the ignition, they're just replacing the sidelights.

So these DRL's are white, same height, either side of the car that illuminate when the switch is turned to the positioning lamp indicator. That's all that's required of sidelights. The only thing they can't be is different height, a different colour other than white, or the surface covered 50% by an object.

So in your case, if you don't want to fit DRL's like I've done, you'll have to either make the front foglights the sidelights (and fit a dimmer LED H7 bulb), or replace the main beam bulb with a sidelight bulb and have the dipped beams come on when you flash (but you'd be flashing HID's, which could be bad?), or drill holes in the headlight. That's your only options!

I'm going to the garage on Monday to confirm all of this, but the information was from the 2017 MOT guidelines.

Originally Posted by RichRobby

Those wheels look superb .
Makes me think I should paint the side vents, radiator vents black and do the wheels like you suggest on my speed yellow boxster. Not sure I should do it to the oem 5 spoke wheels though, what do you think?

Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

Are they 17" turbo 5-spokes, 18" turbo 5-spokes, or 18" carrera 5-spokes?

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

Are they 17" turbo 5-spokes, 18" turbo 5-spokes, or 18" carrera 5-spokes?

These are carrera wheels aren't they? They are 18".
I see why you asked as they don't have a defined edge to paint / leave silver.

Good info about the MOT.
Although I suspect that a garage wouldn't check to see if a bulb is 50% covered if it was bright enough.
If it's a problem and yours passes then I can always connect DRL's to the sidelights loom just for the MOT.



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[RichRobby]

Duplicate post

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

Unfortunately I've just read the MOT guidelines and they say the surface of the bulb cannot be 50% covered.

BUT, it also states that the front 'positioning lamps' (sidelights) should just be two lamps, either side of the car, are forward facing, same height (no specific height), white in colour (blue tint is acceptable as long as it's predominantly white), and that's it. It states that DRL's aren't testable unless they are replacing the positioning lamps, in which case they must dim when the positioning lamps turn on, and extinguish when the headlamps turn on. But mine aren't running as DRL's as they don't activate with the ignition, they're just replacing the sidelights.

So these DRL's are white, same height, either side of the car that illuminate when the switch is turned to the positioning lamp indicator. That's all that's required of sidelights. The only thing they can't be is different height, a different colour other than white, or the surface covered 50% by an object.

So in your case, if you don't want to fit DRL's like I've done, you'll have to either make the front foglights the sidelights (and fit a dimmer LED H7 bulb), or replace the main beam bulb with a sidelight bulb and have the dipped beams come on when you flash (but you'd be flashing HID's, which could be bad?), or drill holes in the headlight. That's your only options!

I'm going to the garage on Monday to confirm all of this, but the information was from the 2017 MOT guidelines.

To update,
Just had the MOT yesterday and it passed with no advisories.
The partially covered sidelights didn't cause an issue (I was pleasantly surprised as I anticipated a fail).
As mentioned in this thread I had replaced the bulbs with the brightest LED bulbs that physically fit. There are brighter ones available but they won't fit, some are too long and hit the projector shroud and some are too fat to go in the hole.
All in all, a good result.


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[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by RichRobby

To update,
Just had the MOT yesterday and it passed with no advisories.
The partially covered sidelights didn't cause an issue (I was pleasantly surprised as I anticipated a fail).
As mentioned in this thread I had replaced the bulbs with the brightest LED bulbs that physically fit. There are brighter ones available but they won't fit, some are too long and hit the projector shroud and some are too fat to go in the hole.
All in all, a good result.


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Nice one buddy!

Okay! This is a long post.

I had a bit of a weird week last week - I wasn't happy with the car anymore.

I'll explain. Being a petrolhead like the rest of us, I'm far more excited by B-roads than I am by any motorway. Straight line speed does absolutely nothing for me, as I've always gone by the quote "Straights are for fast cars, corners are for fast drivers". I'm a stickler for how a car feels in terms of my connection with the car, and in turn the car's connection with the road. My last car was a Celica T-Sport, which I completely kitted out in terms of performance and re-trimmed its cabin in leather and alcantara to an OEM standard. What I loved about the car was the rawness of it when you pushed it; cable throttle, rev-happy (8,250rpm) 4-cylinder engine, and a brilliant chassis, allowing you to really throw it around and instigate a lift-off oversteer state that was completely controllable and intuitive. The car wasn't as plush as a Porsche at all, with its interior panels all plastic, but it was the absence of luxury that made the connection with the road all that more special.

Now i'm not saying I'd rather have the Celica over this, not at all... but I started to get worried over something. Someone once told me that the Boxster was a cross between an Elise and a Jaguar (performance with luxury). I was worried that after driving this for almost two years, the Porsche was more towards the luxury side of things than it was performance, which isn't what I'm about. Yes I love the luxury in a sense that the car can do everything and still drive to Germany and back without a flaw, but I was concerned that it was more focused towards comfort than performance, especially with its target audience originally being men with money with no interest in driving passion, but just because they wanted a 'Porsche'.

The one thing I hate is wearing a suite while driving the Boxster. I can' stand it. I loath the idea of people with a lot of money buying sports cars that they know nothing about, just because they can. I bought the car because it was rear wheel drive, had a N/A 6-cylinder engine, great balance and was a two seater roadster. If it had a Nissan badge, I would have still bought it. I even looked at an S2000 before this, and an MX-5 too. But when I have to drive the car wearing a suit, I always think I'm going to get mistaken for one of those aforementioned stereotypes. This tied in with my worries of what the Boxster was built for. Now of course it's a very capable car, but it has leather on the doors and carpet everywhere - even inside the sun visor mirror flaps. Is it more for 'that' type of person?

Then I went back to what I thought earlier. The car is a mix of an Elise and a Jaguar.

An Elise...

So that's what I started to shop for. On paper, the Elise S2 111S is exactly what I'm after. Low centre of gravity, mid-engined, rev-happy uncomplicated engine, simplistic build, no electronics between the driver and the car, sublime handling and, with a designer head on my shoulders, drop dead gorgeous looks. I was sold. In September, I start a new job with a pay rise, and was willing to sell the Porsche and find an Elise in a few months.

But then I started reading every single internet page that referenced "Boxster S vs Elise S". Everyone said "The Boxster S is a grown up version of the Elise". There were a few concerning things, the complete lack of an interior (I'm up for simplicity, but this was a bit far), the lack of pull after 70mph due to its 1.8 engine, and the fact that it's made of fibreglass wasn't winning me over (good luck repairing that). I still liked the ethos of the car though, and I was still drawn in.

Then I bumped into someone who owned one, and had a little nose around his cabin. I knew an Elise cabin was bare, but wow. The carpets are an optional extra, so are the sun visors, and so is the central locking. When I got home, I started to look at what modifications you could do to an Elise interior to plush it up a little (leather trim, better radio, sound deadening), and that's when I realised something. I was inadvertently planning on turning the Elise into a Boxster.

So that was when I knew the Elise was unfortunately not for me. Not yet, anyway. My drive home that day hit home with me that this is actually an incredible car. But even though I couldn't ignore the fact that the Porsche may still be a little too towards caring about comfort than performance, I've got a plan to fix it.

I'm going to keep the car. I was willing to spend a bit of cash on a new car in September, but now that I'm not going to do that, I'm going to throw £2,500 at the Porsche instead in one go, to turn it more into a car that focuses much more on performance whilst retaining its quality, so no ripping out interior parts. I've got a big document full of things I'd like to do to the Porsche which I've had since I bought the car, and this £2,500 covers most of them in one fell swoop, from performance upgrades to visual enhancements.
​​​​​​​

Here's what's going to happen in one go in September:

- Lower, stiffer suspension (M030 springs)
- Spacers (10mm front, 15mm rear)
- GT3 brake ducts
- GT3 style front rubber splitter
- GT3 side skirts
- GT3 style steering wheel, black alcantara rim, red 12 o'clock ring, red stitching
- GT3 style black 997 gear knob with alcantara gaiter
- Short shifter upgrade
- Red mohair roof
- Gloss piano black painted centre console and speedo surround
- Subtle carbon fibre dipped radio surround and side air vents
- Red seat belts
- DOT-Matrix dials with cruise control


So you can see where I'm going with this. A car more focused on driving, more performance focused elements, such as the alcantara wheel and better suspension. A red and black 'performance' look and feel, while retaining all of the original Porsche road car feel. A Boxster GTS, I suppose. I'll be keeping an eye out for better seats in the future, too.

It took me all of this to realise that of course I've got an incredible car to start with, I just need to tweak it in September to turn it into a car that I feel more connected with. These tweaks above, even though they're expensive, are really going to change the feel of the car and the way I connect with it, as it'll focus more on driving enjoyment. The exact same ethos of the Boxster GTS.

But...

My engine water pump is on it's way out, it needs a service (including coolant when I change the pump), and I need to replace the front control arms (I changed the rears, going to do the fronts too) as well as give it another alignment setup. So I need to do these things first before I think about transforming the car.

So there we go! Apologies for the enormous post, and if you've read all of this then I really, really appreciate it and can't thank you enough for listening to my ramblings.

Cheers guys

[geraintthomas]

Some random photos:

[geraintthomas]

They'd look like the anniversary wheels if you did it to yours, which I'm a fan of

[geraintthomas]

A better photoshop of the wheels, showing the silver inner barrel:





I'm still undecided.

[RichRobby]

I've received and fitted the 15w LED sidelight bulbs. They are a big improvement over the standard bulb but they don't get around the fact they are obscured. The light output is probably OK at night but touch and go whether they would escape attention in a day time test. I just don't know. Could do with an opinion from an MOT testing station, but I don't have a contact to call upon. A couple of rubbish pictures, both at night and one with and one without the phone flash operating.
Would definitely be OK if I hadn't painted the headlight inners black though.



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[Jgkram]

Here are a couple of examples of carrear wheels that have been custom painted. Although Ger's are not the single spoke variety you can get the picture. I know with his talent he could put these guys to shame.

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by Jgkram

Here are a couple of examples of carrear wheels that have been custom painted. Although Ger's are not the single spoke variety you can get the picture. I know with his talent he could put these guys to shame.

I like, they look the business to me.

Could this be done DIY successfully?

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[Jgkram]

I thought they looked pretty cool too and they have the lighter colored rim that Ger was wanting. I've got a set of carrear's in my shed waiting for a refurbishment. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

[geraintthomas]

Originally Posted by RichRobby

I've received and fitted the 15w LED sidelight bulbs. They are a big improvement over the standard bulb but they don't get around the fact they are obscured. The light output is probably OK at night but touch and go whether they would escape attention in a day time test. I just don't know. Could do with an opinion from an MOT testing station, but I don't have a contact to call upon. A couple of rubbish pictures, both at night and one with and one without the phone flash operating.
Would definitely be OK if I hadn't painted the headlight inners black though.



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I'd still be careful bud! They look bright enough, but it does say that the face can't be covered more than 50%. If they look at the headlight and can't see the bulb they may fail you!

Originally Posted by Jgkram

Here are a couple of examples of carrear wheels that have been custom painted. Although Ger's are not the single spoke variety you can get the picture. I know with his talent he could put these guys to shame.

They look gorgeous. And thank you I'm still not sure mine are suitable for the colour scheme, so I'm sticking with anthracite.

I went out for about 10 minutes and did a quick sand and polish on one of the spokes, and it came up glossy as hell. I've decided to take the wheels off, re-spray the barrels (in silver), lacquer them so they're easy to clean, then I'll sand and polish the faces back to a perfect gloss. Basically just going to give them a good refresh.

Anthracite looks amazing on this black Boxster:



But it's a slightly different shade. I love the shade on that and on the wheels you've posted, so I may have to re-do them in another shade of anthracite, preferably one with a high metallic look.

Originally Posted by RichRobby

I like, they look the business to me.

Could this be done DIY successfully?

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It can. If your alloys are already silver, tape up the edges, spray with primer, then base coat, remove the tape, then lacquer so that the edges are protected.

[geraintthomas]

Okay sorry for the repeated photos of the wheels.

I don't think the silver lip on the black wheels would work on this style. However, a fully black wheel could work.

I'm down to these choices:

Anthracite with silver barrel:



Black with silver barrel:



Gold with silver barrel:



Surprisingly, gold looks good with the black paint.

Opinions?

[BruceH]

Anthracite with silver barrel would be my choice, black would be my #2 choice.

[Terryg]

Love the gold Geraint, much as I like black wheels, that's just too dull.

[geraintthomas]

Thanks for the suggestions I think I may just keep it safe to be honest, may just keep the anthracite but refurbish completely in a better, darker and more metallic anthracite as a best of both worlds, while keeping the inner barrel.

In other news! I've replaced my rear control arms today. £120 for the two, did it in 2 hours, and my word the car is silent now. Not a single bit of knocking, so I'm very happy.

[BruceH]

Yep, replacing the rear control arms makes a huge difference for relatively little money!