Phoenix from the flames - Porsche Boxster with an Audi 2.7T
Discussion
SWoll said:
You'll be bored by Easter and desperate for another project. I look forward to it. 
The chance would be a fine thing, I've got a list of house stuff that needs doing. pthelazyjourno said:
Would love to be a fly on the wall if you do take it to Porsche for the key.
They'll be wondering what the f
k is in front of them!
They'll be wondering what the f
k is in front of them! 
It would be interesting if I didn't tell them and they discovered it for themselves. You can watch the mechanics working on the webcams. I Should book it in complaining of a loud noise when I accelerate. The key issue seems to be improving a little bit, I've used the car the last few days and it's working a bit more often. Disconnecting the battery to reset it can be done by remote control so it's no hardship at the moment. I will wait a bit before I do go to Porsche.
mercedeslimos said:
It's been done with a 3.0 V6 TDI I think, saw it somewhere. Take one Bentley with a dead engine, take one Phaeton or A8, lob it all in, rinse, repeat 
Edit: Found it.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/bentley-contine...
I did see that one after I thought about the swap, it doesn't look too challenging. I've got a 3.0TDI Audi and it's re-mapped, it's a decent lump but I'd want to go with the 4.2 V8 if I was doing it. The V10 would be a waste of time, although a torque monster that thing barely improves on the MPG you'd get from the W12. The hard part is affording the Bentley so it's not likely to happen unless they carry on tanking in value. Edit: Found it.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/bentley-contine...
Edited by mercedeslimos on Saturday 23 January 14:39
I think I mentioned my friends 987 with an Audi V8 in it before. He's been on the dyno, the car put up a fight the first time so he needed to go back a second time. It made 340bhp and a torque curve that's a flat line. 325ft/lb at 2000rpm. He's telling me it'll pull in 5th at 30mph.
The only bit I've helped him with was wiring up the ECU and getting it to run. It's a bit rough and ready, think his plan is to tidy it up this summer. He's had a fuel leak which resulted in an engine bay fire which doesn't help the aesthetics. That was also the cause of his fuel pressure regulator leaking which caused a problem on the dyno.
I've started a YouTube channel called Car Shenanigans and my plan is to starting making more videos documenting the stuff I'm doing on the 987 to go alongside the forum posts. I also mess about with other cars, I've got a dodgy Cayenne V8 I'm going to try and fix. Would appreciate people subscribing if it's of interest.
Here is a link to the video I cobbled together on the V8 987.
The only bit I've helped him with was wiring up the ECU and getting it to run. It's a bit rough and ready, think his plan is to tidy it up this summer. He's had a fuel leak which resulted in an engine bay fire which doesn't help the aesthetics. That was also the cause of his fuel pressure regulator leaking which caused a problem on the dyno.
I've started a YouTube channel called Car Shenanigans and my plan is to starting making more videos documenting the stuff I'm doing on the 987 to go alongside the forum posts. I also mess about with other cars, I've got a dodgy Cayenne V8 I'm going to try and fix. Would appreciate people subscribing if it's of interest.
Here is a link to the video I cobbled together on the V8 987.
Edited by Escy on Saturday 20th March 20:10
I wasn't happy with the rear camber after my last alignment, the lowest I could go on the rear was -2.5 degrees which is way more than you want on a Boxster. On recommendation from a friend in the US that has been involved with racing Porsches for years I wanted between -1 and -1.5 depending on the width of the rear tyres for fast road use.
Having a look around at what's on the market, I noticed Powerflex do adjustable bushes that go in the control arms, the hole is offset so you can either add camber or remove it depending on where you set the bush. The original control arms on my car have done over 100k miles and you can't replace the ball joints so I decided I'm better off getting the complete wishbones they sell - I think these are new, didn't see them on the website last year when I bought my engine mount insert.
Complete arms saves the hassle of cutting/pressing/burning out the old bushes only to end up needing a ball joint a few thousand miles later. Replacing all the suspension arms seems to be a common practice in Porsche circles at around my mileage. I didn't have any noticeable play but people say you get big difference doing it. Having just put new coilovers on it and replacing the inner and outer track rod ends I wanted to do the control arms also to finish it off.
I also got some front and rear anti-roll bar bushes from Powerflex. I was thinking they were a bit of a 'while I'm in there' job but it turns out I badly needed the fronts.
I fitted the rears first, it wasn't that straight forward. I think they might have been designed with gaining camber in mind rather than reducing it like I wanted to do. There is a rib on the inside of the suspension frame which stops you getting the full range of movement from the eccentric bush so I needed to trim away a bit of the casting. Once they are all the way in you can't get the spanner they supply on the adjuster as there isn't enough space, I set them where I wanted them (full inboard). Then use the factory cam bolts for the fine adjustments. I learnt after watching a YouTube video (at Centre of Gravity) that the these cam bolts are stretch bolts and need to be replaced after they've been torqued up a few times. I picked up a pair at Porsche, think they were £8 each.
I noticed one of the suspension frames was damaged, there was a gap between the cam on the bolt and the frame, it could potentially move about under load so I replaced the frame with an undamaged used part.
While I was under there I noticed the gas cannister for the coilovers had hit the body (both sides had). There is nowhere decent to put them, the hoses for these cannisters are the wrong length, if I drop the cannister lower the pipe will rub my CV joint boot, if the pipe was longer I could put them somewhere else, not hanging from the shock, if it was shorter I could mount the canister lower. I've ended up raising the car a bit and moving them as close to the wheel as I dare. It's something I need to keep an eye on.
Fitting the fronts was hard work. Both inner wishbone bolts were seized, this seems to be common. I was fighting for ages with it, in the end the bush started turning inside the arm.
I invested in a reciprocal saw, never had one before but sure I'll get plenty of use from it.
I cut it off, then went to fit the antiroll bar bush and realised that they aren't like the 986/996 where you undo a bracket from underneath, you need to drop the subframe so I should have just done that to start off with and saved myself a load of hassle messing about with my head under the wheel arch. I was shocked to see the condition of the arb bushes, the mounts were heavily corroded and it had eaten right through the rubber. They were the worst I've seen for ages. I scraped away all the corrosion and sealed the mounts to hopefully stop this happening again.
Front arm fitted. In hindsight this was a mistake, the adjuster is facing the front of the car, the other side was facing the rear (this is how they came in the box, adjusters both on the same side of the arm). When it was on the ramp for an alignment they couldn't get access to this one easily, we had to remove the undertray and the air duct for the brakes and it was still difficult. The other side with the adjuster facing the rear of the car was adjusted easily and the castor adjuster was easily adjusted on both sides. This was a lack of foresight from me, should have been obvious (looks so easy with the wheel off!). The technician doing the alignment hadn't seen these adjustable bushes before, he liked them.
You can see in this photo with it all back together how you can't get near the adjuster easily and that's without the wheel on.
The alignment was done at Indigo GT which is where I went last time. I got on the ramp at about 4pm and left just before 8pm. It took a while but they got the alignment exactly where I wanted it, they were happy to get stuck in. I can imagine other places being unwilling to remove parts to adjust the suspension.
The arms did what I'd hoped, I've got the rear camber set to -1.46, I've added some on the front. I had -1.5 before, any more required cutting the body where the top mount opening is as the damping adjuster on the shock wouldn't fit otherwise. Now I moved the top of the shock back in a bit and used the lower arm to add in the camber, I went with a bit more, -2.
Here is a YouTube video covering what I did in a bit more depth.
The proof is in the pudding as they say. It's been on the road for a while now but I've never really driven it properly, just pootling around mainly before it was tuned. There's no point hammering into corners when you can't accelerate out of them. By the time the engine was mapped the winter had set in. I've had lots of self control, rarely taken it out and only gunned it in higher gears when I did. I haven't come this far to write it off before I've had a chance to experience it properly like the one that caught fire.
The weather had been decent the last few days and now everything is sorted it was time to really get stuck in.
The steering feels really precise, it feels light on it's feet (opposite of what I expected considering I've fitted monster brakes), the initial turn is sharp and direct, it's really easy to place and even with hard inputs at low speeds it's not got a hint of understeer. I'm putting these attributes down to the geometry and the polybushes sharpening it all up a bit.
The way the car rides is way better than standard. The coilovers are as stiff as a standard car on low speed bumps but feels more composed when pressing on. The car stays flat when cornering at speed, it seems to handle camber changes and bumpy roads so well. It's been unflappable. I went out with my mate who's into bikes (and therefore has more experience and feel for tuning compression and rebound). He couldn't suggest any changes as was impressed with it.
The power delivery I was initially a bit underwhelmed with is actually perfect. 475ft/lb suddenly feels like a lot when you get on it coming out of a slow corner in second gear. The way the power ramps up is quite linear which means it doesn't unsettle the car and you can be on the throttle fully more often without worrying you'll end up in a ditch. Different story in the wet mind. The car is fast and there is a bit more to come still.
The real party piece is the LSD. The grip the car has is amazing. The rear tyres are Kumho (will change these soon) so nothing special, the road temperatures were sub 10 degrees so not ideal, when accelerating out of corners it kind of feels like the back end is biting into the road. I can take liberties with the power as it just seems to put it all down, bumps and undulations mid corner make no difference. It's remarkable really. It's been in the car for years and I've only discovered what it's all about now.
It sounds like I'm a hooligan but I'm not, just excited. I've not really got into the brakes yet. The pedal feels same as standard and they work really well but I've not pushed them hard yet, letting them bed in a bit. I still need to see how the ABS reacts when I lock them up.
I think the best bit is, it's got all that performance on offer and it's easily exploitable but it's not really compromised (other than fuel economy!!!) compared to a standard car. The exhaust is quiet, it's got the same luggage space, just as comfortable as a normal Boxster. I've got no issues with the wife driving it. It could pass as a standard car except for one thing, the LSD lets you know it's there at low speed manoeuvring.
I'll admit I don't have any experience of what I consider similar cars in terms of power, weight and layout (thinking Lotus Evora 400+, Cayman GT4, 997 GT3) and as this is my car it might come across like I'm talking toss. They might all drive as well or better for all I know. The plan is to get it into the hands of someone that will know and can hopefully confirm it's as brilliant as I think. I have been talking to JayEmm and a Porsche magazine so that should be good. I plan to get it on track this year also so I'll see if I can reel in some fancy stuff (on video).
There is a hardware upgrade available on my ECU so I've sent it back to Iceland for that. It's going to be a long few weeks but once that's done I'm off to Indigo GT again to get the water/methanol tuned in, have decided that's not a job to be doing on the road.
Having a look around at what's on the market, I noticed Powerflex do adjustable bushes that go in the control arms, the hole is offset so you can either add camber or remove it depending on where you set the bush. The original control arms on my car have done over 100k miles and you can't replace the ball joints so I decided I'm better off getting the complete wishbones they sell - I think these are new, didn't see them on the website last year when I bought my engine mount insert.
Complete arms saves the hassle of cutting/pressing/burning out the old bushes only to end up needing a ball joint a few thousand miles later. Replacing all the suspension arms seems to be a common practice in Porsche circles at around my mileage. I didn't have any noticeable play but people say you get big difference doing it. Having just put new coilovers on it and replacing the inner and outer track rod ends I wanted to do the control arms also to finish it off.
I also got some front and rear anti-roll bar bushes from Powerflex. I was thinking they were a bit of a 'while I'm in there' job but it turns out I badly needed the fronts.
I fitted the rears first, it wasn't that straight forward. I think they might have been designed with gaining camber in mind rather than reducing it like I wanted to do. There is a rib on the inside of the suspension frame which stops you getting the full range of movement from the eccentric bush so I needed to trim away a bit of the casting. Once they are all the way in you can't get the spanner they supply on the adjuster as there isn't enough space, I set them where I wanted them (full inboard). Then use the factory cam bolts for the fine adjustments. I learnt after watching a YouTube video (at Centre of Gravity) that the these cam bolts are stretch bolts and need to be replaced after they've been torqued up a few times. I picked up a pair at Porsche, think they were £8 each.
I noticed one of the suspension frames was damaged, there was a gap between the cam on the bolt and the frame, it could potentially move about under load so I replaced the frame with an undamaged used part.
While I was under there I noticed the gas cannister for the coilovers had hit the body (both sides had). There is nowhere decent to put them, the hoses for these cannisters are the wrong length, if I drop the cannister lower the pipe will rub my CV joint boot, if the pipe was longer I could put them somewhere else, not hanging from the shock, if it was shorter I could mount the canister lower. I've ended up raising the car a bit and moving them as close to the wheel as I dare. It's something I need to keep an eye on.
Fitting the fronts was hard work. Both inner wishbone bolts were seized, this seems to be common. I was fighting for ages with it, in the end the bush started turning inside the arm.
I invested in a reciprocal saw, never had one before but sure I'll get plenty of use from it.
I cut it off, then went to fit the antiroll bar bush and realised that they aren't like the 986/996 where you undo a bracket from underneath, you need to drop the subframe so I should have just done that to start off with and saved myself a load of hassle messing about with my head under the wheel arch. I was shocked to see the condition of the arb bushes, the mounts were heavily corroded and it had eaten right through the rubber. They were the worst I've seen for ages. I scraped away all the corrosion and sealed the mounts to hopefully stop this happening again.
Front arm fitted. In hindsight this was a mistake, the adjuster is facing the front of the car, the other side was facing the rear (this is how they came in the box, adjusters both on the same side of the arm). When it was on the ramp for an alignment they couldn't get access to this one easily, we had to remove the undertray and the air duct for the brakes and it was still difficult. The other side with the adjuster facing the rear of the car was adjusted easily and the castor adjuster was easily adjusted on both sides. This was a lack of foresight from me, should have been obvious (looks so easy with the wheel off!). The technician doing the alignment hadn't seen these adjustable bushes before, he liked them.
You can see in this photo with it all back together how you can't get near the adjuster easily and that's without the wheel on.
The alignment was done at Indigo GT which is where I went last time. I got on the ramp at about 4pm and left just before 8pm. It took a while but they got the alignment exactly where I wanted it, they were happy to get stuck in. I can imagine other places being unwilling to remove parts to adjust the suspension.
The arms did what I'd hoped, I've got the rear camber set to -1.46, I've added some on the front. I had -1.5 before, any more required cutting the body where the top mount opening is as the damping adjuster on the shock wouldn't fit otherwise. Now I moved the top of the shock back in a bit and used the lower arm to add in the camber, I went with a bit more, -2.
Here is a YouTube video covering what I did in a bit more depth.
The proof is in the pudding as they say. It's been on the road for a while now but I've never really driven it properly, just pootling around mainly before it was tuned. There's no point hammering into corners when you can't accelerate out of them. By the time the engine was mapped the winter had set in. I've had lots of self control, rarely taken it out and only gunned it in higher gears when I did. I haven't come this far to write it off before I've had a chance to experience it properly like the one that caught fire.
The weather had been decent the last few days and now everything is sorted it was time to really get stuck in.
The steering feels really precise, it feels light on it's feet (opposite of what I expected considering I've fitted monster brakes), the initial turn is sharp and direct, it's really easy to place and even with hard inputs at low speeds it's not got a hint of understeer. I'm putting these attributes down to the geometry and the polybushes sharpening it all up a bit.
The way the car rides is way better than standard. The coilovers are as stiff as a standard car on low speed bumps but feels more composed when pressing on. The car stays flat when cornering at speed, it seems to handle camber changes and bumpy roads so well. It's been unflappable. I went out with my mate who's into bikes (and therefore has more experience and feel for tuning compression and rebound). He couldn't suggest any changes as was impressed with it.
The power delivery I was initially a bit underwhelmed with is actually perfect. 475ft/lb suddenly feels like a lot when you get on it coming out of a slow corner in second gear. The way the power ramps up is quite linear which means it doesn't unsettle the car and you can be on the throttle fully more often without worrying you'll end up in a ditch. Different story in the wet mind. The car is fast and there is a bit more to come still.
The real party piece is the LSD. The grip the car has is amazing. The rear tyres are Kumho (will change these soon) so nothing special, the road temperatures were sub 10 degrees so not ideal, when accelerating out of corners it kind of feels like the back end is biting into the road. I can take liberties with the power as it just seems to put it all down, bumps and undulations mid corner make no difference. It's remarkable really. It's been in the car for years and I've only discovered what it's all about now.
It sounds like I'm a hooligan but I'm not, just excited. I've not really got into the brakes yet. The pedal feels same as standard and they work really well but I've not pushed them hard yet, letting them bed in a bit. I still need to see how the ABS reacts when I lock them up.
I think the best bit is, it's got all that performance on offer and it's easily exploitable but it's not really compromised (other than fuel economy!!!) compared to a standard car. The exhaust is quiet, it's got the same luggage space, just as comfortable as a normal Boxster. I've got no issues with the wife driving it. It could pass as a standard car except for one thing, the LSD lets you know it's there at low speed manoeuvring.
I'll admit I don't have any experience of what I consider similar cars in terms of power, weight and layout (thinking Lotus Evora 400+, Cayman GT4, 997 GT3) and as this is my car it might come across like I'm talking toss. They might all drive as well or better for all I know. The plan is to get it into the hands of someone that will know and can hopefully confirm it's as brilliant as I think. I have been talking to JayEmm and a Porsche magazine so that should be good. I plan to get it on track this year also so I'll see if I can reel in some fancy stuff (on video).
There is a hardware upgrade available on my ECU so I've sent it back to Iceland for that. It's going to be a long few weeks but once that's done I'm off to Indigo GT again to get the water/methanol tuned in, have decided that's not a job to be doing on the road.
Edited by Escy on Saturday 20th March 20:09
It’s great to see that you are now in a position to start enjoying this amazing creation. Like many others on here I have followed your ups and downs and have to say I am really pleased for you.
It must be really good knowing that it is all down to your own hard work.
Getting Jayem to feature it would be great!
Hopefully we get loads of good weather to enjoy our cars this summer. We have just bought an SLK55 so looking forward to some road trips!
Have subscribed to your channel as well.
It must be really good knowing that it is all down to your own hard work.
Getting Jayem to feature it would be great!
Hopefully we get loads of good weather to enjoy our cars this summer. We have just bought an SLK55 so looking forward to some road trips!
Have subscribed to your channel as well.
On the camber it's odd that you say the lowest you could go was 2.5degrees negative. So you couldn't get it any more positive than that? Had it been lowered a lot or something? That's a lot of camber for standard geometry on a road car unless it's been slammed and fked the geometry up.
Assume those new wishbones do more than just provide adjustability but actually correct geometry/RCH for a lowered track setup. Often when people lower their cars they overlook this and there are various kits available to correct the geometry and put the wishbones back to where they were.
ked the geometry up. Assume those new wishbones do more than just provide adjustability but actually correct geometry/RCH for a lowered track setup. Often when people lower their cars they overlook this and there are various kits available to correct the geometry and put the wishbones back to where they were.
Edited by Yazza54 on Saturday 20th March 06:45
Bright Halo said:
It’s great to see that you are now in a position to start enjoying this amazing creation. Like many others on here I have followed your ups and downs and have to say I am really pleased for you.
It must be really good knowing that it is all down to your own hard work.
Getting Jayem to feature it would be great!
Hopefully we get loads of good weather to enjoy our cars this summer. We have just bought an SLK55 so looking forward to some road trips!
Have subscribed to your channel as well.
Thanks, it's been a lot of effort and getting on for 4 years to get to this point. My expectations of it were pretty high and it's surpassed them now it's all come together.It must be really good knowing that it is all down to your own hard work.
Getting Jayem to feature it would be great!
Hopefully we get loads of good weather to enjoy our cars this summer. We have just bought an SLK55 so looking forward to some road trips!
Have subscribed to your channel as well.
I love the SLK55, they kind of strike me as a crazy engine swapped modified car right from the factory. They don't look much bigger than an MX-5. How did a chassis so small end up with a V8 so big?! Brilliant stuff.
Yazza54 said:
On the camber it's odd that you say the lowest you could go was 2.5degrees negative. So you couldn't get it any more positive than that? Had it been lowered a lot or something? That's a lot of camber for standard geometry on a road car unless it's been slammed and fked the geometry up.
Assume those new wishbones do more than just provide adjustability but actually correct geometry/RCH for a lowered track setup. Often when people lower their cars they overlook this and there are various kits available to correct the geometry and put the wishbones back to where they were.
It was odd, the car is lowered but not by a massive amount, to me it looks about the same as when I see people fit lowering springs so would say about 35-40mm. ked the geometry up. Assume those new wishbones do more than just provide adjustability but actually correct geometry/RCH for a lowered track setup. Often when people lower their cars they overlook this and there are various kits available to correct the geometry and put the wishbones back to where they were.
Edited by Yazza54 on Saturday 20th March 06:45
I did a few other things before I went back for the alignment, undid the top mount bolts on the rear shocks and pulled them as far out as possible before re-tightening. I also re-made the brace that goes between the suspension subframes under the gearbox, mine is modified and it was a tight fit so maybe pulling in the bottom of the suspension frames a little. I raised the suspension about 5mm (with those gas canisters on the shocks in mind) which might have also helped things. Powerflex say +/- 0.75 degrees for these arms so I've gone from -2.5 to -1.5. They did the job I hoped and having polybushes seems to have really improved the drive.
Yeah, it doesn't take much of a suspension drop to make a difference to the alignment. From my experience with the 986 it's usually the rear toe arms you run out of adjustment for.
This is how it looks now. It's not that low, I have no problems with speed bumps or getting in and out of my garage.
This is how it looks now. It's not that low, I have no problems with speed bumps or getting in and out of my garage.
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