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Same thing with rotors. The rotors Porsche sells is not the same as 3rd party rotors, despite that they are all produced by Sebro. I have experienced that (on a friends 928) with new rotors that was horribly squeaky and noisy, not like the old they replaced. That noise problem was solved with new rotors from Porsche. Different material or post treatment or something else... |
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Calipers will get shipped tomorrow; Jonny @ BCR has been on the phone today, we've sorted his strange junk/spam mail issue (!), and he's expecting them to arrive Friday for a speedy turnaround. Coming together nicely.... |
Your build is, as they say, epic.
Very nice work, love the attention to details, more so because I could not muster that! |
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Quick midweek update....an evening of finishing a few jobs.
The brake calipers were dispatched up to BCR, so that they can get started on them tomorrow and over the weekend. Primary goal tonight was to finish installing the newly anodised extinguisher nozzle mounts; the easy ones were already done, but the two underside brackets needed the hose trimming to length along with the sleeving, then terminating with the heatshrink.All easy enough, just a contorted working position to get to them! The LH underside, using the lower tubular bumper mounting bolt to mount the bracket... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...B2763F85E2.jpg The RH underside, using one of the heatshield fixings to mount the bracket.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...3920F8F7C1.jpg All now done, with hoses all retained along their route. The 4th of the top-side nozzles is also now mounted, fixed to the neck of the oil filler; quite pleased how that's turned out, with a perfect position to smother the injection rail and power steering hose > pump.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2971A73C69.jpg It's opposite number in the front LH corner... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2D8D0B67A5.jpg The rear LH corner.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...55E6D40799.jpg And finally the rear RH corner... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2B6B0208B1.jpg And to put it all in context, a panorama shot where you can just about see each nozzle... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...A42FF612EA.jpg The new set of handbrake shoes arrived today, no reason to spec original Porsche items @£110/set vs £30 for these Pagids! Got some new adjusters while I was at it...only $5 each for genuine items, it'd cost more in degreaser to clean the old ones! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...98FBAA67A9.jpg I also dug out the box with the brake Goodridge hoses I bought over 4yrs ago - good news, I thought I'd bought a set with plated fittings, but upon opening the box, I actually have a set with stainless fittings. Result! Another job I don't need to worry about. Couple of jobs I really need to get done over the weekend:
...Almost the weekend, and really not that many jobs left to do.... |
Post weekend update….
Very productive, got some big-ticket items finished - or as finished as they can be for the time being. Most of Saturday was spent driving around buying the parts for the brake project, plus some more sheet ally in order to have another attempt at making a new fuse/relay board cover for the engine bay. So, after collecting the new discs, pads, accessories from OPC Tonbridge, this is what an empty wallet looks like…. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...BD3E9F057A.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2806B77449.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...6A25F0445D.jpg ….time to get the Gunk Engine Degreaser opened, facemask on, and new wire brush set out, and go-ape. The before picture of the rear axle…. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...37CF1D4CF1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...F24BB66F9C.jpg First job was to dismantle the handbrake assembly, not too tricky, then dunking the springs in to the cleaning solution. New shoes and adjusters…. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...6A9CD693A1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C76FC49E80.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C20AD2B3AC.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...FB189C5FB6.jpg Not a perfect job with cleaning the rear swing arm, that will wait until the suspension teardown, where everything will get vapour blasted. This was just a case of getting the loose stuff off and getting it “socially clean”. |
All of the brake disc shields came off easily enough. Judging by the state of the fixings for each, I was anticipating a nightmare, but using a graphite based penetrating fluid a few hours beforehand, really made things easier. The rear shields look fine, just a bit grubby with surface corrosion, but the fronts are beyond saving. Glad it was this way around, the rears are over 2x the price of the fronts. The rear shields are going to go for blasting and powdercoating, the fronts will be replaced with another shopping list of parts I need.
Next, time to address the front axle. Far simpler, although its frustrating to be unable to really get the steel uprights totally free of surface rust and flaking paint….have to keep telling myself, it’s a job for another day! Before.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C72A3CF52F.jpg After.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...FA93B2E28C.jpg All the new discs are now fitted, light coating of optimoly on the hub faces to prevent any rusting, and she’s looking great! Can’t wait to get the “new” calipers back again and installed - that’ll be a very quick job now that everything’s cleaned. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...82B06877E5.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CE9DEFEF3C.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...3525FC9D57.jpg The LH blower hose and piping is now back in place again - I had to remove this in order to route the extinguisher hoses. Extinguisher bottle is fastened back in place in its cradle. Just needs to be hooked-up, electrically and mechanically. |
Great evenings work, tinkering in the workshop doing a job I hadn't really planned on doing...but kind of felt in the mood to do so, so struck while the iron was hot.
The fuse and relay panel cover.... Finally...after attempt #4, I've got something I'm really happy with, that fits perfectly. The first attempt, many pages ago in this thread, was making it out of ally but I tried bending it in the sheet metal bender. What I hadn't really appreciated was that the original plastic cover is radiused in a way that isn't parallel with the bottom of the cover, and there's ever-so-slightly a compound curve to it. Plus, the rigid fold line looked rubbish. Plan #2 was to modify the plastic cover, cutting out the protruding section that once shielded the 4 fuses on the outside of the tray. These interfere with the intake pipe, so have been moved to the inside of the tray (some of the relays are no longer needed, so they freed up some space)....however, the ally infill panel that I planned on bonding to the inside once it was powder-coated, also looked naff. Plan #3 was a flash of inspiration - so I thought - and so I got Googling for local 3D printing companies....perfect part to print, perhaps with a CMM input to create the CAD file. I kept the search regional, hoping that I could perhaps drop-in and explain what I wanted, and leave the part with them. I contacted one company this time last week, and to date, not so much as an acknowledgement. I hate these "Contact Us" hotlinks that generate a web email query, complete black hole when it doesn't go through your email client....grrr. It seems that in the UK, it's still very much a hobbyist part-time business - what I was hoping for was an outfit like the water jet cutting place I used; small family business, big enough to get it done, small enough to be interested. So, Plan #4, buy some thinner gauge sheet metal from Pete/Lewis, so that I could hand-form it and shape to suit. I used the spare length of 3" diameter ally tubing, securely mounted in the vice to act as the former. The radius is tighter at the short end, and about 25mm out of parallel with the base. Surprised how quickly it came together, whilst watching last nights Colts/Pats game on replay ;) Can't believe it looks SO flipping simple in the photos...believe me, it isn't easy getting it to fit in (what is now) a very tight space, lining up with the mounting holes, sitting over the rubber harness grommet and clearing the edge of the engine bay bodywork lip. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...754E7D6411.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...A9061850FF.jpg The return that is on the plastic part proved to be easy to make; I've only rough-cut it out at the tapered end, to allow Pete to weld it without blowing the corner away. That'll get tidied up once welded and radiused. Hopefully I'll get it dropped over tomorrow lunchtime. |
Gorgeous. Your attention to detail is inspiring.
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"Project Completion Anxiety".....where you keep bloody well finding jobs to go and do, and never do finish it!! :D |
Time for a quick check-in. A few bits to show, but have really been in holding-formation waiting for parts to arrive, or get welded, or coated, or rebuilt.
So, the fuse/relay cover was welded over the weekend by Lewis - another fine job, and after half an hour with a set of files, I got it looking like this, in readiness for powder coating: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E817E1907C.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...DF7E372A7B.jpg This lunchtime I got a phonecall saying it had now been powder coated and was ready for collection... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C8A75623AC.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...51C166A312.jpg To me, it still looks ridiculously simple as a part, to warrant the amount of time it took...but there you go. The 2 x rear brake disc shields were also done. The cover has come up very nicely but the shields not quite so well...very pitted on the inner surfaces, in fact there are a couple of places where the material has burst through once they were media blasted. They're good enough, I guess, and the visible side looks far nicer...but at £75+VAT each for new ones, they'll suffice. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...BCC44C3E07.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...84AD694BE2.jpg Next job this evening is to make a spacer to sit behind the fuse/relay cover, spacing it from the captive M6 nut on the chassis. More parts are en-route to me from Tonbridge OPC; front brake shields, the remaining 3 pad wear sensors (the old ones were toast) and new brake hose retaining clips - the little square clips that hold the union between the rigid lines and flexi lines to the chassis and rear trailing arm. The most exciting news is that my calipers are almost finished. I spoke with Jonny again on Monday, they're really pleased with how they've come up after sanding and painting, but are just being extra cautious with shipping them before they're fully hardened...usual thing, the longer they can be left before handling, the better. With some rescheduling at my end, I asked them to hang onto them for the rest of this week, build them up over the weekend or early next week, then get them back to me midweek-ish. New fluid seals are always done, but I also asked him to install new dust seals regardless. A couple of work-in-progress pics that Jonny sent me. I'm chuffed to bits with them, especially the logos which I asked to be the same as the ones previously, i.e., the old script, not the newer flatter logo... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...81ADF2C836.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...37EAB3B7FE.jpg Finally, I decided to top-up my stainless steel fixings collection the other day...nothing interesting there, but it was prompted by trying to source some fasteners to replace the ones I removed from the brake shields. This was a prime example of Porsches ludicrous pricing...an M6x20, shallow caphead, mild steel bolt.... £7.14+VAT each!! I could understand it (just) if they were a medical grade titanium!!! Crazy. Same part from my online fastener supplier? £1.66 for all 6, but in A2 grade stainless. So, with that as the catalyst, I've now decided to replace all the fixings on the brake shields, the inner arches and for the undertrays with SS items (Project Completion Anxiety....). I had a lot of the fixings anyway, but the self tapping screws and DIN spec washers were added to the shopping list, all of which arrived a few days ago. They're good guys actually, used them a lot for this project and the Lotus, so a shout out to Westfield Fasteners for any UK guys that need this kind of thing. |
More progress this evening....
The fuse/relay panel cover is now finished. First job of the night was to make a stand-off for the cover to sit against; if you refer back to the pics of the original plastic cover, there's a moulded recess with the clearance mounting hole. It's this recess that spaces the cover correctly from the bracket which the M6 wing-bolt screws into. So, half an hour on the lathe and this is what I came up with... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0BA20EFF83.jpg This then screws into the chassis, and is now Loctited in there semi-permanently.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...B75CA788D0.jpg Meaning that the original factory wing-bolt can be re-used. One little modification though...that bolt has got "I'm-going-to-drop-down-into-the-engine-bay-irretrievably" written all over it, so I applied a trick used on some of the fixings on the Exige, where a nylon washer with an undersize hole is used to make it a captive bolt onto the cover.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0F6DE03954.jpg And the finished article in place. Almost unnoticeable....as it should be... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...D1E9CD49C0.jpg Next job, start fitting the brake shields. When I got home this evening from work, this weeks order from Tonbridge OPC had arrived, including the 2 new front shields. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...88FCD4DA21.jpg I only got 2 of the 4 fitted, the RH front and rear, the others can wait until tomorrow. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CD09BBC454.jpg All of the stainless fittings worked a treat. While the wheels were back off, I also swapped all of the inner arch liner fixings over for the stainless fittings. Not much else to report on the car, but did have a very pleasant few cups of coffee with our esteemed forum moderator today in London! Was great to meet up again, chatting car stuff, business stuff, family stuff.....it's been far too long. He'll be back over the Atlantic somewhere as I type this.... |
Spenny, it looks fantastic!
I am really looking fwd to your reports on how this thing behaves once it's all buttoned up. Inspiring. Cheers |
. . . and I am pleased to report the minutes of the second annual meeting of Trans-Atlantic OCD Porsche Owners. . . the meeting was called to order and involved a discussion of the smallest minutiae of engine compartments, fasteners, plumbing, electrical bits, car crashes, alpine skiing, Geography of Britain, driving in France and other topics of high interest in the Anglosphere. . . GREAT to reconvene with the author of this thread over multiple cups of coffee and high-octane Porsche discussion!
Car is looking great. . . just don't park on the street in front of the Walkie-Talkie building! :) |
Haha! Noooo, it won't be going anywhere near central London....unless it's for a very early morning "tunnel run" or some such-like jape ;)
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Well, today was one of those rare days without any distraction (motorsport on tv), where the sun was out and a few early coffees meant I worked pretty-much non stop throughout the day....and very satisfying it was too.
The "to do" list is getting scarily short...I'm going to have to think of some more jobs to do! First job of the day was to finish the 4th corner, LH front, with installing the new brake shield, as well as swapping the inner arch fasteners over to stainless items. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...9E8BC89FA7.jpg Easy. Now the car can be brought down and off of the lift. First shock of the day (well, the only shock today...) was how much lower the car was sitting. A few weeks ago, I suddenly remembered that I had fully tightened the anti-roll bar drop links whilst it was off the ground....of course, you shouldn't do that, so I un-nipped them with a big red note to ensure I re-tightened them once the car was under its own weight. I think there had been an element of artificial lift, so it was nice to see it really hunkered down. Next job, get the car rolled out so I could get some stuff out of the loft - specifically the old engine cover latch (which I need to steal the microswitch from) and the box of wiring, so I can FINALLY finish the extinguisher installation. ...which is a convenient segue onto the next job, to wire the extinguisher bottle > firing switch > control box. I'd been considering where to mount the "big red button" for some weeks, alternating between a hidden placement in the glovebox with the control box, or somewhere on the dash, or on the steering column shroud. In the end, mounting on the dash was discounted - I don't want to drill holes there. If you remember back a year or so (!) I made a bung to plug the hole in the column shroud, where an original dealer fitted immobiliser once sat. With some careful measurement, I decided this would be the perfect spot; discreet enough, but visible "in the event of"..... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...636432D8A1.jpg Next, and final job on this sub-project was to build a very simple loom.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C3E9384D48.jpg Everything re-installed, the bottle now hooked-up electrically and with the main plumbing line. Glovebox re-installed and firing button plugged in. Time to test it. Thankfully, it all works fine, a big green light with each push of the firing button (with the control box in Test mode, of course) Another very easy job I wanted to do was to fit my new ashtray housing, one with the plastic spring fingers still intact and not all snapped off like my original one. About 1.5mins later, it's screwed into place, with the tray installed. Feels like brand new; nice for it not to fall out at the slightest touch, like the old one did. Passenger seat is also now connected and bolted in place. Only 6 jobs remain...
...three, maybe four of those I can get done tomorrow... |
Ahh well...to have two consecutive ultra-productive days was perhaps too much to expect!
Only had yesterday afternoon working on the car, but somehow just didn't get in the groove, however I did get one of the trickier jobs nailed...at the second time of asking. The engine cover latch, if you remember, needed to be re-built after I discovered that the one I bought from the US - all nice and shiney - had a broken microswitch wire that was impossible to repair. So, time to make one good latch out of 2 not-so-good items. I opened up the "new" item a few weeks ago, to investigate how it was assembled and to take dimensions of the tubes which are used to keep the two halves together. Yesterday, I made both the forming tools and 2 new tubes from aluminium, thinking that this would be a nice, deformable material to use with a pair of forming tools. All great in theory, but in practice, I think they swelled up in the middle when being crimped under the hydraulic press. This meant that both pieces of the latch refused to pivot; completely locked. This is the pair of formers I made on the lathe... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4BCDAAE0F9.jpg ...which seemed to work well enough in principle. Plan B, after I drilled out the ally items (which were indeed absolutely stuck inside the locking plates and required a parallel punch to remove them), was to remake the tubes from stainless steel. Mild steel would just mean more delay while I got them plated before installing them. After practicing how to hold 4 things at once (!), and making the OD's of the tubes ever-so-slightly smaller this time (so that they weren't an interference fit into the latch frame), it was time to assemble it in the hydraulic press and have another go. All-in-all, a lot better second time, as I could get the tubes central and the crimps even top to bottom... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...5B6CF4DAB4.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...781A7009AD.jpg A pair of indentations into each crimp makes it look like the factory unit again, and thankfully I remembered to install the correct switch into the rebuilt latch ;) The only other job I got done yesterday was a finishing job - applying the replica stickers to the slam panel. Not sure if I like them or not, because although the quality of the printing is fine, the substrate is just a thin foil rather than the metal plates of the original stickers. They're also a lot more reflective, rather than the stock items satin finish. Not a big deal to remove them again if I decide there's a better option. Photo later... |
Back on track this evening.
First off, here's some pics of the reproduction engine bay stickers; of course, the valve clearance and firing order plaques aren't original to the 964 generation, I just quite liked them for their geek-ness. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...372B3F2CAD.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8AB7B1692A.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8128BA3630.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...EAE3BB19A0.jpg I have a new replica sticker the same as the original oil level check procedure; but from last nights efforts, the adhesive that Porsche used is a swine to remove!...As said before, undecided at the moment...more important things to focus on. So, first job this evening was to get the centre console assembly screwed down; not a case of just tightening 12 screws, as the extinguisher hose now runs through the frame. After a first attempt, I knew straight away that the routing of the pipework was going to hamper everything going back, and so it proved to be. Time to rip it all out and re-route through the carpeted front section, but above the plastic flanges this time! I also took the opportunity to route it to the LH side of the gear lever (on the "reverse" gate side), as it felt as though it was preventing a nice slick engagement into 5th gear. Using some new fastener screws, it's all now in place, looking pristine like the rest of the cabin. Happy days. Next job, wrestle the intercooler pipework into place and finally fasten down the IC. I wrote before that I'm going to re-make the "cold" pipe out the back of the IC, and after this evening's fun and games, I'll get this done when the car comes back off the road for the suspension teardown. Anyway, for now it's in place and clearing the engine lid nicely. Final job tonight, align the engine lid latch, both the latch itself and the striker pin on the lid. Only jobs left now are to lockdown the fuel pressure regulator, install the gearbox undertray, install the boost gauge and refit the brake calipers...which I'm really hoping will be with me PDQ... |
Braking news....oh ho ho...
Evening folks, time for an overdue update.
Lots of activity, but mostly planning, chasing, planning, cursing... Received the brake calipers back last week, nicely boxed up.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...3D4D219EFC.jpg ....lo-and-behold, a nice set of painted calipers.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...5D429CCD2B.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...97D0FB4C6B.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...3F19BC3E52.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...BD2D6D506D.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...F78483F3C2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...254A9F207C.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...57A0CC02BD.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...BC3B896B8C.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...EA9681B2BA.jpg Think I mentioned it before, but these were a complete refurb, pretty-much regardless of whatever they found, so the fluid seals were replaced, as well as new dust seals (normally they're re-used unless completely shot) Next job, to install them...easy in principle, as I cleaned everything up weeks ago, yes? Almost. I had to leave the original rubber hoses on, as there's fluid in the system, so each corner was clamped in the meantime. New teflon hoses on standby, along with new spring retainer clips....the old rigid lines into the 22yr old original flexi brake lines....they cracked open eventually, but still refused to rotate about the copper pipe, so needed to undo by twisting the whole hose, clamps as well, with brake fluid peeing everywhere....tools, floor, me...all covered. Grrr, hate brake fluid. Lots of washing down with soapy solution to ensure calipers and anything else doesn't get stripped. The original spring locks for the hoses were also stuck fast with 22yrs of grime/wet weather/rust. The plastic protective coil on the original lines was removed, cleaned and installed onto the teflon lines, new clips and new rigid lines up to the calipers. The stainless spring spider wasn't re-plated as I'd hoped, apparently they were in good condition, but my usual attention to detail prevented me fitting them as-is, so time to get a fresh sheet of Scotchbrite Red and get-to-it. I also noticed that the slider plates weren't sitting flat onto the base of the caliper by about 0.5-1.0mm, preventing me getting the brake pads installed....the common "plate-lift" issue that afflicts these calipers. So, removed them, cleaned the underside, removed some corrosion from the corners of the caliper and refitted (unfortunately this has compromised the painted finish but is now Dinitrol protected, and is hidden with the plates installed)...all good again. Lucy spent the morning on Saturday helping me install the right rear caliper, bless her, in her little red overalls (she looks like a junior Red Arrows pilot!)...she now has a good understanding of different types of spanner, sockets, ratchets, screwdrivers and allen keys! I think I owe her some pocket money.... |
For various reasons long-and-boring, the installation of these was due to happen during the week, last week...work commitments in the middle of our final fiscal quarter meant that work had to come first, lots of travelling and therefore re-planning. Oh well.
Finished installing them last night...looking very nice and fresh... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...E4B345E872.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8879F65A3D.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0CE3FA2730.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...05F26FAFD7.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...AF44FC6925.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CDDD612F8B.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C270A49854.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...1CEF86F6E0.jpg Tonights jobs are to: a) clear up the mess!... b) bleed the system and... c) to adjust the handbrake again; I think it's a little on the light side, so needs a wheel remounting and some testing/tweaking. Have booked next week off from work, in real need to use up vacation time (or lose some of it), but have got plenty of administrative tasks to get done, with Steve now booked to come down here on Wednesday 18th for low speed mapping....which obviously means the first drive out... |
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