winter mini overhaul complete

[sam c.]

Finally about done with my mini winter project task list! Check it out:

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[sam c.]

Hmm not sure why it labeled the link as log in. Just a link over to my other post. Lol

[Paul]

Everyone but you gets your logon page....

[sam c.]

Glorious! Lol. OK, I guess I'll just start a thread here with the same info. Thanks, Paul!

[sam c.]

Ok guys, so here's the rundown of my mini overhaul from the other forum...

Here we go...
I figured I'd start a separate thread to document the Box's fairly minor overhaul over the last month or so.

It wasn't bad but was def a huge learning experience and I know a lot more about these cars then I did even just a few weeks ago. There are some things I really appreciate about this car but also a ton of things that I feel Porsche totally dropped the ball on. By that, I mean engineering decisions so rediculously inept, it was like Porsche farmed the engineering out to a group of special needs people or maybe a class of engineering students at some college somewhere - both of those being essentially the same thing in my experience.

Here's a picture of the car before starting

[sam c.]

I'm calling this minor overhaul #1 because next winter I plan on bring it back in and replacing the clutch again in addition to probably the wheel bearings and ROW 030 suspension conversion.

In the meantime, the other projects that still need done while enjoying it this summer is a 7" touch screen, new exhaust, new seats, and hopefully the electric PS pump install.

[sam c.]

Here's the MR2 PS pump that will go in the frunk next to the amp

[sam c.]

Here are the seats I'm leaning toward..

[sam c.]

There are similar style seats for less then half the price but I do like bride seats and they're pretty decent quality. I also like the hard back and side mount design. Its a little more sporty IMO though I recognize in this case its all personal preference since functionality and performance is essentially the same as any other seat.

[sam c.]

So anyway... what kicked the job off was the clutch went out late last fall. Initially, it wasn't really a clutch issue as much as the slave cylinder puking all the fluid out all over the ground. I replaced the slave cylinder, bleed the clutch and thought that would be the end of it. Not so. Still wouldn't shift in a usable manner. Bleed the clutch over and over trying to solve the issue. Started to look hard at the master cylinder but saw no indication of failure and am reluctant to just throw parts at a problem. Meanwhile, the seals gave out on the new slave cylinder. Replaced it under warantee. Still no real improvement and bleeding the clutch was still ineffective. Since it was about time to park it for winter anyway, I decided to park it and tackle some other more pressing projects.

About a month ago, I pulled the Box in to begin a mini makeover to get it ready for spring.

[sam c.]

The list of tasks that I wanted to tackle during this mini make over is as follows:
1) ims bearing
2) clutch
3) flywheel (maybe)
4) under drive pulley and belt
5) aos
6) water pump
7) low temp thermostat
8) sparkplugs
9) transmission fluid flush
10) repair a seam on the top (or replace the top if necessary)
11) install rear speakers
12) replace passenger side inner door panel
13) check brakes for wear and replace as necessary
14) paint the brake calipers
15) fix/replace anything broken etc.

[sam c.]

First thing was the ims bearing which required the removal of basically everything but the engine.

Everything removed and ready to drop the transmission

[sam c.]

[sam c.]

Found the clutch was destroyed. Not just at the end of its life but showing rivets and carving small grooves in the pressure plate and flywheel surface. It def had a nice long life. If I had to guess, I'd say it was the stock clutch with 90k miles on it.

[sam c.]

Also found the clutch fork destroyed. No wonder it wouldn't activate the clutch!

[sam c.]

Meanwhile, the stock flywheel needed at the very least resurfaced (which u can't - Porsche fully expects owners to fork over $700 to replace the flywheel). At this point also learned the stock flywheel is a dual mass setup that is ridiculously massive. I'm guessing Porsche had a bunch of steel left over and decided to dispose of it by adding it to the rotational mass of ever stock flywheel. In addition to that, the test for the elastic polymer separating the two masses of the flywheel is to twist it by hand. It should reach its strongest resistant point at about 15° twist before snapping back. My stock flywheel would twist to about 45° with zero resistance or snap back. It would just twist to a hard stop and then sit there.

For all intensive purposes, I had a super heavy single mass flywheel that just so happened to be sloppy as hell.

[sam c.]

At that point I started researching aluminum flywheels. I've always thought theres a lot more performance in the base boxsters and was very interested in realizing some gains and improved driving dynamics.

The best LWFW on the market is arguably fabricated by Aasco in southern California. However, just as I began researching LWFW, I came across what seemed to be mobs of angry Porsche owners whose flywheels caused catastrophic crank failures. Awesome.

[sam c.]

After a quick chat with Aasco engineers, any fears were eliminated and I placed an order with one of their distributors.

[sam c.]

At $650 the flywheel ended up being in the same price range as the stock flywheels.

[sam c.]

With the clutch and flywheel removed, it was time to tackle the IMS bearing. I decided to go with the Pelican bearing for $165 and keep the stock cover.



The stock cover has garbage casting. The more I'm into this car, the less impressed I am with Porsche. I'll probably replace the cover next winter with an updated cover/seal just because the casting was so ridiculously bad. Nice QA controls...



Add the price of the tools $200 and I was ready to go!