Blue boxster resurrection project

[Homeoboxter]

Yesterday I tackled a bit with the starter. Not that it really needed obvious attention, just if it`s out I thought I look into it.



Came apart easily. No need to replace anything, after some cleaning and regreasing everything can go back together.




Transmission gears run on needle bearings. Pretty thoughtful.



This is kind of odd, grease seems to be migrated from the gears while sitting during the 11 year long nap..



After a bit of cleaning:



Planetary gears regreased:




A 24 mm socket helps holding the brushes during reassembly.



Done.

[maytag]

Homeo, you do nice work, my friend. I'd let you work in my garage any time. (If there were room, of course, haha)

I am usually so pressed for time to get the current project completed (either because I need the garage for another project, or I'm trying to hit a track day, or whatever) that I rarely take the time to do these types of "just because I'm holding it in my hands already" items.

Kudos you you. Patience, perseverance, attention to detail. All good skills that are too rare at my house. Haha


Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by maytag

Homeo, you do nice work, my friend. I'd let you work in my garage any time. (If there were room, of course, haha)

I am usually so pressed for time to get the current project completed (either because I need the garage for another project, or I'm trying to hit a track day, or whatever) that I rarely take the time to do these types of "just because I'm holding it in my hands already" items.

Kudos you you. Patience, perseverance, attention to detail. All good skills that are too rare at my house. Haha


Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Thanks! I just check everything on the way as I don`t want to pull apart everything again when it turns out something failed and I missed it. This engine design doesn`t seem to allow you to fix anything easily with the engine in the car. And I have a tendency to get lost in the details that just makes all my projects last forever

[Homeoboxter]

Ok, so I`m still stuck finding matching rings for the car. First here are some pics of the ring gap measurements I made:



I pushed down all the rings all the way to the bottom and meaured the end gaps with a feeeler gage.
Here`s the result:



I couldn`t find specifications for this particular car, but based on other German cars with similar bor size (e.g. BMW) they are way out of specs. The side rails for the 3rd rings look pretty badly worn in particular:



I`ll do proper measurements for the wear with a bore gauge once I receive it from Amazon. The bores look fine though, and I think a fresh ring set will make a big difference. Problem is, I can`t get one for the 2.5L engine. There are available aftermarket sets for the 2.7 engine, but they are listed as non-matching for the 2.5L, and I don`t really understand why, since the two cars have the same bore size (85.5mm) and the thickness of the rings seems to be the same too (1.5; 1.2; 2.0 mm):





Can someone confirm they are identical?

[Homeoboxter]

I didn`t like the idea that the IMS is air-tight sealed and the only way for depressurization is through the bearing. Also, the engine shouldn`t allocate energy into spinning about a liter oil got caught inside a tube. So, I drilled a hole through the IMS. Here the pressure can be released and the oil that got stuck will be drained by centrifugal force.

[Homeoboxter]

Still no progress on the engine at all, I`m waithing for the rings to arrive. Fortunately this car has many other things to tackle with so I don`t get bored. The alternator made this not too healthy squeaking noise when spinning so I decided to rebuild it. In retrospect, it wasn`t worth the time, but if all goes well I`ll have a refurbished original BOSCH alternator.







Few Philips screws hold the back panel.


Could`ve been useful to spray the bolts with WD40 or similar.. Result: one broken bolt and one with stripped head. Next time!



The two halves came apart anyway:



I can counterhold the shaft with this bit but how to get access to this silly recessed nut?



After a quick visit to the hardware store I came up with this:



Unpullied:



What a disaster..

[Homeoboxter]

Drilling out the broken bolt:



The threads didn`t survive the removal so I drilled them through, tapped and inserted two helicoil threads in.





This is the rebuild kit I`ll throw in. Not a bad deal for $25.



I also invested into this ($8):



Works pretty well for the bearing on the back.



For the front one I needed some additional tools and I had to remove the outer race:



Leftover of the old slip ring now can come off:



Reassembly is coming soon.

[alynch]

I love your write-ups. It makes me want to tackle those projects I’m always hesitant to start. Thanks for taking the time to document all your efforts. BTW, you must have some workshop and supply of tools!

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by alynch

I love your write-ups. It makes me want to tackle those projects I’m always hesitant to start. Thanks for talking the time to document all your efforts. BTW, you must have some workshop and supply of tools!

I`m glad you enjoy reading this project, I hope it`ll help others as well to do a similar job with fewer mistakes than I make I just work in my garage, I accumulated a bunch of tools for other projects over time and just order new ones along the way.. That`s why it`s taking so long!

[Homeoboxter]

Hey Folks,

I haven`t posted for a while, the project has slowed down a bit. Spring is near though so I better speed up this restoration. At last I received the ring set for the engine. It`s not identical to the original but I think they should be fine.

Here they are:


The second is different from the original in design, different solution for the same function:



Top rings, old and new, side by side: no big difference in gap:



Same for the 2nd ring:



What was really worth the investment is the oil ring set: quite a bit of wear and deteroriation on the old ones. These rings were stuck in the piston groove in gunk.



After a slight hone on the bores they have to be ok.

I made some progress on pinning the IMS too. I realized that there is some chance for each of the three gears to spin on the shaft so I decided to pin all of them. Although I couldn`t see any sign of rotation of the gears with respect to the shaft, I made sure they are all aligned. The gear tooth on one side has to be in line with the gear trough on the other ( I looked at several IMS pics on the web to confirm this) :



Not only the shaft but also the gears are made of some surprisingly soft steel that`s quite easy to machine.



I tapped the holes with an M6 tap. I didn`t make the thread all the way through so the set screws will get stuck at the bottom.



Here`s how they look, the gear on the other end is pinned as well. They are not tightened down, hence they are sticking out. I`ll need some good permanent thread locker to finish it.

[Homeoboxter]

Hey,
Last weekend I gave a light honing for the cylinders to get them ready for the new rings. I used a deglazer that`s free to rent at Autozone. Here`s a few pics of the tools and the result.

[iscle]

I'm loving this rebuild!

Any news?

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by iscle

I'm loving this rebuild!

Any news?

Hi, not much unfortunately, I`ve been working on my other car and didn`t get around to the Boxster. Except for the belt pulleys, they didn`t have a healthy sound so I rebuilt them fresh bearings instead of buying new ones.



A spark plug socket perfectly fits through the pulley and gets access to the bearing.





I used SKFs instead of the original FAG products.




After placing the bearings in the freezer and heating up the pulleys with a heatgun they slide right into their places after a few punches with a hammer. Make sure to use a socket that fits the external ring of the bearings.



These should be good for the next 100k miles.

[elgyqc]

Just discovered this thread, I didn't even know that there was a "show-tell-gallery". You should put a link in the Performance and Technical section to share this experience.
Really impressive work!

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by elgyqc

Just discovered this thread, I didn't even know that there was a "show-tell-gallery". You should put a link in the Performance and Technical section to share this experience.
Really impressive work!

Thanks! I didn`t know about the technical section

[Homeoboxter]

All right, back to the alternator, picking up where I left off a few months ago. Here`s the new slip ring fitted on the rotor:





Make sure this little notch on the slip ring casing fits the slot on the rotor or else you will have to destroy the slip ring housing to get it off again. Don`t ask how I know...




I soldered new wires in between the rings and the coil.




Quick testing for continuity using a 9V battery and a knife from the kitchen drawer. Mesmerizing!



Pressing the small bearing on its place using the big one:





The larger bearing in the set for the drive side was not the correct one, so I had to get a matching one:




Pulled into the case:




Finally spins freely with no noise.




Old vs. new brushes:

[Ronjoy]

This is a great post, thanks very much. You seem to approach this job with confidence and inspecting/rebuilding accessory components while they’re in your hands makes good sense. I wonder what your career field is.

[Smallblock454]

Hi,

have you measured the cylinder heads to be absolutely flat? Most times it's needed to plan the surface, because they aren't 100% flat at all. And if the surface isn't absolutely flat you'll run into problems with leaking cylinder heads (oil and water). So all the effort will be worth nothing if you miss this step.

Regards from Germany,
Markus

[Homeoboxter]

Hi Markus,

No, I haven`t yet, but I was gonna drop it off at some machine shop to have it checked. Or I`ll just place it down on a glass table and meaure the gaps all around with a feeler gauge. I`m kind of far from that stage yet though.

Best,

Greg

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Hi,

have you measured the cylinder heads to be absolutely flat? Most times it's needed to plan the surface, because they aren't 100% flat at all. And if the surface isn't absolutely flat you'll run into problems with leaking cylinder heads (oil and water). So all the effort will be worth nothing if you miss this step.

Regards from Germany,
Markus

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by Ronjoy

This is a great post, thanks very much. The diesel as a cleaning agent seems to work really well. Interesting the ims brg apparently had LN update but clutch wasn’t done? You seem to approach this job with confidence and inspecting/rebuilding accessory components while they’re in your hands makes good sense. I wonder what your career field is. It does appear the cleaning removed the factory applied anti corrosion material. Any thoughts about that or is living in Calif and no salt the answer? I wonder if you had the pistons with valve contact checked for damage. It would be interesting to talk to a factory engineer re oil level during operation under various conditions. Sorry to take so much of your time, thanks again for your post

I`m glad you like the post. This engine was totally untouched before me, had the factory dual row bearing and seemed to be perfect. Since I pulled it out and has 100k miles in it I will have to find some replacement. No LN update. Corrosion is not an issue here in California, also most of the engine is covered underneath so I`m not concerned about that. The engine parts that are coated are aluminum parts, that can be damaged by very aggresive corrosives, like salt as you suggested. But who uses a boxster in winter? No apparent damage on the pistons, I think they are good to go back. I`m an amateur hobby mechanic, my career field is biology related.

Cheers,

Greg