Woody's build thread

[itsnotanova]

I have to keep the A/C. It's brutal down here in the summertime. I'll be searching for some seats on CL now though. I think I read somewhere that the seats are 60lbs each. After seeing how much I didn't lose, I think I want to go farther. I'm also thinking about changing my mind about the stereo. I was all gung ho about the stereo just a few hours ago but that would also be another way to lose easy weight. You guys also have me thinking about loosing the airbags too. Right now the deciding factor is if I can make some RSR looking door panels that look like something the factory would build. I think I can but need to go look back at Vlad's build for inspiration. Here's some weight of parts I weighed today.
Leather door panel=7.5lbs
door speaker with the big sound box=4.1
door airbag=2.7
stock muffler=33bs
Dansk muffler=30lbs
I've been holding onto the dansk for a long time but decided to get rid of it because it's not that much lighter or louder than the stock muffler.
I'm pretty sure I can make something lighter and there's all kind of room back there to experiment.

[The Radium King]

so much easy:

Genuine Porsche 986 Boxster Black Vinyl Interior Door Cards - Pair Of | eBay

and, if you want

Black Leather 2X Door Card Trim Skin Covers Fits Porsche 986 Boxster 96 04 | eBay

[itsnotanova]

I gave up on the idea of RS door panels. I like the concept but changed my mind when I sat in the passenger seat. The factory door panel is very comfortable to hold on to during spirited driving and matches the style of the car better than anything I could make. I still plan on switching to 996 panel some day though.

This is the time of the year where we get to brag about the weather down here in Texas. It was in the upper 60's lower 70"s and perfect weather for painting. We had some rain last night that kept the dust down too. I saw the forecast a few days ago and got ready for today. It was a long time coming but it felt great to get these parts painted.

I was really nervous about the color not matching but the new paint is identical to the old in the shade. I still need to see both in direct sun light before I make a final judgment. In the pic they look a little different, but they're the same. I'm really happy how the roll bar turned out. I usually don't care about something so small as how a weld looks, but the factory welds looked sloppy to me. I'll be shocked if someone ever notices it. Heck, I'd probably walk past a boxster and not even notice if someone smoothed out the welds. I have a lot going on this weekend but I should be getting the interior back in soon'

[TrumpyAl]

Looks great! I have so much envy for your workspace...

[steved0x]

The painted parts look awesome! I hear that painting is pretty fun too...

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by TrumpyAl

Looks great! I have so much envy for your workspace...

Thanks, but shop space is like horsepower. You never have enough.

Originally Posted by steved0x

The painted parts look awesome! I hear that painting is pretty fun too...

It's awesome when everything goes right!


The paint isn't a 100% match,but I can live with it for awhile. More pics.

[itsnotanova]

For those that don't know, the plastic interior on 97-99 is different from 2000-04. They're mostly the same ,but the 00-04 interior plastic pieces have a coating on them that give a flatter finish. I'm guessing Porsche started doing this to give the Boxster an updated look. When new the 00-04 interior does look better, but the problem is that it scratches if you even look at it wrong. It doesn't take long for the 00-04 interior to look beat up. Heck, it only took my dog 30 seconds to scratch the hell out of my center console and door flap. I'm not a fan of the 00-04 interior.! Needless to say my interior needed to be rehabbed. I was going to originally paint all the interior pieces body color using the 97-99 interior because it doesn't have that coating. Well as paint day got closer, I got lazier and decided to use the 97-99 pieces as they were. I did try and experiment with the interior pieces before putting them on. I coated them with Turtle Wax's trim restorer. It says on the bottle it's not for interior pieces, but I used it on the interior of my Dodge Ram and it made the interior look brand new. I put it on my truck six months ago and it still looks great. I wish I had before and after pics. The plastic was chalky and faded before I used the trim restorer. Now it looks like it just rolled off the show room. It's a little shiny at first, but that quickly goes away after a few days. I had such good luck with the restorer, I thought I would try it on my boxster parts before installing them. I figure worse case scenario is I would have to reinstall the interior plastics from another car.

Here's a pic of three A pillar trim. Far left is untreated 97-99, middle is 97-99 with the turtle wax restorer and the right is the 00-04.

The problem with 97-99 interior is the color. It has a grey tone to it that can clash with other colors. It's so much more durable that the 00-04 though. The good thing about the 00-04, is that it matches almost any interior color. I'm hoping the turtle wax interior can bridge that gap. Here's a pic with most of the pieces put back.

[itsnotanova]

Another thing to note about the last pic. I've decided to remove all the speakers and airbags except for the steering wheel air bag. I've also decided to remove the stereo and lower center console. I'm thinking about making my own GT3 delete for that area using luan plywood like I did for the floorboard. Luan plywood is super light and strong enough. Add another 34lbs onto the weight loss for a total of 125lbs lost.

[jakeru]

Fun project! I'm also in the middle of re-doing my Boxster's soft-touch interior pieces. They are 2001 spec with the scratch-prone finish. I've got all of them that are exposed to any sort of wear out of the car, and am stripping all the old soft-touch finish off them. Some of it (side armrests) strips off a lot easier than on others (door sill trim)! Going to refinish with SEM color coat satin black, which I checked out a sample of in the auto body store and it's a perfect color match with the factory finish - and a whole lot more durable. Debating whether to clear coat for added durability with a semi-matt polyurethane 2K clearcoat over the top for the ultimate durability, or to just leave the SEM color coat (supposed to be quite durable in its own right) and call it good.

[Van914]

Was just watching Car Fix on TV. They were redoing Ferrari parts with the soft touch plastic like what we have in our Boxsters. Strip and repainted. Looks like the way to go.

[martsink]

Love the plywood. I was thinking about doing that myself, but ended up getting a good deal from Rennline.

[mikesz]

Ingenious! Love the console.

[steved0x]

Wow the finished version looks really good!

[steved0x]

That pedal really helped me with my rev matching on downshifts. I have switched to one by the same company that doesn't have the two extensions, instead it has a smaller (5-10mm) extension that sticks out to the left for the whole length of the pedal.

It is like the one in the picture here, except that the whole pedal is satin finished without the little diamond grips. This vendor recommends a smoother finish for the throttle and it has been working well for me.

The vendor (Brian I think) is cool, when I uninstalled that pedal I sent it to him to be media blasted back to like new, and he also sandblasted some metal wheel center cap emblems for me.

SRP Porsche 986 Boxster Aluminum Racing Pedal

[itsnotanova]

I was going to wait until I went and picked it up before telling you guys, but I'm just too excited. I had the winning bid on a 2001 Carrera with only 37k!: I really thought it would be months or years until I found a motor. The thought that I might have this thing rolling before summer makes me want to :dance::dance:

[BoxsterSteve]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I was going to wait until I went and picked it up before telling you guys, but I'm just too excited. I had the winning bid on a 2001 Carrera with only 37k!: I really thought it would be months or years until I found a motor. The thought that I might have this thing rolling before summer makes me want to :dance::dance:

Oh yeah, that Boxster will absolutely dance with a 3.4. Only a 100 hp boost over stock!
Living vicariously through this build.

[Nine8Six]

Woody, just a quick but sincere thanks from the orient for taking the time to share what you do. Pics are cool, "thread is alive!"

Quiet but reading it all when updates comes in. Work safely mate

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by Nine8Six

Woody, just a quick but sincere thanks from the orient for taking the time to share what you do. Pics are cool, "thread is alive!"

Quiet but reading it all when updates comes in. Work safely mate

Why thanks mate! I figured there's was a few of you guys just watching. I was the same with the V8 thread. I didn't have much to say on that one either, but I kept tuned to every update. Now I need to go and read every 3.4 swap thread. I think I'll have it pretty easy because I'll have a 2000 and 2001 Carrera cabs to pull parts from.

[BruceH]

Very nice, congrats! I am one of those watching from the sidelines, keep the updates coming!

[silver-S]

I was interested before, now I'm waiting on the edge of my chair. A Carrera engine? M96? This should be goooood!