[Gabe.]

Originally Posted by Bleedsblue

Long-time thread follower, first time commenter. But this last update hit me in my bones, as the father of a 2-yr old (our first) and 7 cars in the fleet, 5 of which are old/projects.

I'm in the exact same place as you, and although my 3.2 is still pretty stock - I am also considering selling an old truck and several BMWs to just chase after a 996 GT3 to cover daily(ish) and track duties.

Especially if you are actually into your kid(s), time hits very differently once they arrive.

For real! Thanks for sharing.

Ahead of this, I've been (functionally) dealing with burnout since we moved and I know a big part of this feeling is just wondering what it's like to not be thinking about car stuff when I come up for air. It is/was an outlet I enjoyed but when you're in the thick of it in massive projects like this one, I just can't help but wonder what it would be like to just not have it.

Originally Posted by Queefchief

Great stuff! I will enjoy seeing what you come up with for cooling.

Same

Originally Posted by Ryan_Cunningham

Gabe,

Balancing life and projects is a challenge. I have a 1.5 year old son and soon to be 7 year old daughter and am attempting to follow a similar route with my 1972 but I've admitted to myself it'll be a years long project. I think it helps by breaking down the entire process into little steps which you can complete in a reasonable amount of time, and then step away from the project for a bit while you focus on what is important - Your family. You still have a fun car to drive, albeit not quite as special as what you're building will be, so just try to be patient. It's not easy, we all have this vision of what our cars will be when complete, but unless we do this professionally and have kids who are grown, it's generally not reasonable.

Take that 997 out with the family and pick up your project again when you've found a renewed sense of vigor for it.

I hear you and totally agree. I vacillate between selling it all and getting something simpler and just running the course because at the end of the day this is such a cool car that I have put enormous time and effort into. There really is no right answer, just cause and effect.

Originally Posted by Jonny042

It's worth noting that KEP which is machined into the pressure plate stands for Kennedy Engineered Products. From your description I was expecting to see "PMS" on the pressure plate. Which stands for something else.

Were you being told all these dumb things by PMS, not KEP?

I already have a relatively low opinion of PMS, but am considering a purchase of a clutch from KEP.

Hey Jonny, I believe it was developed/designed by PMS and built by KEP. All discussions were with PMS. This is the pressure plate: https://patrickmotorsports.com/collections/g-50-conversion/products/clukep930e1g50

This car probably wouldn't even work without the parts that PMS has so while everything I said above is extremely frustrating, I'm still appreciative that the stuff exists.

Originally Posted by Jonny042

I look upon the GT3 oil tank with fascination. Is the only oil cooler needed for it the engine mounted oil/water heat exchanger? I like symmettry, and a rad for each corner sounds appealing. The battery bulge might not get in the way as much as you think and the subsequent clearancing might not be too bad. I do also like the idea of using the factory hard lines, if they compare favorably to the GT3 line diameter. In the end though it might be easier to fab up new lines.

Yep, the only oil cooler is the engine-mounted heat exchanger. It's mounted below the intake manifold in the space that the oil breather cover/triangle of death used to be.

IIRC, there is ~8" clearance on the driver side and the CSF cooler is 9" wide and quite thick. I think this is the biggest hold up for me right now. If I were able to clearance and mount these coolers I'd probably find the remainder of the motivation needed for the rest. I'm debating reaching out to the fabricator/welder that helped fix the Cup engine case. I don't mind subbing a few things out if it means it gets done better/quicker.

I like the idea of the prefabbed existing lines because it would also look OEM. I have the cup lines too which are aluminum, they are a bit thicker but I think could be made to work pretty easily. I'd need to get turbo rocker covers to hide them though.

Originally Posted by chucksmith

If you have not already done it, look at Rennch's you tube channel on his Suburu engine swap. He has worked out some of the cooling issues with nice radiators for his 911 and may save you some time going forward.

All projects go through ups and downs as life changes. I have found the process much more gratifying than the finished product in almost all my car projects.

Thanks for your suggestion. I've been in chats with Michael/Ravi for a long time. Those radiators have taken quite a long time to develop and I still don't think they're actually available. It will probably be up to Michael if he'd sell separately or not. I'm also not sure they have the necessary cooling capacity for something like this. However, having the drag cooler on the passenger side and one of the Rennch coolers on the driver would alleviate cutting the chassis and I'd be open to trying it.