2000 Porsche Boxster S - Viola

It is good to see the car is mobile again!

For guides on the 986 The Pelican ones aren't too bad. Some jobs actually look surprisingly easy after I took a look! If you knew about these guides I apologise

www.pelicanparts.com/boxster/boxster_tech.htm

www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/33-WATER-Coolant_Tank/33-WATER-Coolant_Tank.htm

I also suspect this tool would have been a lifesaver. On a 'modern', well car on spring clips, this tool is a Godsend and really makes for quick removal of the various parts:



Here's me using them on the Mondeo 2.5T to change the PAS reservoir

After completing the coolant tank replacement. I was surfing the forums and saw a Hardtop for sale.

I paid £400 for the hardtop finished in Lapis Blue together with stand. In preparation for collection, i bought the hardtop fitting kit from my local Official Porsche Centre (Swindon) for a grand total of £70. Its basically a couple of helical cylinders and two hex bolts.

I drove from my home in Marlborough to Sutton in Surrey to collect. The seller was a nice chap who had an immaculate Lapis Blue car and had never used the hardtop.

We fitted this and i progressed homewards. When i got home, my wife looked at the car and said that it looked horrible. Not only the colour mess, but the roof line. It is quite a lot higher than the rag top. My children also both commented on how terrible it makes the car look. Within 1 hour of getting home, the hardtop is on Ebay!

You live and learn. But they might have a point....

With:



Without:



On the positive side, the drive in the Boxster was sheer bliss. Its a very involving car to drive and the coolant system didn't miss a beat. I can now compare this to my other vice - the beast known as Alpina - and the Boxster is a drivers car!!

Next step will be to get the plit rim alloys refurbished. Can anyone on here recommend a good place for wheel refurbishment ?

Agreed! I bought a 2007 Boxster S to replace a BMW 335d E92 that I hardly used. I reckoned that if I was going to have a 'spare' car to play with it might as well be something a bit of fun. I thought I might miss the torque of the beemer but not a bit of it! These engines are phenomenal and sound just glorious when you mash the pedal. The road holding is like nothing else I've owned before and the steering feels as though your hands have a direct link to the front wheels.

Needless to say, this car isn't sitting there getting hardly used as the BMW was in fact I'm looking for just about any excuse to go for a drive!

Drove the car to work this morning. After using the Alpina for several weeks, the Boxster was ace. I have to actually drive it and it loves to be driven. Revving the car over 4k is a must to get the engine on song. The car feels small and light - like a go cart. I had so much fun this morning!

A picture of the two ladies together........



I feel happy.

Thanks brachunky. Now that the weather is getting colder, the Boxster should be hibernating in the warm garage, gently drip feeding from the trickle charger.

Instead of this idilic picture - Mrs Ray Singh has been using the Boxster to get to work, whilst i use her Audi A6 to shuttle the kids to school as the Alpina has a coolant leak!

I havent been lucky with coolant and coolant tanks, have I?

I was contacted by a chap on the Boxter forum (Boxanet) whose coolant tank had split. He was quoted £700 for supply and fit. I managed to organise a discount on the parts from Swindon OPC and agreed to help fit. £170 for parts and three hours on Saturday morning and we were done. My freinds Boxter is one of the very first on a 1997 P plate. Its silver with read leather and is sporting 230k miles from new.



Picture is from Google - someone on here had this car.......

Its always good to spread the love. Did someone say karma? The same evening, someone else on Boxanet sent me a snow foam lance for my Karcher K2 Compact free.

Car booked into Cotswold Porsche specialist for a service, spark plug tube seals, gearbox oil and an engine mount this coming week.

I hope the weather gets better soon as I really want to drive topless! (Well you know what I mean).

Ok, I have something to say.....

I took the car on a business trip from Marlborough, Wiltshire to see a company I am working with up in Kinswineford.

The car performed faultlessly, but i came back home aching, hot and not happy at all. The route was mainly the M5 motorway and it was a warm day.
Even sitting on the M5 at 80-90 xph - i was constantly passed by Hyundai, Kia etc etc. The car was nosier than i am used to and it just wasn't a nice place to be.

I am loosing love for the car.....{Ashamed}

So - to try and cure my illness, i am typing this message from a small hotel in the suburbs of Stuttgart. I plan to go to the Porsche Museum tomorrow to see if immersing myself in Herr Ferdinand's factory will help me. Perhaps I have been spoilt with the Alpina...?

The car needs tyres, alloys re-finishing and a few other bits, but the costs all mount up.

I will update you once i have been to 'take my medicine'.

That color is great! I had a ‘01 986s tip that I dailyed into Chicago for a few summers but ended up falling out of love with it. They are really solid drivers though, I never tracked it or even took it on an auto-x.

That's a really lovely car you have there, I had an early black 986S for 18 months or so and it is one car I do miss owning now and again, especially when the weather is being kind like it is at the moment.

I seem to remember removing something in the standard airbox to make the induction noise a bit more of a growl, worked well and it was free and reversible!

Mine gave me very little trouble, I think an ignition switch packed up but a replacement from a Passat (I think, something cheap and VAG based anyway) sorted that. I did an IMS bearing upgrade myself which exposed me to how nicely these cars are put together and it was actually quite a nice thing to work on.

It sounds like I got a little bit like you in that I used the car for a driving holiday but had a couple of long motorway drives as part of that (4 hours+) and my rear end just didn't get along with the seats, I felt really fatigued at the end of the journey with a totally numb harris! I think it was then that I started to fall out of love with it a little. Soon after I moved it on and ended up buying a 996 carrera 4S which although plenty fast was lifeless and not really a patch on the 986 for driving enjoyment.

If the opportunity presented itself, I'd certainly have another 986, I'd be all over a later face lift car with xenon headlights and that fruity orangey red interior that was available!

Anyway, lovely car and keep the faith with it, I don't think there is another car of this type that offers such practicality (the front and rear boot space adds up to a lot of luggage carrying for a sports car), in as good looking and reasonable cost to run package.