Woody's build thread

[itsnotanova]

The 3.4 is a big improvement over the 2.5, 2.7 and 3.2. It's fast but not scary fast. I'm thinking the improvement difference might be with the intake, exhaust and 996 tune more than the displacement. The 986 is majorly corked on the intake and exhaust over the 996. I'm about to switch back to a 3.2 block because my cam adjusters on the 3.4 are starting to throw chunks of green bits in to the oil. There are some other issues I'm having with the 3.4 and it's just easier to pull the motor. I plan on switching out the intake system and exhaust from my 3.4, and putting it on the 3.2 before installing it in my boxster.
Back story on the 3.2. I bought a flooded 2002 S out of Louisiana last week. It was hard to tell from the pictures how high the water had gone. I've bought many "flood damaged" boxsters before with the only thing wrong was a wet immobilizer. I wasn't so lucky with this one. This one had actually been in a flood. The water had got as high as the bottom of the dash. I checked the dipstick and found moisture. I got it on my lift and pulled the drain plug. For 30 seconds nothing but very clean water came out. Bummer! I decided to pull the sparkplugs and the pan to see what damage might have incurred. 5 of 6 cylinders had water in them and here's with the pan off.

With nothing really to lose because I can't sell this motor, I decided to carry on. I cleaned up what I could and replaced the DME, Immobilizer, key with a spare set. Turned it over a few times to clear out the water and then threw some oil in it. I had to jump the fuel relay because it had corroded. After about 30 seconds it fired up.

[Mad Max]

about the 3.4 having issues. Seems like the 3.2 may be the same. Good luck with the 3.2, I hope it works out.

[itsnotanova]

Thanks Mad Max. The 3.4 is in it's cocoon and I've begun to switch over the 3.4 stuff onto the 3.2

After I installed the 3.4 a few months back, I was able to get a ROW tune which basically makes the air pump and it's hardware just dead weight.

Only 4 small bolts hold it on, but you'll need to cap the holes if you do. Supposedly you can buy delete plates from Porsche. I decided to make my own because I'm impatient.

I want to use the 3.4 intake on the 3.2. To do so, I had to drill and tap for the different bolt pattern the 3.4 has. The red dots are where I need to drill

[CrisZenithBlue]

I don't know about you other guys but I'm jealous Woody.. You have your playground and your toys and you get to do this kind of stuff. Meanwhile I don't even have a proper place to work on my car unless I'm paying

It's great to follow an enthusiast especially one that helps the Porsche community as much as you do with fairness and advice. Keep it up man and good luck with everything you do!

Cheers!

Cristian

[fanguy]

Blue, I feel the same way. Sold my house last year and moved into a condo which was fine for a year. Then I got a Boxster and know no garage shop to work on cars and limited tools. I saw a show about 2 years ago where some guys in CO bought some land and bulldozers, backhoes, graters, and the like. They set a vacation packages where people fly and play with the heavy Eq. Maybe Woody should do the same. You get to forage and use shop.

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by fanguy

Maybe Woody should do the same. You get to forage and use shop.

You might be disappointed when you see it. The whole Woody empire is a non-insulated 24x30 building and 2.5 shipping containers.

So I finally modified my 4 post lift so I can remove and install engines easier. I guess Jon's safety thread motivated me. No more "Hold my beer" moments. I notched the platforms and welded some angle iron on the backside. Just enough room for a M96 to squeeze through.



She's alive!! I ran some old oil through the 3.2 when it was in the flooded box. After installing the 3.2 in, I then got the cheapest Walmart oil and ran it for a few minutes. Drained that oil and refilled with some mid-grade oil. I don't want to put any good stuff in it until I'm sure I'm not completely wasting my money. So far it holds good oil pressure and runs smoother than the 3.4 it replaced. I haven't got to really put the car through her paces, but my butt dyno doesn't really feel a difference between the two motors. Torque does feel a little down under 4000rpm but HP feels higher over 4000rpm. I have a neighbor who has a dyno at his house and I'm going to hit him up to test both motors.

Switched my wheels again. These are 987 wheels that are 17x7 and 17x8.5. the other 987 wheels were 17x6.5 and 17x8

[itsnotanova]

I thought I found a great deal on CL. Two Cobra kevlar racing seat for $500. Both were in great condition but one had a black gel coat and the other was gray. I figured I could just paint them and they would match. So I started to take one apart and I ran into a snag. The plastic trim pieces where the harnesses go through wouldn't come out. When Cobra build the seats, they lay the foam and cloth down first. They then clip the plastic trim pieces on sandwiching the cloth to the seat. The trim rings are a two piece design that are glued together. Not sure what to do now as these seats are ten years old and I doubt I can find those clips.

[Smallblock454]

Hello Woody,

3 ideas:
Cobra seats are manufatured in the UK. I would contact the manufacturer if they still have original spare parts for the seats: Cobra Seats - The World's Finest Automotive Seats

Ask a 3D printer shop if they can reproduce the parts. In general 3D printed parts are not that durable and have a rougher surface than injection molding plastic parts.

Use a hose that's profile is cutted exactly in the middle of the diameter and put it in the hole. There are some manufaturers that offer precut profile parts from rubber and other materials. This won't look like original part, but maybe will give a similar functionality.

Regards, Markus

[itsnotanova]

Thanks Markus. I was kind of thinking on those lines too. My first thought was to call Cobra and see if they had those trim parts. My second thought was using rubber trim like you had mentioned. Cut it to shape and then glue it in. I need to go get some foam from an upholstery shop as some of the foam has disintegrated. I'll see if they might have something too.

[steved0x]

Recaro sells that part as a 2 piece part so maybe Cobra does too, or you can improvise a way to fasten them together. I can't tell from the picture whether you had to destroy the old pieces when removing them.

[eddy]

I love those wheels, Woody! Seeing them on your car has convinced me to get a set-- if I can find them. Had limited luck in my searching.

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by eddy

I love those wheels, Woody! Seeing them on your car has convinced me to get a set-- if I can find them. Had limited luck in my searching.

Yes they are hard to come by. I like them and they have brand new michelin pilot sport a/s 3+ on them. I'd have to say they are my favorite factory 17 inch wheel. I still miss the black wheels I had though. They were a little heavy but they were the look I was after. I thought about painting these wheels black but I'll probably leave them silver for now. I really want a set of 17 or 18 inch lighter forged wheels.

Update on the seat. I've been sharing emails and pictures with Cobra and they're looking around to see what they can do. Love them Brits, they're so polite

[steved0x]

That's a score on those seats, I thought I had read it as "Corbeau" the first time. Cobra seats rock!

[Chuck W.]

I just came across this posting.... coffee on a rainy morning reading 13 pages. Great way to start the day. Nice job Woodie..... thanks for sharing.

[mattluttrell]

Damn, you have a build thread! You helped me with my wheels in my thread. My wheels (same as yours) were delivered an hour ago.

Looking forward to following this thread.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

[itsnotanova]

Thanks guys. The trim pieces on the seat restoration have put me in a rut. Cobra doesn't have any for seats that old and I haven't had the chance to sit down and find anything that might work. I'm glad the holidays are over with. Now maybe I'll have time to play with it again. On a good note, I have been driving it as much as possible. I had someone pull up next to me and ask if my car was a Ferrari. I told him "No it's better than a Ferrari, it's a Porsche"

[itsnotanova]

It's been awhile since I've done anything to the box. I've been too busy or low on funds after paying Uncle Sam. Bastard wants money for everything! He even taxes me on the tools at my shop. Well after a busy weekend I decided to get the car on the lift and trade out some parts I've been holding onto for a few months. The first is a FVD deep sump oil pan I picked up for $25. That's right, $25! A guy on CL had an add for two blown up 3.6 motors and some other stuff. I called him up and he told me he picked them out of the "junk pile" of some shop here in town. Turns out it was one the high end garage's in town. The motors came out of a cup car or something worth a lot of coin. I guess it wasn't worth their time to remove the pan?!?! Both motors had died a very explosive death as there wasn't much salvageable. One was so bad that even the heads were warped from the internal explosion. The one that had the pan was a little less damage. The ported heads looked to be still good so i gave them to a builder out of Georgia to use if he wanted to. The pan looked like it was brand new so I decided to use it on my 3.2.


The stock pan is off the 3.2 and the one on the right is the deep sump. The FVD pan sits about a half an inch lower. If you look at the following pic, you'll see that I already have ground clearance issues as my exhaust has already banged up on a few things. The right header still sits lower than the pan, but that still doesn't make me feel better. I'm thinking about making my own little skid plate for that area. I also plan on seeing if I can raise the motor a little too.

[ryanjboutin]

Smokin ass deal on that earl pan!

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by ryanjboutin

Smokin ass deal on that earl pan!

Yes! There's lots of good deals on CL but you have to get them quick.

I'm getting the trunk ready for my accusump instillation, so I decided to go ahead and remove the spoiler mechanism. Most spec guys remove these pieces and lock the spoiler in the up position. I'm locking mine in the down position as it interferes with the aftermarket spoiler I installed on the trunk. I don't believe either really do much of anything and my car feels as stable at 120mph as it does at 60mph. Save your breath if you're a pro-stock spoiler person. Until I see an actual wind tunnel picture, I don't think the rear stock spoiler/gurney flap does much of anything. Sorry that's my opinion.

It only takes about thirty minutes at most to remove everything in the picture above and it's all reversible if I chose to put it back in. If you look at the picture below, there's a small pin inside the piston right below that brass colored sleeve. The cable attaches to that pin to control the spoiler from going up or down. You have to pry the case apart and the cable slides off from that pin. To keep the spoiler from rising, you have to drill a small hole and put a screw through it. You can see the small hole I drilled to the left of the pin. The hole is in the valley between the big and small tube. Total loss 4lbs

[itsnotanova]

One of my favorite things to do is fabricate. Because of that I'm somewhat a hoarder of metal I think I might be able to use in the future. Today that hoarding helped and hindered my idea to build a skid plate for my boxster with the a low sitting motor. What should have taken me an hour to make turned into 3. The only big flat steel I had laying around was a skid plate off a F350. I spent way too much time making it work. The easier route would be to use some fresh sheet metal, bend it, drill some holes and then cut to shape. Bam it's that easy. Using what I had took a little more effort. I had to butt weld two pieces together and do lots of grinding, wire brushing and cleaning to get my skid plate built. At least it was free. So here's almost the final product. I'm hoping to paint tomorrow if I have time.

Right now the only thing holding it on are the two front bolts. I had thought about using the boss's on the side of the motor but decided against it for now.

If I attach the plate to them too, I'm thinking I want it to be pretty flimsy as I don't want them to break off and ruin the case if I do hit something hard. As of right now I have these rubber mounts in-between the plate and the sump.

The steel I'm using is around 14 gauge. My theory is that if I hit anything it will be when I'm going forward and the purpose of the plate is to deflect the impact and not catch onto the pan or block. It's not like i'm rock crawling with the car. I'm thinking the two bolts in the front should be enough to hold the plate in position for what I most likely will hit.