Help me style this beat-up old 912

[alancitooo]

any update on this?

[MichiganMat]

Originally Posted by alancitooo

any update on this?

Mike and I are busy working out the bugs. We were able to take it around the block a few weeks back, it sounds like a pissed-off espresso machine (PPSSSSS WHOOOSH!!).

We get back on it this weekend, the short-list includes:
• seal up a few leaks in the cooling system
•*fix a leak in the oil pan
•*flash in a decent rom to the ecu

Otherwise, we're nearly in business.

[Dueller]

Where did you source gold paint for the wheels?

[MichiganMike]

Dueller, I can't recall as it was some time ago. Think i went with the cheapest place I could find that sold Duplicolor. Cans were about $20 each plus shipping. Believe it was about $50 for two cans shipped.

[ej911]

this is pretty cool!

[alancitooo]

id love to check it out when its in socal i have a 66 912 and considering doing this and would like to talk to you guys about it.

[rennch]

I jumped onto this thread because of the title. Saw the picture, then flipped to the last page.


LOL.

A slippery slope, these cars....

[MichiganMike]

Hahaha so true emptyo!

Here's a preview of an easy drive from stop light yesterday!
http://youtu.be/g9n9IiJHJUk

[pksystems]

Looks/sounds good. (Except for the VVS)

[kenikh]

Sounds proper

[not_hans_stuck]

OMG! You've ruined your 912!!! Just kidding.


Awesome build. I love those tubes. Can you make me a set?

Congratulations on the first start. Mine is coming up soon, I hope.

Check out my thread.

RSR LS Conversion

[not_hans_stuck]

Can you post pic of the under car routing of the metal coolant lines?

[MichiganMat]

A little update on the 912R-STi:

We're deep into debugging now. The cooling system has been a tricky one... We don't have a water temp gauge yet, so we've had to use the laptop and watch the ECU metrics directly until we get the gauges rebuilt. We've found that the cooling system we built works reasonably well but if there are *any* bubbles whatsoever in the system that the motor will hit scary-bad temps pretty quickly. Flaw #1.

Lesson 1: Cooling system must be fully burped before attempting to drive

As for the gauge, we're going to have the stock oil-temp gauge rebuilt to take signal from a newer VDO water temp sender. The gauge will look nice and stock in the dash too. We're also going to add a second set of Spal fans, so each rad will have 2 fans, just as insurance and maximum cooling.

We spent the weekend doing test drives and found flaw #2 when a silicon hose in the passenger side rear wheel well pushed off and dumped 2 gallons of water all over the street. We neglected to flare the ends of the cooling pipes.

Lesson 2: Cooling system must be capable of handling pressure

This past week I was able to take the car for a /spirited/ drive in the Santa Cruz mountains. This brought out flaw #3. The nearly-stock squishy springs we're using allowed the driver side banana-arm to compress and cut through the silicon boot in our cooling system. The lines will need to be rebuilt on the drivers side, we'll tackle that job this weekend.

Lesson 3: Cooling system must be fully protected from all moving suspension parts


This weekend we're going to get back to work on it and tie up the last couple of issues. With each drive we're seeing improved reliability, the bugs are shaking out nicely, I feel like we're on our way to a daily-drivable experience.

[MichiganMike]

Long overdue Update:

Been busy lately working out the bugs but feel we are getting closer. A few notable items:

- Rebuilt rear coolant outlet piping - goes rear of tire, then up and over tire like other side of car. Much safer and doesnt get in the way of the suspension travel.
- Added 2 more fans (4 fans total) to the front side radiators. 2 fans per rad
- Added front center radiator to lower highway driving temperatures
- Added a Thermal Zero turbo blanket, the heat was starting to show on the timing belt cover
- Added a new VDO temp sensor unit with caution light, tied it into the original gauge (help from North Hollywood Speedo)

[MichiganMat]

Another productive weekend with the 912R-STi!

Mike and I were able to finish up work on the front-mount radiator and it looks like we're in the clear as far as cooling goes. We now have a rad in each fender and one center mounted in the bumper, if it doesn't keep the engine cool then we're pretty much out of ideas, haha. Cutting the tub is NOT and option, we want the install to be as least invasive as possible.

Anyways, the goal of this weekend was to put some miles on her and shake down any remaining issues. A few things popped up, but for the most part it was smooth sailing. The car is ready for daily-use and is ready to make the trek to its new home with Mike in Huntington Beach CA in just a few weeks.

As we all know though, the journey doesn't stop here, this is in many ways just the beginning... we're both looking forward to showing it off at Cars-n-Coffee, putting miles on it, and talking about the build with fellow car-guys, Porsche and not. Mike met a fellow p-car owner up at Alices Restaurant this weekend with a '73 911 w/3.6 hotrod. Mike said the owner told him "I know a guy who would LOVE it, and I know a guy who would HATE it". So do we!

We know its going to be polarizing, we know its not what everyone would choose to build, but that is exactly why we chose this platform to build from... Porsche owners not only care deeply about these cars, but they aren't afraid to express themselves in what they build. 964s backdated to long hoods, mid-years hotrodded 993 bodies, Turbo engines stuffed in narrow-bodies, V8-conversions, race cars, cruisers, rats and trailer queens. We love them all, its what attracted me to the 911 in the first place 15 years ago, and today I truly believe our 912 has a place amongst them.

As these cars become more and more rare and valuable I think its important, now more than ever, that we don't lose the creative spirit that brought many of us to the marque. There are plenty of other makes whose communities are centered around restoration and preservation, where modification and variation are either not possible or are commonly frowned upon. I hope that doesn't happen to us, I hope we continue to experiment, to explore, and to build our dream-cars to best of our abilities, imperfect as they may be.

In any case, Id just like to say thanks for sharing this journey with us, and thanks to Pelican Parts and Wayne for giving us this amazing forum to talk about the project with all of you.

- Mat

[kenikh]

Love it - 4 cylinder Boxer power in a 912 is just right, regardless. If a Polo 4 is OK, so is a Subie 4. Awesome work.

[MichiganMike]

Couldn't have said it any better than that Mat.

Much thanks to ronw and Britain Smith who helped us along this journey with the motor install. Would've taken much, much longer to complete and probably not as good to boot.

I do look forward to bringing it to a Pelican Parts car show in Rancho Palos Verdes soon Wayne and showing 'er off! It won't compare to the 959 you've brung out, but I think she'll still be a good highlight to the party.

[Tremelune]

There is a lot you can do to a 911 to make it the way you want it (more power, greater reliability, raw sound, etc), but the 912 motor is just a pain in the ass, and I don't think it's much easier to get a 911 motor in than a Subaru or Chevy. You still wind up with a bastard, but with an oldass, pricey engine.

I love this thing. Any final(ish) cost breakdown? I wouldn't mind seeing more of the technical hurdles that needed surmounting...even though current 912 prices are already too high to try...

If my '87 wasn't bone-stock original, and my M491 didn't already have a 3.6...

[Cook&Dunning]

This is such a great idea. Let them howl - love this.

[Fixer]

Very cool. I just [2 hours ago] drove my Mother in laws new 4 cylinder Subaru and was impressed with the torque of this little water cooled boxer motor in this heavy SUV. When you pop the hood and see that boxer in there, you smile because it's so Porsche like.

I read that Subaru was one of the fighter plane engine suppliers for the Japanese during WWII.

When these fighters crashed, many times the Subaru motor was removed from the wreck and reused !

Great build Mike and Matt ! -Matt