Megatonks

Attempted to do front and rear axle's discs and pads. Only for the fronts done though in a 5 hour period. Those pointless disc screws screwed me over big time. popped out to buy an impact driver which helped a ton, but ended up needing to drill one out still - lost so much time! Definitely needed doing though - Check out the state of these. Rears tomorrow - i've checked the screws already and they're nice and loose already.

On 9/8/2021 at 6:06 PM, BBB said:

I’ve got those ‘bits of string’ too. Did the repair make any difference/improvement or was it just for satisfaction of solving the issue?

Yeah it definitely solved the issue of them getting loose inside and poking out at times. As to whether it makes much difference to the roof mechanism etc? then it's hard to say really - I just wanted it to be put right again haha! It wasn't difficult to do once i'd figured out the best way haha

Had a go at this at the weekend and found the recommended 5 inches was far too slack/loose. Even when the roof was very nearly closed there was basically no tension on the elastic at all. Went with more like 4 inches and seems to have solved my passenger side.

The driver side felt much better and i decided didn't need touching really. elastic felt fine (they'd both been 'repaired' before I discovered) so i left that one. Now the driver side seems to be doing it more haha..what?! Will have another look when i have chance.

I also repaired the 'bits of string' that were hanging out each side. I figured it's extremely likely they cross over to opposing sides in some way to create a proper crease as it folds - and it's just snapped at some point.. I was right. They thread up through a tunnel inside a seam on the outer fabric to the other side, conjoined by a length of elastic in between them. Pulled both out, rejoined using tiny cable ties, cutting them as small as possible, then heat-shrinking over it for smoothness, then threaded it through with a piece of DIY rod lengths. Worked a treat.

4 hours ago, Terryg said:

@Megatonks With regard to the inner surface of your wheel, my sister in law has two concrete wheel tracks as a driveway, on Saturday I came off the passenger side track and heard a graunching sound, I know when that wheel comes off I will have something similar but it will only be superficial.

 

Ouch, that sounds grim!

I don't have anything like that on my driveway, and I'm unsure that would happen as my tyre bulges outwards past the lips a fair bit - but you never know I guess..

Maybe it happened before I bought the car - i'm 99% sure i'd have heard something making that kind of horrible gouge.

Might have a go at filling/sealing it myself as it doesn't really matter cosmetically. I have lots of filler and paints and laquer and stuff. Just to protect the raw alloy more than anything. Corrosion beginning along the entire circumference could murder the wheel pretty quick I guess!

I'm tempted to try something like this for the xenons. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Headlight-HSUNLAMP-Directly-Original-Extremely/dp/B08VDM6K5R/ref=sr_1_17_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=d2s%2Bhid&qid=1629191157&sr=8-17-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExU09WNTJDSzdERlZSJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzM3NjcxMkE0VklZMlFXNVpXNSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzM1NTUzMk1ZSlRDRlhXTElTQyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

It was this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01IP245SW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Had them on the mx5 for 4.5 years and they're still going strong. flawless. Actually better than the xenons on my boxster 987. although i've just replaced the bulbs in it so we'll see if they imrpove a bit over time as i've read they might.

15 hours ago, Paul P said:

Bad luck with the headlight  

Welcome to the world of Porsche suicide plastic.  I also find anything plastic on the car to be brittle and prone so falling apart at the slightest provocation. 
 

 

Yeah i couldn't believe it.

Installed the new bulbs into the other headlight today and the exact same thing happened - the red/orange seal on the bulb stayed stuck onto the mount and I had to wiggle off the bulb through it! nightmare. Didn't break it this time though as i knew exactly what was going on.

PSA: the H11 bulbs have seals and will likely get stuck onto the mount if they've been on a very long time. Be patient and wiggle wiggle wiggle. 

The glueing worked. It's not perfectly back into place, which can be seen closely comparing the 2, but it'll do for now. I do notice it with the high-beam projection though, it's a fair bit lower than the right-side...

It's also not making the click/clunk noise that it should make when flashing full-beam - the solenoid isn't making any noise at all and the headlight, I guess, also isn't adjusting (although it's difficult to actually see anything changing when that click happens anyway even on the working light, while looking at the light or looking at the projection).

Can anyone confirm whether the passenger side full beam is supposed to be lower and more concentratred than the driver's side, and also whether the passenger side headlight unit is also supposed to have the solenoid clunky noise? 

Either my glue's got something stuck, somehow... i was pretty careful, or the solenoid's dead - i'll have to figure out how to test the solenoid!

I've passed MOT at proper testing centre for 4 years with Amazon LED straight-swaps (h4) in my mx5. No problems at all and SUCH an improvement.

Busy one for me today. Decided i was gonna just try and tackle the Air con radiators & dessicator in one day. Was pretty easy tbf! N/S looks like it's been replaced before but the O/S looks leaky, big oily stain.

Had some issues with the thread stripping on one of the condensers but soon realised it was silly of me using their provided bolts as they only reach about half way along the threads anyway (as we have those blocks to accomodate for too), so i went back to OEM bolts and the remainded of the surviving threads were absolutely fine and now all seems well. 

While I had it stripped i went around wire brushing anything that needed it, washing some bits, then a bit of hydrate- 80 and some Dinitrol 4941 on some bits that were a bit worse for wear.

First time geting the car in the air - so easy to jack and get stands up! Love how it has proper jacking points and how solid it all is. Very different to the mx5! Getting the wheels off though i found something horrible...

A huge, pretty deep, scoring of the inner face of the wheel. what the hell?!?!?! So weird and horrible to find.. Only thing I can think of is a piece of gravel from my driveway being picked up and dropped against the suspension strut?

It's a pretty tight gap and I do think I could see this happening...

Not that I at any point heard anything! surely that wouldn't made a horrid noise. Very annoying. Don't think it's enough to be dangerous or anythign, just unsightly, annoying, and i'll have to keep an eye on corrosion development.

Then onto the next 'small job'. Pop in my new Xenon bulbs, and the new h11 main beams as both are pretty poor at the moment, my LED h4 bulbs on the mx5 are better atm!

So this simple job went pretty disastrous. The h11 was a bugger to get out for some reason. Really fiddly and needed more force than i'd expected...Turns out it left the rubber seal on the mount, which i didn't realise. Upon trying to fit the new one (an upgraded LED h11) the entire bloody dome/mount snapped! completely bloody loose. Snapped right under the screws. I was being slightly forceful maybe, but nowhere near enough that should break it... Are these things super brittle or something? is this a 'thing'? SO annoying how the difficult jobs go well but the silly trivial things can turn into a nightmare..

It's currently taped up with some gorilla glue drying on it... I'm not 100% sure it's perfectly back in place but i'm not sure full-beam matters too much with regard to alignment with MOTs etc... As long as it's at least fixed! If the gorilla glue doesn't hold then i'm probably gonna have to buy an entire new xenon headlight unit which, from a glance on ebay, is a lot of bloody money for a poorly supported & brittle reflector/mount. 

I've tried disassembling all the stuff in the photo to get better access for better gluing/fixing but i'm not 100% sure i should - some parts look smarter than me haha.... but if the glue doesn't work then i'll definitely try a full disassamble as there's nothig to lose at that point! Luckily it's only full beam so no majorr rush but extremely annoying nonetheless.

On a more positive end to the day I had a test of my 3D printed Bose>6.5" speaker adapter plate and it fits almost perfectly. Just need to widen the screw holes slightly, reduce the diameter of the inner hole a little bit, as i'm not comfortable atm with how much there is to grab for the speaker screws... and maybe put screw holes for the actual speaker screws to use too - but a pilot drill on a speaker by speaker basis is probably fine anyway.

Christ, what a day. Fingers crossed for my headlight. Still makes me grrr... and the wheel! 

I thought the only options over BP's 97 Ultimate was Shell Vpower 99 or Tesco's Momentum.

There's apparently a new 99 choice for anyone with an Esso nearby

https://www.esso.co.uk/en-gb/fuels/petrol

Cheers for info folks! I'll see what I can come up with if nothing I find tempts me enough

3 minutes ago, McDonald said:

Protecting the condensers makes very good sense.

It looks like someone DIY'd the mesh on yours to avoid the expense & appearance of Zunsport.

I really don't like the Z option because I find it ugly.

I took the expensive route and got some shipped from America. They're discreet & I'm v pleased with them but the home-made ones I've seen are just as good and cost very little. Maximum function, minimal visibility.

 

Don't disagree at all - I do feel that anything over £50 for a pair of pieces of mesh is a bit crazy.

Any recommendation on mounting/fixing the DIY ones in place though?

Evening! First post in this thread from me - New owner

Spent a couple hours this evening doing some minor stuff to the 987.

2500grit, cutting compound, polish, BH speed wax and the headlights are sorted

Before:



After:



Took the panels out at the front, partly to learn how to do it, but partly to check out the front drain-tubes that are most likely blocked. I was right! Didn't have time to do the right side too but left side both drain holes were blocked. Leaves and wet mushy black debris all over the place in the scuttle area in general.. Only took a photo of one though



Had a fiddle with the DIY front-vent mesh grills to find that one of the foglight units is actually snapped on the screw-mount. Bit of glue to dry overnight. (Are all things this straight forward to take off this car? The screws weren't even rusty!?)







Also didn't like how the meshes were attached (just bent edges with some silicon in a couple of the corners). 

I'll probably clean this all up and do it a different way. Anyone got any links to good mesh products to buy, or maybe some nice ideas for a DIY one?

Hi folks,

Pretty new here - just in the market. Primarily for a 987 3.2S - maybe gonna wait for the prices to calm down a bit though....

Just thought some might be interested to see some 986 love.

Channel's no small deal - might be worth holding onto your 986 for a little longer if you're wanting to sell soon! Although no-one wants to sell their Porsche really do they huh!?

PS: as if prices weren't high enough right now?!  

Awesome! new here, looking to get a 987 (assume a lot of interchangeable maintenance and DIY with 986!) but coming from a mx5 it's great to see a decent community behind these cars!