I ordered one of the plastic covers for the brake reservoir of a RHD car. It was cheap, so shipping costs a bit of time, but I might get it later this week.

Old brake line is removed, new one is waiting for me at the dealer. Gave me some time to look at the parts on the wreck. I can't use that subframe is it has the additional bolts to the chassis. Was looking at that because one threaded hole in my subframe is damaged from removal of the bolt. Well, I think it was already damaged by the looks of the stuff that came out. Looks like it was glued in place. Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to repair the threads, or rather drill it out and tap it one size bigger.

The front ARB was removed from the wreck and this is the 24mm one. So I need to think which one to place on my car. Leaning towards the thicker one, accepting the increased understeer for the time, until I swap the rear one out. This does feel a bit better to me as I still need to get to know the car.

Also I looked at the wiring diagram of both cars. As far as I can see F7 (in the power distribution box) should not be present in my car. So I can either use this for the additional fuse required by the ABS, or I can use it for the power steering pump. My first thought is that it is most tidy to use it for the power steering and tap the additional ABS power from one of the unused fuses in the fusebox.

Little update on this project. I picked up the new brakes lines and some small clips and pieces at the dealer today.

First of, get the front brake line in place together with the new clips (one was broken on removal of the old line, the other looked poor as well). Also the small lines from MC to ABS unit were mounted.

Attachment 23817

The plastic cover for the RHD brake reservoir also arrived, so I could position it and see what it brings. Actually, quite a lot of space within this cover. Unfortunately though, not fitting the volvo pump. For this to work, I probably need a Jeep / Dodge pump or something alike. I'd also need to sort out where to take the line from the inside to the outside. Most likely run it across close to the ABS unit and drill some holes to feed it down from there.

Attachment 23818

The other idea in my mind required removal of the bumper cover. Easy enough, so off it went. I placed the third radiator for fitting and surely enough, no way to fit the power steering pump as well. However, without this third radiator, there is a lot of space to fit the pump:

Attachment 23819

And the position is perfect for a short hose to the steering rack, with a nice channel available for routing the hoses:

Attachment 23820

It looks like a no-brainer to mount it there. The only thing that doesn't feel right is that minor accidents which would normally only require a new bumper + cover will now likely slamp the pump into the frunk. Not a safety concern, but damage from small accidents can be quite more significant.

So open for input while I also let it rest for a moment to consider this. As it stands I'll either need to get myself a different pump and mount it under this RHD cover, or just go for front bumper cover location.

I would have retain the center cooling radiator for the V8 engine and install the electric power steering pump inside the frunk, IMHO you would need as much cooling capacity as you can get to cool a V8..

There are quite a few cars with the power steering pump mounted horizontally. I wonder why I couldn't do the same with a volvo pump (I'd need the one for external reservoir, but otherwise they are the same).

Horizontally, it would fit in the frunk, below the plastic trim piece, easily...

So, I've been thinking a bit. Seeing many conversions where people have put the pump in the wheel arch (most of the time in front of the wheel), why not do something similar?

So obviously the front is not going to work, it is already tight enough with the radiators there and some space for the air to flow.

But, at the rear of the drivers side front wheel, there is only the windscreen washer bottle. A quick look leads me to believe there is enough space to fit a power steering pump there. Still the rack is close, the reservoir can be put where we currently have the washer bottle filler neck.

Attachment 23821
Attachment 23822

If this all fits, I would then only have to find a washer bottle which I can mount, preferably, on the right side of the battery. That would leave the frunk nice and empty...

Any thoughts?

Managed to find some time to continue this story. Picked up a remanufactured steering rack for a good price at a specialist shop. So that'll go in once the other aspects are covered.

I made a 'bracket' out of some sheet aluminium I had around. Bend by hand and cut with some tin snips. It is now inserted in the same holes that normally hold the washer bottle (I had a spare washer bottle around from which I cut the pins that go into those holes). It is not perfect, but does allow me to continue measuring and fitting. I removed the reservoir of the pump as the remote reservoir units are only slightly larger than the bare pump itself.

Shot from below, so you can see where it might sit:
Attachment 23831

From the side a view of the top. I should be able to get the hose routed in to the remote reservoir (which would still be higher than the pump).
Attachment 23832

Not complete without trying to fit the liner back. As you can see I need to rotate the pump a bit (it is mainly the cut pressure line that pushes on the liner) and might need to move it up slightly more. Also it looks like I can reduce the tilt a bit. The bump in the liner looks significant, but that is partly due to it pushing the side away from the bodywork.
Attachment 23834

Christmas period is upon us shortly, but I hope I can make a few iterations and get it to fit. Hose routing doesn't seem too difficult (yet).

Played a bit more with positioning of the pump. It is a bit tight, but I'm quite positive it'll fit. So I ordered a pump with remote reservoir and which includes the volvo bracket and rubber suspension things. Maybe that helps a bit towards the final positioning and bracket.

Meanwhile I have taken the Boxter S cooland pipes out of the wreck as well as the coolant pipes out of my base car. I didn't quite imagine the difference would be so large:
Attachment 23835

Looking at the area of the pipes on left / right sides, it is a very significant difference:
Attachment 23836

Another thing I didn't realize is that basically everything between the engine and radiators is different in diameter. So not just these pipes and relevant hoses, but also the short pieces of pipe in the wheel wells and hoses to the radiators.

I'll keep my car double radiator for now, so I need to find two additional hoses (as I won't be using the T-junction hoses towards the third radiator). All other parts (including clamps / brackets etc.) I can just transfer from the wreck :cheers:

Mark, the pictures of the metal cooling pipes, one comes from a Base boxter and the other from the S model..? If so, then the difference is impressive!

Yes indeed, the black pipe is the base, the alu color one is the S.

Before I mount it back I'll put my caliper in, but seems at least three times the area.

Last update for this year. Still no V8 (which was expected ;) )

But progress on power steering. I received the remote reservoir volvo pump which unfortunately doesn't fit in the wheel well. The reservoir part on the pump is actually quite a bit larger than I expected, making it fit to high and doesn't allow the remote reservoir to be higher than the pump reservoir. So that option is out.

So next option is the Astra pump. Visually it looked like the pump is actually the same. And having seen the TRW branding of the actual pump (the Volvo one) made me expect that it actually is the same basic pump, but the Astra reservoir is much lower. Ordered an Astra pump.

Putting them side by side, the similarities are obvious;
Attachment 23837

Taking the reservoir of to compare internals, pretty much the same pump:
Attachment 23838

Looking at the reservoirs, it is amazing how much more compact the Astra reservoir is. So the size of the Volvo reservoir likely isn't for cornering loads, expansion or whather, just for a good fit in the chassis.
Attachment 23839

So finally, let's put the Astra reservoir on the Volvo pump and try to fit in the chassis. Height wise, no issues.
Attachment 23840

All good to fit the pump there. I'll need to work out the details for the hose routing. Two options I am thinking of:
1. Route them alongside the battery to the steering part, feed them down to where the original lines are.
2. Route them in the frunk towards the ABS unit and then down a bit. Feed them through there.

I intend to run the Volvo pump as the CAN messages are known and speed can be adjusted. But if the hose routing favors the Astra pump, I might as well use that one :D

Today I swapped the small coolant pipes and hoses on the drivers side for the Boxster S ones. Unfortunately I did have to remove the radiator again, but it is more of a hassle than actual work. So the upgrade is done on the drivers side, other side to go (missing two hoses and a few clips which I'll need to order).

Having done this gives a better view of power steering hose routing options. The wheel well is quite full already with this coolant lines, brake lines, clutch line, some wires. Also it gave me a third option for the steering lines.

1. As above, take the lines from the pump directly through the bulkhead to the battery compartment area. Then either route on the front side of the battery or more along the reinforcement bars on the wiper side. In any case, it needs to go the drivers side where they can go down through the sheet metal. On the bottom side of the car they would fit to the original hoses. No additional crossing this way and actually quite neat.

Drawback seems that the separation between battery compartment and frunk becomes more compromised. But in any case there is only a rubber cap between now. Previously this was used for the CD changer wiring.

2. Likely needs to be revisited a bit. The approach would be to route 'behind' the spare wheel towards the bottom of the frunk where the lines can feed through to the steering rack area. They'll need a 180deg bend there, so I'd need to get a set of the rack to AN6 adapters. Still neat and tidy underneath the car, but the frunk will be less clean that way.

3. The new option is to route in the frunk, behind the amp directly to the drivers side. There it can go horizontally through the sheet metal to the wheel well. 90deg bulkhead adapters or 90deg hose fittings would get the lines down towards the steering rack. However, they would need to be routed on the wheel side of the coolant pipes. Not so nice, cluttered and unknown for clearance to the wheel.

For now I do think option 1. is a good compromise. Already checked the length of original hose and it will easily make it to the top where a bulkhead adapter would be placed. I'll need to check a bit more on the battery compartment side tomorrow.

It looks like I can go through the side sheet metal at the brake booster. N