GPA951s

So I got the Big Idea to build a Racecar… I have Built 2 other cars when I was younger but they we were full tube chassis NASCAR Modified. Both cars ran well and one of them won 3 championships including the Northeast title.. Modifying a street car to that level, Holy cow, what a different experience it has been. The bigger challenge is that all my friends have other obligations.. So I knew going into this.. I was on my own, … I did everything myself, Engine, Upholstery, paint and body work, all Fabrication (which I REALLY enjoy), all welding and Cage Design and Fab. Plus all associated electrical. I am taking BOTH my Street cars and am going 95% back to stock, (Still keeping chips and MAF) I no longer care to have a rough ride on the street, chattering high performance clutches and always putting in the bolt in roll bar and harnesses.. Those street cars want Wax and Car covers…not full throttle beatings and besides 15 years ago they were still fast in their stock state, nowadays It seems like anybody can drive fast with all the traction control nannies and 500+ HP in the solo groups.. I want something at least on pace so I can have fun driving and not worry about holding anyone up… I already had a 24 ft Enclosed and a Duramax Diesel to pull it with so why not?

To Start, Having had Several 944 Turbos and owning them since my late 20’s it was the clear choice for me, A)-Because I know them so well and B)- Have lots of spares.. So I set out to look for the Cheapest Turbo-s I could find, all I need is the “BONES” Could care less about shape. After a month of Searching I found a one owner 88 Silver Rose Turbo-s with 180K on the clock… Anyhow.. It was In CT, and I am In Buffalo NY… It ran and drove, So My wife and I took a road trip, I Grabbed the plates off my other turbo and headed north.. I struck a deal, slapped my plates on, and headed home.. The car was so Dirty inside that couldn’t even take my coat off, when I got it home and started taking the interior apart I wore a respirator it was so nasty, I actually found several pairs of underwear YUK! I HATE hacking up a good car so I didn’t feel bad about ripping this one apart.. My original plan was to sell the interior parts but this thing was so bad that I took the power seats, and just heaved them into the dumpster at work. (Normally I would have taken the switches and motors out) I didn’t want my shop to be somehow “Infected” with these smelly things… I DID however find an all original lighter in the car with a perfect silkscreen which ended up in my restored 86 turbo. I purchased this car October 7th 2016 and on Oct 2nd 2017 I was on Track with a Finished Car and this is my pictorial Story.with annotations. .. I need to get my racing license and the plan is to start out in stock “F” and when I get better, move to SP3. Id like to thank Dave and Mike Lindsey for their Advice, Karl P from Racers Edge for advice and Special Thanks to Van Svenson for all his good Videos, from racing to the Tour of the roll cage that gave me several ideas.. And Finally Brion Charters who helped me set the car up with his HUBSTANDS, I WILL be getting a set of those!
The car: 1988 Turbo-s and In this state….. I call it a Turbo-s-pos




Striping interior




Disabling Steering lock remove HVAC




Took My Schematics, Had the “copied and Blown up at Fed-x” All the Wires that I Eliminated I highlighted So now those Schematics will forever go with that car.. And made notes.. I.E. How you have to jump pins to eliminate airbag. In the event of Airbag deployment it cuts power to the DME, Hence if you remove airbag, pins need to be jumped.





Purchased a Tube Bender from Eastwood and mounted it on my welding table.. Building the Cage, Welding in plates..




Start with main hoop everything gets built from there…..




I Designed the cage so that I could take sub-assemblies out and weld them, paint them and then install all of them and do the final “Weld Down” in the car..




All the Gussets are mandatory for the modified Series so I welded them in too..




Another thought.. Why not make some Nerf bars out of .090 1-1/4” They WILL fold but give the sheet metal some “backing” in case of a “RUB” Just in case I race with Rowdy Burns or Cole Trickle.. ( I just had to add some NASCAR influence. Plus I just saw the “Hero” vid on RL about the 944 that had his tranny lock up and another guy smashed into the back of his car full on.. and the tank ruptured.. So I think I should put a little more protection.





HMMM Maybe I can sneak this “Knee bar” through this hole in back of the steering column? .. This was a hard one.. but I got it first try..




Went to a PCA meeting, told I should add another bar on Drivers door.. This was my only screw up, Due to the fact my 2nd bar was in the middle of the door (where it is the wideset) the upper bar kind of hit the door when I fitted it.. at this point I decided to lean the upright forward to compensate.. the upper bar with the door shut you can just slide a piece of paper in-between..





Should paint the interior first, and mask off all areas were the cage gets welded down.. Touch up later..
NOTE: I started with the long bars first.. I had 2 screw ups.. It happens.. but with the longer bars I was able to cut them and use them elsewhere..

Weld assemblies and paint..




Weld everything together in the car.. 12 hours later, and being in Various Yoga positions the Cage is all welded..






. Fab Rearview mirror Bracket out of alu… Dzus tab it in for quick removal




Fixed old nasty cracked dash.. Went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and got some Marine Vinyl for the silver on the bottom of the dash… Some Contact Cement and presto.. So If I went that far.. Why not make it a bit nicer and do the top of the Dash in AlcanTera? And why not add a contrast stitch that is on the perimeter like a GT3? Racecars are so hackable.. OK.. So why not shorten the center console and add a Nomex Shift boot?




OK Just watched Vans Rain race video. And how his windscreen fogged up . Need to think of something here… So I Closed off ½ my vents, Welded up an Aluminum Box that attaches to the Underside of the dash hooked it to a 3” Brake Duct Fan and have it about 1/2 “ from the Firewall to pick up the heat off the firewall to de-fog just in case …




Engine Time.. Take out 180k Engine.. I had a block laying around that was a wet sleeve. I got it from my brother in law and when he had it built it ate itself .. So I ordered a set of JE Pistons.. Honed it.. Put some good rings in it. Coupled with a TEC-3 Electromotive Standalone and a monster turbo This car should be fun for DE’s … This winter I will build the Race Engine (Stock) for when I actually go Racing.. .. I would have love to build a monster motor but with monster motors comes monster bills So I just threw together what I had laying around the garage..for now..




While Engine is out.. Time to Paint the Engine compartment..




Took Tranny out for a little Touchup… It seemed fine so Ill use it.. Its an AOR So it deserved a Facelift..



Did the Bellhousing as well in base/ Clear..

Need a Clutch.. Steal the clutch out of the 89 Turbo-s Its going back to “Stock” anyhow (Spec Stage 3 with Alu PP and FW) I got a Stage 2 disk at Hershey so I hung the other disk on the wall

Install engine and Trim out. Add a Wideband.. and a Boost Gauge ..




Brake Cooling.. I managed to “Borrow” the factory backing plate Duct on the left… I copied it out of piece of aluminum Sheet and piece of Intercooler pipe I had left over.. The one on the right is mine..




Wrap all exhaust.. Install the Tial Dual port.





Added a 3” to 4” Reducer and Fabricated a 4” Tailpipe.. This was a quick fab.. My ultimate Ex will be a dual side dump.. I just didn’t have the time to make it.. the pipe I made only took me 2 hours, plus I had lots of 4” Stainless laying around. ( I used to be a Sanitary Stainless Steel welder professionally)

Need a Windshield… OK welded tabs on the car, went to a local plastic Supplier and got a piece of Polycarbonate.. Took My original windshield to work along with the lexan and tossed them both in our walk-in oven, at 195F The lexan melted down to form over my original windshield.. a quick Trim with a Wizzer wheel and a file, and paint the perimeter and well-Ahhh a Front windshield !




Take car out for test ride on the street.. AND Screwed up… Overboosted and smoked the Spec Stage 2 Clutch.. The night before my first DE !... I had my friend over that night and we decide to “Go for it” Put the car on the lift.. I worked at the back while at the same time he starts working on front BH He would ask for sizes and I would call out the wrench or ratchet combos to get whatever he was taking off at the time.. … Reslut! A new personal best! 2.5 hour clutch change on a 944 turbo! Loaded the car in the trailer and off I go to a DE in May! (outside of car still ½ in primer and Rust, ) Ran 1/2 the event, and found that the clutch wasn’t the only thing that broke when I over boosted on the street Head gasket got pushed out on no 1 cyl—Crap…

Oh well, Fix engine.. new top rings.. Thicker head gasket.. all is well.. Time to paint.. the outside

Fix Cancer on Fender and Rear Quarter.. Apparently the PO drove it in the salt..

And While im thinking about it.. I remember one of Vans Videos about how he Dzus fastens his front end pieces to help getting on and off trailer.. Well, why not take it one step further and make an entirely removable front nose? I used Stainless slugs and welded the threaded portion to the bolt to them. Then pressed them In Aluminum Tube.. Tapered the ends.. Welded up an Aluminum Bracket and Now I have a totally removable front end.. Takes about 1 min to remove it.. (About 3 min to install) The brake ducts have Dzus fasteners as well So one the front end is on, I slide the ducts into the hoses. And click..click… done! Makes it WAY easier to tie down in the trailer as well as load.. I hate dealing with ramps…







Paint=1995 Mercedes Benz Blue… on the entire car I went through 2 gallons, which is 4 gallons spray able.. But its like painting 2.5 cars.. Because all the panels on a race car you have to do 2x (Front and back) Plus the color change ….

Now for the Cherry… Came up with a good paint scheme and had a Friend Kevin from Air FX come to the house and do a little airbrush work…we were working on it till 4 am… Tired as hell was at work at 7am.. Had to come home and Re-mask and spray Clearcoat.. and then went to bed..







A Quick wetsand and Buff… and Sticker it up…


Now to set it up…Lower the car.. and the use of HuBSTANDS.. Man they work well Very Slick!




And Finally… The Track.. Oct 2nd… Was putting in my final roll bar pad and could not fit a Tywrap between the outer bar along the roof and the body, I guess I made it TOO tight!










Overall it was a really enjoyable project, My favorite part perhaps was building the cage, I had a friend comment “This is the roomiest cage ive ever seen”. Still have a few more things to do like fabricate a Cool Front splitter out of Alu.. But all and all… I think I can change my signature to read 88 turbo –s “Racecar Done”…. If anyone is thinking about building a car themselves, I have some advice…. 1) what you think it will cost, DOUBLE it and ADD 50%.... Have an AWESOME stero system in the garage.. I have a Surround sound and LOVE IT!!!..Lastly .. If youre Married… Make sure your wife is a saint.. and has plenty of patience for this … At the end of this build I took some Masking tape and wrote: “Hello, My name is Glen” Because my wife would see me at 10 o clock at night and say “ Who are you”  Whats Next? Either my 77 Trans AM Bandit or Full Concourse resto on the 89 Turbo-s… AFTER I sell my Restored 86 Turbo… Still have a few details to finish on it..

Chirofirst

That is so awesome! Jealous of your skills and of your sweet racer...My personal fave is the alcantara dash with stitching. But the whole thing is gorgeous!!! Well done.

elgy

Awesome!

Van

Great job Glen!

ealoken

Great job!

shortyboy

Incredible build! That dash is awesome! Thanks for sharing!

joekr1

Kick *** build! Congrats!

Scott at Team Harco

Very nice!

951and944S

Good job man.

Meant to follow up and see how your weekend went after the PM exchanges but time got kinda scarce.

Don't really remember noting what your age was/is but this is close to a mirror of myself 20+ years ago.

Two things that come to mind that I could have shared to save you some misery,

1) I know what was going through your mind, I love paint and body too, and it's definitely true that painted on graphics look way better than vinyl, not even a contest...., but it's very hard to replicate time and time again when inevitable dings and damage occur on track, especially with base/clear (so a side note would have been to use single stage paints).
Having been voted "best prepared" car at two national PCA events, you get into an obligation to keep the car in tip top shape and it get hard to do when the nose and bottom rockers of the car get blasted by track rocks, rubber and debris.
This is fine nowadays as my son drives and I wrench and maintain but as a driver and builder combo, it can get pretty time consuming keeping up the quality of appearance equal to first roll out.

2) never fall in love with a car that will competitively race.
There will come a time when you will have to gut this tub of all the drivetrain and hardware, throw it on a trailer and head to the scrap yard.

T

GPA951s

Thanks Guys, and Thanks for the advice T, Yea I hear you, I actually have 2 chassis in the woods "Just in case" . My Plan is just to strictly club race, My hope is that with nothing to win in club racing and the 13 rule that fellow drivers wont be as aggressive as lets say SCCA or anything like that, obviously Ive been bitten again by the racing bug.. No Stranger to wrecked cars thats for sure.. Saturday night open wheel racing for 10 years.... It was a full contact sport.. We were only on the frame machine once in 10 years! And I did have a blast oct 2nd at the WGI. I DID go home early because of the HG but I think I have that figured out.. Not sure if you noticed but there ARE plates on the car.. VERY fun to drive on the street once in a while.. The sunroof is held in with Dzus tabs as well so on a nice day I can remove it and take it for a drive.. :-)

400hp944

Well Done!

951and944S

I hear ya, I used to do some transmissions for dirt racers and would brake sheet metal for their late models after bang up Friday nights.

When I first saw your cage and your aspirations, I knew you were thinking, get smashed in the quarter and these bars will keep me from a cut tire DNF, but until this year, any contact, sometimes even a paint rub, your race is over. You come off track right then and there and report to marshals to supply video, state your case, etc.
If found to be at fault, you get one 13/13.

Now, they allow you to keep racing and sort it out after the checkers.

Trouble there is, you have the possibility of being tagged with two 13/13s in one single sprint and you are done for 13 months.....

I always have a spare tub or two and keep saying that I'd like to have one dipped, blasted,etc. and have it prepped and ready in epoxy.

My paint scheme is the same on all car with a base Alpine white and the same black graphics but each car has an alternate color as the highlight so it's easy to have one "almost ready".

I remember you saying you were gonna post this thread.

I think what most people (even here) don't appreciate, is the skill level it takes to be multi talented (or fearless in attempting.. ) enough to do ALL ASPECTS of a race car build with no one else involved but yourself, then taking it to the track against shop prepared cars and successfully campaigning it.

It's pretty disheartening (from what this site used to be) to see a thread like this get bumped down with 9 replies and a thread about 'I changed my hood badge gasket" go for 4 pages....

Anyways, from a like-minded person, congrats....and good job.

T

GPA951s

Thanks, I know you are a great fabricator and that means allot.. I think with the side and rear nerf bars I was thinking maybe it might be the difference between pulling the quarter out -vs- having to drill pinchwelds for hours and replace it. I have a friend that races stock F, He managed to race his car for 20 years, and just this year he hit the wall at Road Atlanta... He says the car is salvageable.. Anyhow I think if I ever wrecked I really wouldn't be too mad.. I would look at it as a challenge to fix/replace... When I was in high school that when I learned body and paint. It made me appreciate it more than my friends who all had cars purchased for them.. I was THE ONLY one out of my circle of friends who didnt total their car... .. BTW I want to see you at the CLASH at WGI next year, I will probably Tech again next year... Love to have a beer or two and shoot the breeze

sracer

Nice, nice work. Maybe too nice for the race track! I built a car from a dipped shell, did almost everything myself except the engine, like 25 years ago. It's a real accomplishment. Which i have not repeated!

David Floyd

Beautiful!