Kelse92's K24 Nasa Time Trial Build

[Kelse92]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

meanwhile some of us sit as low as we physically can and are still mashed into the roof... while our wives have the seat all the way up just to see over the dash at all

LOL
I'm thankful my other half and I are about the same height so we usually both fit, but he'll still complain it's not low enough hah

[Kelse92]

I have been slowly picking away at little pieces of this project here and there the last couple of months.

A stupidly cheap salvage-titled Cayman that had recently also gotten badly hail damaged popped-up on Marketplace and was too good of a deal to pass-up... Soo that car has taken up a lot of time and been a distraction from this project while it got the full track-car treatment. (It looks good in photos, but don't get too close there's dents Everywhere lol)



But that car is pretty-much ready to go now, sooo back to this project.

And the Biggest item to update is, the engine is IN!



There's still a decent ways to go, but this is a nice feeling. I need to wrap up the rest of the things in the engine bay next and then it's back to the interior. Even if it's not track ready I'd like to try to get the car running and tuned sooner rather than later.

I have seen some comments on other K-Swaps about the header clearance and heat on the main wiring harness, so when routing along the firewall I spent a little extra time adding some additional heat sleeving.
The Orange wrap is called Fire Flex: https://www.prowireusa.com/techflex-fire-flex-wrap



The biggest item I waffled on for a while that held up some of the engine installation was the transmission.

I had a brand new Money Shift Racing hydraulic throw out bearing sitting in a box that I got from the prior owner when I bought the car. He had never installed it. It simply is a billet machined adapter with what appears to be a Tilton bearing. Thing that gave me pause however was that not many of these kits look like they had been sold, these can't really be ordered anymore that I can find, and there aren't really many reviews out there on them. The reviews I could find were mixed... So it is a bit of a gamble maybe, but I'm willing to try it out. I have a Verus fork and a regular bearing on standby if-needed. But I figure, why let the new parts waste away?





In other smaller projects, the car previously had a small battery fire. It melted the hood and the cowl a bit.
The hood with some sanding on the paint damage and the new wrap hides it very well. And the cowl had been repaired, but still wasn't ideal, so I went ahead and replaced that.



I also spent some time repurposing the passenger seat mount into a base for my Coolshirt. I left some extra space in the event I want to or need to add some small ballast weight plates to it as well, and tried to make the most minimal amount of holes to be able to still also still have a seat mounted back to it if I want.



And the final good news was now that the engine is in, I could test the hood vent clearance. It is tight, but spacing works better than I could have expected and I only had to do a minor pull of the very top center vent to not make contact with the valve cover. A little foam trim underneath and all should be good to go.

[autoracer86]

How are you finding the cayman compared to the GT86 ? I have always wanted a 987.2 PDK cayman myself

[Kelse92]

Originally Posted by autoracer86

How are you finding the cayman compared to the GT86 ? I have always wanted a 987.2 PDK cayman myself

The Cayman is a really fun and enjoyable car to drive!
The one we got is a 2011 Base model with the 2.9L motor.
It definitely though has pros & cons vs the 86.

Pros:
- It's a Porsche. The interior fit and finish is really nice.
- More power (approx 235whp from the 2.9)
-Fairly lightweight around 3,000lbs
- The 987.2’s have a basically bulletproof motor
- It is a great combo for a daily that can go to the track and even with hail dents a Valet driver will park it up front next to the Ferrari at a nice restaurant lol

Cons:
- Open Differential - this one has been big for me. I never realized how good even just having the stock torsen is in the 86 vs the Cayman. For track use an aftermarket differential seems like a must-have.
- Cost of service/repairs - we own a Porsche Independent repair shop, but even still the P-Tax on parts is real
- Older than an 86 so some tech features are missing/outdated (could be a pro for the analog fans)
- Gearing is Longgg, this could also be a pro. The shift points on my local tracks are a lot different in the Cayman than the 86. A lot less shifting on the tracks in the Cayman. A PDK would have less issue with this but the PDK is the first-ever variant of one and could use some additional cooling for track use.


Even still, if I had to choose to only own one to daily and drive on track, the 987.2 Cayman is a lot of car for the money. 25-30k gets a nice example of a Base model car and only some modifications away from track duty. For me they both serve different purposes.
I love the 86 because it’s inexpensive and purpose built. Worst-case scenario I need a new 86 chassis/tub to swap everything over to or repair damage (which is inevitable at the track) it’s a LOT cheaper. But for casual fun in a car that doesn’t need to the trailered everywhere, the Cayman checks all those boxes too.

[autoracer86]

Thanks for the write up. None of what you said surprises me. I am not sure I have heard much negatives about the 987.2 Cayman.

Maybe one day I will make the jump. I was close a few times but landed on the gt86 in the end.

Thanks again