BoxsterLS376 introduction - LS3 conversion :)

[BoxsterLS376]

Good evening everyone,

Been a bit under the weather the last few days so haven't got as much done as I wanted but tomorrow is a new day so we will see

Decent video update today and answered some of the questions I've been getting. If you have any others just let me know and i'll do my best to answer them.
Thanks!
J
Video update 3.28.2015 - https://youtu.be/zYu6f_g-rSE

[BoxsterLS376]

Greetings all,

Dragged myself back to the shop today and worked for a few more hours. Trying to get all the little thing in place to make sure my exhaust clears everything... A few things to note~

Well the starter is really being a pain in the "enter edited expletive here". The oil sender just simply unscrews from the oil pan as suspected, but even with that out of the way there does not seem to be enough clearance for the starter. I've loosened up every cradle bolt and tried to move the bars around to clear it but so far, this ain't gonna work. I didn't want to frustrate myself to badly on a Sunday so I just walked away.

Also tried to bolt up the A/C bracket and so far it looks like the damn holes don't quite line up... The top two line up but the bottom is no-go, not off by much but enough to not fit. I'll triple verify it before re-drilling the mount when I have the motor out again but this is starting to get ridiculous...

So I decided to go ahead and start playing with the exhaust and hope that everything turns out OK in the end! I got the down pipes and fitment through the axle area taken care of today. The exhaust is pretty close to the axles but that is as close as it is gonna get, I don't plan any Dukes of Hazzard style jumps but if I do it should still clear I may make a small heat shield for the exhaust there or possibly some header wrap to keep the CV boot from cooking, well see how it looks once it's on the ground.

Thanks~
J

Video Update 3.29.2015 - Exhaust - http://youtu.be/7Bh4i0-o6Ws

[BoxsterLS376]

One more exhaust pic to show why I think an x-pipe may be the best solution. This is all just mock-up resting in place and will not look this way in the end... just brain-storming really.




It's gonna be tight but hey what's new!!

Oh and don't be afraid to chime in and join the conversation... it's starting to feel like I'm talking to myself in here

Here is a picture of one of my awesome cats - she loves America too

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by BoxsterLS376

Oh and don't be afraid to chime in and join the conversation... it's starting to feel like I'm talking to myself in here

Just sitting here enjoying the show. Keep up the good work! I have a 97 that you're almost inspiring me to go with a V8.

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by BoxsterLS376

Oh and don't be afraid to chime in and join the conversation... it's starting to feel like I'm talking to myself in here

We are here Take a look at the views on your thread, over 17,000! I don't have anything to contribute and why clutter up the thread? Great information, and I love the pictures and videos. Keep up the great work

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by JRL

Hard for me to comment - I'm just blown away by your craftsmanship - tenacity - and great attitude. I may have set the beast on fire by now.

One thing I've been thinking about is using the crate motor set up for a carburetor but use a 4 bore EFI unit. But until I see how the intake would work as a down draft and if it would interfere with the top when it's down I'll just keep thinking.

Seems like that would get the intake out of the heat - simplify installation - eliminate a lot of pipe fabrication - eliminate the oil pressure relocation - eliminate the cutting of the trunk floor - and the cost are not over the top. The system should also be smog compliant and pretty much self tuning. Just a thought.

I had intended to drop by but picked up the worst case of flu on earth when I went down to Amelia for the Concourse - figured you wouldn't want me within 1,000 yards of the shop. Maybe next week.

Randy

Hey Randy,
Sorry to hear you're not feeling well, hope you get better soon. I definitely appreciate the compliments! Yeah I think the biggest problem with a carb/EFI unit would be the intake, top up or down because you would essentially have to expose the air clearer outside of the engine compartment. It is possible to set up a cold air type system using the intake on the side of the car but would take some kind of custom intake to route the air up there.

Feel free to drop by when you are feeling better and i'll show you what I've gotten done~
Thanks!
J

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

Just sitting here enjoying the show. Keep up the good work! I have a 97 that you're almost inspiring me to go with a V8.

Excellent! Glad it is still keeping everyone's attention Some of these little things are tedious and not very exciting so just making sure no one is asleep!

I hope this does inspire you! Just keep in mind though if you start with a 97 it is going to take even more work then this project I've got going... it is much better to start off with an "S" model if you can. Better transmission, brakes, cooling, suspension etc. so many things you will want to change after a V8 is in there so keep it in mind!

Originally Posted by BruceH

We are here Take a look at the views on your thread, over 17,000! I don't have anything to contribute and why clutter up the thread? Great information, and I love the pictures and videos. Keep up the great work

Haha thanks Bruce, I appreciate it!! Hopefully soon enough we will get to fire this bad boy up and make things more exciting

[JRL]

Hard for me to comment - I'm just blown away by your craftsmanship - tenacity - and great attitude. I may have set the beast on fire by now.

One thing I've been thinking about is using the crate motor set up for a carburetor but use a 4 bore EFI unit. But until I see how the intake would work as a down draft and if it would interfere with the top when it's down I'll just keep thinking.

Seems like that would get the intake out of the heat - simplify installation - eliminate a lot of pipe fabrication - eliminate the oil pressure relocation - eliminate the cutting of the trunk floor - and the cost are not over the top. The system should also be smog compliant and pretty much self tuning. Just a thought.

I had intended to drop by but picked up the worst case of flu on earth when I went down to Amelia for the Concourse - figured you wouldn't want me within 1,000 yards of the shop. Maybe next week.

Randy

[martsink]

Hey,
Have you drilled new holes for the hand brake cables yet? I'm just wondering how renegade runs it to the handle.

Vlad

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by martsink

Hey,
Have you drilled new holes for the hand brake cables yet? I'm just wondering how renegade runs it to the handle.

Vlad

Hey Vlad,

I have not and actually haven't bothered to ask Renegade how they did it~ Doesn't seem to complicated but just more stuff that needs to be done. I am actually getting pretty close to that now so hopefully I'll give you an update on that soon.


Greetings everyone else,

Sorry for the lack of updates - I've been a bit under the weather the past few weeks and progress pretty much came to a halt, but we are back to rocking and rolling again so I wanted to pick up where I left off with a quick video.

I was just about wrapped up with the cooling system last update so I wanted to point out a few things to be aware of regarding the new radiators and some rub points.
All the front end cooling system is back together now, 3 new CSF all aluminum radiators, new Heater core and all new cooling hoses front to back! Got the bumper and headlights back on yesterday and it is starting to look like a car again.

Posted a few pics below of the problem areas you need to look out for on the upgraded radiators~

I'm also about to start working on this project a bit more during the week so I truly hope to have this bad boy running within a month now!

On a side note it looks like I may have a customer interested in converting his 2000 911 C4 which sadly just appears to have popped a cylinder head, or it may be available to purchase for a conversion but either way I've talked to a few of you guys and will keep you posted if it becomes available!~

Short and sweet video update finished up the cooling system will be available shortly~

http://youtu.be/4H0r_KcBG1Y

Thank you all for your support!
J

[BoxsterLS376]

Oh yeah...

Sooo before I forget I have been trying to get some other things done including getting the accessories on like the alternator, starter etc...

Looks like I was wrong about the spacers for the transmission - not a big deal but so far I have found 2 definite problems with it. Just wish I hadn't wasted so much time with it now, but now I am back to clearance issues again as well so is a bigger pain in the rear for that reason.

So while the motor sits nice and level with the spacers so far I have found that the shifter counterbalance thingy hits the Renegade transmission cross mount if the rear of the tranny is sitting to low. I took about 1/4" of my spacing out and it now clears, but now the front crank bolt is hitting the damn e-brake mount again

The spacers are very likely the problem for why I was having problems getting the starter bolted up too although I haven't messed with it much I think that may sort itself out.

Sorry if I screwed any of you guys up
J

[JRL]

JJ the video link doesn't work - at least for me.

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by JRL

JJ the video link doesn't work - at least for me.

Hey Randy,

Give it just a few more minutes less then 5 I think - YouTube is still processing it.

OK working now~

Thanks!
J

[JRL]

It's working now - thanks - more good stuff.

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by JRL

It's working now - thanks - more good stuff.

Thanks Randy,

Not a whole lot of excitement in this video but the next few should really see things rolling again!


J

[Quark Boy]

This is a great project. Enough in fact to get me to register just so I can subscribe!

-QB

[BoxsterLS376]

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

Yeah this has been challenge for sure but I know it will all be worth it in the end!!

[Lcrivers816]

I would have probably parted out my LSx build if I didn't find this thread. You saved me haha. Might have to schedule a road trip to Georgia to have an LS Boxster meet.

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by Lcrivers816

I would have probably parted out my LSx build if I didn't find this thread. You saved me haha. Might have to schedule a road trip to Georgia to have an LS Boxster meet.

Sounds good to me!! Glad you decided to press on!


Well as I said those little spacers in the back were no good and lifting the rear of the trans back up caused clearance issues with the main crank bolt and the E-Brake holder again, so...

Motor out again, hopefully for the last time before really hooking it all up and getting this bad boy on the road. I started by shaving down the crank bolt some more as well as the E-brake holder but just didn't think i'd be happy enough with that to go through the effort of putting the motor back in to check so I started looking at other options. The only real option is to relocate the EB holder again so I decided to try and mount it to the back side of the support brace inside of the cooling tunnel~

Well lots of trimming of both the EB holder and a bit of trimming on the left side of the cooling tunnel so the cable has clearance and viola!





This should net me all the room I need at the nose! I should have at least 1/2"' more room now so hopefully that is done and done~

Other things on the to-do list while the motor is out...

Tapping the cylinder head for the Porsche coolant temp sensor~
Test fit alternator and a/c compressor ( fix a/c bracket mounting hole )
Fix shotty body work

I'm sure there is something i'll forget but it seem with this project there is always more to do

Sorry for the video quality, I may have gotten the lens dirty but none the less, here is todays update video:

https://youtu.be/A5Dwr16ds_k

Thanks!
J

[martsink]

Hey John,
Just curious, how much is that turbo going for?

Vlad

[BoxsterLS376]

Originally Posted by martsink

Hey John,
Just curious, how much is that turbo going for?

Vlad

Owner is basically trying to get his money back out of it - $63K~
98K on body but Engine and trans rebuilt with less then 1000 miles~ Lots of other new parts. Owner spends most of his time in Switzerland and is only here about 4 times a year, 1 week at a time, and lives in downtown Atlanta so it really needs a new owner who can drive it more.
Haggerty says average value is now $68,500~
https://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools/HVT/VehicleSearch/Report?vbe=43231

I don't want to side track my thread though so if anyone would like more information on it please PM me or email me at checkpointauto@outlook.com
Thanks
J