Haven't made a ton of progress lately, so many other things going on don't have as much time as I would like to spend in the shop. I did spend some time (and some money
) trying different options to fit the huge SHO intake manifold and throttle body into the 912 engine compartment.
The bolt pattern and intake ports on the intake manifold are symmetrical, which allows the intake to be installed either "forwards" or "backwards" on the engine (throttle body towards front or rear in a longitudinal installation), but unfortunately neither option will work well for my 912 - since the throttle body is at the extreme end of the intake, it would either be protruding through the firewall, into the back seat area (if installed frontwards), or several inches outside and above the engine lid (if installed backwards).
I considered using a 911 Turbo engine lid and whale tail to allow room for the intake and throttle body mounted facing the rear of the car, and even purchased an aftermarket fiberglass engine lid and whale tail, but the fit of the throttle body was still too tight, and I really want to keep the body of the 912 looking as stock as possible.
I ended up deciding to block off the original throttle body opening in the intake manifold, and instead use the opposite ends of the plenums, which are normally connected by a crossover tube. The openings in the ends of the plenums are 2" in diameter, which if combined, gives more area than the original stock 65mm opening - and, with the use of mandrel bent aluminum tubing to mount the throttle body in a different location within the engine compartment, allow the intake to fit under the stock 912 engine lid. Maybe not the most ideal situation, but doable.
I'm still in the planning stages, so the tubing is held together and in position temporarily with silicone couplings, once I know where everything will fit it will be tig-welded. To enable the use of a single throttle body, I used a 2-into-1 collector fabricated from stainless steel that's normally used in custom motorcycle exhaust systems.
I'm also working on mounting a small, lightweight, 90 amp single-wire alternator to replace the heavy stock Ford alternator. The original alternator mount was also the air conditioner compressor mounting bracket, and was a huge lump of cast iron. Doing away with that, the A/C compressor, the stock alternator, and power steering pump and bracket dropped a lot of weight off the engine and cleaned up the looks as well.