Disassembled Boxsters and stalled projects

[TNT79Bronco]

Thought I would see who else shares in my misery! I currently have TWO M96 projects that are going on, and both are stalled in various stages of restoration. I have a 2000 - 986 and a 1999 996 Convertible. Nothing really monumental is stopping me from moving forward, just have to get re-motivated. Both of them involve engine work. Right now, each of them has heads that need to get installed and then put back in the car.

Who else has projects, that could use a good kick in the butt to get going again?

Good luck all!

[Allegro]

Not me. Everything I start I fin

[Qingdao]

I do my projects one at a time. Or at least I really try to do it that way.

Currently have a Boxster on jack stands, but only because it is supposed to be there.

Although I will admit I was avoiding working on it today (my day off), and now that you say something I might as well get back in the garage. Thanks for the prod.

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by Allegro

Not me. Everything I start I fin

HAHA! Good one, Alle

[78F350]

This thread needs Pics...



For me, having a purpose for the project gives me motivation and a pace. Building for an event is fun for me and usually goes well. Buying a project car just because it looked cool at the time leads to 'stall'. My 2000 S project car was mostly intended as a track car for DE, so that I wouldn't worry about damaging one of my 'street' cars. Along the way, there were changes in my schedule and family issues that made spending weekends at the track a lot less appealing. I did have fun with it on the track and learned a lot from working on it.



The car itself and a part that I had fabricated for it were also very disappointing. Eventually it sat under a cover for a year without moving. About a month ago, I decided that it would be better as a parts donor for other projects that I enjoy more. It's behind the garage now slowly being pulled apart and integrated into other cars or sold.



Project cars are too easy for me to buy and I always have a few at once. With all the parts I have stocked up for Porsche/Audi/VW there's hardly room in the garage to work on one car. To keep some measure of control on it, I have a rule: One has to now go before a new one comes in. I recently sold a project '91 Golf and hauled off the shell of a Boxster to scrap. My current project car plan is: Red '97 is prime right now, '81 Scirocco in the Spring, $2000 Challenge car in the Summer. That's the plan anyway.

[Qingdao]

The 2.5 should be out tomorrow.

[MrBen]

Just a heads up I personally knew 2 people that died while working on cars supported by cinder blocks for what it's worth

[WizardSmokey]

Stalled while waiting on some custom parts to get made. I've been assured it'll only be another two or three weeks. (grumble grumble...)

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by MrBen

Just a heads up I personally knew 2 people that died while working on cars supported by cinder blocks for what it's worth

Yeah, great call, MrBen. That looks scary to me, too! I'd use blocks of wood instead. Or at the very least, put some pieces of 2x10's on top of the blocks so they can distribute the weight of the jack stands. Those sharp edges on the stands' feet can easily split that brittle block. They are like the chisel and the weight of the car is like a hammer.

This video should send chills down the spine of anyone who uses concrete blocks like that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWctsFnUPQI

[itsnotanova]

My stalled project list

1978 911sc wide body RSR clone. First it was going to have a mid engine VR6 then that switched to an Audi 2.7TT. Now I'm thinking AWD electric. Started it 9 years ago

1968 F100 with 7.3 diesel motor. Started on it 8 years ago

2001 Dakota trail rig/rock crawler. I converted the front to a dana 60 with a three link suspension. The back has a dana 70. I also converted it from a manual to an automatic. This one is actually close to being done but it's sat untouched for the last 2-3 years

My current boxster has a 3.4 in it but I have an audi 2.7tt with a cayman 6 speed waiting to go in it.

I also have two rallycross race cars that have jumped all of the others and take most of my free time and $$ up

[Qingdao]

Did not know that about cinder blocks.

Well re-vised the lift situation and dropped an engine.





I guess I do have two stalled projects.

When my wife and I moved into our house we bought a Honda Elite 50 (pretty much needs an engine)… Three years latter its still sitting in the shed just waiting for motivation or need.

I also made a foundry. I was trying to cast a 2 pounder cannon like a swivel gun. After several failed attempts I've moth balled the idea for a couple of years. Kinda gonna move on to making a smaller bore hand held cannon or a blunderbuss. But the foundry sits in my garage taking up space.

[maytag]

Originally Posted by Qingdao

I also made a foundry. I was trying to cast a 2 pounder cannon like a swivel gun. After several failed attempts I've moth balled the idea for a couple of years. Kinda gonna move on to making a smaller bore hand held cannon or a blunderbuss. But the foundry sits in my garage taking up space.

kinda jelly..... I've wanted to have a foundry to mess-around with ever since Jr. H.S., when we got to play for a couple of weeks.

[Qingdao]

Originally Posted by maytag

kinda jelly..... I've wanted to have a foundry to mess-around with ever since Jr. H.S., when we got to play for a couple of weeks.

I was going to re-start that project before buying a Porsche for my "project", but my current car was on the market for SOO cheap I couldn't resist. It just pushed the foundry project back... Again.

I guess I can see the foundry as a tool because I can make simple parts from aluminum easy enough (coil brackets, heat sinks, bushing, etc). Aluminum melts at such a low temp its easier to pour it by yourself.

Liquid bronze on the other hand is like dealing with something strait from hell. The first time I cast anything with bronze I used a cardboard box to hold the sand for the mold. When the crucible got about a foot away from the box the box caught fire. 2900* F doesn't seem hot until you experience it.


They are super easy to make if you have some welding ability. Just get an oil drum (I used an old oil caddy because I work at a shop and we had a junk one). Cut a hole in the bottom for an exhaust pipe to fit in. Weld that exhaust pipe in place. Then fill the inside with fire bricks and morter made from plaster (the stuff you make paper mache out of). For the top just cut a hole in the top of the oil drum to exhaust the heat and make sure you coat the top with some fiberglass heat mat (you can get it from Ebay by the roll). Then all you need is fuel and air. I use a blow dryer and propane.

The extraction tools and pouring tools are the only other part that you need to make. Just some scrap iron works well. I guess if I was an actual producer of parts I'd get some kind of ceramic coated stuff, but for a backyard hobiest mild steel is fine.

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by Qingdao

Did not know that about cinder blocks.

Well re-vised the lift situation and dropped an engine.

MrBen may well have saved your life. Good job on pulling the motor! :dance:

I've pulled many Subie motors, but never a Boxster and hope I won't have to. haha! Wishful thinking, I know!

Keep us posted on your progress!

[Qingdao]

Originally Posted by piper6909

MrBen may well have saved your life. Good job on pulling the motor! :dance:

I've pulled many Subie motors, but never a Boxster and hope I won't have to. haha! Wishful thinking, I know!

Keep us posted on your progress!

Its easier to pull the motor than you're thinking. I've helped my buddy pull a few subie engines (he had a thing for the foresters), and I can say its easier than those engines. Once you get past the exhaust and the C.V. axles the engine just drops strait down without any fuss.



Unfortunately I think this Porsche project has hit a "stall". Kennedy doesn't make an adaptor for a latter model 4.3 with an aluminum oil pan like the one I plan on using. There is some conflict with the starter motor.

If they make an adaptor for an early model 4.3 I guess I can get an older 4.3 and work with that, but the latter one works SOO well. I mean to say all the accessories are in the right spots, the supercharger fits PERFECT on the LIM of the late model engine, and coolant line placement; just everything is right on... except the adaptor plate.

[WizardSmokey]

Kennedy doesn't make an adaptor for a latter model 4.3 with an aluminum oil pan like the one I plan on using. There is some conflict with the starter motor.

Kennedy can custom make adapters and custom clutches and flywheels for just abut anything, if you've got the time and money. They're finishing up quite a project for me right now. What's the conflict with the starter? Is the starter for the 4.3 transmission mounted?

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by Qingdao

Its easier to pull the motor than you're thinking. I've helped my buddy pull a few subie engines (he had a thing for the foresters), and I can say its easier than those engines. Once you get past the exhaust and the C.V. axles the engine just drops strait down without any fuss.

That's good to know, because I can pull a Subie motor in less than 2 hours.

[Qingdao]

Originally Posted by WizardSmokey

Kennedy can custom make adapters and custom clutches and flywheels for just abut anything, if you've got the time and money. They're finishing up quite a project for me right now. What's the conflict with the starter? Is the starter for the 4.3 transmission mounted?

They use a proprietary starter that mounts on the adaptor plate. Where they position it the starter hits the aluminum oil pan.

The 4.3 uses like the same bolt pattern starter location like the LS and SBC.

[RedTele58]

Among my many projects is my '84 928S that I've finally started on after it followed me home a couple of years ago.

As much as I love my fleet of Boxsters, the early/mid '80s 928S cars are, and have always been, my favorite Porsche. The first 928 I saw in 1978, new on the dealer floor, absolutely blew me away. I drove by the Porsche dealer twice a day back and forth to college from '81-'85 and made every excuse I could to stop by and drool over them.

My '84 is a total restoration project. I could find a driver for much less than I'll have in this car, but this car has a draw to me that's hard to describe. It's not an easy project, but not impossible. It's the exact challenge I need at this point in my life.

It hasn't been on the road in 15 years and sat neglected in the PO's parents driveway for that entire time, baking in the Oklahoma sun, with Grandma occasionally gave it a love tap with her Buick as she pulled past it.

Right now I'm completely rebuilding the fuel system from the gas tank to the injectors and refreshing the electrical system from front to back. One saving grace to this project is the entire electrical system is untouched. Not a single cut wire, splice or half-assed add on. Even the factory Blaupunkt radio and speakers have never been fiddled with.

The 928 forum on Rennlist is an absolute encyclopedia of knowledge and guys that know every nut and bolt on these cars. There's numerous detailed write-ups of bringing these cars back to life after sitting for 10-15 years, so I'm confident it can be done. Lot's ahead of me, but it's only time and money.