Yawn… Yet another 911R Clone build thread…

[78-911SC]

Doug great job. Did you put new shrink wrap or a new plastic sleeve on the wiring harness? It looked so clean and new. If yes can you tell were you got parts or who restored it.

[R_Builder]

More fun here… I probably made it hard on myself by deciding early on to use one of those overflow/expansion tanks from the 69-73(?) cars. I actually saw a somewhat similar set-up on a real R and said, “Hey, I have those parts!” I hope it works out okay… better than the set-up on the 65-68’s, but not quite as robust as what they started doing on the LWB cars.

Here is where the expansion tank will go and what will support it (more trailer bracket metal to the rescue… it even already had lightening holes!):




And here is the tank and the lines routed, for the most part:




Like those semi-clear yellow lines? They are a gasoline-compatible Tygon tubing product. I thought I would at least try to find something that could hold up to the fluids over time AND was transparent enough to see if they were doing their job and staying clean. Stainless hose clamps and some brass barb fittings took care of the routing and the connections. The carpet kit will cover it all up, for better or for worse…

I will run the “dump/breather” line all the way down behind the battery to the front bulkhead and exit it through one of the existing 1” diameter holes via two 90 deg. elbows and a bulkhead fitting. The final line segment outside of the car body will be hidden by the front bumper and I can use it to help route the line to a good safe place for the drips…

Notice the strut bar? Another little “side job” that got done. All its yellow/gold cad plating was shot so I decided to make it look nice again. Since I painted it with aluminum colored paint, that will make it lighter, right? Note how nicely it matches the filler cap on the gas tank… just like I planned it.



That's it for now, but still more to come.

[vwbobd]

You should be ashamed !!! putting this easy project on here!!! So sad!!!!

I'm so jealous of you and your project!!

[R_Builder]

As many of you may have guessed by now, this is what I have been working up to. The engine has not been run since July 2008. I did quite a bit of little things to it while it was out and I am just plain ready to hear it run and start tuning the carbs!

Since I had made a lot of changes to the car and the powertrain over the last 1 year+, I planned for a fitcheck first. One major item on the fitcheck list was to see if I could sneak out those 2 rear trailing arm bolts that are right next to the tranny. Based on my measurements I thought I could get them out, but there is no substitute for really trying it out. This would help me decide whether or not the rear suspension overhaul would have to happen right now prior to installing/running the engine, or if I could move it down the list a little bit.

So happy to be together again:



Fitcheck went really smooth:



The four big bolts lined up just fine and there were no interferences at all with the new exhaust system, fuel system, etc. And... I was able to remove both of the rear trailing arm bolts!!!

The LHS one came right out without any special tricks. The RHS one required me to loosen the tranny mount bolts enough to let the front of the powertrain drop about 1/4" so the head of the bolt could clear a rib on the tranny. So there is a data point for someone... on a 1968 912 chassis, with a 902/02 tranny, supported by a 71T 911 tranny mount, SSI's on a 2.4L 911 motor, no axles installed, you CAN get those trailing arm bolts out. I suppose that is a somewhat unique setup...

So, with that info in hand, I removed the powertrain, took care of a few last items on the engine that are easier done outside the car, put the shift rod back in the tunnel of the car, and reinstalled the powertrain:



All of the hook-ups on the bottom are complete. The wiring topside has been linked up in a temporary fashion to make sure I got it all right and I am in the process of safe-ing all the other electrical connections on the car, setting up a fuel pump relay for that Carrera fuel pump, and getting a few gauges temp installed.

The shopping list for tomorrow's trip to town is a fun one... gas, oil, and a battery! Getting close...

[R_Builder]

This looks a bit rough around the edges, but testing can be like that. I don’t know what is scarier, how this looks or the fact that I actually know what all these wires do (after a lot of time with the wiring diagrams)… in theory.

Engine bay hook ups:



A 1971’s ignition switch grafted into the ’68 wiring:



A fuel pump relay wired in up front:



At least this looks pretty good:



So, with that done, the fuel system was flushed out, and then I dead-headed it and set the pressure to 4 psi, then hooked it to the carbs. That meant a good chunk of the electrical was working correctly… gauges came to life, too. The oil is loaded, so not much else to do but….

[R_Builder]

I ran the motor in the car last Sunday and it went very smoothly. Everything seems to have worked just fine. I made a little video of it so everyone could hear that M&K 911R muffler, but I can't seem to upload it...

It kinda sounded like this... vurooom, vuroooom, pop, pop, vurooooom!

[vwbobd]

Great!!! and when you get it completed just send it to me

[dshepp806]

Fine work, indeed! WOW!!!!!!!!!

Doyle

[R_Builder]

Well, I have lost a bit of momentum on this project as of late because of other projects that are in work (it is good to be busy, right?). I figured I could at least update the thread since it has been a few(!) months…

After getting the engine running, I started in on the rear suspension restoration/upgrade/fixing. The car did not have the factory provisions for a rear sway bar when I got it (a Weltmeister was installed with the “adapter kit”), so that issue was pretty high on the list. I decided to step down the torsion bars from 30mm to 28mm, so this was certainly the time to do that, along with the upgrade to rear PolyBronze. AND, I wanted to go for the rear brake disk upgrade option using modified 944 rotors, so I decided to throw that into the mix while I was at it! Lots of facets to this chuck of work, so it took a while for all the parts to come together and be ready to be installed back on the car.

The rear sway bar work came first. Everything off the rear end and then some fitchecks of the new hardware were in order:



I needed enough parts in place to help me locate the weld-on sway bar brackets since there are not a lot of good reference points to work with on a SWB chassis (LWB’s have pads on the inner longitudinals that show you where to put them, nice…). Mocked up:



WEVO brackets modified and prepared to get welded onto the car:




And the bar being held on by its new brackets:



That’s half the issue taken care of…

[R_Builder]

My rear trailing arms now needed some TLC to accept a rear sway bar in a semi-stock fashion. I went the bushing route, adding small pipe sections through the arms themselves to provide points to bolt the drop links/rod-ends to. Here are some pics of the mods:







And finally another quick fitcheck to see how everything plays together before going much further:



Now that I was happy with the trailing arms, I went ahead and replaced all the rear wheel bearings and seals, installed monoballs at the pivot points, and inspected all the drive hub/stub axle parts (messy stuff):





Most of the pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together. After painting the trailing arms and some other miscellaneous parts, it was time to start putting it all back on the car. Left and right hand sides assembled:





That was a fun couple of days. Lots of hooks could finally be made and I did a lot of cleanup on all the stuff exiting the rear of the tunnel.

[R_Builder]

Well, I guess technically this is rear brakes, but you get the point. I upgraded from the solid rear disc rotors by using modified 944 vented rear brake rotors and widening my existing L-calipers. I did not change the caliper piston sizes, so I don’t technically now have early 911S-style rear brakes, but I am pretty darn close. Modified rotor with the inner caliper half just to check it out first:



Looks good, so I put the calipers back together:



And put everything back on the car:





Finally! That let me terminate the rear brake lines all the way to the calipers (DOT braided lines to new hardlines), load brake fluid, and make the middle pedal work. I finally bought a power bleeder to help me with that step since the system was totally empty. Worked like a charm…

So, the undercarriage is now done. I guess if I installed the axles I could make the car move under its own power, but I think I will hold off on that for a little while in case for some reason I have to pull the powertrain back out. The car is off the lift now and sitting on all fours ready for the next step. Other than a few odd jobs, it is time to start putting the body parts back on and fit the fiberglass. That’s it for now… thanks for following along.

[Flieger]

Great Work!

[vwbobd]

Well...........I can play guitar really well!!!!!!!!!


I'm still jealous!!!!

[Eric_Shea]

Nice... now I see why you had the same size bolts. I've only had one other pair of L-Calipers like that. Those are basically 356 backs with L-Caliper noses. Very early examples I would guess. Do you want some more 55's?

[R_Builder]

Nothing monumental, but progress nonetheless. Bolt-in roll bar is courtesy of TRE and powdercoated satin black. You use the bar itself to help locate the threaded pads on the car, tack in place, remove the bar, then finish off the welds and seal them up:







It fit pretty well on reinstallation... needed a little shimming to close the gap on one side, but that was about it. Since everything was out to do the roll bar job, I went ahead and installed a dead pedal, too:



Looks much more the part compared to the newer aftermarket styles IMHO. Next up... doors!

[RWebb]

that looks like a stock piece

[Gillies]

I just love this thread !!! Keep up the good work !!

[alfy]

Looks great !! Love the 911R style !
Greetings from Norway ! Keep on posting

[al lkosmal]

Doug,
It's time for an update on this fantastic R.....................a great blend of craftsmanship, good decisions and retro-cool taste..........
Al

[RD911T]

Very nice work Doug. You make it look really easy!! lol!!