Intro from Montana: '73 2.0L rustoration thread Options

[wonkipop]

@bbrock .

fascinating to hear of effect of snorkel.
i guess that tells why manufacturers got into snorkels?

i have read about helmholtz resonators on more modern intake systems.
seems like they are dead end chambers off the side of the feed between the air cleaner section and the intake plenum manifolds.

i suppose the snorket cancels out sound waves being generated by intake pulses.
maybe not low frequency sound like the exhaust, but significant at higher and middle level frequencies which are intake generated frequencies and still very noticeable to the human ear.

could be you have a carby car that is going to run as quiet or quieter than the stock EFI set up. nice. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[bbrock]

@bbrock .

fascinating to hear of effect of snorkel.
i guess that tells why manufacturers got into snorkels?

i have read about helmholtz resonators on more modern intake systems.
seems like they are dead end chambers off the side of the feed between the air cleaner section and the intake plenum manifolds.

i suppose the snorket cancels out sound waves being generated by intake pulses.
maybe not low frequency sound like the exhaust, but significant at higher and middle level frequencies which are intake generated frequencies and still very noticeable to the human ear.

could be you have a carby car that is going to run as quiet or quieter than the stock EFI set up. nice. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

I need to do more testing to isolate what it contributing to sound reduction, but I actually don't think the snorkel is making a big difference. This was the first time I drove the car with top off with the Bursch installed and I even though it is still on the loud side, it doesn't have the very deep note I had before that reverberated through the cabin. The fact is that I haven't been able to hear those carbs much at all with the air cleaner on and no snorkel. Take the cleaner off, and you definitely hear them!

Once I have a better way to measure sound, I should I'll better be able to figure out how much each component is helping. The ear has its limits trying to figure out where the sounds are coming from. BTW, this whole air cleaner project started from studying helmholtz resonators (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[bbrock]

Got a couple things to catch up on but tonight I will just update that I have confirmed that phone apps are not worth dog (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif) for measuring sound levels - at least not on my phone anyway. Got the new sound level meter that is factory calibrated and did some side by side comparisons. With the car sitting in the garage with ignition off and the roof off, the quiet reading on the phone runs within 2 db of the meter which seems like a good start.



However, as suspected the phone is hyper sensitive to transient sounds. For example, the click of the shutter when I snapped this picture caused the meter to spike momentarily to 80 db. Give me a break. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/screwy.gif)

Now look what happens when I back the car into the driveway and measure the sound inside while the car is idling at 800 rpm (I really do need to change out that nasty screen protector on my phone).



I don't know how well you can read the phone, but it is measuring 86.6 db at the moment the picture was taken and an average of 87.1 db. Almost 20 db higher than the meter. That is HUGE! I couldn't get a pic but when I revved the engine to 3500 rpm, the disparity shrank some but was still significant. The meter read 79 db which fits with what my ears were telling me while the phone read 95 db so still a 15 db. difference. Let's just flush those numbers taken with the phone and start over.

When I get a chance, I'll repeat the 5 ft. behind the car measurements for both the Bursch and Ben's muffler to get a more accurate baseline.

[partwerks]

When you get a chance, could you shoot a pic of this area showing the accelerator cable tube? ... I can't see where it ends at the front (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

Are there any spots welds at the rear of the center tunnel, or just the sides, and front?

[bbrock]

Hello World. I thought I should drop a note to dispel any rumors of my demise. I'm not gonna lie, it was a rough winter, but I'll pick up where I left off.

Over the summer I clicked off 2,600 miles on the odometer of nearly flawless driving. There were a couple small hiccups, but nothing major. The biggest revelation is that I learned that I hate carbs. Don't get me wrong. The performance is outstanding. The car pulls as hard as a stockish 2L can be expected to pull all the way to 90 mph and at one point, I had the speedo needle wound to 125. I can't vouche for the accuracy of that reading, but I'm confident I was north of 115. Performance isn't unique to carbs though. The biggest drawback is that walking into the garage is like stepping into the 1970s as the wall of gas fumes hit your nose. That's even with the tight fitting custom air cleaner I made. Second is that they are too fiddly. The CSP bellcrank linkage is nice and pretty easy to adjust, but I've found it impossible to maintain consistent idle. I get a steady idle at 800 to start but after running the engine hard, the idle creeps up. My guess is that the linkage rods expand as the engine heats up hand holds the butterflies open a smidge. Maybe I need to leave more slack in the adjustment, but like I said, fiddly. Also, seems like every time I make an adjustment on the car, I wind up re-balancing the carbs and re-adjusting the linkage. It isn't hard to do, but gets annoying after awhile. Sooo.... the plan was to yank the carbs and fancy air box and Megasquirt the car over the winter.

We had a beautiful fall last year which coincided with working on a film for my job. This film has nothing to do with Porsches but one of the ranchers interviewed got a real kick when I drove up to his house in the 914. If you are interested in grizzlies, ranchers, or Yellowstone, you might enjoy it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POhOkCqVIdo


As fall wound down, I rushed to catch up on a long backlog of deferred maintenance on the house when I was dedicated to the car restoration. The biggest project was revamping the frog/lizard room.



I was honestly enjoying a break from constantly working on the car. My biggest project was buying pajamas as a Christmas present to the mistress.



Then the string of (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif) that hasn't ended started. I won't go through it all but the winter has been nothing but responding to one or more crises every week. The most relevant to the 914 is that I lost my job in February when the org I worked for decided to shut down our entire regional program. This news landed 2 days after we signed a contract to install an rather expensive solar system on our house. I was allowed to transition our the projects I was leading to another org which only took 3 days to accomplish in principle. However, After four months, our newest and largest funder has not decided whether to transition funding to our new org which has put a serious hurt on out projects and my salary and my previous org has been slow with transfer other funding which has left me and a colleague working without pay for 3 months. Within a week of losing my job, our dog was diagnosed with a mast cell tumor which is potentially life-ending. He's now had surgery and crossed the halfway mark on his chemo today. He's doing great but our bank account suffers greatly. With all the expenses draining our savings and uncertainty over this year's income, the Megasquirt project has been put on hold.

In May I received an invoice from Hagerty for policy renewal and was shocked at the bill. I paid ~$350 last year and the bill for this year was $570 even though NOTHING has changed. I tried several times to download past statements and other docs from the web site but nothing would work. A completely different experience from just a year ago. Screw them. I got a good quote from Grundy, but they didn't want me to actually drive the car. No driving it to work or trips to the grocery store. For me, that IS the pleasure driving as I have wonderful Porsche roads any direction I drive from home. So I said no thanks to Grundy. I got a good quote from State Farm who we have insured out house and other cars with for years. That required sending pictures for agreed value classic car insurance. Of the hundreds of pics I've taken of this car, I did not have pics of the finished product from all the angles they need (but I have pics of the guts of the cigarette lighter (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ). So I fired up the car on a somewhat sunny day to snap some pics including this one of the car and chemo boy.



With an new insurance policy, I just had to wait for enough snow to melt for a drive. That happened yesterday...

To be continued...

[Craigers17]

Nice Film! My brother lives out in that area....beautiful country! I hope things turn around for you......I know they will.

[bkrantz]

Brent, sounds like a tough winter. I hope things continue to get better, and you get some more miles in.

[Dion]

Damn Brent!, quite honestly was going to email you today and here you are.
Uggh what a winter. Fingers crossed and great karma wished for the pup, as well as your job situation. Car looks awesome as usual.

PS: The film is excellent. Thanks for the education. Hope many outlets pick it up to get the word out.

[FlacaProductions]

Was just thinking about you today as I looked up your stereo install that I'm going to copy pretty much part-for-part. From where I sit, you're good people and you know what happens to good people.

[DBF]

I enjoyed going over the thread and seeing the rusteration. Looks like a great car. I also enjoyed the Working Lands video. I'm a retired wildlife biologist and the message hits home. I worked with farmers and ranchers on similar issues in WI throughout my career. Take care.

[bbrock]

Hey thanks all. Before I dive into yesterday's ride, I think in trying to keep things as brief as possible for a 9 month catch-up, I made things sound a bit more dire about the job than they actually are. It's actually pretty complicated and would be too boring to go into but the bottom line is that the funding sitch for one of my projects is frustrating, but overall I'm set. It literally took just one phone call to slide the working lands program over to a partner organization I've been an associate with since they were founded and I have a large contract from my former boss. I'm not making as much as I was at the old job, but honestly, I was getting paid kind of stupid money anyway. I'll continue my lavish Porsche driving lifestyle (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) The timing was perfect for killing the Megasquirt project is all. I planned to do that Feb-April before the driving season began. Now the driving season is here and I don't want to tear apart the car now.

So yeah, yesterday was the first drive of the year. I left the car sitting untouched all winter so about a month ago decided I should see if it would start. A couple pumps on the gas peddle and it fired right up. Fired up again a couple weeks ago when I took those pics. Then yesterday I needed to run into town for a work meeting and low and behold, it was sunny and the snow was off the road. I hopped in the car and turned the key and... NOTHING. Well shit. I never plugged the trickle charger in after the first start so figured maybe the battery had drawn down. Hooked up jumper cables from the snow plow and VROOM! We were off and I figured the 30 minuted drove to town would charge the battery. Went to my meeting and then hopped in the car with a colleague to grab some lunch. Turned the key and... NOTHING. Pushed the car out of the parking space and my buddy gave it a shove in the cramped parking lot to push start. Fired right up. Drove to a restaurant and parked in an easy place for a push start which was again needed. I drove my first 914 daily to college for a full semester without a functioning starter, so push starting was a trip down Memory Lane. I haven't had a chance to trouble shoot yet, but the battery seems to be charged but not getting juice to the starter is my guess.

A funny thing happened driving back tot he office parking lot. A car pulls up in front of me and asks if I'd consider selling it. I said every man has a price but mine would be high. He said, "give me a number." I said, "Maybe 60?" He pulled out a card and gave it to me and we hopped out to chat a bit. I explained the history of the car and why I wasn't motivated to sell, but anyone could be persuaded. He said he was a Porsche guy, used to have a 914 and regretted getting rid of it. Has been looking for awhile etc. He kept saying, "Honestly, I don't think 60 is unreasonable." He also asked if I had the car painted locally. When I told him I did it myself, he about fell over. Gotta admit that made me feel a little good. When we parted he said, "Enjoy your car and when you are ready, you know how to find me." After that I drove home with the top off and it started to rain. I love driving these cars with the top off in the rain.He texted me this morning to ask what year it is.

Things get real after an incident like that. It got me thinking. I used to get notes on the car occassionally back in the 80s asking if it was for sale. Those were a nice contrast from the people who daily told me to my face that my "glorified VW" was a joke. But those notes were from people who might, in a moment of weakness, fork over $1,500 or so. Things are too weird now when these old VW jokes are commanding stupid money. Yes, every man has his price, but what is mine? I'm not there yet. Not at $60K anyway, but I'm pretty sure $80 would do it. I can't imagine being offered 80, but if I were, it would be hard to refuse. My buddy who was with me has seen the car through the project and couldn't believe I would entertain selling. The truth is I love the car but it is really impractical where I live and with the garage space I have. No, not ready to sell, but every man has his price. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[bbrock]

I enjoyed going over the thread and seeing the rusteration. Looks like a great car. I also enjoyed the Working Lands video. I'm a retired wildlife biologist and the message hits home. I worked with farmers and ranchers on similar issues in WI throughout my career. Take care.

Any chance the "D" in DBF stands for Duane? Many years ago I struck up an online friendship with a wolf biologist in Wisconsin named Duane. I can't remember his last name and know there is a snowball's chance it is you, but how cool would it be? I just had to ask. I don't think Duane would be retirement age yet though.

[mb911]

I do wonder all the time what my number would be as well. 60 sounds real good to me..

[bbrock]

Was just thinking about you today as I looked up your stereo install that I'm going to copy pretty much part-for-part. From where I sit, you're good people and you know what happens to good people.

@FlacaProductions Hey Brian, FYI my stereo still sounds like (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif) due to lack of a subwoofer box. I've been offline so haven't looked to see if Mark ever produced the kickspace boxes he's been talking about. MY backup is to make one myself but that will be a pretty involved project and I haven't had time for it with all the chao.

At the moment, my system sounds worse than if it had no subwoofer at all because I have the crossovers set to send the low end to a sub with no enclosure. I think I'm just going to disconnect the sub and take whatever bass I can get from the Infinitys until I can seal that sub in a proper enclosure.

[tygaboy]

Funny how things do "get real" when someone says, essentially, "name your price".
My litmus test for actually selling is "does it still make me stand there and stare at it?"
Until that's a "No", it's not about price.
I think another key is if you're about the journey, the destination or both.
I'm about the journey so I'll be happy to sell when my car is "done" - whatever that means to me. @bbrock Brent, you're clearly about the journey, too! But with your history with your car, I suspect there's a bit of destination in you, too.
Regardless, IMO, it's about experiences, building memories/friendships and the folks you meet along the way. Aside from that, it's all just a bunch of eating and sleeping.

Stay happy, my friend!

[FlacaProductions]

Hey Brent - I'm using your same amp, mounting location and method while replacing the aging Blaupunkt 6-1/2's with new Alpine R-S65.2's. I have a blank/uncut panel for the sub but holding off for now to see what comes out. Nothing new on that front and I patiently wait.

I also have your "old" exhaust so basically you're responsible for all the noise being generated here....

[Morph914]

Brent, I’m sorry for the rough patch, I know things will turn around (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Its great to see that you are putting miles on the car. I am going through the process of getting mine dialed in, it seems to be running pretty good now. I had not driven a 914 before starting my restoration, now I get it ! This thing is a blast to drive, I can’t wait to start putting miles on it.
I just want to say thank you again for taking the time to post in detail all that you did. Although my skill set is nowhere close to yours, you gave me confidence to take on many tasks that I would not have if it were not for you. And through all your life experiences along the way you have brought us all closer to you in some way, shape, or form.
Good health and many more miles to you my friend! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

My baby, under wraps as well

[930cabman]

Thanks for checking in and life has been known to have a curve ball or two every so often. Hold fast and things will brighten up soon. Also thanks for sharing the film, very informative for an Eastern city guy. Glad to hear your 914 has met/exceeded some of your goals.

[DBF]

My first name is Douglas, or Doug for short. I don't know any state employees who worked with wolves named Duane. I recall meeting a federal employee (USDA Wildlife Services) named Duane - they deal with wolf depredation issues. Maybe that's the guy? Interesting you mention wolves - that was the critter I was thinking about when watching your video. Same issues - just a different state and critter.

Starter problems really aren't a problem with light cars. Back in college, my '62 bug's starter quit working. I still wonder if the guy in the gold cadillac tells the story of pulling up behind a multi-colored VW at a stoplight in the rain. When the light turned green, a skinny blond in a dress got out of the passenger side, and a long-haired guy in khaki's got out of the driver's side. They started pushing the VW across the intersection, and after a bit, the blond hops in the car followed by the guy, the VW lurches and chugs off down the road. We made our dinner reservation, and we've been married 40 years!

[wonkipop]

thanks for link to film.

watched it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/14.gif)

have family in the cattle industry up north here.
my very early childhood was every school holidays out at my uncle and aunts cattle station in central queensland with my cousins. remember it vividly.
i could half relate to it.

but very different landscape.

----

good luck with things. change is opportunity.