Boxster V8 project log

[redpepperracing]

Originally Posted by Marc_986

Many thanks

I have seen the Roxster indeed, entertaining and informing at the same time ;-)

Apologies for the late response! I figured as much, just wanted to make sure.

Originally Posted by Marc_986

The pump bracket you have, where does it mount to the chassis. The front seems to mount to the little folded 'ridge' that belongs to the chassis (which would otherwise hold the CD changer or a cover). I guess it also mounts to the bulkhead side? Would you mind sharing a picture of that. I'll be in the garage tomorrow and amongst other things, intend to look at bracket options.

I'll try and get you a photo, but yes it mounts to an existing bracket for the lower mount, and I had to drill a hole through the bulkhead for the upper mount. I'll try and get you a photo, but it's pretty much as you described.

Originally Posted by Marc_986

Would be interesting to know how the hoses work for you in the wheel well. I have decided on routing them along the battery and down where the brake rod passes. This will take it directly to the area where the steering shaft is and the hydraulic lines were.

At the position where your feedthroughs are (the strut tower), the metal also seems rather thin. Did you reinforce it with some plate or are you happy enough how it is?

It is at least 2 walls, if not 3, of metal, it's quite solid, and the fittings have retaining nuts, it feels very solid. I'm not worried about it, but will obviously be keeping an eye on it.

For the wiring, the pump came mostly pre-wired with a main fused power and ground going direct to the battery, and then two activation wires that need 12 volts each. I found another person who used 2 wires at the ABS connector, one that has ignition switched 12V and one that has alternator switched 12V, so the pump only comes on when the engine is running, which is nice. Here is the pinout diagram that matches my connector, I see you've done some work in that area so yours may vary, I don't recall the wire colours, and it's all buttoned back up but I seem to recall blue/black being one?

[Marc_986]

Thanks, that is most useful. I figured I could take the alternator wire from the ABS, also as the ABS5.7 does not use it anymore. But also useful to take the other wire from it.. Still depends a bit on which pump I end up using.

A picture of the pump mount would be helpful, I intend to work on that next week.

The forum seems to be done a lot, so here is the progress of last few days. Main work was to make the bulkhead holes for the feedthroughs. One 16mm for pressue, and one 18mm for the return. Then cut the hoses to size.



Now looking from the bottom of the car, you can see these drop more or less straight down to the rack. Also they do clear the steering shaft easily. Hoses are short, so while I did intend to mount them to the chassis at some intermediate point, I now don't feel any need



Today I went to the hydraulics shop and got the hoses crimped. Looking good;


I just ordered O-rings. When they come in and seem to fit, I'll also update my separate thread on the sizes I found to be good.

With this done I mounted the (cleaned) subframe back to the car (including new tuning forks and control arms). There was one thread of the diagonal braces damaged on removal. I rethreaded this one before I put the frame back. These braces themselves were quiet severly corroded, so I cleaned them up as best as I could and resprayed them. Should look a lot better now.

Also started stripping some wires I need from the wreck. Turns out that they potted the bulkhead feedthroughs to the interior. Messy and tedious job to remove all that.

[Marc_986]

Engine wise I got an offer on a 60k miles BBK engine. For BBK this is the best offer I have so far at around $ 4k for full engine (including everything, ancillaries, manifolds, wires, ECU, the whole lot). It is from an auto car though, so I would need to get myself a flywheel. Still not cheap for an engine which is unknown to fit haha.

Need to think about it a bit, open for input from you all as well. (as reference, the next best BBK quote I have is double the price for similar mileage and more of a longblock than a full engine). Will spend some spare moments this weekend to check offers on BAT engines. Ebay is no good though, they all go for more than the BBK.

For those unfamiliar with the BBK, it is the engine with chain distribution from the Audi S4. 344 PS at 7000 RPM, 410Nm (302 ftlb) at 3500 RPM. A bit famous for the chain issues, otherwise an engine with some character.

[redpepperracing]

Ah, I like the way you routed the hoses, I wish I had thought of that, no possibility of wheel interference. I may try and retrofit mine, especially if I have any issues.

Here are a couple of pics of the mount, let me know if you need anything else. It came with a plate that goes into the body bracket with two nuts on it for fastening.

edit: this is where I bought the kit from

edit 2: here is another option with a different style of bracket that might give you ideas

[Marc_986]

Thanks for the pictures and links, most helpful. Didn't manage to look at it today, but will certainly get my pump choice made and bracket worked out this week

Today I bought one of those pliers for the steering rack dust boot clamps. Clamped them on so I could install the rack. Easier said than done as it was a lot of prying and wiggling to get the steering shaft onto the rack. Surely at the first attempt it was of by a notch, so had to do it twice. I probably could have lived with a little difference in left / right wheel rotation, but wanted it to be correct (and didn't want to pull the steering wheel off).

Anyway, it is on now and the steering rack bolted down and torqued.

Some big news today as well as I decided to buy that engine. In about a month time I will be the owner of that Audi BBK engine. To be honest, not really the right time with other expenses which should really have priority. Still went for it as I have been looking around for probably the last year and didn't get anywhere near this deal. I probably could search longer and find a damaged S4 to take the engine out and sell the other bits. That likely would end up with a lower price for the engine, but much more searching and selling / dismantling. Also, the mileage on such engine is expected to be higher (by far most available or over 120k miles, many over 200k.).

Let's hope it fits better than the belt distribution engines. So pressure is on now, need to finish the current projects soon such that I have space for the wreck and engine in the garage. The engine comes with a 6month warranty, so ideally I would have it running in six months. That would be in the wreck, not in my car yet.

I'll need to prepare the wreck a bit for this to happen. Final mechanical fit is not critical, but I need to know whether it would work in the end. Then I still have a complete fuel system in the wreck to hook it up to. Cooling will come from my car (as I swapped the lines etc.) and I have a spare radiator assembly I will mount onto it. Wiring loom is still in the car, so I should be able to find power etc. easily. All good so far.

[redpepperracing]

Glad I could help, it's an ambitious project. Good luck!

[Marc_986]

Originally Posted by redpepperracing

Glad I could help, it's an ambitious project. Good luck!

Just another question (to you or anyone else using the Astra / Opel / Vauxhall pump). There was a bit of return line on the pump when I got it and which I wanted to re-use. Funny part was that it had a crimp on it, close to the reservoir. That was a bit odd, also as it didn't seem to be for connecting hoses together.

So I cut the sleeve off and managed to pull something out which seems to be a reducer. I didn't measure, but by sight it looks to be about a 3mm hole through the center. Did your pump come with such a restrictor? I guess you didn't put any restriction in, right?

I can't really understand the use of it yet, it looks like it would be the biggest restriction in the whole system. And why would they run a 10mm return line when they want pressure drop anyway? Bit confused.

On a positive note, I managed to finish the pump bracket last weekend with kind help of my neighbour for the welding. Last layer of paint is on now, should be dry tomorrow. Also I put some new wires on the power connector for the pump and found myself a nearby ground point to use. Getting ever closer....