A $1,600 Boxster and two projects

[78F350]

Without the AC and condensers, I'm probably going to go with a single inboard radiator rather than the pair in front of the wheels. I have a Toyota radiator that fits the space well. For budget, the Toyota radiator was $40 at a junkyard with the fan and the Boxster radiator unit plus shroud is about $200 'fair market value' per side. That nets me $360 more to spend.
I have a damaged front bumper and frunk lid I can alter as needed for air flow and keep the good ones from the car for future use (and more net budget value in trade).



I just picked up a used racing seat from a circle track car. $60 and weighs about 17 lbs with the cover. I just washed about 5 lbs of circle track off of it:



How should I mount that thing?? Bolt it to Boxster seat rails? Use the mount from my Sparco seat? Is there a fabrication DIY somewhere? I never looked into it before, what do people do?

[78F350]

Here's how the seat went in...

I was hoping someone would post some simple instructions I could follow, but you gave me Nothing. I did a quick internet search and looked thru my junk pile. Here's what I came up with:

Stripped a seat base from storage down to the rails and bolted on some cut pieces of slotted angle iron (1-1/2 x48" ) cut to 5" lengths. I would have preferred U-channel, or box, but this was the best choice for local availability and budget.


Bolt right seatbelt through angle iron.


Bolt a flat plate to the slotted angle iron. This piece came from a scrapped flat panel TV mount.


Drill holes in seat and mount to flat plate. I bolted through the seat and plate to the rails. The other holes were in the seat from the previous owner's install.


Covered with the harness installed.


***Note: This car is being built for an event with a $2,000 budget limit and for my own entertainment. Do not try this on your own car without first consulting a competent mechanic and some YouTube videos.

[Smallblock454]

Hm, i don't like this seat "brackets". You need something much more sturdy. This is safety relevant. In case of an accident your seat will fly with you through the front window. I know it's a budget build, but don't do safety relevant things like seat brackets on a no budget attempt.

Regards, Markus

[78F350]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

... In case of an accident your seat will fly with you through the front window. I know it's a budget build, but don't do safety relevant things like seat brackets on a no budget attempt.

Regards, Markus

Thanks for the comment and I appreciate your opinion. What I used looks like junk loosely cobbled together, but when it's firmly bolted together, it is stronger and more rigid than many of the commercial products available.


The thickness and strength of the steel angle iron is comparable to the original seat frame and I have it doubled together in the vertical axis. The shoulder harness straps are secured to the roll bar. The lap belt is secured the same as the stock seat belt - left side bolted to the frame, below and aft of the door and only the right side bolted to the seat rail. I considered moving the right side belt mount to the frame, but decided that it would be best to stay with the original mounting as designed by Porsche (using a bolt and spacer from an Audi seat belt). If the seat and I fly through the front window, we will take the roll bar, door frame, and seat rail with us.

[itsnotanova]

Those brackets won't win a beauty contest, but I think they'll hold. If anything I would add another bolt or two to each vertical part. I also think you need to add another fan to the radiator. I'm running into cooling issues with my radiator set up. Your radiator is larger than the one I have but our fans look to be the same size. My car overheats if you try racing in over 90 degree day's. I just switched to an electric water pump but I'm not sure it helped.

[78F350]

Plans have changed a lot since I started this thread. This was going to be about restoring the black 2001 car and making the silver '99 into a car for the $2000 Challenge. Now, I've ripped apart the 2001 car and barely done anything the the '99. I'll probably post a couple updates as I finish running the car in the $2,000 Challenge, then start a new build thread for it.
Here's an update:

Seat. The seat isn't really a big concern. I have lots of them. The reason for the aluminum race seat is so that I can properly mount a 5 or 6 point harness. Boxster seats and the Sparco seat I have don't have the hole for the mid-strap. I don't need the race harness, but want to have it available. At the moment there's a partially burned Savannah Beige seat in there - easy to work around.

2.5L Engine. The engine runs great, but still whenever I run it hard - sustained over 4k rpm, the coolant tank over-pressurizes and vents coolant. This engine needs to be put out of my misery. I plan to kill it in the drag race after I get a base run for points. I have installed a nitrous oxide system in the car that will give it up to a 150 wet shot. I expect I'll need some kitty litter. Hopefully I don't need to use the fire extinguisher, but I'll be wearing Nomex coveralls, an SFI jacket, and have the extinguisher within reach.

Cooling. The radiator units in a 986 weigh about 18 lbs each. They are out. I put a Toyota Corolla unit in the frunk that weighs about 12 lbs. Hoses thru the side-wall. Original fan harness tapped with a manual switch off the high speed fan relay. Cut bumper cover, holes drilled in the frunk and louvers in the hood. It's kind of ugly, but it doesn't need the fan at idle and cools well when driving. I'm going to have a bottle to catch the venting coolant rather than draining it by the right rear wheel.


Body. I started making a custom front bumper for it using trashed bumpers and construction foam. It wasn't going well, so I just went back to the original bumper cover and cut a big hole for airflow.


There's a partial hard top that I made from an aluminum Audi A8 hood and a convertible frame. Keeps the sun and rain off and should make better aero than topless. It can easily be removed.

The rear bumper is cut out at the bumperettes and the spoiler cap is riveted to a curved plastic 'fixed spoiler' cut from a scrap Jetta bumper.


Interior. Most of the carpet is stripped out. HVAC stuff is all gone. I kept most of the wiring intact and bundled the ends. Half the dash from my burned parts car to hold the instruments and add a little 'comfort'.


There's still a lot of work to do and two weeks left until the competition. Hopefully it all holds together through the first drag run. V8 swap is planned for a winter project.

[Racer Boy]

I somehow missed this thread! I have some real concerns about the way you mounted the seat, 78F350. The brackets you are using may feel fine, but if you hit something laterally, they fold over and the seat will end up moving a lot, possibly enough that the belts wouldn't do a good job of restraining you in the seat.

Will the only event you'll be doing is the drag strip and autocross? If so, your brackets may adequate, but if you are going to do any other kind of competition, I'd make something a lot safer. You also need to make a brace that attaches on the seat back and goes to the chassis of the car so the seat won't bend as easily. In a real wreck the seat WILL bend. In any kind of real competition, that brace is a required item.

And one other thing - that seat is going to break your ribs at the very least if you hit something, because there is nothing to hold your shoulders in place. Everything above your ribcage will keep moving when the car stops suddenly; the seat hold your lower body in place, but everything above that keeps moving and your ribs break, and you could even have internal injuries.

I'm telling you this because I had a similar aluminum seat in my Spec Miata, and when I hit a wall laterally, my ribs broke, and my insides felt like I had been run over by a semi-truck. The seat was actually bent towards the center of the car about three inches. My seat was bolted right to the floor with a large sandwich plate the kept the bottom of the seat from going anywhere. I'm guessing your brackets would easily fold completely over or even tear, and that might allow the seat to move an unacceptable amount.

It's really cool that you are tackling this, but I really would like you to re-consider how you've got the seat mounted. I learned a very painful lesson, and just wanted to pass the wisdom I gained on to you!

[78F350]

That's great info. Thanks for posting. After reading it, I looked up some details at the manufacturer's page. At this point I plan to use a standard seat and seatbelt for the autocross portion and the initial drag race run. If the nitrous oxide drag runs look like they'll run in the mid 13s or lower, I may use the race seat bolted directly to the floor and rollbar. I expect that before this engine runs the car into low 13s it will make smoke and a rattling noise, then grind to a stop.

[78F350]

The 2019 $2000 Challenge is complete. I placed 18th out of 57 cars that made it through scoring. I had a great time and learned a lot. With the V8 installed next year I think this car can truly be competitive.

I didn't push the 2.5L engine to the breaking point, but I could tell it was weakening. After every run, it needed to cool down for 20-30 minutes to de-pressurize and refill the coolant tank. On my first drag run with the car floored the whole way, running to a 7k redline, it only got a 16.1 1/4 mile. With a 50 shot of nitrous it did 14.6 with the Tiptronic shifting at 8k rpm. The 150 shot would have been glorious, but I was worn out from a long day. My wife convinced me to let the engine live and we called it a night.

Later this week I'll detail the modifications to the car, to wrap this up as a 'build thread'. I'll post the build for next year under a new title. Here's a few pics from the Challenge.

Prep in the paddock:


Topping coolant. Extra plastic tank (Audi) catches the drainage.


Tight corner in the autocross.


Danny Shields completing a run in my car. Great to get feedback from a pro driver.

[78F350]

A few mod details.
I got rid of the heavy stock muffler and welded some pieces cut from a scrapped exhaust onto the 'C' pipes. I would have deleted the cats too, but considering the value vs the time available, I left them. It sounds great at high revs, but not too loud at idle.


For the single radiator, I cut the fork out of the long tubes and used hose to join the elbow on.


I had a problem with the Toyota radiator. The engine I have over-pressurizes the cooling system and the radiator cap was a weak point that leaked. I went to a single stock radiator. The way I have the radiator positioned it has good, direct airflow without bends and restrictions. The temp stayed on the '8' in 180, but I still lost coolant from the pressure relief valve in the tank.


I installed a lawnmower battery in the stock position with 3/8 rod to tie it down. It worked great, was light weight, and cost about $25.


The nitrous oxide system from Nitrous Express, was easy to install and worked great. Nitrous tank in the trunk and fuel from the fitting on the fuel rail. I had ordered a system with a mechanical wide-open-throttle switch, but they sent one that works 'fly-by-wire' with the throttle position sensor. The 'shark fin' fit perfectly where I removed the brake booster venturi from the intake tube. I may take the car to the drag strip in Tulsa and do some progressively stronger runs to finish off the engine.

[78F350]

Here's a short summary video from the event:

https://youtu.be/ry99uy82jAY

[Qingdao]

Dimple those circular holes in the front of the trunk under the bumper cover. That'll add some rigidity by adding more planes. Buddy of mine showed me that.


I'm in the same boat as you. I just got a $1500 boxster. But I'm no racer I just like a good sorted car.

[78F350]

I ran this car in "HooptieX Oklahoma" last year. Had a great time.


Ripped off the rear bumper somewhere in a spin and seized the engine after about four runs.


Now a year later, I'm putting a 2.7L back in it. I hope to have it done in time for a Rallycross race on Sunday. I always forget something when I drop an engine. This time it was the connector for the engine compartment fan and the MAF sensor connector. That's why I always lower is a couple inches at a time and keep checking for anything not right.

[itsnotanova]

I always forget something too. For me it's usually the ground cable. Let us know how the race goes

[78F350]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I always forget something too. For me it's usually the ground cable. Let us know how the race goes

They canceled the race because of heavy rain most of the day. I didn't have the car finished anyway. On Friday as I was starting to swap the harness and transmission over, I had a call from work saying the night pilot was sick and asking if I could cover the shift. I ended up flying all night and sleeping almost all day Saturday.
The good news is that now I can finish putting it all together at a relaxed pace and run it for a while on the road before I race it. The next Rallycross in the area is Aug 28th with the SCCA. I'm scheduled for work, but think I might be feeling sick that day....

[Smallblock454]

Originally Posted by 78F350

I'm scheduled for work, but think I might be feeling sick that day....

Perfectly understandable.

[78F350]

There was a lot more work to do after installing the engine. I shouldn't have been surprised.
One of the CV boots had a crack - not all the way through. I thought it would be good for a couple months, but cracked the rest of the way and slung grease on the wheel. I replaced both axles after that and will re-boot the old ones later.
The single radiator that I had installed was barely adequate, so I put a larger custom radiator in. while I was checking it out the frunk latch broke - both normal and emergency release. After about an hour, I managed to poke a screwdriver in just the right spot to get it open.

The stock exhaust is too heavy and I didn't have time to order anything special. I cut the secondary cats off and tacked some scrap together to make a not quite straight pipe exhaust. Good enough for RallyX runs, but too loud for a long drive on the street. The lower edge of the bumper was unsupported and it departed the car on my second run.

At this venue in a farm field, the fast cars were running on snow tires or rally tires imported from Europe. I was running on big 18" wheels with street tires. I may explore getting 15" wheels and tires to fit. I know I can do the rear, but the front will need smaller calipers.

I have a lot to learn about driving and racing. This car still performs better than my ability to drive it. Next year I plan to have Woody's old car prepared and ready to actually compete.

[78F350]

The next big thing for this car is the 'Gambler 500 Mexico' Rally. Not a race, more of an off-road tour in the Big Bend Region of Texas and Mexico.

Planning on 30" tires, 1" to 2" lift at the struts, armored undercarriage, recovery winch, No AC , light bar on the roof, and maybe a trailer.

Just getting started...





Currently sorting through a pile of struts and springs to see what works best.

[RedTele58]

You're getting into Mad Max territory.

I'm digging it!

[Homeoboxter]

Must be a lot of fun to drive. I wonder how the big wheels alter the handling. Not that it matters, just curious