Spec Boxster Build

[thstone]

Ok, been busy lately at work and at the racetrack!

Turns out that I don't have any video from Buttonwillow and I don't have any video from the races at Willow Springs! Damn!

I am not sure what the problem is but video recording is intermittent - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't (with more doesn't than does).

I am digging into my TraqMate data system to figure out what is going on there.

Regardless, racing at Willow Springs two weeks ago with the POC was great but the competition was brutal. I qualified 4th with a 1:34.7 but the current points leader, Alex Bermudez, went out and set a new BSR/SPB track record at 1:32.0! That is blazing fast for a 200hp car with no aero and DOT legal tires.

For the record;

Race 1: Started 4th, finished 5th of 8 cars
Race 2: Started 4th, finished 6th of 10 cars

Overall, I raced well but I just don't have the speed of the front runners. To address this, first, I plan to spend time practicing at WSIR to work on my times. While I may not have the skill to get into the 1:32's, I should be able to get into the low 1:33's which would make me much more competitive.

Second, I plan to drop as much weight out of the car as I can over the holidays since I am still 40-50 lbs heavy and that is like towing an anchor.

On the good side, there is a lot of very close, competitive, wheel to wheel racing to be had in the middle of the pack! In the second race, I did almost a half lap side-by-side another car the entire time - neither of us was willing to give up the spot without a battle! In terms of racing, this type of experience is much more rewarding then time trialling at the front of the field all by yourself (boring!).

At least, that I what I like to tell myself!

[thstone]

I also have a fairly long list of season end maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to do;

1. New brake pads and rotors
2. Tranmission fluid change
3. Oil and filter change
4. 2-qt deep sump and horizontal baffle install (Pedro's Technosump)
5. Fix intermittent video camera operation
6. Add engine compartment fan manual switch
7. Reduce weight of car by 40 lbs
8. Reduce weight of driver by 10 lbs (trying to be realistic!)
9. Replace safety harness (5-yr replacement due)
10. Upgrade to a full containment racing seat (safer)
11. Upgrade center dash panel with carbon fiber wrap and aerospace grade switches/controls
12. Fill in car numbers to be solid (the outline numbers can be hard for corner workers to read)
13. New racing gloves (worn out)
14. New helmet (over 100 track days and the inside is pretty gross)

This should keep me busy!

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by thstone

10. Upgrade to a full containment racing seat (safer)

Two weekends ago I was at a track day and a gentleman had two of the "Bimarco Grip" FIA Halo seat installed in his Subie.

He had the version with the leather wear patch on the bolsters:
Bimarco Grip Racing Rally Bucket Seat FIA NASA Approved Leather Enhancements | eBay

There is a slightly less expensive version without the wear patch:
Bimarco Grip Racing Rally Bucket Seat FIA NASA Approved WRC | eBay

I am 6'2" with a tallish torso and 36" waist, 230# and I fit this seat perfectly. I have also sat in their Bimarco Futura and it was just a tiny bit tighter in the waist, but then I think I lost about 10# since then. My understanding is that if a person buys two they can put it in one box and save on shipping, but that may be just the non-halo seats which can be flipped and nested together.

If I ever go to a full containment seat, and I can't find a smoking deal on the Recaro XL Halo seat (another one that fits me perfectly) I will probably get this one.

Sparco also makes what I believe is called an "Ergo" - it is a halo seat with removable halo wings for street driving. I have seen several sets of these and they look very sharp.

Looking forward to the next write-up, should be a big one with all your upcoming projects

Steve

[ianacole]

That's a good list. You going to go with red or white number fill? My opinion, since you're not asking , would be red.

Would love to see what you end up with the switches. I've been evaluating options on that front.

[thstone]

Selecting a new racing seat was a lot more complex than I had originally imagined!

Steve, thanks for all of the suggestions; I took at look at each seat that you mentioned and found many, many more on my own. Sheesh, there are a lot of seats out there.

In the end, I bought a Sparco Ergo halo seat with the removable wings in case they need to be removed for the drive to/from the track. I got a good deal on it at $695 with free shipping.

One reason for staying with Sparco is that I am hoping to be able to re-use the existing mount/slider from my Sparco Pro2000 Plus seat.

Looking at new harnesses next...

Install pic's coming over the holidays!

[JayG]

Originally Posted by thstone

Selecting a new racing seat was a lot more complex than I had originally imagined!

Steve, thanks for all of the suggestions; I took at look at each seat that you mentioned and found many, many more on my own. Sheesh, there are a lot of seats out there.

In the end, I bought a Sparco Ergo halo seat with the removable wings in case they need to be removed for the drive to/from the track. I got a good deal on it at $695 with free shipping.

One reason for staying with Sparco is that I am hoping to be able to re-use the existing mount/slider from my Sparco Pro2000 Plus seat.

Looking at new harnesses next...

Install pic's coming over the holidays!

Merry Christmas to me

[thstone]

Getting ready to order solid numbers - what color do you like best; Gold, Yellow, or Red?

[BruceH]

I like the Gold, it seems to flow better with the rest of the lettering. The red gets lost and the yellow just doesn't match the as well as the gold does. Just one man's opinion.

[rastta]

Gold looks good!

[Chuck W.]

Yeah, I have to go with gold too. Is there a significance to your numbers "254"? Or, are you assigned the numbers?

[thstone]

Originally Posted by Chuck W.

Yeah, I have to go with gold too. Is there a significance to your numbers "254"? Or, are you assigned the numbers?

Generally, POC and PCA let you pick the number of your choice out of the numbers that are not already in use. Each club has guidelines pertaining to maintaining your number and changing numbers.

Of course, 001 is in high demand and 666 is not.

In my case, 54 is a number that I have used in various ways over the many years, but 054 was already in use as well as 154. So, 254 was the next logical choice.

[steved0x]

413 is my wife's birthday and also her favorite scripture, Philippians 4:13. I use that number in an attempt to take some of the heat off when I go to a track event

[steved0x]

I like Gold, the red is hard to read.

[thstone]

While no video was recored during the last races at Willow Springs, I did get a few nice photos;


A pack of snarling Boxster's coming up the omega into Turn 4...


Close competition is the name of the game in Spec Boxster racing...


Nice side shot ...


On the grid, waiting to go out...

[thstone]

Back to oil starvation.... I decided to go with a 2 qt deep sump and the EBS X-51 style baffle to reduce the risk of oil starvation. I looked at the Accusump kits and I am still not convinced that they address the oil starvation issue any better than a deep sump while the cost and installation effort for the Accusump system is quite a bit higher.

I started with Pedro's TechnoSump kit which includes everything needed except the EBS baffle; sump extension, oil pickup extension, oil return extensions, horizontal baffle, vertical baffle spacers, longer sump bolts, sump sealant, and MOST IMPORTANT, a sealant tube winder/key so I can get the dang sealant out of the tube!

Thanks to Steve (steved0x) for the EBS baffle. Even though I already have an EBS baffle in my car, having having another one let me build up the entire assy prior to dropping my sump.



As you can see, the horizontal baffle is pre-cut for the factory sump baffle not the EBS unit. Thus, I will have to do a little modding of the horizontal baffle (see pen lines in last photo) so the EBS unit mounts flush on top of the horizontal baffle. This means enlargement of the pickup/return area and cut outs for the orange rubber coated oil dams.

[thstone]

After doing some research this evening, I found that some other horizontal trays have holes drilled to allow the return oil to flow directly into the extended sump (see image below).

However, this would somewhat appear to defeat the purpose of the horizontal baffle by allowing oil to pour out of the deep sump onto the top of the baffle during hard cornering.

On the other hand, it seems that dumping the oil on the top of the horizontal baffle would be ok for one side (oil wold flow into the center thru the doors of the vertical baffle) but on the other side the oil would pool on the top of the horizontal baffle.

It seems that the key is to get the oil from the returns into the deep sump while minimizing the size of the holes that might allow oil to get past and onto the top of the horizontal baffle.

[steved0x]

Those look like holes to allow the original swirl pots to clear the horizontal tray. I think they will be mostly filled by the protruding bottoms of the swirl.pots? If those are to allow oil to pass imo they are too big.

I think mantis has small holes drilled in their horz tray.

[spendy]

Photo on Mantis site shows row of small dia holes in the plate Steve is talking about:

1998 - 2008 Oil Sump Extension Kit - 2.0 L Race Version

[steved0x]

I used the 9x7 version of the oil return tubes. My understanding is they return the oil faster than the 986 version, at the possible expense of the defoaming effect of the 986 version, which is offset by the extra 2 quarts of oil.

[jaykay]

The horizontal baffle is commonly referred to as a windage tray....as far as I know. Mantis have had this in their set up for long while. I think it is a very key design feature. I have big holes in my Mantis tray for swirl pots. I don't recall having any other holes so the oil is trapped. Return is facilitated via the open centre....I hope this is enough.

Tom will have the larger older style diameter swirl pots....so this is why you see two big holes to allow the pots to go through. I have heard of Caymans going back to this style for more de foam action. You definately want to return oil to the trapped volume underneath where the pick up will be.....otherwise there will be a problem