6 months to live build thread

[itsnotanova]

Here's the final cover. It's not pretty but functional.

Two weekends ago I met up with some friends and went to a different track. It was the first time for the new system and results were mixed. The car idles like crap and has lost some low end torque. I was suspecting it would. It's hard to tell how much HP I gained but it screams above 4000rpm. The car was overheating a bit and I suspect it was running lean. This is with a 3.2 ROW tune. I went racing yesterday but with a 3.4 ROW tune instead. The 3.4 tune felt a lot better (specially low end torque), but still had a rough idle. Not as bad as the other tune though. I suspect the motor itself might have some issues with the ignition or timing. I need to dig into the motor deeper.

On another note, I said the beginning of this thread that I had planned to jump it. Well I was finally able to. This new place had a spot on the track where if you were going above 55mph, you could get some air. That track was a blast but very dangerous and abusive to vehicles. I blew out two struts and roughed up the rocker panel. One guy busted his oil pan on a Audi A4 and a few weeks earlier broke both front coilovers on his 924. I took the jump a few times while another friend took pictures. I couldn't tell if I had gotten air from the drivers seat. The stock suspension really was great and never bottomed out. I think most of the suspension can take the abuse. The struts on the other hand do not like the constant up and down movement. Everyone using stock struts has blown them out from just regular track use.

[itsnotanova]

[itsnotanova]

I put a 3.4 intake on a 2.7, jumped a boxster a few times and not one comment? I feel like that old guy drinking a beer in an empty bar.

[BFeller]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I put a 3.4 intake on a 2.7, jumped a boxster a few times and not one comment? I feel like that old guy drinking a beer in an empty bar.

Not to be mean, but... if the shoe fits..... hahaha.....

I thought you already jumped the car.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I put a 3.4 intake on a 2.7, jumped a boxster a few times and not one comment? I feel like that old guy drinking a beer in an empty bar.

Almost every one of your posts in this thread is full of Awesomeness. I don't think that its a matter of people not appreciating it, but the lack of the forum's function to give a 'Like' or thumbs up.

👍👍👍

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I put a 3.4 intake on a 2.7, jumped a boxster a few times and not one comment? I feel like that old guy drinking a beer in an empty bar.

I resemble that remark!

Originally Posted by 78F350

Almost every one of your posts in this thread is full of Awesomeness. I don't think that its a matter of people not appreciating it, but the lack of the forum's function to give a 'Like' or thumbs up.

👍👍👍

My thoughts exactly, we need a thumbs up on this forum! I love the shots Woody and the thread, keep posting, we are here

[911monty]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I put a 3.4 intake on a 2.7, jumped a boxster a few times and not one comment? I feel like that old guy drinking a beer in an empty bar.

No. This is so far outside the normal range of thought I think it is more like stunned to speechless. Completely Awesome. Go Woody!

[itsnotanova]

Thanks for the complements. I was starting think no one was watching my self induced train wreck. Unfortunately this train might be coming to an end. I'm not sure what I want to do with the boxster. My friend and I were talking about turning it into a Champ car because I want to move into AWD rallycross. Both the boxster and golf were built as a goof, but I'm ready to build something more serious. I would love to find a 996 C4 as the rear suspension is better suited to adding offroad coilovers. I'm ready to move onto the national stage and I want something more professional. The boxster was fun and I killed it with the Golf. I finished first in my class yesterday and first overall in a very competitive field of 36 cars. Most impressive is that I beat someone who won the national rallycross title last year, has won at Pikes Peak and raced in the Baja 1000. On top of that, she was racing her rally'd out Miata that runs on $15 a gallon race fuel. I barely beat my friend in his Boxster and he has 40 years of racing behind him. All three of us were ahead of all AWD classes too.

[paulofto]

Geez Woody, it’s like you turned your Boxster into a hovercraft.

Good stuff!

[itsnotanova]

So I've had some free time lately and have been thinking about my racing career. I've really enjoyed the golf but FWD is not as fun to drive as RWD. I've also become so good in the golf that there's only 3-4 people who are competitive with me. The rest of the field has become dull. I'm in the lead for yearly total points in 2WD and want that trophy. I plan on driving the golf until I have the season wrapped up and no one can catch me. I've decided to get back into the boxster as my official race car starting next year. RWD is technically the slower than FWD or AWD and I think I need the handicap to keep it interesting. In preperation of bringing the boxster back, I've been working on some improvements.
The first was the overheating issues I would get when racing in 90+ degree weather. I upgraded the coooling tubes going to the radiator. I put in larger tubes that double the amount of coolant going to the radiator. The previous lines were embarrassingly small and probably contributed to the engine going out. I also cut more holes in the front so more air can flow to the radiator.
I've also been experimenting with adding aero to the front. With rallycross and autocross, you can't have too much down force. Drag really doesn't matter because you rarely get over 70mph. Seeing that I don't have side radiators, I decided to take advantage of the air going through the openings and try to create some down force. I built this front spoiler/splitter out of some scrap aluminum I had laying around. To help relieve air pressure built up inside the fenders, I lifted the rear of the fenders so air could escape out the rear of the wheel well.



My next improvement will be the rear struts. I've blown through two low mile sets and I think the factory struts are the next week link. I was thinking of using struts from a MK6 golf because I've been beating the crap out of that golf and the struts haven't showed any signs of wear. I think the golf struts might be more durable and give me more cheap options for future fine tuning of the suspension. I have a 2014 golf with only 35K sitting in my yard so I grabbed the struts out of it to see what it would take. They look like they might fit with little modifications. The bolt pattern on top is wider and the shock tube is 1-2mm larger. They look like they will also give me about 2 inches of ride height and more suspension travel.

[ike84]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

I put a 3.4 intake on a 2.7, jumped a boxster a few times and not one comment? I feel like that old guy drinking a beer in an empty bar.

I'm making my way through the thread right now for the first time. I just sent a pic of this to my wife and told her to get ready to fly!

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by ike84

I'm making my way through the thread right now for the first time. I just sent a pic of this to my wife and told her to get ready to fly!

Do it, it's a blast!! There are some really good rallycross tracks/events up by where you live. I got this trophy last week. I beat the national champion on her own track. Own as in she owns it!

[ike84]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

Do it, it's a blast!! There are some really good rallycross tracks/events up by where you live. I got this trophy last week. I beat the national champion on her own track. Own as in she owns it!

Congrats on the win! I'm super impressed how quickly you've come to dominate that event!

There's actually a dirt oval track 2 miles from my house. Noone is racing right now because of covid, but damn it's tempting to pop that gate open and go for a spin.

Sent from my POCOPHONE F1 using Tapatalk

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by ike84

Congrats on the win! I'm super impressed how quickly you've come to dominate that event!

There's actually a dirt oval track 2 miles from my house. Noone is racing right now because of covid, but damn it's tempting to pop that gate open and go for a spin.

Sent from my POCOPHONE F1 using Tapatalk

Thanks, growing up and learning how to drive in Alaska probably helped.

Yesterday was my official return to driving the RWD boxster full time and retiring the FWD Golf. I came in first for RWD by a long shot. No one in my class was even close. I came in third overall behind two AWD subarus. I'm really enjoyed RWD. It's soooo much more challenging than FWD. You have to get everything right or you're screwed. Unfortunately the motor was sounding rough 3/4 into the race. I started it up and the lifters were making a noise like they were starving for oil.(at least that's what it sounded like). I shut it down and checked the oil level. It was down to the bottom mark on the digstick. Low but not that low to cause any issues I would think. With nothing to lose I added some oil and went about a half a quart over. The noise went away and I finished my last two runs without any noise or problems. After getting it on the trailer I took a peak underneath. It has a small leak coming from the rear of the engine and front of the engine. I'm hoping it's just the power steering pump overflowing but I suspect worse. I'll get a better look later when I have time. I'm really considering an engine swap to something more robust and cheaper than the M96 motor. I have an Audi 2.7 and two VW 2.5 motors. The 2.5 is becoming a popular motor swap for the 944 and other vehicles. They're dirt cheap and can put out some very impressive numbers.

[78F350]

I put the good engine that Woody gave me in another car and put the bad engine back in after finding out that it had good compression and cleaning it up. I didn't expect it to last long, but it made it through a full day of Rallycross before final signs of impending doom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLmMFk-QXds

That engine is done now: http://986forum.com/forums/651560-post10.html

There's a chance that I'll put another 2.7L in with the same configuration (996 intake, tune, and exhaust). That would be easy and smart. I'll probably go another way.

[78F350]

Making some progress, but lots of life going on other than car projects. I want to have the car ready for Rallysprint next weekend. I'll still call that timeline plausible, but everything is going to have to come together perfectly for that to happen. Currently working 12 hour night shifts and working on the car in the afternoon. Lots of stuff to replace while I'm in there.

[BRAN]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

...how could I've missed those
Jumping the Box, and those pics DESERVE a comment!
/salute "respect, woody!"

and those 3 pics are my favs. Still wonder, if with high adjustable suspension, etc...a Daily Driver OFFROAD Boxster would be possible or is it just not rugged and sturdy enough for a little action besides the roads.

Btw...where did those 2 led lights go? lookwise, awesome. You know, times and trophies will be forgotten, but never the looks

[BrokenLinkage]

I don't know how I missed these pics on the first go around. Hell I'd drive a couple states over to that bar and buy the old man a round, just for having the chutzpah to do something different and stupidly brilliant! That looks like a blast! Much jealous of the experience, and for the creativity and skills to pull it off!
And also digging the "active aero trunklid-as-spoiler" effect when airborn (emoji). Gives it a kinda German Dukes of Hazard flavor! (lots of emoji's)

[Homeoboxter]

Thanks for sharing these pics, must be really fun what you are doing on those tracks.
Do you happen to have a video footage of your flying boxster? This picture reminds me my kid`s toy btw




[/QUOTE]