Some spannering on the Boxster... The roof would break today wouldn't it?

Vince

Vince

Vince

Man of Honour
Joined
30 Oct 2003
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Location
Essex
So today I was out enjoying the sunshine in the car. I get back home go to put the roof up and the noises are all wrong. After a while ponsing about trying to get teh roof up I realise it is time to get the spanners out.

After digging deep, very deep, too deep in fact. I finally located the roof motor which was in plain sight all along. I removed the hinges both sides to see one side moving and the other not. Tracked it back and there are several cables running from the motor to the circular hinge things (very technical I know). Anyway I give you some pictures of my spannering and if anybody knows where I can get the part to pick up tomorrow in essex that would be hugely appreciated.


The parts I removed.




The engine bay



The offending part



What it should look like

 
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Looks like its opc canary wharf in the morning then... fingers crossed they stock the part!
 
Probably quite a lot, part of me owning this car was the idea of getting more involved again. My last two cars I owned from new and never had the opportunity to get the spanners out what with warranty covering everything that could go wrong. Years ago I owned an mk6 escort cab that I used to love working on so litterally minutes after that horible crunch from the back, out came the spanners and off came bits until I got to what was broken.

It probably took me an hour or so having never worked on a porsche before to find the broken part, I expect putting it back together and getting the alignment right might take another few hours but will have only cost me a few quid for the part. £30 or so according to some websites.

Now I have to suffer my little 1.4 Corsa C for a 80 mile round trip tomorrow :(
 
Haha is it like that is it Will Gill? I haven't yet had the opportunity to experience an opc so am getting prepared for the worst. It's not a wasted trip though, my misses has been in London with her mum and a few mates for the last couple of days to see the royal wedding so it looks like I will be picking up all their luggage and bringing it back anyway.

Also the corsa merely sips petrol so I will be pleasantly surprised at the incredibly low petrol consumption compared to the porsche where I haven’t managed >30 mpg yet :p
 
I've never ever walked away with anything less than a £500 bill and I had full warranty too :p (wish i still did, long story!)

good job you are just taking the part, if you gave them the car they bloody love to fix everything then just demand payment for it afterwards, whether you asked for it or not!
 
Yea there is no way I will be taking the car in there it's 10 years old so you can only imagine what they might find. I have to expect some bits and bobs to go wrong and am not scared of ruining it so will do what I can. For everything else I have a mechanic I trust whos porsche knowlege is immense.

Tomorrow after its back together and if i have time - I may even take off the front bumper and clean out all the crap that is likely to have built up between the air con rads and the main rad.

I guess your in a 911 or something then with all the big bills?
 
yeah, but I've got mates with boxster and gaymens all seem perfeclty capable of ruining your weekend with a chunky bill, I'm currently trying to figure out where to find £5.5k for mine.....upside is it's saving me a fortune in petrol and tyres :p
 
Ohh engine or gearbox? Im guessing engine? I know what you mean though mine absolutly loves to drink, you can have a full tank one day and none the next after only a few hundred miles. Add some spirited driving in and you can call that less.

BTW found this new program on national geographic called Porsche Junk Yard a good watch if your into your porsches, and jesus you should see some of the wrecks they get. First episode was on last week and is repeated a few times early this week.
 
ah cool ill check it out and relate to my current garage! mine has a cracked cylinder head amongst other ailments, its as near as I've ever come to anal rape when i was presented with the bill. bear in mind I took it in for an oil change!! :(
 
That's mental, what did they ask you to bend over before or after presenting the bill? You see thats the reason mine is staying put in my garage. I suspect that they may find stuff just because they can. There was a "free inspection weekend for open top cars" at porsche this weekend I think. I gave that one a wide birth as well.

Have only had the car 3 weeks or so and know full well that there are a few small issues. Engine is sound though, gearbox is a bit stiff when cold - possible syncro issue or in need of an oil change. Ill investigate that one in the coming weekends.
 
hey hey, a successful day on the Boxster followed by a trip in it to London shopping with the Mrs, for those that are interested this is how it played out. Woke up at 9am and straight away started calling about; opc canary wharf was apparently shut as was the one in Colchester because at 10:20 they still weren’t answering my calls. Design911 still hadn't answered my email or the phone. :S

Time was ticking and it was looking like I would be without the Boxster until next weekend but then in a last show of desperation I started ringing around the local breakers and as luck would have it a salvage yard no more than 8 miles away had two boxster 986's in one with a roof still available.

Straight away I jumped in the corsa and made my way to the yard where I was faced with these two beautiful examples.





Now the first car would turn out to be my saviour, but the second car was the more interesting as it would have had just the door cards I need had they not been broken and abused by somebody trying to get at the window mechanism. Looks like I stick to my original plan of having my uncles place restore the cars leather.

Result... after lifting the hood on the first car I found that the hood motor was still in it as were the cables I needed. Digging a little further I removed the cable but straight away realised that the part number was different as was the mechanism. In this model the cable seemed to be jammed into a shaft and wasn't going to come out.

hmm sketchy but I decided that it was my only shot and grabbed the cable as well as the shaft and another section of the roof assembly which I noticed while breaking my cars roof down that some rubbers had perished... more on that next week I guess as I didn't get round to replacing that part this time around.

All the way home I was just praying that the shaft was the same on mine and it would just be a straight swap over but the old man didn't answer my prayers did he?



So 30 mins with a hacksaw later I work out where the end of the cable is



A further 10 mins (possibly a lot more) with a screwdriver, hammer and plyers and the pesky cable is free.



Now I was motoring and the pictures kinda stop but when I was putting the thing back together I noticed that the panel was massively out of line and the old side was now sitting up a good few inches higher than the new side, so with just the hinges on I loosen the adjustment bolts and put the roof into full up position. I then tightened the adjustment bolts and then bolt the cover back on at the back. Now it all aligns well and the roof works like a dream. Job done all by 1 / 1:30 pm :D



Feeling pretty smug at this point that all the parts cost sum total of £10 and I am back up and motoring with plenty of weekend to spare. Sure at some point I will replace both sides with new parts but for the moment I am just happy to be back in the Boxster rather than the corsa :D
 
Awesome!

Don't you love it when all goes to plan? :)

Saved yourself a few £ too! £10 for a 'temporary' fix to get you on the road = win!
 
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