my low budget dream car build

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by Gabe.

Awwww yea! Glad you were able to order a new rear triangle and the new wheels/tires look great.

After my last mountain bike (Haro) was stolen I bought a Santa Cruz Superlight frame and built it up. Was fun to do and quite a bit less expensive than our car hobby.

As for the wipers, I didn't even consider moving them to the passenger side. Interesting idea.

I parted out my last hardtail MTB (Evil Sovereign) and kept a few select parts to transfer over to the next bike.
Then I bought the Giant (used) complete and after installing the (choice) leftovers from the Evil, I ended up with a pretty decent bike. I bought some used I9 wheels off eBay, but they were a bit more rough than advertised. I never used the front as it needs a new hub shell and the rear now needs a new driver. I started adding up all the parts to get the I9s sorted and I was damn-near at new wheels money. So once Kelly signed off, I ordered up the Hope/Stan's wheels pictured above. Once I get the new triangle this weekend (I hope), I will have a really nice bike. I'm really stoked about how it's far it's come in ~2 years. I just try to not think about how much I've spent on it.

I had been reading up on wipers to see if the braintrust had any input about what blades to use or any caveats with the (legit antique) system and stumbled on the passenger-side park. I hate having things in my field of view, so it ended up being a good fit for me.

Tiny update:
I've ordered a pair of 13" PIAA silicone wipers as the 15" seemed like too much weight.
I've also ordered a washer tank & pump setup. Should have all of that by week's end. Ugh. This car just keeps getting heavier and heavier...

[chrisbalich]

So it's Monday again and I typically give you guys (gals? squad? team?) an update on Mondays.
Unfortunately, all I managed to do over the weekend was install the PIAA silicone wiper blades, drill 2 more holes in my car, fill those new holes with riv-nuts, mount the washer tank, realize the washer tank fit perfectly...but would not open, remove the washer tank, tweaked the tune a trifle (idle timing, after-start enrichment, cold-start enrichment, acceleration enrichment), attempt to data-log, find out I can only datalog ~20-25seconds as I hadn't paid for the full MegaLogViewer program, mash my skull into the hood latch, swear profusely, and go back inside.

Sorry no pics at this time. I can get you guys a sweet pic of the PIAA lettering on my wipers if you're really hard-up for a picture of my dirty car.

But I do have to say, I had to use the wipers on my test-drive and I was shocked at how well they cleared the screen. I may even try a set for the Tundra.

okloveyoubye

[chrisbalich]

A baloo is a bear!

I know I've been away from here, but I've certainly been spending time with/in the 911.

At the beginning of the month, I got a text from Duane (Wik) that a somewhat local PorscheBro was in need of assistance. DW and I discussed the issue at hand and I consented to giving out my number to Michael to see if I could help. That was July 2.

Michael had let out some smoke in his car after installing an Adapt Motorsports fuse panel upgrade and wanted another set of eyes to help him assess the damage and hopefully repair. We discussed his car and compared our schedules and elected to meet on July 11 at his house in SW Ohio. (he couldn't exactly drive his car to me)

Now I've been putting off (waiting to accumulate miles?) re-torquing the head studs on my car as well as checking valve lash and putting in 'real' oil. I was pretty close to the 1000 mile mark (approximations required as my odometer gear had turned to sand if you recall) and the time was at hand. I keep up with Gabe's build and saw the trouble he's had due to a loosened head stud after a rebuild and was convinced if I drove to Michael's place without checking my head studs, I'd be in the same boat.

July 4th came and went and I was running out of time to get the work done.

July 9
I [finally] expelled Kelly's A3 from the garage and swapped mine end-for-end so I could work on it with the door closed. (bugs, man. bugs) Jacked the car to the moon, jackstands in place, oil drained, knocked off the valve covers, oil everywhere (not really...just messier than I wanted), and let's check the torque. All of the studs save 2 needed ~30-90* of rotation to achieve full-torque. Good thing I checked, eh? IDK if I fouled up the install, or if this just happens with steel studs, or if the car gawds just like throwing me curveballs. Regardless, it's sorted now. I traded the torque wrench for the Kirk valve lash setting whatchamajigit. I read the instructions ~3 times and still wasn't 100% confident how the heck the thing was designed to work. So I flopped on the ground and rolled/slid under my car to see if putting it in situ would make more sense. It did. It made a lot more sense. That little thing is bloody brilliant.
I'm happy to report my valves were largely in-spec with a few outliers ~.14mm instead of .1mm. But in short order, they were all set and I was ready to button up the car.

Car pushed out, turned 'round, and pushed back in.


Not so subtle reminders and key removed from ignition.


I called it a night at this point.

July 10
I had to go to the office for work so I called around to some friends for input on oil. I've been running Rotella Dino 15-40 up til now and wasn't totally opposed to continuing to do so, but thought I'd see what my friends had used and liked.
Had to make more than one stop, but ended up finding these bad boys on the shelf at an AutoZone in the next town over.

Sauced up the hog and it was time for a test drive.
There were some changes I'd been planning for the tune, so I took this opportunity to make some tweaks and get a copilot to hold the laptop. So I asked Kelly if she was into a drive and then dinner. She agreed. We drove around for about an hour, maybe 90 minutes (Sorry, Canadian/Euro friends. IDK the metric equivalent.), and ended up driving past where her aunt lives. *about 17 miles from our house LOL* We stopped there to say hi and while I was hammering away on the laptop adjusting the calibration Kelly's aunt came home. Greetings were exchanged and we were invited in. (still no dinner)

Kelly had a few beers and Doritos with her aunt while I had some M&Ms and water and before ya know it, it's after 10pm/2200. (still no dinner) I was like, "Oi! I've got to get up at 0500 to drive to Ohio. We best hit it." We get in the car, and I try my best to idle out of the neighborhood. As we're idling away, Kelly advises she would still like some dinner...and picks a Taco Bell (no complaints) that's ~10 miles from the house...in a totally different direction that we're heading. (no audible complaints)
We haul donkey to Taco Bell, we eat in car, in the parking lot (dining room closed), then drive home. I pack the car, charge the laptop, set out some clothes and finally crawl into bed. It's 2330/11:30pm.

July 11
Early alarm
Shower
Clothes
Sunglasses
Wallet
Hoodie
Vans (can't drive this car in slides and it breaks my heart)
Yeti
Roll out
Tank up with 93 octane and hit the road proper. It's 0545 when I leave the gas station.

I drive for an hour...ish? The sun is above the horizon and blasting my retinas. My RayBan mirrored Aviators don't stand a chance. I have no visors and failed to put on the ballcap in the back seat. To the chagrin of Dick Clark, I squint and bear it. #crowsfeet The car feels weird at cruise, so I bust out the laptop. *totally safe at 70mph (10000kph?)* The sweet spot for weirdness is 15% throttle and 3k rpm. I try to tweak it whilst driving, but Indiana roads aren't known for being smooth. I take an exit and as I crest the rise, there's a gas station with a Dunkin. I power-up with a double-chocolate donut, tweak the tune a trifle more, and back on the road. Much better. Not quite right, but absolutely better. I press on and eventually reach Michael's place at 0810. I hate being late for my scheduled 0800 arrival, but he doesn't say anything and I'd traveled nearly 130 miles. Still more accurate ETA than most pizza places, amirite?

Michael's 911 is an 81SC that's PTS Canary Yellow. It's super sharp and has some really nice touches.

Unfortunately, it also has some crispy wires. The front has a few wires that are damaged, but they seem more symptomatic than causal. So we move to the back. More crispiness and some char. Now we're getting somewhere. I pull the big aluminum panel that the CDI and rear fuse panel and defogger relay are all mounted to and set about looking for a source of the short. We don't find it, so we start replacing wires. Fix the rear, fix the front, feeling pretty good, but not 100% because we still haven't ID'd the root of the issue.
While Michael and I are repairing wires and cleaning the affected areas (while you're in there...), Jay was looking at the rear fuse panel. Guess what he found.

Do you see how close the screw head is to the terminal? Close enough for there to be some charring where it'd shorted the terminal directly to ground.
The moral of this part of the story is this. If you install one of these Adapt Motorsports fuse panel upgrades, take the whole rear panel out and make sure the screws you use have sufficiently small heads to prevent this.
Easy to fix is the best kind of fix. Michael found some smaller screws, put a small widget of shrink-tube over the heads for added protection, and it was time to put everything together.



Unfortunately, Michael's journey isn't quite over. His CDI was fried during the short. So he's got some parts on the way and I expect he'll be on the road in no time at all.

By 1800/6p, we'd been working pretty much straight through for 10 hours, save a lunch break, and I still had a bit of a drive home. So we parted ways and I embarked to return to the loving arms of Kelly. Alas, once I made it into Cincinatti, the western horizon had grown ominously dark. I hadn't driven the 911 in real rain, let alone on the freeway. My brain raced with concerns about my ventilation system letting in water, my windows fogging, the engine getting wet, my alignment with a trifle too much toe-out, the charging system that would now be required to run everything at the same time, etc. Fortunately, there was no water ingress, the car ran fine, and the windows did not fog (actual miracle). Which was awesome. Because the alignment did exactly what I thought it would. The car was particularly darty on wet roads at 60-70mph (9000-10000kph). The crazy cross-winds didn't help at all. It should go without saying that I had both hands on the wheel and was very focused. So focused in fact, that I didn't notice I'd been spotted.


The rest of the ride home was largely uneventful despite making truly awful time. More rain, traffic, etc. I did eventually get home and Kelly was excited that I'd made it.

I can't thank Bryan, Tony, J, Kris, Duane, Michael, and Jay for all the support on Saturday while we fixed Michael's car. It's good to be part of such a giving & helpful community. I can't wait for cruises and hangs in the future.

Oh yeah. I'll probably even work on my own junk sometime soon. #fingerscrossedfreddy #Ionlyseeonelebaronfreddy

[75 911s]

It's all about humanity.

;-)

Thanks again Chris! The journey in the rain reminded me a bit of driving on track tires on Angeles Crest highway in the rain. Somehow these cars keep on keeping on.

[obscene]

The first time I drove my 911 to H2O it was pouring (as always) and that's when I realized I had inadvertently installed the rear wheels backwards thus reversing any hopes of wet traction.

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by 75 911s

It's all about humanity.

;-)

Thanks again Chris! The journey in the rain reminded me a bit of driving on track tires on Angeles Crest highway in the rain. Somehow these cars keep on keeping on.

Originally Posted by obscene

The first time I drove my 911 to H2O it was pouring (as always) and that's when I realized I had inadvertently installed the rear wheels backwards thus reversing any hopes of wet traction.

I reckon there wouldn't be so many of them still on the road if they were total death traps in the rain...

Benny! I'll be in PA in a few weeks. I have a wedding the weekend of 08/07 and I think I'll be back two weeks later for a little longer stay. You don't happen to know Brandon and Janelle, do you?

[chrisbalich]

I've been terrible about posting pictures lately, so here's my car classing up the parking lot at work today.


No, I don't work at RTV6. They're our next door neighbor.

[jpnovak]

Originally Posted by chrisbalich

I've been terrible about posting pictures lately, so here's my car classing up the parking lot at work today..

I see you have been busy laying rubber all over that parking lot...

LIke a vulcanized snail trail.

[Gabe.]

Good on ya for checking your head studs!

The secret I found to making less of a mess is jacking up one side of the car at a time so the oil moves towards the other side of the engine. Still leaks a bit but not a blood bath.

I've heard that the Supertec headstuds have less of a problem with the nuts loosening due to finer thread and steel with a better match on thermal expansion. If this happens again I might consider making a change.

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by jpnovak

I see you have been busy laying rubber all over that parking lot...

LIke a vulcanized snail trail.

Ha! The only black marks I'm leaving on the ground is a little residual oil and my very small leak that has only recently popped up. My trans will not tolerate tire-spinning shenanigans...yet!

Originally Posted by Gabe.

Good on ya for checking your head studs!

The secret I found to making less of a mess is jacking up one side of the car at a time so the oil moves towards the other side of the engine. Still leaks a bit but not a blood bath.

I've heard that the Supertec headstuds have less of a problem with the nuts loosening due to finer thread and steel with a better match on thermal expansion. If this happens again I might consider making a change.

With the cost of those puppies, I'll just check the torque on the studs when I do valve adjustments. #povertyspec

I drove it to work again today. Here's some proof.

[ryans65]

that thing looks tough, how many times have people asked you when you are going to paint it?

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by ryans65

that thing looks tough, how many times have people asked you when you are going to paint it?

LOL. Seriously every day.

[ToySnakePMC]

Post 1150. I’m just here for the great pics. As mentioned, it does look tough. Enjoyed the story related to the OH excursion. Sounds like it’s running better and better.

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by ToySnakePMC

Post 1150. I’m just here for the great pics. As mentioned, it does look tough. Enjoyed the story related to the OH excursion. Sounds like it’s running better and better.

Fun fact:
Unless I note otherwise, all photos are taken with my iPhone 8+. I'm no photographist, but I try to pick up tips from friends who are.

Re running better and better:
My long-planned MTB trip to Colorado next month has been cancelled. As such, I will be travelling to Stroudsburg, PA to visit a friend...who wants to get my car on the dyno to finish tuning and get some numbers. Joe has way more EFI tuning resources than I do and has some great contacts to help us get the tune dialled in. I just need to not blow it up before then.

In the meantime:
I have a 23 item checklist that I need to get to work on. There are 13 of those items that I feel I need to have done before I leave for PA. Some are really easy, some less so. If anyone wants to help, I mostly need motivation to go out to the garage and work on the darned thing. But cash and cheese pizza donations are always welcome.

[msmall215]

Originally Posted by chrisbalich

Fun fact:
Unless I note otherwise, all photos are taken with my iPhone 8+. I'm no photographist, but I try to pick up tips from friends who are.

Re running better and better:
My long-planned MTB trip to Colorado next month has been cancelled. As such, I will be travelling to Stroudsburg, PA to visit a friend...who wants to get my car on the dyno to finish tuning and get some numbers. Joe has way more EFI tuning resources than I do and has some great contacts to help us get the tune dialled in. I just need to not blow it up before then.

In the meantime:
I have a 23 item checklist that I need to get to work on. There are 13 of those items that I feel I need to have done before I leave for PA. Some are really easy, some less so. If anyone wants to help, I mostly need motivation to go out to the garage and work on the darned thing. But cash and cheese pizza donations are always welcome.

There are some tasty roads up in the Stroudsburg area around the Delaware Water Gap. PM me your email, I'll shoot you some Google map routes up there to play on and get to exercise that tune

[chrisbalich]

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!

I did some things.
I took some pics.
I wore slides the whole time.
(win win win)

I have this big list I want to get done before August 16, so I had best get started.

In today's world of GPS and phones and devices, I thought it prudent to install a 12v outlet in the car. (cigarette lighter socket in a past age) I am very much in love with my very tidy dashboard so I didn't want to put it up there. But I also didn't want it haphazardly hanging below the dash or floating out in space somewhere or somewhere difficult to reach. I think I hit a home run.

This is wired into my small fuse panel behind the passenger seat so the fuse is right on the power source and I've installed a 5amp fuse as a dual USB adapter only draws ~3.5amps at full chat. I've also installed a Porsche shielded double-male connector under the shift tower so I can pull the shift tower without pulling the whole wire from the tunnel.

Next on the list were the big shiny seat pads I have in the back seat.

Totes ugly, yeah? Well the shiny stuff is fabric backed and alleged to be a shield for heat and sound. IDK how well it works, but it is light and it was free.

Laying out the tweed so the pattern is straight and I don't waste a bunch of material.

Some scissor snips, some Super 90, some sticky fingers, and Violin!

Not great, not awful. About par for this car...maybe a stroke off the pace.

I've been driving a lot and that means I've been caught in the rain. While this hasn't been the end of the world while it's raining...the time after the rain, but before the roads dry really pastes up the windscreen. I've had no way to spray the screen, so I've just had to drive through paste until I could stop at a gas station to wipe it or get home and clean it. Today, I said, "No more pasty windscreens for me!" (it was very dramatic)
Enter the Amazon windshield reservoir kit, a small scrap of aluminum, a squirt of satin black, and poof!

With the reservoir and pump in place, I needed to direct the flow so's to not cross the streams. I tucked the supplied clear tube alongside the wiring harness and then up to a tee. Tee and [cobbled together] silicone hoses to the squirters shown here. There is a very high likelihood that this will be revised, so I'm not too stressed about its general appearance at this time.

Add about 45 minutes of forking about aiming the squirters where I think they'll work and job done.

I didn't exactly set the world on fire, but I did check off one annoying item and two rather important items off my list. When my order from BelMetric arrives, I'll knock out another important one.

[baloo]

While I just got rid of my 911 and am down to a Cayman, I still want to keep tabs on your progress...if for no other reason than to see if you surpass the motivation and fortitude of 95% of us.

[chrisbalich]

Originally Posted by baloo

While I just got rid of my 911 and am down to a Cayman, I still want to keep tabs on your progress...if for no other reason than to see if you surpass the motivation and fortitude of 95% of us.

I've set a reasonably attainable goal for this car that really helps me both stay motivated and not get too bent out of shape when I'm not as far as I want.

The car needs to be done by September 27, 2028. That's the day I turn 50.
I have plenty of time, but none to waste.

[Larmo63]

I drove it to work again today. Here's some proof.

[/QUOTE]

Car looks badass. You ARE a "photographist."

[chrisbalich]

Howdy!

Not much to report.
I got my order from BelMetric, but I have little motivation to tackle that job tonight. Likely tomorrow...probably.

I did modify a stereo delete plate into an unused-vent delete plate.
The vent sitting there useless bothered me for some reason, so I made a little plate to replace it. I'm contemplating stabbing a cell phone mount on there and maybe a small digital voltmeter.

I really like the Rennline cell phone mount. But $75 for 100g of laser cut metal seems a bit silly. Maybe they could deflate their prices a bit if they didn't spend so much time and money putting big, fat RENNLINE badges all over everything. :banghead:
If one of you has a similar solution at a less insulting price, shoot me a PM or post it up here.

I also just ordered a clock-replacement doohickey from a bloke off these boards that features an LED ring that repeats the oil pressure idiot light and has room for a 52mm (2 1/16") gauge in the middle.

Then today, I stumbled across a thread where a guy repurposed a oil press/temp gauge into an oil pressure idiot light and AFR gauge. That got me thinking that it wouldn't be terribly difficult to turn one into an idiot light and voltmeter..albeit likely not as bright as the red ring of doom I ordered.

I suppose a surplus of options is better than a shortage.

I also stuck some stickers on my car this week to advertise how cool I am.