6 months to live build thread

[itsnotanova]

My race partner added the mesh and flaps to the rear end of the boxster. I'm not a fan of it but will leave it until I come across a rear bumper cover that has some slight damage. Good bumper covers get sold around here.

He also added a kill switch, a four point harness, removable steering wheel and blocked in the radiator with sheet aluminum.


I bolted some outer lens covers to the fenders to complete the front end makeover


Yesterday was the first time racing for the new and improved rally boxster. My race partner couldn't make it as he was down in Mexico visiting family. It was up to me to see if the improvements helped. Really the biggest improvement was adding wider Hoosier rain tires. They definitely helped as the car was pushing like crazy on the first run. I could barely get the rear end to kick out at all. I lowered the front air pressure down to 30 with the rears at 40 and took 5 seconds off for my second run. I left the air pressure at that level for the rest of the day. The car still pushes a little. I probably should have played with front pressure more but really my biggest problem is my driving skill. It was only my second time ever racing in any kind of event. I have a lot more to learn. That being said, on run 3-5 I was second overall out of 12. I was ecstatic to be in second and on the last run I played it safe. I didn't want to hit any cones and get penalized. I should have gone out there and not cared because the third place driver came back and grabbed second. I'm still happy to grab third overall.

The only problem with the new set up was the rear left tire was digging into the wheel well under deep compression. We added the fender flares but forgot to trim back the original wheel opening. Time for the plasma cutter

[itsnotanova]

Total weight is at 2200. My partner weighed it at his shop. Side to side weight is 50/50 and front to back is 43.1/56.9

[Smallblock454]

Any news on the dirt track racer? Won a few trophies yet?

Regards from Germany,
Markus

[steved0x]

This is my new favorite thread!

[itsnotanova]

Sorry I've been distracted these last few months. The rallycross boxster gets more impressive with every event. We added 17x8.5 with 265 tires in the front on the last event and came away with the number 1 in our class and .10 a second behind the fastest car there (WRX STI). That was with my partner driving. I came in fifth in class. That was behind my partner in first, a professional race car driver who has won at pikes peak in second, third and forth were two guys who race a lot. I'm not sure I'll ever be faster than my partner or the professional, but the other two are in my sights. The next day I took it to another track and got first overall. Needless to say the competition wasn't as strong at that track.

This weekend was suppose to be the next event for both tracks. In preparation for this weekend's race, I've been busy prepping it. There were three major items I wanted to address before this weekend. First was the need to get the motor to rev faster. Sometimes you come off a corner and you're down to 2000 rpm. You have a straight stretch in front of you and it's only 100ft long. I'm sure it's in my head, but it seems like eternity for the motor to reach 4000 or higher. I want power and I want it now!! The boxster is great all over the track but it kills most cars in the straights. I want to slaughter them! The best way to get this motor to rev quick is with a lightweight flywheel. It just so happens that I bought one for my 3.4 boxster. And it just so happens that I'm thinking about converting my 3.4 boxster to an Audi 2.7 turbo motor. So I have this $750 flywheel just sitting there not being used. It seems like the logical thing to do. I can't let the flywheel just sit there. Needless to say the rally boxster will rev up quicker now.

While I was at it I added a clutch disk and pressure plate out of a 3.2. The 3.2 and 3.4 have a narrower disk that help it bite better. I don't recommend doing this upgrade on a 5 speed as the shock can put unneeded stress on the gears. I'm racing in the dirt so my tires will spin. Unlike asphalt or concrete where the tires will grip and that shock goes directly to the gears.
The second thing on my list was a cage. I got the cage from a friend who had in a track toy. He ended up turning the car into a parts car but had left the cage in the car. His wife was sick of looking at it so we struck up a deal. I traded a 6 speed transmission, one axle and one rear upright for what was left of the car. He also threw in two custom axles that are for putting a cayman 6 speed into a 986 boxster.


The rear bumper my partner built was really getting to me. The more I saw it the more I disliked it. Luckily I also got another boxster in and was able to use that bumper. After installing the bumper I threw another quick paint job on the whole car.
After all this prep this week, turns out they cancelled the race for saturday as the track is half water from all the rain we keep getting. My fingers are still crossed that the track for Sunday's race dries out by then

[itsnotanova]

Drone video of my boxster racing.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eWpfvA9bB_MU7xkRURxYUu_ZeNlJBuKX/view?fbclid=IwAR3jQ49hpsClmOZZa0C7rQ9JjQVH3H5vT0hu FyVddKJnFj4kENyt3qal_a8


This is with the new rear bumper and cage

[TeamOxford]

That is HELLA cool, Woody !

Thanks for posting.

TO

[BRAN]

Looks like HELLA fun!
Awesome lightweigt rally Boxster.
Was that drone flying autonomous?
Now I just need a playground and within a fingersnip, I will transform my Boxster into that (I wish, lol)...I Need, I Need, I Need

[rick3000]

Not sure how I missed this thread until now, very cool Woody! Had a great time looking through the progress of the build!

[Smallblock454]

WOW! That video is awesome!

And congrats on the 1. place!

Hope we can see more content soon! Thank you!

Regards, Markus

[78F350]

Are you ready to post any updates yet? I just saw this intercooler set-up on Angry Spider and was wondering how your latest plans are coming along. Also, I'm liking their mud flaps.

[jreissenweber1]

damn ....

just found this thread ..
looks like you are really enjoying yourself ..

thanks for sharing ..

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[itsnotanova]

Thanks for the interest everyone. Sorry I've been up in Alaska hanging out with my Dad for the last few weeks. Trying to get away from the constant 100+ days we've been getting down here in Texas. On that note about Texas heat. My rallycross boxster does not like when it gets over 90. It can't handle two people racing it at the same event. The last two events it overheated after just a few runs. It might be able to handle just one person racing with it's current cooling system, but not two. At the last event in June my partner and I got in two runs each. On my second run(4th total), it was hovering at 190 at the starting line. By the time I crossed the finish line 1 minute later it had jumped all the way up to being pegged. We let it run for a few minutes and it barely cooled down. The whole system had become heat soaked and wasn't showing any signs of cooling down. We packed it up and went home. I had thought maybe the water pump had gone out but after closer inspection, the pump was in great shape and had recently been replaced. So I've been thinking on how I can rectify this problem. If you look at the whole cooling system, it's not that great. It has puny little base coolant tubes going to only one radiator and a mechanically driven water pump. Address any one of those problems, and it will probably fix the overheating problem on very hot days. I've decided to start with the water pump. I like the idea of using an electric water pump. It gives me the ability to regulate the water flowing through the motor with the engine running or not. I think with the EWP I can come into the pits, shut the motor off but continue to circulate coolant through the system with the electric fans still blowing over the radiator. I'm hoping the few minutes between runs should be enough time to cool everything down. Some other reasons I like the EWP is that it will free up some horsepower and I don't have to worry anymore about little pieces of water pump clogging up a water passage inside the motor.

In preparation of using a EWP, I took a low mile water pump and drimmeled off the propeller. I also removed the thermostat as I'll be controlling the flow of coolant with the EWP. I ordered a Craig Davies water pump. They sell a little LCD control unit too, but I'm to cheap to buy one of those. I plan on using a simple ON/Off toggle switch for now. The EWP was only $200

Jon, That rally Boxster is nice! The 2.7turbo motor is inspiration for my street boxster

[itsnotanova]

Here's a pic of the modified water pump and thermostat

Here's the new electric water pump installed. As of now i have it wired to run when the ignition is turned on. I tested it today and I'm not quite sure it's going to help. Its in the mid 90's and I let the car idle for about 20 minutes. I then kept the rpms up to 5000 and held it there for about a minute. Towards the end it was creeping past 180. I then shut the motor off but kept the ewp and fan going. The temps didn't drop as quickly as I had hoped. I have a race on Saturday, so that will be the real test as it's suppose to get to 103. Pretty sure I'll need a bigger radiator.

[itsnotanova]

The electric water pump passed the test. I had two days of racing in 100 degrees and it worked perfectly. The first day of racing I would hook up a spare battery to the car and let the water pump/fan run in between runs. There would be a 15 minute gap between runs and the car would cool down by 20 degrees. The temps never went higher than 180. The cooling system got a real test at the second race. At that race, there was no cool-down time. There was only 5 minutes between runs. Not enough time to even shut the motor down. The coolant side of the cooling system worked great and the coolant temp never went past 190. Now the oil temp was another story. After about the 7th run, the low oil pressure light would come on at idle. For the last three runs I had to keep the rpms up to keep the pressure high enough so the light wouldn't come on.
So after getting it home I put the car on a lift so I could give it the post-race inspection and oil change. I switched to a 10/30 for the upcoming fall/winter racing. I might go with an even thicker oil for next summer. I also inspected the cooling system and discovered that the placement of the electric water pump was not ideal. Air pockets were collecting inside it and that would affect performance and lifespan. The radiator and water pump needed to be moved into a different position. The water pump needs to be lower than the radiator. At first I tried working with the single boxster radiator but I decided if I have to re engineer it, I might as well go with a bigger radiator. I went to the local pick-n-pull with a tape measure. I measured a bunch of radiators but most were too wide. Like Jon, I ended up using a 2001 toyota corolla radiator and cooling fans. It fits perfectly and looks like it holds as much coolant as a single radiator but has a much larger cooling surface. I grabbed the mounting brackets off the corolla and fabricated my own radiator mount.


I also found a set of wheels off a 996 with brand new winter tires on craigslist for $500. That was a rare find here in Texas! Most people use winter tires for racing rallycross if they can't afford real rally tires.

[78F350]

Looks good, nice buy on the wheels & tires. One issue with the current Toyota radiator set-up that I don't like is that the fan blows directly on the brake reservoir and ABS unit. I don't know if it's hot enough to really be a problem, but it worries me. I'm going to cut a section of aluminum heat shield from the piece that goes over the transmission and use that to deflect the air across and up. If that doesn't work, just mount a fan on the other side instead.

[Hasbro]

Newby here. Great thread! I'm at a little under 2,500, shooting for 2,300?. It's amazing how much extra weight is on Boxsters. Street legal and keeping the ac because Georgia. Will lower windshield and make a sort of spyder/918 type roof.

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by 78F350

Looks good, nice buy on the wheels & tires. One issue with the current Toyota radiator set-up that I don't like is that the fan blows directly on the brake reservoir and ABS unit. I don't know if it's hot enough to really be a problem, but it worries me. I'm going to cut a section of aluminum heat shield from the piece that goes over the transmission and use that to deflect the air across and up. If that doesn't work, just mount a fan on the other side instead.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Most brake boosters in other cars live their life right above very hot exhaust manifolds. Sure cooler is better but I don't think the 180-190 air temp blowing on it will effect it.

Originally Posted by Hasbro

Newby here. Great thread! I'm at a little under 2,500, shooting for 2,300?. It's amazing how much extra weight is on Boxsters. Street legal and keeping the ac because Georgia. Will lower windshield and make a sort of spyder/918 type roof.

Thanks. Removing Interior and sound deadening pieces are where you'll get a lot of weight reduction. Even better if you go topless.

[itsnotanova]

Update on the radiator. I'm loving the new radiator/water pump. I don't think it has much more cooling capacity than the single Porsche radiator, but having another cap in the front is helpful. I can check if the waterpump is working, add coolant and bleed the system easier. I did notice that air was circulating around the radiator inside the trunk and not going through it. I bought some foam from Hobby Lobby and filled the air gaps around the radiator. I think I have my cooling issue solved. I'll know more come May.

The cooling issue has been a learning experience. Even bigger than that has been what tires to use and driving style. Everyone dictates that you need to use winter or rally tires and drift like crazy. I tried those winter tires and my times were down. I thought that maybe I needed to drift more now that I have the "correct" tires. Times were even slower! Maybe that's the case with some tracks, but where I race it seems to be wider and stickier tires work best. I've also noticed that the more the ass end swings out, the slower the car.


This past weekend I was at COTA helping some friends race in WRL. It's an endurance race with a 8 hour race on Saturday and 7 on Sunday. We finished second out of 22 both days and I think we're third out of 60+ in points for the year. We were only 10 seconds behind first on Sunday. The corvette that beat us blew it's radiator right before it crossed the finish line. One more lap and we would have gotten first and it would have also bumped us up in points to first for the year too. That's racing!


Anyway, while I was there I noticed this huge pile of tires. I believe they were left over tires from F1. I went over to look at them and noticed that about 1 out of 10 were competition racing rain tires with more than half their tread. There's still ton of life left in them. I quickly found someone who worked at COTA and asked what's the story with all the tires. He told me they were going to have to pay someone to take them away and I could have as many as I wanted. So I quickly stuffed as many as I could fit in my subaru. They were all for 18 inch wheels. I wish they were 17's but I can live with 18's. Specially when you're getting $400 tire's for free. There were a verity of widths. I grabbed 8 260mm, 2 280mm and 2 300mm wide tires. I skipped on the 320's.


Now I'm on the lookout for some 18x10or11 turbo twist

[itsnotanova]

So after a year of racing the 77,000 mile rear struts are blown. I plan on replacing them with a set off a 2001 S tiptronic. I'm hoping the stiffer spring rate will help with compression, but not be too stiff that my rear end is bouncing all over the place. Everyone I've seen, no matter the car, has had problems with too stiff a rear end. Cross my fingers this decision doesn't set me back. Seeing that I'll be taking the rear suspension apart, I decided to also reinforce the rear subframes. I've seen lots of guys break them on asphalt tracks. Most of the time it's when they go off track sideways. It's a huge problem for the 97-98.5 boxsters. I'm actually surprised I haven't broke one yet as the suspension wasn't designed to have the car landing sideways after getting lift. I took a pair and had my neighbor tig weld on plating to box in the part of the subframe that gets the most abuse.