Side vent cover questions. - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Allen K. Littlefield · 11-30-2007, 08:27 AM

I am still planning on changing my '02 side vents with the separate vanes for a set of '03 or '04 ones that have the vanes cast right in. This should make the on and off of these vents in order to clean, de-snork etc. much easier since you do not seem to have to fiddle with the long attachment arms of the separate vanes on my '02 or am I off base? Also are the attachment points the same on both '02 and '03/4 or are they different? Does the passenger side vent plate detach on my model as the drivers side, I would expect so but...? I believe Grizzly did this and maybe he will have an answer. Thanks in advance,

AKL

Allen K. Littlefield · 11-30-2007, 12:04 PM

Answered one of my own questions when I managed to take out the pass. side vent and vanes and then replaced them. Same as drivers/intake side. Pretty clean in there and there is a rectangular passage to the fan that blows onto the engine. No debris or leaves just some dust. I wonder if the '03/04 vent has a second screw to hold it in as my '02 vent needs the vanes in place in order to hold it secure. I tried replacing it without the vanes and it kinda flaps loose on the bottom with no mounting or secure point. I will attempt a de-snork now that I know I can remove and replace the vanes and vent body (which means I haven't broken anything yet....)

AKL

Allen K. Littlefield · 12-01-2007, 11:46 AM

Well today I managed to de snork and it does howl a bit more when pushed into the upper rpm range. Don't know if I am getting more hp out of the mod. or not but it seems a bit more responsive or maybe I am wishing it to be so.

Unless the '03/04 side vent covers have a friction fit area at the bottom or another screw somewhere, I don't see how it will stay in place without the vanes being in place. BTW I just broke one of the vanes, top one on intake side, but it seems to be held in place by friction so it doesn't bother me.

This seems to be a conversation with my self at this point but I would like to hear from anybody that replaced the side vent cover with an '03 or '04 one and how they made it stay in place?

AKL

Burg Boxster · 12-01-2007, 12:33 PM

haven't done the swap but yes there is a subtle difference in the side intakes from early 986s to later (lip on lower left etc.). See if you can get it to catch like the old did. If not, you should be able to line the inner lip of the new w/ some 3M foam tape adhesive to keep it in place.

Allen K. Littlefield · 12-01-2007, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burg Boxster

haven't done the swap but yes there is a subtle difference in the side intakes from early 986s to later (lip on lower left etc.). See if you can get it to catch like the old did. If not, you should be able to line the inner lip of the new w/ some 3M foam tape adhesive to keep it in place.

Thanks Burgman, the idea of foam tape could be an answer. I believe that Grizzly has done the change and was hoping to hear from him. I think that the shape of the '03 is the same as the '02, just the vanes are attached to the vent body and not separate so there had to be a way of keeping it in place.

AKL

Marc Gelefsky · 12-01-2007, 02:02 PM

I did the swap on my EX- 01S, just buy the vents, paint em, pop them in.
Very easy

Grizzly · 12-01-2007, 02:42 PM

Hey Allen,

For some reason, I didn't catch this post till a little while ago. Then, I went to the garage to take pictures of how it works. Once I got down on the garage floor, I couldn't stand back up.

Hence, the delay. O.K. here's how it works:

This is what you're looking at now, right?

The '03/'04 vent has a little curved tab on the lower front corner. It holds the vent to the front and bottom. It looks like this...

When you put the new vent in, put the rear in first. Once it's in place, slide it Back as far as it will go. This will give you enough room to drop that tab behind the sheetmetal.

Once it is flush with the body, move it slightly forward and down so the tab goes behind the quarter panel at the front and bottom of the opening. Put the screw in the top and you're done.

But... while I had mine off, I put some mesh inside of the vents. I've heard horror stories of desnorkled Boxsters sucking up schmegma, particularly lit cigarettes, so I did this...

It's held on with tiny wire ties at the corners (man, that's a bad picture, sorry).

Don't worry if you don't like the mesh look. Once the vent is on the car, the mesh is nearly invisible.

Hope I answered your questions, pal.

jmatta · 12-01-2007, 03:38 PM

Not bad...I'm starting to think this might be a nice mod for my car.

lapis986 · 12-01-2007, 05:11 PM

I just discovered that my drivers side and pass side vents apear to have a slightly different orientation and look.
Drivers side seems to stick out slightly more in the front, and the passenger side vent fits neatly inside the metal body. Is it possible the drivers side is not attached properly or is this normal?

Allen K. Littlefield · 12-01-2007, 05:43 PM

Lapsis, the sides are different by Porsche design, nothing wrong with them. They are supposed to be different and I think it is to keep water from flowing in the intake that the drivers side vent cover is shaped the way it is. Others can confirm or deny but that is what I think the case is.

Grizzmeister, you da man! I knew it had to be something fairly easy in order for it to work that nicely and thanks for the photos. These '03/04 side vent covers make it real easy to access and clean out both sides of the compartments. I will probably do the mesh like you did just for safety sake but the mesh will not provide the restriction that the snorkle did. The Boxcar sure howls in the higher revs now that the trumpet is gone.

AKL

12-01-2007, 06:11 PM

JMatta,

I'm sending my inner vents to be metalized for a chrome inner look, I had the same idea with a twist to match my wheels, I'll have to post pics when it's done.

blue2000s · 12-01-2007, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allen K. Littlefield

Answered one of my own questions when I managed to take out the pass. side vent and vanes and then replaced them. Same as drivers/intake side. Pretty clean in there and there is a rectangular passage to the fan that blows onto the engine. No debris or leaves just some dust. I wonder if the '03/04 vent has a second screw to hold it in as my '02 vent needs the vanes in place in order to hold it secure. I tried replacing it without the vanes and it kinda flaps loose on the bottom with no mounting or secure point. I will attempt a de-snork now that I know I can remove and replace the vanes and vent body (which means I haven't broken anything yet....)

AKL

The pre-02 vent bezels have the same tab in the lower-forward corner that fit onto the fender as the post-02 that Grizzly describes. If you haven't got the tab behind the fender, it will flop around as you describe.

Allen K. Littlefield · 12-02-2007, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue2000s

The pre-02 vent bezels have the same tab in the lower-forward corner that fit onto the fender as the post-02 that Grizzly describes. If you haven't got the tab behind the fender, it will flop around as you describe.

Blue2000S, does this mean I should be able to replace my side vent covers on my '02 without needing the vanes in place to hold it steady? I will have to give the vent covers another look and see if I can make it secure because if I can I could add screening, ala. the Grizz, and just use the current covers. Interesting. I will have to decide if I prefer the '03 look and try to find a set, preferably in Arctic Silver, otherwise I will have to buy them new and have them painted which could get costly as the vents go for $138 ea. from Sunset unpainted. I suppose I will have to attend Hershey this spring.

AKL

Boxtaboy · 12-02-2007, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lapis986

I just discovered that my drivers side and pass side vents apear to have a slightly different orientation and look.
Drivers side seems to stick out slightly more in the front, and the passenger side vent fits neatly inside the metal body. Is it possible the drivers side is not attached properly or is this normal?

This is perfectly normal. In 2000, Porsche changed the design of the driver's side intake housing cover so that it has a protruding lip. This was because there were reports of smokers who threw their cigarette butts out the window while driving, and the butts ending up getting sucked in the intake and into the engine air filter, creating a risk of engine fires. That little extra protruding lip is enough to redirect such debris around the vents at speed. The pass. side vent housing stayed flush with the bodywork because it doesn't suck air in, and instead is used for venting hot engine air out of the engine bay.

In 2003, they changed the vent housing back to being completely flush with the bodywork on the driver's side, and instead incorporated mesh inside the vent housing to prevent debris from entering the intake.

I run my 2001 desnorked, without any mesh protection because I think the protruding lip on the vent and engine air filter will do it's job of blocking out any debris, and because I think adding mesh would slightly reduce air flow to the intake.

jmatta · 12-02-2007, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xusmnimij

JMatta,

I'm sending my inner vents to be metalized for a chrome inner look, I had the same idea with a twist to match my wheels, I'll have to post pics when it's done.

I like the contrast...simple rattle can of Arctic Silver with clear coat. Nice touch,without being flashy. Good luck.

blue2000s · 12-02-2007, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allen K. Littlefield

Blue2000S, does this mean I should be able to replace my side vent covers on my '02 without needing the vanes in place to hold it steady? I will have to give the vent covers another look and see if I can make it secure because if I can I could add screening, ala. the Grizz, and just use the current covers. Interesting. I will have to decide if I prefer the '03 look and try to find a set, preferably in Arctic Silver, otherwise I will have to buy them new and have them painted which could get costly as the vents go for $138 ea. from Sunset unpainted. I suppose I will have to attend Hershey this spring.

AKL

It's been a while since I've opened up the vent, but I believe you could put the bezel on without the louvers.

djomlas · 12-02-2007, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue2000s

It's been a while since I've opened up the vent, but I believe you could put the bezel on without the louvers.

you can, pretty much what strosek looks like i believe, just mesh piece.

do the louvers even do anything?

dcporsche99 · 12-04-2007, 10:27 AM

Hi,
I was bored last night so I finally decided to add the mesh grills to my side vents. Wow, it was freakin' cold in my garage. But, I'm satisfied with the results, except for the fact that after looking at the photo I realized that I really need to give my car a good cleaning. I hope this attachment works.

BTW, thanks Grizz on the "how to".

Gary in BR · 12-04-2007, 11:18 AM

I like the mesh idea, I may take my vents out all together and just have the mesh behind the "ram air scoop"

dcporsche99 · 12-04-2007, 12:10 PM

BTW, here's a link that might be useful for those with the earlier side vents (pre-'02) out there. Hope it's helpful! (re: I didn't have as much difficulty as the author did, but you definitely have to be careful when trying to remove them).

http://www.realtime.net/~rentner/Porsche/SideVents/SideVents.html

Hey Allen,
Hope your side vents turned out the way you wanted them to. Posts some pics.