Starting a 1971 IMSA 914 Restoration, A privateer run 914 with Sebring and Daytona history Options

[gms]

John,
Are you going to Rennsport with the car?

[FourBlades]

Crocs: shudder...

I plan to race at Rennsport 27.

How about you?

John

[gms]

Crocs: shudder...

I plan to race at Rennsport 27.

How about you?

John

yes,
I am working on 914.043.0945 IMSA 914/6
but if she is not done i will run 470.29.00076 - Meaney/Hendricks FIA, IMSA race car

[FourBlades]

Glenn,

It would be great if you could enter either car. I really got interested in restoring a vintage racing Porsche after going to RennSport II and III. Definitely one of the bucket list items for my IMSA car since I got it.

Can you post some more pictures of the progress on your black IMSA car?

John

[gms]

Can you post some more pictures of the progress on your black IMSA car?

Update posted on 914.043.0945

[FourBlades]

I am considering a variation of the first approach, which is to run the oil line from the engine through the driver's heater tube and then up and out of the elbow (like the hot air would flow) and then through the firewall and into the front trunk.

This keeps the oil line pretty far away from the driver's feet. It is also how the original owners had plumbed the car.

I tried moving the line to passenger side but there is not room in the heater tube for a -16 and a -12 line. I don't want to cut out the passenger heater tube and elbows to make more room because I don't want to hack up the car in a way the original owners did not do (anymore than I have already).

I doubt this car will ever run 12 hour races again where the build up of heat in the driver's long will be a big issue. I can fire sleave the line to keep heat transfer down near the driver. The original owners ran four 12 hour races this way so it must work fairly well.

I think I have found oil filter console and breather can, now I need to add in the fuel and other components to figure out how to package all this.

Does anyone know if having working wipers is necessary in certain race series? The wiper mechanism takes up a fair bit of room. For example, I would love to do Classic Le Mans, and it often rains during the event.

Keep the comments coming, I appreciate all the good advice.

John

[ThePaintedMan]

John, you could also run one line down the passenger heater tube and the other (possibly the "cooled" oil) through the drivers. I still don't think the heat would really be much more noticeable than the other typical heat of racing, especially if you use FireBraid or other on them. Plus, I think you were planning on a CoolSuit - if so, you'll barely notice the heat from the lines. I ran in a Mustang with a built 347 in the front of it, once without a cool suit and once with. I was able to get through my stint the first time (1.5 hours) but the second time with the suit I felt practically fresh when I got out of the car. It does make a difference and I know that car makes a TON of heat.

As far as the wipers go, you could try to fabricate a different, or smaller/lighter wiper setup from another, more modern car. But I would not go without one completely. It would suck to get the car to a weekend and have to sit out because you can't see. RainX alone probably won't be sufficient, however I think most organizations (HSR, etc) don't necessarily require one. On that note, I finally convinced the owner of the car I'm prepping now to spring for rain tires - something every racer in Florida should have a set of.

[ChrisFoley]

My SCCA car hasn't had wipers since I moved to Production.
A good coat of Rain-X is all you need.

[FourBlades]

John, you could also run one line down the passenger heater tube and the other (possibly the "cooled" oil) through the drivers. I still don't think the heat would really be much more noticeable than the other typical heat of racing, especially if you use FireBraid or other on them. Plus, I think you were planning on a CoolSuit - if so, you'll barely notice the heat from the lines. I ran in a Mustang with a built 347 in the front of it, once without a cool suit and once with. I was able to get through my stint the first time (1.5 hours) but the second time with the suit I felt practically fresh when I got out of the car. It does make a difference and I know that car makes a TON of heat.

As far as the wipers go, you could try to fabricate a different, or smaller/lighter wiper setup from another, more modern car. But I would not go without one completely. It would suck to get the car to a weekend and have to sit out because you can't see. RainX alone probably won't be sufficient, however I think most organizations (HSR, etc) don't necessarily require one. On that note, I finally convinced the owner of the car I'm prepping now to spring for rain tires - something every racer in Florida should have a set of.

The return line at the bottom of the oil tank comes out right next to the passenger long. Getting it across the to the driver long would not be easy. I like the idea of cooler oil on the drivers side and hot oil on the passenger side but this won't work easily.

I will mock up all the stuff needed in the front trunk and see if there is room for wipers. I don't think they had them when it ran at Sebring. In a short race Ithinkn Rain X would work well. For a 12 hour race maybe tear offs with rain-x?

Another item I wonder about is the mocal thermostat? It requires 4 AN connections and makes running the oil lines more awkward. Is this necessary for a track car? Does it help extend the engine life? I don't use one on my street car but it does take 10 minutes for oil to get up to temperature.

John

[ThePaintedMan]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) I totally forgot that I watched Chris' video of him driving like a madman in the pouring rain at NHMS. I suppose if you don't race long enough for it to wear off, then RainX is indeed the better solution. I think with Lexan it'd be better anyways since the wipers would undoubtedly scratch it. My apologies guys.

[Greg914-6GT]

I am finally starting on the build thread for the IMSA 914. This is a 1971 914-4
that was bought in 1975 or 6 as a used car and turned into an IMSA GTU car.
It is a well crafted but not big budget car with a lot of clever touches that helped
it to beat a lot of more famous and undoubtedly better financed teams.

My wife and I plan to restore the car to racing condition and then enjoy the
heck out of it without abusing it any further (its clearly had a hard life).

Our priorities are (1) make it safe and legal for current vintage rules (2) keep
it original as practical (3) keep it period correct, in that order. We also want to
avoid over restoring it too much, but it is easy to understand the temptation
to cad plate, power coat, and perfectly repaint everything. I think this last issue
will be the biggest, other than going broke or insane first (either one would
be a short trip at this point).

I plan to post way too many photos, the best quality I can, until people flame
me big time to stop. I also expect you, yes YOU!, to help me figure out what
to do and give me ideas and comments. I may not always do everything people
want, but I will consider all ideas. I'm really just a novice restorer and I know
I can't do this without your help.

OK, so screw the BS, lets see some pictures. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

Competing at Sebring as a 4-cylinder (changed to a six soon after).



T.C., who found the car in a barn, passes it on to me (what luck!).



I had to turn to a close friend for the financing, but it worked out.



Huge ATL 500A fuel cell. The hood just closes over this.



TC, URY914, SMG914, and I working on my Explorer flat six conversion.



Fiberglass flares and paintwork need a little bit of work.



Wife: Are you sure we are buying the right car? Why don't we just buy this one
from T.C., it actually has an engine inside the car. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)



I have started to dissassemble the car so it can be soda blasted and I have tons
of pictures to post.

So what do you all think?

John

Been testing my car at Sebring. Zotz's racing maintains and crews it. Hope you have deep pockets. Just replaced my fuel cell, it was $2500 plus labor to install.

[FourBlades]

I have done all the work myself because I enjoy it.

It does help keep the cost down. I probably have 1000 hours over 5 years into this effort.

The parts can be expensive...

Post a thread about your car and your experiences with it.

Looks very cool.

Zotz does some high end work. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

John

[ChrisFoley]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) I totally forgot that I watched Chris' video of him driving like a madman in the pouring rain at NHMS. I suppose if you don't race long enough for it to wear off, then RainX is indeed the better solution. I think with Lexan it'd be better anyways since the wipers would undoubtedly scratch it. My apologies guys.

I like this one best.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77oRaG_PoSg


and, yes, thats how bad the visibility really is. In HD it would still be very blurry. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)
I don't think wipers on high would be much better. The real enemy is fog on the inside.

[FourBlades]

Great video Chris! Too bad someone spun in front of you at the start and held you up.

Did you have any kind of defrost system at the time?

Thanks for all your help with this project!

John

[Jeff Hail]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) I totally forgot that I watched Chris' video of him driving like a madman in the pouring rain at NHMS. I suppose if you don't race long enough for it to wear off, then RainX is indeed the better solution. I think with Lexan it'd be better anyways since the wipers would undoubtedly scratch it. My apologies guys.

I like this one best.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77oRaG_PoSg


and, yes, thats how bad the visibility really is. In HD it would still be very blurry. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)
I don't think wipers on high would be much better. The real enemy is fog on the inside.

Rain could be worse. Interior fog is another story. Reminds me of my friend Victor a few years back. Show Room Stock Champion SSB won because he was the only car in the field that had working air conditioning in a Peugeot 505 while it was raining cats and dogs out. Everyone else was slowing because no one see out the windshield.

[FourBlades]

Great story Jeff.

Would it be worth running a couple bilge blowers for defrost like George did?

Are you blowing front trunk air or cockpit air George?

I was playing with laying out the fuel system last night, lots of components in a dual fuel pump system. More alternatives to look at.

John

[ChrisFoley]

Did you have any kind of defrost system at the time?

Only a small terry cloth towel, if I remembered to put it in the car.
Otherwise just the back of my gloved hand.

If I recall correctly, I stopped using Rain-X when I got the Lexan windshield.
It naturally sheds water better than glass.
I think they recommend dish soap on the inside for anti-fog.

[ThePaintedMan]

John,
I never tested my bilge blower defrost out in pouring rain, but I have turned it on to test it in the driveway on a rainy morning and when it was really foggy out. Seemed to work great.
The idea behind it is to pull ambient air from the trunk or even outside the car into the cabin and onto the back of the windshield. If you can effectively eliminate the temperature gradient between the front and backside of the glass, in theory the windshield shouldn't ever fog up. Kind of like when a bottle of Coke sits out long enough, eventually it stops sweating. Of course, in a front engine car, the problem is much harder to control, so in a way, we have it much easier.

[FourBlades]

Rerouted oil lines the way the original builders did it. I will firesleave it to keep heat away from the driver somewhat. This is much better than what I had before. I will close up the holes I made and leave a service panel in case the oil lines need messing with. That -12 AN line is not very flexible and a real pain in the ass to work with. If the fittings are not perfectly aligned then they won't screw on.



Then through the bulkheads to the front trunk. The line does not touch the fitting.



Laying out all the parts for the dual pump fuel system. I need to find a home for all these in the front trunk area.



Start playing with various locations. Using aquarium line for the mock up. This does not look promising.



Keep playing with it.



A much better approach that does not mount any components on the fuel cell or its straps.



Rotate the pumps to put them behind the cross bar. I think this is very close for these parts!



I will weld some serious tabs to the cross bar to mount the fuel pumps. They are Holley red pumps and weigh 3 pounds each. Still need to figure out a couple more fuel components. I need to make sure all parts can be serviced or replaced and that the braided lines are not rubbing on anything, etc. The plastic zip ties are just for mock up.

This took about 4 hours to figure out but was very satisfying when it came together.

John

[FourBlades]

Trying to decide if a 1 quart oil breather tank is enough. I like this one and it will fit next to the oil tank:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-85467/overview/

A larger tank that could fit under the cowl is this one which is 3 liters (3.1 quarts):

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productde...asp?RecID=12261

Looking at these different remote oil filter consoles:

http://hpwtx.com/product/sys222-90007-12/
https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productde...asp?RecID=11514

I guess a lot of people use the standard /6 oil tank and plumbing and don't have the same issues you run into with a front mounted oil tank.

John