I own a Boxter S 2001 and I love it man !!! Don’t know too much of the history but since I’ve had it I changed the IMS ( even though it had over 80,000 miles ) and changed the clutch ,the AOS ,has filter,air filter just for peace of mind ..but it runs great ..now I want to change the top since my plastic window gave out ..gonna do a glass window ..it’s a artic silver and I love it !!! Greetings from California
Hey Vladimir. You have a great ride and sounds like you are enjoying it. One of my favorite mods was doing a Glass rear window . Check out www.gahh.com and search for Boxster heated glass window. I highly recommend them and they have come down in price since I did mine. They can do the install as well if you are local. cheers!
awesome!!! That would be a dream conversion for sure. Almost swapped my Cayman S 3.4 for a Cayman S 3.8 conversion... Keep us posted on how it turns our. maybe make a video showing 0-60mph or 0-100 mph ;^) best of luck with it all!
Hey! Great video! I own a 2003 986 3.2l Boxster S, I am thinking on swamping it with a 3.6l 996 Turbo engine, do you think it would be any harder to do the swap than yours?
Wow, that would be an amazing project. I worry about the space restrictions on the mid engine to accommodate a Turbo engine. To fit the 3.4 liter we created some spacers for the front motor mount that allowed it to drop about 1 inch because the intake manifolds on these engines are taller. . Remember that the intake plumbing and fuel rails have to be flipped for any engine conversion from 911 to boxster. So you need to consider the space for the Turbo intake piping and how to route it to the intercoolers. Where will the intercoolers mount on the Boxster??? These are all problems that would need to be carefully planned out and solved. Best of luck though. That would be an awesome car if it worked!!
Just passed smog check a few days ago with flying colors!! In and out in 20 minutes. It took longer to boot up the Smog check stations old equipment. The hardest part now, in California, is that less and less smog shops want to test Pre-2000 year cars because they require a dyno roller and sniffer test that uses older equipment. They want to make it harder for us to find a station to do tests at ;^( but my car has passed every time with no issues. Just need to run the car real good before stopping for the test. You want the catalytic converters nice and hot during the test. ;^)
What a killer ride - the sound is to die for! How long did that take you to put together that way? I remember from your TST vid you've owned it 15 years.
Thanks so much! I purchased it stock in the year 2000. It has always been a labor of love and at first I I just did small mods over the first few years like wheels, headlights, tail lights, ecu upgrade and an intake. The biggest modification is obviously the engine swap which happened around 2007. With all the info out there now I have heard of some guys doing it in week, but I was one of the first handful of guys to have this done, so it took a bit longer getting all the parts together and deciding how to handle the ecu and mass airflow adjustments. . I hired a pro to do the installation and shake down, so I just left the car with him for a few weeks and he worked on it in between other jobs. Its about 40 hours labor at least. Mechanically it has been just as reliable as a stock engine. I really have not touched it, other then regular maintenance, in over 8 years. It's a special ride for sure!
Great vid. Great car. I love the idea of the swap you did to your 986. I'm looking at purchasing a boxster but I'm torn between getting a 986 and doing the swap you did or just getting a 987 S. I'm trying to do what makes most financial sense. If you don't mind me asking, what is the rough ballpark $$$ to do the 986 3.4 swap? I don't have the time, tools, or ability to do the swap myself so I'd have to have a shop do it for me.
+Erik Pascual When I did this conversion back in 2007 it made a lot of sense to me cost wise. Even by today's standards of quick and great handling Porsche Boxsters, my Boxster's current setup holds up really well and still impresses in big ways for a 18 yr old car.... Now you can find used good condition 986 cars for about 10k, add another 10k for the engine and if you can make it a do it yourself project you can save a lot on labor costs. You can probably do the conversion, without a lot of fancy add ons, for about 20k yourself or a bit more if someone else did all the labor. With that said. It would be a really tough call for me to do it all again today. To be honest, I probably would not do again at today's costs and that is because of the drops in prices for a 2007 Porsche Boxster S and when they added the 3.4 liter engine to the Boxster S for the first time. I would recommend buying a 2007 3.4 liter 987 for about 25-30k. That would make more sense at today's prices for a used 987 S with a better and newer over all build quality and options. So just keep in mind that 2007 is when the Boxster got the 3.4 liter engine 300hp.. 2005-2006 the Boxster had a 3.2 engine 280hp. still a nice engine, but the 3.4 has better torque and that is what you really want . Hope that helps!!
+qikqbn77 Thanks for detailed reply. That's some great information. What you're saying about getting the '07 makes a lot of sense. For roughly the same amount, the '07 would get me everything I'd want including the improved build quality. Anyway, I've watched the other One Take test drives of your other cars....very cool. Thanks again.
no problem. Those part numbers may be for the full kit which included the side skirts that I have and a larger rear wing. They are hard to find now since they stopped making them a while ago, but I do know a few people who have been able to track them down. Google Porsche Boxster Aerokit I and you will see a few examples. .
He has not driven my Cayenne S suv... hahaha... not my most exciting Porsche, but now that I see him doing off road excursions I may have to ask him!! ;^)
Running some after market "boxster spyder" look a likes. They are a bit heavier than oem Spyder wheels, but less than 1/2 the cost. Boxster Spyder 19 inch replica wheels. 19x8.5 et 50 front + 5mm spacer, 19x10 et 42 rear. Michelin Super Sports 235/35/19 front 265/35/19 rear . Google search PS522 19″ SILVER
+Lucien Menair Cool that you are looking to buy a Porsche. Love the 986 and it is still a fun and great handling car after all these years. With that said, any time you buy a car that is older and at this point 17 years old it is very important that you interview the previous owner and get a list of the latest maintenance that has been done. Porsche's are very reliable and it helps a lot $$$ if you can do your own maintenance ;^) With that said, buying any used car requires some home work and a good inspection. If buying from a private party interviewing the previous owner and asking the right questions will give you a lot of insight in to how the car was taken care of. Take in to account the condition of the interior. I find a crappy, torn up interior usually relates to a crappy maintenance life and usually the car does not drive as well as it should. I drive my porsches like I stole them and they love it, but I also take meticulous care of them inside and out and they have never let me down. One thing to remember... Porsche parts can be expensive even for the Boxster/cayman. Just something to think about if a car is close to major maintenance or "clutch job" mileage... like 60k. Make sure the clutch feels good on the test drives and the brakes are fresh. If you find something you like.. pay $100 to have it inspected at a Porsche dealership. If you buy from a dealer make sure they have done a thorough inspection and offer some sort of free 90 day warranty or you can buy an extended warranty, but they do get really pricey. With any car if you buy the newest and best condtion you can afford and find you will have less problems in the future. best of luck!
I bought it! Love it. I'd like to do a 3.4 conversion eventually, but the car is incredibly good fun with just the 2.5. It's like an MX-5 that is better in every single category.
Congrats! Tell us about it... condition, color, how did the deal come together, did you have it inspected, is it up to maintenance... etc etc?? I enjoy hearing others stories on 986 ownership!.
99 w/ 44k miles (46k now :-O). Silver with boxster red interior. I wanted an S, but this color combo won me over, and the 99 had more character than the '01 S. I love the 'old school' style shift lever. I had it inspected and the mechanic told me it was essentially perfect and would have no problem driving it across the country. So I went for it.
Awesome! People ask me why I don't buy a newer boxster like the 981. I tell them that although the 981 is newer, tighter, more amenities and all around upgraded... that Porsche got the original 986 so good right out of the box that the joy and fun factors are really similar between the older and newer models. All Boxsters are super fun to drive, no matter what year you have. Enjoy and drive safe!!
I own a Boxter S 2001 and I love it man !!! Don’t know too much of the history but since I’ve had it I changed the IMS ( even though it had over 80,000 miles ) and changed the clutch ,the AOS ,has filter,air filter just for peace of mind ..but it runs great ..now I want to change the top since my plastic window gave out ..gonna do a glass window ..it’s a artic silver and I love it !!! Greetings from California
Hey Vladimir. You have a great ride and sounds like you are enjoying it. One of my favorite mods was doing a Glass rear window . Check out www.gahh.com and search for Boxster heated glass window. I highly recommend them and they have come down in price since I did mine. They can do the install as well if you are local. cheers!
qikqbn77 thanks for he heads up ..I’ve seen them they are cheap now and they have the rear defroster too ..I can’t wait to change it ...
Almost done with my 987 S conversion to 3.8. We'll have to get together and compare notes.
awesome!!! That would be a dream conversion for sure. Almost swapped my Cayman S 3.4 for a Cayman S 3.8 conversion... Keep us posted on how it turns our. maybe make a video showing 0-60mph or 0-100 mph ;^) best of luck with it all!
Hey! Great video! I own a 2003 986 3.2l Boxster S, I am thinking on swamping it with a 3.6l 996 Turbo engine, do you think it would be any harder to do the swap than yours?
Wow, that would be an amazing project. I worry about the space restrictions on the mid engine to accommodate a Turbo engine. To fit the 3.4 liter we created some spacers for the front motor mount that allowed it to drop about 1 inch because the intake manifolds on these engines are taller. . Remember that the intake plumbing and fuel rails have to be flipped for any engine conversion from 911 to boxster. So you need to consider the space for the Turbo intake piping and how to route it to the intercoolers. Where will the intercoolers mount on the Boxster??? These are all problems that would need to be carefully planned out and solved. Best of luck though. That would be an awesome car if it worked!!
Did you have any trouble with smog check, or did the referee bar it no problem?
Just passed smog check a few days ago with flying colors!! In and out in 20 minutes. It took longer to boot up the Smog check stations old equipment. The hardest part now, in California, is that less and less smog shops want to test Pre-2000 year cars because they require a dyno roller and sniffer test that uses older equipment. They want to make it harder for us to find a station to do tests at ;^( but my car has passed every time with no issues. Just need to run the car real good before stopping for the test. You want the catalytic converters nice and hot during the test. ;^)
What a killer ride - the sound is to die for! How long did that take you to put together that way? I remember from your TST vid you've owned it 15 years.
Thanks so much! I purchased it stock in the year 2000. It has always been a labor of love and at first I I just did small mods over the first few years like wheels, headlights, tail lights, ecu upgrade and an intake. The biggest modification is obviously the engine swap which happened around 2007. With all the info out there now I have heard of some guys doing it in week, but I was one of the first handful of guys to have this done, so it took a bit longer getting all the parts together and deciding how to handle the ecu and mass airflow adjustments. . I hired a pro to do the installation and shake down, so I just left the car with him for a few weeks and he worked on it in between other jobs. Its about 40 hours labor at least. Mechanically it has been just as reliable as a stock engine. I really have not touched it, other then regular maintenance, in over 8 years. It's a special ride for sure!
Great vid. Great car. I love the idea of the swap you did to your 986. I'm looking at purchasing a boxster but I'm torn between getting a 986 and doing the swap you did or just getting a 987 S. I'm trying to do what makes most financial sense. If you don't mind me asking, what is the rough ballpark $$$ to do the 986 3.4 swap? I don't have the time, tools, or ability to do the swap myself so I'd have to have a shop do it for me.
+Erik Pascual When I did this conversion back in 2007 it made a lot of sense to me cost wise. Even by today's standards of quick and great handling Porsche Boxsters, my Boxster's current setup holds up really well and still impresses in big ways for a 18 yr old car.... Now you can find used good condition 986 cars for about 10k, add another 10k for the engine and if you can make it a do it yourself project you can save a lot on labor costs. You can probably do the conversion, without a lot of fancy add ons, for about 20k yourself or a bit more if someone else did all the labor. With that said. It would be a really tough call for me to do it all again today. To be honest, I probably would not do again at today's costs and that is because of the drops in prices for a 2007 Porsche Boxster S and when they added the 3.4 liter engine to the Boxster S for the first time. I would recommend buying a 2007 3.4 liter 987 for about 25-30k. That would make more sense at today's prices for a used 987 S with a better and newer over all build quality and options. So just keep in mind that 2007 is when the Boxster got the 3.4 liter engine 300hp.. 2005-2006 the Boxster had a 3.2 engine 280hp. still a nice engine, but the 3.4 has better torque and that is what you really want . Hope that helps!!
+qikqbn77 Thanks for detailed reply. That's some great information. What you're saying about getting the '07 makes a lot of sense. For roughly the same amount, the '07 would get me everything I'd want including the improved build quality. Anyway, I've watched the other One Take test drives of your other cars....very cool. Thanks again.
What front do you have on your boxster?
Tequipement Porsche Aero kit 1 from model year 2000. Part number is:
Boxster part no. 000 044 800 80
Boxster S part no. 000 044 801 66
Thanks a lot!
no problem. Those part numbers may be for the full kit which included the side skirts that I have and a larger rear wing. They are hard to find now since they stopped making them a while ago, but I do know a few people who have been able to track them down. Google Porsche Boxster Aerokit I and you will see a few examples. .
Another question - any chance we'll see you at TST again? I guess he has driven all of your cars now? ;)
He has not driven my Cayenne S suv... hahaha... not my most exciting Porsche, but now that I see him doing off road excursions I may have to ask him!! ;^)
What wheels are those?
Running some after market "boxster spyder" look a likes. They are a bit heavier than oem Spyder wheels, but less than 1/2 the cost. Boxster Spyder 19 inch replica wheels. 19x8.5 et 50 front + 5mm spacer, 19x10 et 42 rear. Michelin Super Sports 235/35/19 front 265/35/19 rear . Google search PS522 19″ SILVER
qikqbn77 thanks they look so good on the car
Looking at buying a '99 with low miles. I'm afraid the car will nickle and dime me to death. What is your experience with them?
+Lucien Menair Cool that you are looking to buy a Porsche. Love the 986 and it is still a fun and great handling car after all these years. With that said, any time you buy a car that is older and at this point 17 years old it is very important that you interview the previous owner and get a list of the latest maintenance that has been done. Porsche's are very reliable and it helps a lot $$$ if you can do your own maintenance ;^) With that said, buying any used car requires some home work and a good inspection. If buying from a private party interviewing the previous owner and asking the right questions will give you a lot of insight in to how the car was taken care of. Take in to account the condition of the interior. I find a crappy, torn up interior usually relates to a crappy maintenance life and usually the car does not drive as well as it should. I drive my porsches like I stole them and they love it, but I also take meticulous care of them inside and out and they have never let me down. One thing to remember... Porsche parts can be expensive even for the Boxster/cayman. Just something to think about if a car is close to major maintenance or "clutch job" mileage... like 60k. Make sure the clutch feels good on the test drives and the brakes are fresh. If you find something you like.. pay $100 to have it inspected at a Porsche dealership. If you buy from a dealer make sure they have done a thorough inspection and offer some sort of free 90 day warranty or you can buy an extended warranty, but they do get really pricey. With any car if you buy the newest and best condtion you can afford and find you will have less problems in the future. best of luck!
I bought it! Love it. I'd like to do a 3.4 conversion eventually, but the car is incredibly good fun with just the 2.5. It's like an MX-5 that is better in every single category.
Congrats! Tell us about it... condition, color, how did the deal come together, did you have it inspected, is it up to maintenance... etc etc?? I enjoy hearing others stories on 986 ownership!.
99 w/ 44k miles (46k now :-O). Silver with boxster red interior. I wanted an S, but this color combo won me over, and the 99 had more character than the '01 S. I love the 'old school' style shift lever. I had it inspected and the mechanic told me it was essentially perfect and would have no problem driving it across the country. So I went for it.
Awesome! People ask me why I don't buy a newer boxster like the 981. I tell them that although the 981 is newer, tighter, more amenities and all around upgraded... that Porsche got the original 986 so good right out of the box that the joy and fun factors are really similar between the older and newer models. All Boxsters are super fun to drive, no matter what year you have. Enjoy and drive safe!!
these guys driving inside the lane ignoring the apex are the worst