Beautiful craftsmanship!

More pictures please.

You sure can weld... what a labor of love and workmanship.... amazing!

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

Thanks for the compliment, but all the welds were done by Seth, at Twisted Minis, who is doing most of the fab work for the build, who is full of fabricating awesome.

Picked up some srd's local so I can run Schroth 4 point harness.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362248828.jpg
Engine tin done.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362248896.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362248923.jpg

Working on re-assembly in preparation for start-up.
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porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

More getting systems installed for start-up.
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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362812389.jpg

-16 oil lines.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362812435.jpg

Shifter cables.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362812475.jpg

Temporary shifter base till I can drive it to the fabricator.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1362812574.jpg

Love the lightening holes in the wood! Minus the lower bracket, it looks cooler than the fugly looking OEM plastic shifter housing bracket.

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

Thanks Lukesportsman,
I am just having a little fun with this part as I think it will be mounted onto a tube as part of the front cage but if not something like what I made but in aluminum. And fugly stock shifter will eventually be hidden by aluminum cowling thingy.

Some progress on the trunk.
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Front cooler plumbed in.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1363672208.jpg

So I filled the tank with 18 quarts of oil and connected the battery to test the start/ engine circuit. So far no smoke.
I turn key on and both oil pressure lights go on and alternator (charge) light glow red, check check! Still no smoke so I turn key to start and it spins! Weird noise with the high-torque starter and no plugs in, but excellent!
Soon the stock low pressure warning light goes out and another couple of 10 second blast of the starter and the second low pressure light goes out(V.D.O. oil pressure sender optional low pressure switch) more excellent.

I put the plugs back in and tomorrow I will put in some fuel.

I have been lurking here on this amazing build thread, in awe of the quality and the ingenuity shown. I could never do anything like this. That having been said, are you sure you want that oil cooler mounted in front of the bumper? Every other mod is so stealthy, and what if some dummy backs into you etc? Could it go behind a bumper full of holes?

Please don't think me critical - that is amazing work you're doing there!!!

Can't speaker for the owner but it looks like it will be OK unless somebody with a dually and trailer ball hitch backs into that bumper. If it's just bumper to bumper the oil cooler doesn't look like it's sitting flush with the boxed enclosure.

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

Hey daepp, I appreciate the critical input!
my first choice was to cut a intake in the stock bumper but the distance between the frame rails is too tight.
I also thought of running a large fan assisted belly cooler but I like the simplicity of the front location.
It looks abrupt right now but should blend better with some fairing and paint.

I tried to start it today but had no spark and the starter packed it in before I could trace out the fault.

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

My e.c.u. came back from 911chips today, Steve found some one had been inside it before,leaving some phone wire jumpers,bad solders and other hacks, the person I bought it from said I was lucky as the unit had been fixed of cracked solder joints that plague these units-I am not feeling confident as this is the guy who sold me the "excellent condition engine".

The unit also had a blown main ignition coil transister, which would cause a no start, and I wondered if my wiring was incorrect, so I re-checked my work.
It all looked good to me so I put in the E.C.U. and turned it over.It sounded like it was trying to catch so I kept going with 10 second starter hits, after about 4 of these it caught and went straight to a steady idle!

After checking for spraying gas or oil I gave it revved it up to clear out its long dormant internals.
I tried to put it in gear but the clutch is dragging so I will adjust it tomorrow and try again.

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

It is now driving!

I messed with the clutch and got some limited travel at the bottom of the pedal so I gave it a run up and down the driveway then the road and a bit of freeway.

Seems to run pretty well, decent power and shifts O.K. (need to change the clutch geometry).

The suspension feels good and the spring rates seem to be in the middle range for my intended use. I spent a lot of time figuring out the effective rates- I am running front and rear torsions with springs. I will further tune with more wheel time and corner balance and alignment.
Need to work on sound abatement, pretty loud as is with seat and pedestal in place but not yet lined with sound mat.

Lots left to do to refine but it moves!

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

Well, joy turns to sorrow.
I drained my start up oil after only 30 miles to put in fresh VR1 and the bucket looked like I was panning for gold, lots of suspended metal flakes and larger flakes(aluminum and gold colored).

I changed out the Canton filter and refilled with 13 quarts of VR1.
I started it up and let it warm up at idle and drained again, more of the same but less of the aluminum flakes.
It is looking like I was sold a toasted engine.

My start up procedure was to fill with 18 quarts of oil then hand crank (plugs out) about 10 rotations then starter with plugs out fuel off till my oil pressure warning lights went out (I have a new stock sender and a new oil pressure sender with the optional pressure switch which is about 12 p.s.i.) both went out quickly in sequence.

when I put in the plugs and tried to start thats when I found out the e.c.u. was blown and the starter died.

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

The oil pressure is about 40 to 50 psi cold at idle then drops to 20 psi when warm, the driving pressure is 40 to 60+ when warm depending on r.p.m.
The new vdo temp sender/ gauge gets up to 180 then stays there(only short drives so far) and front lines to cooler a little warm (stock thermostat) and front cooler return cold.
So engine still on internal thermostat.

So, I have a engine with good oil pressure, zero leaks, cool as cucumber and oil that looks like my 6 year old daughter had a glitter party in it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1366425218.jpg
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Bummer.

Really takes the fire out of you. I had a '76 911 engine I had big plans for with my old bug a few years ago. Same thing happened with the oil but the compression was so low I couldn't even get it to start. We just had a child and I wound up walking away from it because I didn't have the time to rebuild the whole engine.

At least you can drive it around for a little while though. ;)

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

Hey jadewombat, thanks for checking in, sorry about your engine trouble too, these engines are just so costly to rebuild, but they are Porsches and quality is expensive.
I decided early on this build to roll at this level after ditching my 2056 type 4 motor,umm also not cheap.
I was not ready to pay twice though!

That short 30 or so miles drive proved the overall concept to be successful.
I will pull the engine and find the problem and get it running again,dammit!(getting the fire going again)

the engineering that went in to this project is pretty darn cool, especially the wooden shift holder haha. i had a question about your engine mounting crossbar, i want to drill holes in mine to lighten it but im afraid of compromising its intergrity what would i do to strengthen it. it has one upper lip

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

Hey gamesert, my bar is a stock piece from rennline, my bar that came with motor was bent, but I would probably tig a top and bottom hat for rigidity fore and aft on a stock one then drill and finish for a one off part.

incredible fabwork!

once you painted the undercarriage it looks amazing....

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

It is alive!(again).
I found a complete 3.2 that had been sitting on a shelf with no history, took a chance and bought it. I took it down to a long block and put on the "glitter engine" intake and exhaust.
I started it up today and so far so good.
It sounds good, a little valve clatter, but I wanted to run it before adjusting because the leak down results were low on two cylinders. I wanted to loosen it up in case it was just sticky from sitting for years.
So far it appears to be a solid runner, I will dyno it soon to test for power as I am running a 911 chip that will be adjusted for to tune for my custom exhaust.
More to come as I shake it down.

porsche powered mid-engine double cab
 

Thanks gnx7, I plan to blast and paint the front of the chassis as well, probably when I start the front A-arm suspension.

Today I drove about 110 miles to the Partsheaven swap and show. I was selling some of the take-off parts from the build. The response to the double cab was really positive, and was nice to discuss the build face to face with all the Porsche fans, and a bunch of you who have followed this build thread here and also The Samba. Thanks for the enthusiasm as it is very encouraging to me especially after the recent engine debacle.

The truck drove well on the way there and easily kept a fast pace on the early morning freeway, felt very stable and happy to humm along at around 3500 r.p.m. in fifth.

The only issue besides a few oil leaks was the front bearing or balljoint was making me nervous on the drive home with some noise and vibration, got to check that out.
More fab work soon to mount the front seats and finish the front and rear bumpers.