Crankshaft cage

[Dllrd23]

Same or different. bought this Boxster "basket case" completely disassembled. Dealer that had it tried to do a head gasket on it. In the process, they stripped all of the head bolts out on one side. Found this gem on FleaBay and part numbers seem to match but seller doesn't know the year it came from. any help would be appreciated.

[Quadcammer]

likely fine, but from what I recall, cranks and carriers are matched so you'd want the crank too. You'd have to measure the bearing clearance with your current crank and hope its ok.

might be easier to timesert your current carrier.

[Dllrd23]

I was going to do that (machine shop) but the cost of doing it way exceeds the price of this cage. I can easily check with micrometer and also plastigage. another benefit is this one looks to have the oiler on the top left of the main bearing ($8 ea) as opposed to the top right side ($15 each) x 14 bearings almost pays tor the cage. Disadvantage is part is as-is could be a waste of $200. Interested to hear all opinions on this.

[Homeoboxter]

Amazing. I wonder how it`s possible to strip all the headbolt threads. If I stripped one, I`d go back and fix it. Why would you strip the next? And then all?? Also, it requires a LOT of force to pull out all those threads. Crazy.

If you have a drill press you can rebuild those threads yourself. It`s aluminum, not a big deal to drill them and then you can insert timesert, helicoil or similar. However, I don`t think I would go with this option. If one of the threads won`t hold, you will only find out when you tighten the heads down, and if it doesn`t work out you will have to start all over, which is not so straightforward on this engine considering its complexity.

So I would rather go with a new bearing carrier. I`m not sure if the crank and carrier are matched. As for the bearings, there are no different size categories, they are all the same, so I don`t see why the carrier and crankshaft would not be interchangeable, but it`s possible that they are machined together.

Look around in my build thread, I uploaded some pictures when rebuilding the crankshaft/carrier complex, might give you an idea about what to expect.

[Dllrd23]

Originally Posted by Homeoboxter

Amazing. I wonder how it`s possible to strip all the headbolt threads. If I stripped one, I`d go back and fix it. Why would you strip the next? And then all?? Also, it requires a LOT of force to pull out all those threads. Crazy.

If you have a drill press you can rebuild those threads yourself. It`s aluminum, not a big deal to drill them and then you can insert timesert, helicoil or similar. However, I don`t think I would go with this option. If one of the threads won`t hold, you will only find out when you tighten the heads down, and if it doesn`t work out you will have to start all over, which is not so straightforward on this engine considering its complexity.

So I would rather go with a new bearing carrier. I`m not sure if the crank and carrier are matched. As for the bearings, there are no different size categories, they are all the same, so I don`t see why the carrier and crankshaft would not be interchangeable, but it`s possible that they are machined together.

Look around in my build thread, I uploaded some pictures when rebuilding the crankshaft/carrier complex, might give you an idea about what to expect.

I think that is solid advice. I don't know why they kept going after 1. When I bought the car everything was in very good shape except for the rear plastic window and some smell from sitting. I had just purchased a mint 99 Boxster with 57K on it and my thought was to build a stock engine and have for a replacement plus all the extra parts (extra wheels for winter tires, etc. After I got into looking closely at the "basket case", I seemed like it had some life left in it and might make for a fun winter project and with the modest profit, I wouldn't need to have a "spare" around maybe sink the money into an upgrade.

I think I will go with a new carrier from Ebay if I can get the seller to come off of his as-is condition. I agree that I don't think the cranks are matched (the cams are) but i think the crank cages are line bored to the same OD as the Main Bearing shells I just can't understand why Porsche would make 2 different main bearings with the only difference being the side the "oilers" or "keepers" are on. Top pic $14 fits my Cage. Bottom Pic $7 fits Ebay cage. Pelican says the both fit a 99. Part numbers match the "Basket case" and the Ebay cage so I think they are both 99's.

[harnishclan]

I have a cage and crankshaft from a 99 that slipped timing chain. Will sell as a set pretty reasonably.