Woody's build thread

[ryanjboutin]

Smokin ass deal on that earl pan!

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by ryanjboutin

Smokin ass deal on that earl pan!

Yes! There's lots of good deals on CL but you have to get them quick.

I'm getting the trunk ready for my accusump instillation, so I decided to go ahead and remove the spoiler mechanism. Most spec guys remove these pieces and lock the spoiler in the up position. I'm locking mine in the down position as it interferes with the aftermarket spoiler I installed on the trunk. I don't believe either really do much of anything and my car feels as stable at 120mph as it does at 60mph. Save your breath if you're a pro-stock spoiler person. Until I see an actual wind tunnel picture, I don't think the rear stock spoiler/gurney flap does much of anything. Sorry that's my opinion.

It only takes about thirty minutes at most to remove everything in the picture above and it's all reversible if I chose to put it back in. If you look at the picture below, there's a small pin inside the piston right below that brass colored sleeve. The cable attaches to that pin to control the spoiler from going up or down. You have to pry the case apart and the cable slides off from that pin. To keep the spoiler from rising, you have to drill a small hole and put a screw through it. You can see the small hole I drilled to the left of the pin. The hole is in the valley between the big and small tube. Total loss 4lbs

[itsnotanova]

One of my favorite things to do is fabricate. Because of that I'm somewhat a hoarder of metal I think I might be able to use in the future. Today that hoarding helped and hindered my idea to build a skid plate for my boxster with the a low sitting motor. What should have taken me an hour to make turned into 3. The only big flat steel I had laying around was a skid plate off a F350. I spent way too much time making it work. The easier route would be to use some fresh sheet metal, bend it, drill some holes and then cut to shape. Bam it's that easy. Using what I had took a little more effort. I had to butt weld two pieces together and do lots of grinding, wire brushing and cleaning to get my skid plate built. At least it was free. So here's almost the final product. I'm hoping to paint tomorrow if I have time.

Right now the only thing holding it on are the two front bolts. I had thought about using the boss's on the side of the motor but decided against it for now.

If I attach the plate to them too, I'm thinking I want it to be pretty flimsy as I don't want them to break off and ruin the case if I do hit something hard. As of right now I have these rubber mounts in-between the plate and the sump.

The steel I'm using is around 14 gauge. My theory is that if I hit anything it will be when I'm going forward and the purpose of the plate is to deflect the impact and not catch onto the pan or block. It's not like i'm rock crawling with the car. I'm thinking the two bolts in the front should be enough to hold the plate in position for what I most likely will hit.

[itsnotanova]

Sorry if you're waiting on me to pull parts. I needed to get this done so I can get my car out of the shop. Finished with the skid plate. I went ahead and added a rear attachment to help keep the pan from bouncing around and causing metal fatigue. It was real simple as there was already a tapped hole right there. I liked using that spot versus the side mounts as it seemed a lot more robust. I painted the pan red but it's not like anyone can see it. Overall I'm happy with the outcome because it should give me a little relief from worrying about hitting stuff. It also doesn't add much weight. It is easy to make one for yourself and all you really need is a drill, jig saw and way to bend the metal. I used a bench vice to do the bending.

[itsnotanova]

I got some new wheels for my boxster. They came on a wrecked boxster I just picked up. Oh the joy of owning your own candy store. The tires need replacing but the wheels themselves are in great shape. I was a little disappointed to see that they're Chinese made Victor wheels but I think they'll be fine for street driving. I'm hoping to start DE'ing soon and will use the stock wheels I previously had on my car for that. These new 18 inch Victor wheels were actually quite a bit lighter than the stock 17's I took off. I'm not so sure that's a good thing with these wheels though. Good for the street but probably scary for the track.

On that note about lighter is better. I switched to a Miata battery and saved 20 lbs. I've heard of people using the Miata battery and liking it. I don't have a stereo and rarely drive at night so I think I'll be ok.

I also started the process of putting an accusump in my car. A lot of spec guys are taking them out and almost giving them away. I got what you see in the pic for $100 but I could have only paid the guy for shipping because that's all he really wanted. I felt I had to give him something more than $20.

[itsnotanova]

It's been awhile since my last update and a lot has happen. A few months ago I had to remove the 3.4 out because green chunks were showing up in the filter and the lifters were very loud. I then installed a 3.2 motor I pulled from a flooded boxster. The 3.2 ran great and held oil pressure the whole time I was using it. It felt as powerful as the 3.4 it replaced. With the 3.4 out, I decided to let a friend look at it and see what he finds. He calls me back and tells me the lifters were soft and the tensioner guides looked bad but that was about it. I wasn't really looking forward to spending another $2000 in parts for the 3.4. I then decided to use the tensioners (along with new guides) and lifters from the 3.2 for the 3.4. The 3.4 had a new L&N pro, water pump and clutch disc. I figure I'll get the 3.4 back in and save the 3.2 for another day when I want to build a high horsepower motor. Guess which guides have 39k and which set has 55k? One from each set is missing from the pic

The 39K are on the bottom! That's what can happen to a motor sitting around with old oil. The O-rings inside the tensioners and guides were deteriorating. The chain ramps looked fine though. I'm guessing the soft lifters had lesson the power a lot as the 3.4 feels a little stronger than before. In the process of installing the motor I had cracked the oil fill tube and had to go back and replace it. I tried from the front but quickly decided to pull the engine harness forward and get the hose clamp from that angle. It's real easy to remove from that spot versus trying to reach in the engine bay

[itsnotanova]

I also finished installing the accusump. I bought the adapter from my friend who repaired the 3.4. He has the adapter and under drive pulley I use made and sells them mostly to the racing crowd. If you want to buy either the UDP or adapter, you can reach him at Mayo Performance Specialties (817) 540-4939 and ask for Chris.

I mounted the toggle switch next to the frunk/trunk release for two reasons. It was an easy location to run wire from the front to the back and it was in an easily accessible location that also wasn't in the way or might get bumped.