Woody's build thread

[911monty]

Must feel great resurrecting one from the dead. Congrats

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by 911monty

Must feel great resurrecting one from the dead. Congrats

It feels great, but it's a lot of work!

[itsnotanova]

The box is on the Doc's table getting an alignment. He's one of the best alignment guy in all of Texas. People from all over the state bring him their cars for suspension work. My box is nothing compared to what is normally in his shop. If you don't believe me, just check out his Facebook page. Soulspeed performance. Highly recommend him! He has a spec boxster and lots of the race guys bring him their boxster to work on.

[itsnotanova]

Today was a wonderful day because I'm finally part of the family. I'm officially driving a Porsche Boxster and I'm not a poser anymore. The box is street legal!! No more driving up and down my street. I took it for it's maiden voyage and it was mostly amazing. I think it feels a little down on power compared to the 996 ,but I still have some things to look into. Exhaust being the biggest. Otherwise it performed exactly how I expected. I do have some comments on things I've done to it and how they performed.

First off is the engine. This is how it should have came from the factory. It's a sports car and now it feels like one. The 3.4 has just enough power to bring it to the right level. It took a lot of money and time, but I think it was worth it. I am a little greedy and wish for more though. It still feels like the right mini van could give you a run for your money in the quarter.

The interior is not really that loud with all the insulation removed. It is however really hot. It feels like the heater is blowing on you from behind. I started off down the road with the windows down and no AC. After about five miles I put the top down and it was tolerable. I was running with the AC pump bypassed at first to lesson the amount of things that could give me trouble. I've worked out most of the bugs associated with how it runs so I'll be installing a complete accessory belt tomorrow. Another issue I'm having is my fans are not working at all and that might contribute to the heat. They were working at first but it seems like ever since I got the cluster temp working, the fans stopped working. Might be coincidence. I don't think my air pump is working either but the engine fan is. Some more stuff to look into. The box runs at about 185 and climbs to around 200 if I stop.

I'm so glad I removed the top mechanisms and built that latch so everything can be manual. It really only takes a few seconds to raise or lower the top. It may not be for everyone but it simplifies that whole contraption greatly.

I love the coilovers! Thanks Randall! They are very stiff and it feels like a go kart. They are definitely not for someone who wants a Cadillac ride. You won't like them if you live in a state with bad roads either. This part of Texas has great roads and the solidness they give are much appreciated. It's a bummer I don't have any roads close by that are curvy enough to put them through a test.

As stated earlier, the exhaust needs some work. I have the Chinese headers followed by secondary pipes from a 97-99, and then a Dansk sausage muffler. Those secondary pipes are tiny and I'm thinking about fabricating my own using the exhaust/cat from a 996. I'm hoping that will help with flow and sound. I'm not sure what to do about the muffler yet. It's only 3 lbs lighter and not that much louder than the factory muffler. It does sound good after 4000rpm though. I'm thinking I might cut it open and see about removing weight and restrictions. Besides working the bugs out, the exhaust is last on my list and then this thread will be done.

Almost forgot to add. I have come to love arena red and everyone seems to comment about the color. At some point I'll need to repaint the whole car because you can tell which parts I painted. It matches perfectly at some angles and light, but other angles there's a difference in color.

[oneshot]

Well done mr patience. Love when people take the time to do things the right way

[Porsche9]

Congratulations Woody!

[cbadbox]

Woody congratulations!

I have been following along and wanted to say thank you for taking the time to share. This thread has increased my understanding about my 3.4 conversion. I'll continue to follow, look forward to your quest on optimizing the performance.

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

Who's that in the picture with your car? I'm used to only seeing you covered up with grime and car gunk. You clean up good!

[itsnotanova]

I'm dirtier than I look. That's why I wear black a lot.

[itsnotanova]

I've had the 3.4 for a little while and it just doesn't feel as strong as it did in the 996. In the 996, the 3.4 felt stronger as the rpm's went up. In the 986, it feels flat until about 3000 rpm and really kicks in at 4000 rpm. The only thing different between the 986 and the 996 are the intake and exhaust system. The 987 air box and MAF I used are very similar in size to the 996, so I don't think that's the problem. I think my problem is the factory 986 exhaust system. It doesn't take too long looking at the 986 exhaust to realize how restrictive it is. I had already gone with aftermarket headers and a Dansk sausage muffler, but I still used factory secondary pipes. Here's a picture of pipes used on the 986 and 996. (Still not using gloves!)

The smaller one is the factory secondary pipe used on the 986 and it measures only 36mm. That leads into the U pipe at 42mm which then leads into the Dansk muffler that looks to go back down to 36mmish. The large pipe is used throughout the 996 exhaust system and it is 52mm. That's a big problem to me that the 3.4 in the 996 gets these huge pipes but the 986 has these little pea shooters. I'm thinking that my power loss is because of these tiny pipes that I'm using and that leads me to my experiment. I'm going to build my own exhaust using what I have laying around. In my arsenal of exhaust parts are 996, 987 and Audi S4B5 pieces. After a lot of cutting up exhaust parts and some thinking, I ended up with this. I've gone with 52mm pipe all the way back to a modified 987 muffler. I've also eliminated the secondary 986 cat pipe. You might ask why am I using the 987 muffler? First off it's free, and secondly it uses larger pipes inside it. I didn't get a chance to measure them but I would guess it uses somewhere around 50mm tubes inside it. My main goal is flow and I think the 987 muffler can handle the 3.4. I also like the sound of the 987 muffler and it has catalytic convertors built into it. I don't live in a county that test emissions, but it makes me feel a little better that they're there.
Here's a normal 987 muffler

And here's a little taste of mine. I've got it almost complete and will post pics when I'm done fabricating