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BarryNorman
BarryNorman New Reader
12/28/19 12:37 p.m.

No blue? You'd have the primary colors covered ( black,white silver because German). And be able to philosophically say you have all colors of Boxter. This ending the collection of that model and allowing for the creation of another. 

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
12/28/19 4:35 p.m.

Speed Yellow and Lapis Blue would be nice. I'd also like Rainforest Green with a dark brown interior. Even just having two other reds: Arena Red and Orient Red would be cool. No... Stop. This a dangerous path. It's hard enough to keep up with them all already and I'm weak when it comes to saying no. I even liked this color combo after I stared at it for a couple hours:

Mad_Ratel
Mad_Ratel Dork
12/28/19 4:39 p.m.

Brazilian car? Lol

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
12/28/19 4:49 p.m.

Not much was accomplished today. It was rainy all day and the area behind the garage with the parts car is getting muddy.

I'm hoping I can get the parts car pulled around the house and get it in the garage to strip it. Maybe it would be better to just get to work on Red and deal with clearing out junk later.

Mad_Ratel
Mad_Ratel Dork
12/28/19 6:07 p.m.

Your pics tell me something is up with my front bumper

 

I can fit a finger in between the bumper and frunk hood.

Vigo
Vigo MegaDork
12/28/19 9:57 p.m.

Mine's an '04 with the 4.5. On the highway I usually get 16-18 mpg, but with a car on a trailer 13-15. It's almost up to 170k miles now, but is still a good reliable go-anywhere SUV.

Wow, I guess I'm driving the piss out of mine. No codes besides air injection. 161k. I put a hitch on it but never did trailer wiring and have yet to tow anything!  

AnthonyGS
AnthonyGS Dork
12/28/19 11:48 p.m.

In reply to AAZCD :

I love the green / green cars but that yellow / green freaks me out.  If you find a white one with red interior, I'd love to adopt it.  

I love the chocolate brown interiors.  Your saving the 04 S anny is still one of my favorite GRM threads.  Those are gorgeous.  
 

I do have some nice surprises coming for my 00 Spd yellow S.

mr2s2000elise
mr2s2000elise Dork
12/29/19 11:26 a.m.

In response to getting my fleet down from 9 to 6, I showed wife's your pics, and how you are increasing your fleet. No go.

 

In other news, quick question, having those outdoor covers, do they wreck havoc on paint with wind and sand etc?

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
12/29/19 12:28 p.m.

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

I have had a wide variety of covers. Some bad and some good. I think that the one that was best for the car was the "Noah" fabric by Wolf or Covercraft. I had some made from "Weathershield HD" that were great all-weather covers, but I think that material is harder on the paint and is more likely to make micro-scratches unless the car is very clean and in a low-dust/pollen environment.

None of the covers I've bought have lasted longer than about 3 years before degrading from constant use regardless of how much I've spent. What I currently have is a compromise of decent quality at an affordable price. "Duck Covers" from Amazon - This for a Boxster: Duck Covers Weather Defender Car Cover for Sedans up to 14' 2" 

They lack mirror pockets, but it's a decent fit and they last for about a year for ~ $35. I'd rather do that than pay over $350 for one that lasts three years. The black cover in the picture is from a C7 Corvette that a friend gave me. It's a great cover, but it quickly faded to grey. I have about 6 months on it and overall, I'm very pleased.

In regards to the 9 down to 6, I envy you. I do have too many cars and too many projects. I really want to get to work on my Scirocco and Hearse projects. The '89 Cabriolet spent three weeks in the garage to get the brake hoses and master cylinder replaced and I still have a long way to go to make it a reliable car. The Red Boxster seemed like an fun easy project when the Cabriolet was bogging me down. Those damn rear brake hoses....

enginenerd
enginenerd Reader
12/29/19 9:52 p.m.

Another one! Looks like you got a great deal. Your collection is making me want to go Boxter shopping again!

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
12/30/19 11:21 a.m.

You may notice that neither of these is Red, but it's relevant.

The only way this car buying stuff works is if something goes every time something new arrives.

Green '02 S to the junkyard, Black 2000 S goes behind the garage for a slow parting out.

I'm thinking the '03 Audi V8 engine in the black one goes in the Challenge car. The '98 Audi V8 in the garage can get cleaned up for an eventual swap to the red car. ...there, it all makes sense now.

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
12/31/19 9:00 p.m.

I managed to get stuff moved around. The old parts car is on the trailer, stripped and ready to go to the scrap yard.

 

I would be ready to start work on the Red Box, but my garage floor is now covered with parts and scattered tools. It's going to take a few evenings to organize and clear the clutter, then work begins.

Woody
Woody MegaDork
12/31/19 9:08 p.m.

In reply to AAZCD :

Cool video!

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
1/8/20 11:20 p.m.

Today I swapped the top with the almost new one that came off of my 2019 Challenge car. In the process I found that both the arms for the clamshell were also cracked and needed to be replaced along with the left side drip tray.

I spent too much time earlier in the day taking down and packing up Christmas lights and decorations, and ran out of daylight to get the top working electronically. I'll do that tomorrow if it doesn't rain all day. My garage is still full of parts car parts.

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
1/9/20 3:45 p.m.

...and today we have rain. The top looks good and should keep the interior dry. I'm not going to put the hard top back on until after I finish going over the engine maintenance.

This afternoon I'll be clearing some floor space in the garage.

Mad_Ratel
Mad_Ratel Dork
1/9/20 8:39 p.m.

That top looks like it is in fantastic shape.

How hard is it to replace? Got this as a future item.

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
1/9/20 11:35 p.m.
Mad_Ratel said:

... How hard is it to replace? Got this as a future item.

Swapping a complete top is very easy. Basically:

  1. Pop the lifting arms off the clamshell and top.
  2. Remove the corner carpet pieces just aft of the doors. (One Phillips screw and an 8mm bolt.) Removing these makes more room to lift the top off the car.
  3. On 1999 and earlier cars, there's a micro-switch on the top frame just behind the driver's left shoulder. One screw (T15 I think it was). On later cars the switch is contained in the left top-transmission and isn't a factor.
  4. The top is mounted to the rollbar with 3 bolts on each side and on some cars, I've had two short Phillips screws there too.
  5. Lift the top and frame off.
  6. Reverse to install.

That's off the top of my head. There may be a vital step in there somewhere that I forgot, so don't force anything hard enough to break it. wink

 

Mad_Ratel
Mad_Ratel Dork
1/10/20 6:40 a.m.

Also, what size is your trailer? I was looking at getting a 6x12 utility trailer but it appears if I go 6.5x16 i can haul the boxster.

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
1/10/20 6:34 p.m.

In reply to Mad_Ratel :

Yes, my trailer is 16' x 76".

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
1/27/20 8:37 p.m.

Busy at work, some travel, and waiting for parts; I finally made progress on the Red. Clearly it has been leaking oil for a while and that needs to be addressed before putting many more miles on the car. Oil is everywhere. I cleaned the engine and after a drive it was on the top, the bottom, and both sides. Best to start with the simple common stuff before worrying about the RMS or anything difficult. Spark plug tubes and the oil cooler o-rings are my prime suspects and good to do anyway as preventative maintenance on a 180k+ mile car. As I worked through them, they clearly needed it.


The spark plug tube o-rings were leaking and most of the coil boots were in rough shape. I replaced the right side with the parts I had on hand, but had to order a set for the left side - forgot that I had used up most of my stock on another car during the summer. How to remove old spark plug tubes: Spark Plug Tube Tool

After going for a 15 minute drive and checking the top of the engine, it was clear that coolant was leaking on top of the engine as well as oil. Most likely suspect for that is the oil cooler and it can be a cause of intermix of coolant and engine oil as well. So far there has been no intermix, just leaks. I removed the old oil cooler. The large o-rings on the coolant side were shot, but the oil side didn't look that bad. I was glad to find that the oil cooler on this car was the standard one and not the version that was specific to the early '97s. That meant that I could put a new, larger S-Model oil cooler on without an adapter plate.

After putting it back together, torquing the bolts to 7.5 ft/lbs (90 in/lbs), I ran the engine to check for leaks. There was a sound of rushing air, not quite right for the intake. I moved around listening and feeling for leaks. The oil filler tube on top of the engine was hissing. I put my hand on it and it easily rocked back and forth. With the engine off, I found that the rigid part of the tube that bolts to the top of the engine was cracked and not fully inserted into the engine. I have two used ones 'in stock' from scrapped engines. Tomorrow, I'll have that replaced and go for a drive. Hopefully that will take care of the leaks.

cdowd
cdowd Dork
1/27/20 8:44 p.m.

Your posts keep me looking at boxsters for a summer driver.  My father and i went and test drove one in 1997 and i loved it and have never bought one.

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
1/28/20 10:37 p.m.

Replacing the rigid oil filler tube...

Here's my general procedure, but not an exact guide:

 

Put the car in the 'service position'.

Disconnect the negative battery terminal.

Cover the drain holes on the sides of the engine compartment so tools and parts don't fall in.

Remove the throttle body:

  • Disconnect the intake tube from the air filter.
  • Disconnect the AOS hose.
  • Loosen the throttle cable.
  • Unbolt the support underneath.
  • Rotate it upwards.
  • Remove the wire connections.
  • Remove the bolts holding it to the intake crosstube.

Remove vacuum hoses from the intake crosstube.

Slide the boots and remove the crosstube.

 

I cleaned the intake and throttle body. All the vacuum hoses look good and are flexible. AOS and it's tubing look good and that reminds me that I still need to sort through all the receipts to see what maintenance was done and when.

 

What a mess underneath the intake. The filler tube isn't broken, there just aren't any bolts holding it on. It had probably been pushed in place and stayed there until the previous owner replaced the coolant tank. Glad I didn't drive the car any further. I started cleaning up the oil and dirt. The long lost bolts were deep in a puddle of grime. I fished them out and kept cleaning, hoping to find a few 10mm Snap-on sockets. No luck, but I got it clean enough to help isolate any more oil leaks after I finish this maintenance.

 

There's a loose wire under here. I'm 97.5% sure that it should be connected to the alternator '+' terminal. It's all covered with black heat shrink, so I can't see for sure if the insulation is red or brown. 2.5% chance I'm going to be very disappointed the next time I start the car.

 

When I started putting it back together, the flexible portion of the oil fill tube felt too loose. I gave it a tug and it came off in my hand. That's not right, it's broken off and a bottle has been fitted to the end. Glad I still have a spare.

I looked a little further at the tubing installed for the coolant tank. It works, but the main coolant hose to the tank has a big kink in it. I might as well correct it while I have this much access. That's going to mean draining some coolant again and taking off all the hoses to the coolant tank. Time for a break and dinner. This is not going to be technically difficult, but it's going to take some patience. I started out with 90s alternative music and coffee. I've already had to switch to beer and Christian contemporary to mellow out a bit. I may just finish posting this and let the car rest for the night. My schedule is free for most of tomorrow.

AngryCorvair
AngryCorvair MegaDork
1/29/20 5:19 a.m.

In reply to AAZCD :

Sometimes you just have to walk away and let the car think about how much better off it is with you than the last guy.

AWSX1686
AWSX1686 UltraDork
1/29/20 12:17 p.m.

Very informative, thanks for documenting!

AAZCD
AAZCD HalfDork
1/30/20 10:28 p.m.

Hasbro's dirty old Dansk Sausage arrived at my house today. I think I know where to put it, but I should probably clean that dark, crusty stuff off first.

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