Thanks kenikh, appreciate it. Getting a lathe was a promise to myself that I made when I left the company I was an apprentice with, as I lost access to a full-on machine shop. I was affectionately known as "Homer"....despite working in a different division with absolutely zero reason to be in that model shop, most lunchtimes I could wander in and crack on making stuff....as long as I didn't take the mick and start using fresh metal stock to make my items; the usual politeness rules apply.

So...as you've probably read, just over a year ago I had the justification I needed, and found a really nice shop selling this type of machinery, a couple of brothers running the family business. Free cup of tea, some weapons grade rib digging and a chuckle, and they somehow manage to offload a tonne of stuff onto me each time! I do wonder how I ever lived without both the lathe and a drill with this level of solidity. Once the engines back in the car, I may be tempted to look at filling the void with a mill.... ;)

Not too much happening this evening - just a quick bit of machining for the clearance slots needed to accommodate the ABS sensors on the front hubs.

In case anyone's not familiar with them, this is what they look like; similar to modern hall effect units but a little more complex with their magnetic pickup.

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So, to accommodate and also allow for any twisting action that may be needed in future, a rather generous slot (20mm wide) is now in each top-hat.

In addition, so that they can be correctly located in relation to the sensor (i.e. centrally) I quickly mounted each into the lathe and used a tool to scribe an indexing mark onto the OD.

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Popping into Simon @ Sileck on the way home from a business trip the other day, we played about with the switch unit for TC and Boost control. It looks like it's all going to go together very nicely; retain the white plastic tubular housing, plus the ferrule that interfaces the knob to the switch itself, but remove the electric contacts and the triple plunge springs.

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This is just an old switch Simon lent me for mocking up, but the one's we're using are dimensionally the same, dual-gang units. Next job is to make a couple of collars that mount the body of the switch centrally to the plastic tube. The real switches will sit lower down, this just happens to have an uncut spindle. Will need to either bond of grub-screw the ferrule to the spindle, as it's a snug but not a tight fit at present.

We also found that we can have two LEDs to indicate the boost level and TC if it's disabled. Next to the printed legend of the 4WD pictogram, there's a warning light window, separated from the rest of the backlighting aperture. An LED in there will warn of the TC switch is set to "0". As mentioned previously, the LED sitting between the 2 x switches will be for boost; off for lowest setting, maybe orange for mid-range and red for max boost.

No more progress today in terms of building or making stuff, but I do have a load more parts:

The plated and anodised parts for the gearbox, speed sensor mounts, the M14x1.5 blanking plug for the chimney cover and some rear bumper fixings --->

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And this weeks order from Porsche Tonbridge. TurboKraft Chris, as usual, has been very helpful with some offline guidance and my bouncing around of random thoughts. Way back at the beginning of this project, you may remember I decided to order from Chris a new flywheel and clutch setup, replacing the stock dual mass flywheel for a 964RS single mass item. Apart from the 60-2 teeth configuration for the timing, it brings a massive rotational mass saving. In conjunction with this is a 997GT2-RS Sachs Competition clutch assembly - probably going to be heavy as hell to actuate, but some gym workouts will sort that (!) and I'm comfortable in the knowledge that we've spec'd this adequately for the torque we should be delivering.

After reading the discussion on clutch release arms on RobT's excellent (and popular) 964 rebuild thread over on Rennlist, then consulting Chris, I've taken his advice and gone the same route and replacing my setup as well, for a few reasons:

a) Mine was the same p/n as Robs (950 116 712 30), with the shorter fork contact patches but instead had the later plastic bushes, not the soft metal type that start/finish flush with the steel arm. Somebody's played with this previously and installed a new bush kit, perhaps?

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b) There was wear on the contact patches -->

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c) Porsche looked to have superseded my unit at least twice in the interim, and now supply a 997 xxx xxx part...there's probably good reason why this has been done.

c) Along with the LWFW and super-duper clutch setup, "in for a penny, in for a pound"...

...and to that end, I'm also replacing the shaft, the seals, needle roller bearing, bush, cover, bracket and bolt - basically everything in that assembly.

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Re-visiting the reflector topic - confession time - I've cheated. I talked previously about attempting to repair the unit I already have - and that may be something I do when I have a spare few hours (?!...or it may get eBayed), but I want it looking absolutely perfect, and my fear is that being a beginner plastic welder, it may not be my neatest piece of work. I've also got to invest in a plastic welding kit, ascertain exactly the blend of plastic to use (and buy rods, if not part of the kit)....and invest the time.

Now, being midwinter, we're not a million miles away from the 2015 race season starting; I really need to be getting the engine into the car, and getting Steve @ SBD booked to come and do the first fire-up, before he starts his own race season. Spending another couple of weeks experimenting with the reflector isn't the best use of my time, so I think it's wise to cough-up and buy a new one (especially as they're now being made again, available from stock in the UK and I got a discount from OPC Tonbridge ;) )

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Some other sundry items, bumper fittings, reflector screws, etc --->

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Not going to have much time until Monday evening to tinker, so I'll update again once I've made something or bolted stuff on.

Hey Spenny, busy, busy I see :) How many hours of sleep are you getting by on now? :D

Would you mind pinging me the details of the company doing your yellow zinc passivate? Can I send them the parts 'as is' and they perform the prep?
I also need to talk to you about getting some ally welding done as I have some bracket parts for my coil packs that I will need welded.

Hey Rob, yeah not quite as productive as normal this weekend but getting the old ducks in a row for a couple of evening pushes this week ;) ....about 4-5hrs sleep a night at the moment, not the best habit to get into.

Sure, I'll send you the details of the plating company, by all means say you're a mate of mine. It always strikes me how good value it is; that little lot above was £20. Ok, so I didn't ask for the anodised parts to be to polished before they treated the parts - this would've added to the cost of course, but the resulting look with me hand finishing with Scotchbrite (red, then grey) is exactly what I want.

The parts that need BZP and then gold passivate plating do need to be prepped first; I have delivered bags of nuts and bolts as-is before, and it's been a bit hit and miss. To be fair, I've never asked them to polish the steel items - at that point it's often cheaper to buy new fixings from Porsche. Parts with only light corrosion will clean up ok in their prep tanks and come up nicely. Other parts just look a bit patchy and dull, so I now try and give them items wire brushed as clean as possible to try and ensure a decent finish.

I'll shoot you an email; lets chat about the welding....presumably this is for your "dowsing bird table"? :D

Hmmppphh...in the interests of a fair and balanced build thread, there are the odd nights where things go a bit wrong!

Last night....started off ok, made the collars for the rotary switches to mount into the white switch tubes. Spot-on fit; not sure if we'll epoxy these or try and drill/tap to retain with a small M3 or M4 screw --->

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All good so far. Part two of the machining op is to shorten the ferrule that interfaces the rotary switch spindle to the switch knob. --->

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...53CF9133C5.jpg

No problem, mount into the 3-jaw - carefully so not to crush it - easy...number 1 done --->

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Doing the second one, nipped up the chuck (what I thought was) enough, went to part it off and it grabbed and flew out, snapping the locating and locking part that goes inside the knob. Bollocks. Still p****ed off about as I type. Retrieved the snapped part and have tried Supergluing it back, not yet gone and tested to see if it's held. Potentially going to be a $58 part, binning $57's worth of it to get the bit I need.

Ok, time to change subject and install the chimney blanking plug - even that didn't go smoothly, stuff in the way, then a copper crush washer that snugged down off-centre (because of the thread undercut I had to do, as you can't cut the thread right to the head of the bolt)...ok, leave everything and call it a night.

Also heard that the powder coating company have currently got electrical issues with their incinerator, no exact outlook for fixing as it's weather dependant (its outdoors and needs a complete teardown apparently), which is now holding up the tinware and bumper brackets, in turn preventing the dummy fit of the engine into the car.

Sod it...off to read up on aquariums. Marine or tropical?....hmmm

A quick progress check-in, quite a productive day, although confess to being distracted (lazy) and watching the Daytona 24hrs.

After a much needed tidy-up in the workshop, I decided to get going on a trial fit of the engine into the chassis, so, car is now back up on the lift (this is of limited use, as the construction of the lifting mechanism prevents the engine and gearbox being bolted up and installed as a single unit).

Retrieved the engine crane from a barn I have use of, removed the intercooler and intake pipe then used the lifting bar I bought from our host to get the engine off of the stand.

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I know that to a lot of the guys here, engines coming on and off of stands is business-as-usual, happens numerous times per day - but for me, after this amount of time, it was quite a momentous occasion (and nerve wracking) to get it off the stand.

With the basket removed, I can now fit the oil filter, the starter motor ring and clutch pack as well as the tinware that runs along the back of the engine.

Can't remember how I used the ATV jack to remove the engine - it was almost 3.5yrs ago now - but this time I made a wooden cradle so that the crankcase is supported either side of the mating flanges.

A few years ago when I fitted the 964RS flywheel, for some reason I torqued up all 9 FW bolts - and I can't remember why - but I needed to remove it again. I temporarily re-used the bolts, and even though they've only been torqued but not loaded, I always intended buying another set and replacing them. These arrived in the post from my OPC on Friday morning, so tomorrows jobs are:

• Replace FW bolts
• Fit clutch assembly and align clutch plate with gearbox (rather than the alignment tool I have - they all seem to be pretty rubbish)
• Ask a favour from my Dad to help manoevre the engine through the workshop door - <1cm clearance either side.
• Install engine using the new RS motor mounts, but not with gearbox attached (will need to jack up the FW end to support it)
• Start checking loom, hoses and everything else for correct length and routing.
• Remove old bearings from gearbox (clutch release arm shaft) - need to make some kind of small pulling tool or attachment for the slide hammer
• Assemble new clutch release arm assy.

Fingers crossed I'll get the tinware back next week; I heard from the powder coating company, incinerator should have been fixed on Friday.

The next biggest job will be to (possibly) rework the AC lines; on the 964T they take a weird route around the intercooler, where the ally pipework doubles-back on itself. All seems a bit over complicated, and to clear the Carrera intake and TK intercooler, I reckon this will all have to be re-made. Simon @ Sileck, as luck would have it, also has the tools and materials to install AC systems. Need to identify a potential date where he can come over again and re-make them, but of course we need to have the engine installed to able to plan the routing.

Back tomorrow....

A little more progress during the day. Time to tinker with the flywheel and clutch.

First off, swap over the old-new (!) flywheel bolts. I don't know why it's taken me so many years to get around to making a flywheel locking bar, but it has...made one this morning and life got a whole lot simpler.

So everything was cleaned up and the new bolts installed, and another item now removed from the To-Do list.

Next, time to retrace my steps with the Sachs Racing clutch; when I received it a few (3?) years ago from Chris @ TurboKraft, I assembled the thrust bearing assembly onto the pressure plate with a single spacer shim. Now, what I can't remember is why I installed a single shim; it may have been on Chris's advice, or I may have read the workshop manual that does say for Carrera's it's 2 shims, for Turbo's it's just one. I wish my memory was better.

Revisiting this, there's nothing Turbo left of the clutch assembly; guide tube, release bearing, LW flywheel.....so, given that, I've re-installed the 2nd shim. Thank God for the hydraulic press, it made the job a breeze.....but I'm quite prepared to remove it again if I'm reminded why it needs to go back to a single shim.

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The tinware above the flywheel is now bolted in place and attached to its neighbouring tins.

Another job I thought I'd do, with the good weather outside, was to clean up the structural member of the rear bumper, before I get the plastic back after re-painting.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...1276D2769D.jpg

(clearly it's not finished yet)

I thought it'd be a quick job....

But after spending a good hour-or-so with abrasives and Scotchbrite pads, I found that the mounting brackets are quite severely cracked. Now, speaking with my pal Brian who's seen more of these than I've had hot dinners, it's a common problem rather than accident related. Heat cycling, salty water ingress, etc, all conspire to eventually crack the brackets. The non-radiused corners won't be helping either.

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Unfortunately, Brian doesn't have any good used items...and the price for a new one is $1,033 plus shipping, tax, import duty. So, this is going to be another job for Pete the welder; I'll clean it up and see what he can do. Each bracket can be removed from the main structure - they're riveted on - but it's quite a complex extrusion so making a new one is not the work of 5 minutes. A halfway-house option may be to carefully cut off the complex parts of the original bracket and re-weld them onto a new main section. Anyway, looks like I've got myself another sub-project, but better to find out now than if the structural integrity of the bumper is ever called upon...

Ok, so how about this for a fine example of customer service? It's a Sunday night, and 20 minutes after I posted the above, I get an email from Chris reminding me that it was a single shim, not two.

Another example of TurboKraft going above-and-beyond. Thanks Chris.

Simple job to remove the shim, and mind is now at ease with the assurance I did it correct the first time.

We all have no life. What's makes you think Chris is any different? ��

Awesome!!!

You deserve the best support with the effort you display. As well as the time you take to post your progress.

Greatly appreciated.

A very common problem mine were severely corroded one of my friends fabbed up some 6mm alloy plate and re-riveted











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Haha! No comment.... :D

Cheers! Really do appreciate the + feedback guys. I actually enjoy typing it up for you guys to read - it's quite cathartic in a way, a good chance to reflect on the days progress and quite often results in a few ideas popping into my head.

Thanks Gaaz, that looks a really tidy job. I can't quite see from the pic, but it looks like the part of the bracket that retains the captive square "nut" isn't there, instead I guess you just simply nut and bolt it?

I think we'll have a go at welding to start with - speaking with Chris, it appears even the ones from hot climates suffer the same fate. If it can't be welded, then nothing lost, time to drill out the rivets and get fabricating.

Cheers
S

Breaking News!!
 

Right - here we go....bombshell of the day; not a conversation I was expecting to have :eek:

Spoke with Steve @ SBD earlier this evening; time for a significant change of plan.

If you cast your mind back to the very beginning, I dyno'd the car immediately before pulling the engine, so we could baseline it. The intention being that we go back to the same dyno, known to be a no-BS and consistent set of rollers, and spend a few days mapping. About the most accurate way of getting that before and after view of the performance.

However - for reasons that we won't go into here, this isn't perhaps going to be where the engine is going to be mapped. Instead, the engine is now going to go into an engine cell for mapping.....possibly in a few weeks time!!!

I have to say, having had the first iteration of my Westfield engine mapped by Steve on an engine dyno many years ago, I was impressed. Apart from the accuracy of not having to consider atmospherics, the repeatability or calculate drivetrain losses, it's a hell of a lot easier to fix or adjust anything, especially in a 911. If there are any hiccups, then we're not into "pulling the engine out" territory. So, engine dyno'ing was something I've been pondering for a few years, but never progressed as I was fairly comfortable with Plan A. Actually, I'm extremely excited at the prospect of Plan B.

What I don't yet know are a few things:

• Whether the company we're looking to use have engine mount rigs for an air-cooled 6
• What oil feed and cooling provisions they have
• How they feed the intercooler with cold air

I'm sure they have all of this covered off, perhaps with the exception of the engine mountings, but I'll contact them directly and investigate.

Cost is a little more per day, but we'll probably recover that by virtue of not haemorrhaging time with trying to sort niggles. It also means that we can run the engine in on the dyno easier, and change the running-in oil and filter far quicker.

So....the plan to install the engine and gearbox into the car is now not the way forward. I'll need to quickly make an air intake pipe to mount onto the turbo inlet, something resembling the final design perhaps (although I guess it's not that important?). I'll have to fabricate the final design once the engine is in the car, as it looks as though it'll have to navigate quite a tight path near the LH engine mount.

It also mean (face/palm time) that I'm going to have to extract the chassis half of the wiring loom. After all that effort to carefully remove and replace trim, routing it carefully...Argghh! Oh well, for the greater good. The time I'm saving by not having to book the rolling road a couple of months in advance more than offsets the time take to remove it.

The initial fire-up that Steve and I were going to do here at my workshop is now not going to happen. This does concern me a little, as I'd hate to get everything/everyone booked, engine transported the other side of London, and then it won't bloody fire up!

So, there you have it....we may be having some dyno numbers to share a lot sooner than planned. Not many finishing jobs on the engine to do, and apparently the engine dyno folk are pretty accommodating with juggling jobs (although it is silly season with everybody wanting their race engines done at the moment)

Gulp.

Your right spencer I didnt put the slot back on however I did use the square threaded washer that fits in the slot as it has a a spiky side that stops it from turning I had an additional issue that I was struggling for clearance from my twin outlet exhaust and not having the slot makes it easier for removal if I have to take the bumper off in the future.

Your brackets look identical to mine Gaaz.

Spenny, so you only fitted ONE spacer shim to the CRB? Did you come to an explanation of why? I have the RS LW flywheel and clutch and am 99.99% certain I used both, as instructed. Just interested really.

Spenny,
Do you mind explaining the purpose of the shim on the thrust bearing? Is this done on all G50 hydraulically assisted clutches? Thanks.

Hey Rob - I think you're setup is correct....2 shims for the N/A clutch assembly....read on....

...so, we're (Chris and I) not quite sure why, but Chris' suspicion - hope he does't mind me quoting him here - is that it's related to the thickness of the clutch cover fingers. This does make entire sense in my little head, as the clutch covers used for the turbos are likely to be thicker to increase the clamping load, therefore, when using the same release bearing assembly (i.e., of the same length), there will be less "slack" to shim.

For a traditional 964 RS cover, N/A, we (well, Chris - I can't take any credit for this) suspects that the fingers are perhaps lighter, thus thinner, therefore needing 2 shims to take up the slack.

WERK I - not sure if all G50's will have this setup - I'd suspect so, but a quick compare of the PET part listing will likely reveal if that's the case. Perhaps not the most accurate answer, as both Rob and I have found that a number of the parts used in this areas have been superseded with 997 part numbered items, so it is a bit of a Heinz57 of items required these days.

Spencer-- engine dyno is a LOT better approach. Plus we get the red-hot turbo photos in focus!

Here was my experience--

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-engine-rebuilding-forum/695849-assembling-1966-901-05-engine-phase-v-final-exam.html

I think that several weeks of planning the dyno session is required in order to get the most out of it.

First you have to get it running and stable so it will idle with a basic fuel map. Then some break-in running. That could probably be done on an engine stand ahead of the Dyno itself. When you go to tune it you won't want a bunch of oil blowing by and throwing off the measurements. That will also get you familiar with adjusting the EFI control unit with the software on the fly, loading different maps, etc.

Then the pulls. . . I would have a plan for every pull-- and a flow chart of what you're going to do, how you're going to iterate, based on what the AFR and curves show you. This is where expertise comes in (which I certainly don't have)

Maybe Chris can chime in on the sequence and planning for Dyno break-in and setup.

Yup, totally agree John - secretly, I was hoping we'd end up going on an engine dyno rig.

Really great read, btw (can't believe I've not read this before now), and will dive into the sub-topics over the weekend.

Indeed, Chris and I have exchanged a few emails on procedures ;)

So, another quick update.

It's been a manic week, all over the country on business, so no time to get into the garage, but while standing on train platforms, having a quick coffee, etc, I've made a couple of calls to progress stuff.

First off, I spoke with a chap called Dave @ DTW Engines, who's dyno facility and expertise we'll be using to map the engine --->

DTW Engines - About Us

Very useful and pleasant conversation; I ran down the checklist of things we need, and needless to say, he's been there/seen it/got the t-shirt when it comes to air-cooled flat-6's - immensely reassuring. In fact one such engine was for Neil Bainbridge, a very well respected Porsche guy here in the UK (met him once, really nice guy, and talented in other things aside from building 911's...suggest a Google...) with a twin turbo ca.800hp monster.

So, oil feeds, intercooler cooling, fuelling, and not least the engine mount jig itself, are all there. All he needs me to do is to complete a few jobs on the engine, and we can look to schedule a date:

• Make an intake tract for the turbo - doesn't need to be representative of the final design
• Buy an air filter...
• Weld the outlet pipes for the wastegates, so they can be fed into their extraction system
• Bolt on the exhaust system
• Refit the blanking plug on the chimney
• Remove the clutch assy
• Buy the "real" oil - have the running-in oil already
• Buy a second new oil filter
• Remove the other half of the wiring harness from the car, along with the ECU and AEM thermocouple transducer brain and thermocouple feeds
• Remove the 4 x ignition amps from the inner wing
• Make a temporary interfacing harness to feed aux power to the engine
• Get the variable boost harness made
• Finish the tinware above the turbo - this may be re-coated this afternoon ready for collection over the weekend.

Quite a few individual jobs but nothing too time consuming apart from maybe the air intake to the turbo, that should also have a union welded in for the turbo oil drain tank breather.

I've also just found a water jet cutting company about 3miles up the road from me, who seem very helpful. Will drop in there at some point and show them my drawings for the traction control timing wheels - they'll translate from scribble > CAD, no problem, and can apparently turn these jobs around in a few days.

Finally, I sourced a set of refurbished Cup 1 wheels. I don't know where they've all gone over the years, it didn't seem 2 minutes ago that all 964 owners were swapping them for aftermarket rims, but anyway, seeing as I'm going for the original stock look (muh-hah-hah), these seem like the right option, despite them not being the lightest or widest...plus I need to buy a new set of (sticky) 17" tyres.

So....I will now be selling the 18" 3-piece wheels that came with the car, plus a brand new (still in the box, never been mounted on the car) set of Veloce 18" Speedline replicas with Pirelli tyres. If anyone feels inclined to treat themselves to an early Easter present, shoot me a PM ;) I'll put an official posting in the For Sale section in the next couple of weeks.

Just a minor update this evening; the powder coating guys have had to overcome a couple of major technical difficulties this week, but very kindly juggled the current jobs to squeeze my items in with another batch of satin black items.

Rear tinware can now be bolted in place, along with the Nimbus heat shield, the exhaust back pressure sensor plumbing, the exhaust silencer and a final alignment of the compressor outlet > intercooler input pipe.

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Also now finished (that also needed incinerating, part of the delay) are the rear bumper fittings --->

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The long folded section you can see was slightly twisted/distorted before it went over. Really taken a hit from the weather and temperature cycling, no original coating left. I was in two minds to just buy a new one, but another part that's just stupid £££'s from Porsche. Nothing lost by giving it a go with a refurb, and as usual, the guys have done a stelar job, just needs a little straightening (not worth doing beforehand, as the incinerator could've re-twisted it).

I quickly nipped out over lunch to the water jetting guys a few miles away. Really nice chaps, immediately got to creating the CAD drawings from my Powerpoint drawings, 15mins later we had the files ready to go, costed and agreed that they'll be ready by Tuesday lunchtime!

Don't think much is going to happen this weekend, apart from growing our family....with fish.

Something that's been on my shopping list is to look into buying a plumbed-in fire extinguisher system; in fact, while I'm at it, look into buying 2 systems, one for the Lotus as well.

I guess some folk will think this is way overkill for a road car....but....the very reason I was able to buy the Carrera inlet manifold that's now on this engine was because a pal of mine contacted me via this build thread, saying he had one. It was no longer needed since the car which it was due to be fitted to, had gone up in flames. In fact, he documented the whole sorry affair over in the 911 Technical forum 3-4yrs ago. Long story short, he thinks it was a power steering leak in the engine bay that caused the fire whilst driving down the motorway, and had to sit and watch his pride and joy burn to the ground at the side of the road. Not good. I was also witness to a TVR burning to a cinder about 10yrs ago....if only....

So, it was on my to-do list, but I was too hasty in fitting the wiring loom into the car a few months ago - I should've held off, and installed a system at the same time, running the hoses through to the engine bay.

Of course, now I need to remove the interior again to extract the wiring for the engine dyno.....game on.

I don't need anything super flash, and ideally want to keep it simple with a mechanical system, but I think the only place where it makes sense to house the bottle is at the front of the passenger footwell. I want it to look stock, not GT3 RS, so the further forward towards the bulkhead I can get it, the better. If I can make a black anodised ally footrest to hide it, then great. An electrically activated system is a lot narrower, with the release valve on top of the bottle, not at one end, but needs some frigging around with installing the electrics.

I'm initially thinking of opting for this Lifeline system, if anyone has any experience of this, then please do give me a shout, either on here or via PM.

The product details say that this will discharge 2 litres to the engine bay, and 2 litres to the passenger compartment......with our engines at the back and the electrical fuseboard/relays/central electronics complex in the frunk (...right next to the fuel cell...), does it make sense to plumb the frunk and engine bay, leaving the passenger compartment? This may sound mad, but remember this is not a track car, so really I'm protecting against fluid leaks or excessive heat, rather than the door-banging antics of track racing. Of course, I'm not running any hoses through the cabin either. I can always look to buy a Brey-Krause seat mounted handheld extinguisher if need-be.

Or...forget plumbing the frunk, run both lines and all 4 litres to the engine bay, 1 line to the top half, 1 to the underside?

Is the passenger footwell the best place to locate the bottle? The frunk doesn't appear too good an option, as the spare wheel is there, plus hi-fi gear. And I want it to remain a usable space.

Is the Lifeline 2000 a good choice of extiguisher system?

Any thoughts appreciated guys.

For 806 (my old '71E race car) I used an AFFF (aqueous Film Forming Foam) bottle that was about 2.25 liters, pressurized to nine bar or so, with an electric squib to trigger it, with 9v battery in the firing box mounted on the dash. There is one outlet from the bottle-- one uses "wye" connections and a large diameter tube to start, then narrowing down to smaller tubes after the "wye."

Liquids will take the path of least resistance: as such, they will distribute first to wherever the largest diameter tubing goes (higher flow rate) and the shortest run.

I used three dischargers-- one giant one on ME, mounted in the dash where the ignition switch would be if Porsche didn't put them on the other side-- another one mounted on a shock tower in the engine compartment with a 90 degree angle iron bracket to position the nozzle over the motor; and the last one mounted in the cowl up front, next to the windshield wiper motor, aimed at the fuel cell.

The largest tubing went to the discharger in the cockpit and the smaller tubes fore and aft.

The system is triggered by a momentary-on SPST; they give you two, one for the cabin (with a plastic ring to keep you from inadvertently firing it) and another one for the marshals, to be mounted on the outside of the car. (I conveniently left that uninstalled; I could just see a punter at a PCA Club Race pressing it if I had left the firing box armed. . . :))

Anyway, if it were me I WOULD get the GTRS bits, nothing cooler than having some bright red bottle over the shift coupler cover that says "ACHTUNG-- GLORIA FEUERLOESCHER" or some such like that, just to let 'em know that this is a serious performance machine.

The big advantage of these systems is (1) the capacity-- you have a lot more AFFF than those tiny bottles that one typically sees affixed to the A-pillar of an econobox with flatulent exhaust and little else; and (2) if you are upside down, strapped into your racing seat and harness, and burning, you can have the presence of mind to hit the trigger and foam the entire car. And while you're at it, cut off the electrical system.

All that said, you might do well to carry a big five pound CO2 up front, mounted securely, and another small one in the car itself. I cannot underestimate the importance of reducing missile hazard in a collision. It is far more likely that you will use these devices to assist somebody other than yourself, so having them free could make sense. . .

Signed,

Smokey Bear

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...1&d=1384267695

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1422757002.jpg

Discharger barely visible, it's the round red nozzle on the dash. Firing box mounted on glove box lid.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1422757148.jpg

Thanks for the info John, appreciate it. Comforting to know that there are plastic rings supplied for the firing switches - that was a fear of mine with the electrical systems, whereas the mechanical setups have a disabling pin you can lock the handles with.

I'm not sure what hosing the Lifeline systems come with, so I will investigate the diameters and fittings further.

Definitely sticking with a stock look (if I can) for this car, especially after sourcing and fitting a stock interior ;) - but with the Lotus I'm happy to have the extinguisher on show - little choice really, there's barely anything in there to hide it!

Your first pic doesn't load up - was that showing the engine bay mountings?

Another engine build.....
 

This weekend, another engine was built. From part collecting, right through to tall block, water pump, distributor.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E4BAF44111.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8247A77AC8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...EBF887AA11.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...B2ACE82DB0.jpg

:D :D :D :D

Yup, started building it during the day, could't keep Lucy away from it when ready to go to bed, bless her...she loved seeing how the crankshaft worked, assembling the pistons, building each cam lobe onto the camshaft, timing the cam to the crank, seeing the valves operate. She really got the hang of precisely cutting the parts from the tree and then carefully filing the part smooth. The only thing left is to assemble the motor onto the flywheel and put the manifolds on. Another engine nerd joins our ranks!


....well....it IS the engine building forum ;)

Back to the metal engine....

Dropped the wastegate exhausts and flanges over to Pete the welder @ lunchtime ready for him to weld; don't think he could quite believe that it wasn't an urgent "need it tomorrow" job.

This evening I then got around to sticking the gold heat reflective tape onto the underside of the rear tinware. Expensive stuff, but I have to say, it's really nice to use. Quite forgiving and fairly malleable. Very pleased with how this came out, although I confess to thinking that I had more on the roll than there actually was, so a lot of measuring and dummy lay-ups to make sure I got as much of the really hot area done.

This will all be sitting behind the heat shields I made a few weeks ago, so a little OTT, but better that than have any heat related issues.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...AF56991B9B.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...BB274B28D0.jpg

Next job is to have a look at the intake pipework for the turbo, which may need some welding. I'd better also get an air filter ordered....

The Cup1 wheels arrived this morning - really pleased with these, fully refurbished and look just like new. The inners are re-done using the flat light grey that the Factory used, rather than the easy option a lot of refinishers take of using the same silver for the whole wheel.

Tyres are the next thing to start doing some investigating on; the trade-off between something like a Toyo R888 which I use on the Lotus - fantastic grip in the summer (and to be fair, dry winter roads as well); I've never tried any heroics on the odd occasion I've been caught out in heavy rain, but it's *not the best suited tyre* for that job.

Alternatively, I always got on well with the Michelin Pilot Sport 2's when I had the GT3, but with only a 17x9J rim and a 255 section tyre (which according to Bill Verburg, works the best on that wheel in his experience), I need every bit of traction I can muster. Way more hp and torque than the GT3 was pushing through those PS2's. Yokohama do what looks to be a half-way option in their street tyre range, perhaps that's a good candidate.....hmmmm......

A quick heads-up guys - I've finally decided to part with all the extraneous kit that has been removed from the engine, this car is never going to go back as a 320hp stock car, the mileage prevents it from being one of those daft garage queen never driven examples, and frankly I've run out of space and it's driving me nuts. Please see my post in the Classified section and give me a shout if it's of interest.

S

I've been watching your project with interest, wow amazing job! A few years back I converted my 964 T to EFI with the help of Neil Bainbridge and sourcing parts from Chris (Turbokraft). The best upgrade ever! With a standard motor with ARP rod bolts and headstuds, N/A cam, motec and GT35 with billet compressor wheel, 0.8bar 400bhp, 1.0 bar 450bhp, 1.2 bar 498bhp on the engine Dyno. A little more fettling and the HTA billet wheel 1.2 bar 508bhp on the rolling road almost no lag.

Neil @ BS motorsport has a great Dyno exclusively setup for air cooled Porsche motors

http://youtu.be/4mZaVTwjVjc
BS Motorsport

Hi Ben, thanks, appreciate the positive comments!

Wow, they're great numbers for a pretty stock conversion; I take it those hp numbers are FWHP? I'll be chuffed with numbers that are near that, or even proportional to those with the additional mods (reworked heads, Carrera inlet, TK intercooler)...fingers crossed.

Yes, I did go along to Neils place a good 4-5yrs ago, nice guy, and was in the middle of installing his ex-Hyundai WRC dyno cell; a very impressive looking facility...in fact, Neil did post on this thread in the early days, not sure if he's still watching.

To be honest, I'm handing over the mapping responsibility to my pal Steve @ SBD, so although will be driving the engine up there, and helping with the setting up of it, I'm kind of entrusting Steve with his choice of "drivers" of the dyno; from what I can make out from another mate, I *think* this cell that we're planning on using is an ex F1 setup - I'd surmise that being in Harlow, it perhaps has something to do with Judd.

Evening folks, time for another update.

Not got anything done during the week - busy at work, so it's had to wait until the weekend....but I do feel like I've made up for lost time.

I now have the trigger wheels in my possession, freshly cut by the guys at Kent Waterjet. Brilliant job, very accommodating as well....despite my, er, "cock-up" (stop sniggering Chris!) with the rear wheel drawings. It's so embarrassing, I'm not even going to go there. Anyway, a new set now made and very nice they are too. Damn sight better that drilling and filing for a couple of days.

For those that don't know, water jet cutting is a lot more economical than laser cutting, but the slight downside is that with thicker materials, there is a tendency for the edges to be slightly tapered. Some of this can be dialled-out with constant setting up of the jets, but to a certain extent it's just one of those things. Paul did show me some really thick pieces that they've cut (for a Chinese nuclear plant, no less) that are made from some 1.5" thick steel, and I have to say, it's mighty impressive....the wonder of 3000bar pressure!

The rear wheels are made form 4mm steel, so there was a *tiny* bit of tapering on the OD, and as the sensors are mounted radially, with the sweetspot of the HE sensor only being about 3mm wide, I wanted to make sure that the sensor is getting a 100% clean signal. So, time to mount them onto the lathe and tickle the OD's. An added benefit was that I could absolutely tune the OD to the right size so that I have 1.5mm clearance to the HE sensor without needing a waffer-thin shim on the non LSD side. A quick Scotchbrite clean and they're ready for plating.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...57FF7042F1.jpg

With the fronts, I got 2 designs made using 1.2mm material, as we'll be reading the teeth axially —>

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...6C0C904AD9.jpg

...one that has a smaller OD - it's smaller than the ID of the ABS teeth (see previous photos), so it's completely hidden from "view" from the ABS sensor, but it means that the M3 holes that will need countersinking are very close to the outer edge. Option 2 has a larger OD with more material for mounting, but to prevent there being any possibility of the ABS sensor seeing this TC wheel, I also got some plastic discs made that will sit in between the ABS and TC wheels, shielding the ABS sensor from the TC wheel.


Last night and today, it was time to focus on the jobs that need doing in preparation for the dyno….

• Removed clutch
• Sorted the blanking plug on the chimney cover
• The wastegate exhaust pipes are now welded
• The temporary intake pipe for the turbo is over with Pete, tacked and ready for full welding
• The chassis harness has been removed from the car again, along with all the control systems
• Rear tinware is in place (although not bolted yet)
• Variable boost harness (a temporary one rather than the final version which will also have TC and my boost gauge signals)
• Second oil filter bought
• Proper oil bought - will be here on Monday
• Power steering pump removed - don’t want this being spun without any fluid. By the time you loosen everything to remove the belt, it may as well be removed altogether.
• I found a K&N breather tank oil filter that I used to run on the Westfield - many years ago - and have used this as a temporary capping to the turbo oil drain tank breather. This will eventually interface to the inlet tract via an AN connection.

So, a very productive day. Tomorrows jobs are to remove the 4 x ignition amplifiers from the inner wing, and the capacitor that plugs into the alternator charging circuit. I want to also try out my new valve clearance setting tool - it should all be spot-on, but a good opportunity to play with the new toy I collected in Boston last year.

Heat shields to the underside of the rear tinware will go on, and the exhaust back pressure (EBP) pipework fixed into position.

The engine stand has now been broken down and stored…another big chunk of metal out of the way, another (slightly) momentous occasion.

I’m quite pleased with myself, have got my list of things to take up to the dyno - start it early and add to it when the odd brainwave pops up….far too efficient for me.

I did manage to sneak a 15/20mins chat with a very helpful guy at ITG, the guys who make air filters. I'll detail further in a later post, suffice to say that they're completely geared-up for making me a custom filter should I need to go that route. I think it may have to be, in order to fit down the LH side, clear the sensor bracket but still maintain the surface area needed to support this build. It may even be an oval filter, narrow and tall, probably 9-10" long, with a 3" outlet. Anyway, details on that later, once I've mocked something up and anticipated where the engine bay edge are.

A quick couple of pics of the new Cup1’s —>

Rear:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CB0009C683.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...9255A9DB85.jpg

Front:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C3B3047B30.jpg

In terms of tyres, I think I’ve decided to go with some Yokohama AD08R’s - they seem to sit somewhere inbetween a durable road Michelin PS2 and track focussed Toyo R888. Although I love the R888’s on the Lotus, the chances of having to drive in standing water are higher in this car - it’s going to be going on European jaunts, more-so than the Exige would, and it’s a road car so the R888’s are going to be a noisier choice. Pirelli Trofeo’s would’ve been nice, but no sizes available that I need in 17”. The Yoko’s were recommended to me as being better than expected in heavy rain (thanks Frank!), so we’ll give them a go.

Hi Spencer ! I am very impressed by your work made on the engine, it is raving but I adore! You wanted to see what looked like my roof in carbon, I have a photo of him not put on the car. You used as thermal protection of the zircoflex gold?
I wish you good luck for the continuation, you are not any more very far from the end your project, finally, more end than the beginning!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1423403645.jpg

Hey Pat! Thank-you! How you doing? Excellent roof, I like it very much. Do you know what the weight difference is between this and the original (presumably with a sunroof) steel roof?

Yes, finally, the end is in sight.....well....kind-of. The end of the engine build itself, then I need to finish some chassis jobs and bolt things back together.....and then...it's time to refurbish all the suspension. Phase 2. That part shouldn't be too long though, perhaps a few months. I have some of the parts needed already, and was chatting with TK Chris the other day, the plan is not to go too crazy - I'm not looking for it to be a turbocharged RS, but do want it to be a little sharper than stock, perhaps 15-20% tighter all round; maybe increased ARB diameters with adjustability, Bilstein HD's (which I already have), new stock top mounts, then either some Superflex bushes or some of the Elephant Racing items, maybe some 935 style adjustable rear plates. All the aluminium parts will be vapour blasted, and I'll probably invest in a new set of H&R Red's (although I already have a set, they're looking very secondhand, and perhaps may have sagged a little over the years, no idea how old they are, no receipt in the paperwork)

Compared with a roof with a sunroof us win easily 20 kilos, what is brilliant seen that it is the highest weight and the blow the center of gravity of the car comes down well. :)
Now I also added a completely integrated(joined) arch, it is almost invisible thus I have a little less weight gain but also more rigidity.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1423419441.jpghttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1423419533.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1423419685.jpg
I know Spencer that we project are very long, that we need a lot of patience! But it is brilliant to make our toys, to return them even more beautiful and effective. The passion!!! :)

That's a really nice, neat job of integrating a "half cage" into the chassis Pat....very Ruf-like! ;)

Agree, you need patience by the lorry-load sometimes. I started off this project aiming a lot lower (more simple) but wanted to get it done in time for the next summer season....3.5yrs later, with a scope that's gone far further than planned, and a budget that was last considered about 2.5yrs ago, and I really am looking forward to getting my car drivable again. It's been a good exercise in learning patience and relaxing into it, and therefore enjoying it more with less frustration.

When is your car going to be back on the road? In time for Le Mans? ;) :D

It is exactly that Spencer! We live the same experience, but you have much more beforehand that I. By moment I have a small reduction in motivation but that returns very fast. I look very much forward to hearing your engine to turn! :)
By the way, having read a test I also think that you make a good choice for tires Yokohama A048R, they are more available in many size, they will be my next tires. Thank you for this good advice! ;)

No, not the A048R's, they don't seem to have a 255/40x17 option, plus they're quite a lot more expensive than "road going" tyres. I think I'm going to go for the Yokohama AD08R...a little less focussed than a track focussed A048R, better in the wet.

I made a mistake about reference in my comment but I had seen your tire Spencer. :D
A small photo of my new driving compartment...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1423506803.jpg
Good evening! ;)