All the cool kids are doing it..., Low budget progress thread (Slow Race prep.) Options

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>:(

[Eric_Ciampa]

Problems??? BTW, if you are looking for a cheap racing seat (and I mean cheap) give me a call. A buddy of mine had a Sparco installed in his 914 before he had to abandon his project... But, before leaving it behind he took the racing seat and mounted it onto the base of a typical office chair (completely reversible). Well he moved and now I have it sitting in my garage. I don't have any hardware or belts but it looks like you have everything else. If not, I will post an add in the classifieds. Oh, and whats (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[BMXerror]

Here's a couple bad pics taken from under the car. You probably can't even tell what these are. Oh well.
This is where the stock oil cooler goes. You can sorta see the oil cooler block off plate above the oil filter with the 90 degree brass fittings coming out. In the foreground is the thermo-bypass valve. The other side goes to the oil cooler.

This is the oil cooler itself. It's stuffed in between the shock and the tranny on the right side, just behind cylinder 3. The front bracket is actually mounted to the rear engine sheet metal there is a fan mounted above it. It's a stuff job, but there's room above the fan to get air to it (it blows down), and the clearance with the shock opens up quite a bit when you set the car down. The hose looks like it's running right next to the exhaust, but it's got a couple inches there, and it doesn't seem to be heating up my oil at all. You can see the thermo switch for the fan towards the back. All the hoses are adel clamped into place.

Mark D.

[BMXerror]

Problems??? BTW, if you are looking for a cheap racing seat (and I mean cheap) give me a call. A buddy of mine had a Sparco installed in his 914 before he had to abandon his project... But, before leaving it behind he took the racing seat and mounted it onto the base of a typical office chair (completely reversible). Well he moved and now I have it sitting in my garage. I don't have any hardware or belts but it looks like you have everything else. If not, I will post an add in the classifieds. Oh, and whats (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Yeah, I tried to attach some pictures that were two big (forgot to resize them), but instead of just telling me they were too big, the site just got completely nutty. It started posting the replies even though I didn't ask it to. So I edited them to 'Technical difficulties' and '>:(' so as not to repeat myself. But then I re-edited them with the material I wanted, and when I changed the attachments on one reply, it changed them on all three! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) I think I confused it... it sure confused me! lol
Anyways, yes, I'm very interested in the seat. Please PM me pics and a price. I got approval to run what I've got up in Marina from a guy who's organizing it, but it's looking like Marina's not gonna happen for me. It sucks, 'cause I REALLY wanted to make that this year, but I SERIOUSLY need some suspension work done, as the lack of swaybars really killed me at my last AX. Everything is over budget on the car, and I can't really afford the sway bars AND the trip up there. I'll try to hit some local events next month. If you're reading, sorry Dan! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) What was I saying? OH yeah, so I'll probably need a race seat to run down here for the time being. Thanks for offering a helping hand. This club rules! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Mark D.

[Eric_Ciampa]

I thought you were having some kind of mechanical issues. Good to hear everything is going well. Check your messages, you should have a PM from me. Thanks

[BMXerror]

I thought you were having some kind of mechanical issues. Good to hear everything is going well. Check your messages, you should have a PM from me. Thanks

Going well? haha.. This is a 914 we're talking about! I cracked a trailing arm on the 4th! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) It never ends. lol My dad's about to retire, and he was complaining about the building that he works falling apart. He said, "I don't know what I'm gonna do when I retire. I won't have people's junk to work on." I replied, "Get a 914! That'll keep you busy!"
Mark D.

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Forgot this one. This is the rats nest that's back by my starter. You can see the Ford starter relay that I added, as well as the relay for the oil cooler fan. Eventually I'd like to clean the wiring up, because right now everything seems rather tacked on. The plan at the moment is to change to an SDS Injection system at the same time that I have the car stripped bare for paint. At that point I'll redo all the wiring in the entire car. The problem is, I don't know if that'll be before or after I go to a full tubular frame with fiberglass panels... too far down the road to tell.

Mark D.

[BMXerror]

Latest addition. This is the Sparco seat that Eric sold me for a hellova good price. It's in great shape, and I thank him for steppin' up! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

He did, however make the condition that I post pics on this thread once it's in, so here goes. These are the bosses that I machined. They were quick and ugly, but paint goes a long way. I just bolted these to the seat rails, set the seat in, marked a circle around the bosses and holesawed those circles. Once holesawed, I simply put the seat in and held it up about 1/4" while my brother tack-welded them on (picture). This put them at the correct angle and proper alignment with no trouble. After that, I unbolted the seat and had my bro finish welding.

This is them welded in with a little grinding to clean them up and get rid of the slag. The welds were a little (a lot) ugly due to rusty floor panels, but they're under the seat. I'm not really concerned grinding on these welds, as it's the harnesses that really hold you in, not the seat. It's still plenty sturdy!

A little paint and it'll all be purty!
Mark D.

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This is after a layer of paint. Oh, and nobody needs to point out that the bosses are crooked. This was done intentionally to put you inline with the steering wheel and pedals, as they're not exactly in front of you otherwise.

The seat installed. The holes on the rails lined up perfectly with the bosses and the bolts threaded easily. It worked really well! The seat position is quite a bit more upright than the stockers. It'll take some getting used to, but I think it's an improvement. The steering feels much more in control, and the toggle switches aren't such a reach.

This is the weird part of the rule that you guys are referring to. The hoops in the seat are actually lower than the harness bars that I welded in. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) The harnesses actually goes right through the middle when I'm strapped in with no binding at all, which is good, but the seat didn't change the geometry of the belts at all. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) lol. It's cool though. I do need a race seat for when this thing is ready for the track, and rules are rules. Plus, the side bolstering is awesome! And what a deal!

Thanks again, Eric. It was cool meeting you. You should come out to Running Springs next month if you can.
Mark D.

[PeeGreen 914]

Nice (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I have the Evo2. Similar seat. I love it. Had to modify my interior too. Nice work.

[BMXerror]

Well, after the side track with the engine I got back on track to do the front anti-roll bar. The car lacked any anti-roll bars from the factory, and I feel that that's what cost me the most time at last years Nite AX... well, that and my lack of skill! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) So I set to work. After looking at what was available from Tarret and Weltmeister for $470, I figured I could fabricate some for cheaper. I started with the 1" hollow bar sold by HRP world (http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?form_prod_id=216,212,363_1424&action=product) , and the accompanying splined aluminum arms (http://www.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?form_prod_id=216,212,363_1428&action=product)
For starters the arms were too long to even FIT in the wheel well. There would've been serious tire clearance issues, so I had to cut them down considerably. I ended up taking almost 7 inches off of the end. There also aren't any holes for drop links to attach to, so I had to make those. I knew I didn't want slots as they are rather weak, but I figured that the arms were so thick that I could get away with two staggered rows of adjustment holes. Very long story short, I ended up with 28 adjustment holes in 1/4" increments. When I say they are 1/4" increments, I mean that from center of the bar to center of the drop link hole. I actually trigged out every hole so that the center to center distance would be right. This doesn't mean anything right now, but when I learn how to calculate spring rates of these bars, I'll be able to do so accurately.


So I set the part up in a CNC mill and located off of the splined hole, wrote a quick CNC program to spot drill the holes, and then just edited the same program for the drilling and tapping operations. They are tapped M8 X 1.00. A more experienced guy at work did help me with the setup a bit, and I'm very grateful. I didn't even ask, he just offered! This here's to you, UB. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) Oh, forgot one thing. I threaded the arms because I wanted to make them hug the inner wheel well as much as possible, and I didn't want bolts and nuts sticking out on the back side. Also, it will make adjustment easier at the track, as you won't have to worry about blind-threading a nut.
Mark D.

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For drop links I simply purchased the Weltmeister units so that I didn't have to bother building my own up from rod end components. Normally I wouldn't mind, but I was coming down to the wire on time, so I did it the quick way and probably spent a little extra cash in the process. I did, however, replace the SAE hardware with metric, because I try to keep it all metric on my car. I couldn't do that on the turn buckles, though. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) The M8s were actually a closer fit in the sleeves than the 5/16" bolts that came with the drop links.


Mark D.

[BMXerror]

I got the bearings from the Big Bearing Store online, and just used the pressed steel housings. The housing is flared to hold the bearing, and that flare is a little over 2-1/4" DIA. So all I did is hole saw a 2-1/4" hole in the wheel well and drill two holes for mounting bolts. It sounds cheesy, but it seems to work well. What I had in mind was that when you tighten the bolts it would compress flare of the bearing housing into that 2-1/4 hole, making that large hole the load bearing surface, and not the two small bolt holes. This theoretically eliminates the need for any further reinforcement in the area, at least with the relatively soft bar. I've run one AX with it as well as some spirited canyon driving, and there seems to be no signs of cracking or excessive stress. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the bearings from the back side. I was in a serious rush and actually lifted the car, figured out how the bearings should go in there, laid it out, drilled the holes, drilled the bolt holes, measured for the bar length, set the car down and cleaned up in an hour and a half. I didn't really think to snap any shots.
Problems:
1. In my rush of laying the bearing holes out without the gas tank in, I didn't think to make any consideration for the height of the bar, as it relates to the bottom of the gas tank. Once the bar was in and the gas tank was reinstalled there was the tiniest little drag on one side of the bar (I was looking for it by then as I figured out later that that might be a problem). A couple minutes of "adjustment" on the gas tank with a sledge hammer and a block of wood cleared that problem right up, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif) but it's still VERY close in there. If I go to a 1-1/4 bar later, something else will have to be done.
2. The bearings I bought were about a 1.0002" bore, and the bar miced in at about 1.0006. I figured it easier to hone the bearings than knock all the paint off of the bar and hope I wouldn't have to grind it, so I went ahead and honed the bearings. I still can't slide the bar all of the way through, but the part that needs to fit, fits, and fits tight!


Mark D.

[BMXerror]

Right now the adjustment is pretty well on the loose side. You see, before I didn't like the body roll, but I thought the balance of the car front to back was pretty good, and I figured that ONLY adding a front sway bar to the thing would upset that. As a result, I bought a rear coilover kit from Paragon Products with 200 lb springs. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that that kit wouldn't work with the KYB struts that are in there. I called E-shocks to get some Koni Yellows 3 day shipped out here, and put it on credit. This was on last Monday when I was supposed to race on Saturday! Well the shocks never showed up, and I was never charged for them. I called earlier this week and they have no record of the order! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) Oh well, I shouldn't have gone into debt for my hobby anyways. Back to the tech side of things, though, the anti-roll bar did make the car oversteer a BIT more, but once I got used to it, I rather liked it! It handles like a Porsche now! I still think we could get a little more out of the front tires, but right now, what I'm getting from the lack of body roll MORE than outweighs the slight lack of balance.

Mark D.

[BMXerror]

So, I got basically all that Tarret and Weltmeister sells for about $470. What was the final price tag of mine?

Arms: $95
Bar: $96.28 with 2 day shipping
Drop links: $105.98 from Paragon Products
Bearings: $28.31
Hardware: $24.25

Total: $349.82

That plus a few late hours at the machine shop and in the garage. I consider it time well spent.

The results:
Last year!

Oh my!
This year!

The bar went in Tuesday night, my brother and I AXed it at Snow Valley on Saturday and took 5th and 3rd respectively! I was super stoked, and more importantly, I think I gave my brother the autocross bug! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)
Mark D.
P.S. God! I didn't mean for that to be such a novel! Sorry.

[BMXerror]

Well, this is the first work I've done since Allen died. This was another typical example of how my car has come together the past couple years. I had an idea of something that could be better, I came up with a solution, ran to tell him to show him how smart I am, and then he came up with a way better way to do it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Well, not completely, but we did bounce ideas off of each other a lot.
Here's the problem. There was a lot of slop between the rear lever thing on the transmission (highly technical terminology, I know) and the input shaft for the gear selector. This was resulting in about 1/4" of play just at the end of that lever. Multiply that up the long shift lever, and it turns into a lot of forward/back slop. So what we came up with was to drill the rivet out of that rear lever and use cone screws instead. Well, when I finally got to it a couple weeks ago, I drilled out the rivet and found out that the hole in the input shaft was much larger than the rivet, which caused the slop. I don't know if there's more that's supposed to be in there or not, but I didn't like it one way or another. This also meant that cone screws alone wouldn't work. I had to machine an aluminum sleeve to press in that hole in the input shaft and reduce the diameter so the cone screws would actually have something to press up to. I swore I took a picture of the sleeve, but I can't find it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)
First step was to drill out the rivet and remove the lever. After that I had to drill and tap the lever for the cone screws. M8 X 1.25

With the cone screws installed. They both compress into a common aluminum sleeve and is press fit into the input shaft. The press fit came out perfect. Not too hard to tap in, but certainly not coming out!

The result is a very tight fit on the input shaft and reduced slop in the shift linkage.

The results were pretty satisfactory. There wasn't as much reduction in the forward/back play as I had hoped, but there is a much more positive feel when selecting a gear. You KNOW when it's in and when it's out, as well as when it's starting to mesh.
A while back ago I also made a similar aluminum sleeve to go between the transmission case and the rear bushing. I drilled the case out to 7/8" and machined the sleeve to be pressed in (If I had to do it again I wouldn't drill the case). This makes the rear bushing fit super tight. You actually have to take the sleeve out, press the bushing into it with a vise, and then tap the whole assembly into the case with a hammer..... it's not coming out, though. This reduced the side to side play considerably.
The combination of these modifications, in addition to the Weltmeister short shift kit that was on there when I got the car makes for a fairly nice shifting 914.... It still shifts like a 914 though. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Anyways, no money as of late, so this is the kind of stuff I've been doing... Well, that, and planning out the roll cage that I hope to build next year. It'll be tough without the other half of my brain, though. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) Miss you bro.
Mark D.

[carr914]

Mark, good to see you back working on the car. Your brother would be proud and he's probably looking over your shoulder.

T.C.

[BMXerror]

So this is what I was up to this week. See, last weekend I was asking my dad questions about oiling systems for the engine I'm designing (top secret!), and somewhere in the conversation he said something about having a safety wired into the thing to where when it loses oil pressure it kills the ignition. I thought, "Hey! That'd be a really cool thing to do SOMEDAY." That was last weekend, and 'someday' turned out to be this weekend! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I got to thinking while taking a cruise in the 914 that there's already a switch that kicks on upon VERY low oil pressure, for the idiot light! Well, my idiot light doesn't work, but I do have the dual sender for my oil pressure gauge. So we started figuring it out.
I first had to decide if the range was right for the pressure switch. Namely, would it kick off at a low enough pressure that it wouldn't interfere with daily driving, but a high enough pressure that no major damage would occur before it shut off. I looked up the VDO part # for the dual sensor and found out that the light is supposed to turn on at 11.4 PSI. It sounded about right, so I figured I'd go for it. There was also a 7.4 sender in case the shut-off interfered a lot.
This made me think it was possible, so my dad and I went about drawing some wiring diagrams. He's done automation controls on all kinds of stuff for years, so he was a big help on the relay logic.... Oh, who am I kidding. He just drew it up and I watched! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) What I wanted was for it to interrupt the lead from the ignition loom to the + side of the coil, light an indicator light, and trip a holding contact to hold the thing off so that you couldn't restart the engine until you reset a manual override. The holding contact is basically a feature to make sure you acknowledge the problem before trying to restart the engine. I'm not gonna bother trying to explain all the relay logic in text because it's just confusing as hell, but I got all that to work on one 8 pin relay.
The only major thing that got changed in the design was that instead of cutting the power to the coil, I ended up interrupting the control to the rear relay board. This is the wire that goes from terminal 8 on the fuse box to terminal 8 on the 14 pin connector in the rear. I knew about this wire because it shorted out on me once and I had to trace and replace it! Without power to this wire, nothing runs! No fuel pump, no ECU, no injection, no ignition. I chose to do it this way mainly because it meant I didn't have to run wires for the coil all the way from the back to the dash (where the relay is) and back again to the coil. It was all just done in the dash from the fuse box. As an added bonus, though, if it ever does kick off on low oil pressure, it won't still be pumping fuel to a fireless engine.
There's a manual override switch right next to the starter switch (toggle right now, but I'm gonna change it to a momentary). You hold the manual override up with the starter switch to start the car and then let it go once it starts. This override shuts the safety circuit off while the engine is at rest (with no oil pressure) and allows the engine to get fuel and spark to start. It also shuts the oil pressure light off. Once I get the momentary switch in, the safety circuit will switch on as soon as you let go of the switch. Right now it's just normally overridden, and you just switch it on after the car starts.
Well, enough talk. Let's get to pictures. This is the relay I used. It was like 8 bucks at Radio Shack, and the base for it (with all the solder in connections) was in my dad's stash! I made a little bracket to tuck it up under the dash. It works, but I'm not real proud of it, so you're not getting a picture of that! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

This is not really relevant to the story, but I seriously need to work on my organizational skills when I'm actually in the middle of a job...... That and the picture is fuzzy! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Mark D.

[BMXerror]

This is the dash before startup. All switches down. The far right switch is the override, and the light above it is the warning light. Down means it's overridden and it gets flipped up after the car is started.

This is the panel in a 'fault' condition. The ECU switch (second from the left) is up because the car was running, but I took the sensor wire and grounded it to test it, and it killed the engine immediately. Note that the override switch is up (off), meaning the safety circuit is active, and the light is on, meaning that the switch has tripped on low oil pressure (or grounded sensor wire). This will actually be reversed when I make that a momentary switch. It'll normally be down, except when you hold it up during startup to override and allow the engine to start.

Well, that's it! I took it for a test drive and really bogged it off the line a few times to see if it'd trip off under normal (or close to normal) conditions, and it didn't. The only time it when off was when I flat out stalled it trying to bog it, and then I heard the relay click and the light went on. I think the response of the pressure switch is a little slow, but even so, if I broke an oil line on the track or something, it should be fast enough to save the major components of the engine, if not the bearings.
The total cost was under $30 dollars. That includes some extra pieces that I ended up not using, but doesn't include the pressure switch which I already had, and a couple connectors and stuff. If it works ONCE, it's more than paid for itself! Thanks for reading.... GOD That was long! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Mark D.
:edit: full credit goes to my dad on this one. It was his idea in the first place (said he saw it on an old Clarke forklift in the early 80s) and I would've been lost trying to design it without him. Thanks pop!

[PeeGreen 914]

Nice work. Keep us posted how everything works (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)