Nobbie

Plenty here have dealt with the coolant pipes issue, so I’ll leave it to them to advise. Looks like it’s spent its life by the seaside judging by the corrosion under it😱. Apparently you need to drop the front subframe to change the pipes, so don’t bother getting it aligned until you’ve done the pipes.

The factory ‘Sport’ option is a 10mm drop and different dampers (B6 rings a bell). I think most who’ve gone for more than this regret it if they like driving rather than showing the car. Koni Special Active dampers have been used as an alternative to the Bilstein dampers by a few on here, @edc being the first, so may be able to give some good advice.

Enjoy👍

I think generally it’s pretty irrelevant to most as long as it has been regularly serviced by at least a Porsche specialist. My only reservation would be that for such a low mileage car, they’re may be a particularly fussy buyer out there who would pay more for FPSH, but I doubt it’s worth the extra cost for the outside possibility that they are looking for a car whenever you decide to sell.

I’ve got a UDP and got the belt off eBay. You’ve just got to search for the size rather than car. Mine is a 6PK2075. You’ll probably find this printed on your existing belt.

1 hour ago, wasz said:

Absolutely get your point.

But if you buy a dirt cheap basket case around £1500

Buy all new suspension arms from autodoc, eBay etc not genuine and not specialist price

Source new or low mileage shocks springs and top mounts

New clutch and engine mounts

Cuprinol brake lines, textar pads.

Fit them yourself, don't pay specialist labour except for alignment.

 

You'll end up with a worthwhile project, and be driving round in a car that drives like a new one for under £4k

 

Or you could spend £4k on one, and have 80% worn suspension, end up replacing the arms one by one over a couple of years and never having a car that drives like new

I suppose it depends what you’re after. If you want a car that just drives well then your approach may work, but most want a car that looks nice as well, and this is what can really suck up the £££, particularly after it’s been kicking around Copart on a forklift😬. If you can pick up a car that is cosmetically good but needs some mechanical fettling, you can probably do most of that yourself over time. Depends on what the OP is after, but definitely worth considering carefully before buying something.

39 minutes ago, wasz said:

 

 

The guy wants a cheap project, if he buys a decent car there will be nowt to do!

 

Copart is the cheapest place to get a project! Anyone can see the MOT history, when you have an account you can see the reg

I think most cheap 986’s will be a pretty good project without scraping the bottom of the barrel at Copart. Best to start with something half decent or you may well lose heart before it’s brought upto spec. Mines a decent car, but I could easily spend loads of money and time getting it A1 if  could be arsed.

1 hour ago, sential said:

Hi Nobbie, arch liners not removed no, so that was probably the problem..
Battery is fine, as the constant setting off of car alarm testified to..
Key seems to move very freely in lock so I think it must be disconnected inside by some means. Doesnt actually spin, stops at each end of quarter turn.
 

When I changed my lock I forgot to connect the key linkage and had the same issue when I left the car for a week. Time to take off the wheel liners. Hope you didn’t leave the locking wheel nut key in the car🤔

Did they take out the arch liners to search for the cable pull? They can be hidden away in the back of the headlight and difficult to spot if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Any chance you have a dead battery? Normally the remote stops after a few days, but you can reawaken by turning the key in the lock anti-clockwise a quarter turn. Does it do this or does it just spin? 

On 9/18/2023 at 12:04 PM, fizz said:

I like to be able to slide the back end out when the conditions allow.  

You should have joined us up in Scotland. I remember one sharp bend where all three of us lost the back end, although, @benjohnstone did the most dramatic excursion with his Exige. I was still laughing when my back end stepped out😬

It seems like there maybe a bit of a standoff in the used car market at present for Boxsters with sellers holding out for the high prices of the last couple of years, whilst buyers are expecting prices to drop and are waiting it out.

Many people do a WBAC valuation on cars they are looking to buy as a bit of a sense check or when selling to set a backstop for offers and so a sustained drop in WBAC valuations is likely to feed through to used prices eventually. I certainly wouldn’t be paying asking price on most of the currently advertised 981s. Time will tell.

Not a great time to try and sell a Boxster and suspect your car will have a limited appeal at nearly £10k. It might be worth that to someone that really wants those options, but I’m not sure many do. MO30 at 94k is probably due a refresh if someone was after sharp handling and the body kit is not necessarily a selling point to most of the market. Either drop the price or be prepared to wait for just the right buyer.

18 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

I think you covered most of the draw backs I was thinking of!  Only missing one - the shear pain in the ar*e of doing it.

That the problem with thieves these day, no work ethic.

That’s amateur level insurance fraud, I’ve just insured my Boxster as a Honda Jazz. Don’t tell anyone though😉

9 hours ago, jnwright71 said:

I’ve been looking for a new (to me) 981 or 718 (Boxster or a Cayman) for 4 months.  Lots for sale but nothing is moving.  I’m watching circa 15 cars I like but can’t justify paying £5-£10k above true value and that’s what most are asking.

However, new listings are showing up everyday and the prices are still ludicrous (£35k for basic 2013/2014 Boxsters with 40-50k miles),  These sellers will be in for a very long wait  

The market will continue to drop, and probably heavily, with the end of summer and the current cost of living pressures.

Tough market if you are selling, but a good time to buy if you are prepared to be patient.

I think at the moment it’s the buyers who are being hit by higher interest rates on the loans they need to buy the cars, but most sellers don’t need to sell, so can sit and wait hopefully. Eventually some of the sellers will get squeezed by higher rates when their fixed rate mortgages come up for renewal and have to drop their price to shift it. As more have to do this, asking prices will adjust.

Sounds like the cable has broken or become detached from the doorcard. You can see the cable at 2:45 in this vid 

It’s good to have restored it so someone else is now likely to look after it. I had the same with an old spitfire that I’d restored 30 years ago, but then moved and left under a car port for 7 years. Could have just flogged it as a non runner, but felt good to get it running again before selling it so it avoided being broken for parts. Hopefully it’s still out there being enjoyed by someone.

29 minutes ago, Filbee said:

Do you not have to take the bolts right out of the coffin arms though, in order to pull the strut assembly out from under the wheel arch? Or am I missing something?

The reason I split the ball joints from the hub carrier and tie rod was to get the hub carrier and strut out in one piece which I reckoned would make separating the strut and the hub carrier easier than it would if it's still attached to the car.

I think once you loosen the bolt, you are no longer twisting the rubber bush to push the other end down.

When mine failed for Lamda it was due to failing exhaust joints letting oxygen in and upsetting the readings. Might be worth checking for leaks before changing sensors.

I immediately thought it was this one, but the mileage is different. Can’t be many more around. I really like the colour, bit less in your face than speed yellow.

Another reminder not to insure with Admiral or their sub brands Bell, Elephant, Diamond and Veygo. They’re always the ones cutting cover. I think they also require you to declare all the factory fitted extras even when it’s an old car and you haven’t a clue.

First thing I’d look at is the front engine mount which is a fairly common item for replacement. Rubber bush may have perished giving creaking noise. As for the speed bumps, could be this again or one of the many suspension components such as lower arms or tuning forks.

The handling is what really sets the Boxster apart from most other cars, so a suspension refresh on a 20 year old car is money well spent.

3 hours ago, Allan davie said:

Just fitted one only problem is can’t get body parts back on as the exhaust pipes are pointing up by fifteen degrees .

I had something similar when I first fitted mine. In my case it was caused by bolting everything up solid starting from the manifolds. To correct it I just loosened all the bolts and was able to rotate the back box to be level with the rest of the system moving to take up the slack. I then retightened all the bolts (well, most of them @K.I.T.T.🤣)

You don’t need two people, you can just undo the roof at both sides and then slide it back a few inches. You can then lift each side and slip the membrane into place.

Echo above really, a few pics of mine on page 8 of my running report 

Tricky bits were the left right runs. At the front it is tricky to route it past the steering rack as there is not much room, but it had to be replaced as the piece where it ducks under the drivers side inner arch just fell apart when removed. Could probably have got away without replacing the rear cross pipe, but managed it ok by feeding it in through the wheel arch and bending it into place around the top of the engine access panel, not perfect, but near enough. I made up some little stop ends to prevent fluid draining out of the system while I faffed around as you don’t want fluid draining out of the ABS pump. Never heard of anyone having issues, but better safe than sorry.

You need to be careful removing the pipes from the clips as the plastic clips will be quite brittle. Best to spray a bit of rust penatrator around first, snip off the pipe either side and gently work loose.

41 minutes ago, Bike Loon said:

What make is that then with 4 spokes? 😮

That’s VW’s old badge, they stopped using it after the war for some reason.