Maytag's '03 S thread
 

Hey y'all:
so, some of my projects around the house are getting completed, and I find I'm finally able to spend a little time on my Boxster.
Inspired (in part) by another thread that talked about cars with a lack of service histroy / documentation, I thought I'd catalog the things I'm doing to this car here. Then if I ever need to refer back to it, it'a all in one place. Of course, I'm notoriously sporatic at social media as well... so I'm not sure ho this'll go yet. haha.

But the real reason I'm doing this is because I suspect there are many others like me, who (like many others on this site) enjoy the tinkering as much as the driving.... and this can be a place to share some of that with y'all.

So: the car is a new-to-me 2003 Boxster S. I bought it in March this year. It was actually a ittle bit of a "Consolation prize" for me, as I had placed an offer on a Ferrari that I really wanted. But when that car didn't materialize... I was in full-on "Car-Buying" mode, and needed to scratch the itch. So I jumped online and looked for something cheap, that wouldn't touch the budget, in case the F-car still came-through, but that would be fun.

When I found this car, it was all the way across the country from me, in PA. (I'm in Utah). I've never been a "Porsche-Guy", so I wasn't sure... but it ticked alot of the right boxes for me. I looked aroun dlocally, and finally found an '02 S that I could go drive. Frankly, I giggled the whole test drive. what a silly-fun car! It made the right noises, and was extremely tractable sideways (to the dismay of the salesman, ha ha).

Having decided I liked the car, I looked around locally for about 10 days, hoping to find one that I liked. But I'm picky. There are colors I WON'T do (Black, for instance) and there are Interior colors I WON'T do (again, Black, or grey, or any other on that spectrum). So I finally pulled the trigger on a site-unseen car with 140k miles on it. Yup. I'm that guy, hahaha. But at $7500, I figured it'd be hard to get hurt too badly.

5 days later, it was in my driveway. Of course, I've bought cars this way before, and I know that I shouldn't expect to find zero surprises. and I wasn't disappointed: there were plenty of things the seller didn't tell me about. But all-in-all, the car is a solid base to start with.

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nice car, even with 140k miles on it $7,500 for a decent running "S" is a pretty good price...pending the issues of course ; )

I really like that color

So now that I'm finally into the car, and able to work on it, here's where I'm at.

It seems someone has maintained the car pretty well, and at the very least done a recent relatively comprehensive service. for instance:

- I've found the car has NEW brake-fluid in it, as well as new brake pads. I bought some new fluid from Pelican, but I've decided to hold onto that until this winter when I'll change pads, add braided lines and swap the fluid.
- It looks like the coolant has also been changed-out recently, and I suspect that's a new expansion tank.
- There's a new MAF installed. Based on its appearance, it can't be older than a couple thousand miles.

What've I done then?
It's on stands now, and I'm going through it to make it spring-ready. I've decided to keep it relatively simple for now; make sure I like the car enough to sink more money and time into it this winter.

- Replaced engine oil filter (Hengst) and oil (Mobil 1 - 5W-40)
- Cleaned the Throttle body
- Replaced the engine mount (front)
- cleaned/lubed the risers for the rear spoiler (I had one sticking)
- De-Snorked and added a K&N air filter
- Replaced the exhaust with Beluga muffler & SpeedWerks intermediate pipes.
- replaced the trunk & frunk struts

Last night I hooked-up my Durametric for the first time and explored abit. I need to find the application where I can read cam variance, etc. But I'm not going to run the car again until I've completed all of the maintenance on the motor.

I'm waiting on things like Porsche transaxle fluid, spark plugs, serpentine belt, Air/Oil seperator, etc etc etc. And I'll continue working my way from rear to front on the car.

Today I'll start the wheel refurbishment. It's got brand new Michelin Pilot Sports on it already, so just a repair and refurb on the wheels, we'll be golden.

I appreciate all the information that's available here. Many of you have been a huge help already. I'll try to help as well, as I get to know the car better.

Thanks Y'all!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZV38X95iu4aSQMfp9

Good luck with that.

Looks great. Some more basic things to check: look for leaky struts, perished cv joint boots, coolant condition.

I Like the wheels, what are you planning to do to them?

thanks Brian. Struts are new-ish bilsteins. CV boots look good, but I cleaned and conditioned them. (I honestly think "rubber conditioner" is snake oil.... but it won't hurt). And as I mentioned below: coolant looks recent, probably related to the new - looking expansion tank.

I've got curb rash on one of the wheels, and the others show minor oxidization. Clean and assess. And then I need to decide what to do with the center caps. They're horrible, and I think cleaning will make them worse. Haha

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I decided that, rather than start a new thread, I'd pick up where I left off here.

so, since the last post, below;

This has become a mostly-track-use car. DE's only, as I've promised myself no racing. (I spent waay too much money racing Superbikes for 20 years..... I won't do that again)

Around June of '18 I had a catastrophic clutch-failure at the racetrack. Holes in the bellhousing, etc.
In true-racer-form, I looked at repairs as a time to upgrade, so in went the AASCO LightWeight FlyWheel and new SACHS clutch. While I was int here I did a RMS and replaced a PERFECTLY-GOOD IMS.

I followed-up with a Underdrive Pulley so the Power Steering would get a break at the track.

Back out and had fun. Near the end of the year (October?) I took a spin and perhaps didn't get both feet in before it rolled backwards. I popped a plug outta the heads and the resulting inability to create vacuum meant the AOS was ingesting liquid oil straight into the motor. I shut down, but nt before the exhaust was saturated enough that it caught on fire. fun story. haha. Anyway.... back to the garage. I dug into the motor enough to discover I had what I think was a recent motor. it showed ZERO signs of being a 147k mile engine. And thankfully it wasn't broken.

Over the next winter, (2018-2019) I went through the car again, doing water-pump and thermostat, coolant, etc. I cleaned-out the debris between the radiators. I changed-out the oil in the trans and added the 2nd-gear detent fix. I also installed the 987 airbox and 78mm TB. To this I added the SOUL Muffler ByPass valves. Then I installed some FVD adjustable LCA's in the front and took it to have a proper track alignment done (with lots of camber).

The 2019 season was a fun one.... I had a lot of fun passing other "faster" cars. People say nobody wins practice, but I did. haha.
Middle of the year (July / August?) I was railing hard, when I noticed a little "rattle" at maintenance throttle, or right at pickup. I couldn't get it to duplicate it in the pits, so I went back out. It was ever so faint; enough that it was possible I was imagining it. But I had had enough fun for the day, so I picked-up and started the 30-minute drive home. 10 minutes into that drive it was over. The motor was done. Rod-bearing failure. I'm very certain it happened at what we call the "BlackRock Hairpin" at UMC. It's at the end of a VERY fast set of left-hand kinks (where I pull the most lateral g's of anywhere on the track) and then a short straight-away, then a hard-braking zone to a 1st gear left-hander. So the oil is all pushed-away from the pickup, then I'm zinging the down-shifts, way up in the RPM range, then pulling HARD through and out of the turn. Yeah.... poor guy... (the motor, I mean).

So I bought a crashed car with 80k miles and took the motor out of it. Parted the rest.
Over that winter (2019 - 2020) I installed the motor and did the following upgrades:

Replacement Transmission
Ohlins R&T "Track Package" Coilovers
Tarret GT3 sway bar & end links in front
Tarret sway bar and SPL PRO end links in rear
Adjustable thrust arms in front
Adjustable toe-links in rear
Remote-fob-controlled switches to manually turn on the engine-bay purge fan and the radiator hi-speed fans. (the same fob now controls the SOUL Bypass valves, as well)
Headers and Mid-Pipes

Cosmetically;
Replaced the door micro-switches so the windows would drop correctly when the doors opened.
Fixed the Foam on the doors in the A/C - Heater.
Wrapped the exterior with vinyl.
Added Joe Toth spoiler
Added SideSkirts
Added GT3 Front lip
Enlarged the center-hole of the bumper to increase air-flow.
18" wheels with Fred's center caps.

and Dozens of other little things.

So the Mod list looks like this:

Used Replacement 3.2L motor with:
UnderDrive Pulley
AASCO LightWeight FlyWheel
987 Airbox and 78mm TB & Plenum
LN deep sump & windage plate.
X51 Baffles.
Headers with no-cats.
MidPipes with Hi-Flow cats.
SOUL Exhaust ByPass valves (controlled by remote-fob)
Beluga-(ish) muffler. Yes, it now drones.

Suspension mods:
FVD adjsutable LCA's in front
Adjustable Thrust arms, front
Adjustable Toe-Links, rear
Ohlins R&T "Track Package" Coilovers
4-corner-balance
Track alignment

Cooling:
Remote-fob controlled engine-bay purge-fan and radiator High-Speed fans
Enlarged center-radiator opening



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Wow, you turned it into an eye-catcher 2.0! I like it! :cheers:

wow, just wow...

Is that a paint job or a wrap? And did you decide on the color based on the center cap color ?

I dig the gold details on the emblem and pinstripe, looks like it matches the wheels perfectly. well done sir! :cheers:

Wow! What a sweet looking car! :cheers:

So what about a deep sump and X51 type oil baffle to potentially help with the oiling issue? I did that for my '99 that I DE. It helps me sleep better at night and I'm a little less worried on the sweepers.

HA! I forgot to add that to my "done" list. That's the problem with trying to document AFTER, Haha.
Yes, installed the LN deep sump & windage plate, plus the x51 baffles, plus the skid plate. (I'll edit the list below)

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Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful!

Has your wife seen that list? ;)

HA.. I don't think she has :-)

damnit.... :troll:

Saw this on FB. Love the color.

Any hard spots to wrap? The body is so smooth an can't imagine any snag areas.

Oh I learned a ton about wrapping.
1. NOT a one-person job. you really need two people.
2. DON'T attempt this when the ambient temperature is below about 60d f.

There are plenty of compound curves, recesses, etc. on this car, which require a good understanding of how and where to stretch. And then how MUCH to stretch, before it tears.

The wrap is a 50/50. FRom 50-feet or at 50mph, it looks very exotic and badass. :-):cheers:

Wow. Your S kicks ass, if you don’t mind me saying so.

Subaru sti homage??

Looks great!

Dood..... KILLIN' me with that.

Hahaha.

Don't all gotta love it. ;-)

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Impressive work, Maytag! :cool:

That’s spectacular!

Why the remote engine compartment fans? Was this for overall lower temps in there for rubber hose life extension and such, or was there some issue with the new engine install that made that extra cooling necessary?

Thanks.

Again, great job!

Just for the track. Several others have added the manual control as well, because it's nice to be able to keep those temps as low as possible when you're working it that hard. Hi-Speed fans when sitting on the grid, and the purge fan when it comes back into the pits. I just took it a step further and added the control to the fob. :dance:

Looks great Maytag! Really digging those bumpers and side skirts.

So whats next on the mod list?

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Love that color and front bumper and skirts.

those are factory bumpers, but I modified the front abit.

Next on the list? Seats.
Then "Win a couple DE's" and then part 'er out. :cool:

I dunno..... we'll see.
honestly, the building / modding is the fun part for me. The driving / tracking is just to prove it worked. But at this stage, I've thrown enough money and time at it, I need to draw the line somewhere.

Very nice, Maytag! Very tasteful and unique. You have a good eye.

Good job, turned out very nicely:cheers:. The original color was not good either though. Did you take apart the original engine with the rod bearing failure to inspect what caused the problem? Just curious. It`s hard to believe that it`s possible to drive this car so hard that the oil pressure drops so much that a bearing fails.

I'm trying to understand what this means? haha. No clue.


I dissassembled the motor far enough to confirm a few things: A) the IMS was intact and fine. B) There was more than one rod bearing rattling-around in there.

I'm not sure if your comment was a "man, it's CRAZY that you can drive them so hard that they fail to oil adequately", or if it was more of a "Sorry, I'm not buying it. You can't drive these things hard enough that they fail to oil adequately".

Regardless, let me assure you that this, not the IMS, is the "Achilles heel" of the M96 motor. A flat, boxer motor with very little sump, really should've been a dry-sump if it was gong to pretend to be a track-oriented motor. There are some bandaids, and hopefully the ones I've implemented this year will do the trick. But talking to others and reading up on the M96 failures at the racetrack, most are oil-supply related.

The reason why aftermarket oil sump kits exist is for the sole reason of oil starvation when people take their cars to the track. It's hard to believe for a lot of people because it's not...OMG, not IMS related!

Oh, sorry, I typed that fast and didn`t look back on what I wrote. I meant the original color was not BAD either, to me the blue paint looks by far the best out of all the original colors of the boxster. But that`s me.

As for the other quesition, I think I meant both: it`s hard to believe that there was no any other circumstance that caused oil starvation. But, if it`s indeed just due to racetrack conditions, then it`s CRAZY, and that reflects a huge failure in the engine design.

It`s true that when there`s a drop in oil pressure at high engine speed the first thing that will go is the rod bearing. But, if the entire oil mass in the sump moved to the side so the oil pickup strainer could not pick up oil, then you should see the oil pressure warning light blinking and probably there`s some beeping alarm from the computer I assume (I don`t know, I`ve never driven a Boxster). I`m not sure though if you can pay attention to these warnings when you are racing. Any report about this from the racers?

Another possibility that i can think of, is that the reason for this failure is that too much oil flows to one side toward the head and the scavange pump can`t deliver that back to the sump in time. In an engine the hottest part by far is the cylinder head, thus the oil circulation is designed such that not too much oil flows to the head to avoid rising oil temperature too high. Now, if your oil flows toward the heads because you are bending corners like crazy on a racetrack for hours, the oil carried back from the heads might become too hot and may start forming bubbles. The oil can be further aerated by the chains that whip the oil into a froth. Perhaps these together may cause oil starvation and the rod bearing that takes up the highest load eventually fails.

Just a theory, I like to think outside the box.

looks great.
where did you buy the vinyl wrap and what was the approx cost?

also, noticed you have 7.5" front wheels. is that what you track with? you should go wider in front

I've got 17's with NT01's I track with.

Im thinking I'm in about $400, including some tools and such.
Purchased the 3m vinyl at a local distributor (regional supply)

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