Chuck Schreiber

Al,

just wanted to let you know. I was looking through this thread again, this time with my 12 year old son. He thought it was the coolest thing!!

He said to make sure and show him the finished car. I told him I would.

Have fun with the project man!!

BigAl1

Will do Chuck! Tell him I started working on cars with my dad when I was about 7 years old, so have a long history of tinkering with mechanical stuff.

BigAl1

Well, progress has been stop-and-go recently, but starting to come back together now with parts going back into the cowl area, and the ongoing cleaning inside to get ready for new insulation. The blower motor was stripped down to find the armature was badly worn and grooved, so mounted the armature in a drill chuck and used a hand held file to smooth off the grooves. Not the right way to do it, but actually worked ok. With a good cleanup and drop of oil on the bushings, got it back together, tested the motor and it seems to run fine. I'm sure I will be calling Roger for a replacement sometime soon after the car gets on the road. With the blower wheel mounted, it was a bit tricky to get the wheel set at the right depth to not touch top or bottom when spinning - seems a fine touch is required! I also found that with the shaft endplay, the housing should be held in it's normal orientation to test for rubbing when the blower spins.
Also cleaned and put new foam gaskets on the recirc path flapper - good thing I have long thin fingers to reach in the box! The original rubber gasket for the recirc box was still there, but seemed badly distorted, so removed it and replaced with 3/8" butyl seal rubber (used on our windshields) - that will NEVER leak! Might be impossible to remove too.....
The wiper motor was in much better condition than the blower motor - just a small spot of rust inside, so a quick wire brush swipe, spray the armature with contact cleaner, and feel the bearings for smoothness, then put it back together. The gearbox looked fine too - just moved the grease back into the worm gear, wiped off the contact track to check for any arcing marks - no problems anywhere, so buttoned it all up and made a mental note to get some black RTV to seal the motor housing. I had already painted the wiper mount and linkage, so just installed that then installed the motor to it.
With these items back in the cowl area, I got the hood hinges cleaned and lubed so they move nice, then put them back on the car. Small thing, but feels good to have those back on.
Next step is to do the interior firewall insulation so the HVAC box can go back in the dash, and start getting the dash guts back in place. With the HVAC back in, I can do some things on the firewall in the engine bay, getting ready to put the engine back in the car and back onto the MS3X wiring.

RPetty2

for sure!!! great combo! i like the way you think

FLYVMO

Looking good, should be almost ready to drive
Boy do I wish I am as far ahead with my project...

What size spray gun did you use to get into the fan/HVAC area and behind the hood hinges?

Cheers!
Carl
90GT project

BigAl1

Carl,
Actually had the paint put in rattle cans because I don't have a compressor or the power to run one in the shop. At the rate I move, it is a long way from driving, but progress is on going!

Chuck Schreiber

Nice job Al!
Still looking Here w my son Austin. He still thinks its cool and says to keep the progress and pictures coming!!!

FLYVMO

Al,
You did that with a spray can? That is very impressive, it looks very smooth and even. Nice job!

Carl

BigAl1

With the unusually warm temps this winter, I've been able to get more time on the car than last winter. Last Saturday got the interior heat and sound insulation (1/2" closed cell foam with skin on both faces) to replace all the factory foam I tore out before Christmas. With all the cleaning and fresh materials, it should smell new when back together! The firewall area has 2 layers of foam, tapering to 1 layer in the floors and tunnel, using 3M Spray 77 glue to install the foam. Got the harness layed in, and the HVAC box back in last night, so feeling good about the progress. The cowl area needs to be final assembled with vacume lines and harness connections, then onto the heater hoses and AC hardlines in the engine bay. These are some of the last items before the engine goes back in!!! Then back into the wiring for the MS3X. You may notice the CE panel has an extra relay installed - I found the Euro panel I have has most of the wiring in place for the US fuel injection system, but obviously not used. So, with a little rewiring on the back of the panel, the 4 power wires I need for coils bank 1 and 2, and injectors bank 1 and 2 can be tapped into the W terminals I setup. I also replaced the fuel pump relay with a standard relay that does not need the tach signal to stay closed - I'll use the MS3 computer to control the fuel pump relay instead. I am running full sequential, but will keep the banks separately fused as GM did with the LSx engines. The tach wire to the dash will be run from the MS3 box output, so hopefully got the details worked out now, and just need to clean up the routing and install fuses on my power wires to the injector and coil banks.

Cosmo Kramer

Wow Al, this project is really coming along nicely. I wish I had your skills (and time)!

This is going to be so nice when you are done.

jmartins

This is the next task on my car.

Looking forward to see your results for the rear part. My old foam is smelling so bad

BigAl1

I have officially found the hardest task on reassembly! It is trying to put the heater core hoses, AC hard lines, and 2 vacume lines through the firewall gasket and holder while the wiper motor is in place - what PITA!!!! Much cursing and swearing was used in the hour it took! Porsche definately did not make this area easy to service.
But, the AC pipes look really nice all cleaned up. I also modified the forward end of the small pipe with a brazed AN6 fitting to remove one of the possible leak joints in the system. I''ll have to do that for the other end of that flex hose where it connects to the drier/condensor, but will worry about that when its time to get the AC working.
Pleased with the engine bay progress. I wanted to get the pipes installed, so I can focus on the wire harness cleanup next. After that, a few small details in the engine bay and it will be ready for the engine install.

BigAl1

I've been dividing my attention between the wiring in the engine bay and the interior foam insulation work. Usually I'll get tired of the wiring then go do something else! But, now the engine bay wiring is waiting for the engine to install before it jumps forward again. Lots of changes in the engine bay - the 14 pin connector and engine harness is gone. The new EFI harness will run from the firewall, branching at the center to route on top of the engine to the sensors, coils, and injectors. And, the old wires for starter #30, alternator wires, oil level sender, and oil pressure sensor are all routed across the firewall, then down the LH side under the brake booster, then forward from there. I reused the silicone sleeving from the original engine harness, and salvaged the ring terminals that I needed, but otherwise all new wires going to the engine. I kept finding the old wires had corrosion well past the end, so decided I did not want to be fighting electrical gremlins later because of poor planning now. The main charging wire from the alternator is two 8GA wires in parallel which should be good for ~140A capacity if I understand the chart right http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm . Also got HD ring terminal lugs for these circuits - don't want the terminal to be the limiter! Hopefully these details will ensure no charging problems, even with my increased electrical load from EFI and Contour electric fans.
With the harness in place, I cleaned the coolant reservoir tank, and of course broke the level sensor shaft. It was a snug fit coming out and got a little crooked, so the center shaft snapped off!! @%&^$ As a FYI, you can just see the tiny reed switch inside the sensor shaft - this is activated by a ring magnet in the float. OK - just finished cleaning it, tightened all back together, and will run without level sensor connected for now. Probably have to jumper it? - need to check the harness schematic.
For the interior foam insulation, I found 1/2" CCF locally, and have been cutting and fitting that in the rear seatwells and along the center tunnel. This seems like it will work well overlayed on top of the original sound deadening tar panels. Every surface was cleaned with solvent before the new foam is glued in place, so no chance for old smells from this area! Very soon I'll start installing the rear seats and center console. Still adding foam layer to the drivers firewall and side kickpanel area, then cut for the main floorboard areas and the rear package shelf. Must remember to seal the small screw holes in the floor pans from old stereo amp install.... And clean up the wiring mess that is under the center console. Hoping to pick up my dash cover kit on Monday from Rob Budd, so that will be the next big project.

Podguy

Very nice job. Couple of modifications I made to mine. I put the lower rear seats in with Velcro. I used wide strips and they work well

On the cover for the fuse panel I used some Velcro to hold it up when I work on it. And then used a little stick on green felt there it closes.

As far as an alternator I dumped the Porsche one and replaced it with a Delco. Much more reliable unit and you do not need the cooling tube and cover. A new Delco is cheaper than the rebuild on the Porsche and with it I think you will not see any electrical issues.

One question: The heat shields on the cross member - how did you clean up or replace the insullation.
Thanks

BigAl1

Dan,
I removed my heat shield insulation before blasting and painting the metal parts, then just cleaned and reinstalled the old insulation.