There are a few little details to button up, but the car is essentially ready and I was out running with it this weekend and had a great time. It will still lack a cage and harnesses but otherwise it would meet the Spec rules. It now also has quite a few desirable SPB-optional parts installed to improve the car’s durability, and it will be a great car in DE/TT for now.

We had a few minor issues that caused me to drive my Alfa Romeo 4C for the DE last month and a few sessions this Friday. The Boxster missed that first DE because we couldn’t resolve minor oil leaks at two of the new oil line fittings in the rear trunk in time for the event. We worked with tuneRS and one of them is good now and the other is much better but still seeping just a bit. We’ll get it to 100% soon.

All was looking pretty good for this weekend but Friday morning I ran into an issue with the clutch. After 2-3 shifts the car would fight hard against going into gear. We quickly teched the Alfa so I could keep at it. The shop managed to diagnose and repair the issue by the end of the afternoon, and I just missed the window to run the Boxster in the last session of the day so I stuck with the Alfa. Apparently if you just strip the interior like I did but don’t add a backstop for the clutch, you can overextend it. Over time that appears to have helped the (probably 20 year old) slave to fail. They found a new slave in a nearby town, got it over to the track, installed it, bled the system again, and taped in a temporary pedal stop. The Boxster ran great all Saturday. The Spec suspension sure changed the feel of the car! It’s drastically better now. The old street tires were slow but predictable, and I’ll replace them in the spring. I also really like the flywheel as it makes my imprecise heel toe blips a lot less upsetting to the car.

My season here is now over. They suggested we weld in a permanent pedal stop and I asked them to also replace the master cylinder to make sure we have the clutching issue fully put to rest. I left the car with them to do that, resolve the oil joint seepage, and make a minor change to the exhaust pipe routing that we had left on the back burner. When we added the coolers, the catalytic converters no longer fit so we had a local shop do a custom exhaust with short mufflers so while it’s quite loud it’s not deafening. I like shifting by sound but I didn’t want to have to consider hearing protection.

The car is very intuitive to drive, and it will be a fun car to learn how to race with. I’ll post more when I have the car back.

Assistance!

I found by using plasti-dip that I liked the look of dark headlights and that I don’t have the patience to get a good surface appearance. I had a local detailing/wrapping company wrap the headlights in film. I told them I’d like it very dark but in a pinch I wanted to be able to use the headlights. I think it’s probably darker than a deep smoke color like I had in mind but also more aesthetically pleasing.

I need to respray some of the once-black plastic that’s gone grey over the years.

Here’s how the stock wheels came out. The paint is matte black; I would have gone satin for better color durability but they were out. If it chips I can always spray the chip or powder coat the wheels later on. It looks good to my eye and was cheap and easy. The new alternate wheels look good but I’ll finish the car before I give them much thought.

Here’s the car in the new-to-me trailer. It’s a 2010 Interstate 8.5x20. It has a comfortable amount of room - enough to walk and stand in front of and behind the car - and will carry a spare set of wheels and some tools and equipment without issue. I bought some locks, new straps (incoming), and a wireless brake controller for the SUV. It’s a bit long for my smaller wheelbase, but most of my towing is just going to be to the local track an hour away on a flat section of freeway. I can always rent a big truck if I want to do a 10 hour plus tow and am worried about it.

Here's the car as it sits in the trailer.


Here's the interior... now where did I leave off... the rest of the doors and the glass side windows certainly need to go.

You can sort of see that I have an oil temp and pressure sensor now. Nice to have.



And here's the Accusump. They did the TuneRS kit and apparently had some trouble with one of the couplers weeping oil. They eventually got it to work properly. I'm hoping this helps the new motor to last quite a bit longer.


Here’s kind of a lousy photo showing the exhaust system. (I need the snow to melt to get the trailer out and the car out.) Overall I'm satisfied with it - I was originally looking for mandrel bends and a bit straighter routing than I got, but on the upside it seems to work well, it certainly sounds great, and the mufflers are enough that I won't need hearing protection just to drive the car. I got a reasonable value for my money but I would have spent a bit extra to get those details.

Yellow is the best color to have your SPB in.

I am sure you know this, but your going to need to put the dashboard back in to race it in SPB with PCA. I know you are not doing that yet, but you won’t get a logbook without it.

Thanks, agreed

And on the dash, yeah, its sitting up high in the garage now with the removed convertible top that’s just there collecting dust. I plan to put the dash back in after the roll cage is in the car and I have some good mounting tabs. I appreciate it though as it’s much easier to overcommunicate and be sure than to risk someone missing something painfully obvious and paying for it.

Great looking car. Looking forward to racing with you when you’re ready. There’s another gent in SLC area racing SPBs with us in NorCal now also.

FWIW - Re your headlights, you might want to have them avbl, uncovered. At RRVI this year we all had to run with lights on due to the fog.

For the racer on this thread with the silver car, it’s pretty easy and economical to vinyl wrap these little cars. A friend and I watched a few YouTube videos last year and wrapped our cars during the off season. They’re not street car perfect but good enough for race cars. 3-4 evenings work and $750 in material. I find the vinyl really protects the paint from race track wear, and makes it easier to repair/replace damaged body parts if you get hit.