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How to: 986 3.2S Back Box removal


BudSlater

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This guide is designed to shows you how to remove the back box without removing the rear bumper. It's certainly possible to do! All in, with most things sieved and rusted, it took me about 2 hours to do this on my drive, I'm sure it would be much quicker on some ramps but I'm a DIY kinda guy.


A few words before I get into the detail. Most of the nuts and bolts you need to undo here will be rusted. A set of irwin nut splitters will be very useful as they cut into the nut and the more you tighten, the more they grip., they also don't expect a perfectly hexagonal bolt either... An angle grinder is very useful if some of the bolts are rusted beyond undoing and will need to be cut off.


In terms of special tools, life would be a lot easier with a 13mm ratchet ring spanner. Get one with the flexible head. Mine was from Halfords. Also, a 13mm 1/4 inch socket is essential.


In terms of replacement parts, you'll certainly need some new clamps (4 in total) but that's about all you'll need. I got mine from eurocarparts for less than I could find them on eBay.


So, the how to (using the picture from pelican parts)


Pic1_zps9d5e0ce2.jpg


  • Jack up rear and support on axle stands
  • Using 13mm, undo the nut for the two clamps (labelled as B in the picture). They will likely be very rusty and just crumble away
  • Undo the two 13mm bolts that attach the hanger support to the gearbox, then the two 13mm nuts and prise off the support (labelled as C in the picture)
  • If you look up, behind each catalyst, there is a 15mm bolt at the top which needs removing (there's one each side) and two 15mm nuts in the middle of the support arm (labelled behind D in the picture). Remove both nuts and bolts and wiggle the support out of the way. I'm not sure this is essential but it improved access...
  • Loosen (but don't remove) the 4x13mmm nuts that connect the back box to the catalyst (labelled as D in the picture). Expect some of these to shear as they did with me as they will likely be rusty
  • Now if you reach up to the top, there are 2x13mm nuts that hold the back box to the support (labelled as E in the picture). They are in the middle of the car, kinda near the rear spoiler... You can't see the nuts so you'll have to work off feel alone. Undo these, don't worry, the back box won't land on your chest, it just gives you the room you need to undo the 4 bolts. Push the back box as far towards the rear of the car as you can and you can see the bottom two 13mm bolts that attach the gearbox support bracket to the gearbox (labelled as E in the picture). Using the ratchet ring spanner, undo and remove these
  • Now here's the awkward bit, there are 2x13mm bolts just above the two bolts you just undid. They are kinda recessed, so feel for them and using the 1/4 ratchet and 13mm socket, undo them. Before you remove them completely, have something under the back box incase it falls off
  • Now undo the bolts which hold the sleeve straight from the back box to the exhaust elbow (labelled as A in the picture). Mine were rusted away so had to be cut off, but the elbow wouldn't budge even with some attention from a hammer
  • A quick double check that you've removed everything and it's all loose, then withdraw the back box. It'll support itself on the the lip of the rear bumper, so you'll have to push it one way the the other to drop it down. Job done!
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  • 6 years later...

This was a useful post for me Bud - thanks for posting. I had to take the bumper off but that wasn't too much of a drama. I didn't end up using a 1/4 in socket but the ratchet spanner was a great tip. I sliced the sleeves and clamps off with a grinder and fitted new parts so it should be good for a few years now.

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