Phoenix from the flames - Porsche Boxster with an Audi 2.7T

[agent006]

That wrap is very nice, really makes the black spoiler look more at home too.

[Harfi88]

The black looks really good on the bumper, Have you ever struggled with the ARB drop links on yours ? I spent all last Saturday trying to get them off my 987 so I can replace a snapped spring.

[anonymous-user]

I’m so impressed by what you’ve done with this car and the skill involved. It’s a real credit to you.

[Jester86]

Looking really good buddy!

[mercedeslimos]

Your work is always top notch, fair play!

That spray wrap is excellent - I did some AVUS wheels from an S3 for my TT last year as I CBA getting them professionally done at the time - it still looks good!

You build great cars, keep up the excellent work so we can all live vicariously through you.

[Escy]

Thanks everyone. I'm really pleased with how it looks now.

Harfi88 said:

The black looks really good on the bumper, Have you ever struggled with the ARB drop links on yours ? I spent all last Saturday trying to get them off my 987 so I can replace a snapped spring.

It's a well known thing. If they haven't been touched for a while, they don't want to come out. My technique is to cut the drop link off at the ball joint, put a socket on the bolt head that's now left exposed and use an impact gun to get it moving. It won't wind out but it'll break up all the powdery corrosion that's inside, I then hit the other end with a hammer as I'm using the impact gun. That tends to work but you'll be needing new drop links afterwards.

[shalmaneser]

Harfi88 said:

The black looks really good on the bumper, Have you ever struggled with the ARB drop links on yours ? I spent all last Saturday trying to get them off my 987 so I can replace a snapped spring.

They are a nightmare on all the 9x7 and 9x6 cars. The aluminium and steel corrode together and jam themselves in tight. As OP said you can normally pop the ball joint off to just the 'bolt' is left they get and impact on there (or enormous breaker bar) and work it back and forth until it comes out. Then replace with plenty of aluminium anti-seize.

[Watchthis]

Without wishing to derail, has anyone got any tips on separating an aluminium AC line from the condenser connection.... don't want to apply heat as, well.. aluminium, and can't prise apart as the material is soft as butter

[Escy]

Tap the edge where the bolt goes through with a hammer to try and break it free.

[Harfi88]

Thanks both of you for the advice. I watched a few videos on how to do it but they were all on American cars which didn’t have the same problem I’m expecting the rear to be a pain in arse next.

[Watchthis]

Escy said:

Tap the edge where the bolt goes through with a hammer to try and break it free.

Very unhelpfully BMW have the connection dowelled as well as screwed which scuppers this. A real PITA, no wonder people use stop leak in their AC systems rather than repair properly

[Mikeeb]

Watchthis said:

Very unhelpfully BMW have the connection dowelled as well as screwed which scuppers this. A real PITA, no wonder people use stop leak in their AC systems rather than repair properly

The one under the drivers door is doweled on the 996.

[Phil Cook]

I’ve just sat and read the full 60 odd pages of this and I’m in awe of your perseverance, skill and never say die attitude.
The Boxster looks absolutely fantastic and it’s an absolute credit to you - and I can see you have had plenty of hard yards (something of an understatement) with all of the challenges across the various Boxsters.
Thanks for sharing - this is what PH is all about for so many of us even though many of us can only watch on in envy due to lacking the skills you have.

[Escy]

Thank you. There's been a few hurdles along the way but I have enjoyed the build process. I've learnt there is a huge casam between a running and driving engine swapped car (or just highly modified) and a fully sorted car. The hard yards are in the development. I think I'm nearly there but I still have some stuff to do, mostly ecu related things.

[never_thought_id_buy]

I’m a bit worried by how close the battery positive link appears to be to the negative chassis stud behind the battery, especially as it looks like neither are shrouded? It wouldn’t take much movement of the battery, or a dropped tool, to create a potential short…

[Escy]

Not a bad shout, I put some rubber hose over the positive.

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The scuttle panel was quite badly faded, and the paint on the wiper arms. I bought some oil that's supposed to sort it out.

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It's come up nice. Hopefully it lasts.

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I'm planning to use the car a lot more this year, first trip of the year, the South Wales Porsche group on Facebook had a meet at Baffle Haus which is a biker cafe, cool place. I didn't take any photos while I was there but someone got one of me staring at the laptop which proved to be the theme of the day.

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I followed the wrong Porsche and got lost from the back at one point. Ended up in the middle of nowhere so took the opportunity to get some photos.

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Managed to meet up with the others and we had a good blast through the mountains. The car was running alright but I did have a few teething issues. It's been about 4-5 months since it was used properly last, the ecu has had a couple of firmware updates since then and a few things had changed which caused me a few issues. I was initially stuck on wastegate pressure which I managed to fix on my way to the meet. Wastegate pressure was about 380bhp which ironically I'd have probably been better off staying with. You can't really use 500+bhp on those type of roads, just little squirts here and there and turning it right up caused me issues.

It was great fun but eventually a water/meth pipe popped off. Luckily I set-up a failsafe on the ECU the last time it happened so I didn't risk killing the engine. Stuff like this is frustrating. I've got AEM nozzles with a push fit connection, they've failed in the past, going to have to sack them off for some different style fittings.

With the WMI down I went to just normal fuel, had problems with this also. Kept hitting fault protections on the ECU when I'd give it full throttle. It was really annoying me. I was getting over boost protection, need to spend some time adjusting then PID on the boost solenoid, see if I can tidy it up. The other one is injector duty cycle exceeding 96% (I run less fuel when using WMI so it's not a problem as much). It'd probably be sensible to turn the boost down a bit but I've not come this far to hold back on power so I'm more likely to get a larger set of injectors.

So the good news is, no more oil leaks the sump is finally dry. The car ran nicely otherwise. Need to sort these little issues but it's going in the right direction.

The WMI pipe that popped off.

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A spot of oil on the one way valve for the crankcase breather, probably because on end of the fitting has a thread on it. I've re-positioned the clamps to see if it makes a difference, but it's not really an issue compared to the leaks I've had previously.

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In the latest example of why I can't have anything nice, I've managed to damage the car the again. There was a mega tight bridge, you have to go through some posts before you get on it and there was a kerb I hadn't spotted, went a bit wider so I could go through the gates straight and caught my alloy. Really annoying but not as bad as I feared when it happened. Don't know if I'll just touch it up or refurb. Nobody else damages their car, it's always me.

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[MDifficult]

Escy said:

. Nobody else damages their car, it's always me

You should consider it a badge of honour! Far better a scuffed alloy from being hooned than yet another car looking perfect tucked away in a heated garage. Good for you and really pleased you’re able to start enjoying it

[leglessAlex]

MDifficult said:

Escy said:

. Nobody else damages their car, it's always me

You should consider it a badge of honour! Far better a scuffed alloy from being hooned than yet another car looking perfect tucked away in a heated garage. Good for you and really pleased you’re able to start enjoying it

Aye, and don't worry Escy, I always have some small damage on my car too

Occupational hazard of driving it and not being overly precious.

[shalmaneser]

Unkerbed alloys are for losers. Glad to hear car is running well, odd issue aside.

[Escy]

It could have been worse I guess. I found a photo of the meet someone else took, thought I'd share as the car looks good there.