So, you have another car with a gazillion(s)miles. Good for you.
I don't recall where I went quiet. Your blue 986S has had a few iterations. A the moment it sits motor-less with 267,000 mile son the chassis. In many ways its been a poor use of resources, in others a great journey. And an old boxster, no matter how modified, is a great learning tool. A buddy of mien and I shared his very similar car at VIR this year (more on why as the story unfolds) and it was just a blast to push the car to and pas its limit trying to keep up with modern GT-whatevers.
You recall that I got your car, put an ebay stock motor in it, replacement IMS bearing from LNE, PSS9s, deep sump (Pedro's), seats, belts, blah, blah. It was a nice car but almost immediately began going downhill fast - first the moor started using oil - LOTS then slowly ate itself. It never failed but i recall its last track day, struggling, foot to floor to make it past 95 mph on the 1.2 mile back straight at VIR. Then drove home. Motor toast. This was, i believe, end of 2014.
I made the questionable decision to put a lot of money into it to make it a fun, reliable track car. I worked with a local specialist who lt me and some friends pull and disassemble the moor in his shop. Great experience! This was a BIG, expensive rebuild, geared toward durability.
1. Block went to LNE and got nickies. 3.4L.
2. LNE conversion to traditional IMS bearing (oiled, just like an aircooled)
3. matchign JE pistons
4. Carrillo rods
Head went the usual route, sodium filled valves and local machine shop work.
Sent the very dead transmission to colorado for rebuild with limited slip
EBAY headers, stock muffler
A bunch of "while we're in there" maintenance.
Car has been very durable with 100s (???) of track days since then. However, the vry high oil use continued. We finally traced a significant amount to the scavenger pumps in the heads. That eliminated it from choking on oil. But it still uses an alarming amount; maybe 1.5qt in a normal DE weekend, driven very hard (typically Black RG in one of the fastest clubs in PCA - i tell any passengers that come along to "pedal dammit!").
All said, its still fairly slow. Surprisingly torquey, but no faster than my friends' slightly breathed on 3.2s from 2002 and 2003 respectively. I attribute this to poor breathing, but mostly to the fact that "your" car was so early that it had the earlier fuel injection which has a very slow feedback loop from O2 sensor to control unit. So it does nopt manage mixture very well. Oh well.
Fast forward to this June. 3rd run of the day (?) for me, Summit Point, a buddy riding right seat. First lap just about completed, approaching the bridge and pit in, do the 3-4 shift at ~6800 rpms. HUGE cloud of smoke, immediate loos of power, weird noises, so I quickly pit in. Hi [chief]. Hi Grant. Do you know your car is on fire?
SHIT!
Anyway, long story short, exhaust fire, but not known until they doused it in foam.
I saved the weekend by renting a "arrive and drive" Spec Miata for 1.5 days. What a blast! Highly recommended. I was on the war path to get one... but let's unfold the story a bit more.
I trailered it home and left my trailer at the same shop i built it with. The issue, which amazingly Ken (Smith, Rennsmith) guessed on the phone, as that a freeze plug let loose, and flooded the motor with coolant. And in fact it did. I will post some pics, but with the valve covers off and motor on a stand, the plug was just sitting there, between 2 and 3, smiling at us. Aside from that the motor inside looked brand new (helped, no doubt, by the bath it just took, but cross hatching and everything). We did find telltale signs of minor hydrolock and will be doing rod and main bearings +++ before re-assembly with all new freeze plugs. It a dicey decision bu the car is so old and trackified that i don't think it has much value - so i'm keeping it as a docile and affordable-to-drive ($80 rotors, etc) track rat.
So there you have it. I also have my original, stock 2004 986 which i race in Solo 1 (its fun, light and classes well in S1) and i just got a GT4. That, however, is too expensive to track regularly both in value and consumables ($600 rotors anyone?)
I expect to have "car 54" back on the road/track in the spring. if not, Spec Miata here i come.
Grant
Grant
gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com