Seeking advice on replacing suspension and other parts

[marvkaye]

My 2000 base model Boxster needs shocks... I have a complete set of Bilstein B6's I'm going to install and am in the process of getting things prepped for the project... the car is up on jack stands, I've sprayed all the fasteners with penetrant and am planning to start getting things loosened up or taken off today.  Car has 116k+ miles on it, and I don't have the service history... picked it up pretty reasonably, considering. 

 

First, I understand the caliper bolts are single use parts but have heard of people re-using them.  I'd prefer not to, given that they are spec'ed single use, they take a lot of abuse during braking, and for all I know, are25+ years old.  New set is $52 @ Pelican... any logical reason not to spend the money other than to save the $52?

 

Next.. I pressure washed the suspension for all the obvious reasons. Looking at the rubber on some of the easily observable parts, they don't appear to be that bad, maybe that will change once I get them off and can do a better inspection... however, I ordered the suspension kits from Pelican already given the lack of history... I'm wondering if anyone who's trying to do a budget repair would consider pressing used but apparently serviceable parts like these back into service just to get the job done at a considerable discount from new ones... 

 

Finally, somebody painted my the calipers yellow, apparently with some sort of rattle can paint, as lots came off during pressure washing. Personally, I'd prefer to keep them the original black (my car is Arctic Silver.. the yellow peeking out doesn't look that great) with the nice Porsche logo showing.  Any thoughts on how to get the cheap yellow off without harming the original powder coating.  I tried a bit of acetone, didn't do much.

 

Looking forward to hearing anyone's thoughts on these things... thanks in advance for sharing them....

 

marv

[marvkaye]

A quick follow up... I'm replacing the caliper bolts... I'd rather stick to spec than not.

 

Turns out the calipers are Brembos... their surface treatment, whatever it is, is impervious to paint stripper.  The rattle can yellow is mostly off. 

 

My brake pads look like new.,.. I was surprised to see that someone would actually re-use the rotor shown in the picture.. it's 1.5mm above minimum thickness, but there's no way to have it surfaced that won't won't leave it under spec.. new rotors being installed around. 

 

Finally, I dummied out and failed to measure the distances from the inside of the fender openings to the middle of the wheels.. need those to set the empty weight ride height before tightening the inner lower control arm bolts, in order to lock that bushing in at the neutral position.  If one of you has a stock base model Boxster, circa 1998-2004 (not lowered or anything in the suspension that changes that...) if you would be so kind to get those dimensions and share them in a reply, I'd really appreciate it. The ...360 picture shows the front, ...370 the rear.  I happened to already have the wheels and rotors off when I took the pictures last night, but I'm thinking it should be obvious.

 

thanks & have an excellent day!

[Loren]

Rotors are non-turnable for about the last 20 years.

Has this car been sitting outside - that is a lot of heavy rust.

 

The suspension bushings are likely dry and also cracked. I would replace them as you don't want any surprise failures.

Suspension heights and distances have been covered here before - please try and search for them.

[marvkaye]

Hi Loren,

Thanks for the reply... Yeah, I'm pretty sure it spent a lot of time outside.  I've already got the new rotors... the old ones are scrap... the pictured one is the worst.

 

I'm replacing the control arms, sway bar bushings, and the upper strut mounts, see the photos. I'm also replacing the trans & engine mounts... car's going in for rear main seal, clutch, & IMS bearing next Wednesday... my tech will handle those mounts as part of that project.

 

You're right, I should have searched the suspension heights & distances... I'll remember that next time I'm looking for common info.

 

Thanks again......  marv

 

Edited Wednesday at 07:52 PM by marvkaye

[marvkaye]

Hey Loren... I spent about an hour & a half searching here last night, could not find what I was looking for. I found a couple references to ride height as defined in the service manual which doesn't help in my situation, but nothing about taking the measurements from the fender opening to the center of the wheel, as shown in the photos I posted.  If you know of a post with that info, could you point me at it, please? I ran an email list and a forum for experimental airplanes for 16+ years where a question like mine would elicit multiple responses within hours.. oh well...

[Loren]

 

[marvkaye]

Thanks... Yeah, I saw that in the service manual... great if you're an alignment shop with the vehicle on the wheels... up on a lift.  But with the wheels off and the car on jack stands, those numbers are tough to determine when all you want to do is approximate the ride height after replacing the struts and control arms... the bushing on the inner end of the coffin arms needs to be in its relaxed location prior to tightening the bolt that secures it.  Easiest way seems to be having the measurement of the distance from fender opening to wheel center, using a floor jack to lift the knuckle until that dimension is met, then tightening the fastener.  (Multiple guys on YouTube recommend it after similar service... worked for them...) The vehicle will be going in for an alignment after I get everything put back together anyway, so they can dial it in to what it's supposed to be at that time.  I just want to have it as closely approximated as I can before I try driving it post-repairs and pre-alignment. Oh yeah, I've got 17 inch wheels, BTW.

Edited 12 hours ago by marvkaye