Charlestonboxster

I'm about to do mine, bought paint and lettering, change from black to red.

If you google caliper painting, you will find a lot of info.

Here's a 928 owner who stripped them first.

Boxster will need the white BOXSTER stick on letters, available somewhere on Bay, I bought some.

http://members.rennlist.com/v1uhoh/brakerf.htm

I have seen some instructions on how to do it without removing the calipers.

Hope this helps!

Just wondering if anyone has experience towing a small trailer with this Hitch.

Will on his Hitch site says 750lbs may be ok.

Have a Jet Boat, be nice to tow, probably too much at 1400lbs though?

Any experience appreciated.

2 Positive Thumbs up from me on the Kuhmo's. 225 and 265's, <$200 each

I replaced rears after a while, very happy with feel and wear, and a very good value.

Also, when I blew a rear (flat), it was easy to find a replacement - Tire Kingdom.

IMHO...

The easiest way is through the center console.

The factory method is down through the door sill channel - but that requires removing a good deal of the interior (and take 2-3 times longer).

That's what I did in Boxster, Kenwood powered sub behind passenger seat, don't know about a 911,

in Boxster, just wedge/push (blunt screwdriver or something) the wires under the plastic console all the way

from front to back.

911 may be different.

It is indeed really worth upgrading.

An option: If you don't mind spending a bit more, for $600-$800,

consider a new head unit and 4-5 channel amp.

The extra power makes a big difference when the top is down.

You can black out (paint) some of the head unit buttons

if it does not blend in as well as you would like.

Another option for the baffles is to buy a set cut and painted for you from

Jamey, Rawlings Audio, LA <$75. See Audio post in DIY section.

Dynaudio's would be great, top quality.

You may find that the Bose rear is not as appealing as it seems.

here are various options for the door.

If it were me, and I did not want a seperate subwoofer,

I would fit the 6x9 sub with sound deadened baffle in both

well duct tape sealed doors.

Very good bang for the buck, and would handle amp upgrade very well.

Probably 75% of the volume and bass you can get with a seperate 8" sun in footwell enclosure, which is a lot.

(I drove mine at 100wrm plus)

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=264-864

Note. If you cant fit it in, you can return it to PE for refund/exchange!

Some car audio fanatics have had excellent results with the Dayton RS series as mid bass in doors,

(properly crossed over) but they use subs for real bass.

6” RS

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=295-372

7”RS

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=295-372

Another 6 x 9 sub

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=264-837

6.5” sub, 3.5” depth, this is way I would go if no separate sub and I was uncertain about the 6x9 fit.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.c...FTOKEN=28173552

Chris,

Where did you find the plastic. Been looking for some for the front speaker upgrade and all I have been able to find is lexan.

Warren

the black frame is 'wood'. it's actually a leftover piece of Pergo flooring (which is why 'wood' is in quotes ;) ) that i cut holes in and spray painted.

what are you trying to do to the front speakers?

Making a panel to replace the speaker similar to the rings that don't seem to be available anymore. The hack of cutting out the speaker and using the basket will not work with the speakers I am using. They are smaller than the existing opening. I have cut 4 out of lexan and just need to route the openings for the speaker. I made a template in cad and when I see how well it works this weekend I will post a pdf. The lexan material is difficult to work with. How hard is it to cut pergo?

Warren

Might want to consider simply changing the speakers, unless the ones you have are real good.

Especially if you want to do the doors too, JL Audio 3 way with crossovers excellent choice.

I received this tool and it works just fine on all of the different connector pins. For the price, I don't think you can beat it.

Todd

ToolPants

http://www.etoolcart.com/index.asp?PageAct...amp;ProdID=8893

Here

is the link, I found it cheaper on ebay though

Todd

Todd,

I have a 98, love the colors and my audio, would rather mod than replace,

engine: You have done 2.5 Super, 3.4 and 3.6?

Just wondering if there is a thread on your engine mods and experience, and/or, if in a sentence or three,

your opinion:

I'f I'm on a budget, would you recommend 2.5 super or 3.4 swap and why?

Tks,

Tony

Cheez, you got to love this forum, many thanks to T, Loren and friends,

Renntech is a wet dream come true for us Porschefiles.

Upgrading the speakers helps, but I would also add a rear speaker kit (driven w/ an amp not just the head unit - to match the power evenly). Better dash speakers will increase the clarity dramatically and adding rears changes the focal point of the music. Changing the focal point in the vehicle drastically increases the low end/bass presence from your door speakers. I'm not a die hard audiophile but I do enjoy clear music. I made the following changes easily to my '99 and am pleased w/ the results:

- changed out dash speakers w/ 4.25" Infinity Refence Series $80

- added PNP rear speaker kit - $225

- swapped out factory 4x40 amp w/ a used 6x40 from a 996 - $80

Everything still looks stock, but sounds great. It took about 3 evenings of work to complete. The only other thing I might do some rainy day is replace the door woofers - but it's not a priority as they only produce lows.

Pricey custom brackets are NOT at all necessary - just some simple modifications to non visible parts of the existing ones and either 4 short pieces of wire w/ connectors or a soldering iron can do the trick! Good luck and do an archives search on 'speaker' or 'rear speakers' to find great step by step instructions from others here.

Porsche dismantler in LA often have 6 channels, but they may be a bit expensive.

You can call them, ask for eBay sales rep, and negotiate.

Found the old thread with Andy's start and a few pics of my mods.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...c=9187&st=0

Hope this helps,

I LOVE my Boxster. 14k miles in 12 months, daily driver.

Hi gandrade1,

I am certainly not an expert in this field, hence my post looking for help too.

Your dash speakers read like they should perform well, so not real comments on there. However getting vastly improved bass from the same diameter door speaker is not going to happen. You might want to consider keeping the factory amp and look into a good set of 6 1/2" door speakers, I think this should suffice. :)

There is a great document http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?a...ost&id=5022 that really helps with custom Hi-fi installs.

I am still not 'out of the gate' with mine but certainly have learnt a lot already myself.

Thanks,

David K.

Great post David,

Right on about dash and door.

I am not sure if factory amp is strong enough to drive 6.5"'s in door to a good bass level, but highly likely seeing as power to dash is within the same limitation.

However, a potential problem is we don't know what the factory crossover points or power attenuation are, seeing as it's designed for the factory 2 Ohm Nokia door drivers.

"Probably" ok to drive 4 ohm mid bass after market door drivers.

Andy's PDF is EXCELLENT, and of incredible value, many thanks to Andy for doing this.

So many details in there that I learned by error, like dremeling the webs inside the door panel to fit over the baffles etc...!!!

FYI: Jamey from Rawlings Audio (see reference above) in LA cut perfectly sized baffles for me, painted and shipped for about $70. Jamey - 626-372-0744 tell him Tony - Charleston gave you #.

A bit different than Andy's. For my install, I removed all the foam, and duct taped. Andy's method easier.

From a factory install, I would probably prioritize (depending if you have 4 channel or 6 and other factors):

This is off the cuff, late at night, assorted rambling:

First, I am biased.

I love clear, loud music, and believe that if you are going to modify/improve, do it well, even on a self install budget, you can have a really, really good and self satisfying, clear and loud system for kick *** for about $1500

Assuming you want to keep factory head unit (if you want to change amps, change the head unit, or go through wiring nightmares)

#1: 3 Way front stage setup w/ crossovers, to replace both dash and door in one crack. About $250-$350

Required dash replacement, and proper door install with baffles ($75 if bought from Jamey)

I am extremely happy with the German made JL Audio's I bought. Great crossovers.

Cheap Option with 4 channel: Do only dash with replacement coaxes, keep Factory Doors for mid bass (not bad actually, until driven at higher volumes).

6 Channel mod, can be bought for $100 ish on ebay, and replace the 4 channel, same footprint.

I bought one to replace ny 4 channel, but decided to upgrade to a new after market amp.

#2: Add rears IF you have factory 6 channel amp. PNP is easiest solution. I would add bass blockers so you don't burn speaker at high volume. (www.partsexpress.com) Fade it so you "barely" hear the rears, then take one more notch again off the rear fade (yup, most of the sound should come from front)

Personally, as you improve the system, the factory amp very quickly becomes the weak link, sub or no sub, if you like a bit of high volume, especially with the top down.

If the factory sound level if Loud enough for you, than no worries.

Um where was I.

Gosh, every install is so personal, depending on budget, time to DIY or not, music style and volume tastes,

and actually, an important factor is how important strong volume with the TOP DOWN is important or not!

Getting late, please ask questions if you feel I can help, I'll see if I can dig up old thread of mine,

Andy covered a lot about speaker install, but head unit, amp, and SUB are a whole different story.

I made my own sub fiberglass box after much research, have many pics, I would NOT do it again!

Buy it for $250 from LA, add a driver for <$100 (many to choose from I can recommend). Buy black carpet for $10 at parts express, or Factory match carpet for $50-$100.

Tony - who LOVES-LOVES-LOVES listening to music in my Boxster, and it's LOUD top down.

:)

Hello all,

I am in the process of choosing the right components to update the audio system in my 2001 Porsche Boxster. So far, I have replaced the dash and the door speakers. When I replaced the dash speakers with Infiniti Kappa 42.7 i (specs below) I noticed a great improvement, however the replacement of the door speakers (with 5 1/4 focals 130 CA) did not benefit much the bass of my car. I further noticed that the dash speakers are 2 ohm while the doors are 4 ohm. Can that have any impact on the results I am getting now? Should I have replaced the door speakers with 2ohm’s coaxials based on the current amp I have HAES (4X40w non DSP). I don’t have the specs for it…

The other question I have is what amp should I chose (or what specs should I look) as I chose the replacement for my current HAES, based on the speakers I replaced (specs) below?

Thank you very much for your great support (I love this space)

Gustavo

Good start! Kappas are fine for front. Very fine.

It is not recommended to have coaxes in doors because the high midrange and tweeter range of sounds coming from the lower part of the car will disrupt a proper, clear Front End Sound Stage, where you hear the sound as if it's coming from a Stage on Front of you, and you are sitting 10 rows back, with a little bit of the sound bouncing off the rear, giving you a 3d feel of the music. In our little boxster interior, tweeter sound range from door is not ideal, balance between dash and rear is, with MID bass to Low Mid range ONLY coming from the doors.

Learned from extensive research in online high end audio forums, and long talks with Jamey in LA, formerly from Paris Audio, 10 year veteran of high end Audio installs exclusivily in Porsches, Boxsters and 911's.

I don't know how your door 5.25"'s are installed. You might get more bass if you install them with the baffles, but not much.

And you should disconnect the tweeter, if you add rear speakers (recommended, but if you are on a budget, I would do better doors and amp first, then sub, in that order!).

A better option would be to install 6.5" Mid Bass drivers in the doors with the custom baffle as per the EXCELLENT PDf document in the next post by David.

A good 6.5' "Mid Bass" driver in a properly installed, duct taped door frame, with with a bit of bass boost, will give you a surprising amount of bass. (nothing like a sub, but really surprising)

Speaking of Sub, a fellow board member sourced out the direct souce in LA for the Footwell Enclosures, at a GREAT price, $250 ish (need to add sub woofer and amp and carpet, easy)

The 6.5" mid bass JL audios i have do that.

If you are considering adding a sub and amp, keep the coaxes in door (save $) and remove tweeter, if not,

than you must accept less bass or change the door drivers and install.

I am writing this on the fly, please fire away with questions.

Hello,

This is my first post to the group, I have read the older post on the 490 Hi-Fi package and found them very helpful.

As far as I understand, since I have an 04 Boxster S with the 490 audio package I already have the six channel amp, so adding the rear speakers is a bit of a breeze connecting to the unused channels.

The speakers that I would like to use are made by Dynaudio (MD102 one inch tweeter and MD142 three inch mid range) and was looking for feedback on the Ohm rating of the amp as according to Dynaudio's web site their tweeter and mid range are rated at 8 Oms...

I am also a little confused about the crossover filter built into the factory amp, would I also need to buy the Dynaudio crossover for the rear?

Last comment... I don't think their three inch mid-range produces sound lower than 500hz so not sure how well they would sound back there, has anyone else used this set of speakers in their car?

Thanks,

David K.

Hi Guys. I did a LOT of research, and trial and error and trial and success to improve audio on a budget. Some notes are in past posts.

Off the top of my head, and only my opinion,

David:

Assuming you are keeping factory dash and door...

If you can, order the PNP rear instead of choosing drivers yourself, plug and play, no worries about ohms, watts, range, fitting in enclosure.

If you got the Dynaudios and are ready to install, ohms don't matter much, the drivers will be faded softer than the front range anyways, rear output of amp is full range, 4-8 ohms is fine for amp, and allthough 500hz seems high for a 3", and it is the absolute f3 lower limit, I would look for different rear drivers with an f3 of 200hz or less.

The rear is ideally only for midrange fill (vocal and instrument range), and for spatial sound stage help. <200 hz not necessary but 200 hz to 500hz important. High hz does not matter (as a matter of fact, better if attenuated)

Factory amp, if you are keeping other factory speakers intact, is suficent for rear power.

Please feel free to fire away with questions.

Tks TP

I thought about cutting that hose too, and replacing it.

To recap:

No need to jack the car

Need to release the spring clamp on the 3" piece in engine bay, clamp next to metal tube

Can be done by sliding your hand in from the side, and then sliding a small pair of offset pliers into your hand.

Warning: Knuckes will be worn to bear bone and blood.

Other spring clamp stays, comes with the hose when you "YANK" out the tank from the trunk

I put the spring clamp back on with the new tank, as it was smaller than a worm drive, and I had a tough time

fitting the 3" hose and clamp back through the gasket and firewall hole.

Wedging the tank gasket behind the firewall gasket was difficult, but doable.

I just filled the tank up, and off I went, all is very fine, and what a releif.

If you print all this and look at it while doing the job makes sense.

Tony

I won!

Barely...

In case this helps anyone tackling this:

Got the **** tank out, the rough way.

Amateur i am, I chopped up the tank with snippers and hacksaw and drill to be able to pull on the end part better.

Would gladly post many pictures I took, might show how not to do it!:)

The hardest part though:

I was able to remove the hose to tube clamp with normal pliers by wedging my hand in deep then slipping pliers to hand, squeezing clamp and sliding it over to the metal tube area. Wedged the hose off the metal tube with screwdriver and hands, twisting it first helped.

The infamous inaccessible clamp did, barely, squeeze through the trunk wall.

It was very nice to see it come through after all this.

I have a nice picture of this infamous clamp...:(

Many thanks to TP on this old thread, in reality, it's only the inner clamp that is tough, and sure enough, can easily be done from the top, 10 minutes once your at it, if you get your hand in from the right side, I'm a total newbie at mechanics, finally got it.

Off to buy screw clamps, and put the whole thing back together again.

Am concerned about coolant re-fill, will post how new tank install goes.

How do I upload pics?

Tony

I did not drain any coolant prior to pulling the tank.

Once I slid back the clamp on the rubber hose where the hose connects to the plastic nipple on the tank, I pulled the rubber hose off the nipple and then tilted the tank up (blue cap was on) so that the plastic nipple faced the sky. That way I lost very little coolant from the tank. I dumped the coolant out of the tank into a plastic bucket and that old coolant went back into the new tank.

Coolant from the other end of the rubber hose is not going to pour out the engine/radiators because the tank is the highest level of the cooling system. This is also why you really do not to bleed the system of air after a tank replacement.

Got it, thanks for the fast reply, you are so helpful, mucho appreciated.

I removed all clamps/hoses in trunk end first, coolant was coming out, so I drained the tank with a shop vac via the open ended hoses, worked. Oh well.

Your tip on giving up on the clamp closest to firewall is critical, I'm assuming if I can get the other one off (at hose/tube joint) I'll be able to wedge the previous quasi-invisible clamp through the trunk wall hole, while still attached to the 3" of hose?

I'm now tackling the further clamp, and losing patience! Hacksaw and SawZall are standing by! Argh.

Working from above, only have long nose and regular pliers...did you get it off with pliers?

I am also considering clipping it off if I can get my metal clippers squeezed in there.

Thanks for your advice as allways, back to the garage for me, I'll check in a bit later!

Tony

Gentleman,

I am in the process of replacing the tank, have the replacement, trunk taken apart, definite tank crack leak.

I don't understand whether I need to drain some coolant tank other than the one in the trunk tank, or not.

I prefer the simple way, hoping I only need to remove the trunk tank, catch whatever coolant leaks from it while

it's removed, and fill it back up once installed.

Am I missing something?

Any clarification appreciated, I will be trying replacement working from the top, without going at it from under the car, as I don't have a jack.

Thanks!

Tony

Thanks Tool Pants,

I will order 987 Tank, Install, and share the time it took me as an amateur, for others to know.

T

Towards the end I was adding almost a pint a day. I used just tap water.

When I replaced my tank I removed the hose from the back of the tank, so I lost only about a cup from the tank. I reused the coolant when I put in the new tank.

You do not need to flush or bleed for a tank replacement. The tank is the highest point so the most coolant you will lose is what is in the tank.

This makes the task less daunting. TP, thank you for the clarification, it looks like tank replacement is my best bet, done as per your thread/photos.

I was a bit confused at the choices, between 986 and 987 tank, would it be correct that your eBay tank ordered a while ago was a most recent 986 model replacement, and if I order from Sunset now, the 987 wouldbe the best choice and/or most recent update?

This is the one with the whole you pop out?

Thanks!

Tony

This is perfectly safe for a street car and would allow us to totally eliminate our expansion take entirelly. How about that?

http://www.evanscooling.com/catalog/C_npg1.htm

Well, it's my turn.

Coolant tank been leaking slightly, about a quart every week, for about 6 weeks now. Warning light worked perfectly, I now check every few days, and keep topped off every few days.

Typical coolant traces in trunk area discernible once I removed wood liner, of which a part is now mostly mushy/soaked and in the process of drying... :angry:

Does anyone believe the above coolant is compatible with our engine, and could be a safe temporary solution to my slow leak problem until I replace the tank? :lightbulb:

That's assuming that this coolant does not expand as much as standard coolant, if at all, therefore present leak will be minimized.

If so, is it possible to replace most of the coolant without a complete flushing of the system?

I'm wondering is a complete coolant flush is almost as much work/trouble as simply replacing defective tank.

Thanks for any input.

Tony

Upon checking Webasto website, I believe that part is the spoiler mechanics.

However, I am still curious about the tow hitch assembly I seem to have,

seems factory, any clarification appreciated!

Duh, gosh I feel stupid. Female thread is for tow ring, as per manual...

Jury rigged electrical connection for lights on a trailer obviously done after market, no clue what was towed or how.

Please delete thread if appropriate.

Will add anything I learn to the coolant tank replacement thread when I tackle that.

Tony

Upon checking Webasto website, I believe that part is the spoiler mechanics.

However, I am still curious about the tow hitch assembly I seem to have,

seems factory, any clarification appreciated!

Hello,

Had coolant level problem, searched appropriate threads, took apart trunk liner and wood, sure enough... coolant leak due to cracked tank. Tool pants pictures helped a lot.

During my search, noticed a towing connection jury rigged to wiring, and the following piece that appears to be a towing hitch mount?:

Webasto 986-504-109-00

I removed licence plate and sure enough, there is a hole there with a female threaded insert for what I guess is a tow hitch.

Searched various sites, could not locate above part, can anyone confirm it is indeed a towing mount?

Was this a factory option or add on?

Where i can buy ball attachement?

Thanks a bunch,

Tony