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How do you manage to accomplish so much without music?
If I get the end of an album and all I hear is the hum of the florescent lights with my wheezy frustrated breathing, I almost can't move fast enough to get some tunes on.
This is a great thread, I don't have much to add but I love these cars and their resurrection/preservation. I also use different cars for specific purposes. Keep up the great illustrated narrative!
Thank you very much for the positive comments
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And this pic shows what the short shifter kit wont work with the early 924 4 or 5 speeds (note the hole diameter difference. Also splined vs. not splined & pinch style vs set-screw style. Figured I'd take a gamble. Lost this one.
Installed the factory insulation as per Morghen's advice.
These last 4 days has been 15 hour days in the garage... fight fight fight. God damn Gramps has put up such a fight for the moment I bought him.
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The 4 speed was a hell of a thing to get to shift, it felt like such crap because so much play in the shift. So I installed the 5 speed with the 5 speed long shift rod & found I couldn't move the shifter properly no matter what I adjusted. So one of the first things I did was change the height of the shifter by moving some of the hardware around to lengthen the distance from the ball to the pin the long road mounts to... but still couldn't shift.
Eventually I put the 4 speed linkage on the trans to work the the "5 speed" rod & it made a big improvement, bu the shifter is still banging the body. Damn.
And so I made a short shifter out of oem linkage. With the mod at the shifter & now this, it's about a 40% reduction of throw believe it or not.
Then wouldn't you know it I over torqued the side-to-side support beam bolt where it goes in the trans.
This forced me to get creative. So I used the aftermarket wizz-bang rod & just bought & then fabricated a support bracket using the tail housing bolts.
It's worth mentioning that when going from 4 to 5 spd, that the reverse light switch should get swapped over (different location but fits the same) because the electrical terminals on the outside of the switch are different.
Tranny mounts: I read Ideola's report saying new mounts were needed but at glance they looked the same to me. No they are different. The five speed is longer & hits the gas tank before the trans mounts can attach to the xmember. My solution was to cut 1"x2" rectangular steel tubes & drill a single hole in them. Used with a 1" longer bolt, they lowered the trans enough... provided clearance.
944 front Recaro & rear seats. Had to mount the driver's seat on the pass side & vica versa and am using the 924 seat belts. So comfy. The carpet in the back & added seats really help seal the sound out. This is becoming now a very fun car to drive. I park it on the street & drive it as often as I think I can get away with it. The 5 speed makes a huge difference in overall "vibe"... of the car. Much more relaxed. And it'll just become better with the door cards.
I do have a problem with the fuel system in stop & go type traffic, so I really need to make sure the car doesn't get too hot or else it really sucks to drive. Suspect pump or accumulator.
The work I did with the after market shifter components and homemade short shift conversion revolutionized the shifting. IT's INCREDIBLE... even better than my 944.
Had the wickedest Sunday morning drive with Bearded Brian after he showed up at 6 am. Showed him some fun twisty roads I discovered & we went to the ranch where his horses are. And we discussed the future of his 68 Ford Anglia (which will be a turbo'd rally car one day).
Glad to hear that you are making such good progress with your 924, Noah. glad that you can fab up all the parts that you need to get the job done right and it's all sorted now. ENJOY !
Meet the new member of our "underground Porsche rally club". His name is Shaun & he is the kid who taught me how to heel-toe shift. He showed up for eggs & toast at my house ... at 6:30 am this morning & then we drove the snoot outta Gramps for 4 hours. Gramps got converted from Mobil1 to Valvoline "racing" 20-50 conventional oil because he's dripping oil from the engine somewhere... and it might be because I had him on synthetic.
The new trail network I found is ABSOLUTELY without a doubt.... incredible. Straight out of a rally video. But there's cliffs & ledges & animals & other cars to avoid. So we leave super early. And pray once in a while.
Gramps really is a momentum car to the fullest. His 100 foot-pounds of torque feels non existent and his brakes suck. But when you have him up to speed he feels just right-lovely in fact. Gramps will hand brake turn much better than the 944. He also can cut a small diameter turning circle better than my 85/2 944 when you realize you've taken a wrong turn.