johnsimion

Don't know if it appeals to you

but on ebay a few years ago I found a beautiful set of stainless door sill protectors that fit perfectly, installed via double sided tape in 2 minutes, and were available with the colored Porsche emblem. Shipped to me in a tube by a guy from somewhere like Richmond. Their quality was superb both in look and fit, the way the sill protector rolled over the two levels of surface in the sill and the finish of the edges. It absolutely looked like something that came from the factory.

I've seen the same guy advertising since. Not sure if it was recent.

Hi, fyi, this person does still sell these sill plates. I know because I recently ordered and received them. Even though I haven't braved the 32 degree temperature in my garage to actually install them, and therefore cannot vouch for the fit yet, they are a really nice looking product. The seller is "sales4pnparts" and you can find his products at eBay Motors. There is another type he sells that has the Boxster logo on it -- I inquired about that but passed because the logo is a heavy grade vinyl and I figured it would eventually get scratched off. The one I actually bought was as Mike described, with the Porsche emblem attached to it.

Just to update, I have temporarily taped on some Home Depot pipe insulation. Based on testing it with my head [without risking an extremely embarrassing head injury], it will certainly help a lot in the event of a rear-end collision, by augmenting the stiff padding in the rollbar.

John S, the plasti-dip is a good idea; but I'm going to cover the pipe insulation with leather, then lash it to the rollbar with a couple clear plastic cable ties. I have a quart of latex paint photographically matched to my interior color [boxster red; also from home depot], so I might paint the leather to match. And it sounds like you are experiencing the buyer's remorse I initially had. If you're like me, once you get used to it, and see how many smiles this car can bring, you'll feel better.

As Shawn points out, there could always be a worse collision, but this foam would protect my cranium in the most common rear-end collisions. Shawn, how did you put your seat up "a notch or two"? How can that be done? Or do you mean you just do not recline it into the rollbar?

I would strongly recommend not flipping this car [duh], and the roll bar extensions are probably a wise long-term solution.

Nurvus: I like the idea about using the leather, except I think if you paint it, the paint will just flake off. Suggest you either dye it or just get pre-finished red leather from a place like http://www.sbearstradingpost.com/Leather.h...whideUpholstery. Please post photos once you get this project done. For me, I decided to wait until Spring, when Wal-Mart starts selling the foam tubes that kids play with in the pool. Those have thicker and stiffer foam than the pipe insulation we've been talking about and hopefully more protection. I suspect the Plasti-Dip finish will prove easier than trying to fix leather, but we'll compare notes later.

By the way, I wrote a letter to Porsche in Georgia and asked their expert opinion whether tall people have a risk of injury from the rollbar. No answer so far but it has only been a week.

I believe that type of foam will do you brain little good in a harsh hit, maybe only assist is something minor. It's just not useful for high impact situations.

I am 6'-4" with 34" inseam. I fit quite comfortably in my '99 (true, there isn't exactly any extra room). After I bought the car (!), I noticed that when the seat is adjusted comfortably, the top of my head would contact the lower part of the roll bar in a collision. Stupidly, I didn't think to move my head backwards at the time I bought the car. Personally, if I had noticed that at the time, and if I had heard all the talk about IMS failures and RMS failures and the various gloom and doom in these forums, I wouldn't have bought the car (reading these forums has made me more scared of this car than any I have ever owned). Anyway, I am kind of stuck with the car now anyway because I would take a financial bath if I tried to sell or trade it. It's still a nice car, however, and so I may be rationalizing here to justify continued ownership, but this is my two cents' worth about my head hitting the roll bar.

What is the purpose of the head rest? It is not comfort, it is there to keep your head from jerking too far backwards in case of a collision. You are supposed to keep your headrests in your Chevy, Toyota, etc. raised up so that your head will strike the headrest in case of an accident instead of jerking way too far backwards and giving you whiplash in case of an accident. OK, the Boxster seats are clearly too short for us tall guys for that purpose and shame on Porsche for making such a dumb decision. However, let's play the hand Porsche dealt us. The roll bar actually serves the same purpose as a taller seat or headrest, even though it does so in a much less comfortable way; i.e., it prevents your head from flipping backwards in a collision causing whiplash. This simply cannot happen. I would say it is better for my head to move 4" and do a glancing blow against the rollbar than to flip all the way backwards and have a severe whiplash. There is rather stiff padding on the rollbar already, so it appears that the worst injury I would suffer in a rear end collision would be a bruise on the back of my head. Add the pipe foam to the stiff foam that came from the factory, and that might even prevent the bruising.

I was struck from the side in an old Toyota by this old witch driving 40 miles an hour through a red light. It caused me to strike my head severely against the door frame and glass. No harm caused at all, other than a headache. Therefore, I think a similar 40 mph rear end collision causing me to strike my head against the factory padding on the rollbar and the pipe foam padding should not cause any greater harm. Again, the point being, there will be no whiplash which is the real danger IMHO. I am thinking the pipe foam could be cut and dipped in Plasti-Dip for a more professional appearance before applying to the front of the roll bar.

Fortunately my head doesn't rise above the rollbar and so I am thinking I should be OK in a rollover, also.