What was your best (or worst) 911-related invention?

[Patronus]

Those of you who are adventurous, have you ever tried devising your own part for a 911? I'm not talking titanium grinding and high-precision milling - I'm talking DIY home-made it-had-better-work technology.

Listen to this:

My car ('74 2.7) needed a fuel accumulator. It just wouldn't start when hot. A new one costs 1500 South Acfrican Rand, half my salary (almost...). So I became very creative.
I took a cannister (old spray can) and mounted it high up inside the engine compartment. The reason for chosing that specific cannister was its volume and strength (20cm high, 8cm wide, and able to easily hold 5 bar pressure). I connected the cannister, which was empty, to the fuel line down below by means of a t-connection in the fuel line.
The idea behind it was simple: as pressure builds up in the fuel line, fuel will start pressing up towards the cannister, and into the cannister, accumulating up air pressure inside it. By the time there is 5 bar pressure inside, the air volume is about 8cm x 4 cm - more than enough to keep consistent pressure on the fuel line.
Also, since the cannister is mounted so high up, the air trapped inside can't ever escape. Rendering this a permanent and cheap solution.
Lo and behold, it worked. Like a charm. My car that NEVER started when hot, jumped to life every time, no matter how hot it was or how long it stood .... for the first few hours of the day. Then it slowly became worse, and worse, and worse.
The idea was (and is) perfect. But somehow the air escapes from the cannister during spirited driving. The air actually finds its way down into the fuel line, contrary to my interpretation of physics.
I know that, with persistence, I can make this work perfectly. But I have now ordered an accumulator...

Any other inventors out there, successful or not??

[Doug Zielke]

Mmmm....I once bent a coat-hanger to fish out a screw that fell into a crevice on the heat exchanger. Pretty "inventive", eh?

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'81 SC Coupe (aka: "Blue Bomber")
Canada West Region PCA
The Blue Bomber's Website
"If it ain't broke...we'll help you fix it 'til it is!"

[wckrause]

I made a very good cup holder out of a small brass door hinge, and part of a cheap aftermarket plastic cup holder. It mounts behind the passengers knee pad just next to the ashtray. This was my third attempt at solving this problem.

[island911]

Fortunately, I haven't had many things break on my 20 year old 911. . .other than the sunroof cables. The "BREAK" was nothing more than the cable pulling out of the crimp on the body of the sr slider. So rather than upgrading to the newer style rails and cables, as the dealer said was the only option, I create my own fix.
For more details, see: (Topic: Sunroof cable repair.... $400+ ?? )
http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/Forum3/HTML/010994.html

Aside: on your accumulator; Gasses (Air) will mix with fluids (Petrol). Pressurized air will mix even more. Air is in water, the oxygen is what fish breathe, Nitrogen bubbles can be seen at the bottom of a pot of water before it boils.
Great topic Patronus; I hope to see more replies.

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'81 SC COUPE

[stormcrow]

I owned a 65 karmanghia once - (does that qualify?) We were up in Vermont skiiing and on the way home, like about 10:00 pm in the middle of nowhere, the cable from the gas pedal to the throttle broke. Fortunately I had a hank of wire with me and rigged it up so it came out of the trunk around to the driver side door through the window and onto my finger.

I used this method to accelerate, while my wife shifted and we made it back home.

Steve

[Patronus]

On the topic of the accumulator again - I later thought that something balloon-like inside the cannister would keep the fuel seperated from the air. We'll never know, I guess...

Stormcrow, I reckon you must have the only drive-by-wire Karmann Ghia that I know of.

[Jamul74]

My best is a length of PVC pipe to keep both the engine lid and trunk from falling down and smashing my dome. Cheap and works great unless you knock it out in which case the lid falls down and smashes my dome.

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Dan S.
1974 911 Targa

[fred cook]

I needed a pilot bearing puller one night when I was replacing the clutch on my 924S.
Of course I did not have one in the toolbox, and the parts houses were closed. In a fit of desperation, I found a shouldered bolt, a large nut, a smaller bolt and a drill bit. I drilled and tapped the shouldered bolt through the length, used a dremel to split the shouldered bolt, fit the pieces through the large nut, used the drill bit to anchor the split bolt, and threaded the smaller bolt into the split bolt (yeah, yeah, I know a picture would help). Then the smaller bolt would thread into the split sections, causing it to spread out on the ends. I was able to insert this mess into the pilot bushing, tighten the small bolt, and "HALLELUA BROTHERS!!! " the pilot bearing came out slick as can be. Even works better than mashed up white bread. The little gizmo is still in the tool box just waiting for another chance to go to work.

[pwd72s]

"wckrause
Member posted 09-16-2001 07:34 AM
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I made a very good cup holder out of a small brass door hinge, and part of a cheap aftermarket plastic cup holder."

Gee, that was never a problem with me. Cup holder? I'd just hand my cold beer to my girlfriend when the twisties approached, then I'd ask her to hold it between her legs & keep it cold.

Never could figure out why I went through several girlfriends...?

[This message has been edited by pwd72s (edited 09-16-2001).]

[dtw]

Hmmm I didn't invent the 1987 Volkwagen Jetta, but it makes a helluva 911 chassis dolly:



Said Volkwagen used big rusty nails to hold the bumpers on, now that was creative...



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Dave
'72 911T to '73 RSR Replica Project

[makaio]

My worst 911 invention, was when I was trying to fill my tranny with gear oil the first time. I though I would use gravity to my advantage, but i forgot about head pressure. I bought a 6' section of rubber tubing, atatched it to a 1qt gear oil bottle(slipped it over the tip, with no clamp), and suspended it from my bicycle repair stand about 4 ft off the ground. Then I cut the bottom of it out so I could set the gallon jug of swepco up to puor into it like a funnel. Needless to say, when I poured the swepco in, the rubber hose came off and the blue goo made a nice Exxon Valdez style haz-mat on my garage floor.

I can't take credit for being the first to do it, but this is my best, I took a 2x6 piece of redwood and routed it out to fit on my floor jack as a pad. This way I don't scrath or dent things on the underside.

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Matt Chamblin
78 911 SC