Project Minne - A Saga of a 72.

[silverc4s]

Congratulations Jamie!!! Really impressive to see the almost completed car. I vividly recall the rusty tub on a hoop in your garage some years back. Have to admit that I could not visualize this car on That day. Hats off to you, sir.

[pc100porsche]

Mind blowing thread ..... congratulations Jamie !!

[jpnovak]

Que Haya Luz!

Let there be light!

I always thought that modern forward lighting was an asset to driving our vintage cars. Everything from simulated DRLs to nighttime driving is improved when there is good illumination to see where you are going. There are many threads about converting to modern lighting. Here is my take for Project Minne.

I started with some early SWB housings. These have an H4 bulb assembly inserted behind a curved, non fluted glass lens. The bulb assembly has its fluted lens and controls all the ray bending and focusing to give a standard E-code beam pattern. You know, cutoff to the left and angled high and right on the other side. They work great but take some higher wattage bulbs to really bring them close to modern light sources.

The problem here is that over time, our modern wiring systems are not up to the task of delivering current (power) required to properly run higher wattage bulbs. Yes, there are relay kits, larger wires and a few other items that can make these work better but the cost of new H4 assemblies really starts to get away from my budget minded build. So, Let's see what I can do on the cheap.

The SWB housings were disassembled and the H4 bulb assembles removed. These assemblies were then separated. I did not want the fluted lens installed but I did need the H4/9003 bulb mount as well as the reflector bowl. Separation was easy. I used a heat gun to soften the adhesive between the glass and the bowl. You have to evenly heat the circumference until it softens. Then a non-metallic pry apparatus was used to lift the glass off the reflector bowl. Sorry, I don't have pictures of this.

I went online and found some H4 mini projector LED assemblies. These are a dual (hi/lo) LED setup with discrete LED elements, a focus bulb, a reflector bowl, and H4 mounting style and a large heat sink. These were about $45 online.

Make sure when choosing the lights that you get some with the highest rating of illumination possible. the higher the rating, the higher the efficiency for a given output. These were rated at 1400 lumens each.

Color output is also important. anything under 5000K (K as in Kelvin as in color spectrum) is on the white to yellow side of the spectrum. Above 5500K and they look blue and incorrect. Plus the blue hue adds glare in poor conditions and really bothers the eyes of oncoming drivers. Be thoughtful here!

Here are the lights as received.







You will notice they have a short pigtail wiring assembly with what I assume is a current limiting electronics box. The termination is a standard H4 plug. This makes conversion easy.



I had originally considered HID when I started this project. I Have some HID lights with the H4 mounting points and they work exactly the same. The choice to move to LEDs was based on the extra wiring and install location for the ballasts. Additionally ballasts for aftermarket lights are not known for being robust.

Mounting and Modifications

The lights easily slip into the back of the reflector and lock down with the same 2 spring clips that are known to all of us with existing H4 lights. Easy. I was really hoping at this point they would drop into the light bucket. I had used a ruler to measure the install depth clearance and it said I had 1mm to spare without the headlight seal. I was hoping to gain a few extra mm once the seal was in place. Nope.

The top edge of the light easily clipped in place on the bucket lip but it would not sit down all the way. HMM. Closer inspection shows the faceted rear panels of the headlight bucket. At least at this point I knew what to do.

I pulled the grinder out (that means I picked it up off the floor since it is permanently plugged into a drop cord and always by my side) and used a flap wheel to shave the lower corner of the heat sink. You can see the bevel edge in the picture below. I also beveled the top corners just for a little extra clearance. This took about 3 min per side.



Final fitment

With the slight mods the lamp assemblies drop right into place. Sweet. This is as close as I could get to vintage lighting looks, modern lighting performance all wrapped in a smooth edged housing. Mission accomplished.



Next step is to take it all apart and then clean up the reflector bowl. It doesn't have to be perfect but I have to get rid of the rust bubbles at the bottom.


LIghts Performance

Since the lights fit the car I went back to do some testing. I removed the assemblies from the car and connected them to my external power supply. I ran 13.0V to simulate a car running with the alternator on. These pics were taken in a dark garage using the back of the garage door as a projection screen. for reference, The lamps were approximately 15' behind the door. they were sitting on the floor and propped up with some cardboard boxes for the purpose of "aiming".

The low beam has a very sharp cutoff. there is a slight rise on the right side as one might expect. This is much closer to an Asian (Japanese) beam pattern rather than the European pattern. That is fine. Nice bright lower section to fill in the dark areas. This means the projector lens is working properly.


The lights draw 1.05A current on low beam. That is only 13W of power per light.




When the high beam is activated there is a bright center spot beam right in the middle. The low beam is on but at a reduced power. Current draw is 1.45A (19W) per light on high. To put this into perspective... This is about the same current draw as a side turn signal light. I have cleaned all the contacts and expect I can install these without a relay. Though I will eventually add one when I install my auxiliary lights.





So.. Yes, Minne is really close to having headlights.

I also spent some time cleaning up the rear light buckets and installing them. I used the Italian lenses because I like the non-colored side marker. the running/brake lights are LED panels from SPOKE. These are so worth the improvement. I will be getting colored amber bulbs for the TS and forward, rear housing side running light.




Next up is the front turn signal housings.

[Jonny042]

Great update as always!

Wow those light units are neat - I'm obviously way out of touch when it comes to the current state of the art in aftermarket bulbs!

I've been considering going with the Spoke LED units for my project - I'm guessing you researched drop-in bulbs for brake/tail and found enough advantage in the Spoke units to make them the preferred option?

[RWebb]

should be good for Hill country roads

[jpnovak]

Here we are now into 2020 and I thought it was time for an update. I did not have much garage time over the holiday season since I was not home. But I did manage to get a few things working.

Let's go back to the lights. In the last installment I showed my version of LED lights. Since then I Have moved on to finishing the reflector bucket and installing the light housings into the fenders. Mostly this was straightforward.



Since the headlights were installed I thought I might as well add the TS housings and the horn grills. Yes, the mounting clips for the horn grills need adjustment. They are quite crooked and inset from the matching edge of the TS and hood line. Its an easy fix but I had to make sure that it all went together.



Before installing the TS housings I spent way too much time getting my lights all working. All of the housing front and rear were cleaned and painted. All the electrical contacts were disassembled and cleaned and then coated with dielectric grease. The rear housings needed new ground wires. The front housings were pretty clean. I had to install new H4 connectors. I really dislike when cars have wiring cut when connectors usually pop apart if you look carefully.

I really struggled (for days) to figure out why my turnsignals would not blink. I could get them to illuminate to each side in park position. The hazards worked. but not the Turnsignals. The TS switching goes through the hazard switch. It has a 3 pole setup with 3 different power leads for 12V battery, 12V key and 12V key TS. The 12V TS supply had a bad connection at the fuse block. That one was tough to trace back. In the end the TS, parking and headlights are all working.



The installed headlights have a really nice beam pattern. I can't wait for some night test drives for better pictures of illumination.



In the rear I am using the brake/running light combo from "spoke". I have these on my targa and would not go any other way.

[jpnovak]

I also took advantage of some recent warm weather to paint my wheels. I started by with a set of very used track wheels from a friend. They were crusty but straight and solid. So I used chemical stripper to remove the old paint followed by media blasting to get a clean surface. I wanted to just leave this surface but it was too uneven for me.



I followed the "diy 30 min RSR wheel finish thread". I will try to update with a link later.

The wheels received a layer of primer and then a full coating in black. I then taped off the backside of the wheels and set them level. I used a plastic paint can cap to balance the level on the center cap face and then shimmed as necessary to level. This was pretty easy.

The next step was to flood the centers of the wheels. I used a marked cup so that all 4 wheels had the same depth. The water mask then blocks paint from getting on the existing black layer.



I carefully mist coated 3 layers of wheel silver paint onto the wheels. You can see how the paint sits on the silver.



Then it was time for the unmasking. This was kinda fun. The paint layer peels back and lifts out. Here is a quick example.




You are left with a mostly crisp cut line that was so much easier than taping them off to spray the center.



In the end they look pretty good. After I get some brake dust on them the uneven finish will not be noticeable.





and yes. old, hard track tires make great wheel masks.

[jpnovak]

A few of my evenings were spent assembling door internals. It took a little bit of time but the glass rolls up and down and the door locks operate.





I even used the factory superseded part number window crank.




I will be installing some early RSR door panels with the pull straps. This is why the latch release crank is not installed.

[jpnovak]

he next step was to install some new tires on my wheels. I went with some Yokohama Advan V701s in 205 55 15 size. I was not sure if the 225 50s would clear and wanted more of an all season sport tire compared to full sticky.

The tires fit just fine and the car was pulled from the garage. I leveled the car and set my ride height. So far I am right on target for my application.




Next step is to get out the scales and strings and setup the alignment and corner balance.

I am getting closer to driving and tuning.

[Jonny042]

Great update, and Happy New Year Jamie!

I regularly worry about getting my TS and Hazards working. I often wonder if Rube Goldberg did electrical work for Porsche. Who else could come up with that circuitry?

The car is looking great and I am sure you are on the home stretch. Looking forward to seeing it complete, but will miss the updates!!

[jpnovak]

Happy New Year to you (and everyone else following along) as well.

Jonny, Let's just say that I know way more about the TS/Hazard circuit than I really should. The key here is that one of the power leads is not red color. It happens to be green. And that color swap really threw me for a loop. I wasn't looking for power where it was actually supposed to come from.

There will still be updates. That, or I will have to find another car to play with...

[Jonny042]

Originally Posted by jpnovak

Jonny, Let's just say that I know way more about the TS/Hazard circuit than I really should. The key here is that one of the power leads is not red color. It happens to be green. And that color swap really threw me for a loop. I wasn't looking for power where it was actually supposed to come from.

I know, that one's a bit odd - even the other power source is a bit off, red with a black stripe, if you follow convention, should only be hot in acc and run, but it's hot all the time? I do get a lot of mileage complaining about the circuitry but it's fascinating and entertaining to study the circuits.

I have yet to figure out how the flasher circuit keeps the same flasher rate when it's operating the TS circuit and the hazard circuit? With your LED lights did you swap out to an electronic flasher?

[jpnovak]

Jonny, I only used LED for the brake/rear running lights and headlights. I used incandescent for the TS lights. I might switch them in the future. I did buy a modern flasher relay that is supposed to be compatible with LEDs. Not sure if it can actually handle the change in R for the RC time constant circuits.

[jpnovak]

This past weekend it was time to setup the suspension. IMO proper setup is absolutely key to having a 911 drive in that legendary way. This means proper alignment and corner balance. I will walk through my process of setting up the car.

First, I put the car on scales. I have an old set of Intercomp wired scales. They still work great. I made my own scale ramps using some lengths of 2x12. I have one set that is cut for the wheelbase (minus scales) and a second set that extends in front of one end of the car. A 4x4 post prevents the car from rolling off the scales. This setup allows the ease of rolling the car on/off scales to make adjustments on the wood ramps.

I have previously measured the most level section of my driveway and always use this when setting up cars.

With the car sitting level and at a desired ride height (see previous post for pic) I will take initial measurements of the car. Yes, sway bars are disconnected for this step. I always run my scale wires through the passenger window so that I can weight the car with (me) driver weight. I can also use ballast if necessary to adjust up/down without a driver.

I will first preload the rear of the car up such that there is a weight shift to front wheels. Using the front adjusters I will set near equal front weights. Since the ride height was previously set this means you have to up on one side and down on the other to effectively shift weight without drastically changing ride height.

Afterwards the car is back on 4 wheels with a jounce or two to settle suspension. Then the rear weights are matched to the front.



Once the car is level and has a 98% CB number I will align the car. Often setting alignment can change the CB depending on how much ride height changes. I will follow up with final CB at the end.

I use Smart Strings for my alignments. They are easy to use and allow for adjustment of single wheels. The results are only as good as your string setup. Care must be taken to properly square them from the car. I use the wheel center cap lip as my known measurement point. The strings are set so that the FR/FL distance is the same and the RR/LR distance is the same. The F and R string offsets will be different due to individual car track widths.




The strings will have a height that bisects the center of the wheel. You will be measuring the difference from front and rear side wheel lips to the string. If the front distance is greater than the rear distance you have toe-in. I have my own preferred alignment settings and will not go into that here. The front and rear alignment settings are then set using thetie-rod end adjuster and toe adjuster cam bolts, respectively.



following toe adjustments I set the camber. I use a camber truss. This has 3 points and is adjustable for wheel diameter. I have previously spent time to setup the camber bubble gauge using a known level surface. This one is really easy to read. Place gauge truss on wheel. Read the center of the bubble. Then dial in your camber using the rear camber bolts and front strut tops.



Once you have set camber you have to go back and re adjust the toe. Moving the wheel in at the top changes toe settings. This is much more on the rear than at the front.



And then once you have your alignment completed you go back and finalize the corner balance. For a fast street car the 0.3% cross-corner weight percentage is good enough. But I didn't want good enough. Why not make it perfect. That'll do.



And once the car is corner balanced and aligned I pull off the strings and take a final weight of the car. HMM. Is that a calendar reading or the car weight? Yeah, pretty stoked to see such a low number.





I admit that the car is missing a passenger seat, seatbelts and some RS carpet. But even with all this I should still be under 2100 pounds. The build goal was sub-2200 pounds fully dressed with fuel, spares, tools and such. Lightweight is so much more fun.

[Rich Lambert]

I haven't checked this thread for a while...wow, nice work, Jamie!

[jpnovak]

Thank you Rich.

[David]

That’s awesome weight for a steel fendered, glass windowed 911 especially considering the chassis reinforcement you added.

[jpnovak]

David, I am really surprised by the weight. I will get a final weight once the car is ready for HCR. Or not, since I will be scrambling to finalize before the event.

[jpnovak]

It's been a while since my update. Life has had the usual craziness of work travel limiting my garage time. And Minne has struggled to keep moving forward. More on that later.

Last month I spent a bunch of time getting the car setup with alignment and corner balance. This was with the goal of making the car "minimal driveable". Of course, I don't want to venture out without some seatbelts. Those were pretty high on the list.

I decided that since the factory mounted seatbelt mounting brackets to the seat rails I would do the same. First, I had to fabricate some brackets. I used steel stock and welded nuts on the backsides.

The brackets were trimmed so that they fit tight to the seats for maximum clearance.


I welded (top and bottom) the brackets to the rear of the seat rails right next to the seat mounting bolts. This is the strongest mounting points. I used Grade 10l9 allen cap screws on the seat to rail mounting to improve shear strength should I ever have to use the belts. (let's hope not).



Here is the mounting position of the belt holding bolts relative to the seat opening.



The belts have a nice straight pull through the hip harness opening. This allows the belt to stay low and rearward of my position and prevent forward movement. The belt at this angle sits nicely across my hip bones. Perfect!



I did mention the belts were tight against the seats. I don't expect any movement or rubbing here to damage the seats. Additionally, the brackets have an offset bend. I lowered my seats and therefore needed extra clearance on the tunnel side. Yes, I would expect these to bend in the event that needed belts. But I don't expect any issues with shear.



The belts are from Seatbelt Planet in TX. I did have to mount them upside down because the adjustment clasp hit my shoulder. I moved it low and just outside the seat. These are non-retractable. They cinch nice and tight almost like a harness. Most excellent. I also wanted non-black color. Makes them easy to find in the interior.

[nameisbauer]

Safety first! Or last, technically.