987 v 986 Air box

[jaykay]

That's harsh ....I think a more encouraging message would appropriate!

[The Radium King]

help! help from the gurus who have installed a cayman airbox without dropping the engine! i've modified the air box to remove the muffler. i've removed the intake. i've left the fuel rails on at this point, and CANNOT fit the thing in. any tips?

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

help! help from the gurus who have installed a cayman airbox without dropping the engine! i've modified the air box to remove the muffler. i've removed the intake. i've left the fuel rails on at this point, and CANNOT fit the thing in. any tips?

I am dreading this myself and have not done it.......You may have to pretend that you are changing the front engine mount and sneek the front of the engine down a couple of inches....yes I know didn't follow instructions

Perhaps leaving the lid off will allow you to contort it and snake it around the side of the engine.

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

help! help from the gurus who have installed a cayman airbox without dropping the engine! i've modified the air box to remove the muffler. i've removed the intake. i've left the fuel rails on at this point, and CANNOT fit the thing in. any tips?

It's a pain & I don't recommend enduring this project for 3.2 or smaller till the engine is out. I removed the intake & fuel rail. Bend the engine lid mounting tab straight up for more clearance & remove the airbox lid filter & snorkel. You can reinstall the snorkel, filter & lid once you get the box bolted in. It would be much easier with the MAF mounting flange sawed off, but I like the larger MAF tube & works great with a 996 reflash

[BYprodriver]

[QUOTE=Paul;334848]When I reflashed mine, I got to see some of Porsche's humor while the download was taking place:

Thankfully my 2000 Box IP doesn't have that "big screen" option.

[The Radium King]

ok, i'll pull the fuel rails tonite (wanted to avoid it as my garage is sealed for the winter and fumes will be an issue); thanks for the tip on bending the tab up - it is one of the bottle necks.

edit to add: given my luck, i'll probably snap the tab off in the process ...

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

ok, i'll pull the fuel rails tonite (wanted to avoid it as my garage is sealed for the winter and fumes will be an issue); thanks for the tip on bending the tab up - it is one of the bottle necks.

edit to add: given my luck, i'll probably snap the tab off in the process ...

get a 1mm-2mm rubber cap/plug/stopper for the hard fuel line attached to the body & disconnect the supply line to the fuel rail. Cap the main line & drain the fuel rail into 1 litre catch can. Bend fuel rail over to opposite side of engine. It's really tight to cram that 987 airbox in place. The tabs are good steel so they bend back & forth well.

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

It's a pain & I don't recommend enduring this project for 3.2 or smaller till the engine is out. I removed the intake & fuel rail. Bend the engine lid mounting tab straight up for more clearance & remove the airbox lid filter & snorkel. You can reinstall the snorkel, filter & lid once you get the box bolted in. It would be much easier with the MAF mounting flange sawed off, but I like the larger MAF tube & works great with a 996 reflash

Pro,

So there is no way to get the box in with the MAF flange and clips still intact? I had planned on keeping these for a stock installation appearnce. What about lowering the front of the engine al la front mount change?

What sort of pumbing did you end up with from the end of the 987 MAF housing to the the TB? I have a 997 diverter tee and this intake tract route was a real pain last itme around....having no garage I cant linger, hum and haw with fabrication so just asking

[BYprodriver]

I am using the 987 Maf tube mounted to the airbox flange with the oem o-ring seal & clips. The flange is what makes it hard to install the airbox past the oil heat exchanger. Once you get the box bolted in you can install the MAF tube. Hard to see in this pic, but the widest clamp to the right is clamping the hose to the MAF tube:

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

I am using the 987 Maf tube mounted to the airbox flange with the oem o-ring seal & clips. The flange is what makes it hard to install the airbox past the oil heat exchanger. Once you get the box bolted in you can install the MAF tube. Hard to see in this pic, but the widest clamp to the right is clamping the hose to the MAF tube:

Thanks, yes I see it. It looks like you are using the stock 987 rubber piece at the MAF housing.

Yes I wouldn't try it with the MAF tube on....so not possible with clips and flange?

I dont plan to saw off anything but the muffler

[The Radium King]

dude - he didn't remove the flange.

[jaykay]

Yes but it's a 3.6 so presumably the engine came out to put the flanged airbox in....may not work with the 3.2 sitting there....or it's simply a matter of removing the oil cooler

Need the detail so I can bang out the job in a day when the opportunity arises

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Yes but it's a 3.6 so presumably the engine came out to put the flanged airbox in....may not work with the 3.2 sitting there....or it's simply a matter of removing the oil cooler

Need the detail so I can bang out the job in a day when the opportunity arises

My Box has the original engine that I rebuilt 2 years ago & now displaces 3.6L. In a previous post I was giving RadiumKing tips on how to install airbox with engine in place by removing half the intake manifold with fuel rail.

[Paul]

Every time I work in that area, my hands look like I rubbed them on a cheese grater!

[The Radium King]

got it in - pull the intake, bend the tab - fuel rails stayed in ...

[The Radium King]

ok, what I think I've learned:

1. as per all the previous posts, air box will fit. it has a larger intake, much larger filter element, and larger output (3.25" OD vs 3" OD) - it is an improvement.

2. remove muffler. easy, messy work with a dremmel. get one of those automotive plastic welding kits from ebay ($25) to fix any mistakes you make. use a piece of the discarded muffler to weld on a plug over the muffler hole with the welding kit.

3. intake has to come off.

4. engine lid tab has to be bent up.

thanks to byprodriver et al for helping me through the steps above.

5. there are two vent lines (I think they are vent lines) with a bulky bracket that sits right under the new air box. this bracket has to come off for proper fit. I am also going to saw off the stub bolt that mounts the bracket to avoid rubbing on the vent lines.

6. the oem air box mounts with three bolts. the 987 air box mounts with two bolts and a plastic press-on fitting. in the 987 the highest, furthest back mounting point is a stub bolt and the air box has a plastic fitting that presses onto this bolt. make sure you get this fitting when you get your air box (part # 987 110 141 00). take your original bolt, saw the head off and thread it into the mounting point. the new plastic fitting can press onto this.

7. the air box outlet has a flange designed to mate specifically to the 987 maf housing. realise that if you use this maf housing it has an ID of 3.25" so will not work with a standard 986 tune (the exception may be the 2004 anniversary edition, but this is a 7.8 dme flash and won't work with pre-2002 cars that have the 7.2 dme).

options are (1) try a 996 flash (don't know if it will work, but will find out in a month or so) (b) get a custom flash (big $$$) or (c) use a maf housing with a 3" ID. for 3" ID maf housings, the easiest is to saw the maf housing off your oem air box. note that you lose the screen before the maf if you do this and should sort something else out for this. otherwise, many bmws use the same bosch mafs as porsche, so you can get a 3" ID bmw maf housing with screen and use one of those (I have model numbers if anyone is interested).

the issue becomes mating the 3" ID maf housing to the flange on the 987 air box. easiest is to saw the flange off and get a silicone coupler that joins the two, but what I've found is that, while the air box outlet has an ID of 3.25", the flange itself has an ID of 3.5". I've taken a 3.25" to 3" silicone reducer and found that it is a press-in fit to the flange. to make it more robust I took a thin-walled 3.25" coupler and sawed-off a 1/2" band. I inserted this band into the 3.25" end of the reducer to reinforce it. now the silicone reducer sits very snug into the end of the flange.

this is still a work in progress, so I reserve the right to change my info at any time. again thanks to the folks helping me with this. I think that 997 plenum, 987 air box, tb and maf housing, and 996 flash is going to reinvent the 3.2 for little $.

[986968]

Sorry to all for the late discussion.

I have a 2.5, and may I ask is it possible to change the airbox from Cayman S to the 2.5 engine?
If it's possible, is it even to change the piston to the 2.5 engine?

I realise the MAF for 2.5 and 2.7 is different.
If that's the case, does it mean I need to also change the Cayman S MAF to adopt the Cayman S Airbox in the 2.5 engine?

[epapp]

Since the people doing this mod would probably know:

I am trying to get some wires from the drivers side grille, through the airbox somehow and into the engine bay. When I was last checking, the stock airbox seems pretty closed up, even pre filter, and there is no where to sneak some wires through.

Anyone who has taken the airbox out, is there some space I'm missing/a good place I can drill a small hole pre filter?

Thanks

[onaFLYer]

Anyone who has taken the airbox out, is there some space I'm missing/a good place I can drill a small hole pre filter?


I don't remember any hole there behind the air box, it's been a few years. It might be possible via the "de-snorkle" option around it. I never did that, just changed the whole thing.

[Coaster]

The Radium King, did you go to a 996 flash or stay with the 3" maf housing?