Introducing the Cruddler

Cook&Dunning · 04:08 PM

I brought this coupe home in December. Haven’t had much time to work on it, but wanted to introduce it to the forum. It is an 89 track car that I plan to bring back to street.

I am the 3rd keeper of this car. 2nd owner’s wife gave the car to him as a 40th Bday gift in 1992. It had ~12,000 miles on it. He drove it for a bit and then made it in to a dedicated E class club racer. In the late 1990’s the engine was rebuilt by Bill Driscoll at Precision Motion East. Carillo rods, shuffle pinned etc. Car has Porsche motorsport lsd, uprated torsion bars and anti-sway bars, leda remote reservoir dampers, CCW wheels. I drove the car from the enclosed delivery truck to my garage (about a block). The neighbors were not impressed with the B&B headers and straight super trapp tips without baffles. Sounded pretty great to me. Squeezing past the roll bar and in to the Kirkey race seats was a pain in the arse. Calling the ride stiff would be an understatement. I have since pulled the seats and roll bar out and sold. I have also pulled the fuel cell and fire system. Restored fuel tank installed. Car started right up, no smoke, no leaks.

I think this is a pretty neat car – on one hand it is a track car that has been well used. But, it has zero rust and is a resto candidate down the road.

My 2 stage plan - First, I want to get it roadworthy and just drive it. It will be rough(thus the Cruddler name) Those pointing wheel crests at valve stems will be disappointed. After, I can tinker and work on all of the other stuff. And eventually, down the road I may go for a full on restoration to original. Or, I may just sell it to someone who is keen to do that. It has 54,000 miles on it, and it is a 25th Anniversary Coupe – there was no limit to production, but general consensus is about 240 Silver Coupes. I have the PCA club racing books for the car, stamped by some club racing gurus back in the day.

[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads24/December+2014+0081429313695.jpg

Cook&Dunning · 04-17-2015, 03:57 PM

a few more pics

Trackrash · Trackrash's Garage

Nice car. With it's racing heritage, I would be inclined to keep it somewhat original to the track car it is.

Patrick3000 · 04-17-2015, 04:47 PM

Very nice, those Fuch's and a tire with a taller sidewall should help soften the ride a bit, enjoy.

Speed metal · 04-17-2015, 08:22 PM

Man, I love this car! I would be so tempted to leave it as is...Love it. Very cool.

speeds5 · speeds5's Garage

I bought an E racer as well but keeping it a racer. Trying to get my racing license now and continue racing it. Track car for now.

Enjoy it! Looks great

911Freak · 04-18-2015, 08:32 AM

Nice score! There is so much "right" with this car.... 89 would have std coil overs and G50 right?! Nice platform for street/track car.

If it does have the coil overs you can play with spring rates and dampers to get a nice balance between track performance and street compliance.

Have fun!

puddy · puddy's Garage

Cool car, very nice find, no matter what you do it'll be fun, enjoy!

Cook&Dunning · 04-19-2015, 05:53 AM

Thanks to all for the comments. I am definately keeping the track car feel. Just need to get to street legal - or near enough for safety inspection.

I am leaving the suspension as is - although that may end up as next winters' project. I had a Cayman R suspension in my Cayman S - but this 89 set up is a whole new level of stiff and sqeeky. As Patrick3000 commented, I think taller sidewalls will help.

That is the weekend project - boought a pair of 17 x 9 Euromeisters off of our host, doing them up RSR style. Putting the 16 x 8 fuchs up front.

Trackrash · Trackrash's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cook&Dunning

Thanks to all for the comments. I am definately keeping the track car feel. Just need to get to street legal - or near enough for safety inspection.

I am leaving the suspension as is - although that may end up as next winters' project. I had a Cayman R suspension in my Cayman S - but this 89 set up is a whole new level of stiff and sqeeky. As Patrick3000 commented, I think taller sidewalls will help.

Let's see some shots of the suspension.

You might consider adjustable shocks. Granted my car is not a dedicated track car, but, I run my car's shocks on full soft around town. My car is almost un-livible on the county roads around here with my shocks set on firm. At the track a few clicks on my externally adjustable Koni's and it is nice and firm.

Cook&Dunning · 04-19-2015, 11:16 AM

The rears are set 2 clicks from hardest setting, 23 clicks from soft. I haven't done a lot of searching on Leda, but they do not seem very common. I am not sure if there would be a standard rating for these, or if they would have been a custom set up - meaning how soft would the soft rating be - 500?

I believe they were either supplied by or serviced by Racers Edge. Any advice / info on these welcomed.

One thought I had was if they were custom, could they be serviced and have them made softer? and perhaps remove the remote reservoir? Or would they have a value to a racer if I went to something else?