Kirk's Ride...

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by Franco

Hi Kirk, your car is starting to excite me more than your assistant
On a serious note did you think of clear coating those aluminum parts so they shine forever.
Love your ride

Thanks Franco! YES, I definitely thought about clear coating the aluminum parts. I'm going to see how long they last with just the waxy coating of Mother's Polish on them before I go that route. I garage my car and usually just drive it on Fridays and weekends. I also live in sunny California so the car never sees snow and seldom sees rain. So the parts may actually stay pretty nice for a long time without the clear coat. We'll see and if I need to paint them I will. That's an easy project. Thanks for the suggestion!

Kirk

[Kirk]

I've got one of the front coilovers in and will get the second done soon. What a royal PITA. Running remote reservoirs without quick disconnects is no fun, but do-able. It doesn't help that there is very limited info on the web. I'm waiting on upper spring seats for the rear, so those won't go in for a couple weeks or so.

After using a jig saw and several Dremel attachments I enlarged the hole above the front shock enough to allow the reservoir to pass through. Now it's mounted in the front trunk next to the battery. I'll clean up the install with the nice brackets to make it look better. The reservoir has a valve on it where you can adjust the nitrogen pressure between 150 to 250 psi. The nitrogen pushes on oil inside the reservoir that then creates oil pressure inside the shock. This is basically a way to increase the oil capacity of the shock without making the shock itself bigger and without increasing the mass of the moving shock. Pretty kewl...

Here's the reservoir mounted:



Here's the shock mounted. You can see the reservoir hose behind it that runs to the bottom of the shock. The lower helper spring keeps the main spring in place, even at the extremes of wheel movement. There's a bump stop under the dust shield. Gotta love those big Porsche/Brembo calipers too.



The camber plate is a Schnell piece that gave me TONS of front negative camber plus a solid mount at the top instead of flexible rubber.



Kirk

[kabel]

^awesome, they look even better installed. And yes Kirk's "assistant" is very nice indeed, but she is not a permanent installation on the car now is she?!

[Kirk]

Finally got my JRZ coilovers done! What a royal pain in the ass! In the front I got the front remote reservoirs hard mounted (no more zip ties) with some custom brackets and I had to remove the shocks again (3rd time) to get them shimmed up a little more. Fit seems to be just about perfect now, ride height is set, and alignment is near perfect (still needs some toe work though). I'm running about -2.3 degrees camber with the camber plates. Only down side is that the sperical bearings in the camber plates are damn noisy. I'll have to get used to that.

Here's the new reservoir mount in the front:



The rear shocks turned out to be a lot more work than what I had expected. It turns out that you can't get the reservoir through the shock mount in the wheel hub because the drive axle is in the way. The solution? I had to remove the rear axles. The only problem is that they're held on with 340 ft lbs of torque. I could NOT get the nuts off the axles. I thought maybe a local shop would loosen them for me, but I second guessed that as I doubt anyone would let me drive home with loose axle nuts. Finally, as a last resort, I borrowed an impact socket, 3/4" drive breaker bar, and 4' (yes four FOOT) cheater bar from the millwrights at my work (they work for me, so I get some special treatment). I got the nuts off, axles out, shocks in, and remote reservoirs run to the rear trunk. Then I used a HUGE torque wrench from my work to get the axle nuts tight again. All in all it took two weekends of work. The car is way too low now, so I still need to raise it up more. It's a bit of a game though as the wheels can rub on the outside fender and can rub the coilover adjustable perches. I need to raise the perches just enough to get them past the rub point. The 275 mm tires on 10" rims are just pushing the absolute limit of what can fit. I'll go to 265 mm tires once these wear out (too soon I'm afraid). I'm running about -3.0 degrees camber in the rear, but I haven't done an alignment yet.

Here's the remote reservoir mounting in the rear trunk:





I won't really push it until I get ride heights set better and a more thorough alignment done, but some quick test drives have suggested that the car is now unf_cking believable. It corners so damn hard and fast that it will make your neck snap. It is just totally insane for public road driving as the limits of adhesion are so extremely high and I've still got the shocks set to their softest setting. I have GOT to autocross this car can take it to the track!

I'm also working on a nitrogen setup. I've got the valves, gauges, regulator and tank. I've just got a friend making some custom hose for me. Then I'll be able to adjust the nitrogen pressure to get the ride stiffness where I want it.

[Kirk]

One more mod this last weekend. As long as I had the front of the car jacked up and both shocks out to re-shim them, I thought it would be a good time to install my latest trick mod. It's an OEM front anti-sway bar from a Porsche 996 GT3. This is the preferred sway bar for Boxsters as it's much beefier than stock and is 5-way adjustable. The only problem is that you have to use aftermarket sway bar links to fit it and adjust for the different hole positions on the bar.

Here's the GT3 bar compared to stock. Stock is on top and is a little under 24 mm in diameter. The GT3 bar is on the bottom and is 27 mm.



Here you can see the adjustment holes on the GT3 bar compared to stock.



Here's the new end link (bottom), which is adjustable, compared to stock (top). Think it will be a bit stronger?



Here are a couple photos of it installed, not much to see really. I've got it on the softest setting for now to limit understeer until I get a spare $450 to buy the Tarett aftermarket adjustable sway bar to go in the rear. I may actually stiffen it up a bit for more understeer as I got the car sideways today on the street with snap oversteer and it's pretty abrupt (although I was doing a heroic move at the time, so it wasn't a total surprise). I may want a little more understeer for now until I get used to the new suspension and then dial it back more towards neutral once I get a rear bar.

[Kirk]

I had my car and camera at work today, so I snapped some pics at lunch. I had the top up because it was a bit chilly today...







You can see how low the rear is. The tires are almost tucked up into the wheel well. It rubs even if I corner hard! I'll get it raised up this weekend if I have time.

I got my nitrogen filling rig done for my shock reservoirs, but I didn't have enough bottle pressure to set them. So instead I pulled the valve cores on all the tires to deflate them, and then refilled them all with nitrogen. Woo Hoo - 10 more horsepower!!!

Kirk

[djomlas]

very nice progress man
i love your car (aside from the til light, but that was beaten to death already).

how do u like the new suspension?

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by djomlas

very nice progress man
i love your car (aside from the til light, but that was beaten to death already).

how do u like the new suspension?

So far the suspension seems pretty amazing. It certainly pushes the limits of the car beyond what's reasonable on public roads. I'm going to try to get the rear end raised up this week and get a good alignment on it. Then I'll be able to push it more and get a better gauge for how it performs. I've got an autocross coming up this weekend, so my hope is to get everything relatively dialed in so that I can compete with the Boxster this time rather than my regular Honduh.

Kirk

[Gary in BR]

Great mods, the car is coming along great

[tamk2]

kirk,

i love your car.

[Kirk]

I got a good deal here on 986forum, so I decided what the heck.... I got front and rear strut braces. They were on my wish list, just low down on the wish list. I plan on doing more autocrossing with the car and figure these can't hurt.

Here's the two braces that I just got:




Here's the rear strut brace mount:




And the whole rear brace in the car:




Then a few pics of the front brace. I have plastic covers that would normally cover the sides, but they don't fit now because I had to tweek the remote reservoir mounting location. I only use the battery cover now. No big deal....







Kirk

[Kirk]

I've also had some trouble really getting my JRZ coil overs set where I want them. Part of the problem is just that it's hard to measure the ride height well, whether using the fender or lower suspension points. Trying to adjust the coil overs to get an even ride height was very frustrating. I thought maybe I was just having suspension bind problems with my Boxster.

Well then I bought my 996 C4S with TechArt coil overs and raised the ride height. I had the exact same problem with getting the height dialed in with the accuracy that I wanted. So it wasn't a problem specific just to my Boxster. Time for a change - time for a better tool to more exactly set the coil overs based on exact weights rather than body height: time for digital scales!

I got my scales yesterday. I had checked on getting scales last year and the best deals I could find were around $700 for used ones and $1,100+ for new ones. What I just bought were Longacre scales rated at 1,500 lbs/pad for $880 shipped. The shipping alone was probably about $50 as the box was over 70 lbs. I thought this was a pretty good deal for new scales.

Well I didn't hesitate and got my 996 up on the scales last night.



I used sections of vinyl tile under the wheels in the rear to shim up the car so that it's at least sitting on the scales level (verified with a water level). I also changed all of the screwing around that I had done with height adjustment and reset the coil over heights back to being even. I use digital calipers to measure the height between the adjusting collar on the coil overs and the bottom shock mount. This way I can get the collars set at the same heights side to side.

It looks like setting everything even got the car pretty close, you're looking for a cross weight of 50% to have it perfect. It also looks like my car is a portly 3,381 lbs!!!



I then placed 210 lbs of weight in the driver's seat to account for my fat arse. Then I adjusted the ride height at a couple corners to get this final setup:



Perfect 50% cross weight!!! Very cool. I couldn't be happier. The scales make it easier to very precisely set ride height and get everything even on the car. It's not perfect though as taking a passenger or adding more gas will change this balance, but it's a LOT better than the half-assed method I was using before of setting ride height based on the height of the fender. That really was not a consistent way to measure for me.

Now I need to do the Boxster and then align it for an aggressive cornering setup. I'll then be set for ripping it up at the next autocross.

Kirk

[Kirk]

Slipped on the stock 17" rims for the winter. I finally got new tail lights too. A lot of people HATED my ricer, clear LED tails. I thought they were okay, but had also looked at the OEM updated clear and red lights pictured here. Price for these OEM lights was $180/pair but was going up now to about $360/pair. I found one dealer who had three sets left at the old price, so I snatched up a pair....

These are some pics from a Porsche club run this last weekend. The new lights:







I don't think the stock rims look too bad:



My Assistant and the car:



Here's a before and after, Porsche OEM later model tail light on driver's side, clear LED tail on passenger's side:



The new clear/red OEM tail light matches those on my C4S:



I've got a Gemballa-style carbon fiber wing I'm going to put on the trunk. Once I do that I'll have to disable the stock spoiler. Once I disable the spoiler I might replace the silver plastic cover with a red plastic cover to match the strip between tail lights that you see on my C4S. I don't know, I think that might look cool...

[Stroked & Blown]

Kirk,
I like the look much better!
Before I couldn't get past the taillights to take in the bumper. Looks fantastic now.
Your C4S is beautiful, as well.

You should get some chromed amber bulbs for the turn signals.

[carguy]

On behalf of many, thank-you! Ride has now transformed from interesting toy to serious machine.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by Stroked & Blown

You should get some chromed amber bulbs for the turn signals.

Yup, I was thinking the same thing... If you look at the picture with my C4S you can easily tell the difference. The C4S does have the chromed amber bulbs, while the Box does not.

Kirk

[CVstarBoxster]

I'm amazed at your dedication man! I have the mod bug as well, but unfortunatley not as handy as you are. Great looking car. I had seen your in your signature on your posts; nice to see how it all came together. So, which do you like better, the 986 or the 996?

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by CVstarBoxster

I'm amazed at your dedication man! I have the mod bug as well, but unfortunatley not as handy as you are. Great looking car. I had seen your in your signature on your posts; nice to see how it all came together. So, which do you like better, the 986 or the 996?

Thanks for your comments on my car. As for which I like better...

The 986 with JRZ coilovers unquestionably corners better than the 996 with TechArt coilovers (and a lot more weight). The top down driving is nice too since I live in California. If I'm going to autocross or drive a really twisty road, I take the Boxster. This will be my weapon of choice for the upcoming "Terrible Twisties Tour" that I'm leading for my local PCA region.

The 996 unquestionably gets more attention and has more prestige to it. When I'm taking my lady out on a nice date this is the car we always drive. I think this car is more about "face" then outright performance. Still, it drives better than 99% of what's on the road today and the TechArt kit looks great. This is the car people will take pictures of with their cell phone when they pass me.

My favorite though is actually my '72 Porsche 914. I've had a LOT of fun working on this car. It's much cheaper to maintain. There's not one freakin' computer in the whole thing. Topless driving is a blast (especially if my passenger is topless too). Plus it's just got a ton of character. I'm really considering getting a late 60's or early 70's 911 now just based on my pleasant experience with the 914. The 914 is my current daily driver, but you do need to be somewhat of a mechanic to own an older car like this.

Kirk

[Kirk]

Just a general update on the progress with my car... Not much new except I'm running on my aftermarket rims now. I put Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires on those rims and they are GREAT! I gave up on my stereo system plans for the car. I just couldn't bring myself to weigh the car down with heavy subs and amps. I ended up installing the two 10" subs and a 1,000 Watt amp in my C4S. The bass is absolutely insane now, but that car is so bloated already that I don't care much about the extra weight. One of my other amps, CD player, and EQ/crossover ended up finding a home in my 914 with a stereo upgrade I did there over Labor Day weekend. No bass in that car yet though, but it's going to be more mild - one 10" sub running 160 Watts. The Boxster is getting by with its stock DSP system and rear speakers, which I think is really a "decent" system.

Lately I haven't done much with my Boxster because I'm just enjoying it as-is. I had a wonderful 7 day vacation in it touring the Pacific Coast Highway, the redwoods, and Sequoia Nat'l Park/King's Canyon. The Boxster was perfect for that trip, top down almost the whole time!

Winter is coming though and during my trip the rear plastic window got a crack. So I'm going to garage the Boxster for a couple months until my finances free up for me to buy a GAHH top with glass window or a four hoop used top with glass window. That will be my next big upgrade.

Kirk