Winter Project Gone Wild? ...

[DaddyGlenn]

Originally Posted by sito944

Impressive that garage. Where are you from?

I'm north of Pittsburgh, PA. Near New Castle.

[DaddyGlenn]

Quick update:

I got a few break-in hours on the motor now. No problems of any significance. I did have a small leak in the cap over the heater outlet on the fuel pump. I scrounged around an found an the small hose that usually connected the water pump to the heater pipe that runs along the head. I put that on and plugged the other end with a bolt and hose clamp. That sprung a leak, too. More scrounging and another hose was found, swapped out and this one is holding. I'll order another cap and replace it later. But for now, it works.

The break-in oil has been drained and strained. No particles of any real size were in the oil. There was a black powdery residue on the magnetic oil sump plug, which is to be expected. I drained the oil cooler, too. New filter and filled with Driven, XP-4 oil for the next round of break-in. Following Dave Lindsey's break-in recommendations, I am up to full throttle with max rpm of 6,000. So, tomorrow I'm off to Pitt Race to run some laps at speed.

[jjeffries]

Exciting!

Photos from the track, please.

John

[DaddyGlenn]

It was a hot day, yesterday, but sunny with a welcome breeze. Although the engine has less than 7 hours on it, it ran great. It should loosen up some more and be even better. The suspension set up Pete Delmer (Pete's European Techniques) did was spot on. I very quickly got my lap times down to my personal best (in that car). As the season progresses and I re-sharpen my driving skills, I have no doubt there will be several seconds shaved.


I did have a couple momentum car versions of the hunted becomes the hunter. (always fun) There was one lap I had to give a couple GT3's a point by going into 7, then pretty much sat in their back seat until 13. "Hi guys! I'm still here." Next corner, "Yep, still right behind you." Next, "Any time you want to use that skinny pedal on the right, is fine with me." Also had a different GT3 go by entering turn 3 then held me up until the exit of 6, which is a steep uphill. This little car handles so very nicely.


I still have the problem with boiling gas. It is going to take more than the insulation I added to the engine bay fuel lines. I'll have to do more research.

And I did find the one thing I forgot to do....


Guess I didn't torque the crank pulley for the alternator belt. That sent me home before the last session. It doesn't look like there was much/any damage. I'll know more when I get it up in the air later today.

All in all, I good day.

[azbanks]

Looks like a lot of fun.

[jjeffries]

Excellent. Truly: Living the Dream. At least by the pulley going astray you missed that last session, often when the Red Mist strikes and bad stuff happens.

John

[Fast Freddy 944]

Originally Posted by DaddyGlenn

It was a DME - Fuel injector mis-match. I swapped out the fuel injectors and worked out a couple more bugs in my wiring and we are good to go.

Sounds great! What kind of horse power is that engine churning out?

[DaddyGlenn]

Originally Posted by Fast Freddy 944

Sounds great! What kind of horse power is that engine churning out?

I haven't had it on a dyno, but guessing 160-ish at the wheels. It sure feels nice from the driver seat.

[Fast Freddy 944]

Originally Posted by DaddyGlenn

I haven't had it on a dyno, but guessing 160-ish at the wheels. It sure feels nice from the driver seat.

Not bad! Good looking racer! Looks like a blast!

[DaddyGlenn]

Had a blast with this car last season. I took it to Mid-Ohio for memorial day weekend with NASA Great Lakes. Even with all the rain, I had a blast and realized this was the group that would make me a better driver and get me to wheel to wheel racing fastest.

I dictated the rest of the season to running their events. I advanced through the HPDE ranks and became a MSF Level 2 certified instructor along the way as well. I'm headed to competition school in March, then off to the races.

I purchased a Spec944 car from one of the NASA GL 944 Spec racers who is moving to a different class. I'll use that car for 944Spec racing.

This car will continue to be developed for endurance races. It needs a fire suppression system and window/cage nets in order to be legal. Those parts are on the shelf awaiting installation.

I am going to use this thread to document the continued development of this car. Stay tuned.

[jjeffries]

You’re out there living the dream Glenn. Excellent progress.

John

[DaddyGlenn]

Update: I ran Memorial Day weekend 2021 at Mid-Ohio with NASA Great Lakes in their HPDE-3 group. It rained pretty much the whole weekend. But I learned more with them that weekend than I had in a year's worth of events with other groups. I cleared my schedule and did every NASA GL events the rest of the year. The engine ran great with no issues. Oil analysis showed higher levels of metals than you would normally like but they came down as time went on. I finished the 2021 season graduating from HPDE 4 and becoming a MSF Level 2 certified HPDE instructor. This year (2022) I stayed with NASA Great Lakes and started running their TREC endurance racing series. The engine and car performed exceptionally well. I lost a clutch mid-season, but it was an old one. Long story short, my co-driver and I won the overall regional points championship for the endurance series. And the oil analysis after two years, including a year of endurance racing?



Doesn't get much better than that.

So happy with this engine! I'm working on sending another engine to LR for similar treatment.

For 2023, I'm running a two car team. I picked up a 944Spec car and will run that with a couple other drivers. I have yet to determine who the drivers of the second car will be. If you are interested let me know.

[Monkey Wrench]

I recovered the dash in my 60's volvo on a shoestring budget by buying a long ladies jacket at a thrift store.. I made a seam down the middle as the pieces I got were a bit small.. fitted it loosely and got it wet so I could stretch it into the shape I liked. when dry I contact cemented it in place. died it black. it wasn't perfect but I like it a lot better than the plastic pads they sell as cover up repro parts. I was surprised how much I could contour and stretch the leather when it's wet.

Loving the thread ! beautiful work you are doing !

[Basicsbrien]

Excellent work and description thereof. John