Joefrompa

Hey Mark, Let me clarify and reiterate a few things. I'm not a Porsche expert, but alot of what a PPI does is inspect things that are non-Porsche specific. I can perform those things myself (conditions of suspension/visible bushings/leaks/brake pads/lighting/seals/exhaust system/outside ends of steering system/wheel bearings/belt/etc.) If they haven't been recently, I can change the spark plugs and examine them for even wear and lack of problem signs. I can also learn a tremendous amount on here about common problem areas, and inspect those (coolant cap, for example). My point is: I own the car and I can do alot of the inspections myself, and am knowledgable enough to cover almost everything. Maybe I'm very wrong or foolish about that, but my experiences with cars is that a knowledgeable eye can identify almost anything a mechanic can during an inspection. And the things that go wrong without warning won't be caught anyway. Regarding being a maintenance ****...I simply meant that I will strive to keep everything up to date and well taken care of, and if I'm not sure about something I'll replace it or service it to be safe. I hope that makes sense. I don't feel it's incongruous. Porsche mechanics are highly trained experts in these cars who charge an arm and a leg. Unfortunately, I'm taking this car with the hope of only paying out toes and fingers to keep it running. If a clutch goes, I'll tackle it myself. If the crank walks, it'll be a parts car or sold whole to someone wanting a project. When I have the car in my possession, it'll spend some time on jack stands in the garage with the wheels off getting a very thorough go-through as well as some significant items like takign the front bumper off to clean out the radiators....because I'm not sure when they were last cleaned :) Joe These two statements are incongruous. $50 isn't going to buy you much of anything from your local Porsche dealer, and the $250 or so that a proper PPI at an indy mechanic will buy you is a fraction of the cheapest maintenance item on your car. Being a "maintenance ****" is a great thing on these cars, because the relative cost of failures on your car could eclipse its market value at a stroke. PPI is cheap insurance, and it gives you a complete laundry list of things that will need your attention. Good luck and enjoy! Mark

Hi all, Thanks so much for the responses. I'll respond to all individually, but I have been using this site as a great resource (and one other). Some of my searches have come up very blank, but then I stumble upon answers. So my apologies if I asked anything that seems fairly obvious to long-time members....with the exception of asking information that changes over time, since I always like to ask for what the 'latest' is... Number9ine - I did find out about using only Porsche trans fluid after posting. However, thanks for the tip. I'll check out the bushings first and foremost. Honestly though, I can't believe the MTF is rated for 90k miles and how many years? I would think the condensation build-up and therefore growing acidity would be reason alone to change it out... I would be de-snorkeling for the noise only. No performance gain. I have no intention of using this as a platform to try to accelerate faster...it'd be too expensive for the perceived gain :) And de-snorkeling is easy enough to re-install. Nonetheless, I'll take your advice as it was given. I'll try the foam insert into the wind stop...I'm 100% about easy fixes :) I'm not a Porsche expert and my funds will need to be saved. I'll skip the PPI for now, though I may throw an extra $50 at Porsche when I get a yearly emissions/inspection to examine a few things. I can examine 95% of parts myself though, so I figure I'll save the cash :) .... N41EF - The front engine mount is that common a failure? I don't know of any buzzing/vibration, but I'll keep my eyes open for it. Good to know that it can can tension on the shifter cables. The coolant and several other fluids were changed already. I don't have a full list unfortunately, though I should be getting something more comprehensive. I'll replace any fluid that looks suspiciously old or darkened. .... Lumpy - I've read about a few people doing the $200 plastic replacement now. Anyway to get a glass insert on these cars without replacing the frame and such? My dad's got it in pretty decent shape overall, but I'm a maintenance **** in terms of keeping things mechanically sound.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. :) Yeesh! Quiet in here. Wonderful resource of a forum though.

Hi all, New member here; hopefully a long-time member :) I'm buying my first house with a 2-car garage, which is the "trigger" for my father to pass on his Lapis Blue 5-speed 99 Boxster to me. He's not really driving it anymore, and has wanted to pass it on. It has 56k miles on it and has only gotten about 4k miles in the past few years. It's fairly well taken care of, in that the only known immediate repair needed is the horn beeping issue (which it seems I can do myself with one or two unique tools and a home depot run). I'm writing today to prepare for the upcoming ownership and some immediate things I'd like to address. Some questions, in no particular order: 1. The gearbox feels super stiff. What is the enthusiast community recommended gearbox fluid? 1a. Is the trans a typical drain from a bottom bolt and pump new fluid into a top bolt? Will I be able to easily see these when I jack up the car? 2. The convertible top "judders" when opening/closing for about 3/4s of it's movement. This is accompanied by some sounds like metal on metal. Any tips? Can I simply grease the mechanisms with a suitable chassis grease? 3. I'll be removing the intake silencer. Any other "free" tips to make it a more enjoyable experience? I'm very much so into cutting the weight down on this car and otherwise making it a better car without spending alot. 4. Best source for replacement parts like spark plugs? 5. Anyone know the going rate for a set of good condition 18" Porsche turbo wheels wrapped in either Michelin Pilot Sports or Winter tires? I'd like to downsize to a set of 17" running a set of square tires (Maybe 225/45/17?)....tips on that welcome too... 6. The original convertible top (black) is of course fairly fogged in the rear. I'm willing to polish the hell out of it to try to clean it up. Any non-expensive chemicals for that job? I have klasse all-in-one, which seems to do a good job removing fog on most surfaces given sufficient elbow grease. 7. Shift knob/Shift lever feels very plasticky and worn out. Recommendations? 8. The wind-screen behind the seats rattles like crazy when the top is down. Not sure if it's the clear plastic between the seats or the black grill sections. Remove, or tighten somehow? That'll get me started :) Any and all thoughts welcome. Once it's mine, I'll post some pictures. Thanks all! Joe

One more thing: if an engine were to go, I'm guessing the car would be worth around 6k give or take. Lets assume $7k for a 911 swap. Would it not be worth it at that point to try to move up to a late 996 carerra? Their prices seem to be so depressed that it would make sense...of course, that's assuming the engine would blow AFTER I stop writing large checks to private universities for dubious services :) Joe

Hehehe, I see I gave some wrong impressions to you gentleman. First off - I work ~50 hours a week and I've entered into a full-time 2 year MBA program. My free time is limited :) Second - I specifically mentioned low-cost engine drop-in solutions because I wanted to ask about just that: low cost. If the engine grenades, are my choices A. $2000 or B. $5000. There was an article in excellence about a 914 with a Subaru 2.0 liter in it, being a water-cooled flat four with a touch more power than the original engine. I mentioned Subaru simply because they maintain a boxer configuration and have some serious power upgrade options (i.e. it's easy to take the 2.5 turbos to a reliable 300whp). I'm not trying to deface Porsche, I was simply asking about options besides doing 911 engine swaps from 996s. I'm not terribly impressed with the engine track record of Porsche from 1997-2005, so you can see why I'd want to go somewhere else :) Shredder - As pointed out, I asked about ANY low cost solution and I mentioned a identical displacement boxer engine as a possibility :) Seafeye - Yeah, my savings is going to be depleted over the next two years. So I'm genuinely wondering if taking on a "free" Porsche is a good idea. As far as I can see, it needs a 60k service and some electrical work, most of which I can do myself. Plus insurance. It has almost brand new Michelin Pilot Sports on it, so that's fine. Brakes are good. All new bilsteins all around. Nonetheless, I don't want to go into this blindly saying, "OMG, free Porsche! That sounds like a brilliant idea!" :) Nonetheless, I agree with you guys. All I really need to do is get through about 18 months with it. Then my cash flow situation will improve drastically. During that time i'd probably drive it 10k miles or less, which really doesn't put alot of wear and tear on it. Regarding the clutch: Is it possible to swap in a single-mass flywheel or re-use the original dual-mass flywheel with a new OEM style or similar clutch and a new TO bearing? I'm not certain the heavy pedal is the TO bearing (there is no whine), but good to be prepared. Just to confirm: clutch's on the boxster are not for the modest DIYer? What should I expect from a decent indy as far as price, if I procur my own parts? Thanks all, Joe

By the way, I drove it extensively and hard since it had the overheating episode. It feels perfect with no concerning sounds, hesitations, etc. throughout the powerband. Heck, it drives amazingly well for a 10+ year old car on the original state of tune :) Joe

Hi all, Little explanation here. Looking for some general advice. My father has owned a 99 boxster since ~2003 (30k miles bought, now around 55-58k). Interior is near perfect. Exterior is beautiful except for front clip scrapes and some minor damage to one point behind the passenger side wheel (it's completely under the car, but might be a jacking point) from going over a curb. There's some structural damage there, but appears only superficial (i.e. no major points were hurt severely, unless that was a jacking point that is now fubar'd). He's gotten to a point where it's taking up garage space instead of just being a fun weekend toy. He's someone who just pays for things to get fixed, so naturally he's sick of the expense of taking it to a stealership and never leaving for less than $250 or much higher. Issues: Right now it's got the horn malfunction (easy fix) and needs the 60k mile tune-up. It's never had a RMS or other major engine issue. On the original clutch and DM flywheel. The shifter feels like the bushings are worn out or the linkage is crap, but it feels like a simple fix and it needs a new boot anyway. The clutch pedal is very heavy, but I imagine that's halfway just really old brake fluid in the hydraulic system. The one issue it had, and yes you might goggle at this, is that it's coolant expansion tank cracked when it was being driven. All coolant dissapeared. Driver continued driving it for over 30 minutes with the needle in the red. Porsche diagnosed and fixed it and said they performed a compression or leakdown test (Not positive which) with no problems being shown from what had happened. Charged him $1200-1400 to basically replace the expansion tank, perform the test, and fill up with new coolant (they might have done an oil change too). ... Anyway. My father has talked about giving the Porsche to me. No cost out of pocket for me. That being said, I am working full-time and taking an aggressive graduate program. I have a bit of cash lying around, but I am paying out the nose for the next two years of life. I also don't have alot of time to spend fixing it, though I definitely could if I don't mind taking two weeks to do the 60k job :) I'd love to drive this thing ~5k miles a year (I drive 25k a year as of right now on one car) and have some fun with it for a few years. Do you think this would be a wise move, or would I be getting in over my head with expenses and time commitments to keeping it running? Should I be worried about a catastrophic engine failure due to the overheating and/or the known engine issues still? Has anyone found a way to drop a cost-effective engine solution in here (i.e. Subaru 2.5 liter turbo engine, a $3-5k Porsche 3+ liter engine, etc.) with a bit more power? Any and all advice is appreciated. I've been around long enough to know how these threads go, so I'm just looking for your general impressions, tips, and advice. Joe P.s. I do have a garage space which I could leave it in for a month at a time. The car also has a very nice hard-top and set of winter wheels/tires. I've considered having some fun with stripping it down a bit by taking out the convertible top and mechanism, spare tire, etc. to try to get the weight down a bit. Probably wouldn't do that till much later, or if the top failed for some reason :)