My cab has been under the knife for a while

[450knotOffice]

The black cab is getting a new clutch, new mounts for the engine and transmission, a new-to-me engine mount crossmember from a coupe (as opposed to the damper-equipped crossmember that came with the cabs), new fuel lines, and all of the oil leaks fixed.

Paul (Pkaaso on this forum) has decided to take on this work and has been working on it as time has allowed. The engine is out (has been for a few weeks now), has been thoroughly cleaned, and has been torn down to the point that the cam boxes are off the engine. Because the engine is out, I decided to bring the tin, fan, and fan housing to the powdercoater. The chain boxes and valve covers are being bead-blasted by Paul and will be clear coated. Most of the oil lines are being replaced with nice shiny new one's. I also pressure washed the entire engine compartment, the transmission, and the underside of the car (I'm not polishing it though - that's just too hard core ).

I also decided to finally tackle that pedal cluster rebuild this car has needed for the past three years. I pulled it out pretty easily with a couple little snags along the way and once it was removed, I marveled at how poor it's condition was. It looked like it had been sitting on the Titanic for 100 years.

Anyway, fast forward a couple of weeks and it's been rebuilt. Here are before and after shots. I'm pretty happy with it.

before

after



Here are some shots taken a couple of weeks ago. The engine is quite a bit more torn down now than it was when these pics were taken.



I'll post more pics tomorrow and as the car progresses.

[Hugh R]

Scott, very nice. I wish I had a lift. Those pedals look like they come from an East Coast car. Just curious, why the coupe mounted cross member instead of the cab one? Stiffer? I have no idea. Hope to make it and see you on the Big Bear run.

[Bill Douglas]

Nice work, the pedal cluster looks like new, in fact the whole car is looking like new.

[450knotOffice]

Thanks Bill and Hugh. Yep, the car spent most of it's life in Humid Florida, at least until about four years ago.

The car has been a labor of love for me since I bought it. It's coming along nicely and I'm happier with it every day.

[kevin993]

Quite a project and quite impressive. Are you targeting to bring it along to the Big Bear run? Thanks for sharing the pics. Black cabs rule!!!

[the]

why did you change the engine mount?

[450knotOffice]

Thanks, Kevin. I'd like to bring it on the run. It should be done by then.

As for the cabriolet crossmember being swapped out for the coupe crossmember, my old one has a worn out damper and the rubber center pivot in the center of the mount is basically worn out. I priced those two items separately and the cost to replace them was more than the cost of the entire crossmember for a coupe. I got the bright idea that I could simply swap the crossmember assembly from a coupe, considering that the Targa, which uses the same body as the cab, uses it. I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't create some sort of dynamic problem with the mount so I asked Dave B at TRE and Tyson if it was OK to use it and they said absolutely! Tyson even mentioned that it would help stiffen up the chassis slightly. Basically, the cab got a different mount so that the the car would be a little smoother with it's slightly more flexible chassis. I prefer rigidity of the chassis over smoothness. Dave and Tyson gave me the green light, so I went with it.

Also, that's not my lift. The car is Paul Kaas's shop. He's one of us (Pkaaso), but rarely posts here because he's so busy (which is good for him).

[MattAlpha]

Scott,

If you're going to continue to stiffen your cab up, one thing that you should check for are stress fractures in your unibody at the back end part of your door sills (where the lead fill is used). That is where the bending loads are absorbed by Cabs and Targas, but Cabs seem to be the most vulnerable. If you're going to stiffen things up you need to make sure that you do not have any of these stress fractures or you'll accelerate their grow rate.

I saying this because my Cab has them on both sides. The guys at Performance Art were kind enough to point them out to me and explain what causes them to me in depth and the only way to fix them (they didn't offer to do work, they were just trying to help me out). If you do have the fractures, you must evacuate the lead, have the unibody re-welded and then re-fill the area with lead or some other type of filler. Lead is preferred because it doesn't shrink as other fillers such as composites may. If you want a picture I'll take one of mine and post it so you know what to look for.

Just something to think about. Your car looks great and I hope everything goes prefect with the project!

-Matt

[charleskieffner]

450knot since i have been running my cab at PIR/FIREBIRDINTL/ and CALIF. motor speedway, i have found that the single most important thing you can do is have a set goal with what you want from car.

remember stripping it completely and doing all the wazoo stuff is nice, but what class are you going to run with?????

going to calif. mtr speedway taught me in J-STOCK class that without proper tires, you will have yer ass handed to you! and even then the number of showroom stock cars was limited to only lil old me! we ran michelin pilot sports and were very very happy with them on a 88 degree day.

i am 2820 pounds w/me in car and w/full tank of sunoco race fuel. the other 42 cars had me beat on weight let alone driver skill and complete knowledge of track. actually i can only ditch 118 more pounds and thats like an impossible dream!

PCA tech was brutal !

here what i learned after shoveling mass quanities of cash into it......if you want to race your street car you have to make your street car into a race car! it is cheaper and a hell of alot more fun to find a track rat/roach coupe w/out sunroof than try and make a cab into race car! plus your nice cab is no longer nice for the street. ie. i took mine to the very limit of showroom stock as far as going nuts replacing or removing everything!

it handles like a dream and in 1449 miles . i drove 367 miles to fontana, (5) time trials in (2) days and then drove it back 367 miles to phx. and some buzzing around here, i only used 1/4 of a quart of oil in 1449 miles. porsche states 1 quart of oil useage every 750 miles! and thats now w/117K miles on a never been touched engine!

as much as i wanted to run my cab, i found that it is FAR TOO NICE to be raced next to 42 other junkyard dog cars that noone gives a rats ass about paint/windshields/bodywork etc.

kind of picture your nice cab and mine as FOO FOO POODLE DOGS and the other 42 JUNKYARD DOG PORSCHES WANT TO RAPE US!

thats my 2 cents and im looking to next find me a ratted/roached out coupe, that i wont care if it gets hit...........and IT WILL SOONER OR LATER hit someone or be HIT! what im saying is 43 cars sooner or later by the odds will make contact!

thats what i learned! it took a lot of money and time to learn it, but i did!

if you care about car you will not press it all the way to win. if you dont care about car........YOULL WRING ITS GUTS OUT TO WIN! and just throw it on trailer at the end of the day and not worry about how it looks or runs until the next time you want to go scare the hell outta yourself!

[Pkaaso]

Originally posted by 450knotOffice

Also, that's not my lift. The car is at friend's shop. He's one of us, but rarely posts here because he's so busy.

Scott, I do get a few choice words in here and there. I'm soooo busy trying to get MY car back together I can't see straight. And of course, hitting the monthly NUT. Drives ME nuts.... LOL

Paul

[450knotOffice]

Hey, nice to see you poke your head in here every once in a while, Paul.

(Paul's the guy who owns/runs the shop my car is sitting in. He's been an immeasurable help for me. He's so busy that every time I go in there to help out I feel like I'm completely in his way. Sorry for being a pain-in-your-a$$ Paul. )

[450knotOffice]

Matt, thanks for the heads-up. I'm a bit curious now. Do you mind posting pics?

Charles, I don't actually plan for any wheel-to-wheel racing, especially for this car. I'm just trying to create a nice car to drive and one that is DE capable (hence, the need for a roll bar, which is coming later this summer). I have the track bug but have always brought the 996. I've always felt that I've been playing with fire bringing my daily driver to the track for fun open track days. The cab, as nice as it is, is not my daily driver, is paid for, and can be parked and fixed when able if it were to be damaged. However, like I said, I only plan to bring it out to the track for fun - no competition for me. If I were ever to do that, I'd definitely go the route you mention.

[DByers]

Scott, Dont make that cab to pretty! You may not want to trakc it.

Good to see it coming along and hopefully I will see it this fall at the next track day for me with OTR. (taking the summer off with the kids).

[450knotOffice]

Thanks Dan. I hear you about the Fall. Personally, I don't think I want to be at Willow Springs in the middle of Summer - just too hot in the desert that time of year.

[Pkaaso]

Originally posted by 450knotOffice
Hey, nice to see you poke your head in here every once in a while, Paul.

(Paul's the guy who owns/runs the shop my car is sitting in. He's been an immeasurable help for me. He's so busy that every time I go in there to help out I feel like I'm completely in his way. Sorry for being a pain-in-your-a$$ Paul. )

Scott, you must be joking... It's a pleasure everytime you visit. Really, I mean that. You're never in the way and it's my pleasure to help you get your cab together. It'll probably be running before mine and I'll need a car to borrow... LOL

Paul

[MattAlpha]

Scott,

Here is a pic I took of my car so you know its not just some beaten junk and the next one is of the cracks on the driver's side. From the first pic you can see that I can't currently access the passenger's side, though it was about the same.




As you may see a PO had the entire car re-painted and it seems to me that they tried to hid these cracks. When I bought the car I didn't know enough to even look for these signs. This car has taught me a lot to say the least about 911's.

I'm currently thinking of fab'ing a sub frame to support the middle of my chasis so this will not happen again.

I hope your's doesn't possess these same signs.

-Matt

[slodave]

Matt, thanks for posting the last picture. Now I know where to look on my Targa, but last time I washed my car, I did not notice any cracks in the paint in that location.

Dave

[MattAlpha]

Good to hear Dave, hopefully I'm the only one with this problem on our board.

-Matt

[84porsche]

Awesome thread Scott. I had no idea you were working on the car but then again I have not been on the board much with work etc. I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I got a bunch of small pieces coming from Pelican this next week and hope to get all these replaced. I also got the Targa top done last week, looks fantastic. I'll probably post a thread a little later.

Chris

[Joe Bob]

Looking good...I did the same when I clanged my second gear....did the whole engine, fixed the leaks and generally prettied up the motor including the tin with new powder coating.

I agree on the stress fractures. I run pretty heavy duty suspension in my cab and when I did the backdate to a long hood had them welded up. Two years of flogging it and they haven't returned.