From Keith and Aaron...

"OH NO!!!

Matteo – Tuesday afternoon, we discovered that the front crossmember of the ’74 was rusted out.

We amputated the ’88 for the galvanized one and performed a transplant.

This unforeseen surgery was successful. The patient will live.

At Zuffenhaus, we can rebuild him – we have the technology… stronger… faster… better. ;) "


And the mandatory pics

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993164.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993171.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993195.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993204.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993216.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993261.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993345.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993356.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1150993368.jpg



I wonder now how much of the original 74 tub there is left in the car....

The mother of all builds.........

I know this is going to seem like a dumb question, BUT, why wasn't a cleaner donor car used? Considering the budget of this project, it would seem that the donor car/chassis is the least expensive component.
j.p.

It was thought to be clean, it was there, it was avaliable, it had already the early style turbo flares at the back, it was straight.

Not much has been used of the tub anyway. The rust in the front crossmember was a surprise.

this is mental. i love the way your guys don't give a fuk about cutting large chunks of your car out. a very inspirational thread

My only possible regret is that we could have started with a 993 tub and backdate it.

Lots of advantages (better rear suspensions, perfect fit for the transmission, increased chassis rigidity) but we couldn't find one in good condition and I didn't want to wait too long.

Maybe it would have been wiser to wait (it did take a looooong time to swap the floor)....

don't talk to me about waiting a loooooooooooong time for stuff! im still building my engine after two years!

911teo:
Seeing the capabilities of the guys in the shop... I share jpahemi 's question, and go further.......you couldn't have used your original 88 tub?You said at the outset the original car was bent too bad...but after all the grafting, etc...why not?

( Reminds me of the old codger's story..."Yep, same axe. Replaced the head two times and the handle three times...but it's the same axe")

- Wil

Smogging a post-1975 car could have become a bigger hassle.

True, Aaron and Keith could have fixed the 88. Then again they suggested we used the 74 tub.

In terms of money the 74 tub came really cheap, less than th cost of fixing the 88.

So we had a straight non sunroof tub vs a bent galvanized one with a hole in the roof ;).

For me it was an easy choice....

We are nealry there... Keith and AAron finished with the tub.

It will go to get "baked" and powder coated by the end of this week.

At Zuffenhaus they finished
- tiding up the floor
- lowered the seat rails mounts (every little bit counts... lower CG and more headroom)
- fabricating an RSR "style" front strut brace
- fabricating a removable roll bar (I don't want to lose the rear seats... as I will use the car as a grocery getter with my 2 little girls)

These are a couple of pics of the finished floor pan and how the 964 center tunnel meets the 74 tub

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590233.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590245.jpg


The new position of the seat rails

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590415.jpg

These are the pics of the front strut bar.

We liked the idea of a removable bar (better access to the tank etc) and I (and Keith) loved the RS(R)s solution...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590583.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590597.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590611.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590625.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590640.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590656.jpg

Whilst Keith was working on the strut bar Aaron was putting together a removable roll bar.

Aaron welded the plates to the tub, bu the entire structure should be easily mounted just before the track days, leaving me still with a 2+2.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590884.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590894.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590905.jpg



And finally the car is ready to leave Zuffenhaus....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590964.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1151590978.jpg

Nice bracing connecting the booster and the tub!

Love your project....but you must of nixed the idea of your kids sitting in the backseat. Completely unsafe now with a roll bar sitting right in front of them. This story has more twist and turns then "Pulp Fiction".

Actually the roll bar is removable. Only the plates have ween welded to the tub.

I decided to go for the bar istead of a cage because of the idea of keeping it a street car. Maybe I am a little naive and I will never use it that way. We'll see.

But I completely agree with you when you say it would be unsafe to have the kids in the back seat with the roll bar.

Matteo

Have you though about integrating some side impact braces into your roll bar to run diagonally along the door sills? The added protection provides me with an extra feeling of security when track speeds approach 140 mph.

any pictures of this car build? I'm doing almost the same on my personal car... would love to see some motivational shots (hard to kindle the desire to work on my stuff after work, lol).

If you're looking at 400 hp and 2300 lbs in a car meant for track duty, then I'd think seriously about a full cage. At least with removeable side impact bars. Especially when all this work is already being done, and you'd benefit from the stiffer chassis, too.