Racecar under the knife again. Major Surgery

[cstreit]

There's some pretty exciting stuff going on here...

EuroEast and I have partnered up to run the NASA German Touring Sedan Class in 2006! Along with that we've decided to take Pheobe to the next level...

Unfortunately we've only got 7 weeks to accomplish this...

1. We're upgrading the motor to a 3.4L short stroke with LNEngineering 100mm Nickies (Thanks to Charles at LNengineering.com) and J&E pistons

2. Converting the bodywork to a 964 turbo look including a custom 3.8 RSR tail configuration, short hood, and wider fender flares (probably custom bolt-on).

3. MORE RUBBER! Euroeast has donated a set of 9 and 11 inch custom offset wheels in addition to the above bodywork on which we will be running a 275/315 tire configuration.

(oh, and I have 2 motors already in the garage to build... So on Monday I got rolling).

Monday the car went up on stands...




Engine out...

[cstreit]

Engine on the stand (and the other project for this weekend sits behind it ready to go:



Coming apart...




The case is split now... Even after 4 years of racing the bearings still looked brand spankin' new. I unfortunately have to pull ALL the case studs so the machine shop can open up the cy;inder spigots for the new massive jugs she will be sporting...

[jluetjen]

for the new massive jugs she will be sporting...

That and the nose job and she is starting to sound like some girls I went to college with from Long Island!

[crashmy911]

What size jugs are you getting and what do you think power wise you will get?

[Jeff]

Can't wait to see the transformation. Is the exterior change just so you can fit more tire?

[masraum]

Very, very cool! I can't wait to see the next installment. This is reminiscent but not quite as extensive as the build up of a particular black car one winter.

Keep us well updated.

[Jgordon]

Nice work - as much as i like to see custom work, is there a break-even point between just buying a wide body tub and doing all this work yourself? does job satisfaction come into it? or do you just know this car so well by now that you feel more comfortable working with it?

Just curious.

[cstreit]

THe jugs will be 100mm from LNEngineering... Puts me up at 3317cc and I would expect 300-320 HP or so... Maybe more with some tuning and a cam switch later on... Once I dyno the current configuration I should have a better idea of where we're at.

The logic behind the bodywork is twofold... First, the flaring is strictly to get more tire on the car. The other bodywork is for aerodynamic purposes. The 73 RSR front spoiler and ducktail are great, but I can tell the difference between this and cars with less drag and more downforce. They net-net may be the same (less drag but more downforce) however this should help the cornering of the car.

Additionally there are some corners at the tracks I run at (particularly the important ones) that would substantially benefit from some better adhesion. The rubber should help, the aero is a bonus.

Buying a new chassis just isn't an option. The suspension has been tuned to within an inch of it's life and I have a lot of time in cagework and chassis setup. Other than the flares the rest of the stuff is "bolt-on" (as much as fiberglass ever is) and will only require welding some additional brackets, so I don't think a new chassis would save me much. Add to that a factory widebody will weigh a lot more.

[Bill Verburg]

Sounds like fun!

[North Coast Cab]

Chris,
Looks like an awesome project. What GTS class will you be running? I'd guess GTS4, but maybe GTS3. I assume a trip or two to Mid Ohio, especially for the National Championships is in order. Let me know. I'll be at the OH/IN and Midwest Regions co-events this year at Putnam and Autobahn.

John

[cstreit]

John,

You are indeed correct, we are planning on running GT4S. Mid-Ohio is in the picture at least twice, not sure if we'll make the nationals in year one because of the time commitment, but if there's a will, and a racecar, there's a way!

I'll post more as the project progresses.

T-minus 7 weeks to turn Pheobe into a 3.4L 964 turbo bodies car

[Blanco]

Nice!!

[Jeff Jagusch]

Hey Chris,

Does this mean we will not be seing you at vintage events this year?
I always appreciated your advice!

Any update on the FWD car?

Jeff

[Jeff Alton]

Carbs or EFI?

Cheers

[cstreit]

Jeff,

Unfortunately yeah. We really want to take the car to the next level here and I just can't do that in vintage. They're making it so difficult for us Porsche's to run in Group 6 now I'm tired of fighting them every year... A resolution nearly passed this winter that would have put us out permanently.

Avoiding the incident at the Brian Redman by a few inches (You've all see this right? * BIG vintage race crash ) has given me pause as well. I was too close and only a tenth of a second or two seperated me from that heap, just dumb luck) I just don't feel like the organizational control is there right now. Too many people with big horsepower and not enough self-control. I doubt I'm done with vintage, but taking a breather after 4 years of having to work just to stay in.

The FWD car was Plan B... We're now on Plan C, but I REALLY like plan C. We have a 2007 project on the whiteboard now that could potentially make the Porsche look like a backmarker... That's a long ways off but where there's a will...


Sticking with Carbs for now. There's not enough time or budget for EFI. However if we stick with this car in '07 I suspect that I will switch to EFI. The car needs to be completely rewired anyway as the factory harness is too bastardized to imagine at this point. A simple wiring kit and some EFI are the alternative to the '07 "Secret Monster" plan.

[Jeff Alton]

Very cool, keep us posted, my own long stroke (regular stroke?) 3.4 is at the stage yours is in the pics. Splitting the case tomorrow! Curious about what cam you are going to run in it.

Cheers

[cstreit]

Jeff,

I'm using the WebCam 120/104 cam. Similar to a GE-60 cam I think. Same as I was in the 3.0L.

I could get some more peak ponies using a GE=80 or 100 but it would move my power band up to an unacceptable range. With the variety of tracks I run I have to keep the power band in the 4600-7300 range and those don't come on untill around 5200 RPM from what I understand. That doesn't give me enough range. I sacrifice peak power but gain a flatter curve and better power out of some of the slower corners.

If I had an easily swappable gearbox I suppose I could go with something more agressive but it doesn't make sense from a time/effort perspective right now.

I found my target here... I'm going to do this paint scheme, or close to it and the bodywork is about like this too:



I'd been trying to come up with something I like and I'm standing in the garage... Noticed my Suzuka picture (seen in an above photograph) and realized that was exactly what I wanted!

I managed to split the case and extracted ALL the case studs today. The case is off to the machine shop tomorrow to bore out the spigots to 105mm.

[Carrera3.5L]

Chris,

It sounds like a great project and I wish you the best of luck on it, but out of curiousity how do you get 100mm x 70.4mm to be a 3.4L?

Are you going to shuffle pin the case while it's at the machine shop?

Ralph

[cstreit]

Rounding error

Obviously it's 3317 but 83cc's isn't that much... It's an aluminum case and I'm not planning on shuffle pinning it. No need for a motor that's torn down every few seasons....

[hobieboy]

Very cool project Chris!
And good luck... keep us posted on progress.