Go Back   986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners > Porsche Boxster & Cayman Forums > Boxster General Discussions

Post Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-03-2017, 11:18 PM   #1
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Norway
Posts: 192
High tensile steel components.

Are there any high tensile steel panels or structural parts on the 986? I'm building a track car and doing some welding and would like to know so I can make sure I don't accidentally weaken the body.

__________________
1990 944 Turbo
2007 Renault Clio RS 197 (Sold)
1998 Boxster 2.5L Track Day/ Race Car
2011 Mistubishi i-MiEV
Norway
Bebbetufs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2017, 11:23 PM   #2
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Visalia, Ca
Posts: 136
Most of the frame, suspension and supports are aluminum. There are some steel components but, overall it's aluminum and other alloys. Steel tends to add weight and effect handling overall.Keep in mind, the Boxster, out drove all comers on the track when introduced.
RobertKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2017, 11:28 PM   #3
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Norway
Posts: 192
Thanks. I should have made it clear that I was thinking about the cabin and the steel used in the body. Since it is a cab I thought they might have introduced high tensile steels in for example the door pillars, tunnel and floor to strengthen the passenger compartment.
__________________
1990 944 Turbo
2007 Renault Clio RS 197 (Sold)
1998 Boxster 2.5L Track Day/ Race Car
2011 Mistubishi i-MiEV
Norway
Bebbetufs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2017, 11:30 PM   #4
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Greater Seattle, WA
Posts: 534
Yes, the steel frame has a mixture of certain welded-together pieces being high-strength steel, with other welded together areas being lower strength. And there may even be mid-strength steel components also. There is somewhere a graphic which has the different areas color-coded, which perhaps someone will be able to find online, and link, and my memory of this is what I base these statements on. I believe the high-strength steel areas include at least some portion of the a-pillars, for example.

Edit: although it's a 987 ( 2006 model ), here's a picture showing the different alloys used in the different areas of the steel frame. I think it's likely that the 986 isn't too far off from the 987 design:
__________________
2001 Boxster

Last edited by jakeru; 10-03-2017 at 11:45 PM.
jakeru is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2017, 11:34 PM   #5
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Norway
Posts: 192
Thank you very much.
This is important information as one cannot weld or in any way heat these components as it will weaken them. Even heating with a torch or grinding is not allowed as far as I can tell from reading online.

It seems I had my search words wrong. I'm finding some information now.
However I can't find any of the 986. I'm not sure they've used the same steel types even though they mainly used the same moulds. Does anyone have an image of the 986?

And here's one for the 981.
__________________
1990 944 Turbo
2007 Renault Clio RS 197 (Sold)
1998 Boxster 2.5L Track Day/ Race Car
2011 Mistubishi i-MiEV
Norway

Last edited by Bebbetufs; 10-04-2017 at 12:14 AM.
Bebbetufs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2017, 07:09 AM   #6
Registered User
 
steved0x's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: FL
Posts: 4,144
Here is 986 Chassis, sorry that the resolution is so poor.

steved0x is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2017, 12:26 PM   #7
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Norway
Posts: 192
Thanks.
It is interesting to see that the tube reinforcements in the A-pillar does not extend down to the floor and sills. Nor is there a cross brace in the dash.
__________________
1990 944 Turbo
2007 Renault Clio RS 197 (Sold)
1998 Boxster 2.5L Track Day/ Race Car
2011 Mistubishi i-MiEV
Norway
Bebbetufs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2017, 01:10 PM   #8
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Norway
Posts: 192
I've flipped through the entire body section of the workshop manual. There are several examples of changing the high tensile steel components. The manual specifies using gas shielded plug welds, so flux core is probably too hot. The manual does not specify which filler metal to use.

No examples of welding the ultra-high strength parts can be found, so they are not repairable.

Based on this I assume regular filler wire and careful attention to heat management should work well when welding most panels on the car.

__________________
1990 944 Turbo
2007 Renault Clio RS 197 (Sold)
1998 Boxster 2.5L Track Day/ Race Car
2011 Mistubishi i-MiEV
Norway
Bebbetufs is offline   Reply With Quote
Post Reply



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:00 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page