No going back now!
 

Good morning everyone,

About to head over to the shop but just wanted to post a quick update and a few pics... No going back now as I started cutting her up last night! Just a small bite for now but heading back to cut her up real good!
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Oh, this project has me giddy as a school girl!! Great Picts, keep them coming!

Made a bit more progress this afternoon but not as much as I wanted so i'll probably head back tomorrow for more. Also finally got all the parts together in one place so snapped a pic of it all, plus I went ahead and made a little video which is uploading now that I will post a link to later.

Here are some pics of todays progress, as you can see quite a bit has to go away. The cuts on the drivers side are just about where they need to be, the passenger side needs about another inch taken off. I'll get some pictures tomorrow with the side plates in place once I clean it up a bit more.

Boxster50 - It is not really a relocation of the interior emergency brake handle, but the actual holder for the e-brake lines. I'm not really sure how it will all work out yet but the holder gets relocated down and new holes will have to be made for the cables, undoubtedly something will have to be modified but I think it will just require new holes in the trans tunnel, nothing unsightly. Once everything is welded up and sprayed with undercoating it will look good and nothing should change on the interior.


Thanks Dlirium! I really appreciate the comments and feedback from everyone too, keeps me motivated!! Thanks!
J

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Great thread, like everyone else, I enjoy watching a project like this! You are going to give us all a ride when you are done, right?:D

Thank you Bruce :) Feel free to drop by the shop anytime or if you see me out and about after I'm done and i'll gladly give you a ride! If this goes well I may start doing these at our shop so the plan is for this to be the test mule, and for thrilling potential fellow crazies like myself (and clearly a few others on here ;) )into building one for themselves!

Here is a short video I took this morning before I continued cutting - enjoy!

Porsche Boxster Chevy LS Engine conversion intro - YouTube

Wow you are in deep! With all the surgery in the engine bay do you figure on priming and painting ?

Hi JayKay,

Really all that will need to be done is some underbody coating which any decent auto parts store should have. I guess you could prime and paint it if it were a show car but not really necessary for this... Without letting out too many trade secrets here is a picture the guys from Renegade Hybrids sent me of there finished engine bay modifications...

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Your the man!!! Great pics. I am sure the undercoating will be fine. Do you think it would be a good ideas to spray some type of sound deadening while you have the room. Not sure about the clearance??? Still curious if they sent a template or if they just give ruff measurements for your cuts and fabrication.
Thanks for taking the time to share your journey with us. I cant wait to see this sleeper rip out of the driveway for the first time. :D

I haven't been pointing it out too much, but there are no templates, no instructions of any kind really... Literally I have like 40 pictures of install pics that they sent me and that is about it. I have no idea how to mount the accessories or if they will even fit without additional cutting as none of the pictures they provided show motors with accessories attached

It ticks me off a bit personally because there are a lot of simple questions that I'll probably have to call and ask which could have been headed off with just a bit of simple instruction. Also after spending almost $7k for this kit there is quite a bit that I feel they could have included such as an adapter for the oil pressure sensor so that you can turn the intake manifold around 180* and little things like that which I'm sure will add up. Not worried about the dollars but the time spent researching what I need when they clearly have done it before and could at least point you in the right direction :mad:

I would gladly spend another grand or two to have everything I need plus some instructions... heck it would have been nice if they even put the bolts into different baggies and labeled them with a sharpie but nope, just throw them all in baggies/boxes.

Anyway sorry for ranting but sometimes it just needs to be done.
Thanks
J

Sounds like a really half-assed package for $7K!!!

I hate to hear that the kit is so incomplete!! I guess that is why they quoeted me 30K to do the job. I think you can do a better job then they did on the fab work for the brake mount. It appears to be kind of inferior with the little tabs that are tacked on. I would think you could make that area with I piece of flat plate. He other thing that is crazy is that when I spoke them they didnt say anything about cutting the rear deck of the car. I am also disappointed that the kit doesn't have a nice molded cover for the firewall. With this being said I am just grateful that they got it off the ground and sounds like you will take it to the next level. If it was easy everyone would have one BA Boxster "LS"!!! Here's to you. :cheers::cheers:

Last time I talked with Scott he told me they had a new cover piece for the firewall - he said it was actually a Porsche part if I heard him correctly.

I'm with you 50 as to making a better piece to fill in what has been cut out.

All that being said I'm still very interested in the Boxster conversion but am now also considering a 996 conversion. I'm not sure whether or not the 996 conversion requires as much hacking ......

Hello all,

Hope everyone is staying warm out there! High here in Atlanta area was 34* yesterday which I think is just ridiculous! Just glad I'm not in upstate NY right now - yikes!

Anyhow back to the car... Boxster 50 - I'm not trying to knock the kit at all, definitely worth the money as there are a lot of custom fabricated pieces. It is a custom installation and they do a good job in providing the basics for getting everything where it should be. I think they could do a better job in laying out some basic instructions as I feel they probably hear a lot of the same questions from people. Plus I hate asking seemingly simple questions but hate doing things wrong even more!

They also don't necessarily hide the fact that more custom work is needed, but they don't advertise it as I'm sure it would turn potential customers away. Biggest things to fabricate are the firewall plate and the throttle body adapter, but definitely other custom stuff as well. Regarding the e-brake tabs I think a better job could be done, I may even try to cut the factory piece and work it back in but we will see. Oh and it is not really cutting the rear decklid, but the top of the engine lid cover area, underneath where the top sits.

JRL - They do have a firewall piece which is about to be in production or may be by now. The one I have pictures of is definitely not a factory piece although they did mention making one which uses the factory panal which I have not seen.

I bolted on the water manifold last night, of course it does not clear the timing cover bolts so they include some little spacers for clearance :/ Could have made the manifold an 1/8" thicker to avoid that but they say it clears on some motors so oh well. Dosen't clear on the LS3! Instead of using the spacers and sealant I went ahead and ground down the timing cover bolts a bit and used the GM factory gaskets which I feel better about then using the spacers.

Regarding flipping the intake manifold around... that is going to take a bit more custom work as the oil pressure sender bung on the breather plate is in the way of the throttle body so it needs to be cut/welded/tapped and adapted for the Porsche sending unit.

Hopefully we will make a bit more progress in the next few days once it warms up a bit :)

Thanks!
J

Hey John - it was great putting a face to internet guy building a neat car.

Thanks for the time today I really enjoyed bench racing and laying eyes on your handiwork.

I'm sure I will have many more questions and pay you more visits.

Thanks again

R

LS376 I didn't think you were downing the kit I just think you are keeping it real and I like that. I notice you are starting to do the mods to the LS. Is this so you can get the overall completed measurement so you will be able to allow for clearance and fitment before your first test fit and or placement of the motor mounts??

Good meeting you as well Randy! Feel free to drop by anytime!

I definitely keep it real! I am starting to address the motor and get everything in place as I do want to make sure there will be plenty of clearance for everything. I'm pretty sure it won't be a problem even with all the accessories mounted. With this kit everything is pretty much going to fit only 1 way so if the motor mounts don't line up there is a problem.

LS376 Looking forward to seeing the motor mounts and how they are supported. May be a dumb question but will it be mounted with rubber mounts so it will not be a harsh feel?

Boxster50 - well, you're gonna love this... actually neither the kit nor the motor came with actual mounts :/ Just pieces the mounts bolt to so that is another piece of the puzzle to figure out! In the pictures they sent me the motor itself has aluminum supports from the motor down to what appear to be large rubber mounts, not sure if they are the Chevy mounts or aftermarket. The rear mounts for the transmission appear to be some sort of solid mount from what I can see. Not sure if the factory mounts would work back there or not... here are a few of their pics...

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LS376
Wow!! Looks like you are going to have to experiment with things. The rubber mount looks fairly simple. Maybe they just forgot to pack it with the kit. :) I hope the rear mount fits because of how wide it is and I like the lateral support that it gives. I would think it will fit because that is what will realign the axles front to rear?? Not sure about the angle. On the bright side it looks as if you have some room around and under the exhaust manifold for the exhaust system. Will you custom built your exhaust or does Renegade have something built ?? Sorry for all the questions.... I am just excited for you. I wish I lived a bit closer so I could come by and help ya out. Last question for now.. What is your time line??

LS376 No sure if you checked this sight out or not but it looks interesting. engineswapdepot.com It is a LS going into a Cayman. Looks to be home grown.

Here is a link to the Cayman build

Porsche Cayman + LS3 - LS1TECH

JRL
Thanks for the info. I only found a couple pics..... I like the sub frame/engine mount they built.

Interesting, but I don't see how they will plumb the coolant lines or install any kind of firewall between the engine and the interior using the stock LSx water pump. The fabrication of the brackets, etc. is nice, but the packaging needs some work. You can take a few inches off of the front of the engine making room for the firewall by using a remote electric water pump and the LS4 crank pulley, and still have room on the sides of the engine for the accessories.

I hope they forgot it but somehow I doubt it! The axles/transmission pretty much line themselves up, it the mount if bad wrong then you won't even be able to get the axles into place. I'm sure the axles are going to be the weak link in the system so hopefully the Renegade boys come up with a better solution, either that or i'll take some axles up to Indy - those guys can make anything up there :D

The exhaust should be fun and yes I plan to build it myself! The LS system comes with O2 sensors so those will have to be welded into place but I would also like to add some small catalytic converters to make sure it is smog compliant. I must say I like one system they did in particular with a pair of Magnaflow mufflers and may just copy the design... :)

I have not checked out that build yet but will indeed, thanks!

I made a bit more progress yesterday although the pictures are still on my phone and I'm feeling lazy so i'll post them later. Most of the cutting on the mid-lower section of the firewall is done and cleaned up. Just need to notch out the top of the firewall which I may wait until the motor/transmission are bolted together to do a bit of test fitting rather then just cutting by looking at pictures!

Thanks!

+1 - That is some very nice fab work but probably hasn't updated the thread in months trying to figure out the plumbing in that thing! Definitely not shy about cutting it up that's for sure!

I'm curious to follow this build and can't wait to see the results! Keep us posted!

Pre-holiday update~
 

Good afternoon everyone!

Got a bit more done over the last few days, including some time spent at work on it... did I mention that I have the coolest boss ever?!?! :D

I have done all of the cutting I am going to do until I can test fit the motor into place, but all of the major cutting is done, the rest is more trim/fit work. It is prepped to have the weld in cross brace put into place which I hope to get done over the holiday weekend.

In the mean time we went ahead and began to test fit the cradle into the chassis to see how it is all going to go together. Unfortunatly that can't really be done until some more parts arrive as I had another chat with Renegade and it seems their pictures include more then what actually comes with the kit :/

So... I figured I would go ahead and throw a check list out here just so you all have an idea of extra parts that are required which I could not buy from Renegade... Some I was already aware of, some I was not, but either way here is a list thus far, i'm sure it will grow anyway so in no particular order here goes...

1. New transmission mounts - factory mounts inadequate and don't really fit with the kit.
2. Motor mounts, 2 parts - neither the new crate engine, nor the kit comes with them. Need to source aluminum Corvette motor mounts to attach to the block, plus urethane mounts to attach aluminum mounts to cradle.
3. LS4 harmonic balancer - LS3 motor comes with a dual pulley setup, this shortens it to a single setup.
4. Corvette oil pan - Not 100% sure on this but Steve @ Renegade said it allows for more clearance. Once I get some mounts to bolt it together with i'll see.
5. Inline thermostat for cooling system - When you take off the LS3 water pump the t-stat is a part of it which goes away when you install the Renegade water manifold, thus unless it is a racecar you probably want to have it.
6. Breather plate modification for intake manifold - Necessary to turn intake manifold around 180*. If you are a handy TIG welder and have a good metal saw you can do this yourself. I could attempt it but would rather have someone who TIG's day in and day out handle it as to not ruin a perfectly good breather plate!
7. Exhaust system - pick your poison on this one. I'm going to build it myself, will likely get headers, small cats, mufflers. Plus you need to weld in the o2 sensor bungs for the GM ECU.
8. Engine oil cooler - not necessary, but recommended. They show it tucked in nicely by the passenger side intake.
9. Some angle iron to attach power steering pump to car - P/S pump comes with a nice custom bracket but no way to actually attach it to the car, Steve said all you need is some angle iron... hrm, would have been nice to have something fabbed up with the kit though :/


Well time to get back to work, here is a bit of the final cuts, plus a few with the cradle bolted up...
Thanks!
J

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Cradle pics...
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Bit more done today
 

Wow
 

A Bay window ;)

Looks like you really got a handle on this now.

Looking good John. I going to try to drop by Monday if that works for you

R

Yeah things are moving along pretty good now! I got the urethane motor mounts today and just ordered some used C6 corvette mounts from Ebay so hopefully they will be here by next weekend so we can do some test fitting.

Got some better pictures of the steering setup so I'm going to try and get that started this weekend too.

Randy, feel free to drop by anytime!
Thanks!
J

Im curious how the exhaust will be handled

Here is a sneak peak of how Renegade did their exhaust on the LS7 car....
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I think there is a way to route a V8s exhaust such that the classic V8 lumpy sound is changed to sound like a flat plane V8. I believe it involves crossing of bank flow like you have in this picture to smooth the exhaust pulses. Might be an option if you want it to sound more exotic

I think you may be thinking about 180 degree headers (bundle of snakes like a GT 40 and most older Can Am cars) but I may be wrong. Maybe someone can chime in.

I'm thinking I will try to use a Boxster type muffler plumbed to the stock LS headers. I don't want a really loud exhaust - I want to retain a sleeper sound to the untrained.

Been thinking of doing it with some electric turndowns so I can have a Jekyll/Hyde option :D We will see!

Got a bit more done today... Finished fabricating the cross mount and e-brake mount area. Definitely didn't like the little tabs they had so I just made a piece to go across the top of the ebrake. I'm not sure if i'll need to run anything through the top of the tunnel so I left a bit of space in case it needs to be cut up, if not then in the future i'll close up the whole top of the tunnel but this works for now. I went ahead and welded the nuts onto the back of the mounts so all you need is a 10mm to pop the 4 bolts out like the factory setup.

I also started getting the new electric power steering setup installed. Got the holes cut in the fender well and fitted with grommets. Lines route pretty nicely to the steering rack, almost wonder why Porsche didn't go this route...? Hopefully it doesn't steer like ass :eek: I need to get a set of O-rings for the steering rack lines but otherwise the stuff on the bottom is done. Now I just need to figure out how to mount the pump itself and get power to it! I'll take more pictures when I'm done but I included one with the holes drilled and lines routed through before I put the grommets in so you can get an idea of how it goes...
Enjoy!
J

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Looks like you have got a lot done!! Gone on a cruise for Thanksgiving. Fun times!! I like the improvement that you made on the E brake mount. Much better then the tabs. Sounds smart to wait to see if you need access to the tunnel before you close yourself off with a plate. Did you figure out what you are going to build for the trans mount ??? It sounds as if renegade left you hanging once again. :mad: Thanks again for the updates and the pics !!! Good luck on the test fit.

Thanks 50,

I wouldn't say they left me hangin'... all it took was a phone call to find out I needed to buy more stuff! The rear mounts they use are WEVO boxster mounts... apparently they even have a "special" version for the Renegade V8 conversion which is apparently not that special, but has a Renegade part number or something on it... Would have been nice to know that before so I could have had it over the long weekend... Oh well maybe next weekend~

Great project! :cheers: Subscribed.