Actually, I was quite surprised to find that the bulkhead itself between the trunk and engine compartment was quite thin. No way it was structural. The bottom of it, however, is quite beefy and very structural.

It seems like most of the side-to-side rigidity is provided by the lower bar (black in the above picture, kinda hard to see) and the upper crossbar (Pink, quite easy to see), as well as the two bottom bars that run across the lower suspension (Not pictured, but they're on the very bottom of the suspension).

I'm still working on the actual blueprinting for the engine mounts, but it will definitely run all the way across, and provide as much rigidity as I can without making it too complicated/heavy. I might do an additional strut tower top bar, not sure yet.

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Haven't been able to really get in the garage for a while now, mostly due to work.

We got the engine to set in place today. Blown away with how well it fits.

Extremely cool!

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trans is back in. Not mounted, just bolted to the engine and sitting on a jack. Figured out a mounting system, and eyeballed the axle angles. Bit more than I wanted, but not too bad.

Motor's in and bolted down. The second picture shows the rear support for the transmission. All fabricated by us. If you wanna know how to mount a Ferrari F136 in a Boxster, here ya go.

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I guess I've forgotten to update here. Gotten a lot done, too much to list. Got some pictures, though!

First up: This is the ridiculous flywheel/clucth setup to mate the F136 to the G86 trans.
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Next up: exhaust. OEM Maserati headers, 3" the rest of the way back.


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Needed to add some clearance for the axles.


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Now we're getting down to the gritty stuff. Working on the wiring is the biggest roadblock at the moment. It's nearly impossible to find the Maserati wiring diagrams so we can attach the Haltech wiring harness to all the sensors correctly.

Do upload an exhaust sound clip whenever you’re finished!

I love this thread! Haha.

Where did you possibly find a clutch and adapter for this combination?

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

The clutch, flywheel setup, and adapter kit was all custom made by Kennedy Engineered Products, in central California. They do some really mind blowing stuff.

That is pretty awesome!

Man I love this! How much weight do you think you cut out?

Honestly, I don't think I cut all that much out. Maybe 20-30 lbs or so.

I’m worried about drive axle angle. It looks pretty severe, I know the LS swaps struggle with even the slightest angle, the axles fail. Is the angle as bad as it looks?

While I’m armchair quarterbacking I’m also a little worried about the transmission support you’re using. It looks like you’re using the rear muffler mount on the transmission to support the transmission / back half of the engine. The mount it’s self looks great but those aluminum posts on the transmission that hold up the exhaust are very weak. They commonly break holding just the muffler. I would think under a launch the weight of the transmission and engine along with the torque of the engine trying to rotate would easily snap the aluminum posts.

Is there an angle associated with this? I've been nervous about this in my build since the beginning (not nervous enough to stop). I figure there are ways (less than scrupulous) to fix this issue.

As for my trans I'm about an inch back from stock. I don't know if that is gonna cause any issues.

I’ve heard the general rule of thumb is 3 degrees max. The Boxster S has some axle angle so a little angle should be fine depending on how much power you have. A lowered car can get away with a little more than stock since it has less vertical angle.

Lowered car or raised trans ;)

Thats the kind of less than scrupulous redneckery I plan on doing if I have axle issues. That and moving around rear geometric things like spindle placement. I don't think I'm gonna have to do such things as my engine isn't as big as a V8, but time will tell.

At least in my case for the moment both axles fit to the gear box fine, and spin round without any binding or anything. I could only simulate what the car would be like on the road with a jack under the spindles.


EDITED:

Because my engine is still being machined I have to rely on old stock photos, but it looks like my trans is farther forward than the OP's.

Trans positioning has had me worried from the get go on this project of mine. I think the OP is gonna have his done long before I finish mine. He's just got more room to work on things :D

Maybe I’m thinking about this wrong but wouldn’t raising the trans increase the angle and make the problem worse (unless the car is very very low)?

haha; yeah you're right. I guess I didn't have my head on strait; then I thought about it. :D

I shoulda said the trans can be moved up, down, for or aft to accommodate better angles.

Hello, gentlemen! Apologies for taking so long to get back. Been busy.

Regarding the axle angle, yes, it's a bit extreme, but I'm confident it'll work. And by work, I mean it's going to obliterate the 156k mile stock axles and we get custom units that can handle the power and angle.

Regarding the transmission mounting points, we did think about the muffler mounting bolts as being a potential weak point, but I'm convinced that we'll end up with 3 1/2 neautral gears before we have to worry about the bolts on the back breaking out. Or we'll just snap the whole case in half. Whatever comes first.

In other news, the engine cranked over for the first time last night. Didn't fire, as there's still no tuning or anything to the ECU. but it showed signs of life.


She's nearly ready to rumble.

dooood..... sittring ont he edge of my chair here.

When you fire it the first time, you'd better post that video!!! ;-)