When we left off we had just finished all the cutting and welding and sealed and painted the new frame member (now a couple inches further forward).

So... the next step?   Alterations to that brand new crate motor!

The water pump needs to come off to be replaced by a small manifold that will allow us to adapt to a remotely mounted electric water pump...  the original water pump would have been up by your elbow and of course no way to get a belt that far forward to even drive it.

Now for even more fun... let's pull off the oil pan!  We will need to install a different pan that will give us clearance for the new sub-frame that runs under the motor and attaches to the Porsche existing side rails.

This will also require changing out the windage tray and the oil pump pickup tube.
And as long as we are in there we are going to install a racing baffle that stops oil
starvation in high G turns!  Woo-hoo!!

And many thanks to my friend Phil for coming along on this Boxster LS adventure!

SO... WHAT'S UP NEXT?

Well, we have the Pinehurst Concours d'Elegance this weekend - so no garage time with the Boxster this weekend...  hopefully next weekend will be another of many engine bay fittings and then comes the removal and flipping of the intake manifold, along with fabricating a new sender unit mount that becomes blocked by the flipped intake manifold:-)  It's always something!

Stay tuned, Doug

Well....  we're back from Amelia Island and back to the FrankenBoxster (Boxster LS:-)

There's no turning back now - there is nothing more definitive than making that first cut; and it is
the main bulkhead frame member that the motor mounts to! WOW!

I must admit it was with no small amount of trepidation that I laid the blade against the frame and pulled the trigger!  First a couple of photos and then watch the video below. The video runs about a minute and a half... then following the video are exciting welding scenes!!

                                                                   HERE'S THE BEFORE PHOTO

                                                                           
                                                                         STARTING THE CUT

                                       
                                                             
                                                              HERE'S THE "AFTER" PHOTO

                                                             
                                                       AND HERE'S WHAT CAME OUT!!!

                                           AND NOW....  FOR THE EXCITING VIDEO!

                                                     NEXT STEP - WELDING!!!!!
OK - so now we have cut out and removed a major frame member.
AND we are going to stuff 500+ HP into this thing... better put some structure back!

Very thick plate steel with two end plates welded in should bring the strength back up to snuff and better yet, it will be several inches forward of the original frame member that was removed!

WE'LL START WITH A PHOTO OF THE AREA PREPPED FOR THE PROCEDURE
 - note how large the engine cabin service access has been enlarged (you can see the seats!)

                      
                           THE PLATE BEING JIGGED AND HELD IN JUST THE RIGHT POSITION

                                                                   ONE HAPPY WELDER!

                                                       READY FOR THE SPARKS TO FLY!

                                                         AND THE SPARKS ARE FLYING!!

                    THE FINISHED PROJECT - AND THIS IS A VERY STOUT REPLACEMENT!

                                           HERE IT IS ALL CLEANED UP AND PAINTED!

SO that's it for this latest installment of the blog/posting... but keep checking as next week we'll be making lots of alterations to that brand new LS3!

Yes that's right - several changes have to be made to the brand new crate motor to fit into Boxster.
  - Oil Pan, windage tray, oil pick up tube changed out for clearance and racing baffles installed
  - Water Pump is removed and a special lower profile adapter for an electric water pump
  - Main Pulley removed and replaced with a low profile one
  - Special bracketry to relocate the alternator and the A/C compressor
  - Intake Manifold removed and flipped (ugh)
  - and there's more stuff too!

Now... if you've made it this far, here's your reward - below is a short video of us welding away.
(many thanks to my friend Dave for bringing his welder over and his welding expertise)