[itsnotanova]

About a little over a month ago I invited my friends on facebook to join me at an event and they could drive whatever car I wasn't. Forum member Senigen decided to come out and give it a try. He looked a little nervous but was eager to get in the boxster and give it a try. He had a long history of DE, porsches and recently spec boxster racing, so I was confident in handing him the keys. He went out there and drove respectfully for his first time. With every run he improved. My other friend brought his rallycross boxster too but was having issues with his boxster. He's decided to try driving mine so he could compare the two. Senigen made his 6th run and my friend jumped in after Senigen pulled in. My friend pulled up to the starting line and took off. About 75 feet down the track the rear wheels locked up and the car wouldn't restart. I ran down and helped push it off the track. The boxster was done for the day. After the race we tried jump starting it as we towed it back to the trailer but the damage was done. The motor was seized. I haven't taken it apart to see what happen internally but I suspect the abuse of overheating it this past summer caught up to it and the crank bearings gave up. These motors don't like being overheated. So the car sat while I got enough motivation to replace the motor. I had a 2.7 out of a 2000 that I've been sitting on for two years now. The car was bought non-running, partially dismantled and missing the transmission. I suspected the motor was still good and looked clean inside. I took a gamble and decided to try using that motor. While I was replacing the motor, I decided to try some performance experiments and upgrades. First on the list was a semi-solid engine mount. I just replaced the rubber mount a few months ago. When I was removing the blown engine, I noticed that the replacement rubber mount was already splitting. I also decided to use some upgraded transmission mounts I had laying around. Here's where the experiment begins. I've also decided to throw a 3.4 intake/throttle body on it. I suspect I might lose some low end torque but gain a significant amount of horsepower up high. I'm rarely below 3000rpm, so HP matters more than TQ to me. I've put a 3.4 intake on a 3.2 before and didn't notice any difference between a 3.2 motor with a 3.4 intake and a 3.4 motor with a 3.4 intake. I did that experiment on my street boxster a few years back. I'm curious to see how the 2.7 responds to the same intake.


This time I wanted to do things a little different. Last time I followed Pelican Parts 101 things to do to a boxster. I used the 996 fuel rails last time and to this day I regret it. It has you spicing into the stock fuel line and to me that's a fail point that one day come loose and start a fire. This time I used the 986 fuel rail and it was much easier and safer. I modified some hose clamps to hold the fuel rail to the aluminum 996 intake runners.

Another difference was that I need the bottom of the motor to sit at the same height as with the 986 intake. With the type of racing I do, I don't need the motor any lower than it already is. Being a race car, I don't mind hacking up some sheet metal. As you can see in the pictures, the intake sits higher than the engine cover and I now have the air filter and maf sensor inside the trunk. I plan on boxing in the filter and drawing air from above the trunk. Here's some photos of the new engine cover getting built. The first pic is the cover cut for clearance. I then covered the motor with three towels (for clearance) and then a sheet of plastic. I then plan on laying fiberglass over that.