Test post from the WordPress app.

I think I may have figure out quicker posting of pictures and such which should help with posting on the fly 😉

A little beer Friday. Getting the car finalized for race season.   

The New Site

We are in a bit of a transition period right now, and have incorporated the last 3 years of blogging into the new website, where all the new posts will be made. Eventually, this blog should automatically redirect to the new address, but in the meantime…..here it is: http://rennsportkc.com/blog

For some reason I am not smart enough to figure out how to get an easy to click hyperlink…..but i’m working on it……

The new blog is the same wordpress format, as is the website. Not sure if the blog will look as cool as the old one did when viewed with an Ipad (awesome…check it out), but playing around with it a little more and I’ll find out soon enough. A ton of stuff going on right now, so I will do my best to keep blogging as we make progress!

The Little Bastard

Hey, I didn’t come up with the name, the owner did! Had a little issue with an 88 911 that was rubbing the tire on the fender under certain corners. My buddy Mark had heard a POP from the front left corner one day, then started hearing the rubbing. While simple and quick to diagnose, this is something I have not seen before, the steel contact washer that the torsion bar adjustment bolt rides on shattered, dropping the suspension almost a 1/4″, which was enough to rub on the already lowered car. Now the question is if we can find a solution for repair that does not require a replacement cross member.

Here you can see the edge of the broken contact washer.

And the right hand side shows what it should look like.

996 C2 Suspension Upgrade

Knocking out a little suspension upgrade on a 996C2 this week. We are installing Bilstein HD shocks/struts with Eibach lowering springs, which will give the car a little lower stance, and a firmer ride which will help in the corners. We got tied up slightly due to not having new bump stops/bellows for the fronts, so that has set us back slightly.

Old front struts and springs

Old rear struts and springs.

After a little work, we have one rear strut out of the car and assembled, ready for re installation.

And the rear struts up in place. It takes some ingenuity to get the rear suspension down far enough to get the struts back in place. When you remove them, the rear carriers rises up under pressure about 4-5 inches.

Going after the fronts. Removing the front tie rod end gives better access to the lower ball joint. Once I got the front struts out, I realized that we didn’t have front replacement bump stops and bellows. At 70k miles, the original ones had fallen apart and needed to be replaced. I should have those in a few days.

In the meantime, the customer wanted me to install the LN Engineering oil filter adapter. The idea is that it eliminates the canister filter which some people have complained about stripping the plastic housing, etc. They also claim some increased filtering with a standard NAPA filter. In my experience, I have never stripped or ruined or seen a ruined filter canister housing. IMHO, that likely occurs from trying to remove it with the improper tool. But to each his own. The downside of a metal filter is that you can not cut them open to inspect easily like you can the paper filters (which I recommend every oil change).

Old plastic canister housing.

And the new adapter and metal filter installed. Stay tuned.

A little behind…..

Sorry, the blog hasn’t been updated in while. Last week I knocked out quite a few projects, but just didn’t have the time to get them up before heading out of town again. On Friday we headed up to Hastings for the Woodhouse of Omaha DE. As usual we had a blast. My student and the track owner George have been friends since college, so that was a lot of fun. Getting a detailed history of the track being built was a good tale. Our weekend included a ton of track time for the students on Saturday and Sunday. Friday night was a meet and greet, Saturday we were provided trackside lunch and steak dinner, along with another track tour from George. I see something new every time I am there. A few stops made around town completed the weekend. We met up with our friends Greg, Boris and Anker and had a great weekend.

#6 of 50 that year FR500CJ Cobra Jet Ford factory drag car. Amazingly loud and rowdy.

And of course we got to see lots of Porsches on track, it was odd not having to work on any of them….very relaxing weekend.

And there may have been a simulated race against a D class 911 with the Bacardi Bus. He had to go 2 laps, the bus had to go 1. Of course only was it simulated because I am sure insurance wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen. In the simulation though, the 911 lost.

Sunday afternoon I headed west to Wyoming for antelope and sage grouse. Somehow when I got here, I found myself painting and doing tile work. I keep getting told we will actually go hunting on Friday…….we’ll see……..

Progress on the shop keeps progressing at a slower than desired rate. Soon.

Dragon Part II:

Figured I’d make the rolling chassis a little lighter:

Out she comes 🙂

I’ll put this thing on a stand at the shop and go through the bottom end. My guess is the head is warped, so a trip to the machine shop will confirm that. If so, then I know the bottom end is good.

Once I get my other charlie arm back, I can button up the suspension and load it back on the trailer for it’s journey to the shop. I also started ripping out all the wiring to update, surprisingly finding a few burnt wires which is odd as there were no electrical issues in the car.

951 Coolant Leak

Got a call Sunday night on the way back from Hastings about a stranded 951. Car lost all it’s coolant and started to overheat. Monday morning the tow truck showed up to the house with it and I checked it out. Pretty typical failure, the plastic coolant port on the radiator had broken and coolant had sprayed out of the radiator under pressure.

You can just make out the piece that is broken on the end of the small hose.

Of course, half of it stays in the radiator, so you have to get a little creative with getting that piece out. A propane torch on the bit and melted into the piece allows you to unscrew it. It is a tight fit without completely removing everything out of the way (coolant crossover pipe, etc)

A better picture of the location.

They come from far and wide 😉