Porsche Restoracing Competition

2017 marked the 20th anniversary of the Boxster 986, a car that fundamentally shaped the Porsche brand and brought a whole new generation of customers to the Porsche family.

To celebrate this, Porsche Cars Great Britain initiated the Porsche Classic Restoracing Competition.

Taking place in 2018, the competition requires us not only to restore a classic Boxster 986, but to get it race-ready (including race livery) and hit the track for a series of races at iconic British circuits.

For this project, Porsche Centre East London has teamed up with Porsche Centre Colchester and Porsche Centre Cambridge, in addition to our Porsche Recommended Body Repairer, Lancaster Body Centre.   

We very much look forward to sharing progress updates along the restoration journey. To keep up-to-date with the progress of our 986 Boxster S restoracing car, follow our social media channels. The car is currently going through the final stages of preparation at Porsche Centre Colchester.

Upcoming Race Meetings:

• Brands Hatch Gran Prix Circuit - 5 May 2018
• Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit - 2 June 2018
• Brands Hatch Indy Circuit - 2 September 2018

Please contact a member of our team on 0203 1993 521 or info@porscheeastlondon.co.uk for more information.

Porsche 986 Boxster bodywork

The colours chosen for the team car are the Martini inspired Green, Purple Black and White livery.

After being dismantled at Porsche Colchester, the shell was taken to Lancaster Witham Bodyshop to prepare it for the race competition.

On arrival, the team had to research and design a colour theme. As previously reported, the Martini theme was chosen and the livery was to be in Green with Purple, Black and White stripes.

The complete body shell was then decontaminated inside and out with a jet wash. Next, the removable parts including doors, bonnet, and engine sound insulation were removed. This left the shell ready for degreasing with solvent and glue removers.

Moving onto the condition of the car, a visual assessment was made which confirmed an excellent overall condition, however, a couple of very minor repairs were required and were made using a two-pack filler. It was then ready for the body shell to be fully primed and manually sanded down ready for paint.

The main colour chosen for the car was Viper Green and for an added touch of sparkle, it was mixed with Gold and Green Pearl. This was applied to the shell including the floor pans inside and out. The door panels, along with the bumper and roof, were then painted and the first layer of clear coat was applied.

Once the car was reassembled and the panels refitted it was sanded down again and the Martini design graphics were then masked out. The main stripe was painted in Pure White ground coat, which was then masked off. The Ultra Violet purple layer was then added followed by the Schwarz Black layer. With the masking tape removed the white coat was revealed.

The shell was then sanded down and clear coated twice more. Lastly, the car was masked off one more time for a matt Black Schwarz paint to be applied to the bonnet. To finish the design a Lancaster centre stripe was added.

With the body work finished, the car shell was put on display at Porsche Centre Colchester. Our next step was to deal with the engine and gearbox.

Engine Dismounting

The engine and transmission assembly were supplied to us from Porsche Centre Colchester as one unit.

In order to carry our initial assessment of the engine, gearbox and final drive, the components were separated and passed to their respective technicians.

During the separation of the components it was identified that there was a hairline crack in the crank case close to where the gearbox bolts to the engine. This was noted for repair before reassembly, should the rest of the crank case show no other signs of wear or fatigue.

The next stage of the dismantle saw the inlet and exhaust manifolds removed. Some of the fittings were heavily corroded and this resulted in two sheared exhaust manifold studs in the cylinder head.

With all other ancillary components removed, the cylinder heads were removed and then fully stripped for inspection. With the valve seats in good order the cylinder heads were sent away for the broken studs to be removed and then aqua blasting to give a new finish.

With the cylinder heads away, close attention was paid to the crank case. It was identified that the original, smaller intermediate shaft was fitted. Taking this into consideration, along with the hairline crack previously identified, the view was taken to replace the bottom end of the engine with an exchange assembly from Porsche. This comes fully assembled with crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons and oil sump pan.

New valves were lapped in to the valve seats and once complete, the cylinder heads were fully reassembled with new valve stem oil seals, oil scavenges pumps, spark plugs and genuine Porsche coil packs. With the cylinder heads reassembled they were fitted to the crank case and timed up accordingly.

Other components, such as the starter motor, alternator and oil separator, were cleaned, masked and spray painted to be in keeping with the other components.

To complete the reassembly the flywheel was refitted with a new clutch kit in readiness to fit the transmission.

Gearbox, steering, suspension and brakes

Work that has been carried out to the suspension and brakes:

• Stripped down front sub frame axle and removed front shock absorber struts, steering rack, radial arms and lower control arms, brake calliper, pads and disc.
• Stripped front hubs, removed wheel bearing, drilled out broken bolts for brake disc back plates and ABS sensors
• Stripped steering rack tie rod ends, removed Gaiter’s to check rack and seals not leaking.
• Examined all front bushes and joints.
• Stripped down rear stub axle and removed both rear shock absorber struts, radial arms and lower control arms, brake calliper, pads, disc, park brake shoes and handbrake cables.
• Stripped rear hubs, removed wheel bearing, drilled out broken bolts for brake disc back plates and ABS sensors
• Sent stripped stub axles, wheel bearing hubs and front sub frame away for sand blasting and powder-coating.
• Sent brake callipers away for reconditioning with new seals and bleed nipples replaced.

Rebuilt front and rear suspension with following new parts as follows:

• Fitted new four-wheel bearing and ABS sensors
• Fitted new park brake shoes, shoes spring kit and handbrake cables
• Assembled Porsche Tequipment sports suspension kit front and rear with coil springs and top mounts.
• Refitted suspension struts to wheel bearing hubs
• Replaced both front lower control arms, radial control arms with new parts
• Replaced with new steering tie rod ends, gaiters and ball joints.
• Reused steering column shaft
• Examined, cleaned and refitted drive shafts.
• All bolt, nut, washers and eccentric bolts were replaced.
• Prepared front and rear suspension ready for marriage with vehicle.