Project Cayman

[Max13]

After selling my Cayman R a while ago (out of necessity not desire) I fancy undertaking a project to create the best Cayman I can, without going too extreme full track car etc.
I’m thinking proper dampers, wheels, brakes, exhaust and intake (don’t want to open engine), diff and flywheel, perhaps with some new seats and other small interior changes. Has anyone done something like this before?
Has anyone done anything like this before? Or if you were to do it what would be your starting point? Gen 1 with budget left or Gen 2?

Or if you wanted to create the best fun car would you start with a Boxster for some open air motoring?

Apologies if this has been covered before, but interested in what people’s opinions are before I give the debit card a workout..

Thanks

[Twinfan]

Unless the car is going to be a lifetime keeper, I'd just buy the best standard car you like - Cayman R, GTS, GT4 etc. Throwing modifications at Porsches is expensive to do and a sure fire way to alienate future buyers.

[Max13]

The car would definitely be a keeper. I know it’s not the most sensible or cost effective way of doing things, but I’m looking for a project and enjoy tinkering

[Porsche911R]

Max13 said:

The car would definitely be a keeper. I know it’s not the most sensible or cost effective way of doing things, but I’m looking for a project and enjoy tinkering

be fun.

Seats
manifolds
IPD
vflow
tune
Gyrodisks
Full RSS sus kit/arms
Shocks
battery
pads
wheels and tyres
engine mounts
LW FW
short shift
gear link kit

be about £20k plus labour and best to start with a gen 2, the R would be better of course, it's lighter and already has the SS, buckets and wheels.

[AZCollins]

Do you plan to track the car?

I'd be putting a Wavetrac LSD on the list too...

[Greedydog]

Best plan would be to look at the RPM CSR range, they have a Cayman that's undergone much of what you're looking for.

[Rocket.]

Hi Max

I am slowly building up much the same car, an R was out of my budget and I reasoned a gen 2 S is 95 pct of an R which I could modify to make as good as or perhaps better. I bought a 2009 manual Gen 2 S last year with 58,000 miles for just over £20k, it's mostly for the road and perhaps 3-4 track days per year.

So far I have fitted:

Carnewal exhaust
Ohlins R+T suspension
GT3 master cylinder, braided lines, Brembo sport pads
GT3 front brake ducts
Stiffer engine mount and gearbox mounts
Sprint booster to compensate for lack of Sports Chrono
Also has the desnork mod
5mm spacers all round
Michelin PS4S tyres

On the to do list is and in no particular order
Front Girodics
Wavetrac diff
PSM fully switchable off Mod
200 cell cat manifolds + remap
Recaro Pole position seats
Short shift kit
LWFW

After this I will probably stop, I already really like the mods I have done, if I were spending big I'd probably try and lose some more weight from the car by going carbon bonnet, hatch and maybe doors but this is £££

So far mine is a keeper as I am doing it for me and not fussed about resale, if you are ever in the North Essex area you are welcome to have a go.

[Jamie Summers]

I've also gone down this route, but from a starting point of buying a car that was already heavily modified (the original Autofarm Cayman "RS" that was in loads of the Porsche mags c.2009/10). This had the advantage of having the 3.7l Silsleeve engine upgrade, removing some of the M97 engine issues and adding a good slug of power. I have since continued the evolution of the car with KW v3, solid top mounts, RSS suspension arms, Heigo cage etc etc.....
The thing, however, that has consumed more time and money than anything else is engine cooling and oiling. My conclusion is that the 987 Cayman (particularly the Gen 1) is not a good engine platform to turn into a big-power track car. Overcoming the engine design-flaws is possible, but very expensive. I've got well beyond the point of no return, but if I was starting again I would certainly use a Gen 2 car, which does not have the same engine issues.
£20k spent selectively on suspension, brakes and weight-loss, plus some simple engine ancillary modifications can see you in a car approaching the capabilities of a GT4.
Lots of good advice (and some not so good) on the Planet 9 forum.

[VR6VR6]

You will end up here:

[VR6VR6]

Fab speed exhaust manifolds
Milltek exhaust system 'GT3 Sound'
IPD competition inlet plenum
GT3 82mm throttle body and intake
Evoms air filter intake
4 inch Under Drive pulley
Custom remap by Performance Porsche (350hp)
WEVO Semi Solid Gearbox Mounts
GT3 front lower control arms
OZ Formula HLT 19" wheels
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Tyres
Bilstein B16 PSS9 Coilover suspension
K-Mac camber & castor adjustable top mounts
Brembo brake pads and discs F&R
Techart ducktail rear spoiler
NR Auto wing uprights & Genuine 997.2 GT3 upper wing
Joe Toth Front Splitter
LED Spars
Honeycomb side vents
GT3 shift tower & short shift kit
GT3RS style alcantara steering wheel with white stitching
GT3RS style gear and handbrake lever with white stitching
Alcantara centre console lid
Upgraded sound system, 8 speaker upgrade with under seat subwoofers 'much better than Bose'
Pioneer double Din flush fit head unit
Smoothed front bumper (washer jet delete)
GT3 front bumper vent (only added last week so not in second image)

[DJMC]

VR6VR6 said:

Fab speed exhaust manifolds
Milltek exhaust system 'GT3 Sound'
IPD competition inlet plenum
GT3 82mm throttle body and intake
Evoms air filter intake
4 inch Under Drive pulley
Custom remap by Performance Porsche (350hp)
WEVO Semi Solid Gearbox Mounts
GT3 front lower control arms
OZ Formula HLT 19" wheels
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Tyres
Bilstein B16 PSS9 Coilover suspension
K-Mac camber & castor adjustable top mounts
Brembo brake pads and discs F&R
Techart ducktail rear spoiler
NR Auto wing uprights & Genuine 997.2 GT3 upper wing
Joe Toth Front Splitter
LED Spars
Honeycomb side vents
GT3 shift tower & short shift kit
GT3RS style alcantara steering wheel with white stitching
GT3RS style gear and handbrake lever with white stitching
Alcantara centre console lid
Upgraded sound system, 8 speaker upgrade with under seat subwoofers 'much better than Bose'
Pioneer double Din flush fit head unit
Smoothed front bumper (washer jet delete)
GT3 front bumper vent (only added last week so not in second image)

...and the bill?

[VR6VR6]

All work was done by the previous owner luckily.

I have a folder of bills adding up to around £17k for the mods.

Bought it on a whim TBH as used to have a GT2 Club Sport and this looked fun (which it is).

She shares garage space with half a dozen other toys so doesn't get used that much!

[Jamie Summers]

Presuming this is a Gen 1 starting point ??? I'd be nervous about doing any track work with that unless, at the very least, it has a deep sump, low temp thermostat, 3rd radiator fitted at the front, Motorsport a/o separator and larger water/oil heat exchanger from the 997. The M97 engine in Cayman spec is simply not built for track work. (If it's a Gen 2 car, then bits of the above can be disregarded !)

The spec of my Cayman S is remarkably similar, right down to the Joe Toth splitter. However in addition mine has a few more bits and pieces.

Recaro Pole Positions
Heigo Cage and harness bar
Six point harnesses
Additional Oil Temp and Pressure gauges
Carbon Bonnet
Carbon rear hatch
Plexiglass rear screen
Carbon strut-brace
Brembo GT front brakes
GT3 rear brakes
GT3 master cylinder
GT3 brake ducts
GT3 rear coffin arms
RSS toe-links
Braided hoses
H&R anti-roll bars
Additional Setrab oil cooler and fan pack
Twin TTP Oil Safe Twin scroll scavenge pumps
Lighweight flywheel
Quaife LSD

Plus the engine and cooling mods mentioned above (and the Autofarm 3.7 Silsleeve engine upgrade ! - 370bhp)

Modifying these things is not cheap........ There is barely a part on it left standard.

Including the original purchase price from new, roughly totting up what had been spent through Autofarm's development and then what I've spent on top, I think this car has cost c.£150k !

A lot of that cost is trial and error, so the bills could be reduced significantly, but the bottom line is that these cars take a lot of work to perform to their full potential.

If you enjoy the process of developing a car, then go for it. Otherwise just save up and buy a GT4 !!!! As mentioned in my earlier post, £20k actually gets you quite a long way down the road mods-wise, but would not leave you with a Gen 1 that would be bullet-proof on track, but it would give you a really lovely road car.

Edited by Jamie Summers on Thursday 3rd May 14:21

[VR6VR6]

Jamie Summers

Car is 2006 GEN 1 and is running 80 deg thermostat and cooling mods.

Although you wouldn't think from the mint condition of the car is has done 78k miles all on the original engine!

Toying with going 3.7L (or 3.9L) using Westwood Liners and Wossner forged pistons if I end up keeping the car.

[Jamie Summers]

I was under the impression that you couldn't go beyond 3.7 from the 3.4 starting point. If 3.9 is possible then go for it ! As you'll be aware it deals with the bore scoring problem and gives you the opportunity to upgrade the cams, RMS and IMS bearing. However it doesn't deal with the fundamental design-flaw of the single oil pick up in the sump. You can compensate (a bit) through an extra-deep, X51 baffled, sump. I was advised to use the TTP Oil Safe kit on each bank of heads too. Many others swear by Accusumps, but they are big and bulky (take up most of the boot).
There is no perfect solution unfortunately........

[VR6VR6]

Jamie

You can go 3.9L but must swap the crank for a 3.8L item (from a 911) so adds a lot of extra cost as this also requires new rods.

3.7L is easier and retains the existing crank / rods with new (oversized) 3.8L pistons.

You can actually go as far as 4.2L but that is taking things a little extreme.

The Cayman is the only normally aspirated car that we have out of 10 cars in the household so we will see if it ends up being a keeper!

[Jamie Summers]

Yes, that rings a bell re the 3.9 - but you're into mega-money, which makes little sense ........

I'm now in far too deep to cut and run, so the car's staying with me for the foreseeable. Next job is a f'off big spoiler, then I'm done ! (probably) oh, and a Center Gravity set up and a Wayne Schoffield remap (I'm sure there is more HP and torque on the table).

[Slippydiff]

Cheap Gen 2 S has to be the best base car for projects such as this.
Once purchased, keep checking on German Ebay and sooner or later a 408hp 3.8 Powerkit 997 GTS motor will appear. Send the car to Jens and he'll find you another 40hp and install the engine for you, then you'll need to address the brakes and chassis ....

The above is what I'd planned to do to my R, inspired by this article :

http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/1411-200...

but I rapidly came to the conclusion it really wasn't worth doing as the basic car was quick enough and handled more than adequately out of the box. It kept up with this bunch without breaking sweat :



For the record, that's a 3.9 litre engined Mk1 996 GT3, a 430 Scud, a 991.1 GTS and a Gen 1 997 GT3 ...

[Rocket.]

Slippydiff said:

Cheap Gen 2 S has to be the best base car for projects such as this.
Once purchased, keep checking on German Ebay and sooner or later a 408hp 3.8 Powerkit 997 GTS motor will appear. Send the car to Jens and he'll find you another 40hp and install the engine for you, then you'll need to address the brakes and chassis ....

The above is what I'd planned to do to my R, inspired by this article :

http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/1411-200...

but I rapidly came to the conclusion it really wasn't worth doing as the basic car was quick enough and handled more than adequately out of the box. It kept up with this bunch without breaking sweat :



For the record, that's a 3.9 litre engined Mk1 996 GT3, a 430 Scud, a 991.1 GTS and a Gen 1 997 GT3 ...

Slippy I like your thinking, finally heading for those roads in my Croc weekend of 16/17 June after Anglesey track day on 16th in case you are about ?

[Slippydiff]

Rocket. said:

Slippy I like your thinking, finally heading for those roads in my Croc weekend of 16/17 June after Anglesey track day on 16th in case you are about ?

I'll be living up there by then I'll keep those dates free