Try being over 6'1 and climbing through that window hole without a removable wheel. It sucks. I dont mind climbing through the window on the open trailer. This is another reason to make the doors EASILY removable. I can remove the door while sitting in the drivers seat and set it down next to the car...then climb out.



B

Bill, in all my years of building race cars I must say the cage is a work of art. Tony's last name should be Picasso. Good job!
Ken...

This is great work, but you should see some of his BMW race car work!!! He was very smart, he didnt pidgeon hole himself with just Porsches for work



B

and his Honda work ...and his Mazda work ...and Check out his website. He has been doing some very cool work. A arms for S2000, etc.


http://www.tcdesignfab.com/

I forget how many Spec Miata's he built. It was out of control for awhile!!

He is "genius" rated. His brother is ultra smart also.



B

look'n good Bill!

Randal and I worked on the dash tonight. The dash is back in and everything electrical works except the turn signals. We don't know why...but since the car will never see the street again, it really doesn't matter.

Heater controls work
Defrost controls work
AC controls work
Traction Control button works

We also:

adjusted parking brake
cleaned up some wiring
re-attached hard top locator tabs

Tomorrow's schedule (Friday, October 27th)

1. 8:30am drop car at glass shop for windshield re-install
2. Noon pick up car from glass shop and drop at Sportech for 4 wheel corner balance and alignment. Also, we may install the secret, gutted muffler to try out. Time will be the decider. (Also need to torque the rear axle nuts to 300 ft/lbs)

I pick up the car at 5pm.

Friday evening list of to do's:

1. Install steering wheel quick release
2. R&R driver's seat and adjust for 2 drivers
3. Clean up and zip tie loose wiring, inlcuding fuse block
4. Re-install trunk release handle mechanism
5. Install Schroth 6 point belts
6. Figure out how to adjust AR bars quickly (we will be trying different settings between every AX run on Saturday).
7. Wash car
8. Apply numbers to the car
9. Load for GGR AX

Whew...lots of work done and still to go.

And I did find that I will need to weld some support back into the doors. They are a little too flexible to take my body weight crawling out of the car after loading in the trailer. The doors are bending and will not last. Bummer....but fixable....



Detailing of the car will occur after I return from my 10 day business trip and finish the Trackmaster's Infineon test day. That's when we can really detail out the wiring, scrub off the remaining glue in the cabin and attach the door panels.

Updated pictures tomorrow.....

Bill P.

This has been a great thread showing the progress of your project.

I'm looking forward to running against you on Saturday and with you on the 12th.

You will be in high-intermediate, right?

Is Randal coming out on the 12th to run the big track at Sears?

I'll be shooting for a 1:58.

What will the Boxster do?


KT

Trekkor, you need to start repeating the following....."I need a bigger six"

You will be getting a really good look at his exhaust as he goes by....wave bye-bye.

I don't think you have anything to worry about Trekkor. I will be very slow with the Spec car the first track day out with it. Just like I was with Fritz. We need to get to know each other first before we really start flogging the car.

I would have preferred Thunderhill for the inagural track day for "Lucille". There is more of a safety margin there. Sears commands respect or it will eat your car. We don't want that to happen. And I haven't been on Dot-R's since 2003. 18 inch Michelin slicks or Pirelli's may be on the horizon for the spec car, but for now I have to learn all about Dot-R's again and driving a new car.

I'll be happy with 2:04's....

I'll wave to you as you go by....

Bill P.

D'oh...


Honestly...What lap times are we looking at? .48's?


KT

Let me drive it.....just like at Laguna with Fritz.
someone needs to get you used to those DOTRs and no torque...
Might as well be me....

Just kidding....good luck at Sears....You shoud get a lot of good data on your setups from the AX on Saturday.
Still want that ride by the way...

I agree though...you have a history of picking the most difficult tracks in Norcal to baptize your new racers.

Hi Jeroen,

For Randal and I, the head clearance is great, even with the top bar. We haven't tried Doris in the car with a helmet yet, but it appears she will be fine. I'm more concerned with the quck release hub and dished steering wheel. With Doris putting the seat forward all the way, the steering wheel looks to be too close to her. I may need to go back to the MOMO wheel inside Fritz when using the quick disconnect.

Bill P.

Ahh...So you will be there, Dan.

I'm going to beg you for another instructional session.

I'll let you pick which air dam we run

This will be a fantastic season closer.


KT

Dan,

If you want to run Lucille in lieu of one of your car's runs, feel free. It's the lease I can do for all the work you did on her....

Are you going to do any open days this winter? Or is the car going down for the motor build soon?

Bill P.

Thanks Bill, that was tongue in cheek....I will be happy with a ride....for now

I am starting my motor build in November....as soon as Ken and I have time together I am going to pull the motor and see what I have and what I need to build a nice bullet proof motor.

See you Saturday....I may try to drop by Sportech tomorrow afternoon to see what Mark is up to....Check out a certain car that will be there...

Looks good! It was pretty hard to get everything to fit nice, not much room in there.

Thanks for all the kind words guys, we try REALLY hard to do good work, at a reasonable price.

B I have done over 100 spec miata cages since my last count.....

-tony

Interesting. I weigh 200#'s and the door doesnt flex?? Is this with it OPEN? and you trying to get out?



B

This is why when people ask me "who" they should go to.. you are the recommended vendor.

I was a little bit concerned with your first "off the cuff" quote for Bill, but hopefully you know more about the Boxster now and will be able to give me a number to use when people ask me (how much?)


B

Brad and Bill,

So excluding cost of the donor car what is approximate cost of everything to get car spec Boxster ready?

I'm looking at how I might swing somthing like this now. If this Spec Boxster thing takes off it might be a lot of fun.

On the cheap, one can easily be built for 25k depending on what options you go with. The bolt in cage would save several k.

I tell people 35k if they want me to build one from scratch. This is about 5k of labor and a weld in TC style cage.

Everyone so far has paid around 15k for their starter car. Bill and I both had hard tops with our cars. The fiberglass "skin" that is legal runs about 1k (which is what stock hard top goes for)

Oh.. and flights to San Jose are around $240 on Southwest for me...LOL

I would'nt hesitate to do this again in one weekend.


B

The intial cost of getting in slows some people down. It is not like a Miata were you can get a decent donor car for 2-3k.

It isnt just the class.. Boxster racing in general will take off in the next 2 years. Chris Murry and Michael Lanski really led the pack with "wild" cars. They both should have started off like this instead of jumping into a bunch of engine and electrical headaches with engine swaps.

With 300 stock hp easily obtainable.. and even 385-400 with stock engines available for 15k.

This is going to take off.

I'm working with a vendor down here right now on a narrow body 330hp Boxster race car. He orginally built Lanski's Ariozona "Flag" car and Murry's car.


B

how you're gonna get these hp numbers?
swap a 996 or 997 engine?

Engine swaps.

It will be another year+ before I finish the two engine combinations I'm working on based on the 2.5 crank and X51 100mm pistons and heads. Short stroke big bore high rpm engine.



B

The issue right now is: VarioCam plus in early chassis is VERY VERY difficult. I'm trying to figure out if we have to run the Varicam+ or if we can just unplug it.

B

ps... can you repost link of the scca boxster movie?

The link was'nt parsing correctly with our forum software. I couldnt make it work.


B

For me entry is easy part. It's getting proper support and mechnical know how. I'm OK with suspensions, but beyond that I'm over my head quickly. Not having repair facilities is a big issue for me too. Most of my work is done on a driveway and then car is stored in a temporary garage on my trailer.

B the cage is ~$3k mig'ed and ~$4k tig'ed

-tony

Grant,

part of the allure is "easy" to maintain. If you can check power steering fluid and change oil.. you'll be ok.

The 2.5 engine is the 1.7 of the 914's. It is pretty bullet proof and easy to come by if something happens to the first engine.

I have a full year of multi people abuse on the black car and it hasnt missed a beat. A Boxster guy out of Berkley has over 10k track miles on his car. He has tracked it since it was new in 1997. NO engine issues. Pretty sure he hasnt had any power steering issues either (big concern right now with the cars)

I change the oil after every track weekend and every 2 AutoX's.

Things that fail with high mileage cars:

Axles
Power steering pumps (which we know how to cure with a small cooler in-line)
Wheel bearings (once a year)
Air to oil seperator (the new replacements are strong than the originals that the car shipped with)

The only thing above you would have trouble with is the wheel brearings.


B

Thank you sir



B

Why am I into these cars?

I'm beat up and worn out on fixing all the small things that happen to a 914 when they are tracked. I feel like I'm constantly chasing a small leak or headache of some sort with the 914 track cars.

7k and you get a new factory Porsche engine installed by the dealer for the Boxster (2.5)

99% of the RMS issues have been dealt with (IF) the owner had the service work done at a dealer (check paperwork) If not.. then go to the class legal light flywheel/clutch setup and do the RMS. GT3 street cars leak...LOL

I'm sure we sill see more issues, but I closely followed a east coast race team that ran Boxsters in Grand Am for several years back to back. Their biggest complaint was wheel bearings and keeping the alignments set in the rear of the car.


B

So do/can you "delete" the power brakes and power sterring in a car like this or leave it stock?
(I noticed you said the power steering gave you problems).

No need. The ABS and Power steering are some of the awesome features built into these cars. I personally havent had any issues with the power steering in the 2.5 car, but several S owners have had issues. I'm not sure if it is driving style or what, but the answer is a small Earls style oil cooler in-line with the pump (or slow the pump down with a different pulley)

I can only think of a few times that I have actually engaged the ABS. You dont use the brakes that often in a 2.5 car once you figure out how to drive it.

This Dec. I'll pull out the first set of brake pads we put into the car. They latested a full year with multiple track events and multiple AutoX's. The key is: cooling. GT3 street cooling ducts snap right onto the stock Boxster lower control arms nearly doubling the cooling from the stock pieces.



B

You know I love the 914's, but reality is for me:

Ultimate would be for me to have a 914 AutoX car and the Boxster track car.

The Boxster class BSR1 and BSR2.. BSR1 is a Boxster wih full interior and Brey Krause extensions that has ALL the same suspension components and third radiator, but doesnt have the full cage and isnt gutted. This will allow people to "graduate" to road racing by running their cars in AutoX and Time trials before making the jump to fully gutted and fully caged. Same tires as BSR2!!

I found this to be a GREAT idea considering that not everyone wants a full cage.



B

I just got Lucille back from Sportech. She looks pretty slammed but we can go lower. I didn't want to bottom her out just yet because I want to maintain as much shock travel as possible. Right now it's an eyeball job on how low to go in comparison to the shock travel. I will leave it for the AX and the first track day as is to get a baseline.

Initial settings are:

Front
====
At the current ride height the most camber we could get was -2.75 degrees. Toe is set for zero.

We did not touch initial ride height from where the build team set it.

Rear
===
We set the camber at -3.0 degrees. Toe in is set at - 1/16".

We lowered the rear another 1/4" from where the build team set it. The car now has 0.5 degree rake.

The gutted muffler sounds GREAT! I'll dyno it in a few weeks. We're hoping to pick up a few HP on the upper end of the power band for the track.

I drove the car around the neighborhood with the new alignment. The car's handling is killer!....lightning quick and very stable. I took it up over 100MPH on the expressway and it's just like a cruise on the highway....this thing is going to be one nice car!

Tonight I get to readjust the driver's seat, quick disconnect steering wheel...run belts, tie wrap all the wire hanging everywhere, and put on the roll bar padding. Oh...I need to wash the car and put on numbers before loading too....

Other than the seat, it should all go pretty quick.

Can't wait for tomorrow's AX.

Bill P.

Bill, see you in the early Am tomorrow. Was great to see Doris...
She looked pretty excited about the car...
I am looking forward to instructing her next year.

With the course we have for tomorrow I am predicting a top 10 for Lucille's maiden voyage

Bill, Did the custom muffler sound as good as you thought it would?

I want to see and hear the car driven in anger tomorrow

keep that thought

Bill, did the rear window come out?

Well, well....It's 4:14am the day of the GGR AX. It took me the entire night to re-assemble the car. Ran into some fun with the belts as the pull up type lab belts don't like the Sparco's. Schroth doesn't leave enough length on the belts to have the strap rachets slide through the belt hole in the seat. You basically cannot tighten your lap belt. After some fiddling I found a temporary solution that wil work, but I will order some pull down lap belts next week.

Roll bar padding took awhile as I had to trim quite a bit to fit the custom cage and top. Lots of time spent shaving the foam.

All the wiring is zip tied and the airbag door has been velcroed in.

she is now loaded on the trailer and ready to go. I just have to decide if I should laydown for an hour or just stay up.

Man...I'm tired...

Bill P.

Hi Mark,

I haven't had time to play with the rear window. I'll try to get to it when I return from my business trip.

Thanks,

Bill P.

In 5-6 years of AX, I've had 2 breakdowns(not including the time I ran out of gas)......both simple fixes. To tar the 914 as unreliable due to lousy building or maintenance (or a T-4 ).....sounds like a personal problem.

Are you getting old?? TRACK CARS.. Tired of fighting TRACK cars.. I said I would have 914 AutoX car.

Super easy to maintain a car that runs hard for 30min. a year



B

We were off a bit this year....only 130ish passes.
It has been up to 180 some years & 150 minutes of track time.
Granted, I do some heavy maintainance come winter....but then just drive.

And, yes I am getting old, but I did read your mention of "track"....was that W2W racin' or DE? How many 914s have you run in those events lately?....your build or someone else's?

maiden voyage went pretty well.

Rode with Bill on his first 3 runs this morning. Car handles great. Immediated turn in, good throttle response, car rotates nicely.

All with base suspension settings.

I'll let Bill reveal his times but I think he finished pretty much where I predicted he would.

By the way the 914club was well represented today.

Tom was there with his son and 914aroo, Demick, Trekkor, Myself and a couple others that I don't know.
Demick and Trek got into the 46s, I had a 47+ with the orange putput.
Grant was scrubbing in his new tire/wheel combination on the Mazdaspeed6, and Nathan was there shredding tires with the Firehawk.

As usual The Smurf was way up on everyone.

Spec Boxster Plus driving impressions:

WOW!.....

Randal will need to post his impressions but I was truly suprised how good the platform was out of the box for us. We set the AR bars neutral and the shock rebound full soft and combined with the 450/500 springs the car was a delight to drive right from the start. We could run the car flat out on the high speed parts and yet turn very easily in the low speed stuff. That is very different from Fritz or from my earlier 914-6 which required me to adjust my AR bars for an either / or combination.

We definitely me our goal of putting the car in the top 10. On raw times we may have stuffed the car in the top 5, but I was so tired I didn't read the entire posting sheet and our second set of runs I just wanted to drive and not fiddle. For the afternoon Randal and I just drove the car, we didn't even bother checking tire temps anymore....

I'd never flogged a Boxster except at an AX school with a studen't car. The Spec Boxster Plus feels like a slightly bigger, heavier 914 with alot of torque, and this from the 2.5L small motor version. I have been so lucky to drive some pretty fun cars, my 914-4 and my 914-6, Fritz, and now the Boxster. Taking lap times out of the equation, and based totally on the fun factor, my 914-6 was always my favorite for AX and Fritz for the track. Our Spec Boxster is easily my favorite now for AX. And soon we will be testing on the track and we'll see how that goes.

For various reasons (financial being a large part) we will keep the Spec Boxster at the mandated 2700lbs per the Spec series rules. However, the long term plan is to change the car to a lighter version with more power, all the while keeping the car narrow body for ease of double duty (AX and Track). So we'll be collecting parts that will help lighten the load (i.e. f/g lids and such), and deciding how to get more power (2.5L mods? stuff in a 3.2 "S" motor? stuff in a 996 3.4?, etc).

The evolution of the car has just begun, but if anyone wants more detail just ask me. I'll be glad to share our experiences with you, including cost. And I'm sure any of the build team would be glad to tell you what was good, bad, ugly or funky about the car.

I really believe this platform is going to be a good one for me to enjoy my weekend racer fantasies!

And again, I want to thank the build team for all the help.

THANK YOU to the Spec Boxster build team:

McMark
SirAndy
Brad
Dan (Almaden Valley)
Randal
Special Guest Ken J. from the Boxster Racing Board (unofficial photographer)

I really owe you guys big time!

Bill P.

Driving impressions:



To get into a newly modified car, without having driven it more than 500 yards and feel as comfortable as both Bill and I did is saying something.

As Bill mentioned we didn't have to change a thing on the car...

I don't know how to describe this accurately, but this is definitely a car that you have to drive way out in front, i.e., it doesn't reward late or dramatic input. In other words if I ran off the track it wasn’t due to under steer, but to a late turn in that was going to force me off the track in any event (driver error).

No question this is the quickest car to turn I have ever driven. At 2600-2700lbs that's impressive. You’ve got to love it when a car is totally neutral.

The car tracks well, i.e., straight, cornering or slide slipping, although to test the limits of this car we will need to run slicks or AutoX DOT’s to find out how fast we can corner. The track tires were OK, but not a good indication of how fast this car can corner.

After driving Fritz I was a bit reluctant to really pound the brakes, so I can’t give you any impression on how the anit-lock brakes should have been working. I felt them only once and that was in a high speed spin, i.e., both feet in... Lots of time left out there under braking.

I reached the corning limit in only one corner, i.e., the small left hand sweeper that turned back towards the finish and that was a totally controllable 4 drift.

Oh, and thanks again Trekkor for that piece of roll bar padding. Elbows and naked roll cages don't do well together.

Wonderful car Bill.

Action picks from GGR#9....from street car to Spec in 8 days.....

Dan Thompson and I at the sweeper at end of course....

Bill P.

another...

Dan Thompson and I braking and turn in after the high speed section of the course....