BoxsterLS376 introduction - LS3 conversion :)

[RandallNeighbour]

When this project is all done, it would be very helpful if you would post a list of all the parts required since Renegade's list is not complete.

Thanks for taking the time to take and post all the pix. Makes a big difference to visualize the process vs. just reading about it.

[bc993]

Originally Posted by BoxsterLS376

Here is a sneak peak of how Renegade did their exhaust on the LS7 car....

The renegade exhaust looks great. However from the photo it looks like the axles are a bit on a rearward angle. Can you give guess as to how different the axle geometry to the transaxle is off compared to stock? Both horizontal and vertical. Probably difficult now as you're way into it and haven't done a trial fit. My 993 is notorious for eating rear tires and my guess is the boxster ls will too. Did Renegade give you any info on the geometry and how to do a rear end alignment? If anything is different because of the axle geometry.
Can't wait 'til you finish this as I'm seriously interested in doing this or having this done. We may all be in line at your Georgia shop when your done. Thanks for taking us along on your work!

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

When this project is all done, it would be very helpful if you would post a list of all the parts required since Renegade's list is not complete.

Thanks for taking the time to take and post all the pix. Makes a big difference to visualize the process vs. just reading about it.

Got a bit of a list going and will try to keep it updated for you all... so far you are looking at $1500+ worth of additional expenses but i'll tally it all up for you when i'm done!

Originally Posted by bc993

The renegade exhaust looks great. However from the photo it looks like the axles are a bit on a rearward angle. Can you give guess as to how different the axle geometry to the transaxle is off compared to stock? Both horizontal and vertical. Probably difficult now as you're way into it and haven't done a trial fit. My 993 is notorious for eating rear tires and my guess is the boxster ls will too. Did Renegade give you any info on the geometry and how to do a rear end alignment? If anything is different because of the axle geometry.
Can't wait 'til you finish this as I'm seriously interested in doing this or having this done. We may all be in line at your Georgia shop when your done. Thanks for taking us along on your work!

Thanks bc993!

I don't have an exact figure yet but that is definitely going to be the weak point in the system I think. I believe it locates the axles about an inch or so further back which is going to cause a bit more stress the stock, especially with the added power. Renegade told me a guy wore out a set ox axles in about 6 months with track use, and they are currently trying to source an upgraded solution. The good news is there are cheap axles available out there if you know where to look so i'm not to worried about it for now. I expect things will break but will cross that bridge once we get there. Hopefully the alignment wont be a big deal but never know~

Got the last of my motor/trans mounts yesterday so I should be able to do a bit more mocking up this weekend if time allows. Just need to make sure the Camaro oil pan on the LS3 is going to give sufficent ground clearance or if i'm going to have to swap it for a Corvette one... fun stuff!

Thanks!
J

[JRL]

Paid John a second visit today - he is - friendly - knowledgeable - helpful and does very good work. His attention to detail is off the charts - a real thinker.

If any of you guys are serious about doing one of these cars you need to talk to him and schedule a visit.

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by JRL

Paid John a second visit today - he is - friendly - knowledgeable - helpful and does very good work. His attention to detail is off the charts - a real thinker.

If any of you guys are serious about doing one of these cars you need to talk to him and schedule a visit.

Thank you for the kind words Randy!

Ran into an interesting problem last night after you left the shop. I went to install the "LS4" harmonic balancer and everything seemed to fit right so that is good... but when I went to put the old balancer in the box I noticed a little gasket/seal popped off of it which the new one did not have...This not good.

Sooo off with the new harmonic to investigate, figured just swap the gasket onto the new harmonic... yeah, nope not that easy. As it turns out the back of the new LS4 harmonic is just slightly larger then the one from the crate motor and doesn't quite fit right, I'm sure it would work better then having nothing but I want it to be right so another call to the parts store... We've got friends at the local Cadillac dealership which is who provided the new balancer for me so I called them up and ordered what I assumed to be the right piece which had to be ordered and would be in Saturday morning. Great.

So Saturday afternoon and I go to the dealership and sitting on the counter is my seal, just not the right one, they special ordered a front main seal for me Not the right piece. So we start running through the parts diagrams and ran into an issue, apparently the 5.3 LS motors do not have this seal, which is apparently called a harmonic balancer washer, even though it is a flat metal seal with rubber attached but whatever, bottom line is no solution from the dealer.

So now unless someone on here can chime in with some advice looks like i'll be calling Renegade again on Monday to see what the proper solution for this is. I'll likely get an answer like "just use the one from the old balancer" or "just leave it out"... Hopefully there is a good solution as I'd rather not have a brand new motor with an oil leak!!

Here are a few pics... anyone with info feel free to chime in~

[BoxsterLS376]

Well a bit more something today, although I wouldn't call it progress~ No response from Renegade yet...

So far it looks like the washer is probably not that big of a deal, but what does seem to be a big deal is that the new balancer is not quite long enough to bottom out on the oil pump :/ Shorter by about 3/16th's of an inch so looks like i'll have to add a spacer in between the crankshaft and the harmonic balancer... Would have been nice to know. Oh well more delays~

Other news is that the oil pan is most definitely not going to work. It fits, but ground clearance is the issue. My boss and I jumped in the back today to mimic the motor/trans although short by about 400 pounds! At best with no suspension travel there is only about 5 inches of clearance with the current oil pan and in reality probably less then that once everything is in the car so add in suspension travel and the damn thing will be bouncing about 2 inches off the ground... no bueno~

Luckily there is a factory type solution for this in the forum of the Corvette oil pan which is only about 5 inches tall vs. 7 inches for the current pan so there it is. If you are building a track only car then you will probably be OK, if you plan to drive it on the street and don't want to rip your oil pan off on a speed bump, better replace it...
12624617 PAN

[Qmulus]

So I take it seal is a slight press fit on the harmonic balancer? Seems to me that if you need a spacer, you would machine up a ring of steel to accept the seal on the crank side and press over the harmonic balancer on the other. Is that seal notched for a Woodruff key?

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by Qmulus

So I take it seal is a slight press fit on the harmonic balancer? Seems to me that if you need a spacer, you would machine up a ring of steel to accept the seal on the crank side and press over the harmonic balancer on the other. Is that seal notched for a Woodruff key?

Hey Qmulus,

There are no woodruff keys on the crank, everything is just a press fit~

I did recieve an email back from Steve @ Renegade last night and it seems the kit does come with the appropriate spacer for the balancer... Unfortunatly I can't seem to find it right now and will have to get another one made.

The seal it seems is not necessary according to them so to heck with it! Now if I can only find that damn spacer!!!

J

[Pdwight]

I mean if I were Renegade I would send a customer one gratis. ....they could have left it out.

[Boxster 50]

Wow.... The more I follow the more I think I will wait for the Ls376 kit. Other then the adapter for the trans it sounds and looks like you could have done this swap on your own. No doubt Renegade has saved you some time but the kit just doesn't look like it is worth the money. All these little nickle and dime things add up and down time sucks! Best of Luck and I admire your attitude!

[JRL]

Originally Posted by Boxster 50

Wow.... The more I follow the more I think I will wait for the Ls376 kit. Other then the adapter for the trans it sounds and looks like you could have done this swap on your own. No doubt Renegade has saved you some time but the kit just doesn't look like it is worth the money. All these little nickle and dime things add up and down time sucks! Best of Luck and I admire your attitude!

What is the Ls376 kit you reference?

[bc993]

Originally Posted by JRL

What is the Ls376 kit you reference?

+1 Who, what and where ?

[Smallblock454]

Hi,

maybe he means the Renegade conversion kit. Tried to make a reference to the Boxster conversion kit description on the Renegade website, but that didn't work. So i've made some screenshots an put them together.



Regards from germany
Markus

[Boxster 50]

Smallblock454, bc993 and JRL I was just giving props to Boxster(LS376) by saying I would just wait on his kit because he has been doing a better job then Renegade with the details of the build. I guess it didn't come off the way I intended.

[JRL]

Originally Posted by Boxster 50

Smallblock454, bc993 and JRL I was just giving props to Boxster(LS376) by saying I would just wait on his kit because he has been doing a better job then Renegade with the details of the build. I guess it didn't come off the way I intended.

No problem - I was just confused as John is using the Renegade kit and to my knowledge Renegade is the only kit and I'm not aware of any other kits coming out in the near future.

[bc993]

Originally Posted by Boxster 50

Smallblock454, bc993 and JRL I was just giving props to Boxster(LS376) by saying I would just wait on his kit because he has been doing a better job then Renegade with the details of the build. I guess it didn't come off the way I intended.

Yes, it was a bit confusing. However I couldn't agree more as Boxster(LS376) does indeed deserve the props. In addition, one would think Renegade would be following this thread closely and actually supplying more Tech Support if their intent is providing quote a "Kit". What Boxster(LS376) has gone thru so far does not constitute a kit in my opinion.

I'd be more compelled to work with Boxster(LS376). My guess he with the help of his boss might even fabricate better solutions where Renegade is lacking.

Back in July there was this thread as well but with an Audi transplant. I also had interest in this solution but no new info on that thread.

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/53095-boxster-v8.html

[BoxsterLS376]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of updates lately but now I finally have some news to share... The bummer is I just spent 30 minutes typing stuff up only to have Internet Explorer crash on me - YAY! So here is the short version of what has been happening...

Finally for my breather plate back this week so I can get the intake in place... still have to make a few mods but nothing major. For now I'm just going to get an aftermarket oil pressure gauge but I have heard of a 996 Carrera instrument cluster swap which I may try in the future...

Finally got my oil pan... FYI don't order one from Marine Engine Depot, they are cheap but they don't actually have them so after waiting 2 weeks I called and cancelled cause they won't have more until mid-January...

Luckily a guy down the street who does RX7 V8 conversions have exactly what I needed so we are rocking and rolling again... hoping to test fit the motor this weekend!!!

I'll update with pics in a few days!
Thanks!
John

[bc993]

Originally Posted by BoxsterLS376

The bummer is I just spent 30 minutes typing stuff up only to have Internet Explorer crash on me - YAY!

Probably wasn't IE's fault probably would have occurred in any browser, have had that happen to me numerous times on this and other forums. Most likely your session timed out. Just FYI if you're going to write/type a lot of info ... compose it in Notepad or some other editor first. Then cut and paste into the thread. Learned this early on as I can't type for S&%T.

[dronz]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Hi,

maybe he means the Renegade conversion kit. Tried to make a reference to the Boxster conversion kit description on the Renegade website, but that didn't work. So i've made some screenshots an put them together.



Regards from germany
Markus

interesting would like to see photos if possible

[BoxsterLS376]

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy New Year etc. etc. etc.~

Hope everyone had a great holiday, I finally made a bit more progress this week and finally got the Chevy motor to fit into the Boxster chassis! Still a lot of work to be done but definitely reached a milestone~

Oh but it was not without its trials and tribulations When I went to put it in the first time I still had some trimming to do so I basically got the front of the motor about where it needed to be and figured out what I needed to cut... done and done! Well upon my second attempt I got the two front bolts lined up, but the rear was nowhere close, I mean like 4 inches off. SHIZA!!

Took it back down and tried to figure out what happened. Went to look through my "instructional pictures" Renegade sent me and first picture I found discouraged me quite a bit. Actually it made me feel downright stupid and made me want to give up on the whole project Looks like I had put the motor mounts on the motor backwards Not a happy camper

Well after shouting a string of obscenities better then the kid from A Christmas Story I calmed down a bit and started looking at it all again... Let me present to you exhibit "A"...




Well at that point I figured out pretty quickly what happened... It may be hard to tell but in these two pictures I was sent the freaking mounts are on in different configurations?!?!?$!?#$@!$#@! I was still pissed, but at least I felt better about it not being my fault!! I'm sure there is some reason for it, LS1 motor vs LS7 but come the F on man. Oh well.

So after some re-rigging of the mounts I figured out where things were supposed to live. Third attempt going in and BANG!! LIKE A GLOVE!! Almost as if it was put there by the factory! I didn't bother putting in the center cradle as it all has to come back out but it sure felt good having it all come together overall fairly smoothly.

I must give credit to the engineering of the kit, it is tight but fits right in!

I made a few videos, the short one is done but the longer version will take a bit longer, here's a link to the shortie: http://youtu.be/g9Um4PM9tz4

Here are a few pictures of it tucked in... i'll be back later with the other video!!
THANKS!!
J