High tensile steel components.

[Bebbetufs]

Are there any high tensile steel panels or structural parts on the 986? I'm building a track car and doing some welding and would like to know so I can make sure I don't accidentally weaken the body.

[RobertKing]

Most of the frame, suspension and supports are aluminum. There are some steel components but, overall it's aluminum and other alloys. Steel tends to add weight and effect handling overall.Keep in mind, the Boxster, out drove all comers on the track when introduced.

[Bebbetufs]

Thanks. I should have made it clear that I was thinking about the cabin and the steel used in the body. Since it is a cab I thought they might have introduced high tensile steels in for example the door pillars, tunnel and floor to strengthen the passenger compartment.

[jakeru]

Yes, the steel frame has a mixture of certain welded-together pieces being high-strength steel, with other welded together areas being lower strength. And there may even be mid-strength steel components also. There is somewhere a graphic which has the different areas color-coded, which perhaps someone will be able to find online, and link, and my memory of this is what I base these statements on. I believe the high-strength steel areas include at least some portion of the a-pillars, for example.

Edit: although it's a 987 ( 2006 model ), here's a picture showing the different alloys used in the different areas of the steel frame. I think it's likely that the 986 isn't too far off from the 987 design:

[Bebbetufs]

Thank you very much.
This is important information as one cannot weld or in any way heat these components as it will weaken them. Even heating with a torch or grinding is not allowed as far as I can tell from reading online.

It seems I had my search words wrong. I'm finding some information now.
However I can't find any of the 986. I'm not sure they've used the same steel types even though they mainly used the same moulds. Does anyone have an image of the 986?

And here's one for the 981.

[steved0x]

Here is 986 Chassis, sorry that the resolution is so poor.

[Bebbetufs]

Thanks.
It is interesting to see that the tube reinforcements in the A-pillar does not extend down to the floor and sills. Nor is there a cross brace in the dash.

[Bebbetufs]

I've flipped through the entire body section of the workshop manual. There are several examples of changing the high tensile steel components. The manual specifies using gas shielded plug welds, so flux core is probably too hot. The manual does not specify which filler metal to use.

No examples of welding the ultra-high strength parts can be found, so they are not repairable.

Based on this I assume regular filler wire and careful attention to heat management should work well when welding most panels on the car.