[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

2008 Boxster S "Lossëa"
Carrara White, Bright Blue Metallic, Gloss Red
Manual

Stock Options:
Sport Chrono
Bi-Xenon headlights (DRLs disabled)
Cocoa Full Leather Interior
Heated Seats
Automatic Climate Control
Bose High End Sound
Self-Dim Mirrors
Cocoa Top
Rain Sensing Windshield


Exterior Cosmetic Modifications:
Victor Equipment Turismo 19" x 8" ET+45 & 19" x 9.5" ET+49
Cayman Spoiler
Clear Side Markers
DSX 15mm Hub Centric Rear Spacers
Black Porsche Trunk Lettering
Jtec LED Tail Lights
Full LED Conversion
Custom Mesh Grilles
Custom Livery Wrap
Custom Carbon Fiber Wing
Tow Hook
Custom Front Splitter
Custom Canards

Interior Cosmetic Modifications:
Custom Roll Cage (more info here)
Bride Vios III Low Max Seats
G-Force 5 Point Harnesses
Momo Wheel with Momo Hub and NRG Quick Release (more info here)
Uro Part Steel Convertible Top Arm Ends
Full LED Conversion
Porsche Rubber Floor Mats
Custom Fire Extinguisher Mount
Color Matched Tunnel Console and Interior Trim
White Shift Knob Ball

Audio & Electronics:
Radio Delete
Garmin GPS
Cobra Radar Detector
Hella Rally Lights

Performance & Handling:
Schnell Short Shift Kit
Custom Muffler Delete (see a video here)
GodSpeed Coilovers and Adjustable Toe Arms
Opened Wheel Well Radiator Vents
Custom Rear Subframe Stabilizer Bar

Awards & Features:
129Photos "Photo of the Week" 11-12-2018
129Photos "Photo of the Week" 11-12-2018
Dragon's Choice CTDX
129Photos "Photo of the Week" 5-26-2019
Killboy Weekly Highlight 5-26-2019
129Photos "Photo of the Week" 6-2-2019
Killboy Weekly Highlight 6-2-2019
129Photos "Photo of the Week" 11-3-2019
Killboy Weekly Highlight 11-3-2019

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

For those who don't know me, my name is Michael and my automotive background mostly consists of extensively modifying, tuning, and racing Volvos (detailed build threads can be found in my signature).

My plans for this Boxster are to build a Touge / Track car... I will keep the first post updated with a list of current modifications and continue to share as I go. All of my cars are a never ending build, but I hope to have this car "ready" by the start of the spring season.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Went to my first PCA event today, at Hamilton Gardens in Hiawassee, GA.

 

[gtbrandon]

Beautiful car, was looking at similar modifications on my 06. Where did you get the spoiler and tail lights from?

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Beautiful car, was looking at similar modifications on my 06. Where did you get the spoiler and tail lights from?

The previous owner bought and installed the tail lights, not sure where he got them. But just searching "987 Jtec tail lights" shows a few sellers online.

The spoiler came off of a salvage Cayman, already painted.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Finally thought of a name for this car...Lossëa.
Lossëa is an adjective in Tolkien's Elvish language, meaning "snow white." Snow White originated as a German fairytale, so this seemed like a fitting name for a white German car.


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Here's a picture of the Cayman spoiler:

 

[imhighlander]

Knowing Michael’s work from the Volvo community, this is going to be fun to watch!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lesmurray]

Find yourself a Cayman rear bumper or a after market bumper for a Cayman. That will fix the gap between the spoiler and the rear bumper.

I have the Cayman spoiler on mine and have a GT3-type rear bumper waiting to be added.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Finished building my catback exhaust, sound clip to come.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Catback muffler delete with the stock cats and the stock T pipe, so there is still proper scavenging. If there is any loss of low end torque, it is barely noticeable. It definitely flows more efficiently on the top end and it sounds heavenly. It's loud, but compared to some of the other cars I have built, it's not unbearable and drone is minimal; likely due to the engine being behind the driver and it being a convertible. The real shocker was how heavy the stock mufflers were, so this is a decent weight savings.

Total cost was about $96 and an afternoon of cutting, bending pipes, and welding. The dual 4" tips were the real expense at $80.

 

[gtbrandon]

Can you explain more what you did to perform a muffler delete but keep your cats? I got rid of my mufflers as well but since the secondary cats are built in, how did you keep those in the new system? I loved the sound at first but recently it has been a bit too much drone for my liking, yet I LOVE the way it sounds on the top end. I want to add some sort of muffler or blockage to get rid of the drone but keep the grunt and top end scream I have right now, any suggestions? I still have the stock mufflers sitting in my garage, guess I could gut them if I realy wanted to, but doesn't seem worth it.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

Can you explain more what you did to perform a muffler delete but keep your cats? I got rid of my mufflers as well but since the secondary cats are built in, how did you keep those in the new system? I loved the sound at first but recently it has been a bit too much drone for my liking, yet I LOVE the way it sounds on the top end. I want to add some sort of muffler or blockage to get rid of the drone but keep the grunt and top end scream I have right now, any suggestions? I still have the stock mufflers sitting in my garage, guess I could gut them if I realy wanted to, but doesn't seem worth it.

I didn't realize that there were cats built into those mufflers... So I guess I deleted those too. I kept the cats that matter, the ones with the O2 sensors connected to them.
We don't do emissions/inspections where I live, so all my turbo cars are catless and it has never been an issue.

We got caught in a rain storm yesterday and drove with the roof up, there was quite a bit of drone in that 2k-3k rpm range.
From past experiences of building exhausts systems, adding a simple loop to the piping can alter scavenging and minimize drone, as well as extending the tips a bit further outward. Not sure what car this came from, but something like this:

We built a similar loop on a muffler delete (not Porsche) and it retained the raw sound and butt-dyno performance, but with half the drone.
Lots of science to this, which is why I acknowledge that the top end exhaust systems are fully worth the cost of engineering.

Since I only intend to drive this car on the weekends and with the top down, I can live with the drone for now. But I may explore other options in the future.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

We built a bolt-in roll cage that still allows full function and clearance of the roof and retains the factory roll bar. This cages meets all SCCA requirements (which is sufficient for the events I usually compete in). If I start doing PCA HPDEs, then I'll see about getting it inspected... Or whatever steps I'll need to take.

First, we removed the aluminum shims from the bottom of the stock roll bar and cut a steel plate to match this shape.

We then welded the roll bar to this plate.

Here's the test fit of the roll bar.

Next we welded these brackets to plates, which bolt to the floor of the car. The carpeting did have to be cut for the bracket to pass through.

These connecting brackets were welded to the top of the roll bar.

A pipe was bent to run from these connectors down to the brackets bolted to the floor.

Final fitment before measuring and welding in a harness bar.

Both the cage and factory roll bar were removed and painted with an appliance epoxy, something I have used on past cages. $3.50 per can, no primer or clear coat required, and it leaves a very durable semi-gloss finish. It's also a close enough match to the body color, that I'm satisfied.

*

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

I made fixed seat brackets by welding two halves of this steel bracket together. Bolts into the factory bolt points and sits about 1" lower than stock. The Sparco seats came out of my C30.

The total cost for the cage was about $200 for materials and took us about 7 hours of pipe bending and welding.

I also swapped in my Momo steering wheel with a Momo hub and an NRG quick release.

I simply added a 3.3ohm resistor to each airbag connector. No cutting, so this can easily be reversed. No codes so far.
The horn wires were extended and run to the Momo button in the center of the wheel.

This car is really starting to feel like home with my wheel, seats, and harnesses.

 

[Apex1]

This set up looks fantastic for the track, but what about going to get coffee? I was watching Jay Leno's show last night, where one of his buddies found a Ferrari Testa Rosa body hanging in a garage in Italy. He likes to build old cars and bring them new life, so thats what he did. Very accurate reproduction including wheels, engine, tranny,etc. Where he found all the parts is a wonder. So, he was going to get some coffee in sunny LA, someone ran a red light and wiped out the front passenger fender and door of his hand pounded beauty. Turned is five year project car to the back of his garage. He had a harness as well.

My question, what happens to your neck when someone smacks your car head on by accident when you are buckled in the 6 point harness with no air bag to support the forward motion of your 10 lb bowling ball head. Dale Earnhardt. No Hans device to hold it in place. Accidents happen all the time, texting, phone, children, not paying attention, as you see on Progressive car ads on TV.

What I am getting to is this setup may not be safe for going to get coffee where in my case is 90% of my cars drive time. Dont get me wrong, I love the Mono wheel and disconnect, but I do not want a broken neck/spinal cord from lack of an air bag.

Maybe someone can figure how to use a Hans device on the street without the helmet but a strap that goes around your bowling ball head hidden by a cap. Also, as in PCA, if the driver has this setup, so too must the passenger (instructor) have all of those safety belts and restraints available and working for him/her including the Hans device attachments.

For the street, sort of takes the fun out of it when looking at this issue from a safety point of view. Honey, please put your head strap and neck brace on and buckle your 6 point harness. WTF, wife not going, car's ride is rough enough, now this!!!!

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

What I am getting to is this setup may not be safe for going to get coffee where in my case is 90% of my cars drive time. Dont get me wrong, I love the Mono wheel and disconnect, but I do not want a broken neck from lack of an air bag.

Accidents do happen and every accident is different. I have a few friends in emergency response and law enforcement, some who have quick release wheels and racing buckets in their dailies. Their opinion on airbags are 50/50. Half the time it's what saved the occupants, half the time it caused more harm and was actually the culprit for breaking necks.

A light bumper tap at 30mph is bearable, but then being punched in the face by a 200mph deploying airbag causes the injury.
On the other hand, if you stop and a light and get rear ended at 60mph, an airbag would be beneficial.

Steering wheel airbags are designed to work with the standard 3 point belt and factory seats with anti-whiplash protection.
In my opinion, if you're ditching the steering wheel airbag, then you must always use a full 5 or 6 point harness. When properly adjusted, harnesses will hold you much tighter. Whiplash is still a threat, but you won't be smacking your head on the steering wheel or windshield. The downside is that when not on the track, you not experiencing the adrenaline that helps ease an unexpected impact.

While it's debatable whether it's safer than a stock setup (I would say it's not), it's not any different than driving a Slingshot, an Ariel Atom, or an Exocet. Those are all road legal cars that have huge safety risks to drive.

As for the cage, it's still street legal, just frowned upon because it can make vehicular extraction more difficult for emergency response.
Insurance is fully aware of what I have done.
Add a roll bar to a Miata or pickup and insurance rates go down.
Add a cage to a Jeep or 4x4 and insurance rates go down.
Add a cage to a car and insurance rates go up...

I had a friend who had a tree go parallel with the windshield, between the A and B pillars. The roof is what saved them. Since then I have been terrified of convertibles. The factory roll bar keeps you safe if you're upside down, but there's nothing to protect you from something coming between the roll bar and the windshield. So having the cage is worth it, to me.

 

[Apex1]

My son's friend was riding in his ex girlfriend's Honda that went off the road over a curb, triggering the air bags. My son's friend had facial damage and eye issues. Double vision for 6 weeks, finially cleared, but a law suit by him followed to reclaim the medical damages. $35,000 was awarded to him of which $7000 was to be paid by the his ex girl friend (parents paid), as she did not tell her parents of the accident, which caused a lot of issues with the ER department and care to my son's friend in a few days following the accident.
So you are right about the 200 mph air bag. My thought is that it took Dale Earnhardt's death for NASCAR to develop the HANS device. He died do to hitting the wall head on at Daytona. His Simpson safety harness and seat worked properly as did his helmet. The problem was his head was unrestrained. The belts held his shoulders in place, so his head was going 190 mph in one second to 30 or so, off the concrete wall and sliding back wards across the track.
The safety crews were on the spot quickly, as their man (NASCAR's hero) had just hit the wall, but looking at the tape, they could tell, life was gone. Still efforts were made to revive him. Not sure how many vertebra were broken and spinal cord broken in different places, but the fact remains that a bowling ball on our shoulders need to be harnessed to prevent this from happening in frontal accidents.
Yes, air bags do damage, but these are mostly repairable, broken spinal cords are a different level of damage and not repairable.

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

To all my non-car friends who thought they were smart by calling my car a 911,
and to all the Porsche owners who disappointingly asked me how I liked my Carrera...

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

I have no problem with the stock shifter throw, but the height of the shift knob really bothers me. It's not in a position where I intuitively grab it and if I'm just cruising with my elbow on the arm rest, I don't want to reach upward to change gears.
Any easy ways to shorten it? I'm thinking I may just pull the assembly, cut down the metal rod, and put on an aftermarket shift knob.*

 

[MyNameIdeasWereTaken]

One of my convertible top arm ends was broken, so I replaced both sides with the steel replacements.

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