'57 Rag/'04 Boxster S Mashup - The Ragster

[volkdent]

Please no hating, this car was 2 cars welded together and was molested, also it was on here for sale for a long time and nobody bought it to restore, so view at your own risk!!!

Jason

[volkdent]

So, here's where we are at:

2004 Boxster S 85k miles purchased
Cutting out dented panels and generally cleaning stuff up and see what I have to work with.
Have made contact with a guy in Oregon who will sell me a '57 Oval Rag body and some later doors that I'll be fileting within an inch of it's life. Take heart that this body has already been stitched together at some point, so I'm not cutting up a complete car.

Here's some of the damage:

Some motivational reference:

The one with the red decklid is the one I've got my eye on, I'll be replacing all sheetmetal with fiberglass from CCC.

Jason

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More pics of the victim, a little nicer than I really want to cut up actually...

Jason

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Almost done, only took me 10 minutes;)

More motivation!

JASON

[volkdent]

I removed the whole right quarter(half) of the car in one piece, seemed a shame to destroy a perfectly good panel, even if it was a bitch to drill the spot welds. Now that the chassis is free and clear to be worked on I'm actually going to have to make a detour to the body shop to have the frame straightened. Seems the driver side front impact was heavier than I or the seller had realized, so there may be an issue with the strut mount and lower control arm mount that I'd like to get squared away before I remove too much strength out of the chassis. Should be done in the next couple of weeks hopefully.

Jason

[volkdent]

I purchased KW V3 coilovers for her. Did a lot of head scratching and the cost/value ratio was just too good to pass up compared to competitors.

Got the inner panels cut out of the bug, and got the whole thing ready to go onto the frame table

Unfortunately, the wheels on the frame table are not rated for enough weight, they are barely up for the weight of the table, let alone a 3000lb car. So that was a big waste of time. I'll get some better casters for the table and also I think the legs should be triangulated so they don't fold in if it hits a bump moving it from shop to shop.

Jason

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I probably could write a little how-to now, getting very close. Still have some major hurdles to overcome like moving the steering column to the right a couple of inches...

Some more motivation...

Jason

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Some candy...

Like a glove...

Jason

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Last shot of her before she goes next door to Nor Cal Sand & Off Road owned by Eric Jenkins. His forte is offroad, but he's a heck of a fabricator and I need a chassis, so that's a good mix.

Here's the last shot of her:

I had to leave 1.5" between the bottom of the body and the chassis bottom, I simply didn't have any more room at the top of the fender for the strut tops. As it is I have some grinding to do before the fenders will be low enough:

Jason

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Random build shots(boring ones for Jeff!):

Thanks to Eric at [URL="http://norcalsandandoffroad.com/"]Nor Cal Sand and Off Road[/URL] for his awesome fab skills and attention to detail!

Jason

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Jason

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Front and back are joined again.

Jason

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This would be cool!

http://www.precisionchassisworks.com/uploads/2/5/1/9/2519425/647376_orig.jpg?334

http://www.precisionchassisworks.com/uploads/2/5/1/9/2519425/8491764_orig.jpg?336

http://www.precisionchassisworks.com/index.html

Jason

[volkdent]

This turned out to be one of the largest problems I didn't even realize I would face. Turns out the steering wheel needed to be moved to the centerline by 3.25". Well, also turns out the steering column and the pedals are one unit. Also turns out the steering shaft is sitting very near the gas tank. Also, the master and accompanying booster aren't really the moving-type. SOOOO

I took a wild guess and tried a step in the right direct by just moving the whole assembly over by the distance between the 2 main mounting studs, 1.75".

The hole on the right is the new one, the other 2 are backed by some sort of aluminum casting that transmits the load right to the MC. I figured half is better than none.

Well, my decision turned out to be a good one, as the steering shaft just clears the gas tank by the width of a zip tie, the master cylinder extender arm just clears the steering column if you turn it 90 deg, and the heater/ac core just fits back in next to the assembly with less than a 1/4" to spare.

I had to hack open the hole for the steering shaft as it would have fouled now, and I have to figure out some sort of reasonably safe way of transmitting the brake pedal motion to the MC extension arm. This is what I'm most worried about, I'm taking a really well designed double-shear and perfectly centered brake pedal system and building a single shear and slightly side loaded force vector. I've got a couple of ideas, rod ends to be exact, but I will have to play it by ear and get the opinions of a couple of the engineer types on GLF when I get that far.

Jason

[volkdent]

My first plan included using a male heim, but I just couldn't let myself feel comfortable with that in a single shear load. I'm not worried anymore, the pedal will break before this thing does.

This is my friend Michael who has done the beautiful lathe work. He's from the old school and can machine ANTHING! Thanks Michael!!!

[volkdent]

Roll cage nearing completion:

Not sure how "legal" the rear mounts are, but they seem stronger than a plating type so not sure why that would be a problem. I don't think this think will ever race but I try to follow FIA/NASA/SCCA rules as much as possible.

Jason

[volkdent]

Starting to put her back together. Figured I'd just start at the front and work my way back!

Notice the drivers side connection and the passengers side connection to the "bumper" bar are at different heights. The drivers side is where the impact occurred on the Boxster, so the height difference is about 3/8". I had thought about having the frame straightened here, but it was just more work/$ than it was worth as it affected a large area.

The holes filled in nicely, low so I can fill. The whole front apron has been tweaked so I was just looking for a seal and a low surface.

Jason

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Rad arrived. I might have overdone it, this thing is heavy and a bit bigger than I wanted, but I think bigger is better if a turbo is on the horizon.

Jason

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This is the closest example of the color combo I'll have when I'm done, except in satin not gloss:

Jason

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Getting the radiator to fit has been a challenge. Working out airflow through the hood.

Walkaround

Jason