The Jedi 911SC

[TeeJayHoward]

I pulled off the tape to check the condition of the plug. Looks like the goop was too solid to settle:


A noise outside made me look up. This was in my neighbor's drive:


I get distracted too easily. I Dremel'd out the surrounding plastic bits to create a valley:


Filled it with more goo:


And went downstairs to try my hand at the stitching. It... Didn't go so well.

[TeeJayHoward]

Not only did I damage the vinyl with the foot on the machine, I couldn't get a consistent length for the stitch. I ended up pretty much destroying the dash cover I had made. Not a huge deal as I have enough material to try again, but I didn't think I was going to. Here I chopped up some vinyl, ran the fake French seam, and then merged the two pieces together. Bit of a different order, but the end result is... Adequate. Had I changed thread color for the last step so that I don't have white thread holding the two pieces together, it'd probably even end up acceptable.


I decided to try and just put the vinyl on the dash. And that's when everything fell apart. This stuff does NOT like to conform to corners. I've watched plenty of people on YouTube do it for the first time, and their results are pretty damned decent. Mine were not. Not even close. I'd need to make a mold and sandwich the vinyl in between the mold and the dash for it to work. Heat just melts this stuff. It doesn't stretch the way I'd expect it to. I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do. I knew in the beginning it was an experiment, and could fail, but damnit, I really wanted it to work out. At least I ordered the replacement parts ahead of time.

But since I already paid for the material... Why not give it a second shot?






Nope. Still ain't gonna conform to the corners on this beastie. Guess I need to go buy some flat black vinyl die.


On my way out? Another distraction! Impact bumpers arrived from the junkyard out in Cali.




Yeah, the lower front valance needs a respray. And there's a small ding in the lower rear. Eh, junkyard parts. Good enough. But that's a project for another day. Even if I get this dash into a condition I like, I really need to install the GPS sensor before I install the dash. So, let's work on that.

[TeeJayHoward]

The first stage of the GPS holder meant more tape:


Which was transferred to a piece of paper again:


And through the magic of some simple splines and a bit of time printing, a prototype was fitted:


Which lead to a few design iterations:


And I had to stop there, because I need the actual GPS sensor before I finish the design. While I'm waiting, I need a win. Taking stuff apart always gives me a warm fuzzy, and I never did finish up those A/C lines, so...

[TeeJayHoward]

Removing the old A/C lines has been backed up because I've been waiting on a part that I ordered the day I bought the car... This little beastie:


It slots in to the jack point like this, providing a nice flat surface for a floor jack to lift the car.


I yanked on the driver's side line after unclipping several P-clips (Why, oh why, Porsche, do you use screws instead of bolts EVERYWHERE?):


I'm not going to be reusing the lines, but even if I were, this particular line would be getting replaced. Look at this:


Yeah, someone cut the A/C line by lifting the car by it and the pinch weld. Eep! Anyway, a ton more 8mm screws...


And a few more lines that were in the way by the dryer:


And I've finally got the lines out. Well, two of the four anyway:


Oh, and check this out:


That's supposed to be a condenser. As in, it's supposed to be finned. Like a radiator. Instead, it's a solid mass of nasty gunk. Another piece that just plain wouldn't work had I intended to reuse the factory system. This one probably could just have been cleaned, but instead I'mma toss it. Don't wanna risk that it's punctured, and I have no idea how to activate the fan associated with it anyway. Maybe in the future I'll replace it with an oil cooler.

Let's switch over to the A/C lines. This is the one I had to hack up in the smuggler's box. The grinder was brought out again.


At this point, it's just the line from the evap to the dryer left. Since I'm not gonna use either of these... Out.

[TeeJayHoward]

I removed my HVAC control to clean it up in preparation for the new fascia. This meant undoing a bolt under the dash that was a PITA to get to. Much upside-downess happened. Said inversion was easier with the steering wheel removed:


Note to self, buy new bolts for that. Didn't realize the existing ones were torqued on by a gorilla. Anyway, I removed this bolt:


And pulled off a single ground, then popped the HVAC controller out:


Tracing the wires lead to this plug:


And a single wire that went to the glovebox:


Then I could pop it out:


And remove the bowden cables, which will all eventually be replaced with new ones I've got in the office. (foreshadow!) Here's the unit ready for cleaning:


But, ADD is real. So, on to the next project instead.

[TeeJayHoward]

I tried to figure out why the heater blower fan thingie in the engine bay wasn't working. Pulled the relay and jumpered the connection. Nothing. Stabbed the relay back in and went to go under the car... The fan started. I guess it was loose and I was just trying to jumper the wrong sockets?


Bizarre, but hey. I'll take an easy win. I now have heat! So... Maybe I should clean up what I've been calling the flapper boxes (probably not the correct term - the control boxes that adjust vent/feet/windscreen). These cables didn't want to come off...


I gave it an honest try. Then I said to hell with it. A grinder took care of the cable issue rather quickly. Note to self, buy two more cables. (wait, what do you mean you can't just buy the cables!?) They're ready to be cleaned, oiled, whatever it takes to get 'em working now.

My next delivery was a big one. I've been waiting on this!

[TeeJayHoward]

The gauges had finally arrived. I immediately got to work making an adaptor ring for the speedometer. Thread pitch is 2.5mm:


Thread depth? 1.5mm:


Unfortunately, thread angle is NOT 60* like I expected. It's 90* on one side and 45* on the other. This meant a custom thread profile, which is not difficult to do particularly, but it WAS time consuming. And it means that there's an "up" and a "down" side to these little adaptor rings:


But, with a bit of perseverance, I was able to print a ring that worked and install it on the gauge:


After which, it popped into place:


And now that I have the actual GPS sensor, I can print a final product for the under-dash-hidden-sensor-doohickey:


And it's ready to install. But, first another distraction. I met my new neighbor. He had a buddy over. Said buddy had this. "You wanna sit in it, lemme take your picture?" You bet yer bum I do!


Then, another fantastic sound from outside. Skyline guy was back!


But enough about other people's cars. How about my own? I taped and spliced the power and lighting harnesses together:


I went looking for a place to connect them, and came across this. That's a screw that's about to fall out, directly into the path of two other circuits. And it wasn't the only one. Yay!

[TeeJayHoward]

(cont)
I pulled out the old speedo and tach, looking for all the wires I'd need. While there, I realized that the non-functional O2 sensor warning light could be popped out rather easily...


And replaced with the dimmer...


For the new gauges.


Next up was running wires into the engine bay. That... Got complicated. There are two sensors in this picture. The one caked in oil needs to be replaced with another one that came with my gauge. And an adaptor. And the new sensor? Twice or even three times as long as the existing one. There's no way that's going to work. I'd need to remove the engine mount, cut a hole in it, and then pray I have enough room to slide the connector over the newfangled ultra-long connector.


So that gauge can wait. I plugged in the tach to test that out, and it turns out the reason my existing tach sucks so much is that it's not getting a consistent signal through the wire. Probably a CDI box that needs replacing. Bah. So, let's start ripping out the interior...


...Cause I've gotta find a way to run a wire back there...

[TeeJayHoward]

(cont)

Of course, there's a BIT of a gap between the factory hole and the new tach size, so let's put the Prusa to work...


And now, I installed the GPS sensor tray and sensor:


I specifically designed it to be installable and removable with the dashboard inserted. I shouldn't have. It was a major PITA, and I should have just made something for my specific use case instead of trying to be smart. On the gauge front, I didn't like the STL I found online so I made my own adapter ring for the tach. Almost 8 hours later, it finished printing:


Install's pretty easy:





There is a 1mm lip around the edge of the ring. Plenty of support to prevent the whole gauge from sliding backwards. Not enough to really be seen:


Popped it in:


Two gauges down! Fits perfectly. Does the job. And hey, since I'm already removing carpet to run wires... Why not go whole hawg?

[TeeJayHoward]

I couldn't install the carpet because I can't get the rear seats out. Not my pic, but these little bolts:


Are a pain. I needed to find a place locally that sells drag link sockets like this:


so I could rattle-gun 'em off. I've beat on them, heated them, juiced 'em, taken a prybar and hammer and large slip-joint pliars and tried to make an impact screwdriver... Ain't nothin' workin'. And of course, no place nearby had the appropriate tools. So, if you can't find them... Build them! Here we have a 1/2" screwdriver bit from Harbor Freight that a grinder has happened to slide across a time or two, narrowing the bit enough to fit into the slot.


The impact gun took this guy off without a single care in the world:


Finally, I could remove the rear seats:


And gag from the smell. Nope. That's gonna air out. I opened up the garage door, turned on a fan, and went downstairs to do something else.

[TeeJayHoward]

By this point, the dash had been sanded, hardened, and was mostly ready to get painted. But I decided to go over the top and just do a skim coat of Bondo anyway.



As always with Bondo, 99% of it ends up wasted. But I'm rather happy I tried it anyway. Look at those low spots that got filled in!


Of course, since I was happy, the universe decided something needed to go wrong. In this case, it was the primer. The rattle can decided to change from a mist to a stream a couple of times. Ugh.


I got most of it sanded down, then rattle canned the black on in a few light layers.


The final product would have been great... If it were on a vinyl surface, and not a vinyl and plastic bond and bondo and primer and...


The color was... Not what I was expecting. I totally could have gone with it if it looked decent, but it's WAY lighter than I expected:


After multiple attempts of sanding and respraying and the dash just getting ickier, I got frustrated. I tried to install it, just to test out the Bondo's cracking restraint. To my surprise, no bending was needed. It just slid straight in. Well hell... If I'm doing all this work for a crappy dash, why not just install the nice one?


First, make sure it's the right dash:


And that there's no odd metal placements that would block the GPS from working... Nope. Awesome. Let's toss the vents in:

[TeeJayHoward]

(cont)

Toss the dash in:


Bolt it in place:


Replace the cracked vent:



One of the problems I have when driving this car is that I can't see the speedometer. The nasty steering wheel blocks it. However, I'm not installing my nice wheel until I've got the carpet installed. So, what to do? How about make use of the quick disconnect as a spacer, bring the wheel a bit closer to me?




Perfect. Next up is the door cards.

[TeeJayHoward]

I started by slicing up holes in the vinyl where I needed to put things:


Then I got to installing the CarBone power window switch support. I laid the backing plate on the card:


Traced out the bolt holes:


Drilled out the holes:


And attached!


Next up, the door pull. Simple enough, just a little C-clip and a strap:


On the door card, I had to attach the strap surround. Holes were pre-drilled, but... Well, they weren't EXACTLY lined up:


Whatever, it works.


Let's install the push-pins:


Hack up the lock hole a lot more:

[TeeJayHoward]

(cont)

And test out the lock knob. Yup, looks like it'll work.


Click it into place...


And on to the top garnish. At this point, I'm wondering why I paid Porsche. All of the official Porsche parts have TERRIBLE fit/finish. For example... Notice how there are no holes drilled here?


One drill bit later...


I had issues with the dash, too, now that I think back on it. The bolts didn't want to line up. It's like the dash was made for a car that's an inch shorter in width. There was a lot of shuffling about before I made it work. That's one of the reasons the center vents are out in that pic back there. But back to the door...



Starting to look a bit more finished now. Sadly, I don't have the fascia for the dash at this point, so I improvised and installed some blanking plates instead.

[TeeJayHoward]

HVAC blanking plate installed:


Radio blanking plate installed:


I mean... It's something?

[TeeJayHoward]

Rear seatbelts removed:


Center tunnel carpet removed:


Rear carpet removed:


No damage to the sound/heat deadener! And look what was hiding under the carpet. Kinda cool, honestly.


Vacuumed up the loose debris, minus whatever's under the driver's seat:


I also removed the passenger seatbelt and put it in place of the driver's so I have a functional seatbelt until mine gets in. At this point, I'm just about ready for new carpet. Unfortunately, I didn't have it in hand. Well, in the mean time, how about I remove this god-awful tint? At the time, I worked a night shift, and looking through a purple window didn't help visibility at all. (side note, you'll notice my projects become a lot more focused later on when I switch to days!)

[TeeJayHoward]

I tried the rear window. The tint had delaminated, and now it's just tiny little flakes that come off at a time. Ugh. After an hour of trying, I got frustrated and decided to try a different window. That came off in one piece, quickly.


Back to the rear window...



And so it went. Back and forth. I'd work on the rear window until I got flustered, then switch to a different window, then back to the rear. It was not a fun experience. The old Windex-and-black trash bag didn't work. Steamer didn't work. Heat gun didn't work. That tint was basically a PART of the window at that point. So I moved on to something else - the other door card.

[TeeJayHoward]

Open the door:


Remove the top garnish:


Then the pocket:


Followed by the speaker...


Then the pocket lid:


Then the handle:


Then the power window switch:


And finally the door card. Look at all that fiberglass insulation!


When I installed the driver's door card, I noticed an issue with the lock knob - It sits quite a bit higher than with the factory door card:


I printed up a quick 3mm spacer:

[TeeJayHoward]

(cont)
Should JUUUUUUST fill the crack between the door card and the outer ring of the knob surround.


While that was printing, I screwed some stuff into the new door card:


Attached the pull strap:


Then the door card:


Lock knob and 3D printed ring...


Yup, the new ring DOES make a difference. I think I might wanna print another one that's about twice the thickness so the vinyl gets pushed in a little bit like around the power window surrounds and pull surround.


And top garnish. This one had the holes pre-drilled. I mean, still in the wrong spots - I had to drill a new hole in the door to get it to set properly. But not a huge deal. Just not something I expected from an OEM part.


And that's that. On to the next project!

[TeeJayHoward]

The Porsche 915 transmission is pretty much universally recognized as a transmission with terrible shifting. There are a lot of little "fixes" out there and I decided to try one of them. My biggest issue isn't the tractor-like shifting quality, it's the fact that I have to pull both shoulders up off the seat and basically reach under the dashboard in order to hit first, third, or fifth gear. So a short throw shifter? Definitely something I want. And something I ordered. But it reuses some parts, and these parts are in about the same condition as the rest of the car - They could use a lick of paint and a bit of cleaning. Today's task? Get the shifter base clean and ready for re-use. It doesn't make sense to install the carpet just to remove it again when I do this, right? Order of operations!

Here it is in all its glory:


And here it is removed:


The only part I'm gonna be reusing (aside from the bolts) is the base. So, a quick rinse, a 320 grit scuff, and a bit of tape later...


Oh, did I mention that the top plate for the short shifter is black? So it's a full color change from the natural aluminum. First a super light coat:


Then a second, slightly heavier coat:


And after a final coat, I sit it on some brown paper and let it chill for the next several hours.


Once the paint's dry enough, I added the shifter to the base:


Then connected the top plate:


Attached the shifter.


I left the old shift tube bushing in place. It seems to be in "okay" shape, and it was a PITA trying to get the conical screw out to replace it without stripping the screw. I had to adjust the shift tube a number of times. If I put the shifter into the position I want, I couldn't get out of fifth gear because of the reverse lockout. So I just kept moving it farther and farther forward until I hit the minimum point, and called that acceptable. From running it through the gears in the garage, it seemed to work. It still doesn't put the shift knob in a comfortable position, but it isn't practically under the dashboard anymore. In the photo above, the shifter is in fourth gear and the seat is in its normal position. The throw is significantly reduced, so it's like front vs. back of knee instead of shin vs thigh. I called it a success and when I took it for a test drive the next day, was blown away at the difference. Definitely a worthwhile modification.

Speaking of the next day, my seatbelts and carpet arrived. So, it's finally time to get the interior looking spiffy!