my low budget dream car build

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by baloo

Just came across this post, so a lot of catching up.
I'm impressed you have persisted this far.
When I started reading your initial posts from back in 2018, my mind was already composing a response ("Been there, done that, and understand too painfully the amount of work and money you will have to spend -- on a project that is most likely to end up sitting around due to being overcome by life events, or by other more interesting cars...")
BUT, I see you have persisted beyond most normal humans!

Congrats!

Thank you.
My head is so hard that when I ride my MTB, I wear a helmet to protect the things it hits.
Wait until you see what I'm cooking up for this weekend's update...

[YankeeFlyGuy]

Originally Posted by chrisbalich

My neighbors all think (know?)I need to break down and buy one of those little 100 knuckle tripod things to hold my phone instead of haphazardly leaning it against stuff.

Let me know and I can come up and video most any evening.

[chrisbalich]

A day late and a dollar short*, you know what time it is. (*I bought a candy bar from a vending machine today)



When we last left off, I'd half-arsed some makeshift tailpipes to get the exhaust off my legbones whilst syncing the ITBs.

That exhaust. It needed an...uh...adjustment.
I had multiple text convos going simultaneously brainstorming ideas and reasonability-checking my madness. Sparing you all the hideousness that never came to fruition, here's what was decided upon.

Fast n dirty mockup using jack stand inserts to hold 'mufflers' in situ and blue masking tape holding well-worn (but surprisingly even) cutoff and grinding discs.


Commitment issues? Not this guy. #fullsend


This looks alarmingly like insect pupa. :vomitemoji:


Not sure if this is a success or not just yet...


Looks familiar tho


A bit more cut and paste and some twisting about and things are looking much more symmetrical...mostly.


I traced the 'insertion point' (?) of the bumper around the tail pipes, pulled everything out, used a ruler and sharpie as a makeshift slide-rule to move the tracing down ~20mm, cut on the dotted line, evened with a flap-wheel, stabbed it all back in place, and this happened.


That was all done on Saturday and completed before the shadows grew long. I felt pretty accomplished and packed it in.

Sunday
Oh Sunday. Still reeling from Saturday's victory, I wasn't sure if I even wanted to work on the car on Sunday. (Fear of FUBAR. It feels good to get a win sometimes and I didn't want to lose that feeling.)

Alas, my burning desire to drive the car further than the end of my road pressed me into action. Unfortunately Sunday was divided unevenly and sporadically with yard work and FaceTime tech support for my dad, so I did a pretty poor job of taking pictures.

I un-forked the fuel pump wiring. Now the car pulls the power supply and the and the powered side of the relay switch from the stock fuel pump fuse. The MS signals the relay to fire by sending a ground signal. Works perfectly. Stupid mistake finally fixt! Hooray!

I 'fixed' the battery cabling. I moved a little slack around, used some zipties to secure the ends, wrapped the whole lot in corrugated split tube, and called it good. I plan to revisit the fuse block and the trunk wiring in the future. So it needs to be [mostly] safe and that's it for now.

I spent 3 hours forking around with the next item. You'd be forgiven for looking at the final result and thinking it was a 5-15 minute job. Well, I'd forgive you in public but burn your effigy and curse the ground you walked on in private. You know, standard car guy stuff.
The source of all this frustration? The insipid license plate and its lights.


While that was happening, FedEx stopped by with a new windscreen seal and a brake light switch. I unboxed the windscreen seal right before I went in. No pics because no fun until it's in the car with a big [heavy] windscreen in its grasp.

The brake light switch tho...what fun!


Here I found an M16 nut from my stash, used a file to make 6 tiny triangles in the hole in my brake housing thing, and then painstakingly ground down the nut until it was a reasonable interference fit in the brake housing thing. I then cut off its top 1/3 and welded one of the jam nuts to its face. Once cooled, I dabbed on some red Loctite and [quite literally] hammered it into place. From there, I used the multimeter to set the amount of pedal travel before the lights come on and confirmed that the switch works in parallel with the OE pressure-activated switch. Now I have a redundant system that will come on with light foot pressure and have the OE pressure switch as a back-up.

My next task is to rewire that brake light switches to a relay to minimize the current traveling though them and extend their life and reliability.

That's it. I feel like I didn't get anything done on Sunday, but typing it out it sure sounds like I spent all dang day out there on the car. I didn't to anything on it today. I had to drive to work and I was able to confirm that it's my commute that demotivates me the most. I was home before 1700 and was totally flat. No juice. I took a nap, rode my bike, caught up on Pelican threads, ate dinner, and that brings me to here. Tomorrow is a new day and I'll get back on it.

[ToySnakePMC]

So glad to see your build moving along! You have to be a bit proud of how the exhaust has turned out. I think it looks great. Quick question: How will you trim out the tailpipes?

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by ToySnakePMC

So glad to see your build moving along! You have to be a bit proud of how the exhaust has turned out. I think it looks great. Quick question: How will you trim out the tailpipes?

[Jonny042]

This is the first time I've ever read the word "bespoke" without wanting to throw up. (Edit - yeah, I'm a few pages behind. Your "bespoke" exhaust comment made me LOL.)

Keep up the great work and progress!!!! This all reminds me I need to synch the tb's on the project once it's fired up, one more thing to do during the first 2 minutes......

[Gabe.]

Nice work on your exhaust! Can't wait to see how it all looks at a lower ride height, even if it's only on the red fuchs

Thanks for getting a video with some revs too. I went down a youtube rabbit hole the other day searching for Porsche ITB videos.

This one is my favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVXxffBsn0o&feature=emb_logo

The build is here:
https://bringatrailer.com/2018/10/04/for-your-listening-pleasure-3-2l-swb-911-hot-rod-on-itbs/

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by Gabe.

Nice work on your exhaust! Can't wait to see how it all looks at a lower ride height, even if it's only on the red fuchs

Thanks for getting a video with some revs too. I went down a youtube rabbit hole the other day searching for Porsche ITB videos.

This one is my favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVXxffBsn0o&feature=emb_logo

The build is here:
https://bringatrailer.com/2018/10/04/for-your-listening-pleasure-3-2l-swb-911-hot-rod-on-itbs/

I could watch/listen to that all day. I don't think mine will quite (ever) meet that lofty standard, but I'll see what I can do.
Did you see the exhaust post on my IG? The second slide has some revs on it.
I reckon I could just upload it to YT and then embed it here. It's a super short video so it seemed a little silly when I know for a fact I'll post a longer one once the tune is a bit more sorted and I get those last two windows installed.

[Gabe.]

Yep, I saw your post on the Gram. Sounds good and will sound even better once it's properly tuned!

I agree, doubt mine will ever sound like that either but it's nice to have a goal to aim for.

[obscene]

wooo woooo

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by Gabe.

Yep, I saw your post on the Gram. Sounds good and will sound even better once it's properly tuned!

I agree, doubt mine will ever sound like that either but it's nice to have a goal to aim for.

I played with the timing and fuel last night a little bit and it's remarkable how those little changes affect the sound of the exhuast. I think by the time I get this thing figured out, it's going to sound pretty mean.

Originally Posted by obscene

wooo woooo

That's only early in the morning. You s'posed to be makin' bre'fast o' somethin'.

#BubbRubb2020

[chrisbalich]

Good morning, Team!

I haven't really done much this week. Took a little break and now I'm itching to get back out there. I spent ~30-40 minutes in the garage last night and my hoodie smells like rich exhaust still. I have a few items that need sorted before I can start tuning in earnest.

I need to stabilize the exhaust. Right now the exhaust is just hanging off the headers. When the car is cold, it shakes around a lot more than I like. I'll be heading to Home Depot tonight to pick up some solid rod to weld up some supports. (Metal Supermarket is ~40 miles away. HD is ~3.)

I need a windscreen. I installed the dash last night with actual fasteners. It still will need to be addressed at some point. But I can deal with 2-3 cracks in the interim. I have the new, updated seal from URO. And I plan to do my best to get the whole lot in this weekend with minimized drama. I'll let you all know how it goes.

I need gas. I didn't know the car had a low fuel light...until it lit up. Apparently, running real rich for however long I've been running it will burn through ~5 gallons of fuel pretty quick. I haven't decided if I'm taking the car to the gas station, or if I'm going to fetch 5 more gallons in a can. Weather will be a big factor here on account of the no windscreens.

I need to confirm my ignition timing. That's what I really went out to do last night and all I've really learned is that IDKWTF I'm doing. I was able to pick up an ignition signal off the leads to the #1 ignition coil and no matter where I set the 1st tooth angle setting, I could not get the timing light to match what the computer was telling me. I have a bunch of reading in front of me today and tomorrow.
I can tell you with 100% certainty that when I changed the timing from 60* BTDC, the car was not in love with me or its new setting. Up to about 5* either way, it would still run and not hate me. But 60* is the sweet spot. (Makes sense as 6 teeth pass the sensor after the missing tooth and right as I get to TDC. 36-1 wheel)

It idles pig rich. 11.5-12. Gets pretty gassy pretty quick. But I've also got the idle a trifle lower than most suggest at 750rpm. Once I get the timing established, I'll start messing with the fuel.

The occasional pops caused by being lean on tip-in draw my ire, but I don't think it's appropriate to start sorting those out until I get the timing sorted and start dialing in the fuel table.

I'm 100% open to suggestions on the windscreen and confirming ignition timing even though I'll be reading up on both today and tomorrow.

And I got a little surprise in the mail this week. I'll be sure to make a dedicated post about that soon.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by chrisbalich

I'm 100% open to suggestions on the windscreen ...

actally I run a chinese one for about EUR 125,- incl. shipping. Price is ridiculously low.
I needed one quick(!) and no dealer nearby had one.
so I went for the eBay-Chinese.
I feared the worst, but...

it arrived nex day(!), fits perfectly (especially top corners), had the tinted top part as requested and NO antenne wire (important for my no-radio car and vintage pre-1985).

one downside though (and I guess that makes the price): on the inside it is not (fully) polished, has some kind of rough feel when wiping over the surface.

Never mind. Nothing last so long as a porvisional solution, right? haha...

Originally Posted by chrisbalich

And I got a little surprise in the mail this week. I'll be sure to make a dedicated post about that soon.

oh, really?!

[baloo]

LOVE THAT EXHAUST IDEA!!!
Despite my attempt to do thorough and OCD prior planning, I can see a mistake I might have made in cutting the exit holes through the bumper!
I probably would have positioned the holes too close together that they would have prevented fastening the license plate in the center!

Great idea and very nice job. Probably saved a couple lbs too. Now you can eat that whole box of donuts!

[chrisbalich]

Fast and dirty update because I need to redo my list. (actual paper held to my garage door with magnets)

4/30
Fitted the dash.

5/1
- Welded up a bracket to stabilize the exhaust. Now it doesn't rattle against the bumper when the engine is cold and idling the least smoothly.
- Bolted down the steering wheel. Now it shouldn't come off in my hands on test drives...anymore...
- Painted and installed the smuggler's box lid. Just some satin black engine paint I had laying around.

5/2
- Re-synced the ITBs. Found the bind in my linkage. It was my GD pivot in between the two banks. Sorted that out and things improved.
- Changed the throttle return spring on the bellcrank. I tried 5 different springs before I found a setup I like that does the job I need it to do.
- I trimmed (and adjusted the tweed covering on) my door panels. They were interfering with the door seals and I wasn't able to close the doors with the seals and the panels in place. Now, everything works as it should.
- I installed the front kick-panel carpets. Not the best, not the worst. Feet go there. Not a show car. Not a priority except I was tired of tripping over the carpet pieces.
- Installed the factory (haggard) parcel shelf panel monstrosity. It's ugly and heavy, but it's in and I'll replace it with a lightweight, appropriately trimmed panel later. I need to get the interior sorted enough to not trigger my anxiety so I can shove windows in this thing and focus on tuning.

I put ~5 gallons in it using a gas can this morning. I was reluctant to drive it to the gas station with the throttles hanging a bit, so I went and got gas and throttle return springs first thing.

After the sync and un-forking of the pivot bit, I drove it to a different gas station ~5 miles away. I drove my car 50mph on county roads with no front or rear windscreens with only my (glass-lens) aviators to protect my eyes/face, on tires from the 90s (unknown pressures) mounted to wheels held to the car by lug nuts that were torqued to whatever my impact driver (fancy cordless drill) puts out. #yolo #fullsend

The tune is still pretty rough, second gear syncro is probably absent completely, and I money-shifted into first instead of third leaving the only stoplight on my route.

Pizza's done.
Gotta go.

[RSBob]

Hate to be Debbie Downer, but the practical side of me wants to know: When someone tags your bumper at say 5 MPH, is your exhaust designed to break away, or do you just take the hit (swear profusely) and then pray?

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Hate to be Debbie Downer, but the practical side of me wants to know: When someone tags your bumper at say 5 MPH, is your exhaust designed to break away, or do you just take the hit (swear profusely) and then pray?

Bob,
I just read your comments in another thread where you applauded a fellow Pelican for advising someone to do what they want.
I find it curious that in less than 20 minutes you applaud one for trying new things and then question another.

In regards to your actual concern, I am extremely doubtful that anyone driving a stock modern car would even hit the bumper. Lining up an IB 911 next to anything reasonably modern belies the tremendous size difference. With that difference comes the disparity in bumper heights. I reckon if anyone rear-ends me in the 911, they'll more likely to push in my decklid than to push in my bumper.

If another 911 or similar vintage (lowered) vehicle rear ends me, they're going to hit my rear bumper that's been trimmed and is held up with shocks that are now rigid. If they get through that, they'll hit my custom fabricated (from the most exotic of metals) $15 exhaust. If they are able to overpower the exhaust, next up is my $400 chinesium headers. If those hold up, they may do damage to the heads.

In any case, the other driver is liable and responsible for all damages to my car. If anyone should be praying at an event such as you described, it's the other driver.

I refuse to live my life in fear of 'if'.


for reference, here's my safari-height 911 next to my wife's 2015 A3.

[chrisbalich]

Sunday 05/03/2020 I didn't do too much car stuff.
I have a friend who used to work for Safelite Auto Glass who I convinced to come help me install the front and rear windscreens.
Before Eric got here, I installed both seals onto the windows and cleaned the seals and car/flanges therein. I then decided (against my better judgement) to try to use the aluminum trim (I hate that stuff.) in the big windows as it was still quite black and I had it.
I set about straightening the trim for the rear windscreen. It went pretty smoothly, and everything I've read said the rear window is wicked easy to pop in. So I figured I'd give it a go and either succeed or learn something before Eric arrived. What happened next is the stuff of legend.

I installed the trim into the seal, now wrapped lovingly around the window.
Then, I installed the soap-on-the-rope in the seal.
I next soaped the window frame/flange/opening/cavity/hole/orifice/you get the point.
I dropped the window in, rope to the inside, flange approximately in the vicinity of correct.
Next came firm pressure from my right hand and I pulled the rope with my left.
The seal flipped right over the flange like the tales I'd heard. Feeling pretty good, right? Right.
So I get the driver's side seated about 1/3 of the way up the C-pillar and move to the passenger's side. Same story. No drama.
I'm feeling good, but still apprehensive. I don't trust those insolent trim bits...but so far, we're still on the same team.
I move back to the driver's side. I take it up around the corner. Home stretch. I stop 6-8 inches (150-200mm) from center and switch sides.
I get both sides up and around their respective final corners and move back to the driver's side. I'm right handed and wanted to be able to push the glass with my right and rope with my left.
As I draw the rope to seat the last few inches, the trim bits butted into each other...and erupted out of the seal.
First confusion, then swearing, then removal of the whole assembly to start all the way over.
Best I can tell, the savagery used to remove them before I got the car caused them to stretch a bit. My gentle massaging back into shape may or may not have helped.
So I trimmed ~3-4mm off each end. #foolmeonce
Second verse, same as the first...except it plopped right into place and the crowd went wild.


Circling back, I learned something AND succeeded.

So I moved on to the front. Here, I'm quite certain a claw hammer was used to remove the trim bits.



The picture is absolute ****e, but the white spots on the edge of the trim are actually the bare aluminum corners of creases where the trim was ripped out of the car. Neither I nor the trim were excited about this development.

It took me over an hour to persuade the trim bits back into 90% correct shape. I then spent another 40 minutes or so installing the trim (and making small adjustments) into the seal. Once the trim and seal were in place, I placed some big spring clamps on the corners and where the top and bottom seams were to hold it all together while I took a wee break.
Eric showed up about that time, so we caught up a little bit and discussed what I'd learned doing the rear window.
We jumped right in using a similar approach. Except we had a dashboard to contend with this time....and the windshield is living very openly in all three dimensions compared to the relatively flat rear window...and the trim was extra insolent.

If our first attempt had been a baby bird, it'd be a sad, flat bird on the ground 30 feet (9.5m) below the nest.
Our second was better, but you don't need to Rasputin to know where this is going.
Round 3...FIGHT!
We greased and cleaned and wrastled and fought the seal, but in the end we got that surly bish to do our bidding.


It took 4 or 5 attempts to get the windshield passably clean. My fingers were not so lucky. I still have grey around the cuticles and frankly, that is just gross. There will be more scrubbing tonight to remove the offending dirts.

Eric had to jet and my hands and fingers had enough of me, so I packed it in and Kelly and I ate pizza on the couch and watched the Masked Singer. (not a paid endorsement)

I need to reassess and rewrite my list and I'll have a better idea where I'm heading next.
Also, I think the calipers are all seized up. Booster holds vacuum but the pedal is very high and very hard and braking performance is midway between laughable and concerning.

I'll see all you little Hulkamaniacs soon.

[jac1976]

I saw that you mentioned the trouble the license plate lights were creating for you. I may have missed your solution, but there are license plate bolts that incorporate lights. You likely are already aware, but wanted to throw it out there. Congrats on the progress.

[baloo]

Chris,
In regards to your windows and trim installation, as soon as I saw the words "lovingly" and "gently" and "persuaded", I knew you were doomed to failure!
Those are NOT inanimate objects, as I think you found out. They KNOW when you are pussyfooting and being weak, and like humans, they will automatically take advantage of your good will and make you fail...and laugh at your failures.
I always bring a sledge or a lumberjack axe within a foot of my work space, just so the job can see I ain't messing around. Have a threat of violence visible to your car, and THEN see how easy the job goes!!