Devildog2067

So I've owned my 986 for just over 10 years now. In that time I've only put ~60k miles on it -- I commuted back and forth to Switzerland for much of that time so the car sat for long periods. In between, it was daily driven ~15 miles into downtown Chicago. Yesterday, I noticed a CEL which will drive a shop visit soon, and it got me thinking.

The car is generally sound -- in fact I've treated it like a Honda, I just get in and go. Utterly reliable except for one incident a few years ago when the water pump went (and honestly that was my fault, there were warning signs I was too busy to get in front of). But it is showing a bit of the history of rough use. The paint is chipped in several places, and badly needs polishing. The edges of the front clip are cracked a bit where city speed bumps have taken their toll. The windshield is sandblasted a bit. The seats could use some attention. Mechanically, it just needs the regular 75k maintenance items -- it's due for an oil change, coolant flush, brake flush, transmission flush etc. Belt was just done when the water pump went, so should be good for a while on that item.

I'd like to restore the car to, well certainly not concours shape as I'll continue to drive it every day, but to better shape than it's in. I want to set the car up as a reasonable daily driver for the next 10 years. The items I have in mind are:

Standard 75k service items
Reshoot front clip, hood, fenders
Recondition or reupholster seats
Replace windshield

I had the wheels straightened and refinished plus new tires last year. I'll probably pick up a cheap set of snows for the upcoming winter. Anything else I should be thinking of as sort of "10 year refresh" items? Suspension? What am I missing?

Macster

My preference is as long as the paint chips are not deep enough to give corrosion a chance I'd just leave the hood and bumper cover and fenders alone.

There is no need to have both seats redone unless the cushioning has collapsed. Check with a good upholstery shop as maybe just the most severely worn panels need redoing. This is cheaper than doing both seats entirely and less likely to change the feel of the seats.

Honestly I'm always leery of messing with the windshield unless it is bad and has to be replaced. I've had one replaced in my Boxster. A chip developed into a windshield wide crack. The view out was like viewing a Picasso painting.

Unfortunately the replacement glass is getting pitted after all these miles and it could at some point stand a replacement.

I guess I'm not a fan of a refresh. The car will still be 10 years old and the newly painted panels could just highlight the differences between the panels.

What I've done with my 2002 is just have things serviced when they need doing. Address any issues as they come up.

After 288K miles I've only replaced the front sway bar drop links. At the rear I've had to have the CV boots renewed after having the CV joint bearings cleaned and inspected and repacked with fresh grease.

The rest of the suspension/drivetrain is original, including the clutch.

Do the services that are due on time or miles and then continue to drive your car. It has come by its patina by being a good car and you honor its service by continuing to drive it.

onewhippedpuppy

Agree with Macster, I would not have a partial repaint done. After 14 years it is very difficult to match or blend to your original color, and many body shops do an inferior job overall. I would seek out a professional detailer or bodyshop that does restoration type work (not just wash/wax). You will be amazed how good your original paint will look after a compound, polish, and a high quality wax. Your windshield glass can be polished to some extent as well.

Inside, is the leather worn out or just worn? Furthermore, are you sure it is actually leather? Because many 986s had the leatherette (aka vinyl) interior. If is is really leather and is just worn, try a Leatherique treatment. I've seen it do wonders with older leather. They also sell excellent dye sets if your issue is wear to the color. Obviously if you have tears or holes you will need to have the leather replaced.

Regarding mechanicals, keep up with scheduled maintenance and fix what needs fixing. The only exception to that is struts, at 14 years and 60k they are probably fairly worn out. Replacing them will restore much of that like new ride quality that you are looking for. Otherwise related to the suspension, if it's worn out you'll know in the form of clicks, knocks, or vibrations.

zedcat

How's the steering wheel? The wheel in my 04 was just nasty and no amount of cleaning and conditioning seemed to help. So I had it recovered by Dallas custom steering wheel and was really pleased with it. For safety, I'd also suggest check the seat belts for any sign of fraying or other damage.

Macster

Struts can need replacing at any time, that's for sure, but even with 288K miles on my Boxster's struts they work just fine. Once in a while I have the tech test drive the car and he comes back with the report the suspension, steering, shocks, shifter are fine. No need to replace anything. Now even if the car feels fine and a strut is found to be leaking that's different. I'd replace both struts on that end of the car.

A while back the car was feeling exceptionally squirrelly seemingly wanting to follow any slight seam in the road and really wandering about. It occurred to me that suspension might at this time need to be replaced. However, I had the front tires replaced which transformed the car.

Now, generally -- well, until this last time -- I change the front tires every other set of rear tires. Thus the front tires cover about 40K miles and while they still have some tread left -- quite a bit actually -- they get hard and noisy. This last time though I didn't replace the front tires when I put on the 2nd set of rear tires. I left the front tires in service. Towards the end they were getting quite worn as worn as I've ever seen front tires on any of my Porsches. The wear was even across the tread face but they were almost down the wear bars. Had this been a dry winter like the last 3 I would have nursed them through the winter but this is a wet winter (yay!) and I broke down and had new tires (Pirellis) fitted. The car lost is wandering ways and regained its precise handling and exemplary road feel.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. New tires transform these cars.

Anyhow, as it turned out the suspension, steering, and drivetrain hardware was not the cause of the car's wandering and loss of precision handling, it was the worn out front tires. Thank goodness. Front tires were $520. I would hate to think what it would have cost to renew the struts, steering and suspension bushings, etc.

onewhippedpuppy

If tires are over 4 years old I toss them, even with good tread. Age can be just as important as mileage.

Macster, I suspect new struts at 288k would transform your car. They wear out so gradually that you don't really notice the difference, and even really good struts are worn out at 100k. Hence why Bilsteins are rebuildable.

ppbskis

My recent "refresh" on my 01 Base included the following:
1) Water Pump, Belt Tensioner, All Rollers. All original 118k miles.
2) Front Motor Mount
3) Spark Plugs, Tubes, and Coil Packs
4) AOS- Original had 118,000- elicited CEL.
This all set me back over 4k but as I am keeping forever worth it.
Happy Holidays !

Devildog2067

Total damage for just mechanical stuff came out to $7k: ~$3k for the normal 75k stuff, plus replace front lower control arms, reseal cam covers (they were leaking oil which I've known for a long time and have been ignoring, but it was getting a lot worse), replace starter, a couple of other small random things. Ah well. I've had this car 11+ years now, hopefully I can look forward to 11 more.

I did score a nice set of snows on 17" wheels for $600, and a factory hardtop for a good price. I also might be finally picking up a Zeintop next week, I guess we'll see how that works out.

Devildog2067

Driver's seat is pretty worn, but no tears. Passenger seat is basically new as is pretty typical I think. Dash vinyl needs to be cleaned but is probably ok other than that.

Mine has the sport design package, which I think comes with full leather seats.