My new to me 00 Boxster will be joining you in spirit for some mid-engined joy on different courses too. Your purchase helped prod me further along that path. I will be saying farewell to my Miata soon.
My new to me 00 Boxster will be joining you in spirit for some mid-engined joy on different courses too. Your purchase helped prod me further along that path. I will be saying farewell to my Miata soon.
Awesome car and story so far! I’m passively looking for a Cayman myself. Are the 2.7 less prone to IMS issues? What year is your car? I thought I needed an S model, but your thread has me considering base models now.
The 2.7 is reportedly better IMS wise, but remember all IMS failures are < 1%. It’s a big deal because it’s a total engine loss if it happens.
AnthonyGS said:My new to me 00 Boxster will be joining you in spirit for some mid-engined joy on different courses too. Your purchase helped prod me further along that path. I will be saying farewell to my Miata soon.
Awesome, glad to hear it!
Lof8 said:Awesome car and story so far! I’m passively looking for a Cayman myself. Are the 2.7 less prone to IMS issues? What year is your car? I thought I needed an S model, but your thread has me considering base models now.
Thanks! She's a 2007. I don't think the 2.7 is any more or less prone to IMS issues than the 3.4, all Caymans should have the bigger (and not serviceable) IMS bearing with a fairly low failure rate.
AnthonyGS said:The 2.7 is reportedly better IMS wise, but remember all IMS failures are < 1%. It’s a big deal because it’s a total engine loss if it happens.
I figure if that ever happens to me I'll just have to find a Boxster that was hit in the front at a salvage auction. Probably half the cost of an engine alone for whatever reason.
Bonus:
Beautiful car. I've only been in one for a test drive, and they are way up there on my list. We saw a medium blue one on the Interstate yesterday and the desire to own one is still there. Enjoy.
Indy-Guy said:Great looking car. Following along here, but still trying to understand why the world is flat?
The rear window of my '07 CS:
Love the color combo on yours. So much fun to drive.
If you are from Pittsburgh I should be in town for the vintage GP this coming year.
preach said:Love the color combo on yours. So much fun to drive.
If you are from Pittsburgh I should be in town for the vintage GP this coming year.
Likewise, that blue is spectacular! The trip home to Pittsburgh is about 10 hours for me. Not sure if I'll be attending the vintage this year or not. I want to give the time trial another go now that I'm more comfortable with the Cayman's limits.
In reply to preach :
If I get a Cayman, I plan to expose the engine with plexi like that. Is the noise level increased?
Lof8 said:In reply to preach :
If I get a Cayman, I plan to expose the engine with plexi like that. Is the noise level increased?
The previous owner did that modification. Normally the plenum is black not the silver and red. There is also an LED light strip in there but it either does not work or I have yet to figure out what turns it on. It makes for some spectacular noises from the throttle pish/woosh. I read an article on the 911R and in their description of how the car sounds from less insulation they described the sounds mine makes.
Ok, the "big one" this year was the SCCA Time Trials Nationals. The event was right in my backyard at NCM. I teamed up with a long time friend who trailered his M3 down from Pittsburgh for the time trial:
I was running in a time trials equivalent of a stock class - Sport 4 - which was mostly BMWs and 350Zs:
It was just an awesome weekend of cars and cool people. Other folks (who are better writers than I am) have already expressed just how awesome it was. I met up with some GRM regulars: JG, Andy Hollis, Lee @ Koni, TOMO, spoolpigeon, etc.
The event took a little while to find its stride. On Friday, we had a number of delays due to breakdowns and some unfortunate write-offs. I put in a decent qualifying time and was consistently one of the fastest runners in the Novice group. For the tracksprint, we ran a portion of the east course like an autocross. In trying to get a good launch, I managed to spin my clutch right in front of Howard Duncan who was flagging the start. I ended up in 4th going into Saturday.
The next day went much smoother, and I had plenty of action out on track.
It was looking like I'd be on the podium after the full track portion of the time trials, as I was pretty comfortably in 3rd place. But, disaster struck!
Unfortunately, I didn't have a spare set of pads to run the tracksprint and had to DNF for the weekend. We were able to locate a set at the local Autozone that evening, and I swapped them out before my first session on Sunday:
While losing out on a trophy position was definitely a blow, I did at least learn a few things to improve my process at future events. I had the brakes swapped out in 30 minutes jack up to jack down, and I have a better idea of how much track time a set of pads will last. I think a big weekend event with timers calls for a fresh set of pads and a set of spares in the tote.
The Autozone pads weren't ideal, but they did allow me to get one flying lap in before pad fade would set in, and they were fine for the tracksprint.
I'll definitely be back, and better prepared next year!
Except for the lost podium very very cool!
Unfortunately, TT nats left me with an additonal trophy. When I pulled off some of the contingency decals, it also pulled off the clearcoat.
Fortunately, the local euro body repair shop has a wizard for a painter, and I got her back a month or so later looking 100%.
So aside from "spare brake pads" I'm thinking I need to have a roll of sheet magnetic to prevent this in the future. I'm kinda dreading removing all of the worn-out clear bra now, but it really needs to come off.
Yikes on the paint! Sure looks like fun though.
Ya. Decals suck. I always bring a magnet roll to the 2k Challenge. Your car looks beautiful on track!
I've never had that happen to any of my cars unless they'd been painted. Ie, factory clear coat doesn't peel off like that on a German car...
docwyte said:I've never had that happen to any of my cars unless they'd been painted. Ie, factory clear coat doesn't peel off like that on a German car...
Nationals SCCA folks suggested that this happens once in a while even on factory paint. In any case, it's definitely been painted now! 
Updated the thread with embedded youtube videos. Here are some videos that I neglected to post while the embedding wasn't working:
Best lap from Time Trials Nationals:
At the TRSCCA autocross on a Kart circuit:
Battling with 911s on the track at NCM:
very cool!
I’m a fan of the static window film for my numbers on either glass or paint. When applied clean to clean paint/glass all you need is windex.
It's new tire day! More spring projects coming up this weekend.
Sadly, I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked this weekend, but here's a rundown of the updates for 2019:
Tires: Hankook Ventus R-S4 - 245-40-18 front, 265-40-18 rear
Brakes: Ferodo DS1.11 front & rear. Hardbrakes Ti shims at front. Castrol React SRF fluid
Engine: Brey Krause sump extension & EBS Racing sump baffle
For those not familiar with these cars, the M97 engine has a bit of an issue with oil control once you get into 200TW and beyond. Probably a result of turning the engine designed for the 911 around backwards. The baffle is a copy of the X51 part that Porsche included on sport version 911s, but with stainless hinged doors instead of riveted rubber flaps. The oil pan is cast into the engine case, with just a plate covering the bottom. The sump is easily extended with an aluminum spacer, so I have an extra .5 quart capacity now that brings the car up to a round 9 quarts, which makes oil changes much easier.
To make things easier to access, I removed some of the bracing and plastic aero parts. Super easy, even just on jackstands.
The 5 speed gearbox is an Audi 01E. They're common to A4/Passat FWD cars, which I understand is a good thing. They aren't really known for overheating like the 6 speed, but I drained and filled mine with Redline as cheap insurance.
I was pretty happy with the DS2500 pads that I ran last year, but more is always better, right? The fronts wore down to the backing plates (see a few posts back from TT Nats) but the rears were still at 7.5mm after the same distance. Internet research suggests that my fluid overheating issues were due to the calipers having aluminum pistons. Also, based on the lack of wear at the rear, I think the fronts are doing most of the work. I decided to install Titanium shims like the Sahlen racecars as an insulator in the hopes of keeping brake fluid temperatures down to an amount that SRF can handle. We'll see how that works out, as I'll be back at PittRace in April for the time trial. This year I upgraded both axles to Ferodo DS1.11s, which are the endurance racing compound. I may have overdone it a bit in selecting these, the first couple stops when I bedded them in were basically instant face-in-windshield full ABS engagement. It'll probably take some track time to adjust to the higher friction levels.
Hopefully with all the long-wearing consumables I've installed, this will be all the work the car needs this year; and I can just focus on driving it.
Some of your brake heat issue was running front brake pads down to the backing plate. Once they have about the same amount of material left as the thickness of the backing plate they put a ton more heat into the rotors.
docwyte said:Some of your brake heat issue was running front brake pads down to the backing plate. Once they have about the same amount of material left as the thickness of the backing plate they put a ton more heat into the rotors.
Valid, but the vapor lock issue occurred when the pads were at full depth. The DS2500s don't like to get that hot, as evident by the accelerated wear rates on the fronts.
I had no idea that you can fill the transmission from up top! I've done laying back on conctrate trying to use a pump which is not nearly as convenient :)
Good to see the car being enjoyed as it's meant to be. Sadly my '07 base spends way too much time in the garage.
In reply to red_stapler :
That's because DS2500's aren't a track compound. Use track pads at the track, street pads on the street.
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