Two somewhat dumb 986 Boxster questions

First, I know this isn't a car that can be daily driven, but it doesn't really take up any space or money I need for something else, and I probably won't buy something like this again.  I have worked on 70s-80s and simpler 90s vehicles but I have hated working on everything newer that I have owned because I just can't think hard enough to understand it.  But, I have a couple of dumb questions about trying to get this car working so I can either use or sell it.

1.  I live in CA so not having a front license plate is asking for regular tickets, and the car didn't come with a front plate bracket.  I bought one (along with the mounts, screws, etc), but how do you attach it to the bumper so when you tighten the screws the mounts don't just pop back out? 

2.  How do you put the serpentine belt back on?  The manual says to thread it around most of the pullies and the tensioner, use a socket or wrench to push the tensioner all the way loose and slide it over the last idler.  What actually happened was I put it around the pullies, loosened the tensioner as far as it would go, but the belt was too short to fit over the last pulley and while trying to pull it tight my hand holding the tensioner slipped and I punched the edge of the access hole behind the seat so hard I thought I broke my finger.  The new belt is the same length as the old one, so I am stuck there too because I am afraid to try it again and injure myself and I don't know what I would do different than the last time I tried anyway.

First off, I daily my 987 Cayman in the summer and have been from NH to CA 5 times in it.

Q1: How about a mount that screws into the tow hook socket? I have one on my Golf R and it is fine. Cheap too, I think I got mine at Walmart online.

Q2: can't help sorry. Try youtube or DM Javelin or AZZD(?) here. Or they may chime in.

Still never figured out #1, the apparent answer to #2 is to have someone else hold the tensioner and use the rubber handle of a ratchet to hammer the belt 3/4 of the way over the last idler and hope that's enough it will straighten out when I start the engine. 

A third question:  How do you snap the side marker lights back into the front bumper?  I took the bumper off to empty the leaves out of the radiator shrouds but when I try to snap the light back in the tip of the spring catches on the part that's supposed to hold it rather than sliding past it like it should.  I broke one of the original ones trying to get it in and I thought it was just too old and brittle, but I got a new one and I would have to force it hard enough I think the new one would break too. 

This car is incredibly annoying, but not really in the way that I expected before I bought it.  It's not the cost of the parts or finding them, I just can't understand how a lot of it is put together, and I don't have the strength in my hands to connect and disconnect a lot of the plugs and snap together bits.  I have daily driven cars that should have been way worse (Alfa Milano, Shelby Charger, 2 different high mileage W126 Mercedes, currently a Subaru with 500k miles, etc) and never been this annoyed by working on them.  I bought it knowing it had a bad starter, but that actually took way longer to remove the access panels than to change the starter, but I have been trying for months to finish some other basic preventative repairs (AOS, motor mount) and service the cooling system long enough that I bought it May 2021 and have never even needed to put gas in it lol.

I noticed the post today and did a quick walk around the driveway when the temperature cooled in the evening. This may ...or may not be helpful.

Thanks, that was definitely helpful.  I got the side marker light to go in without breaking it so that's helpful.  The belt looked far easier than it was to put on mine, I for sure could not do it myself, and it was very difficult to get on even with someone else holding the tensioner. 

I am not sure what to do on the license plate bracket though, because apparently they changed it at some point to use these instead:  https://www.5150motorsport.com/products/porsche-front-license-plate-bracket-spacer-right-front-996-701-802-00

But, they don't stay in the bumper.  Do you have any extras of the style you showed in your video?  The spacer like in that link above does not even fit even though that's what they sell for it now.

I can send you a couple of those, or you may find them as part number: 99950704040 (#22 in the diagram).

Also, as Preach suggested, you may prefer to get a plate bracket that mounts to the socket for the tow hook. Here's one on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/1996-2004-Porsche-Boxster-License-Bracket/dp/B01BEIG9ZG/

Hmm, it looks like the white parts that snap into the bumper are still easily available, but the rest aren't.  It seems to be superceded by the 996 bracket and that's what I bought and doesn't fit.  If you had a whole bracket of the style in that pic you would sell for not much more than the price of the Amazon one I would be interested, otherwise I will just have to do the tow hook style instead I think.

In reply to Tk8398 :

I don't have any brackets left. The last one I had went with a car I sold to someone in Texas. No need for a front plate here in Oklahoma.

I *might* have a front plate bracket. There was one on my car when I bought it, but I may have thrown it away. As an alternative, you can have a decal made, which is supposedly legal.

As for the serpentine belt, I replaced mine and I don't recall anything particularly difficult about it. I'm sure I watched a Youtube video first, probably the one that Jon posted above.

YouTube is your friend for the questions you are asking. I used to own a 2002 986 Boxster, and they are weird and different cars. But once you get used to them, they are actually really well designed (except for the notorious IMS bearing, of course) and are relatively easy to work on if you don't mind crawling around underneath the car. The quality of the car is noticeably better than average, too. Those Finn's do know how to assemble a German car!