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by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr
We still want to drop the engine soon and refurbish the intake tract but first we need to get our 85 quattro running right so it can take over the Carrera RX's duties. Bloody CIS injection woes!
Our 85 UR quattro is running sufficiently well enough to tackle solo classic car duty at events so we decided to drop the engine in the 911 Carrera RX.
Before we got carried away and disconnected everything we had the presence of mind to do a compression test. We think it went well.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr
Ok it took a bit longer than that. About four hours over three days I think. Now we start in on refurbishing the top. Here's what we are thinking:
New Heater ducts
New Shifter coupling
Intake manifold gaskets
Clean Injectors
refurb air flappy door thing
replace Rubber hoses
replace Fuel lines
Adjust clutch
Replace Plugs
Replace Leads
Replace Distributor cap
Replace Engine mounts
Replace Engine crossbar
Replace Left camshaft oil line
Valve clearances
Replace Air filter
Replace 02 sensor
Fix oil Leaks
Rear Hood pins
Refurb tinware
money and time permitting of course.
Car is running a bit rough and making some popping noises. Also doesn't like part throttle but idles well and pulls strong. Would like to dress up the engine bay a little too. Maybe some steel braided lines instead of OE replacements. Can you think of anything else we can do?
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr
Generally speaking there were no surprises so we think we'll push on with our original plan. There was one little wrinkle: a morning spent googling "Individual throttle bodies Porsche 3.2" !! Maybe next time eh?
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr
The result of all this effort? The engine starts easily now and goes straight to fast idle then settles down to a smooth 850 rpm. No popping and bucking anymore and it pulls a lot smoother too.
We are pleased to report that the Carrera RX is now running very well indeed and we have been enjoying the car a lot visiting several cars and coffee events including an impromtu dash 200 miles up north to vist our 83 UR Quattro build at Cherry Classic Cars after our van blew a turbo hose.
It's been a busy few weeks fro the CarreraRX. A couple of car shows, pace car duties and even a race!
First up was pace car duty at the Empire Hill Climb in Northern Michigan. Normally we get to run a few parade laps up the hill but due to time constraints caused by the number of entries fun was restricted to escorting the cars from down town to the base of the hill. This is necessary as most of the cars are not street legal but need to use public roads from staging to the start. There were plenty of interesting cars on display too:
The following weekend was our (now seemingly) once a year RallyCross event with the Detroit region SCCA. As these were only a few days apart we let the CarreraRX sleepin the trailer.
Made some new friends and got the car nice and dirty.
Last weekend's adventure was to the car show held as part of the Speed Ring festival at M1 Concourse. At just over a mile from our shop we really couldn't miss this one. The event was primarily a Time Attack weekend but we did come away with two awards for looking pretty while stationary.
The car is resting for a couple of weeks in preparation for posing about at the Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where it will get to meet non-other then Hannu Mikola! Should be fun.
by https://www.flickr.com/photos/team_illuminata/, on Flickr
No, the guy on the left met the CarreraRX.
Last weekend we made our annual pilgrimage to the Lake Superior Performance Rally to hang out with our Group B rally car mates only this year there was a special treat laid on my the Guys from Dirtfish Rally School in the form of one Hannu Mikkola. Hannu was one of the first works Audi Quattro drivers and a true motorsport legend. Dirtfish also brought with them a replica of the MK2 Escort Hannu drove in Europe and a pristine Audi Sport Quattro. Hannu drove the Audi with us on Thursday up and back down the Keweenaw Peninsula then drove the Escort during shakedow, a couple of stages as course opener and then, again with us in the super special last stage in downtown Houghton.
Can't believe it's been so long since our last update. So much has gone by, like: it's another year now! So what have we been upto since we got back from LSPR? Well:
We replaced the door seals then took out the rear window and resealed it with a new gasket.
No rust, thankfully.
Then we added a map light for an upcoming TSD rally.
Replaced the voltage regulator on the altenator and the fan belt.
Then had fun doing the TSD rally which really didn't go very as we set our clock 17 minutes off so were consistently 17 minutes early at every control. We did set fastest time of day though LOL. Our spot lights also packed up as soon as we turned them on. Still, we had fun!
We also did a RallyCross. That's two in one year! It didn't produce any great pictures (or results) but some in car video.
What's next for the car? Well, we are definately taking it up to Sno*Drift rally again at the end of the month and, due to the rather frigid weather we've been having here lately, there might be one or two ice races on the cards. We've got a door rattle to chase doen and a rain leak from the front end to diagnose. We also just received our heater blower backdate parts but that might wait for warmer temperatures just in case it sucks. Stay tuned (subscribe).
The end of January saw our annual pilgrimage to the Sno*Drift Rally about 4 hours north of us in Atlanta, Michigan. Despite the name This particular Atlanta normally offers frigid temperatures and lots of snow but this more resembled its warmer namesake to the south. Much of the snow had melted and refrozen during the preceeding week making the roads an giant, elongated ice rink. Still, as we were only displaying our wares and the 911 it was not of much consequence to us, the warmer temperatures making it that much less uncomfortable standing around.
There are those who feel four 100W auxiliary lights are enough for a rally inspired 911, especially one that no longer sees competitive nighttime action. We disagree. Not out of some “more light is better to see by” rationalization but a bit more along the lines of “Oh, we scored some pristine Cibie Oscars for free” kind of thinking. That and we have had this one period picture of a Rothmans SC/RS with this exact setup festering away in our collective minds for some time.
So, you see, faced with this picture and free lights we really had no choice.
Fortunately the lights seemed to want to go in exactly the same location as the front bumper bolts. So it was easy to fab up some brackets. But first we had to removed the bumper's thick rubber strip and wrap the resultant indentation with BRAID Blue vinyl.
This fortuitously produced another location for a sticker!
Some quick welding on a bit of scrap resulted in some brackets!
And then we let there be (more) lights.
We even wired them up! It was easy though, as the original fog light wiring was still in place.
Then we took the car out to show off it's new jewelry to it's siblings.
We have a couple more rally oriented mods in the works. We'll fill you in soon.
05-25-2017, 08:05 PM
