The Great news and the Not so Great News....

Well... it's been awhile since we've checked in on progress on FrankenBoxster so here's an update to our Blog!  The net is that it is nearly completely done with just two idiot lights remaining to be dealt with:-)  So here's a video or two of the nearly completed Monster for your viewing pleasure.  I must note that while there is great news to share here... there is also some not so great news to share too. For those of you who possess a bit of the "Pollyanna" and want to play the "Glad Game",  I must tell you the positive spin is hard pressed to offset the discovery of this not so great news... but I'm getting ahead of myself and probably confusing everyone - so here's a video or two of the nearly completed Monster for your viewing pleasure. Please watch the short videos and make sure to continue onto the rest of this blog beyond the videos for news of the unfortunate discovery:-(

Let's take the car outside to see it better & take a "Walk About" the car too!

Now onto the unfortunate, or actually VERY fortunate, discovery.... so to begin this conversation we need to talk about this weird looking bracket with a rheostat, with links attached, that has been hanging by wires in the engine bay since beginning the project (defying logical reattachment). This must surely have something to do with the PSM system and monitoring the movement and position of the rear suspension's lower arm? (and in turn telling computers about it). Well after hours staring at every possible mounting option in the rear compartment of the car for hours, we finally found where it mounted!    BUT with all this time examining  the bowels of the Boxster we also discovered THIS!!!

That's the major rear casting that mounts the engine, the transaxle, the rear suspension and Lord knows what else (you can ask Gregg Gaylord about the bandage on my finger and his 18RG engine:-)

You probably noticed that you can read the part number off the top right corner... sadly it I had noticed this prior to putting all this "stuff" in the car, I could have changed this casting in a matter of hours rather than having to remove all that has been put in there (we're talking 50 to 60 hours labor:-(     Here's a photo from the bottom that might help to visualize the part and the seriousness of the condition - imagine if we romped on that with over 500 horsepower!

Next on the agenda is a trip to Rob's to pick up some parts... the parts are not expensive, but oh the hours this is going to take.  Turns out Boxsters do not like to be pushed when the drivetrain is out - the engine and mounting cradles are integral to the structure between the suspension struts and the tires will toe out and "buck" as the car is pushed or worst yet towed. This causes movement all the way up to the mounting bolts resulting in the damage you see.

Guess you know what I'll be doing for the next couple weekends:-)   Thanks for reading, Doug