Phoenix from the flames - Porsche Boxster with an Audi 2.7T
Discussion
Thanks, I'm really pleased with how it's coming together. I'm really looking forward to getting some decent use out of it next year
When I put the roof down the clam shell wasn't closing properly on one side. There's an arm with a plastic ball joint and it had snapped.
PC011398
It turns out the snapped end was a perfect plug for the drain hole on the drip tray. You can't really see in the photo but it's full of water and the cause of the leak. Quite unlucky.
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I've still got an oil leak. I'm going to be changing the upper sump in an attempt to sort it out.
PB261393
When I put the roof down the clam shell wasn't closing properly on one side. There's an arm with a plastic ball joint and it had snapped.
PC011398It turns out the snapped end was a perfect plug for the drain hole on the drip tray. You can't really see in the photo but it's full of water and the cause of the leak. Quite unlucky.
IMG_20221118_141822747_HDRI've still got an oil leak. I'm going to be changing the upper sump in an attempt to sort it out.
PB261393Escy said:
When I put the roof down the clam shell wasn't closing properly on one side. There's an arm with a plastic ball joint and it had snapped.
It turns out the snapped end was a perfect plug for the drain hole on the drip tray. You can't really see in the photo but it's full of water and the cause of the leak. Quite unlucky.
Been there, done that. Mine was a bit more destructive in that the the sharp end then punctured through the liner. After various attempts to straighten arms, new plastic end bits and an almost Basil Fawlty moment in a car park when the whole lot lunched itself I gave up and removed the mechanism completely. Roof now manual, only problem being that you can just lift the clam shell up but not the end of the world.It turns out the snapped end was a perfect plug for the drain hole on the drip tray. You can't really see in the photo but it's full of water and the cause of the leak. Quite unlucky.
The drain holes are also the right size for acorns. We have a 100ft oak tree on our drive. Less than ideal.
I think it's a pretty common problem. An acorn is a perfect size plug for the drain hole but how would you get one in there in the first place?
Batch 7.5R said:
Looking great Tom, the SD body parts and spoiler are lovely. Glad things are finally starting to smooth out for this, it’s such a great bit of kit.
Thank you. I'm really happy with how it looks now it has the Sport Design kit. It's an awesome bit of kit, I plan to use it a lot more this year. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. -Albert Einstein
So after about 5-6 attempts at sealing my leaking lower sump with various silicones and gaskets I've finally decided to change the upper sump. I had a snapped bolt in the old one which I'd made a mess of trying to drill out (I did it with the lower sump still in place so wasn't accurate enough).
I bought a used upper sump. It predictably came caked in oil, there's no such thing as a leak free 2.7t
PB271396
Changing the upper sump is quite an awkward job, my engine mount at the front bolts to the sump so that had to come off and I then needed to hold the engine up with a chain above the engine as there is nowhere underneath to support it. All pretty much straightforward, didn't take me too long.
PC041401
Engine swaps sometimes fall down when it comes to maintenance where simple jobs become a total pain. It's pure luck on my part but it's another job that is way easier to do in my Boxster than it would be in the Audi. there are no subframes or air-con pipes in the way. It would be a beast of a job to do in the Audi. I can add that to the list along with cambelt, clutch and turbos all being easier.
I went for a quick drive to confirm I'm leak free which didn't go well. It was when it was really cold and icy. Once warmed up I put my foot down and the engine cut out, leaving the car stranded in a dodgy place. My battery is questionable so I was panicking, (I think I've killed another Odyssey PC680, it ran low while testing the roof and doesn't want to charge off my charger). I checked the ECU with my laptop and there was a fault on the throttle pedal calibration, cleared it, got it started and moved it somewhere safe. I then remembered I had changed my throttle pedal while I had the carpet out, not something I gave a second thought to at the time but it's calibrated to the ECU. Predictably while re-calibrating it on the laptop the battery got too low and it wouldn't re-start. I got my wife to rescue me with some jump leads and haven't driven it since. It's SORN and the MOT has run out now.
It's the second PC680 battery that has died and was the cause of me needing recovery previously. I'm going to go for lithium battery next. Same size, more power and lighter.
So after about 5-6 attempts at sealing my leaking lower sump with various silicones and gaskets I've finally decided to change the upper sump. I had a snapped bolt in the old one which I'd made a mess of trying to drill out (I did it with the lower sump still in place so wasn't accurate enough).
I bought a used upper sump. It predictably came caked in oil, there's no such thing as a leak free 2.7t
PB271396Changing the upper sump is quite an awkward job, my engine mount at the front bolts to the sump so that had to come off and I then needed to hold the engine up with a chain above the engine as there is nowhere underneath to support it. All pretty much straightforward, didn't take me too long.
PC041401Engine swaps sometimes fall down when it comes to maintenance where simple jobs become a total pain. It's pure luck on my part but it's another job that is way easier to do in my Boxster than it would be in the Audi. there are no subframes or air-con pipes in the way. It would be a beast of a job to do in the Audi. I can add that to the list along with cambelt, clutch and turbos all being easier.
I went for a quick drive to confirm I'm leak free which didn't go well. It was when it was really cold and icy. Once warmed up I put my foot down and the engine cut out, leaving the car stranded in a dodgy place. My battery is questionable so I was panicking, (I think I've killed another Odyssey PC680, it ran low while testing the roof and doesn't want to charge off my charger). I checked the ECU with my laptop and there was a fault on the throttle pedal calibration, cleared it, got it started and moved it somewhere safe. I then remembered I had changed my throttle pedal while I had the carpet out, not something I gave a second thought to at the time but it's calibrated to the ECU. Predictably while re-calibrating it on the laptop the battery got too low and it wouldn't re-start. I got my wife to rescue me with some jump leads and haven't driven it since. It's SORN and the MOT has run out now.
It's the second PC680 battery that has died and was the cause of me needing recovery previously. I'm going to go for lithium battery next. Same size, more power and lighter.
Friday night I was doing some googling research on transaxles that fit the 2.7t Audi engine and I stumbled across your thread, over the weekend I have binged all 60 pages, read over 1000 posts and traveled with you over this journey coming into its 5th year!
This thread is phenomenal! I used to be heavily involved in the forums, creating similar threads to this spanning 100s of pages, 1000s of photos, pusing the boundries and constantly fighting issues because noone has made a path for you to follow. I could list all the things I've loved about this thread, the solutions, the mods, the theories, but you can just collectively call it everything!
I used to get people stumble across my builds 60 pages in and messages like this were such a boost! Reading through I could tell when you were on the verge of giving up, things seems alot more positive lately.
Fantastic build, it's been a pleasure taking up my weekend studing it, and it's been great reading an old fashioned blog again! Keep up the great work!
This thread is phenomenal! I used to be heavily involved in the forums, creating similar threads to this spanning 100s of pages, 1000s of photos, pusing the boundries and constantly fighting issues because noone has made a path for you to follow. I could list all the things I've loved about this thread, the solutions, the mods, the theories, but you can just collectively call it everything!
I used to get people stumble across my builds 60 pages in and messages like this were such a boost! Reading through I could tell when you were on the verge of giving up, things seems alot more positive lately.
Fantastic build, it's been a pleasure taking up my weekend studing it, and it's been great reading an old fashioned blog again! Keep up the great work!
ronnie-7ivyd said:
Friday night I was doing some googling research on transaxles that fit the 2.7t Audi engine and I stumbled across your thread, over the weekend I have binged all 60 pages, read over 1000 posts and traveled with you over this journey coming into its 5th year!
This thread is phenomenal! I used to be heavily involved in the forums, creating similar threads to this spanning 100s of pages, 1000s of photos, pusing the boundries and constantly fighting issues because noone has made a path for you to follow. I could list all the things I've loved about this thread, the solutions, the mods, the theories, but you can just collectively call it everything!
I used to get people stumble across my builds 60 pages in and messages like this were such a boost! Reading through I could tell when you were on the verge of giving up, things seems alot more positive lately.
Fantastic build, it's been a pleasure taking up my weekend studing it, and it's been great reading an old fashioned blog again! Keep up the great work!
It's been a labour of love, I've been plugging away at it for years, slowly evolving and developing it but the result was definately worth the effort, I've got something I think is pretty special now. Thanks for signing up to write this reply. This thread is phenomenal! I used to be heavily involved in the forums, creating similar threads to this spanning 100s of pages, 1000s of photos, pusing the boundries and constantly fighting issues because noone has made a path for you to follow. I could list all the things I've loved about this thread, the solutions, the mods, the theories, but you can just collectively call it everything!
I used to get people stumble across my builds 60 pages in and messages like this were such a boost! Reading through I could tell when you were on the verge of giving up, things seems alot more positive lately.
Fantastic build, it's been a pleasure taking up my weekend studing it, and it's been great reading an old fashioned blog again! Keep up the great work!
mercedeslimos said:
To be fair I've been following this too, and I really feel for Escy with some of the trials he's had in this build. I'd have long given up.
It's too good to give up on. Every time I've been for a drive I'm buzzing afterwards. I just need to start using it more now. I have the 12Ah Lithium battery from this guy http://topend.se/index.php?route=product/category&... , it works incredible well, super lightweight and powerful. They also die when overly drained them though, so i have a cutoff switch. The larger 25ah battery have full BMS with automatic low volt cutoff (about 275£), that seems useful if you killed batteries already 
I guess there might be similar available locally aswell.
I guess there might be similar available locally aswell.CedricN said:
I have the 12Ah Lithium battery from this guy http://topend.se/index.php?route=product/category&... , it works incredible well, super lightweight and powerful. They also die when overly drained them though, so i have a cutoff switch. The larger 25ah battery have full BMS with automatic low volt cutoff (about 275£), that seems useful if you killed batteries already I guess there might be similar available locally aswell.
I've ordered a 20Ah LiPo4 from a UK supplier. I should get it tomorrow. I guess there might be similar available locally aswell.strombomb said:
Escy - sorry to hear about the crummy test drive. I say if you haven’t gotten stranded in your project car, you’re not pushing the limits hard enough.
Most importantly though, is the pesky oil leak finally gone?
I've been stranded a few times over the years! There's no signs of an oil leak now, I'm reluctant to say it's conclusive as the test drive wasn't that thorough, but I think I'm probably good. I had a look at the cam cover seals whilst I was doing the sump, these leak for fun and I've had numerous attempts at sealing them. I'm pleased to say they are still leak free, and that's after lots of hard driving. Whisper it, I might have a leak free engine! Most importantly though, is the pesky oil leak finally gone?
I fitted the lithium battery I bought. It's near enough the same physical size the PC680 was but it's more powerful. 630cca vs 170cca. I was pushing my luck with the PC680, expecting it to start a 2.7 litre engine. It always did providing it wasn't bellow 11.8v (which is where by battery cut off kicks in to protect it). They don't seem to recover if they can run flat. I'd also sometimes throw up a fault code for the throttle pedal as during cranking the voltage dropped too low. The new battery weighs 2.2kg, the old one was around 7kg and a standard one is about 15kg. It's worth fitting one for the weight saving alone. It has it's own battery management built into it, it shuts off at 10.9v so I should never have an issue where it runs down and damages itself.
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It was a perfect size to fit in the battery tray, just pushed in and it was held snugly by the sides. Just made a little bracket to hold it down.
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Whilst I had the water/meth tank out I noticed there were little bits in it. I'm thinking either the rubber part on the lid of the tank for the level sensor aren't liking the methanol. The level sensor was from a screen wash bottle (which contains methanol) so it shouldn't be that. I'll need to do something about that, I don't want to clog up my injectors.
IMG_20230122_124930620
IMG_20230122_122120947IMG_20230122_122919341It was a perfect size to fit in the battery tray, just pushed in and it was held snugly by the sides. Just made a little bracket to hold it down.
IMG_20230122_144044040Whilst I had the water/meth tank out I noticed there were little bits in it. I'm thinking either the rubber part on the lid of the tank for the level sensor aren't liking the methanol. The level sensor was from a screen wash bottle (which contains methanol) so it shouldn't be that. I'll need to do something about that, I don't want to clog up my injectors.
IMG_20230122_124930620Jesus, what a bloody great read that was! Awesome to see that engine being used in a Boxster.
When fitting the 2.4 cams, was there a noticeable difference? I've a 2.8 ACK motor in my B5 A4 and people also reference the 2.4 cams as being one of the few actual upgrades in terms of power for those motors.
Hope you have better luck with this new battery and the interior is looking great!
When fitting the 2.4 cams, was there a noticeable difference? I've a 2.8 ACK motor in my B5 A4 and people also reference the 2.4 cams as being one of the few actual upgrades in terms of power for those motors.
Hope you have better luck with this new battery and the interior is looking great!
The Boxster needs an MOT. I planned to get it done this morning. It's been off the road over the winter. It's been on the driveway, I did have a cover on it but it blew off. It just deteriorates when it's sat in the rain doing nothing. I want to start using it more. It always passes the MOT as I don't do much mileage in it. I knew it'd fail on the number plate lights, I'd forgot to plug them in when I fitted the rear number the last time.
I'd also bought some new rear lights which I'd fit at the same time. I liked the lights that were on it but it was depending on the sunlight. If it was bright, they looked good (like in this photo they aren't that dark), if it was overcast they looked a bit too dark. Smoked rear lights remind me of back in the Max Power days. I'd also cracked the corner of the light and glued it back together when I reversed into the kerb at the side of the garage.
IMG_20230203_152933176
I had wanted to see what the lower section of the bumper looked like in black. I bought a spray on wrap to give it a go, if I don't like it, it can come back off. It wasn't really the right time for it, weather is too cold but I wanted to do it while it was all apart.
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Taped up.
IMG_20230203_183141009_HDR
Painting it.
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I also fitted a reverse camera whilst it was apart.
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How it was before.
P7161407
And now. I think it looks much better.
IMG_20230204_092516952
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IMG_20230204_092530096
On the MOT front, I jumped in it this morning and realised the airbag light is on. I didn't have time to look at it so just drove down there. Put my code reader on it and it's stage 1 and stage 2 on the passenger airbag. I must have not plugged it in properly when I swapped the dash over. Not something I can fix in the car park so I figured it's pointless doing the test until I've sorted the airbag. The first drive since fitting the new stereo, it's really good, I'm happy with that.
I'd also bought some new rear lights which I'd fit at the same time. I liked the lights that were on it but it was depending on the sunlight. If it was bright, they looked good (like in this photo they aren't that dark), if it was overcast they looked a bit too dark. Smoked rear lights remind me of back in the Max Power days. I'd also cracked the corner of the light and glued it back together when I reversed into the kerb at the side of the garage.
IMG_20230203_152933176I had wanted to see what the lower section of the bumper looked like in black. I bought a spray on wrap to give it a go, if I don't like it, it can come back off. It wasn't really the right time for it, weather is too cold but I wanted to do it while it was all apart.
IMG_20230203_183148451_HDRTaped up.
IMG_20230203_183141009_HDRPainting it.
IMG-20230203-WA0001I also fitted a reverse camera whilst it was apart.
IMG_20230204_092702186_HDRHow it was before.
P7161407And now. I think it looks much better.
IMG_20230204_092516952IMG_20230204_092522210IMG_20230204_092530096On the MOT front, I jumped in it this morning and realised the airbag light is on. I didn't have time to look at it so just drove down there. Put my code reader on it and it's stage 1 and stage 2 on the passenger airbag. I must have not plugged it in properly when I swapped the dash over. Not something I can fix in the car park so I figured it's pointless doing the test until I've sorted the airbag. The first drive since fitting the new stereo, it's really good, I'm happy with that.
Edited by Escy on Saturday 4th February 11:25
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