BigBob

Great job of repurposing your 987; speaks to the versatility of the Boxster!

MyNameIdeasWereT

From a 987.2 Spyder --> 987.1S --> 997.2S --> 981S, my dad is back in a Porsche; a manual 987.2 Base.

He claims that this is his favorite drivers car to date. More nimble than the 997, a better driver's experience than the electric power steering and PDK from his 981, and less anxiety from driving a base Boxster than a "rare" Spyder.



I find the 987.2 Base to feel underwhelming from what is expected of a Porsche. Even as a car built for momentum through the corners, the power band is lacking from what I have become accustomed to. But it is still a great car and it has been fun working on both and discovering the subtle differences of the 987 trim.

ga 951

The paint on that bumper shot looks amazing.
Alas, mine is "driven, not polished"
Actually, it is polished, but will never be a concours

2011 Cayman MT base and I love my Borla

MyNameIdeasWereT

We've been hard at work on my dad's 987.2 Base. The most recent addition was a Soul valved exhaust.

I'm impressed with the weld quality and the sound. Great tone and minimal drone, though being bolted to a 2.9 isn't anywhere near as loud as the 3.4.
But I am very unimpressed with the over-engineering of Soul's exhaust and the lack of detailed instructions for vacuum and wire routing.

The exhaust itself was easy to install. Took about an hour to pull the stock exhaust and install the Soul system.
It makes sense that this valved system was developed or a quick plug and play application for cars with the factory valved exhaust. But for cars without factory valved exhaust, it makes zero sense to wire an electronic controller for a vacuum controlled valve system.
Tapping vacuum lines creates an additional point for failure and since we already have to cut and splice wires, why not just offer electronically controlled valves instead? This would be a cheaper option to bundle as well...

Also, the universal lock/unlock fobs are an ugly accessory to pair with a $3,000 exhaust system. I would have preferred to see a nice switch, maybe with a picture of exhaust tips on it, rather than a lock/unlock button.

The real frustration was the vague install instructions for vacuum and power. Super detailed instructions for the exhaust system, which is already self explanatory. Soul's install photos are only applicable for an S model, as the Base does not have a convenient vacuum line to tap near the throttle body. Instead, we had to cut into the line for one of the plenum actuators.

Once again, I was faced with over engineering on Porsche's part. It would make sense for the actuator vacuum lines to be single hoses, but instead they opted for straight plastic straws connected with tiny bits of rubber hose for every point where the line had to make a bend or turn.
As I said before, every time you have an unnecessary vacuum connection is an additional point for failure. Why Porsche did not opt to run a single hose is beyond me... What is even better is that the plastic straw pieces are not flared, so when attempting to connect our T connector for the exhaust system, this factory vacuum connection came undone, requiring us to remove the plenum just to reconnect the stock parts. One hour to install the exhaust system, five hours of dealing with the vacuum routing nightmare.

For power, we tapped the passenger footwell 12v socket and put the signal unit behind the dash for unobstructed communication with the remote fobs.

At least is sounds great! If I were to install this system on my own car, I would just lock the valves open and save myself the trouble of running vacuum lines.

MyNameIdeasWereT

Due to the R100 seats being on 4+ month backorder, I opted for the Sprint seats instead.

I do prefer the support that a fixed back seat offers. I also went with the Sprint L for the passenger seat so to be more accommodating of people who wish to ride along at events.

Fresh.Sizzle

How come your dad's 987.2 as shown in the pics has the seats from a 981?

MyNameIdeasWereT

They're the seats from a 997 that we swapped in.

Fresh.Sizzle

? Correct me if I'm wrong but; How could you swap them out of a 997 when the 997 doesn't have those seats either...smh...the 997 has the same seats as a 987, so that doesn't add up.

-The seats in your pics are 981/991 generation seats...


What am I missing here?

MyNameIdeasWereT

I believe it was a 2013 Turbo that they were pulled from (Porsche junkyard).
Being a crossover year, perhaps the original owner opted for upgrading the seats.
It was definitely a 997 that we got them from, but I don't know what the 997 owner had done (other than crash their car).

MyNameIdeasWereT

Not sure if I had posted this on here, but the rear got wrapped as a continuation of the front.

The fiberglass wing on the C30 became damaged, so the carbon fiber GT4 replica wing got transferred over as the replacement since that remains as the dedicated racecar.
I ended up getting this aftermarket 987 spoiler. The little Cayman spoiler will be reverted back to the smooth Boxster spoiler soon.
Damping did have to be adjusted, as the car was definitely lacking that planted rear end feel through higher speed corners.



This year has been another break from competitive driving events, but progress continues to be made on the C30 and I have picked up a few sponsor.




Not much to report about the WRX. It's a reliable family car and I wouldn't consider the Stage 2 to be a "build" or even a "fun car," it's just our alternative to a minivan without being boring.

MyNameIdeasWereT

MyNameIdeasWereT

Finally installed the volt meter, which has proven useful for monitoring short drives with the underdrive pulley.



Wrapped the top of the new spoiler black.



Developed a groaning/squealing noise at low RPM, especially apparent when slightly turning. Determined it was just low power steering fluid. A simple top off fixed the problem.
No leaks, just fluid evaporating with time.

MyNameIdeasWereT

MyNameIdeasWereT

MyNameIdeasWereT

Another from the archives...