924Board.org

[Han Solo]

Due to SCCA classing, I'm inclined to trade this '87 924S for a '80-'83 924 NA. I'm putting out feelers on this thread...

http://www.924board.org/viewtopic.php?p=382076#382076

I've done a couple more improvements to this one, specifically 16" Boxster 1 wheels with new Hankook RS-3. I'll get some revised exterior and interior shots on both threads.

But then maybe not... see below
_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

A couple of developments on this car. Two weeks ago I got the R-134 adapter and was able to get the AC working. That was huge and made this 924S quite comfortable to drive. Except for the rattling under the floor board at idle. I was concerned that might have been torque tube bearings but I went under and listened to the cat. Sure enough the material inside the cat is rattling around. The cat is an aftermarket shorty with the label CATCO. A couple of nights ago I decided to pull the pipe and muffler post-cat and try to get that loose material out. This car is registered as antique so no emissions checks. Of course the three nuts and bolts on the flange were rusted solid so I had to grind off and drill those out. After wrestling the rubber hangers under the rear bumper off, I dropped the pipe, muffler and tail pipe (all aftermarket). Then I'm looking up the short pipe post-cat and seeing this white honeycomb material inside the cat all busted up. So in with a threaded rod and a lot of jabbing. Then start the car up and blow stuff out. I did that about six times until I'm down to one lump just slightly bigger than the pipe. One last start and I hear the lump wedge, constrict exhaust and then... POW! it blows out louder than a shotgun! Now the exhaust is unrestricted and flowing really well. And reving the car gets me to thinking...

This '87 924S runs really well, the EFI is easy to work on, it has all the desirable suspension, 5-speed transmission, 2.5L Porsche engine, etc. The only downside is that it classes in F Prepared when you strip it down and go light weight. But rather than dealing with CIS 2.0L 924 in D Prepared, I'm going to put on my big boy pants and jump into FP

I'm developing my plans now on how to go about the build. Timeline, parts to be removed, parts to be sold or retained for my 931 restoration. Performance parts to be purchased or fabricated. I'd like to have this car ready for SCCA autocross for the 2018 season. I want it to be super light weight. HP isn't that important but suspension and handling is. Fiberglass body panels front and rear fenders. Lexan windshield and replace rear hatch glass. Aluminum race wheels. GOOD shocks, struts and springs. Fuel cell for sure.

I'm going to drive it in stock form this summer and fall. Maybe a couple of regional autocrosses in stock class. Then this winter I'll start disassembling the car and storing or selling parts. AC system, wiper assembly, headlight assembles, door cards, side windows, rear seats, interior panels, dash, etc. All that will be coming off.

Stay tuned gentlemen
_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

So it's all in for this 924S F Prepared build. An interesting development last weekend though. I drove this car over to the 944 Orphanage to get some used parts and Todd discovered that it has a 2.7L engine transplant. I wrote about that here...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-924-944-968-technical-forum/926416-2-7l-924s-dme-questions.html

I'm pleased with that discovery and I picked up some good parts. A 27mm front sway bar, a 17 mm rear sway bar with brackets and drop links, a 951 radiator and fan shroud and some 944S fuel injectors.

During the last week I spoke to a very knowledgeable source who said going to a 3 bar fuel pressure regulator and larger injectors is not that great an idea - it will just make the car run rich. He recommend simply having the stock injectors cleaned and flow matched which I've done before and it does make a difference. I'll also get a 24-pin DME chip made with the future performance mods added to the mapping (exhaust, light weight flywheel, etc.) specifically for the 2.7L engine.

Today I installed the rear sway bar, switched the front bar to the 27 mm, put on some rear Koni shocks that were on my 931, lowered the trailing arms and put on the 15" spider web wheels with Hancook RS-3. I also pulled of the rear bumper and hardware. I'll probably pull the front bumper also after road testing the new suspension.








_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

Catching up on some photos as I strip this car for autocross. Today I removed the front header piece, headlight assembly, windshield washer tank, front facia and grill, AC condenser, dryer receiver and AC hoses. Tomorrow I'll meet another Pelicanite to purchase some fiberglass parts. I'll have some days off this week and should be able to continue striping the interior.










_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

I picked up fiberglass header panel and rear bumper parts yesterday. Installation was painless with the seller having already made brackets for the rear bumper. He had also done some modifications to the ends to fit 944 so those are protruding a bit on this 924S. However, the plan is to either fir fender flairs or 944 rear fenders so I'll see how that works out at that time. I also removed the AC compressor and installed a factory AC delete bracket. I'll need to get the shorter belt. And finally, I did confirm that this car has the original DME 944-618-121-04 which is important when ordering the performance chip.










_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

This was a nice little modification. Took out the OEM radiator, checked the thermostat (super easy without the radiator), straightened out the brackets, made a few cuts and the bent the brackets to accept the taller radiator. Then I cut some sheet metal to make some gussets and welded those on. The brackets still were pushing out so I found some 1/2" square tube and welded a cross member. Added a couple of small blocks of rubber for the bottom and the 951 radiator fits very snugly.






_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

Moved from the engine cooling to the interior and stripped most of the carpet, under-layment and sound deadening material. That under-layment is nasty stuff and the glue Porsche used is really troublesome. I'll have to spend a lot of time with Goof-Off wiping that stuff up. I'm glad I did the floor pans as there's some corrosion. Noted that the front pan appears to be two layers. After I get a the glue gone, I'll wire brush, marine clean, metal prep and then POR 15 the whole pan.

Then the lovely wife ordered some Koni inserts for the front struts as an anniversary gift. The inserts that were in the struts - completely shot. This probably the fourth Porsche I've done this to and it's always a huge improvement.








_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

Last week or so I've been moving forward on the race car interior. I probably spent 5 or 6 hours trying to get all the sound deadening and glue off the floor pans. Goof Off got the vast majority and there was actually less corrosion than I initially thought. So I just over-painted the pans with Rustoleum and done. Later, when I get a race instrument cluster going, I'll strip the tunnel hump and paint that but this will work for now. I also pulled the race seats and harnesses out of the 914 and transferred the seat sliders. Those seats have 14" spacing on the mounts so I fabricated some adapter bars out of 1.5" x 1/4" flat iron to the 16" spacing in the 924S. I like using hex head caps screws on all those seat mounts due to the tight quarters. I'm expecting the new 3" exhaust and race headers delivery so I dropped all the original exhaust. That process was mostly trouble free except for the bolts joining the collectors to the headers being really corroded. I figured out that if I drove a socket onto the nut (sometimes one size smaller) and then just twisted the bolt in two, then I could drive the remains out with a punch. I was surprised the nuts on the header to block studs came loose easily but I had been soaking those in PB Blaster for several weeks.










_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

Last two evenings has been very productive. Monday night I installed the 3" exhaust and MSD headers. That went fairly well except the connection from the collector to the first pipe segment. The top bolt near the O2 sensor was a real pain. However, once everything was bolted and tightened, the difference is remarkable! Much better tone and definitely more throttle responsive. I also ordered a silicon vacuum hose kit but haven't gotten to that yet. Then yesterday I took delivery from GT Racing on the fiberglass bumper and spoiler. The bumper came with fiberglass "brackets" but I would have had to utilize the OEM shocks for those. Much too heavy. So I attached the top of the bumper to the previously installed fiberglass header. Then I looked at the spoiler fitment under the bumper. That scoop was too deep so I cut off 1 1/2" which put the back of the scoop flush with the front of the radiator. I attached the sides of the scoop to four screw fittings on the OEM bracket. I'm not completely satisfied with the resulting look and will contact GT Racing today to discuss.








_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

So the last couple of weeks have been troublesome on this project. Three weeks ago I attempted to run the car at a smaller autocross site. I thought everything was fairly sorted but... the spoiler was too low for my trailer ramp and I had to remove that on-site. Then, as I was pulling up to the start for my 1st run, massive coolant leak. Limped back to paddock and discovered the bottom coolant hose had been cut by the radiator fan. So I was out for that event.

When I got the car to my garage I replaced the hose with another. Note that the lengths change when you install the 951 radiator because that's lower. So with that sorted I started refilling with coolant and bleeding. I'm having a really hard time getting the air bubbles out and it just doesn't seem to be circulating coolant well at all. The fans aren't kicking on either. Crap...

So I came to the conclusion that the either the water pump isn't circulating or the thermostat isn't opening (or both). I ordered a new pump and last Friday evening jumped under the car to install. Those of you who've done this job know that all the belts must come off and the rear timing belt cover. The balance belt rollers have to come off to get that cover off. Well the retaining bolt on those are super tight and I can't get leverage to get those loose. I was able to remove the water pump from under the cover that night but it was brutal.

Next morning I actually installed the water pump but was unable to tighten the bottom bolt with that cover in the way. So I'm off to borrow a tool for the rollers from 944 Orphanage and get a few other bits and pieces. When I got back I found that by dropping the radiator I'm able to get an impact wrench on the roller bolts while holding the roller with the special spanner. What a pain! With that done, cover back on, belts on, timing checked and rechecked, front cover on, more belts, radiator back in, hoses back on and re-install the air box... I'm refilling with coolant again. Start the car up to operating temp and start bleeding air. There's a noticeable difference in coolant pressure. Then the fans kick in at exactly the right time! BAM! Note that I also installed a good Mayle thermostat with the gasket (that was missing). Time to complete that process - 7 to 8 hours.

So with just enough time left last Saturday, I'm able to load the car for an autocross the next day. This is a bigger event with a much faster course and a great chance to evaluate power to weight and suspension. The first and second runs I'm off throttle a bit because of noise restrictions on that site (I'd crammed a bit of a corkscrew in the tail pipe left over from the 914). The car feels pretty light and responds to throttle well. But on my third run, the clutch feels really soft and I aborted about half way through course. During the lunch break I take the car round the paddock area checking the clutch and I guess it's okay. Second heat and I'm back on course after topping off coolant a little. Now I'm into the throttle and getting better times. However, as I'm pulling out of grid for my last run - the exhaust hangers fail and the pipe and muffler are dragging. Thank goodness that didn't happen on course!

So I'm mostly pleased with the progress so far and the direction the build is going. The car needs more tire for better grip and less weight. The aluminum wheels will improve throttle response even more. Next up will be installing the fiberglass front fenders. I'm not sure if I'll participate in the season closer events next month or not. Stay tuned!


_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

Pulling fenders can be fun! Well, maybe not fun but interesting.

Yesterday evening I got the time to pull the right front and test fit the fiberglass replacement. There's six or eight body screws along the hood channel, two besides the radiator and three more buried under seam sealer inside the rear of the fender well. Once all those were out I started at the front of the fender well heating the seam sealer with a heat gun. Digging that out working towards the rear. When about 12" of the seam was cleared, I started pulling up on the nose of the fender and it slowly pulled free of the remaining sealer. You can see some corrosion near the door so I'll clean that up with a wire brush and prime. The GT Racing fender appears to be a good fit with small dimples were the screw holes need to be drilled.







_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

Now things are starting to come together... really. Saturday I stripped off the drivers side front fender. That one had some old damage with cracking body filler near the side marker. I removed the charcoal canister also. Not really knowing what to do with the vapor line connecting to it - I just left that open. Fitment on the fiberglass fender actually went well because I discovered there's a bottom tab for the body screw that had rusted off on the passenger side. That attachment point really determines the amount of bow in the fender so it's critical to matching body contour. So I revisited the passenger side and fabricated a replacement tab for that bottom screw. Now moving on to the spoiler which mates up to the front of the fenders. Both fender and spoiler have a lip to match one another so fitment there is easy. Clamp those together, drill two holes each side and fix with 6 mm bolts. That reveals that my earlier attempt to mount the spoiler was wrong. In fact, I didn't need to trim the tunnel. I did get one screw on each side of the tunnel to really fix position. I'll have to fill the earlier four holes, no worries. The header and bumper were a little troublesome. I did have to shave off some of the cut-out for the bumper on both fenders to get fitment. And I discovered that if I removed the end bolts on the spoiler, it rotates down a bit to give room to slide in the bumper. With all that together and screwed down, it's not bad, I've got a bit of a gap between the drivers fender and the header but I might be able to close that up with some tweeks to the inner fender bulkhead.














_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

More progress to report and an autocross yesterday.

I was able to get better alignment on the fiberglass header and front bumper by adjusting the body nuts over the radiator and front bulkhead. Actually, I welded some tabs of sheet metal on the bulkhead attachment to move those screw hole about 1/2". So that was looking much better. Then I made a trip to 944 Orphanage to get two 15" x 7" phone dial wheels to go with the two that came with this car. That enabled me to mount the four 245 x 15 Hoosier A7 tires from the 914 race car. I also picked up a MSDS cone filter adapter and ordered a fresh K&N 3" x 6" cone filter which arrived in a couple days. Then I received a performance chip from Lindsey Racing and installed that. The cone filter needed a support bracket which I fabricated out of 1.5" x 1/4" flat iron and attached to the AC delete bracket (pictures of that soon).

The next step was to figure out how to load and secure this car with all the fiberglass on the front. It just fits in my 7.5' x 14' enclosed trailer and it's really tight in the nose. I found some shackle links at Tractor Supply and welded those to the car frame just behind the front wheel well. That keeps the front straps low and out of the fiberglass (I add some photos of that also).

So yesterday I took the car to a local autocross for mainly testing and tuning. It did really well probably only slower than a Cobra. The 245 Hoosiers were gripping really well after getting some heat. I do believe that the clutch is failing though and you can probably tell that from the video. No smell yet but it's reving up without spinning the tires. I suspected I'd need to replace the clutch and I'll be researching options today. However, I'm very pleased with the progress this car is making.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn8qHOwtMzk








_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

So I started in on the drivers side rear flare. First I made a cut along the 1" mark keeping shallow to avoid cutting the inner liner. Then I cut along the folded edge of the wheel arch cutting through both layers of metal. That made the inner layer over-lap the outer skin. Note in the photos how much seam sealer there is toward the bottom of the wheel arch. Along the front lower edge the two layers are against one another so I trimmed that even and I'll just join those together with weld. With the advise from others I decided to increase the arch for extra tire clearance so I compressed the suspension with a floor jack and made the arch 16.5" from the center of the hub with a tape measure. Cut that extra out on the outer and inner metal. Then I marked cuts every 2" on the inner liner and made those to get the that metal to fold into the outer skin. I also wire brushed the paint off along the outer skin and removed the undercoating and paint off the inner liner. All that went fairly well, bending the inner liner against the outer skin and then tack welding. Once tacked, I came back to each tab and ran a bead. Note that you can't really run a bead on that sheet metal as it will get too hot and burn through. I use a flux core wire welder, lay down a small puddle, let off for a couple seconds and then lay down another small puddle. It doesn't look pretty but the grinder fixes everything. As I was wrapping up for the evening I found that the drain tube from the roof hatch was disconnected at a splice on the B pillar and water had been running down the inner liner and collecting at the rear of the wheel well. some surface corrosion there but not too bad.














_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html

[Han Solo]

I finished the welding on the driver side rear fender well several nights ago and discovered that if one tries to make that look pretty with the grinder - the two layers are going to separate. Or in other words, don't grind all the welds off. So I had to go back over that side. So when I began on the passenger side this morning, it went quicker because I went ahead and did the higher arch. Same procedure, cut just the outer layer along the arch and then cut both layers along the OEM arch. I made the same slices every 2" but used a slightly different technique bending those out. I pulled the inner to the outer with pliers, tacked and then used the hammer to close the gap. It really helps to get that inner sheet metal hot before hammering. Note that you have to get under the wheel well and bridge weld those gaps left in the splits (see photo). I guess you could use seam sealer or body filler from the inside but it's pretty close quarters in there. When I used the grinder I left more of the bead and then finished that up with a flapper wheel. It's got less than a 1/4" ridge but nobody should notice under the flare anyway. Also note that I made a diagonal line from the lower front to the bottom of the the rocker on both sides as the flare has a bit of contour on the lower front corner.












_________________
-----HAIRY ANT NEST RACING-----
Collecting, racing and restoring Porsches for fun and negative cash flow.
-----Epic 914 race car build----- http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/767721-yet-another-rescue-porsche.html