Boxster transmission adapter plate, Relocated starter Options

[naro914]

I wanted to bring this back to the top and restart this discussion

Does anyone know how to get in touch with member ABC914? He hasn't been active for years. He's adapted the Boxster S transmission to 3.2 liter air cooled engine that I am looking for.

Here is his website http://www.abc-digital-art.com/. On the left side, below the Mail link there is a very small dot "." click on it for pictures. I have tried PM and email to him, nothing.

Bigkat - who's car is that with the 3.6?? And is that a Boxster S trans?

So...does anyone have any REAL WORLD experience with this that can direct me to how to do it?

I would REALLY like to do this during this winter if we can figure it out....

Thanks

[naro914]

Probably easier if I just show his pictures...

[r_towle]

Here

Whois database.

[naro914]

thanks Rich
I contacted Alan and he told me who did the work on his car. Turns out, the guys in NJ that did the work I know very well - used to live about 3 miles from them. I'm going to give them a call this week, see if I can get some info on how to do this. Maybe they already make the adapter plates/kits?? That would be nice!!

I'll keep everyone posted on the progress...

[914Timo]

Not sure, but I think they welded more material to the transmission case.

[naro914]

Well....I have news and bad news. (I won't say good news because its not really good)
the news is that I was able to contact Powertech - the guys that did the Boxster S trans conversion for Alan. I spoke to owner Keith Peare - long time 914 racer (now racing spec boxsters)

The bad news is..it was A LOT of work...like tons of work. Everything was custom, and they said they would NEVER do it again. The had to cut off much of the bell housing of the boxster trans, design a new adapter bolt pattern plate with hole for the starter and have it CNC fabricated, then welded back onto the trans, design in the hydraulic clutch system, fabricate the cradle/mounting system to hold the trans in place, etc. etc. etc.... (and more etc's...) nearly 200 hours worth of work that they only billed for less than half...

Plus, the Box S trans is MUCH heavier/bigger and sits back too far, so adjustments need to be made for that or you end up with a 911 weight distribution...

Hmm...not sure where to go now...

[rick 918-S]

200 hrs? Having done this type of engineering in my back yard and pounding thousands of miles on my fabrication, sorry, Just not seeing it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) I agree it's a challenge through. BTW: from those photos it looks like there is still a cut out section in the bell housing behind where the starter mounts. Doesn't look like the adaptor was welded to the bell housing at all. Maybe the photo is pre-completion.

[naro914]

ok, well I was guessing 200 hours...he said about $20,000 is what he should have charged. rates around here at least are 100/hr, so it was a guess. probably much less with the parts cost now that you mention it....but keep in mind, what you do for your own work is MUCH different than what a shop does for someone elses. They need to design, test and make damn sure everything is good on custom work before they let the customer have it or they will be spending months/years fixing little crap that kills their business.

My simplistic view doesn't see it as THAT hard to be honest, unless something major just doesn't line up: cut the bell housing, fabricate (CNC probably)an adapter plate to match up the bolt holes from the trans to the bolt holes on the engine. Fabricate the starter area into it/make sure it's spaced properly. Fabricate a transmission cradle, etc. The biggest issue I see is the hydraulic clutch system.

As Rich noted, the guys that make the adapter kit for the Suby engine/boxster trans - Precision Chassis Works - can provide a kit that might work. Having said that..their adapter kit is $2200, plus the clutch/pp, plus all the stuff to make a hydraulic clutch system, the shifter, cradle, etc. Will the axles fit (I assume the trans is not the same width as a 901), etc. etc etc...

so lets just say 100 hours of labor - still looking at $10k labor PLUS all the parts. I'm not sure I'm up for that...

[rick 918-S]

I owned a collision/resto shop for 18 yrs. I understand the need to be sure things work and are done properly simply for liability sake if nothing else.

If the 20k included the transaxle, axles, hyd. clutch parts, shifter stuff and materials I guess you could drive that cost up there. Understood.

My assumption was you had the transaxle and wanted mated to your engine. That's actually the easy part in my opinion. Much of the project could be done by you to avoid a huge additional cost like axles and shift stuff. You know what they say about the word assume... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[naro914]

OK, so Alan sent me the invoice to do the work...holy crap..its a LOT more work than I thought. but some of the work I wouldn't have to do (like build a nice center console and figure out back-up lights) but yes, it was over $20,000 in labor alone.

Plus you need an electric speedometer that runs off of wheel sensors. Not hard, just more labor....and that's not even on this invoice...its on the NEXT one...

[naro914]

I owned a collision/resto shop for 18 yrs. I understand the need to be sure things work and are done properly simply for liability sake if nothing else.

If the 20k included the transaxle, axles, hyd. clutch parts, shifter stuff and materials I guess you could drive that cost up there. Understood.

My assumption was you had the transaxle and wanted mated to your engine. That's actually the easy part in my opinion. Much of the project could be done by you to avoid a huge additional cost like axles and shift stuff. You know what they say about the word assume... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

sorry, didn't mean to insinuate you don't do things right...that came across wrong, my bad. I just know custom work takes tons and tons of time, especially if you have nothing to go by and you're doing it for a client. I think if we are all honest with ourselves about the work we do, we would realize we spend much more actual time between research, trial, error, experimenting, installation, testing, etc than we would ever admit. For example, I've probably spent 50 hours just researching this already!! If I were a business, I would have to bill the client for it...

Labor did include trans tear down/rebuild plus a lot for the hydraulic clutch system design and install - lots of fabrication here especially for the pedal cluster which needed to be completely modified/redesigned. Seems that the output flanges on the trans are not compatible with the CV's, so more machining work. Labor list of things is almost a page itself...lots of stuff...

To be honest, not sure how much of this I could do myself. I don't weld, I don't have fabrication equipment, I don't have a good way to drop the engine/trans or a bench to work on all this. and i am certainly not tearing into the transmission. I can do a lot of basic replace/repair stuff, but not fabrication or heavy mechanical work.

So...looks like for now i might go with the Velios 915 that's been sitting in my garage for a year...maybe if the car runs well for a year or so I would start thinking of going the Boxster Trans route.

[r_towle]

Stick with the 915 or get a g50
Tried and tested mid engine solutions for less money