PorSTi Project Thread…, Well that was fun, time to make some upgrades! Options

[mepstein]

what is the reason for the modified trailing arm brackets?

[Amenson]

what is the reason for the modified trailing arm brackets?

Primary reason is so that I can install a toe link to make adjustments easier.



The rest of the welding is to reinforce the spot welds to stiffen it up a bit.

Cheers,
Scott

[914forme]

Looking good

[Amenson]

I had a pleasant surprise this week. One of my wife's co-workers bought a lift and she proposed that we should get one also. The ceiling half of the garage was designed to be high enough to stack most things I might buy but I was not actually planning to get one in the near term. I called up the lift company, negotiated a deal (much better than her co-workers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) ) and it arrived Friday afternoon. Few hours assembling it on Saturday and....



It will move to the stall with the C10 once I pick up some more hydraulic fluid so that I can raise it high enough. Now I just need to get the C10 on 4 wheels so I can park it on the lift and then I will have room to work on Grey Matter (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[914forme]

Need to notch that C10 frame, I think you need clearance them C10s are tall beasties. Would help a lot if it could sit down on putting grass levels (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

Nice score on the lift, I was not expecting your wife to approve anything that put a couple tons up in the air. Figured that would set off all the safety alarms. I know my fingers distracted her. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[914forme]

You all are deprived of Tractor Supplies (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)



And Rural Kings, man that sucks, you can buy Hydraulic Oil buy the drum there. Looks like the small jugs for you, let me know if you can't find some locally.

Voss Brothers up in Powell should have what you need, as wold any hydraulic hose dealer, Parker store in your area.

Never bought the stuff, at a big box store before, Napa might be another place to get it in larger quantities. Of course the guys dealing in Cat or JD construction equipment will have it also, but you pay CAT and /JD markups for the yellow and green and gold bottles.

[Amenson]

Need to notch that C10 frame, I think you need clearance them C10s are tall beasties. Would help a lot if it could sit down on putting grass levels (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

Nice score on the lift, I was not expecting your wife to approve anything that put a couple tons up in the air. Figured that would set off all the safety alarms. I know my fingers distracted her. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I already have a C-notch that will get it in the grass if I don't cut it for 2 weeks. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/slap.gif)

She did already check out the warning labels and refuse to go for a test ride on the lift. She also confirmed a half dozen times if it should be bolted to the floor.

You all are deprived of Tractor Supplies (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

And Rural Kings, man that sucks, you can buy Hydraulic Oil buy the drum there. Looks like the small jugs for you, let me know if you can't find some locally.

Voss Brothers up in Powell should have what you need, as wold any hydraulic hose dealer, Parker store in your area.

Never bought the stuff, at a big box store before, Napa might be another place to get it in larger quantities. Of course the guys dealing in Cat or JD construction equipment will have it also, but you pay CAT and /JD markups for the yellow and green and gold bottles.

I get the fluid from a local Parker store. I also have some JD fluid on the shelf but did not want to mix.

[914forme]

She did already check out the warning labels and refuse to go for a test ride on the lift. She also confirmed a half dozen times if it should be bolted to the floor.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) I would have been disappointed if she hadn't read the labels, the manual, the anchor specs, then sent it off for verification.

Need to borrow my SDS drill to drop 16 holes into your floor? Epoxied set anchors are the way to go, unless your planning on moving it allot.

[Amenson]

She did already check out the warning labels and refuse to go for a test ride on the lift. She also confirmed a half dozen times if it should be bolted to the floor.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) I would have been disappointed if she hadn't read the labels, the manual, the anchor specs, then sent it off for verification.

Need to borrow my SDS drill to drop 16 holes into your floor? Epoxied set anchors are the way to go, unless your planning on moving it allot.

It will not be bolted o the floor. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/screwy.gif) This breaks a primary design constraint of easy layout flexibility.

[Chris H.]

Ummm...I'll say what most of us are thinking. You made an EXCELLENT choice in your "better half" or got very lucky. Either way well done sir (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) .

I need one of those before winter (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) ...any chance you would PM me the pricing details? Don't want to impose.

[charliew]

nice lift, a guy can't have too many tools.

I like the toe link because it will keep the adj more secure with the added torque and bigger tire footprint.

[Amenson]

After much consternation and research I finally decided to bring the Porsti to a shop for an alignment. I found a local shop that specializes in "custom" cars and had a lift that I could get onto. I insisted on being present during the alignment, which was not a problem for the shop...all good.

I expected the toe to be way out in the rear as I had just eyeballed it after installing trailing arms, and it was. Also way out was the right rear camber, this is why I replaced the control arm in the first place. Great, maybe the chassis is tweaked. We put two spacers in and it gets better but only a couple of tenths of a degree per spacer but is still over a half of a degree off from the passenger side. Seems odd but that is what the fancy machine is saying so I tell him to leave it and will sort it out with my smart camber gauge when I get home. We adjust the toe which is way easy with the new links. Front is pretty much spot on so we just make a small toe correction to both sides to even out the steering wheel.

Mechanic has something come up with his daughter so he does not take the car for a test drive. Fine with me so I pay and leave. I take the long way back to he office to get some interstate miles to enjoy the arrow straight chassis. Not quite, the steering center is still off and the car pulls slightly to the right. I get home and pull out the smart camber guage. Passenger side rear is 1.4 ish degrees and driver is 2.1. Passenger front is basically zero with the driver front 1.3. WTF (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif) Gauge must be off so I check it on both sides of a couple of windows plus check it against two spirit levels and my digital angle cube. Reads +- 0.1. Check the floor with all of the tools and it is, for all practical purposes, level. Recheck the camber a few more times and get the same readings.

Next I take out the shims from the driver side (which I can do without messing up the toe due to the links (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)) and the camber is 2.0. I have no fricken clue how the modern Hunter alignment machine could be wrong but it was. I guess that it is time to make a set of smart strings after all.

Other issue I am dealing with is a rattle that only occurs between 2.5k and 3kish rpm and only under load. I tried running it on the short lift with the wheels off the ground but could not get the rattle. I initially thought that it was the letters on the engine grill vibrating but after taping then gluing them down and replacing he rubberized speed nuts for the letters and the screen I pulled the engine cover off completely. Still there. Zip tie all of the loose wires and connectors, still there. Install he foam under the timing belt covers, still there. Re-tighten every bold accessible, still there. Install heat barrier on the aluminum exhaust support, still there. I resorted to banging on random things with a mallet and found that the flex joint in the exhaust with clank when hit just right. I loosened the exhaust and wedged some blocks to keep the exhaust from vibrating, still there. The next step is to pull the header and see if I can shave off whatever is making contact in the flex joint. Seems excessive but the noise is ruining my driving experience. Sometime I wish that I was not so particular.

Cheers,
Scott

[Amenson]

Europe is on summer vacation and Japan is on Obon so I figured it would be a good week to take a couple of days off to play in the garage and recharge. Looked at the to do list and decided alignment strings would be a good place to start.

Drew up a quick sketch and headed to the metal store. Unfortunately they did not have so much thin walled tube so I had to use 1/2 emt which is perfect...except for the galvanized coating which is not so much fun to breathe. The knotcher paid for itself on just this project alone. Perfect fitment makes for easy fun welding.





I still need to find adjustable bumpers so that I can get rid of the block of wood and stack of spacers.


I could not decide how to hold the string in place until I was using a tube cutter and noticed the nice grove it left in the tube before it cut though. Work perfect.




Equal length strings and equal spacing makes parallel strings no matter what.

Did a quick alignment to fix the "pro" job and it is pretty nice. Still need to set the corner weights and it should be perfect.

Cheers,
Scott

[914forme]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif) looks great

[Amenson]

I brought the car to the lab at my wife's work to check the corner weights. LF/RR was noticeably off. Cranked up the RF and it is spot on and drives like it.

Total weight: 2197 lbs with ~13 gal of gas.
Distribution: 53% Rear 47% Front

Cheers,
Scott

[Amenson]

I figured out my rattle....what it was exactly, I have no idea. I gave the engine bay a quick wipe down before going to Cars and Coffee and it just stopped. Pretty sure it was one of the engine connectors vibrating. I wiped under the connectors on both sides and positioned them a bit. I thought that I had zip tied them so they could not vibrate but maybe not.

With that solved and Okteenerfest coming up I though that I would take care of a tiny pinhole leak in the radiator from a rock hit. While visiting Doug to check out Grey Matter he donated the 1.5" green stripe hose to the project so while I have the cooling system dry to fix the radiator I might as well reroute the cooling lines.

Step one, pull the raidiator and all of the cooling lines except the one in the passenger long. Then pull the Fuel tank to get access to the front of the steering rack hump.



Cooling lines will come out of the lower front of the longs and enter the steering rack hump channel here:

And come out here:

Then go under the fuel tank and enter the radiator from below instead of above. This requires removing and plugging and exiting connections and installing new ones. I will also end up remaking most of the elbows. Plenty of work to do.

While I was aligning the car with my new stings setup I noticed that I could get half of a degree more camber on one side than the other. It sort of bothered me and after looking at it for a while I decided that my upper bushings must be off somehow. I looked into replacement bushings and really liked the Elephant Sealed Monball units. While I was ordering those I decided that I might as well put the pollybronze bushings in the front suspension also. Jez, while apart it would be a great time to install new strut inserts so I ordered a set of Bilsteins. No big deal, plenty of time before Okteenerfest.

Thankfully Stephen was nice enough to stop over Sunday morning to give me a hand with the struts, bushings and top monoball mounts. He also brought over his tube beader set for the cooling lines elbows and a box of beer. What a guy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

It is still going to be pretty tight to get it back together for Okteenerfest. I have a mini vacation this weekend then I leave for a week and a half business trip in Europe on the 12th where I just happen to end up in Munich for the opening weekend of Oktoberfest. I fly back the Tuesday or Wednesday before Okteenerfest. No problem, there will plenty of time for sleep when I am dead someday.

While I am thinking of Okteenerfest, it looks like I am going to have an empty seat for the Friday Drive. If anybody with a strong back and a complete disregard for their hearing wants to experience a suby powered 914, the seat is available. Preference will go to anybody building or thinking about building one. Bribes of beer or fine liquor go a long way too!

Cheers,
Scott

[914forme]

More than welcome, that was the easy thing to do, and while I was under your car, I started to think how I don't need a perfect 914 I need a driver (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) So got back did a couple of things and dove in on mine.

Enjoy the (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)

[Amenson]

More than welcome, that was the easy thing to do, and while I was under your car, I started to think how I don't need a perfect 914 I need a driver (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) So got back did a couple of things and dove in on mine.

Enjoy the (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)

I have over 10,000 miles on the conversion and I am just starting to get frustrated by the esthetics. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif) Driving is fun (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving-girl.gif)

Wife was having girl time tonight so I had big plans on the project, ufortunately did not make as much progress as hoped.

First problem was the Elepant Weather Sealed Monoballs for the strut tops. When Stefan and I first installed them I could not get the snap ring in. Figured once they were torqued down it would go...it does not. Both sides tightened to exactly the same place so I assumed that the mounts were not deranged. Called Elephant and they said that it was not known problem. On a whim I dug out a 911 camber plate cleaned it up, pulled the monoball out of the 914 and voila, fits great. Tightens past the snap ring groove with finger torque.


Apparently 911 and 914 camber plates are different enough that the monoball does not fit 914's properly. Talked to Elephant and they are going to get back to me with a proposal. I would like to just install the 911 camber plates and be done with it but I only have one good one. Anyone have a spare or two they want to sell?

The other issue I had was removing the 1.75" tube from the driver side long. Bloody hell, not sure how I got it in there but for a bit I did not think that it would come out. After much tugging to exhaustion, inch by inch it finally came out.

Back to progress, cleaned up the trunk side access hole.


Cut the hole into the long and test fit an elbow, looks pretty good.


Would look even better with the tube through the tunnel but it just would not go in. It will, just need to give it another try with a fresh mind and muscles.

Getting close to beader time, I can't wait!!!!

Cheers,
Scott

[Amenson]

Update on the Elephant Front strut monoballs. They agree that the parts do not fit the 914 camber plates properly and offered to refund the purchase or send me a pair of 911 plates. I really like the parts so I am having the 911 camber plates sent. I offered in return to send my 914 camber plates so they can adapt the parts to our cars. They agreed on the swap so maybe sometime in the future they will be compatible with our cars.

Cheers,
Scott

[914forme]

I have two I won't need s I am going with so rubber trick Tangerine parts. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

They are yours.

Good you resolved it. If not let me know offer still stands. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)