Spec Boxster Build - Page 40 - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

thstone · 02-23-2017, 04:16 PM

Well, the best that I can say is that it could have been worse.

But with that being said, there is still a LOT of damage that needs to be repaired and as you all know, parts and labor isn't exactly cheap and it all adds up faster than one might imagine.

The chassis looks fine but will be checked by a body shop to confirm it's ok. The front hood looks ok too (kind of amazing). The right front suspension is destroyed: adj LCA broke the bolts on the chassis side and snapped cleanly away at the hub. Drop link snapped off at upper mount and tore from lower heim joint. Track arm severely bent. Inner-outer tie rods bent. PSS9 shock may be bent. Right front fender heavily damaged and fender inner liner mostly gone. Both radiators need replacement along with mounting brackets and plastic air ducts. Front bumper cover was in two pieces. Rear suspension cracked. Fuel filler cover gone. Fuel filler tube crushed. Etc...

My primary sponsor (my wonderful wife) gave the go-ahead for the repairs and parts are being ordered as I type. The goal is to get the car back on the track in time for the March 11-12 races at Buttonwillow.

Pics of the car up on the rack for inspection.

Front suspension damage. The right front wheel was pushed back almost to the rear of the wheel well and in doing so, destroyed all of the right front suspension. Coolant lines look ok - both radiators broke off at the upper and lower hose attachments (which are plastic). Front chassis appears fine.

Front suspension is missing LCA and sway bar drop link. Everything else bent. Chassis rail looks straight and appears undamaged but will need to be checked.

Lower control arm snapped off at ball joint/hub.

thstone · 02-23-2017, 04:17 PM

...photo's continued...

Fuel filler tube crushed.

Left front damage consists of radiator, rad bracket, and plastic ducting.

Right rear quarter panel and taillight damage. Nothing too serious, should be repairable by body shop.

Right rear suspension subframe cracked just below the adjustable rear toe link mount.

JayG · 02-23-2017, 04:21 PM

The Tow hook looks fine :dance:

The rest, no problem. It will buff out

2 weeks to repair and back on the track? Wow, that's pretty fast (just like you

)

Could have been a lot worse with you getting damaged

thstone · 02-23-2017, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayG

The Tow hook looks fine...

That was exactly what the tow truck driver at the track said as he was hooking up the car to drag it onto the flatbed....

thstone · 02-23-2017, 06:02 PM

Front end and suspension teardown mostly complete and starting to get it back together!

The right front PSS9 was bent so it will need replacement. They seem to be sold only in kits of 4 so if anyone knows of a single used PSS9, please let me know. For now, they are using an old base shock in the strut.

thstone · 02-24-2017, 03:59 PM

More progress today!

All of the damaged parts removed. The door jamb, firewall, and front tub appear nice and straight. Coolant lines and brake lines were still intact. Caliper and hub appear fine.

Radiators replaced and engine running fine. Inner/outer tie rods replaced. Control arm replaced. Stock strut used as a stand-in until a replacement PSS9 is found.

The fuel filler tube is pretty mangled!

PGas32 · 02-25-2017, 04:43 AM

Wow, that's a quick turn around! I'm glad the car was salvageable and the damage actually not too extensive, given the size of the hit.

rastta · 02-25-2017, 07:09 AM

Yeah - I'm surprised the damage wasn't more extensive. Glad to see you getting it turned around so quickly.

thstone · 02-25-2017, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PGas32

Wow, that's a quick turn around!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rastta

Glad to see you getting it turned around so quickly.

Pro Motorsports in Burbank is a great shop and the co-owner/mechanic Tyson Schmidt is nothing short of a Porsche genius.

jaykay · 02-26-2017, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thstone

More progress today!

All of the damaged parts removed. The door jamb, firewall, and front tub appear nice and straight. Coolant lines and brake lines were still intact. Caliper and hub appear fine.

Radiators replaced and engine running fine. Inner/outer tie rods replaced. Control arm replaced. Stock strut used as a stand-in until a replacement PSS9 is found.

The fuel filler tube is pretty mangled!

Those Rennline studs didn't budge!

seningen · 02-26-2017, 11:09 AM

All things considered - that looks great!!!

Try rennlist as well for the used PSS9's surely, someone broke a different corner :-)

Mike

thstone · 02-26-2017, 05:18 PM

Here is some video from Willow Springs - there was a lot of good racing prior to the incident that I'll be posting this week.

This is the opening lap of Race #2 as the Boxster Spec field comes thru the Turn 3 left hander and up the hill to the T4 right at the top of the Omega...

thstone · 02-27-2017, 04:00 PM

Repair Update:

All of the major parts have been delivered so there has been a lot of progress today!

The radiator brackets and rubber ducting has been installed on both sides...

A replacement PSS9 was installed along with a new 996 GT-3 adjustable lower control arm + new shims (which are ridiculously expensive). The top shock mount was also replaced (more on the damaged parts below). A new Tarrett drop link mount has been installed on the shock and the drop link itself will be installed when everything else is complete. The front suspension subframe was found to be loose at the LCA mount so the subframe will also be replaced.

thstone · 02-27-2017, 04:10 PM

Some notes about the damaged parts...

The old radiator had about 20% of the cooling fins bent over to the extent where little to no air was going through that portion of the core. This isn't from the accident, this is just from 5 years of track debris hitting the radiator and slowly but surely bending over the fins. The new rad's should cool a bit better!

The upper threaded portion of the old PSS9 was bent and the entire shaft was bent (through its not really visible to the naked eye) such that the shock would only compress about 50% of its length and then bind up.

The top shock mount was also bent...

JayG · 02-27-2017, 04:41 PM

Moving along fast!!

You will be back on the track very soon

WorkInProgressK · 02-27-2017, 08:29 PM

!!!!Awesome!!!! Can't wait to see you race again!

Topless · 02-27-2017, 09:07 PM

You got lucky Tom with much less severe damage than I expected. Yay! Looking forward to seeing you back out there again.

thstone · 02-27-2017, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayG

You will be back on the track very soon

Quote:

Originally Posted by WorkInProgressK

!!!!Awesome!!!! Can't wait to see you race again!

Thanks, I hope to be back on the track in only 10 days! Practice next Friday and Sat/Sun races at Buttonwillow.

thstone · 02-27-2017, 09:52 PM

The process is right here on the car...

jakeru · 02-27-2017, 11:31 PM

Hey Tom, nice repair work. You might want to consider mounting the helper/tender spring up top, with main spring down below. The reason is to reduce unsprung weight.

Keep up the good work. Can't believe you're going for a 2-week turnaround on this! Doesn't it take about that long to dial-in the alignment settings?

Hope everything gets pulled straight so you can get the right alignment characteristics!