Thanks! I am glad to know that the Rat project has inspired you:) Being finished does feel unreal and strange because I have been so focused on the project for the last year. It feels wonderful to enjoy and use the car. It is going to be quite nice to have some spare time for fishing and just relaxing a bit:cool:

If you live in Bonita Springs, where would you go on Spring Break?

Thanks Timmy! I appreciate the kind words. It has been one crazy year :D

Thanks! I am glad you have learned a lot. That means the thread is serving the purpose I intended :p Your kind words mean a lot because in all honesty I feel a little worn out after this crazy year of restoring the Rat. I really appreciate your comment about the enthusiasm and energy because I always try to give 100%. This doesn't always work out but what the heck. I always try to excite my students for engineering because in all reality is there anything cooler? Thanks again for your nice comment. If you are ever "lurking" around in south Florida come over for a beer and say hi to the Rat:cool:

It appears that my driver side tail light fix with the JB weld has failed. I think I have found a solution that would work well on the thread below.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/405209-tail-brake-light-bulbs-loose.html

I am going to be spending my spring break doing water research in Colorado at 8,500 ft at temperatures hovering around freezing. This might not be the best idea:rolleyes: Maybe I should stay home and go to the beach;)

Shakedown woes: Hi everyone! I have been driving the Rat to work the last couple of weeks to iron out any issues. The first thing that needed attention was a gas leak coming from the tank. It turns out that I didn't tighten the fitting for the fuel line enough and was getting a small drop every 5 minutes or so. I found this problem using my nose. About 3 days ago I thought to myself "I don't remember the garage smelling this bad when I drove the car last a year ago". At that point I took out a flashlight, crawled under the car and saw a puddle and the point of concern. Today I was able to address the leak by tightening up the fuel line fitting.


The culprit! The gas ate away some of the undercoating but not the epoxy primer
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361756191.jpg

A picture of the new brake master cylinder. The car has been stopping like a champ!



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361756351.jpg

Out on the driveway fixing the gas leak

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361756395.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361756417.jpg

Shakedown Woes Part 2: I have been trying to get my rear driver lights to function properly for over a week now. I got a couple of tail light housings from a 71 just in case it was the wiring and to have some spare parts. I have checked everything, made sure the ground is good, and the only light I can get to work is the blinker and the brake light. This leads me to believe that my ground is good. The running lights won't work and I am at a loss as to what is going on. I have taken everything apart, checked the connection and done everything I can think of. Has anybody had this happen before? My next step is to check if I am getting voltage when the running lights are on at the plug connector.

Here are a few pictures of wiring and parts.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361757693.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1361757726.jpg

The Rat's older brother:D

porsche celebrates 50th anniversary of the 911

Nope; nothing cooler. Glad there are still engineering profs like you out there, educating the next round of us.

Science is cooler...

BTW I've heard people say Loctite 518 works great on fuel hose junctions.

Thanks Jim! I have only been an engineering prof for 3 years but plan on doing so for quite some time.

Pretty sure Ferdinand, Ferry, Butzi, Peter, etc would disagree with you. The vin plate on your car says Dr. Ing. H.C. Ferdinand Porsche not Dr. Biologie or Dr. Chemie or Dr. Physik. Don't get me wrong, I love science. The reason I love science is that engineering is the art of applying science to building things for society. Now if only everyone had a Porsche in their garage ;)

As a fellow engineer, I say, well said sir! http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat.gif

Jeremy, I thought you might like that response!

Wow what a great job on the car! Congrats
I hope you are enjoying the car now after all of the hard work you put in it

Thanks! I am certainly enjoying it as much as I can! I have a few odds and ends to finish up but it is drivable.

I have driven the Rat three days this week so far and am shooting for 4 tomorrow!! LHF here I come! I am contemplating getting a CDI box and matching coil so I have a fatter spark. Any suggestions on the conversion? I know I will have issues with the tach and will need a tach adjuster. I am pretty sure that you can't use the current set up I have, which is points and condensor. I have also been thinking about new ignition wires. Any suggestions?

MSD cdi boxes will trigger off your points, no problem.

I am trying to get an original Bosch 3 pin CDI box. I am pretty sure that means I will need to get a new tach unless I can use a tach adaptor. Has anyone been able to adapt a non CDI tach to work with a CDI box?