½cwt

43 minutes ago, the baron said:

You were berating me the other day for not getting out more 🤔

Have you noticed how wet its been?  Not exactly enjoyable Boxster weather.  It only took a loaf of bread and a vaguely dry day as an excuse after all...

53 minutes ago, gIzzE said:

What do you mean concerned with what name is written on the tyre? 

The brand name and N-spec or not maybe?

Everyone it entitled to own and in general use cars how they wish.  No way is right or wrong and one way may be far from another's idea of how a certain type of car should be used.  One might think it a waste, another might think it profligate. That's life's beauty, we are not all clones running the same programme!

Needed a flat six fix, oh and a loaf of bread.  Any excuse for a blast the long way round.  Not taken it out for 10 days.

4 hours ago, JonSta said:

Yikes..... 

Not too bad so far, just a minor wallpaper repair and cook a pasta bake for dinner.  Sorry, should be in 'What have you done to your house today' thread in The Lounge!

Looked out of the window at a very soggy car wishing I could start to get anti-seize spray onto all the suspension bolts I'm going to be trying to undo in the near future and fit the new crested wheel centres (thanks @Freddie).

Staying warm and dry inside over the weekend and there's not even a GP to watch this weekend!  I fear Mrs @½cwt will be finding tasks for me around the house...

14 minutes ago, the baron said:

Put my hardtop on the car, forgotten how special it feels with the Boxster red Alcantara lining I had done a few years back, just need an excuse to drive it now

Really, you need an excuse?

15 minutes ago, the baron said:

Swapped out my cracked headlight amber triangles with new ones from my OPC £41 each with discount, bit steep but cheaper than second hand ones, not sure how both got cracks, but looks pretty ace without the cracks and water ingress in those corner bits

Not falling branches again?

21 hours ago, ½cwt said:

Let the suspension rebuild begin. Ordered on Sunday and delivered today from Spyder Performance, 4 coffin arms and two front tuning forks all for under £300.

 

And just pressed the button on 4 new Koni Special Active shocks, 4 drop links (aftermarket) and 2 rear bump stops (aftermarket and might as well whilst I'm in there) for the rather good price of £622 all in from Autodoc.  Don't care if they take a week or so to get here the price was almost too good not to, even if I hadn't need them!

7 minutes ago, the baron said:

How exciting, praying for no righty tighty bolts

Already spoken to my local indy, they will fit the new drop links first on an hourly rate (at £80 per hour incl VAT).  I know front left is OK as I had it out back in April doing the front springs and top mounts and I know from the records it was changed about 4 years ago.  Front right is seized and I'm guessing the rears are too so so the indy will change just these whilst all the old suspension is in place and the rest should be OK with Plus Gas and patience given my experience on the front earlier this year, and my new impact wrench.  To quote Winston Churchill 'I have nothing to give but my blood, toil, tears and sweat'.

3 hours ago, Knobgoblin said:

Got hold of a cubby box, 20 quid. 

 

Good Price! Ripe for the rear speaker addition now!

Let the suspension rebuild begin. Ordered on Sunday and delivered today from Spyder Performance, 4 coffin arms and two front tuning forks all for under £300.

4 hours ago, topradio said:

@½cwtDo you mean if you take advantage of the extra 6 months?

Just checked the MOT certificate for the one I had done on my 986 earlier this month.  MOT done 2 weeks before the 12 month expiry date and new one runs until the anniversary of the old one. So no time lost by having it done early.

That appears to be the case.  My MOT was extended to October 23rd from April 23rd i.e. by an extra 6 months but my test certificate is dated with today's date (25 September) as the pass date and 24 September 2021, not 22 October 2021, as the expiry date.  Not a big issue in the grand scheme of things.

Took it for an Italian tune up, then to its MOT test fearing failures on coffin arms, a front tuning fork and rear dampers.

Pass! Woo-hoo!  😀  But advisories on all 4 coffin arms and handbrake adjustment. No mention of rusty brake lines that were an issue last time round but were cleaned and lightly greased to get a pass that time.

By the way with the MOTs extended due to lockdown you are not getting the 12 months from expiry date if you present up to 4 weeks early with these 18 month MOTs, just 12 months for the test date, if that helps anyone planning a test.

Winter project is looking like a suspension refresh but at least with time to plan it and doing it in my own time plus buying as cost effectively as possible. Currently the shopping list is looking like Spyder Performance coffin arms and front tuning forks, KONI Special-Active dampers (cracking price from Winparts.co.uk - Dutch based - currently) and drop links.

1 hour ago, Christopher2110 said:

First coat or Arctic Silver going on the interior bits. Going to need some sanding down before the next coat I think but pleased so far. Hopefully make it a much nicer place to be instead of just black, black and more black in the interior 

 

Something I'm considering doing when bits that are wearing out or breaking get replaced.  How did you prep to remove that slightly softer layer that factory apply and how many hours?

1 hour ago, Menoporsche said:

And that was the 4000th reply to this thread. 

Does he get a prize?  Could have been a lot more mundane (like many of mine, before someone else says it), at least a bit of jeopardy with a key.

54 minutes ago, Christopher2110 said:

Mine was the same. CDR23 with just dash and door speakers. Swapped out all 4 speakers and it was better but still lost the sound with top down driving. 
Fitted a fully loaded double din unit instead then used the existing amp to power the front speakers and the new HU to power the rears. Works well enough for me. Although I am toying with under seat subs as my other car has them and they make a massive difference in my opinion 

The hood down time is when the rear speakers come into their own.  Mine only had dash speakers, which I swapped out too, and no amp so a set of terminals available on the head unit to connect to by adding the pins tot eh DIN plug/socket.  Changed the head unit too to get a bit more power to all the speakers.  Made the speakers support panels for the rear from 4mm hardboard painted black and bonded in with a hot glue gun.

Followed up on a couple of items raised at the recent service ready for the upcoming MOT. 

One number plate light not working - horrible design - but down to a corroded terminal.  I cleaned it up and sprayed with contact cleaner.  Now solved. 

Also had a general look around and I fear it may fail on coffin arm rubbers, the service noted that the front right tuning fork may be a concern, depends on the tester as ever.  If it fails on more than the tuning fork it may well be an opportunity to SORN the car for a couple of months at least to get a suspension refresh, new brake lines and caliper painting done before it is cold and wet in mid-winter.

Looks like the tape protecting the small split in the bottom corner of the plastic rear window might have to hold for some time before I can afford to change the hood for a glass windowed one...

48 minutes ago, Berni29 said:

DV will give you the reg No of the car the parts came off of and then you can look up it's MOT history and check mileage etc, just to satisfy yourself.

Best of luck

Berni

Yep, he has! 👍

2 minutes ago, Berni29 said:

Hi

If you are careful you can buy cheap secondhand suspension parts (coffin arms struts etc) off ebay or from Douglas Valley. With the struts especially important to know the mileage of the car they came off of. I bought a 45k mile set when I did a cheap suspension refresh.

Berni

Good call. I see DV have a set or rear struts off an '02 car which will hopefully be lower miles than mine but I'm going to see how the MOT goes before starting to spend money.  If it fails on major suspension bits it will be off the road for a while (may be even for the winter ☹️) whilst I gather bits and do the work.

4 hours ago, ½cwt said:

Thanks. That will be my first check when I get in this afternoon. 

Cap was firmly secured... ☹️

12 hours ago, edc said:

I had the coolant overflow on my first 986 after a service at OPC for a fixed price. They didn't screw the cap on properly. 

Thanks. That will be my first check when I get in this afternoon. 

3 hours ago, PaulQ said:

Are you sure the coolant is not exiting from the drain pipe in front of the offside rear wheel.? 

It appears to be coming from higher up and more inboard judging but the pooling on the ground, it is all around the contact patch of the tyre, not the front of the wheel arch, but until I can get under it (looking like Thursday at best) and check properly I'm not certain.

2 hours ago, GmanB said:

When was the cap last replaced? My car dumped it's coolant with no sign of coolant in the boot and it turned out to be a failed rad cap. Hope yours is the same. 

Interesting, I'll have to look back in the service record to see if I can find when it was changed, but it must be 2 years old as I haven't replaced it.  Strange it should happen on the same day it was serviced though ?!?

57 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

Not as bad as a tank full of coolant under the car with evidence of it dripping down from the tank area??  I haven't pulled the carpet but there's no smell of coolant/moisture in there.

Question on tanks, Porsche is about £250, after market ones are about £120 to £150 anyone got experience of the AM ones like Retroline from Design 911??

@PaulQ - apologies re-my statement above, the tank is contained within the boot so any leak has to flood the boot which does not appear to be the case here.  More likely to be a failed hose on the engine side of the fire wall.

Not sure when I can get to look at it and I have the MOT on Saturday...

15 minutes ago, Dan944 said:

sorry to hear this! 

you havnt topped up any water lately have you? only as i did this a few months back as the water level was below min and ever since after a run , the water would come out of the overflow which is on the offside rear next to rear wheel. it did this for 3 or so drives untill it stopped and has been at the level to where i started with ever since and i’ve been on quite a few spirited drives since Too. 

 

No, water level has been steady for about 3 months with not op ups at all through a long run in France in July and also a spirited meet/drive in August so its had a full work out and stayed constant.  Just one of those sinking feeling moments methinks. 

Before anyone says, the cap is an .04 part number...