Bristol

Count me and my wife, Christina, in. I'd really like to see how the 996 instrument panel install goes and what modifications were required to make it fit. It's not high on my priority list, but I may want to go that route myself in the future - mostly to get the oil pressure gauge. I just bought another goodie for my car - some nice, used BSA wheels and tires right from here on Renntech, but again not a good project as I'll need to install them at home. Well I guess my wife had an easy time picking out my Christmas present this year. :P But unfortunately my Porsche budget is totally blown. :angry: I'll bring a couple projects myself to play around with while at Loren's. I still need to fix my cruise control, install a PAC battery indicator LED, and look at replacing my stock speakers. Kirk

Ah, to be honest convincing the wife wasn't really an issue. I'm just playing around. Frankly she doesn't care what I do with my car or how I spend my money. She is very constructive in telling me what she likes and doesn't like though, so that's good. On the stress bars, actually that's fine if you don't want to put them on your car. That actually works out better for me. I wasn't thinking about it when I put up my post yesterday, but with me trying out new parts (racing heim joints) I really need to do it to my own car so that I can personally test it out and verify over time that the new design still performs as well as or better than my current setup. Obviously I can't do any of that, execpt check fit, on your car. So no problem on that one. So we've been talking about another work session this weekend, but nothing has firmed up yet. With it being Thursday we should get this firmed up as a go or no go. Kirk

With a stock suspension I don't see why they couldn't dial in the right camber. If it was lowered (like my car is), then I could see a problem with too much negative camber. They are correct that toe and camber are related on the Boxster and adjusting one can affect the other. Toe is more critical for stability, so the alignment shops will set the rear toe and then just get the camber as good as they can. Evidently this can be hard to do. I just had my alignment done after installing lowering springs and had to take it back a second time to get it better. In total they spent about 3 hours on my car just trying to get it to a decent setting! I would suggest that if there is a warranty on the work and you're not satisfied, then I would take it back and have them work on it a bit more. If that still doesn't work, then you may want to consider taking it to a Porsche specialist, race shop, or dealer - basically someone who knows how to work on P cars. As for adjustment kits, yes you can buy a new top for your struts that will allow more camber adjustment. I forget what they call it, but it's like a camber plate for the front. They're pretty pricey though and should not be required if you have a stock suspension. Plus the labor to install would be high. As for the vibration - I concur that even though you had the balance done it's still probably a balance issue. If a rim is bent the shop will just do the best they can and say it's balanced, when it's still not perfect. Something like that would then show up as a wobble above 70 mph.

IT WORKED!!! I actually will have some projects now as I've made some recent purchases. The only problem is that I probably won't have any of these parts by this weekend... :angry: I bought some new aluminum pedals that I will need to install. I also got some quick release fasteners for my CF hood to help hold it down better. I also just ordered some awesome racing parts to make new lower stress bars. I've got three lower stress bars on my Boxster now that are home-made deals that I did. They've improved the handling remarkably, so now I'm stepping it up a bit with some super duper racing 3 piece heim joints and light weight aluminum rods. Should be very kewl. Anne, if you're interested in the lower stress bars we can install the new ones I'm putting together on your car! I'm looking to sell these in the future and just want to test out fit, installation, and get some good photos for instructions. So I don't really need to do it on my car at this point. We could use your car as the test mule if you want. You'd just need to reimburse me for the cost of the parts. Details of what I'm talking about are here: http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10817

I'm not sure how it is on an 03, but it should be the same as my 00 Boxster S. The stock license plate frame has square sections that match the square holes in the bumper. When you install the plate frame you put a screw through each of these sections and they expand out and "fill" in the holes in the bumper, giving you a somewhat solid mount. It's exactly the same concept as the expanding plastic plugs used to mount screws into drywall. So, without an expanding plug/mount like that, yeah you're going to have some trouble mounting the German plate. My advice... well you can go to a hardware store and try to find something similar. Again, maybe something like the drywall screw plugs. Personally I think the standard design is pretty poor. It depends on a friction fit that just isn't that tight. I've had my front license plate just fall off when installing a bra or cleaning the car. I was worried that it'd fall off someday just by hitting a pot hole! I ended up going to the extreme then. I removed the front bumper and just bolted the thing straight to the bumper using standard bolts, nuts, and washers. It's really not that hard to get the front bumper off. So if you want to do it right I'd recommend going this route. My license plate won't fall off now, even in a hurricane! :D

Djomlas, how'd the spring install go? I checked on my computer and don't have any side shots of my car. I tried to get one this weekend and just got wrapped up in some other stuff. I did get out a ruler and check my ground clearance with the Gemballa springs though. I've got about <0.5" gap still above the wheels (stock 17") and edge of fender and I've got 3.5" of ground clearance. Honestly I was pretty amazed at the results. I think the car looks much nicer and sportier dropped. It was more of a visual impact than what I had expected it would be.

Okay... can't get any easier than that! Thanks as always Jeff for sharing your wisdom. I've got to order a newer style coolant cap any way, so I'm making a list (and checking it twice) of little things like this to order from an on-line Porsche shop.

Sure I would recommend it for street driving if you're getting slip. It's going to tighten up the rear end and help with cornering. I feel it helped with my cornering as the car feels solid and I don't get slip (unless the road is wet). Basically, for the price how can you go wrong??? Kirk

I'm clear for next weekend, Nov. 17th also. I'd still be interested in coming and participating. I don't have any big projects for my car though. Maybe I just need to go out and buy something... "Honest Honey, I need to buy these parts for the work on cars day. If I don't bring something to work on I'm going to look like a total loser. Everyone else is bringing aftermarket goodies to install on their cars!" Kirk

I've got the lower stress bar installed along with the two additional bars I came up with. I've also got my car lowered on Gemballa springs. Otherwise the suspension is a stock 2000 S setup with 17" OEM rims. I didn't comment much before because I had been laid up with a broken foot and had some trouble operating the stiff clutch on the Boxster. Well I can drive a little better now and have some feedback, but it's kind of limited. Basically I think that with the lower stress bar the car's handling is well beyond anything you can reasonably throw at it on public roads. I don't drive at 10/10ths on public roads, that's just stupid. At most maybe I'll push it to 8/10ths if I know the road well and there's no traffic. I feel that with the setup I've got now I can only really push the car to 7/10ths or so before I lose grip - grip that is between my butt pucker and seat. I've thrown my car into some gnarly 90 degree bends as fast as I can and the suspension is planted rock solid. Adhesion from the wheels doesn't even come close to slipping, but I get thrown out of my seat and am holding onto my steering wheel for dear life! I think that the lower stress bar (and possibly the lowering springs) has just raised the handling performance of the car well above what is reasonable for street driving. The limit now for taking turns any faster would be the seat and seatbelt. I would need to go to a race seat and at least four point harness to be able to corner faster, so that I don't get thrown around the car. So I think that for street driving the Boxster is already a superb handling machine. The lower stress bar just pushes the limit of handling that much higher and beyond what's reasonable. Now track work might be a different story, but I'll have to wait until my foot is completely healed (or is it heeled?) before exploring the limits on a track. Kirk

I noticed my windstop rattling but didn't think much of it until my wife also noticed it. That's when I realized one of these tabs was broken... Good thing I woke up and caught it before losing it. I've got it zip tied for now. I didn't realize you could replace these mounting tabs. I can see that Tool Pants was just prying them off. Do they just pry off and then snap into place? It looks like this is an easy DIY project to replace one, but I want to confirm before ordering.

You can count me in. I don't have any major projects that I need to do on my Boxster, but I've got a long list of minor projects... Personally I'd lean more towards the mid-November time frame for the date. Kirk

Just as a follow up, yesterday I took my car back to the tire/wheel shop that did my alignment. The work was still under a 30 day warranty. I had to fight with them a little to get them to see what they could do on improving the rear camber. They ended up working on it another 1.5 hours and got the rear camber down from -2.5 to -2.0. I think that's probably the best they can do without camber plates. I'll run it this way and just see what happens to my tire wear. Looking at it from the rear it still looks like it has a lot of negative camber. If the tire wear is bad I'll make sure to get some camber plates and get it realigned when I get new tires. I've got Kuhmo tires on there now, which aren't bad. But I'm just waiting for them to wear out so I can replace them with PS2 tires. My understanding though is that the PS2's are pretty expensive, so if I do have an issue with tire wear, I'll make sure to get it resolved before I put these on. Kirk

Correct sir. I worked for Harman International for ten years and I worked with them when they bought out Becker around 2001 or 2002. Harman also owns the Harman Kardon, JBL, Infinity, and Mark Levinson brand names (plus many more). It's a pity I didn't own my Porsche back then as we used to have Becker head units and CD changers floating around the office. Kirk

Here's another pic from the work on cars day - two beautiful Boxsters... :P I'm looking forward to the next one! Thanks again Loren for your hospitality and work with the PST2. Kirk

Here's another photo of Chuck's new car that my wife took. She keeps going on and on and on about that car... I was completely amazed and also very humbled by my ride with Chuck in his TT. First off the car is just incredible. It really took my breath away three times because of the lightning acceleration. I was humbled by Chuck's driving skill as well. I thought I was a good driver until I rode with Chuck. Now I can see I have a LOT to learn. I'll definitely be at some autocross and DE events this next year! Congrats again Chuck on getting a truly spectacular car! Kirk

Right, okay I've got it now on the immobilizer code deal. Thanks again for making things clear. Definitely reflashing the DME to the 996 setup is the best way to go. Yeah, you're right about the 3.4L X51 option, it was a ROW only thing. I was at Loren's work on cars day yesterday and we looked up the documentation on this mod. Loren said he thought it was somewhere around $10K for the X51 kit and it could only be purchased from Europe. After looking at the specs we saw that because of the valve and cam changes new pistons with additional valve clearances were a part of the kit. Wow, that's quite a job then to install this and with the cost it doesn't really seem worth it. It's supposed to raise the 3.4L from 300 HP to 320 HP. The 3.6L would be a simpler and cheaper route to go, for the same power. The biggest issue I see with going from a 3.2 to 3.6 is the change from Motronic 7.2 to 7.8 and the addition of VarioCam Plus. I know those are issues you're still working through, so I'll be following your work carefully. Kirk

I see, thanks for the clarification Todd. I imagine that a guy with a PST2 (not necessarily a dealer) could match up the immobilizer code of a 996 DME, but I understand that if you're going to go through that trouble you might as well just flash the DME with the 996 setup instead. That does seem a simpler. Obviously staying with the same DME makes the engine change a lot simpler and cheaper... I've been trying to find out the best option for myself. I've got a 2000 Boxster S. I know switching to a 3.4 with Motronic 7.2 would be relatively simple, but little bang for the buck (50 hp). Were all of the 3.6L engines Motronic 7.8 and were there any power-up options for the 3.4L (like the X51 package) that would make it more appealing? I've searched a bunch on these two questions and haven't found any good answers. Hope you can help. Kirk

Hey Todd, instead of flashing the 986 DME can you just swap in the DME from a 996? I assume that would work fine, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm just curious since I've seen 996 motors sold with the wiring harnesses and DME. I'm wondering if there is any extra value or simplicity in getting the 996 DME with the engine. Kirk

GREAT! Thanks Loren. I've printed out some maps so that I don't get too lost. Also the forecast for this weekend looks positive. I'm looking forward to meeting up with you guys. BTW - if anyone who is coming has the speedster humps for their Boxster, would you mind bringing them along? I got some Porsche brand humps, but without the mounting hardware. I worked out a way to mount them, but I would like to see what the "real" Porsche mounting hardware looks like and/or how aftermarket humps are mounted. Thanks, Kirk

I'll be there with my wife. Are small dogs welcome too? We'll be driving a 2000 Boxster S and we'll be coming down from Red Bluff (up near Redding). I don't really have any projects for my car right now, but I would really appreciate it if Loren could use his PST2 to enable my OBC. What brand of beer do you prefer Loren for payment? I'm pretty handy with a wrench and will bring some tools to help out with any work that needs to be done. Kirk

No, that isn't a stupid question at all! You are right that it would be difficult, if not impossible without camber plates, to get the car back to the stock settings once lowered. That's why I gave the alignment tech the ROW sport settings from Porsche. The ROW sport setup is 20 mm lower in the front and 10 mm lower in the rear than our US standard setup. I thought this would be a more obtainable goal to reach for with my car lowered 25 mm front and rear. Still I'm about a degree more negative in camber in the rear, even with using these specs.

I recently installed some Gemballa lowering springs on my 2000 Boxster S. I let the car settle out for a couple weeks and did some light driving. As expected the alignment was all screwed up. So I got it aligned last Friday. Here's the best they could do on camber, caster, and toe: Front Camber -1.0 left, -0.7 right Caster 7.7 left, 7.5 right Toe 1/32 left, 0 right Rear Camber -2.5 left, -2.4 right Toe 1/32 left, 1/32 right The car now tracks straight with the steering wheel straight (didn't before) and everything feels fine. I'm disappointed in the rear camber though. It still seems too negative to me and doesn't look good. I have very little experience with alignments though. Folks at the PCA tour this weekend said the same thing though - way too much negative rear camber. I think they put the priority on getting the rear toe good and then let the camber fall where it did. So what do you guys think? Is this a good final alignment setup or did they do a poor job? The work is guaranteed for 30 days...

Here are some photos of the side inlet vents covered with screen mesh on my 2000 Boxster S. I did some searches to see if others had done this, but came up empty handed. So I thought I’d at least share what I’ve done. I just worked and formed some screen material ($18 for a big roll at Home Depot, galvanized steel) directly over the side vent louvers. Since the louvers are a part of the mounting of the cover it would have required some significant modification of the mounting to install the vents without the louvers in place. I know this might be too restrictive, but I like the look and I’ve got the air box desnorkeled and a K&N air filter in the stock air box, so maybe that will make up for it a little. I also hope to put a ram air style scoop on the inlet later to again help compensate for any restriction from the wire mesh. I’m not driving my Boxster right now (broken left foot), so any impact on performance won’t be evaluated for another two months. If there is an impact, then I’ll just take the louvers out and modify the side vent to mount without them. I doubt the wire mesh will be any less restrictive than the louvers on the air inlet side that block the bottom third of the opening. Meanwhile I’ve used the same screen mesh on the front bumper grills and it looks pretty good. I removed the radiator shrouds first and thoroughly cleaned the radiators and straightened bent fins as much as possible. This fine mesh will certainly keep the front radiators much cleaner, but again I’ll have to wait a bit to see what impact it has on engine temperature.

Yup, I just had to deal with this on my 2000 Boxster S last Friday. I had changed the transmission oil and had a heck of a time getting that pan back on underneath the transmission. It was a lot of trouble getting it off too. It seems that there's a bit of an interference fit there and/or it's just an extremely tight fit. I knew I'd run into this though from the trouble I had in taking it out, so I just drilled out the four holes (two on each side) in the pan where it attaches in above the aluminum bracing. I did not have to drill out the two rear-most holes. I drilled these holes just slightly larger and the pan slid back on with no problems - no more interference. Should be easier to take out in the future too.