Porsche Boxster 986 - engine swap project
Discussion
Great thread, been following but this is my first contribution. These guys did a good job of rebuilding my R26 turbo if you'd like a comparison on price etc.
Escy said:
I'm going to sell the bottom end and the good cylinder head. I'll also try and sell the cracked head (possibly a tough sell but one with bent valves went for £200 on ebay).
Can you 3dscan the cylinder head? 
If you can turn that into a good mesh file (*.stl or similar), there is a super interesting possibility near future to 3dprint/replicate that part with a much more reliable material.ooid said:
Escy said:
I'm going to sell the bottom end and the good cylinder head. I'll also try and sell the cracked head (possibly a tough sell but one with bent valves went for £200 on ebay).
Can you 3dscan the cylinder head? If you can turn that into a good mesh file (*.stl or similar), there is a super interesting possibility near future to 3dprint/replicate that part with a much more reliable material.3D printing has some interesting applications to say the least but the reason manufacturers continue to use castings is because they're cheaper and better.
Maybe some day a 3D printed engine will be made but not for a while.
I know all images aren't showing at the moment because of the forum update, i've got a copy of this build thread on the AudiSRS forum so it can be correctly shown over there http://audisrs.com/sutra745785.php#745785
Last weekend I decided to take the gearbox off to sort out the crank seal leak, I was going to leave this until after the mapping, just incase the clutch would need upgrading but thought may as well do it while the ECU is in Poland and the turbo is knackered.
I was pleased with how simple it is to work on, easier than a standard Boxster as the exhaust is all on v-bands. I didn't even need to remove the wheels and driveshafts.
Once the clutch and flywheel were removed I was presented with this sight, a perfectly fine crank seal. Great diagnosis that was! Lesson learnt, should have inspected it better before rushing to conclusions and taking it all apart.
This was a source of the leak, the adapter on the oil feed for the turbo had worked slightly loose (the oil on the banjo bolt is where I needed to slacken it off to get the gearbox off, not a leak). Good job I found it now rather than wait to after it'd been mapped and risk killing another turbo (this wasn't the reason for the last turbo running dry, only a small leak)
Getting a Hybrid Holset seemed a good idea but replacing it with the same spec was hassle. I spoke to a few turbo company's, some struggled to source the parts, some weren't interested even though they advertised the parts on their website (Turbo Rebuild LTD, i'm looking at you). I couldn't find the bits in the UK so ended up ordering a HX40 CHRA from Hong-Kong and a HX35 turbine shaft and wheel from the US. Knowing these parts would take a while to arrive and I needed to then send them off for balancing (and most of the turbo companies I spoke to said they won't balance a turbo they didn't supply the parts for) I tried another company in the UK, AET turbo's. They had all the (genuine) parts on the shelf and built up a CHRA up for me the next day. That was a result although it cost me considerably more then I initially paid for the turbo in the first place. At least no messing about and waiting on parts.
The compressor housing is held on by a massive circlip, I don't have the correct tool for it so I used a vice and a pair of mole grips to hold it shut. I can't lie, I was crapping myself doing this, I had it slip a few times, there is loads of force required to hold it shut.
Turbo all back together ready to be fitted back on.
Last weekend I decided to take the gearbox off to sort out the crank seal leak, I was going to leave this until after the mapping, just incase the clutch would need upgrading but thought may as well do it while the ECU is in Poland and the turbo is knackered.
I was pleased with how simple it is to work on, easier than a standard Boxster as the exhaust is all on v-bands. I didn't even need to remove the wheels and driveshafts.
Once the clutch and flywheel were removed I was presented with this sight, a perfectly fine crank seal. Great diagnosis that was! Lesson learnt, should have inspected it better before rushing to conclusions and taking it all apart.
This was a source of the leak, the adapter on the oil feed for the turbo had worked slightly loose (the oil on the banjo bolt is where I needed to slacken it off to get the gearbox off, not a leak). Good job I found it now rather than wait to after it'd been mapped and risk killing another turbo (this wasn't the reason for the last turbo running dry, only a small leak)
Getting a Hybrid Holset seemed a good idea but replacing it with the same spec was hassle. I spoke to a few turbo company's, some struggled to source the parts, some weren't interested even though they advertised the parts on their website (Turbo Rebuild LTD, i'm looking at you). I couldn't find the bits in the UK so ended up ordering a HX40 CHRA from Hong-Kong and a HX35 turbine shaft and wheel from the US. Knowing these parts would take a while to arrive and I needed to then send them off for balancing (and most of the turbo companies I spoke to said they won't balance a turbo they didn't supply the parts for) I tried another company in the UK, AET turbo's. They had all the (genuine) parts on the shelf and built up a CHRA up for me the next day. That was a result although it cost me considerably more then I initially paid for the turbo in the first place. At least no messing about and waiting on parts.
The compressor housing is held on by a massive circlip, I don't have the correct tool for it so I used a vice and a pair of mole grips to hold it shut. I can't lie, I was crapping myself doing this, I had it slip a few times, there is loads of force required to hold it shut.
Turbo all back together ready to be fitted back on.
I took it out for the first time since changing the turbo. I wanted to get some miles under it's belt and test a few things out. Boost control being the main thing. The external wastegate has a 15psi spring but it was making 30psi so i'll have to do some investigation into that.
It's also way too loud inside the cabin so i'll need replace the sound deadening in the engine bay I thought it was a good idea to remove.
I decided to remove the Tecomotive controller that runs my charge cooler pump, the reason being I had a spare PWM output on the ECU and I could create a map/rpm table for it which I thought was better than being temperature controlled. After the drive I opened the boot and felt the charge cooler, the turbo side was hot and the engine side was very cold. IAT's were around 20c for the majority of time.
The car ran very well other than the idle, that's hit and miss, sometimes it's rock solid, other times it's surging up and down.
It's slowly getting there, I put 25 miles on it tonight. I took a couple of pictures. It's still dirty, i'm a bit of an animal when it comes to car detailing, I used some waterless wash and wax crap, it left white spots all over the place.
It's also way too loud inside the cabin so i'll need replace the sound deadening in the engine bay I thought it was a good idea to remove.
I decided to remove the Tecomotive controller that runs my charge cooler pump, the reason being I had a spare PWM output on the ECU and I could create a map/rpm table for it which I thought was better than being temperature controlled. After the drive I opened the boot and felt the charge cooler, the turbo side was hot and the engine side was very cold. IAT's were around 20c for the majority of time.
The car ran very well other than the idle, that's hit and miss, sometimes it's rock solid, other times it's surging up and down.
It's slowly getting there, I put 25 miles on it tonight. I took a couple of pictures. It's still dirty, i'm a bit of an animal when it comes to car detailing, I used some waterless wash and wax crap, it left white spots all over the place.
I removed the wastegate and tested it with an airline, it opened up at 15psi like it should. Someone on Facebook suggested I check the plumbing on the boost solenoid. Turns out i'd done a schoolboy error and had the wastegate and compressor hoses the wrong way around. I guess the good news is the engine took a fair few 30psi runs and is still in one piece which means i'm obligated to run that once it's mapped 
Wow, I think I might have found a new near perfect combo of chassis and engine!
How good is your administration? You don't happen to have made a complete part list and spec sheet for everything?
I don't have the skills for something like this, but my local guy should have. Too bad I have to pay him by the hour, and figuring out all those details take quite a few hours.
Very cool stuff!
A bit too late now, but a cool setup for the exhaust might be something like this: oOo
The big pipe is your oval exhaust, the small ones are from the wastegate. It would be purely aesthetic as you'd have to split up your wastegate, and you might have too little space.
The RWB Porsche has something (remotely) comparable, but iirc, the central pipe is the screamer, and the other 2 are the exhaust.
How good is your administration? You don't happen to have made a complete part list and spec sheet for everything?
I don't have the skills for something like this, but my local guy should have. Too bad I have to pay him by the hour, and figuring out all those details take quite a few hours.
Very cool stuff!
A bit too late now, but a cool setup for the exhaust might be something like this: oOo
The big pipe is your oval exhaust, the small ones are from the wastegate. It would be purely aesthetic as you'd have to split up your wastegate, and you might have too little space.
The RWB Porsche has something (remotely) comparable, but iirc, the central pipe is the screamer, and the other 2 are the exhaust.
Thanks, I think it's a perfect engine/chassis combo. I've got a rough list of the parts I've used, mainly to keep track of the money spent. Are you considering building one?
I did consider doing the wastegate like you suggested but it's a lot of extra work and I quite like it how it is, it's all business.
I did consider doing the wastegate like you suggested but it's a lot of extra work and I quite like it how it is, it's all business.
If I am honest, I probably like thinking about combo's better than actually building it. I am not very good at spending money and legislation here in Belgium makes things complicated.
You have a great taste in cars by the way. B204 VX220 has crossed my mind multiple times too, and a 2zz (?) mr2 tickles my fantasy too.
500 bhp in a good handling chassis will happen some day, and I think this might be one of the best options. Cheap chassis, known for its handling, with the possibility to fit some serious tires under there and a bunch of upgrades possible from the 911 models.
I would really appreciate it if you could put together a list!
You have a great taste in cars by the way. B204 VX220 has crossed my mind multiple times too, and a 2zz (?) mr2 tickles my fantasy too.
500 bhp in a good handling chassis will happen some day, and I think this might be one of the best options. Cheap chassis, known for its handling, with the possibility to fit some serious tires under there and a bunch of upgrades possible from the 911 models.
I would really appreciate it if you could put together a list!
Re the scan/3d print thing for parts including engine parts I think the trick is to scan & then print a plastic model of the part to use as a blank for casting a real 1.........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3SVTBrKyZk
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-27/saving-the-l...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3SVTBrKyZk
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-27/saving-the-l...
Ignore what I was saying about 30psi, I was being a noob. My ECU reads in kilopascals, 200kpa is 30psi but it's absolute pressure so is actually 15psi. I'm not familiar with kpa so put it into a unit converter while my mate was driving, s
t myself that it was 30psi and never stopped to consider it was an absolute pressure. I did think it didn't feel like 30psi.
I've been busy on the car doing lots of little jobs, slightly changed the screamer pipe to give more clearance on the turbo compressor housing, added sound deadening, wiring, fixing a leak on the wastegate, etc.
I decided I wasn't happy with the rear tyres, I had 285/30/18's but they were a bit tight to the strut and the 30 profile looked a bit odd as the fronts are 40's. I didn't really notice before. This is how it was.
I wanted to stay with the Federal RSR's so went to 265/35/18. I got them sent to my work without thinking about it, was a struggle getting them in an MR2.
Getting another alignment done. Got to say Kwikfit have been good, sure i'm pissing them off, been there 3 times already.
I got some adjustable rear toe arms to help get it all set-up like I wanted.
This is how it looks now, i'm happy. I bought some wheel spacers for the front and rear to get it sitting a bit better. I'm running -2.2 front and rear camber so the top of the wheels were sitting a bit far in
It's getting close, got a few little things to sort out and then it's off for mapping. It's close
t myself that it was 30psi and never stopped to consider it was an absolute pressure. I did think it didn't feel like 30psi. I've been busy on the car doing lots of little jobs, slightly changed the screamer pipe to give more clearance on the turbo compressor housing, added sound deadening, wiring, fixing a leak on the wastegate, etc.
I decided I wasn't happy with the rear tyres, I had 285/30/18's but they were a bit tight to the strut and the 30 profile looked a bit odd as the fronts are 40's. I didn't really notice before. This is how it was.
I wanted to stay with the Federal RSR's so went to 265/35/18. I got them sent to my work without thinking about it, was a struggle getting them in an MR2.
Getting another alignment done. Got to say Kwikfit have been good, sure i'm pissing them off, been there 3 times already.
I got some adjustable rear toe arms to help get it all set-up like I wanted.
This is how it looks now, i'm happy. I bought some wheel spacers for the front and rear to get it sitting a bit better. I'm running -2.2 front and rear camber so the top of the wheels were sitting a bit far in
It's getting close, got a few little things to sort out and then it's off for mapping. It's close
Edited by Escy on Sunday 21st May 23:46
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