Ultimate RUF Conversion Thread

[MotoSook]

Originally Posted by Wavey

Post some pics ASAP! Good to hear from you.

Will do asap....and congratulations on the new sons-in-laws.


I'm doing some work in southern Illinois, not far from you...maybe I can work out an excursion toward your neck of the woods during the project. I'mm be in touch if I can make it work.

[vanwyk4257]

Jumping on the bandwagon so to speak. I got bored today so I removed the front bumper et al and began fitting my Ruf CTR front bumper I bought from Shakin Joe a few weeks ago. It's just attached in a couple places and I have lots of holes to drill to finish mounting it all up so I can begin the prep work for paint, but I like the look so far. I will be coupling it with an RS-style fiberglass rear bumper and a ducktail. Hopefully by this coming spring I will have it all fit up.

[James Brown]

OK here are some pics of mine in work also




thanks to this thread for all your help. made it a piece of cale! now fitting a carrera oil cooler in the fender. Didn't want it up front due to poss. damage. More upgrades on the way!!

[vanwyk4257]

Finished fitting the front bumper today, and then I fit the rear bumper I bought used from another Pelican. Unfortunately I had to trim the valance section off the bumper because it was contacting my muffler, I may try to glass it on later.
The front bumper will be getting brake ducts behind the fog lamp openings and a cooler scoop on the passenger side. I will definitely need to re-index the torsion bars this winter. And yes, I know the rear bumper doesn't match the car!

[James Brown]

hey Michael, what type of scoop do you have in mind for the oil cooler on the right side?

[vanwyk4257]

I fabricated one today out of sheet steel. I simply bent a nice radius around a piece of tubing and trimmed it with sheet metal snips so that there is a "flap" in the rear directing air to the oil cooler. I will paint it body color when I paint the bumper and probably attach it to the fiberglass with rivets or small bolts where they won't really be visible. I can't stomach paying $90+ for a plastic one anyway.

[James Brown]

yeah understand, someone made a lot of money on that chunk of plastic! I'm thinking of covering the air ducts with stainless steel wire mesh.

[vanwyk4257]

Yeah, it's a good idea to keep the junk out. I'll be using a 1/4" hardware mesh over the brake ducts to prevent leaves and other debris from getting into them.

[MotoSook]

Nice work, Mike.

Alos, I can't stop thinking that the way you have those three track stickers on the quarter glass...looks like the Farvfignugen (sp) guy ran into a wall and his head fell off behind him

[vanwyk4257]

Originally Posted by Souk

Nice work, Mike.

Alos, I can't stop thinking that the way you have those three track stickers on the quarter glass...looks like the Farvfignugen (sp) guy ran into a wall and his head fell off behind him

Now that's funny! The tracks are just Gingerman Raceway and Grattan Raceway. The other decal is for Furrin Group, a foreign car club here in SW Michigan that's been around over 50 years.

[SCWDP911]

Looks good Michael...

[KTL]

Oil cooler scoop is not all that critical on a 3.2 if you don't track it. Just having the radiant benefit of the cooler itself is beneficial. I've been running my car all year w/out a front cooler (not my choice due to a faulty aux. thermostat) and temps stay well within reasonably acceptable levels. They even stayed within marginal levels (just under 250F) on the track! But if you can get air to the cooler, by all means do so!!!

[vanwyk4257]

I may do something different, I mounted my brake ducts in the fog lamp openings and I cut out the top of the duct on the side of the oil cooler so a fair amount of air will get to the cooler. This might eliminate the need for a seperate cooler. After I skinned my leg on it once I rethought that a bit.

[KTL]

You won't need another cooler. Get some air to the cooler and you'll be just fine. For an extra margin of safety, connect the oil cooler fan wires to the fog light wires on that side of the car. Then you can manually turn on the fan with the fog light switch whenever you like- as long as you have the headlight switch in one of the "ON" positions. Nice thing about using the fog light wiring for manual control of the oil cooler fan, is the circuit's already protected with a relay!

[vanwyk4257]

Hmm, that's a pretty interesting idea Kevin, I might have to look at the wiring a bit closer for that. I don't know where the fan kicks in temp-wise, but I have always assumed the fan is only helping at low speeds or when standing still. I would think that when you're at speed the fan may actually reduce cooling efficiency because it blocks off some of the surface of the oil cooler.

I am still toying with the idea of doing a front (center) oil cooler, but I will probably wait a while to do that. If I do it right I should be able to pay for most of that modification by selling the stock cooler, fan et al.

[KTL]

Wiring is simple brown ground and color power. All you need are some spade/pin terminals and you're gold. The wiring for the fan and the fogs are right next to each other in the front trunk. I made some harness adapter wires so I didn't have to cut anything.

The fan comes on way too hot from what I recall. I believe the thermostat in the cooler is set to come on at 240F? Too late! You're right that the fan is a very good blockage of cooling air. So it definitely should come on sooner. But if you can get some good air directed to the cooler, just take the fan off altogether since it's not doing anything at low speeds or idle anyway. You have to idle/crawl in traffic a LONG time for the fan to come on. I instead just shut the car off when that's happened to me.

If you do the center cooler, don't feel you have to get the biggest one. Not necessary IMO unless you get one for a song, or plan for some added displacement or a 3.6 in the future. And you can always battle heat with the water vapor rubbermaid solution at the track!

[MotoSook]

If you're not racing, you're just throwing money away to add a front cooler on a Carrera. Even on the hottest track days, my Carrera is just fine. Idling through Galena yesterday it was just fine. It was getting above 180F, but it was just fine. Remember, oil doesn't coke at 180F or 210F...or even at 250F. I've never seen 250F in my Carrera. If you must tinker...do what Kevin did with his fog light circuit.

[vanwyk4257]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll check into going that route since I have not intention of running fog lamps now that they've been replaced with brake ducts in the bumpers. I just need fabricate my backing plates for the rotors and then install the silicone hoses. I'll probably fabricate something similar to the smart racing setup that clamps over the A-arm to gain ground clearance for the hoses.

[175K911]

I can't believe this thread just keeps on going!

[MotoSook]

And going!


Here are some pictures...gotta run out...but I'll posts some more detailed pics later:










And some fall colors...