GAS prices Will be reasonable by the time this project is done!  See below

JUNE 9, 2009- forward

SWAY BARS DONE

The rear sway bars required a tiny bit of engineering. The mounts are the type that rotate and roll in place. The issue was how to make the bolt that mounts the bar so that it won't interfere with the ball in joint bushing itself. My solution was pretty simple. See below the first picture... you see how I slightly modified the nut so that it will clear the eyelet when it moves back and forth. The second picture show clearly how the assembled bolt finally looked. It did the trick, and was pretty simple. The best engineering solutions usually are.

The front roll bar was a fairly simple install. NO modifications necessary. The front bushings are in decent shape, so I may change them at a later date. Even still the install was somewhat complicated since you have to loosely start all the bolts and then tighten after all of them are in.

FRONT OIL COOLER PLUMBED, MOUNTED.




 FRONT OIL COOLER IS MOUNTED, REAR OIL TANK TO BE MOUNTED SHORTLY.

I had to modify the way the lines that go to this front cooler. In order to fully mount this cooler I will need to remove the front bumper bodywork so I can access the mount plates and get it bolted in. The reason I did it without taking it off first (plumbed and fitted it) is because I wanted to be sure it would fit into place with the bodywork where it will be. Once i mark the top holes... I'll remove the front bumper cover and mount the cooler.

It's going to work very well from all appearances.
The proof will be in the first drive. We'll see if it leaks anywhere.

070709 - I am pretty deflated today after seeing just how far I have to go still. It's a tough part of a project.
I feel like my big red balloon just floated away...

Nice 'New' looking motor.

"

ROLL BAR BLING!  Yellow or Red. (I think red)

Left to right... What I though I was getting... Which is the same shape yes... but look carefully... the yellow one is my new roll bar. It's FATTER, MEANER and way more cool than I ever had anticipated. Another gift to the project that you just never see coming. I scored this puppy on Pelican. It's going to look awesome in the interior of my custom ride> Tomorrow I am meeting with the interior specialists that will make a deal with me to re-do the seats and a few key parts interior wise - and all I have to do is build a killer web presence for them!

Look for that to be up in a few weeks. It looks like I am still on track for a fire up part on the 7th!

Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll do my best to get the rest of the prep work done.
Still to do before I can fire up the engine:

1. Finish the essential system for wiring in the motor such as - guages, MSD ignition, Fuel Pump, and a bunch of other things, but mostly just key systems.

2. Fuel system. Need to get 11mm 'Nylon 11' for the front to back and get it all plumbed. I have all the fittings, just need a few other little fittings here and there on on the engine.

3. Oil system. I need to finish the front oil cooler (plumb it together into the oil lines. Mount it securely in the opening on the front air dam.

Lots of work to do... but making progress...
 

MAIN Electrical Harness is IN! Thank Heaven.

It took 3 major tries and lots of tugging and grease... but it finally went through the tunnel, and it's in. Now I'll need to decode this electrical diagram, but TIM (my new best friend) has shown me the ropes and now I have a few more days to get the wires to the right places (at least those needed to start the engine, and we'll see.
There is still a ton of work to be done before the 7th. I don't know if I can make that deadline. We'll see.

ADJUSTMENTS TO TORSION BAR/ SPRING PLATES. 26.5 deg is target.

TORSION BARS:

I can see the difference, can you?

LEFT TO RIGHT: 23mm, 24.1mm, and the ones going in the car: 26mm.

HERE is a great spring rate calculator

Tasks: Cleaning up swing arms, finishing brake line install (DONE) and replacing torsion bars with 26mm Turbo Stock. Turns out the ones in the car were 23mm (first pair in above picture) which would have been very soft.

The second set above is the pair I took out of the project's wreck (1980 SC) and they are 24.1 mm.
With the 26mm Torsion bars arriving tomorrow, I'll be able to re-install and button up the rear end and do final preset for the suspension.

Stripping paint off and prepping for paint...

Fuchs with newly painted caps look fresh.

Here we have a minor issue... the clip that held the little white grommet (right picture) had popped off. Instead of getting a new clip which may just pop off again, I decided to make a more permanent solution. Use a small hole and place a cotter pin in it so that the grommet will stay put this time. After stripping it to a fairly clean surface, I painted it satin black with epoxy - self priming paint.

Left to right: Fuch caps - ready for restoration... (will do this week) and CIS Air Sensor plate... Finally Injectors in for a swim - ULTRASONIC BATH .... "Clean as a whistle"

WOAH! - NICE REAR END...

Believe it or not all of those holes in the middle photo have a purpose, and I am about to find out what goes in each one. I have a map now... this is what I figured out:  Click HERE

"YEAH...I AM DONE WITH THE DMV, MAN!"

I get to speak with "Tim" about fuel lines, fittings and other p-car isms...
But now I am totally straight on where to connect all the fuel lines...
wait ... I better watch this a few more times... :)

BRAKES and CIS Assembly

 The brake fluid reservoir is now cleaned up and installed. I need to re-connect the rear system, plumb everything and start bleeding the system. Lots of work on the CIS remains, but MOST of the parts are there. Looks like I am missing just one fitting. I have all the rest - minus the fuel lines from the front. When you break the car down into system, it actually becomes rather simple. If you look at it as ONE HUGE project, you get confused, overwhelmed and frustrated. I am thinking maybe the same applies to other things in life.

MORE WORK ON ENGINE AHEAD!

CIS REASSEMBLY 90% COMPLETED - The wiring harness on the motor was a breeze. I still cannot believe the condition of the wiring that came out of the wreck. It is in almost new condition, no breaks, no hardness in the wraps, or insulation for the wires. Even the infamous 'green wire' for the distributor is perfect. Sweet...

MORE TO COME...

The Checklist: This is what I need to finish before I can drive it!

The car will take over another 6 months to be perfect and have all the things done to it that I want to do, but there is a minimum set of things that need to be done before I can simply fire up engine and have it be safe to drive.

This is my short list of items that I can be sure I need to finish before that can happen.
 

MORE RECENT PHOTOS:

FUCHS FINALLY ARRIVE: Thanks John Mercurio of Wheel Techniques!

 

Refinished Bilsteins (Green) tonight...

Turbo Tie Rods... installed, cross drilled rotors, front and rear brakes being refinished today. More pictures soon.

JUNE 9th and previous:

RECENT PHOTOS:  MOTOR IS COMING BACK OUT

PAUSE!! CHECK THIS OUT: RADICAL CAR VIDEO!
 

Next up: Mounting hardware for various underdash / trunk thingys.

It's Official:

The DMV issued the papers. My Porsche just needs to be put together, and I can go drive it. YEA!
Should be about two months if I am lucky. Most of the equipment that I need is ready to be put on the car. The experience at the DMV today was unreal. It took 5 min tops to get to a agent window, and then 5 min to get my new sticker, and license plates. It was one of those days I know I should have bought a lotto ticket or visited the casino. It was not a very usual day, but I am not complaining. Wow... I am very happy about it.

Update:

My headline will have to wait till I iron out some last detail related to the quarter windows. I had planned to have solid windows, but just happened to come across some very nice pop-out windows, and got them for a steal. I knew that it was a great thing to add to the car. Unfortunately, or actually fortunately it meant that I had to sort out he b-pillars, and the mounts for the windows.

The windows are swinging a bit low, so the angle on the b-pillars is slightly off. I'll be finishing that

The only thing left is to make the adjustments to the pillars (slightly off angle) and then create a new support (with tapped holes) for the driver's side inside mount. Detailed pics to follow.

Other new parts... Got both switches for wipers and blinkers... and ignition, and we can re-key
the door locks, and the glove box. Along with the keyworks,
I also got front and rear sway bars, and front windshield, and rear view mirror.

Also got the tranny bar that runs from the shifter to the tranny mount, with all the mounts and hardware.

More soon...

Headliner is going in soon! This is a test fit, but glue is on the menu!

With the wiring for the sunroof motor and dome lights run, I have no further need to keep looking at a boring inside roof any longer. I have never done a headliner, but I aint gettin' any younger, and certainly feel up to the challenge. Its going to turn out fine. If I take my time and use a ton of patience and methodical skill, it can't turn out all that bad. I have read up on all the tips and tricks posted by other brave souls on Pelican Part's technical forum. I think I have already done more difficult things this last few months. I just need to get this done. After that it's the windows... and interior details. I will post whatever is worth looking at for the next few days.

Passenger side Door Panel done...
Door Panels are tricky. I had to install the windows and window regulators.
The strap below is used to activate the door lock release.
The window regulators need to be properly greased but they work.
I placed a 12v battery on the motor to see if it works, and it does.

Next task is to finish the other interior panel, and prepare the dash for install.

So far everything works as expected.

Window Frames - Removed, reconditioned and remounted:
 

The tricky thing about window frames is the angle they are mounted at.
The way the door frame strikes the door jam along the top edge is difficult to line up.
It's a tight fit. If the angle is off slightly the door frame may actually damage the upper edge of the door jam.
When done right however, they look pretty good.

WELDING THE B-Pillars. No problem.

Safety first!! (Welding the b-pillar mounts...)

A little engineering project:

1. I need two mounts for the upper b-pillar mount points for the seat belts. The lower mounts are good. It's tricky. The bolts need to be this type (to the right there>>)

I have a few different options here:

1. Tap a new hole (and mount with timeserts) on each side on the b-pillars
(shown on the left, as an example (obviously not my car) it's mounted here at about 5 " above the bottom of the glass, on the b-pillar.

2. Weld in some nuts that will accept a 12mm Extra Fine Pitch (1.25) bolt. the only problem is... the bolts that I can get through the local Ace Hardware, while the right mm and thread pitch, do not come with a 'shoulder' like the ones pictured above. Note: the reason you need the shoulder on those bolts is because the bolt need to be SUPER tight, but you also need the belt hardware to rotate freely, so in case of a sudden stop the belts can adjust to match the angle of force, thereby keeping the belt at maximum benefit to the occupant. (me).

Here is what I came up with. It's hard to appreciate the work that went into this... so I will explain briefly: First I took normal 12mm x 1.25 bolt about 25mm in length and shaved down the shoulder area, so the threading was no longer as wide. this was done so that the spacer shown below could be added later and the diameter would match the inside of the seat harness hole. Then I carefully cut the spacer at an angle so I could press it over the threading, with some oil - as to keep the threads nice. Lastly I squeezed it back together some, so that it would fit into the seat harness.

Needless to say I think it worked: Check it out:
The reason I am using the nuts that look like wheel stud nuts is because they provide the maximum number of threads. The comparable normal nut is almost less than 50% of the threads. This will provide a SUPER solid upper mount when the nuts are welded into place on the b-pillar, later this week. That should complete the needed installs prior to doing the headliner. I'll keep you posted!

(the split cylinder was used to coax the 1/4 inch spacers
over the threading and seat them in place)

SEATS (need work), ENGINE COMP PAD, NEW REAR PANELS!

Fitting the pipes:  Watch video

Sweet Sunday!
Motor almost there...

 The RSR muffler looks like it is just going to be perfect. It's sitting flush with the bottom of the bumper, and we are about 2" short of mounting up the motor. The bolts are already touching the main mounts, but they are not going any closer till I figure out how to cut some half circles in the bumper, so the pipe sit perfectly flush.

The next thing to do is get a 2.75" hole saw and get to it. I am a little afraid of damaging the paint. I will have to be very careful, and easy does it while cutting. If I take it really slow, it should be ok. Wish me luck.... :)

Saturday 04/04/09 "Baseball and brand new motors..." what summers are made for...

After this weekend we'll be able to see how the car site ride height wise. I'll need to index the rear torsion bars so they are giving the rear tires enough room to breath. I anticipate it will be close. But a lot will be revealed through this process. In a few weeks Tom Amon will finish up the motor. I am going down next week to his shop to take nice pictures of the car he is currently building up to sell. He is helping me a lot with this car... and it shows. He is the reason I know this project will succeed.

This motor isn't even done, and it looks smokin' hot.

Friday 04/03/09 "Brand Spanking new" RSR Muffler
Roars into the project ...

As I tack the car together this weekend, and with this new addition to the project, I won't be wasting my time while I set the motor in place. (lot of pictures will ensue...) The rear bumper fiber glass does need to be trimmed where these pea shooter pipes need to stick out. By mounting the motor I will be killing at least three birds with one stone... as it were. First... I can get the DMV (via the Peace officer verification - that this IS indeed a car ...) Second... I can make the correct slots on the rear bodywork in the right exact place... and Third - I can see quickly where the car sits (height) and be able to better index the swing arms.... and be able to get a list together of things that the motor and other things are missing.

Yea, it's gonna rock!

Wednesday 04/01/09 Headliner going in ...

My pictures soon... Instructions: Sunroof Repair (and Headliner)

01/17/09 - 01/19/09 - Added Mirrors, detailing interior. Painting all NON-Yellow surfaces rust-o-leum semigloss black. Starting to look pretty killer.

More Photos Soon.

01/14/09 New subject: Velocity Yellow,
an inspirational color.

Plates for the car? Sound it out... V-loss-e - T. = VELOCITY.
The color of the car is Velocity Yellow. Appropriate don't you agree?

DEFINE VELOCITY: Rapidity of motion or operation; swiftness; speed.