£2600 Porsche...what could possibly go wrong? Introducing Project TrackBox

soupz

RMS Regular
Messages
2,308
Location
Lisburn
Drives
Boxster S
Hopefully (finally) going to get some time to work on this now, it was meant to be running for trackways last year but between one thing and another, throw in a bit of covid, hard to get MoT for it (never been MoT'd in NI before) it has sat neglected unfortunately. So no major updates on this other than during summer last year I got my mechanic to check it over to see how bad it really was, pleased with the report I got back:
Couple of control arms
Track rods
Brake discs and pads all round
Brake lines might make it through MoT but borderline

So it'll be going to my mechanic soon to get all that work done so I can MoT it, meaning I can drive it to and from the track.
I also got stuck into the bodywork last summer to see how well it would come up. So carried out the following:
De-tar
Iron Cleanse
Minor paint correction
Top coat Zymol wax
Wheels cleaned up, tyres slicked

And that was about it, was pretty pleased with how it turned out - by no means perfect but its fairly presentable!
Before pics (these are close up but they show the overall condition of the car, badly swirled, scratched etc):

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

WIP:

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

Half done plastic, heat gun method worked well on this:

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

Finished product:

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

TrackBox cleanup by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

Wow! Fantast job mate! But yes I think you're not really grasping the idea of a track car! 😂
 

warren

RMS Photographer
Messages
2,286
Yeah I think youve accidentally made it way too nice to use as a track car. Looks superb!
 

DubsterACS

RMS Regular
OP
DubsterACS
Messages
176
Location
Ballymena
Drives
911C2,ZX16v
Thanks all, good to receive good feedback and I know what you mean about it now looking too good to track but will go with it, close up its ok but marks are still there and its stone chips galore at the front of it. Also, it has 163k on it so never going to rise too much in value so happy to use it on the track.
 

DubsterACS

RMS Regular
OP
DubsterACS
Messages
176
Location
Ballymena
Drives
911C2,ZX16v
I agree - I like the wooden garage and slate roof, any more details on it?
Did you build it yourself? Is it oak?

John

Thanks for the kind comments about the garage too, decided to do a wee write up on it in the garage section of the forum:

 
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DubsterACS

RMS Regular
OP
DubsterACS
Messages
176
Location
Ballymena
Drives
911C2,ZX16v
Making progress with this one, got it to the mechanics to have the following work carried out:
New (Spyder Performance) coffin arms and fork arms
Pagid discs and Textar Pads all round, new handbrake shoes,
Oil service, spark plugs, Air Filter
Gearbox Oil service
Racing standard brake fluid (noticeable harder brake pedal)
Geometry setup

MoT Prep by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

Standard plates, bulbs checked, new wipers fitted, quick clean up and managed to get an MoT cancellation last week:

MoT Prep by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

MoT Prep by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

MoT Prep by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

And.....miraculously it passed!!! Was so pleased, I was sure a car having never had an NI MoT before and such high mileage made me nervous they could find something wrong with it but nope, it passed. Its obviously been well looked after mechanically, when I went to get the service book stamped we realised there was no more room for the latest work to be recorded so had to stamp it in the notes section of the book.
And it's driving really well, no suspension rattles anymore, turn in is good, brakes well. So the cheap high mileage Porsche is now road legal! Now for the strip down to begin!
 

DubsterACS

RMS Regular
OP
DubsterACS
Messages
176
Location
Ballymena
Drives
911C2,ZX16v
So, a bit of an update on this one. Since the MoT I got stuck into stripping it out a bit:
Project TrackBox by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Project TrackBox by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

But ultimately it sat around all summer waiting to be used, I got distracted by my latest purchase (another thread on its way!) and before I knew it, it was September and I hadn't done any trackdays in the car. So, decided to join the Trackskils event on Sunday 12th September, took the car a few runs that week leading up to it and other than a dodgy battery the car going so well. Even test fitted the Recaro's before realising I need a different bracket for the rails.
Project TrackBox by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

Got to Kirkistown and thoroughly enjoyed the first and second sessions, I was surprised by how quick the car was and was gaining confidence in it every lap working up to taking debtors at 115mph constantly and fighting a bit of oversteer out of the hairpin. Link to video here:



All was going so well.....until it wasn't. Towards the end of the 2nd session I noticed a thick cloud of blue/black smoke when downshifting from 4th to 3rd gear after debtors dip into the following corner, initially I thought I had locked up quite badly but it continued to happen so I backed off a bit and did a couple of cool down laps then raised the pace a bit, again the car started to cough blue smoke on the downshifting after hard cornering. I then came across a slow moving MX5 on the back straight but was near to the hairpin so the inexperience I have I was trying to concentrate on not hitting the MX5, downshifting 4th-3rd-2nd, braking, heel&toe and making the hairpin.....I messed up and ended up very sideways into the hairpin but somehow managed to hold it sideways for a bit to save myself any further embarrassment but it wasn't the smoothest transition back in line and the car coughed again and stalled. It started immediately and I went on to do another lap and then after another high speed cornering of debtors it died on me and I had to coast round the lap into the pits. LOUD ticking was heard when I restarted it along with a massive cloud of white/blue/black smoke. If you were there on the day, you probably heard the gasps from those I was parked beside lol. I nursed it to my uncles place not far from Kirkistown and then got it recovered the rest of the way to my house where it now awaits a doctors appointment to determine what exactly is wrong with it but it does not sound a well car at all!! Initially my mechanic thinks its a full engine rebuild required but will see. If it does need that I then have to decide if its worth it.

Project TrackBox by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
Project TrackBox by Graham Thompson, on Flickr

Project TrackBox by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
This is the video of what the engine sounds like now (you may need to click through to listen).

Project TrackBox by Graham Thompson, on Flickr
 
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