Tim-C.

So it's been a long time, but I've been busy. First was the massive parts purchase:

Tons of gaskets and seals
Belts
Coolant expansion tank
A/C Delete
Tial 38mm WG

Don't you love it when all your parts come in and you get to check them out?

Then I started to clean up the intake and cam tower. This car lived in NJ and FL, so it's got a salty, crusty feel to the aluminum parts. I'm not going for bling, and I'm definitely not a concours type guy, but I don't want to put together a dirty motor.

Tim-C.

Then it's been getting down to work. Fortunately, in this area I have help. A few years ago at a PCA dinner I met Kerry Singley, who owns two businesses, a repair shop in Alpharetta and a Track Support business, called Tracking Out Track Support, which he runs from his garage in north Georgia.

Without Kerry, this project would not be happening. He's been great to work with. First and foremost, trust him as a vendor, so I'm not concerned with what the costs wind up being. They are what they are. Second, he is incredibly knowledgable of 944s, and is a true enthusiast of the brand/model. Third, he's been OK with me parts managing the project since I had a "factory direct" parts hookup, and has been OK with me doing some modifications to the car along the way, such as A/C and PS delete, cleaning, etc.

But most importantly, he's been incredibly flexible overall with this project. Too often when you take a car to a shop, they will repair items as they deem necessary, using OEM/WorldPac parts only. So for a project like this, that leaves conventional shops/dealerships out. That basically leaves tuner shops. There are a few with national recognition in the 951 world, but in general, not many 951 owners are willing to spend the amounts that GT3, 997, or Cayman owners are. Thus, many tuner/race prep shops cater toward higher end vehicles. In working with Kerry, I have the expertise of a tuner shop but, one that specializes in Porsches, and more specifically in 944s. And since he does all the work there himself, my car gets treated very well.

OK--back to the project.

I removed the J Boot and found the K26/8 had some play... Given that the car was in for rod bearings, and now a turbo, we decided to remove the motor.

reno808

nice keep up the good work

cruise98

Uh oh!!!The project just went into exponential $ mode! Good for you. These are great cars and worth saving in my biased opinion.

While you are in there... you REALLY NEED a big exhaust to support the new BIGGER turbo...right!? To support the bigger turbo and exhaust, you really NEED a MAF, and bigger injectors! You know, those old headers just may be cracked a bit, and while they are out, you NEED the SFR stage 2 headers!!! With all this new power, the clutch may not be up to the task, so you NEED a Spec 2/Kennedy/fidanza/whatever favorite clutch you want. With all of this new power, the stock suspension is no longer up to the challenge... now you NEED KW3's, and upgraded sway bars, and Elephant racing polybronze, and weather sealed bushings, and uh what else am I forgetting? Oh yes, you NEED the 930S steering wheel, because with all of that new power, you need to have better control. Now that you have a nice wheel to hang on to, you NEED some sport seats to keep your butt in front of it. You NEED GT3 seats, and contrasting seat belts, and cup door panels, rear seat delete, center console delete, perlon carpet to save weight, and that old sandblasted windshield has got to go so you can see the apexes clearly! Cannot forget the brakes either. You NEED the GT3 six piston monster brakes with floating discs, and 18" wheels to fit over them to slow this bad boy down!

While you are in there getting it painted, you NEED to install a euro rear bumper, 968 mirrors/door handles/hatch/wing. Hey it is getting painted anyway, why not? Right?! While you are in there getting it painted, you NEED 100w headlights so you can see the apexes coming faster than the old sealed beams could illuminate them, and might as well add some euro driving lights while you are hacking up the wiring.

Here's to hoping you have lots of fun with it and exercise more restraint than the rest of us. Cheers.

Tim-C.

Keith--so right. That's exactly how these projects unfold. If it's not mods that require more mods its access that leads to preventative maintenance. The good news is most of the common failure points will have been addressed at the end of this. I hope...

In any case, I've recently moved from Atlanta to Northern New Jersey for work. Here are the last pics I took at Kerry's shop before the trip. Basically I had a little time to check out the Vitesse Stage II turbo--man that thing is frickin huuuuge compared to the stock turbo. My crappy photo below does not do it justice. And after that I cleaned out the engine bay. Really wish I had taken a pic of myself in there, but oh well. That may be more of a 911 thing anyway.

One question--would you do the oil pan baffle mod while the motor is out? Car should primarily be a street car, maybe a DE here or there, but always on street tires.

--Tim

Josh B

Sweet turbo!

Tim-C.

I can't believe how long its been since I last posted an update.

Since the end of June I've started a new job and moved to New Jersey, been to Europe twice, closed on a house that will need a ton of work, and haven't had the room to store the car or the time to drive it. So Kerry and I decided to back burner it a bit.

When we pulled the motor, we found the clutch was actually pretty near the end of its life. So I bought a new one, along with some new hardpipes (Kokeln, I think) and a Turbonetics BOV all from another lister.

The motor is back together with the new Vitesse Turbo and Fastguys A/C Delete bracket, new motor mounts, H2O pump, belt rollers, etc etc etc. The workmanship of the motor sitting on the stand looks great. I can't wait to drive the car as its transformed with essentially a rebuilt motor and all the mods.

schip43

Congrads on the progress and +1 for not parting a solid ugly duckling!

reno808

If i were you i would put beads on those IC pipes

Paulyy

nice nice! cannot wait to see this project getting on it's way!

Tim-C.

I can't believe the last post on this thread was nearly 1 year ago, and that that was nearly 1 year after I started the project. My 16 month old is now basically fluent in Japanese and starting to learn English. I've celebrated my first year anniversary with the new company and things are going well on that front. I've done a ton of work on the new house in Jersey, but am still deep in a kitchen remodel, which has been slowing me down on the 951. When the kitchen is down to the studs, you're replacing all plumbing (not up to code) and wiring (antique **** and tube), you can't very well wrench on your fun car. Well, not if you want to stay married and continue seeing your toddler on a daily basis.

In that year, I bought this Mini, but it's now for sale.

And at the same time, I made some progress on the 951 project...

Cleaning the engine and trans, some before and after pics. Not going for concours, but don't want to put together a crapbomb.

Tim-C.

And after all that, I finally picked up the car recently. I happened to be in Atlanta for a meeting on a Tuesday. I few down on the prior Sunday, MARTA and taxi-ed it out to Alpharetta to pick up the 951 at Kerry's shop.

Finally.

I get in. Same old 951 smells, great memories, and can't wait to drive. Turn the key and it starts right up. Perfect. I fill it up with gas and start driving around. Now, those of you who've been reading this thread from the start will remember that I deleted A/C. Unfortunately this was one of those late summer ATL Sundays when the air is thick, humid and mid 90s. Only deleting A/C was only part of the problem. For some reason, hot air kept blowing into the cabin without me being able to stop it. I flipped the HVAC dials left and right. Turned the recirc button on and off. Flicked the levers. All to no avail. But soon I'd see that was the least of my worries...

The car ran OK over the weekend, although I noticed a few new noises. First, there's a fair bit of ticking and whine from underhood. Second, there's a distinct wongwongwongwong emanating from under the shift lever that goes away when I push in the clutch. Third, the engine hits a rev limiter at about 4500 RPM under load. Fourth, taking a right turn from a stop, like exiting a parking lot onto a street, there is a bit of driveline chatter/vibration.

Ugh. After 2 years of waiting and lots of dollars, this was a real bummer. Fortunately, these are mostly small issues. I think...

Tuesday finally rolled around. I stopped by Kerry's shop on the way out of town and he gave me a zip tie to fix the heater. There was some rod connection that opens/closes the fresh air inlet which was broken. Thus bandaged, the car made the 900 mile trip back to NJ in 13 hours flat (approx 70mph average speed).

But now I have to figure what to do next. I feel like I'm at the point of no turning back with this car, but it's still miles from enjoyable. In order, I think the plan is as follows. Advice on the plan below appreciated. Maybe if there's a NNJ/Rockland meet up in October I can bring it out.

1) Find a decent 951 shop to diagnose what I suspect is a torque tube, get an estimate. If reasonable, just get it fixed. Any thoughts on this cost from one of those indies up in Nyack, for example?

2) Learn how to use John's software (as was originally agreed), and remove the break in safety setup. Anyone local done this? Pretty simple?

3) Paint this winter.

Pics are below. On the one hand, I'm really frustrated. On the other, I'm amazed the car made it back to NJ for me. 13 hours straight after a 2 year slumber and that many new parts is pretty amazing...

Oh, and for now, between 3200 and 4200, the car is phenomenal.

gruhsy

If you have a torque tube issue..... Constantine's torque tube I bought is great. 600.00$ with his bearings and powder coated. I think it was worth the money and quality is great.

Good luck with things and congrads on getting it on the road.

Tim-C.

Grushy,

Thanks for the reminder. I was definitely thinking of going that route, but then I've got the car down in the garage for a month or so between TT removal, shipping, fixing, shipping, and install. And to think, the TT was out of the car for over a year... wish I had known.

reno808

Bring it over i can help you out. I am in Nanuet. We can put it on the lift and check it out. I have used johns software before so that no biggie. BTW do you have a wideband?