Build #2, No huge car progress...but...cool new toys! Options

[jd74914]

Hello all.

I figured I’d throw up a progress thread for my car’s second rebuild. For those who don’t know me my name is James and I’ve been a 914 addict since age 13 (now 26) and used to hang around here a bunch more. It seems like a good start to this thread would be some background information. Its first build took place when I was in high school (age 13) and ended as a freshman in college. When I originally purchased the car it didn’t run and had some pretty serious external rust problems. I rebuilt the motor, fixed tons of electrical issues, replaced all of the rotten metal with new (all hand-formed since I didn’t have the money to pay for reproduction pieces), and repainted. Everything was done in my garage with the exception of turning/balancing the flywheel and I learned how to MIG weld and paint from my dad, some books, and through a lot of practice.

After reassembly, it was my daily driver for 3.5 years during my undergrad degree. I pretty much drove it hard and put it away wet for the entirety of these years and it never saw a garage. Something about getting a mechanical engineering degree, dating a few girls, working throughout the year as a design engineering intern, and finding FSAE cars really limited the amount of time I spend on my own car. By the end of my undergrad degree there were some pretty rough spots, mostly in terms of the suspension/brakes and a pesky ignition switch (replaced 3 or 4 times and it kept failing), which pushed me to taking it off the road and fixing everything correctly. I thought it might take about a year-that was 3.5 years ago! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Just like after the first rebuild, life got in the way and the car sat as I went through a master’s degree, worked full time, continued to play with FSAE cars, and starting working on friend’s real racecars. Now I’ve finally finished my MS (and know way too much about fluid dynamics and heat transfer (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) ), am applying to schools for a Ph.D., still haven’t stopped [advising] FSAE design, and really want to drive her! The play was to start and finish rebuilding the suspension last summer (I saw Chris Foley-Racer Chris in the grocery store one day and told him this), but I got carried away and a bit behind. This thread is to chronicle the build back to the road.

We’ll start with a few pictures from when it was originally completed in 2006/7 (well, it's missing the plates and still has the original windshield but...).

[Cairo94507]

Terrific story and glad to see you are working towards your Ph.D - single biggest factor in being able to continue playing with our cars. I love seeing these cars go under the knife to repair their rusting bones. Best wishes and have fun restoring your lifetime friend.

[jd74914]

Terrific story and glad to see you are working towards your Ph.D - single biggest factor in being able to continue playing with our cars. I love seeing these cars go under the knife to repair their rusting bones. Best wishes and have fun restoring your lifetime friend.

Thanks! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The last pictures ended with about 60% of the right long pulled off and a whole bunch more metal cut out. Since the car was dimensionally-unstable at this point, the immediate need was to fix most of the structure. The next pictures show the first portion of the inner long fix.

You'll notice that I'm not remaking the metal in exactly the same fashion as it was removed, it's actually about 12mm taller than the original cross-section and will have extra stiffening plates installed on the top and bottom faces. This modification increases stiffness more than an Engman kit (I'm tired now, but I'll write in the moment of inertial calculations later) without adding much additional weight (it's stiffness-to-weight efficiency is actually much better than Engman's and slightly better than the factory). It also has the added benefit of being essentially free since I'm making all of the pieces from sheet anyways. The oddly placed channel is for this buildup. When I get to posting the math details I'll also post a sketch of the new metal so everyone who wants can see how I'm adding it.

The inner fender well repair panel needed to have a slightly odd end finish to match the frame rail end, but I think it came out pretty nicely.

The rest of the pictures show some additional metal replacement at the engine mounts and hot air inlet duct section. Chances are these heater ducts will not come back in as originally intended and will instead become wire chase-ways for the ECU. The duct cutout in the new metal at duct inlet is funny looking (weird non-oval shape) since it has yet cut to the exact opening. The hell hole bottom wasn't too bad, but while in there seemed like a prudent replacement.

That's all for now...so enjoy some pictures. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)