Taking my engine out of the Porsche, so far so good! but have couple of Q's
 

so I'm taking the engine out. The bumper exhaust, axles and linkages removed, The whole back is already exposed. I'm using the Bentley guide. I have one question, what is the engine support bar for? and can I just build my own. I don't feel like this part is really necessary if I put a jack down there and support it from the bottom? the tranny is pretty much ready to be taken out and the engine has already been disconnected from most places, So I'm pretty much done, just need to know if I need this item. thanks! :dance:

From what you are describing it sounds like you are fine with the jack. You can pull the motor and trans as on and split when its on the ground to make it a little easier. If you are going to pull the trans first then you need to support the engine either from the top or the bottom.

cool thanks! Ive got some pics of where I'm at Ill post up later. I have a really cool motorcycle jack that Ill use to jack down the tranny. I just emailed the pics to myself so they still have not came in, but thanks for the help!

Please do us some huge favor and document by taking some pictures. I would like to see how you do it.

Pics of the tranny cleared out
 

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<br />here is the car

here are pics of the tranny. I havent documented everything up to this point I will document everything from here on. Everything is pretty straight forward if you use the book. It's quite simple reminds me of when I worked on a VW Bug

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a bunch of crap I've taken out
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and theres alot more in the back but I put it away already. took out the back piece.

I just needed a good camera but I can start taking them with my phone
Ill post next Fri/ Sat

Why are you removing the motor?

Probably just to clean it up real good. throw a coat of wax on it. You know how we Porsche owner's are :)

Balls of steel!

Ordered the Bentley from amazon.com couple days ago. doing lightweight flywheel and clutch soon. Suspect mine will look alot like your pics. :cheers:

The best 60-70 bucks you can spend on a Porsche
 

The Bentley Manual is king! lots of pics coming soon! I'm removing the engine because I need to change my heads, one of them is busted. I'm doing it on my own time (not really in a hurry) in the meantime I'll be looking for a good deal on an engine. If I find it before the engine is sent to machine shop Ill just swap it :D
But it's really simple and straightforward, If you have the time and patience, and some mechanical knowledge it's a really good project : ) even to clean out :cheers:

Thanks for the pictures.

Are there a lot of ppl that mess w/ these Boxster? what is the biggest concern when working on these mid-engine?

Spare parts after re-installation, of course! :)

Seriously, resetting the placement of the cam chains can be very tricky as well as a couple of other issues (all of which produce a kaboom! if the motor is fired up). I'd never pull mine with the intention of tearing it down without a lot of training from Flat Six Innovations or a qualified training center.

Im actually taking it to a qualified professional, not doing the teardown myself : )
I dont have the tools to mess with that hehe

Randall, why is it tricky?

Have you had much experience in other engine configuration(V, straight, ect...) such as engine rebuild or just overhaul? not trying to poke at you or anything... just curious about your reply.

Trey, it's only tricky to me because I've read a bunch of stuff from Flat Six Innovations about how a guy in CA with no Porsche motor rebuilding experience totally screwed up a motor in a customer's car because he approached the rebuild as if it were a domestic motor (chevy, ford, etc.)

Evidently, there are some special things going on inside a Porsche motor.

Look for a forum member named "Jake Raby" and PM him and ask him and I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you about it. BTW, he offers classes north of Atlanta on how to tear down and rebuild a Porsche motor the right way.

If I were rich I'd take that class in a heartbeat. I would love to learn how to do that.

It is “tricky” because a number of design issues unique to the marquee, such as a split alloy case block which is difficult to nearly impossible to repair if you spin a main bearing, because of the significant number of special tools and fixtures needed for the M96, because of the dearth of technical information about the assembly, and extremely limited number of aftermarket internal part suppliers. These are the same reasons why the dealerships do not allow their techs to get too deep into these engines………..they are not for the faint of heart, pocketbook or time…………..

Was about to drop tranny on the boxster when I noticed something strange HELP!!
 

please HELP!! I was going to through the book and everything was fine and dandy.
I got to the part where I unbolt the tranny from the engine ( 7 screws)

the Bentley Manual told me to unbolt them in an order from the top left bolt all the way around unbolting clockwise until I got to the top right bolt.
I unbolted the first three until I got to the 4th bolt. I spent some time trying to find it and I saw one but didnt think it was that one, BUT that's the only bolt there and this bolt is not like the others. Can anyone tell me what tool that is?????? to take off this bolt. All the others are the same except that one. Damn those Germans!!!
please help I would've taken picks but my camera was dead. I thought it was an ellen tool, But it's not it has more edges, even more than a star. Please help

I know the one yourtalking about. You can't get anything on it right. I grinder mine off and now use a regular bolt. That is not the right way but that is how I got it done. Sorry if it's not the answer you were looking for but it will work.

So theres no regular tool for this? like a star shaped ellen tool or a socket?
something that I can get at like a regular auto store? I really wanted to take this off tomorrow.

Ah, I HATED that bolt. I looked forever trying to find it (12 point torx). I ended up grinding it off with my dremel cut-off wheel. Not easy, but it works. I then just bought a regular bolt to replace it and no more problems.

Just for reference, the heads can be replaced without removing or even lowering the engine on a Boxster. I had my heads off before I removed the engine.

Thanks But Im thinking about swapping the engine.
So your saying its a 12 point torx? have any idea what size?