944 Turbo S - Project Time

[eldavo69]

Nothing too major been going on with the car, a couple of spirited runs out when the roads have been dry and I've had time. I can confirm that the ABS is working perfectly now although it took a bit of effort to find that out.

Find deserted dual carriageway, do 30mph, last minute check for Nissan Jukes in rear mirror, stomp on brakes and . . . Car just stops. Repeat at 40mph, same result. Repeat at 50mph, stamp on brakes will all my might . . . slight pulse through pedal and car just stops. Is the ABS working - inconclusive. Are the brakes and tyres amazing - definitely!

Find car park with gravelly bits, jump on brakes, ABS works

On my last car I changed the front caster mounts for the 968 items as they have less rubber in them and are a Porsche recommended upgrade when using 17" wheels. I got offered some lovely 9products sealed monoball caster mounts at a great price so to hell with the NVH and viva the handling!

[eldavo69]

Spent this morning putting Tipex's favourite replacement black stone guards back on the front of the rear wings after last year's paintwork.

The postie then delivered a package from Only944 in the states - a new front gear lever (the originals have a pin that connects to the shaft that goes to the gearbox linkage, the pin wears into a barrel shape and introduces slop) with thrust bearings, a rose- jointed short shift linkage and brace bar along with a cut down assembly spanner and some rear hatch bushings.

Given the complexity of the transaxle gearshift there are several places where slop can become apparent, this little lot will have it shifting better than new!

I've fitted the front shift lever already and it was relatively straightforward - the rear linkage is on top of the gearbox so it's axle stands time again!

[NewNiceMrMe]

Out of interest, have you ever tried timing the car to get any of the mainstream performance times on it?

 

i.e. 0-62 mph, 1/4 mile etc?

 

Have you got rolling road figures on the BHP and torque too, and the car weight? 

[eldavo69]

Rolling road figures from last year were 308 BHP and 313 ft/lbs in its current spec and 1300kg without driver.

Wikipedia says this about the standard TurboS:

In June 1988, Car and Driver tested the 944 Turbo S (with the advantage of shorter final drive gear) and achieved a 0-60 mph time of 5.5 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 13.9 seconds at 101 mph (163 km/h). Top speed was factory rated at 162 mph (261 km/h).

I've never tried a timed 0-60 myself due to the fact I'd probably make a complete hash of the start and the knowledge that a clutch is £550 in parts and around 20 hours of labour!

[eldavo69]

  On 5/30/2013 at 1:00 PM, eldavo69 said:

Day of truth today, my big concern was whether the fuel pump would be up to the job of keeping the AFR safe once the boost was dialled in.

The news is that it's all good, mixture is spot on in all gears under load and the boost got wound up to 18psi.

So close but so far when we got 299.6bhp in 3rd gear but then in 4th gear we got 308.4bhp and 313 ftlbs of torque

Next step will be to sling it on a weighbridge just because.

All revved up for Croft on Saturday now!

Here you go NNMM

[NewNiceMrMe]

They're very impressive figures indeed.

 

So 236 bhp per ton, compared to 262 bhp per ton on a new V8 M3.

 

The bhp increase alone is something like 25-30% over the standard S?

[eldavo69]

There's a UK 944 Turbo running 415bhp - it looks pretty much standard from the outside but shows up some very expensive metal on the track never mind on the road.

I'm planning an engine bay overhaul next year, depending upon funds I may get the turbo sent away to become a ball bearing hybrid turbo while I'm in there. A few other tweaks to the fuelling and exhaust should see a reliable 350-375bhp. That'd do.

Edited February 23, 2014 by eldavo69

[patently]

  On 2/23/2014 at 9:52 AM, eldavo69 said:

I've never tried a timed 0-60 myself due to the fact I'd probably make a complete hash of the start and the knowledge that a clutch is £550 in parts and around 20 hours of labour!

 

I'll do it for you:

 

 

(only watch the first 20 seconds, the bit from 1:40 onwards might dissuade you)

[Calm Chris]

Your appear to have dropped lots of fluids, nice start.

Have you heard the story of the Hare and The tortoise?

[Tipex]

  On 2/23/2014 at 11:00 PM, Calm Chris said:

Have you heard the story of the Hare and The tortoise?

It's a lovely story, to tell kids who are not very good at winning anything, but ultimately, it's bollox in the real world.

[Rachel]

  On 2/23/2014 at 11:00 PM, Calm Chris said:

Your appear to have dropped lots of fluids, nice start.

Have you heard the story of the Hare and The tortoise?

I think you mean the frog and the scorpion... http://www.aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?4&TheScorpionandtheFrog

[eldavo69]

Here's a comparison of the bits that came off the too of the gearbox compared with the bits about to go on:

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc264/eldavo69/Porsche%20944%20Turbo%20S/C6E7FD04-E0A5-4BED-B72D-E7ED76CA1206.jpg

The gearshift is now much more positive and direct, as well as being 30% shorter both front to back and side to side. The support bar was weak and bendy and the linkage had a very sloppy plastic bushing in it. The new kit is all bearings, ball joints and beefy bits

All installed and it looks like there's loads of room in there but trust me there isn't:

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc264/eldavo69/Porsche%20944%20Turbo%20S/456D754F-28C4-467A-A496-FB03AA5605DF.jpg

[eldavo69]

Things to make and do:

With the fixed bucket seats being so low the sun visors are pretty useless so this sun strip turned up today.

I need to make sure I fit it low enough to be useful and high enough to pass an MOT or else I'll be resorting to a shorter MOT-spec wiper once a year

[NewNiceMrMe]

You've bought ANOTHER sticker?

[patently]

  On 3/4/2014 at 3:40 PM, NewNiceMrMe said:

You've bought ANOTHER sticker?

 

Says the man with a WHICH sticker in his signature

[Tipex]

Oh my, a sun strip, how very 80's Barry, still, I suppose it's period correct! 

 

You'd be better of with a pensioner special clip on flip down extra visor, at least you can hide it when you don't need it, they usually sell them in those little catalogs that come with the Sunday papers.

 

Here you go - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sun-Zapper-Clip-On-Car-Sun-Visor-Extender-FREE-UK-POSTAGE-/380840046191?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item58abd5ee6f

Edited March 4, 2014 by Tipex

[eldavo69]

Yeah, BAZZA N SHAZZA wouldn't fit

[Tipex]

'Shaz N Dave' would have looked great, if your Mrs was called Dave!

[eldavo69]

  On 3/27/2013 at 4:23 PM, eldavo69 said:

Balls - failed

After all that it failed on handbrake efficiency I knew it was crap, they're all pretty crappy TBH but didn't even think to tighten it up.

It's not a hard job, half an hour really but a faff on having to take it back next week even though I'm off. Worst of all is that the tester has tried to check the adjustment on the lever itself and the end has pinged off the spring-loaded switch! I now need to put the switch back together too (which is fiddly due to where it is) to get the dash light to go out. Grrrrr!

MOT again today at Porsche - failed again

Handbrake efficiency again - might have something to do with me driving it back from Oulton Park last year with the brake on 2 clicks. Though I'd adjusted it enough but it was 2% under so I'll sort that tonight.

Also a rear CV boot is split, £52 + VAT from Porsche! Drove round to the garage I use and they rang ECP trade, £12. Getting all 4 changed tomorrow as well as the driveshafts swapped left to right and everything re-greased.

Also failed on a headlight being out of alignment but he couldn't set it as the pop up lights wouldn't come up. They came up at the start of the test but now they wouldn't so it was obviously an electrical fault. I asked the MOT tester to show me the problem and fair enough he tuned the key one click, turned the headlight switch and nothing happened. I noticed that the indicator stalk was pushed forward onto main beam. The headlights won't pop up on main beam as a safety precaution. I leant over and flicked the stalk off main beam and the light popped up - the MOT tester just said "oh" quite quietly

[Twinspark]

Looking good.

 

Still something very special about 944s.

[eldavo69]

A bit of a round up of things I've forgotten to post.

I fitted the short shift kit and all the bits, it's made an enormous difference - I love it.

The old bits next to the new bits:

Fitted on top of the gearbox:

Although in reality it's not that easy to get to:

Fitted the Sunstrip and then took it off. Why? Well erm . . .

With that out of the way I spanked it around Cadwell Park:

And snapped my power steering tensioner on track again, turns out I was missing a spacer washer (it's somewhere on the Nürburgring I think) hence they kept snapping as it was under lateral tension. Was about to replace it with a new one but got a beefy upgraded part from the states with a lifetime guarantee, so spaced it properly and fitted that:

Edited April 14, 2014 by eldavo69

[eldavo69]

Decided I was hacked off at carting track wheels and tyres around and wasting track time changing them - it's not like I'm going that hard and serious that every last second counts. With the rear tyres needing replacing soon anyway I went for a set of Federal 595 RS-R all round. I originally wanted AD08Rs but the rear size isn't in stock in Europe

These come with 6.5mm tread and are rate very highly as a road legal track tyre that works in the wet too. With a treadwear of 140 we'll see how long they last, if they make it a year (2000-3000 road miles and 3-4 trackdays I'll be happy):

Now I needed somewhere to store my track wheels and tyres a bit more permanently though:

Tonight's job is to sort the handbrake out, the leather boot was a bit tatty at the bottom and the rubber handle was starting to split a little so I've fitted a replacement boot. My long term plan is to get the centre console and dashboard covered in matching leather with contrast stitching to tidy it up a bit but I don't fancy removing the dash in a hurry again just yet:

[eldavo69]

Phew - well I'd certainly like to think that I'll have a pass on handbrake efficiency now.

Stripped the lever mechanism down and released all the tension off the system. Set both rear wheels to full lock and then backe off half a turn on the adjusters, re-assembled the mechanism and reset the tension. Some of the metal parts of the handbrake mechanism that are hidden under the carpet and never seen might have got a coat of satin black paint too

Now, instead of the handbrake being " barely sufficient" at 4 clicks it is sufficient at 2 and completely locked at 3 - no hint of give in it like there was before.

I also found the split CV boot and cleaned up all the moly grease that had come from it and sprayed everywhere underneath.

Edited April 14, 2014 by eldavo69

[eldavo69]

Well this is awkward (no I've not crashed it Patently); after all this time rising above the "isn't a 944 just a VW" type comments I've just bought a VW part off eBay for the car.

Not a VW part that is also shared with the 944 so it's the same but a bit cheaper but an actual VW Golf part that was never found on the 944.

An interior light from a Mk2 Golf.

It's the same as the Porsche part but has a time delay circuit sticking out of the back of it. As the interior lights are in series if I stick it in place of the boot light and make a jumper cable for one of the connections then I won't need the door open to find my phone that's invariably fallen through the crotch-strap hole in the seat (again). Alternatively I'll come back to find that the lights have been on all night and subsequently the thing won't start (Mook baiting mode on - just like a real Mk2 Golf - Mook baiting mode off)

[eldavo69]

Well that didn't work - I misread the instructions online and short circuited the golf timer circuit so just had a word with myself and put the original part back in.

As mentioned elsewhere the oil pickup broke off in the pan and I had the car recovered to my Indy's.

The "while you're in there" jobs will consist of a hinged oil pan baffle being welded in (en route from the states) and new rod bearings (24 hour service from Type911). I'm also going to give the inlet manifold and throttle body a clean up and possibly a powdercoat too and while the front ARB is off I'll polybush it as I've been meaning to do for ages.

I have a great relationship with the garage and they're quite happy to let me muck in with the car, it helps me keep the labour rate down and helps them as they're super-busy at the moment.

I've spent a couple of hours over there with the car in their yard, removed the fuel rail and inlet manifold and ancillaries. I have complete tool envy now though, I get why snap-on stuff is expensive having had a play about - I even got bought an ice-cream by the "boss"

This is where I'm up to so far:

The strut brace is still in as I just removed the bolt from one end and swung it out of the way then put the bolt back through for safe-keeping when I'd finished.

Edited May 21, 2014 by eldavo69