ericinboca

Robic timers are popular because they are inexpensive (compared) and have bigger buttons - see lap timers at Robictimers.com I've seen these mounted on dash, on center of wheel, on center console - Some people go real cheap and use their digital watch - I've tried that - the buttons are too small. I don't like the beemer lap timers - you have to find the right spot on the car, and on the pit road - depending on what kind you get, sometimes other beemers can interfere, etc. On brake pads - if you haven't done a track day before, you can likely get away with your street pads. For the first time and maybe one or two events after, you may not be going fast enough to overheat your street pads. If you want to invest in race pads, I recommend Pagid Orange as a good race pad. Personally, I use Pagid Yellow up front and Pagid Black in the rear - I just know from experimenting with various pads that that is a good combo for my setup. But Orange all around is a really good starting point. (Sorry, I am assuming this is one of your first track events - not trying to be offensive) As for other prep - recommend a brake fluid change if you haven't done one in the last year. If you replace your fluid, lots of track guys recommend castrol SRF, which is expensive at about $70 a liter, but I have NEVER had issues with your basic Ate Super Blue and Amber Type 200 - it is much cheaper and if you bleed and change twice a year, should be no problems. Mostly though, I recommend listening to your instructor and have fun, 'cause it is a hoot.

you might try a post over on boxsterspec.com lots of spec boxster builds going - lots of spare parts

Rear sway bar replacement is pretty easy - I think the hardest part is getting the sorta triangle shaped aluminum plate that is under the motor/transmission on and off. But once that is out of the way, you take the U shaped holders off - and disconnect the drop links. Looks a little rusty under there, so you will probably want to soak the bolts holding the U shaped pieces in PB Blaster. To get the aluminum plate off, there are two bolts front and back you remove (if I remember correctly). Then you remove nuts along the diagonal aluminum braces. You will see bolts on the suspension subframe pass through triangle plate and the aluminum diagonol braces. You have to remove the nuts on all that pass through the plate and loosen others to allow the braces to have some play. Then you apply some "magic" and ingenuity to get that @%#^@^ plate off!

Check out GT Racing; gt-racing.com I got my fiberglass shell top from him - it weighs 9 pounds. The doors and tops he makes are for racing with the expectation that you have a full cage to provide protection. As such, some of his stuff is not suitable for a street car. I stripped my 986S - the heaviest internal bits are the top, the carpet (it is thick with sound deadening material), the doors, which contain a heavy transverse door bar, and the climate control unit under the dash. The factory seats are heavy compared to fiberglass FIA race shells, or course. Stripping the interior and then adding in a 6-point cage, I am down to 2700#. I believe it can loose quite a bit more. Note the Super Spec class for up to 2004 986S models is not in existence yet, just planning stages with some rule guidelines coming out.

Thanks Kare. I may yet take you up on your offer to look through your "junk." But for now, I am going to try my homemade upgrade on this. I fear putting the same design back in will have the same results, so I made a replacement. I took a piece of 3/16 x 2 mild steel and milled it to match the plastic "tongue". Then simply cut a piece of ERW tube. I will weld the tube to the new tongue.

2004 986S dedicated track car. Last weekend at Road Atlanta, after a heel-toe rev match down shift, the little metal "dogbone" that connects the cable to the pedal popped out. When I took a close look, I found the base of the pedal tongue was torn allowing some lateral movement. I think the sideways movement allowed by the tear in the base of the tongue exceeded the movement the dogbone is supposed to have. Further, I think the tearing was caused by all the heel-toe shifting. Before I replace the whole assembly or just the pedal (looks like there is a part number for just the pedal but haven't researched it yet) is there a better aftermarket pedal that will not "tear"? Or are all these aftermarket pedals just "covers" over the factory plastic? Here you can see were it came apart.

I don't know what style cup holder you guys have - but if you find you need to replace it, let me know - I have the cup holder that came out of my 2004 986S for sale - if interested, PM me and I will send an image so you can see if you think it will work.

Might be a dying fuel pump. When hot, they can begin to fail. Once cooled off, they run again until too hot.

I would check the level. But I will also tell you that after I changed mine (Mobil 1 Delvac 75/90) that it was a little harder to shift for a short period too until warm. After a couple of track events, it stopped being difficult. So, while I would check the level, because you don't want to foam the fluid, I don't think it is uncommon to have harder shifts until the fluid wears a little bit.

The motors and their wiring are the same, regardless of the years, at least on all 986's. What changes is the additional wires that come from/go to that area because of the additional microswitch, which is tripped by the little lever that gets pressed down by the clamshell when it closes, either at the end of the opening cycle or the end of the closing cycle. Off topic, I'd love to see photos of that race car. After all, my Boxster will soon have a part of that race car plugged into the front of the driver's side convertible top tansmission. :P Regards, Maurice. Soon! I am waiting on a CD from my visit to Sebring last weekend to arrive. I'm am pretty proud of it! It is a very quick car. Now I have to learn to drive it :D

Can you post a picture? I was trying to help a guy locally that had the same issue. We were going to install a Porsche Motorsports AOS, which is what I did on my 2004, and that solved the problem on my car. But when I got into the engine bay, I realized his year car did not have the same configuration. At some point, it looks like Porsche changed how the AOS is mounted - on my car, it is mounted on the bottom, with the bolts through the base. On my friend's older model, it is mounted with bolts through the side, so the motorsports AOS wouldn't fit. Not sure what model year was the first to change. We have been thinking about going the catch can route. So you left the AOS in place with the hose still going to cylinder 4, but disconnected where it goes into the throttle body and routed that to a catch can? We were not sure what effect a catch can would have on the vacuum, and where thinking about a sealed can and still have a connection to the throttle body, but configured so the oil is trapped. Really interested in what you've done.

You fill the tank until it is the right level when cold, then run the motor till hot with the bleeder valve open, then let it cool, and do it again and again until the coolant level does not change. You can drive around for a while with the bleeder valve open if you have the coolant level close to right to facilitate the hot bleeding.

All makes sense. Just did a wheel bearing on my Passat Tdi with none adjustable stuts (no slots for adjustment)...funny thing is I could make that car drive down the road like a 3 legged dog just by pushing on three bolts that should have had no play...same theory as yours and it is true it will move. My 1997 didn't have the phillips head screws either if I recall. I remember looking at the p-tech manual and going, why don't I have those? I just have the big bolts. I'm thinking glass top too. It's a shame my canvas is 100% OK and the plastic is ripped. How did you rate the procedure? Also, I'm not familiar with the wires you mentioned and how they would interfere with a glass window?!?!? Electric motor to what and how would this interfere? Shawn: Glass top is the way to go. The only consideration for some is that it changes the profile or shape of the top because of the difference between the early 3 bow and the later 4 bow setup. Every other consideration is a positive for the glass top. The wires and electric motor I mentioned are the wires leading from the electric motor that drives the convertible top cables to the transmissions. Because of the extra microswitch set-up (which is located under that little arm that sits on top of the electric motor housing), there are additional wires running from the electric motor area which don't exist on the later versions. This is because both the B-pillar microswitch and the microswitch on top of the electric motor have been moved to the inside of the front of the driver's side transmission on the "B" Version transmissions. The problem is that whereas, on the B version set up, there is ONE black and brown wire leading from the second microswitch (which is now located inside the driver's side transmission), on the old "A" Version set up, there are TWO black and brown wires leading from the electric motor area's second microswitch. I traced the wires on wiring diagrams and found that one of those (on the A Version) leads to the central alarm control unit and the other leads to the double relay. The relay is also a different part number on the B Version setup, but I have that covered, as well as the different studs that hold and space the B version transmissions correctly to the inner quarter panel. The wires for the B Pillar microswitch on the A version, and for the first microswitch on the B version (also inside the driver's side transmission) are identical and are easy to deal with. It's that extra brown and black wire that's the question. I'm leaning towards determining which one of the two brown/black wires leads to the central alarm control unit on the A version set up and disregarding that wire, and then connecting the other brown/black (which the diagram shows goes to the relay) to the driver's side transmission plug. Regards, Maurice. I don't completely follow the motor wiring issues, but want to toss out to you guys in case this helps - I've got a motor off of my '04. Maybe replacing the older style motor with a new style?? PM me if that helps. ( yes, i'm still peddling parts off of what is now a race car! :D )

I do not know what the 997 offsets are, but I can tell you an 8x18x50 fits the front of my '04 986S track car. I use 8 upfront with a 245 and the stock 9 with a 265 in the rear to give the front more grip. I don't have expereince with it, but there are two guys I know that have fitted 10" rears under their car, but they use some spacers and have been cautious about spring rates and ride height.

Sounds like the camshaft position sensor / variocam solenoid - there is another on the other side of the motor forward of the forward most plug.

Bentley's is pretty good - lots of pictures. Can't help you with your specific ask, but can tell you to not be intimidated. These things are not that hard to work on. Between Bentleys, Durametric diagnostic tool, the factory diagnostic manual, and lots and lots of renntech.org, I handle 90 percent of the work on my 986 race car - and I had very little automitive maintenance experience before. (You should see me now - I have a freaking lift in my garage!)

Warning - shameless self promotion coming ! I have a spare, the foam insert and jack from an '04 986S that came with stock 18" wheels for sale. PM me if anyone needs a spare spare. ;)

I have a truck! They do make a nice hitch or two for the Boxsters so the exhaust pipe is un-necessry as a mounting point. I tried not to bore anyone with my plans, all I asked if anyone towed and since you didn't even know a hitch was available then you are not the person I wish to speak to. Thanks, Ed I've seen a couple of guys tow a tire dolly behind their boxster to the track. Not sure of the weight, but four mounted tires on light weight wheels plus the weight of the dolly. Their hitch was connected to the bumper where the bumperettes are - looks like they re-install the bumperettes to hide the connection point after the track weekend. Looking at reg for a DE I am attending this weekend at Sebring, I THINK one of the 986s that is registered is one of the guys that does this - if so, I'll snap a picture for you.

Sorry, but you need to fix the problem and then have the airbag reset. If you order the buckles and do the under seat soldering you can save a bunch of money. Many folks here have done it (try our search). Whenever you remove the steering wheel or either seat you should always disconnect the battery first AND keep the key out of the ignition. When the key is in the ignition (even off) the airbag circuit is armed. Thanks for the tip! If part of your fix involves having to replace the buckle - the receptacle end - I have a driver and a passenger side on that came off my 2004 986S. New ones look pricey. Mine are in good shape and priced right! PM me if interested.

Part number 996.606.145.00 from a 2004 986S with PSM. When I search online for this part, most places come back calling this part an "anti block sensor for the ABS system." I'm not sure what that is. I think it is the yaw sensor. Maybe that is the same thing as an anti block sensor. First question - Anyone know definitively what this part is and how it works (generally)? (For example, if it is the yaw sensor, it measures rotation around an axis, etc., etc.) It shows on the part that it should be oriented front-to-back, meaning it says on the part which end should be pointing to the front of the vehicle. I believe it was located under the center console just forward of the shifter. I also believe it was mounted level. Second question - If mounted level and pointed toward the front correctly, can it be remounted higher? Say six inches higher, and can it move forward in the car about 6 - 8 inches - but still be on the middle tunnel?

Do you need to remove the dash or just remove and replace the driver and passenger airbag? The latter is not quite as involved. I think you can replace without dash removal, at least I believe you can on a 986.

Note if you have a steering angle sensor, your manual says to always have it recalibrated with an alignment - that requires a PST2 type tool. Having said that, I have changed camber without having a calibration - not so sure if that is a good idea of not. I think the sensitivity is the steering angle sensor gives data to PSM - for me no big deal as mine is a track car and turn off PSM.

Grayish black color? If so, it is likely the foam that helps seal connections in the ducting and/or the vent.

I'd say keep bleeding them. I don't know how many times I've thought I had all the air out and then learned - nope. All the way to the floor. I prefer the old fashioned way for bleeding - put your son on the car, have him pump three times, and then hold until you tell him to let up - while he is holding, open the bleeder valve; close before he lets up. (I have a 12-year-old daughter that is very good at this from lots of practice if you need a rental :D ) Start with passenger rear, then driver rear, then passenger front and then driver front. Keep doing it. If there is air around the master cylinder, it has to make it's way out. It can take a while, but you will eventually get it. Only caveat which I am unsure of, is the role the clutch fluid plays. I always flush that too at the same time, so I am unsure if you need to bleed it as a result of letting the rears run dry - I don't think so, but maybe someone can confirm.