986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I track my 2002 Boxster base approx. 10 times a year. So, after a long period of procrastination, I decided to install an Underdrive Pulley.

Pros:
1) Underdrive the power steering pump - the intended goal
2) A little extra power to the wheels - don't mind that

Cons:
1) Under drive the alternator - don't mind
2) Under drive the A/C compressor - hardly ever use it
3) Under drive the water pump - not good

So, to make up for the reduced coolant circulation, I decided to add heat exchange capacity in form of an S oil cooler and a center radiator. I also installed a low-temp thermostat.

Swapping the oil cooler was pretty straight forward, and has been covered here sufficiently.

So, I will concentrate on the 3-rd radiator install:
This pic does a good job of showing most of the parts necessary for the job.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1340687887.jpg

The Boxster S cooling system uses larger diameter plumbing pretty much from the engine forward. So, the two Teed hoses in the above pic won't simply mach up to the aluminum coolant pipes in the wheel well area. Some have suggested splicing S and non-S hoses to the engine side of these pipes by using copper reducers and hose clamps. I was not very comfortable with this idea, fearing that under pressure and temperature, a hose might slip off of a copper fitting and spill coolant all over the track. So I went with a solution offered by Precision Chassis Works:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1340688458.jpg

Incidentally, I used their underdrive pulley too, which worked quite well.

As seen in the following photos, I had no trouble retaining the spring type hose clamps.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1340688651.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1340688677.jpg

I just used a small needle-nose vise grip to lock the hose clamp in expanded state until it was in proper position, and then simply release the vise grip.

The hardest part for me was to properly route the driver side Teed hose, so I am hoping this following pic will save others some frustration.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1340689025.jpg

From there on, it was just personal taste and creativity. So, I'll just post some pics and answer questions as necessary.

See Images in the following post