Introducing TIMSYBERIA

[BRAIDusa]

INTRODUCING OUR LATEST PROJECT

We’d like to introduce our latest project: a 2006 Porsche Cayenne S. This one is a replacement for our Audi Allroad we sold a few months ago and is going to be a daily driver, mild off-road project and backup tow vehicle. Yes, they are rated to tow 7500lbs!



Finding it was a pain in the arse. We couldn’t believe the junk dealers were offering for sale in “ready to drive” condition. You’d have thought it was standard practice to have all the requisite cylinders firing but apparently opinion is divided on the matter. At least two SE Michigan dealers think some cylinders are optional and one of those wouldn’t let us test drive his car because it was raining! Eventually we found this example on Facebook Marketplace for sale by owner and it was a stand-out so we snapped it up. It was probably a bit over priced but was running on all eight cylinders, had a good story and background and drove nicer than anything else we’d looked at. The owner even brought it round to our shop and hung out while we put it on the hoist and poked and prodded it.

So it’s a Cayenne S with 131,000 miles, which sounds a lot but is about 8,000 miles a year so technically low mileage. It has a 4.5l V8 and is pretty loaded for a car designed two decades ago. It’s obviously been sat around a bit over the last few years if the service records are anything to go off but is rust free and almost everything works. There’s a couple of lights out and the battery, though fairly new, seems a bit lethargic. The valve cover gaskets are leaking, the body is unmolested but there are some scratches on the rear right corner. It has air suspension and one of the strut/bag dust covers is cracked. According to an inspection that was carried out by a local Porsche specialist before it was offered for sale, the lower control arm bushings are ready to be replaced, but we couldn’t tell.



So what’s the plan for this beast? Firstly, a full service and fix as many of the issues above; then we can begin to ruin it. Well, not really. It’s actually too nice to ruin which is fine as it is supposed to be a daily driver primarily so we’re thinking a mild off-road build is in order. Rather like the Allroad but with working air suspension. we'd also like to keep everything somewhat reversible as these are becoming collectible and this particular one is actually quite nice and straight; perhaps unfortunately so. In order to avoid the "bro-truck" or "mall crawler" moniker we came up with the idea of doing a Transsyberia tribute build. Those looked quite conservative but added a little to the Cayenne's already prodigious off-road bona fides. However, that might seem a little pretentious so we thought we could more likely get away with it if we introduced a bit of humor to the equation and name it the TIMSYBERIA instead. Nobody can be angry at you if you make them laugh, right?

As this particular vehicle has air suspension like the original Transsyberias which were not lifted much, if at all, we don't feel we need a lift. Some slightly oversized all terrain tires and the flick of a switch should get us where we need to be. These will be mounted on BRAID Winrace T Beadlock B wheels (of course) with a modest offset. Anthracite with a red Beadlock ring because we stock them.



The roof rack off the Allroad, some iconic rally lights across the front, maybe some skid plates and a hitch mounted spare. Of course it will need a livery. As it is white the Rothmans livery we are so well known for copying would be an obvious choice and we’re not ruling it out altogether, but are leaning towards adapting the original Transsyberia livery to our palette. Fundamental to this design is the large decal on the doors. Obviously we can't use a TRANSSYBERIA decal so have devised a TIM version:



To continue the theme from the beadlock wheels we intend to create these in red along with the rest of the decal package as far as we can. What is orange here will be red on ours:



The interior of the Transsyberia models was black with orange accents.



Ours is beige with wood accents. It is out of the budget to replace the interior and probably unwise to add red accents so we think we will leave it alone and just embrace the beige-ness. Maybe we will grow to think of it as "Safari Sand" over time.



One exciting aspect of the project is that we are partnering with RENNLINE (www.rennline.com) on the build. They are currently developing products for the Cayenne and we are going to get to try some of them on our test rig. Let’s hope they don’t get too radical for us! Here’s a start:



Full photo album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzLxF6

[BRAIDusa]

Originally Posted by Fletcher69

I appreciate the information and advice you have shared.

Thank you. That's nice to hear. Another update is in the works.

[island911]

Nice find on that S. Most do not have the air suspension and full leather.

Notice that Porsche went with the vinyl interior for their off-road version. Kind of a shame to subject the leather to extreme off-road conditions.

Oh, know that the toe changes quite a lot with full ride height changes.

[BRAIDusa]

Originally Posted by island911

Nice find on that S. Most do not have the air suspension and full leather.

Notice that Porsche went with the vinyl interior for their off-road version. Kind of a shame to subject the leather to extreme off-road conditions.

Oh, know that the toe changes quite a lot with full ride height changes.

Good to know, thanks.

[BRAIDusa]

I've just had a stupid idea. Or is it pure genius?

Why don't I do the Press On Regardless rally with the TIMSYBERIA Cayenne.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press-on-Regardless_Rally

Press On Regardless® (POR) – Detroit Region SCCA

[BRAIDusa]

TIMSYBERIA Project Prep

We all know what it’s like when you have a new project in front of you. All the exciting ideas, all the planning, all the compulsiveness pushing you to jump right in and start modding. Well, before you do that any adult in any room will suggest laying a good foundation so that’s what we must do: fully service our base vehicle and fix any issues we find.

Well, not exactly. We really could not resist throwing some BRAID wheels and new tires on it. In our defense we did have the wheels in stock and the tires were here too, having arrived with a batch of other tires for some of our vehicles, so they would take up less room mounted. Rationalization complete we mounted the tires and bolted them to the car. Not with the OE bolts of course. No, we got some longer studs and heat-treated nuts from our friends at Rennline. They might seem a bit too long but we wanted to leave room for spacers in case we felt the need later. They don’t half look baller (seat!) though.







If you are interested the wheels are Winrace T Beadlock B in 18x8 and the tires are 265/60-18 Falken Wildpeaks. The wheels have a unique to BRAID road legal beadlock system that was developed for DAKAR style rally raid events.

So with that out of the way we buckled down to some deferred maintenance and fixes. What did we do? First a full service: oil, trans fluids, brake fluid, all fluids basically.





And, what did we find to fix? The right rear strut bellows disintegrated when we looked at it, so that got replaced.







The driver’s door was sagging so we added a shim.

[BRAIDusa]

One of the parking lights was out so we changed the bulb. That didn’t fix it because...





Our B and C pillars were a bit manky. The silver anodizing had gone a bit cloudy so we covered them in black vinyl. Looks even better.





We replaced the battery that seemed to have trouble holding onto electrons. It’s under the driver’s seat and not so easy to get to.



The one repair we failed at was fixing an oil leak. We had determined it was probably coming from the valve cover gaskets but could not get the valve covers off. The rear lower bolts on each bank are notoriously hard to get a tool on but, despite cobbling together an array of custom gadgets we could not get any purchase on the torx heads of them. It appears that someone previously had maybe mangled them a bit and our torx bits kept slipping out. We did a tactical withdrawal to lick our wounds and may return to these one day soon. At least we didn’t make the oil leak worse.







So, with the boring stuff out of the way (except the wheels and tires of course) we’ll start modifying stuff to make it worthy of the name “TIMSYBERIA”

[BRAIDusa]

LET THE MODS BEGIN.

Now we have a solid base we can start modifying the car. We Hope you find it worth the wait.

First off Rennline sent us a couple of their fire extinguisher mounts to try. The one for the 958 model didn’t fit but the universal one did, so we mounted that up in short order:




It mounts under the sliders using the bolts that hold the seat to the vehicle:






Then we added the quick release clips and the fire extinguisher itself:






The seat is fully back in the above shot.

Next item on the agenda, a phone holder from ProClip. We always liked these holders and are always impressed by the clever ways they find to mount them to whatever vehicle we have. They are not cheap but worth every penny.




This one used the gaps around the center vent to mount (we subsequently moved it to the middle)




Now onto something more hard core; mud flaps!

We are a Rally Armor dealer and have always like their line of Urethane mud flaps, especially the universal ones as we tend to put them on somewhat unusual vehicles that they don’t have a fitment for. In this case we went with their big and beefy motorsport spec universal flaps and we think they are just perfect. Before we ordered them we made sure they would fit by making some cardboard versions as a proof of concept. This also helped us figure out the correct location for the holes so they would be level and at the right height which is harder than it seems it should be.

[BRAIDusa]

With all the mock up work done we punched some holes (you can’t drill this stuff) and bolted them up using the OE inner fender holes and big aluminium washers we made ourselves with a hole saw!








The red logo is almost a perfect match for the beadlock ring on our BRAID wheels too!

Our next update might involve vinyl film so look out for that one.

[fisher22]

Just ran across this thread. Nice find! And I love your plan for it.

[BRAIDusa]

Originally Posted by fisher22

Just ran across this thread. Nice find! And I love your plan for it.

Great. Thanks.

[BRAIDusa]

Beer O'Clock - Was thumbing through some Transsyberia pictures online and saw that some of the Cayennes were sponsored by Veltins beer. Then found one in the fridge!





CEL Codes - The car has been throwing codes lately:



Apparently, the car's computer has detected a problem with the second bank in the secondary air injection system. After clearing the codes a few times, we took the system apart to see if anything was obviously amiss. It wasn’t so we put it back together. Hasn’t thrown any codes since so…..fixed?

TSDs - We come up with a way to justify building our Cayenne TRANSSYBERIA tribute and give it some credibility. We are going to use it in some TSD rallies. And not just any TSD rallies; no, we are going to take on the Press On Regardless® or POR. (Press On Regardless® (POR) – Detroit Region SCCA) The baddest, oldest, longest, toughest and closest TSD rally ever.

To plagiarize the event’s website: “Press On Regardless® is the Detroit Region SCCA’s premier time-speed-distance (TSD) road rally. Run through the woods of northern Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas, the current Press On Regardless® (POR) provides today’s TSD rallyists an opportunity to compete in a rally with a long history and rich tradition. While the roads used can be challenging and the speeds brisk, it is nonetheless a legal and safe TSD rally.

First run in 1949, Press On Regardless® (POR) is America’s oldest continuously run rally. Over the many years that POR has been conducted it has run in a variety of formats. It started out as a 2-day endurance rally; evolved into a grueling two night stage rally in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – becoming a FIA International Championship rally for several years – before returning to its endurance TSD rally roots in the 90s. While the current POR is a milder version than in days when it was known as ‘the longest, oldest, meanest, toughest rally in the USA’, it remains a demanding and challenging rally, and one that rallyists who’ve run come back to run again.

The current POR takes place in northern Lower Peninsula Michigan, and occasionally ventures into the Upper Peninsula. It is mostly run-on unpaved county back roads and state and federal forest roads, including some narrow lanes and two trails. The rally road surfaces can include gravel, dirt and sand, and some paved segments used to move around the rally area. Weather conditions can add another entire dimension to running. The roads used can be traversed at rally speeds in the average family crossover SUV or other vehicle with more generous clearance without damage. While the rally pace is brisk, demanding skill and concentration from both driver and navigator, all speeds are legal.

Running in Press On Regardless® is to participate in a piece of legendary U.S. rallying. Experienced TSD rallyists enjoy the task of maintaining speed and time while travelling over tough roads. Even newcomers to TSD occasionally show up take on the test of car and team – and if one is up for an automotive adventure, then here’s an excellent one!”

There’s even a book about the event!



https://www.autobooks-aerobooks.com/product/press-on-regardless-the-story-of-americas-oldest-longest-and-meanest-road-rally/

We feel this is the closest we can realistically get to competing in the actual Transsyberia rally and it’s in our backyard. Of course, it will mean competing and a few lesser TSDs first to get dialed in. We have a few months yet as it takes place mid-September.

Window To Our Soul - While waiting for our custom TIMSYBERIA livery to be made we made a start on branding our Cayenne by adding a few sponsor decals. We limited most of these to the rear windows, you know, to be subtle.





Then we received exciting news: our custom decals were ready for a mock-up, just to make sure they fit.



Don’t worry. It’s not going to be blue.

[Long Nose]

Looking great! Interested if you are going to put some armouring underneath? Also, what about a tow hitch? Suspension lift? Keep the updates coming!!!

BTW - I have a 2010 GTS...

[BRAIDusa]

Originally Posted by Long Nose

Looking great! Interested if you are going to put some armouring underneath? Also, what about a tow hitch? Suspension lift? Keep the updates coming!!!

BTW - I have a 2010 GTS...

Thanks Long Nose.

No armour plans at the moment as our current plans for should need any. I tow hitch would be useful on three fronts, the ability to tow our trsailer as a backup vehicle, the ability to mount a full size spare, and the ability to mount a bike rack. Needless to say, that's on the wish list.

It's currently on the factory air bag suspension that seems to work. If that changes we will asses our options.

More updates soon!

[BRAIDusa]

Finally it was time to install the TIMSYBERIA livery on our Cayenne. Thanks to the mock-up done earlier in the week we were able to fine tune it to fit perfectly. Thanks to Dan C. for converting the Transsyberia design to TIMSYBERIA and his brother Douglas for installing them with perfect precision.



And, we’ll think you’ll agree, well worth the effort.









Driving home later that night we noticed our local Porsche dealer didn’t have a car on their display ramp. We reflected on it for a second then realized that we couldn’t let this opportunity pass and immediately pulled a Don Johnson (u-turn)









It seemed like a gift from Ferdinand Porsche himself!

[BRAIDusa]

JUST GIMME THE LIGHT AND SPEND THE DOE! - The new livery seems to have really tied the other mods together. We’ve noticed the car gets a lot more attention now. One woman stopped in the middle of traffic in downtown to take pictures. The drivers behind her seemed to understand too! We are beginning to feel we may be onto something with this project.

So, we were keen to crack on with more mods but our Cayenne seemed to have other ideas and started telling us about one or two light bulbs it thought were blown. It changed its mind when we checked them the next day but then insisted a couple of days later. So, we thought we would open up a headlight and see if we could figure out what was upsetting it. Well, what a surprise awaited us; most of the wires inside the headlight we removed were devoid of any insulation and there was a distinct smell of burning plastic. It very much explained the confusion our poor Cayenne was suffering and we were so glad to have heeded its cries for help before this turned into a conflagration.





We popped out the other light and it was just as bad!





We did some research and found that this appears to be a common occurrence, along with the harnesses inside the light pods. Bit sad that Porsche. Some people seem to have managed to repair the bad wires but they must have had tiny hands. We decided the best way forward for us was to plop down about a grand for new lights. Should be good for another 17 years at least and the lenses sparkle now. No smoke either!







The pod harnesses we ordered were on back order but as they weren’t causing problems, yet, we elected to swap them out next time we’re in there. It’s not a trivial job apparently, as you have to remove the air boxes to access them.

[fisher22]

Just for general interest and comparisons, a couple shots I took today of the one that resides in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.

[BRAIDusa]

GIVE US A BRAKE, PLEASE!

While we waited for our new lights to come in, we had a look at the rear brakes. They we making swishing noises while driving that got more pronounced when we pressed the pedal. When we got the vehicle a few months ago our initial assessment was that the pads and discs we almost at full thickness but a little glazed and pitted probably due to it sitting for a while. We thought they’d clean up their act as we started to drive it but they didn’t seem to agree. We were a little concerned that the calipers might be seized so we disassembled both sides to figure out what we needed to do.











The pad retaining pins gave us some trouble but we applied some brute force and ignorance to get them out. Fortunately, the calipers were in good shape so we just ordered up new pads, discs and hardware from Pelican Parts and put everything back together. Oh joy! The brakes work great now. We hope we are done with maintenance stuff now as it’s starting to feel like a potential money pit.

[BRAIDusa]

NOWO or Northern Worthersee is a European car show held in a picturesque riverside park in Frankenmuth, Michigan every September. It’s a great atmosphere so we often go. This year we took two cars: our 85 Quattro and, of course, the Timsyberia. The Quattro is always a hit but we were amazed how popular the Cayenne was. It even received two awards. We couldn’t be happier.









We’re floored! Well, our carpets are as we got new floor mats. We also got a cargo cover. We went back and forth on the color, finally deciding to embrace the beige; or, as we’re calling it, Dakar Sand.







Vinyl is addictive so after installing our Timsyberia decals we could help but add some more. We know, we need help.





The TIM stickers on the mirrors are now a tradition, much like how they also seem to end up on the porta-jons at events!

[BRAIDusa]

Our last race event of the season was Empire Hill Climb in Empire, Michigan. We have been sponsoring this event for nearly a decade now and have fallen in love with the place. This year we ran the hill in our 911 rally car which we towed up there behind our Sprinter. The Timsyberia was driven up separately and was used as a course car. All three vehicles had a great time despite the 911 being quite slow on the hill.