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Richard's progress thread

Richard Casto	Oct 31 2007, 09:13 PM Post #1
Blue Sky Motorsports, LLC Group: Members Posts: 1,465 Joined: 2-August 05 From: Durham, NC Member No.: 4,523 Region Association: South East States	A little history first... This is my third 914 and it will be a keeper. First two are from my college days in the late 1980's but both of those are gone (1st was totalled in a crash, the second had terminal rust and eventually became a parts car) Fast forward roughly 20 years. Got married, had two kids and I decided I could not continue to put off building my dream car. While I had always wanted an original 914/6, I also wanted a general purpose fun car (Street, Autocross and Track) that would have had more power and safety features than a stock 914/6. I can't afford to have multiple 914s (a stock 914/4, a 914/4 with a modern Type IV, a stock 914/6, a 914/6 GT Clone, a track only 914, etc.), so rather than molest a "real" 914/6 to build my dream "six", I decided to start with a regular 914/4 and do a six swap. This car was purchased in 8/2005. Over the past two years I have disassembled the entire car and am now at the point of doing repair and refurbishment. Which is why I picked now as the time to do the progress thread (who wants to read about the dis-assembly of a car!) Goals for the car... While I appreciate 914/6 GTs, I have no desire to spend the time and money to make this a "GT Clone". While I appreciate 914s that have SBC or Subaru engine swaps or even big modern Type IV engines, I wanted to keep the spirit of the 914/6 which means a Porsche flat six. I am looking for "safe" power and torque. So this excludes building up a wild 2.x engine. So I either going to do a 3.0 or 3.2 (90% sure it will be a 3.2). Again, with the spirit of building something like a 914/6, I will be doing a five lug conversion. I already have a complete front end including 3.5" struts. I will be using a 901 transmission in the near term and when I can afford it, I will be moving up to a 915 transmission. I don't think the wide body look works for every car and I tend to like the narrow body style better, but I am a big fan of plenty of rubber on a car. So I am doing steel flairs. I am not a huge fan of the 916 front and rear bumpers, so I am keeping the stock style front and rear bumpers. This will be used at track events, so I want a full cage. But at the same time I want to be able to put the top on the car. This is going to be a challenge as I am also 6'5". So getting me into a seat, with helmet on that fits under the top of the cage and with the top fitting is going to be a challenge. I really want to minimize how much I modify the body itself. I wanted mods to be "bolt on" vs. cut and weld. This is currently stopping me from doing a "GT Style" front oil cooler. I most likely will put a cooler in the rear with ducts and thermostat controlled fan. I know that in a way this is more complicated than the front cooler, but it is what I want. The only exceptions to this rule so far is the flairs and the installation of the cage. The flairs I think are in the spirit of the car as they are the steel repro of the factory flairs and the cage is a safety item. I haven't decided about things like cutting an access hole for the engine (set timing, etc.), mods to the floorboard to get the seat to fit as well as "stiffening" or "reinforcement" kits. I want this car to be SCCA SM2 legal for autocross. But I may just say "screw it" and do some of these factory stiffening kits even if it puts me into XP class. I want to keep the "bling" factor down on the car. So the interior and exterior will have a very "stock" look (no rear wings, etc.) I am also going to go with the factory color of "Irish Green" as you don't seem to see many in that color. Ideally I would like to refurbish or replace as much as I can as I reassemble the car, but due to funds, some stuff may be put back that I will replace at a later date. The dash cover is a simple example of this. Mine is cracked, but I may not be able to get it recovered until later. Do as much of the work myself as I can. For me the trip there is just as important as the destination. I want to know this car inside and out when I am done. I want to do any rust repair "the right way". What I mean by this is that I will only be in doing surgery on this car once. So if I see rust, I am going to fix it once and fix it right. And the resulting repair will hopefully look as close to factory original as I can make it. I would like to be done by the end of 2008. As with anything, time and money have a big impact on this. I have my own website that contains a higher level of detail on specific sections of the car as well as a more detailed general Blog. I currently host this at home and sometimes the server is down, but it is up most of the time. You can find that here... http://motorsport.zyyz.com/project_914.htm

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Richard Casto	Apr 2 2009, 02:42 PM Post #101
Blue Sky Motorsports, LLC Group: Members Posts: 1,465 Joined: 2-August 05 From: Durham, NC Member No.: 4,523 Region Association: South East States	QUOTE(dlo914 @ Apr 1 2009, 11:38 PM) Nice welds! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ...what are you using? Thanks! All I can say is that good welding comes from using the proper technique (having a good teacher) and practice, practice, practice. I am getting much better at welding thin metal. Having the rotisserie help me reduce the amount of "out of position" (such as upside down) welding I have to do. So that helps a great deal. The welder is a basic 220V Lincoln MIG welder (can't remember the model) using Argon/CO2 Gas and .025 wire. It's the type you would find at a HomeDepot or Lowes for about $650 +/-.

jdogg	Mar 23 2010, 06:40 AM Post #102
Member Group: Members Posts: 431 Joined: 28-January 03 From: Youngsville, NC Member No.: 204	Updates?!?!?

Richard Casto	Mar 23 2010, 07:32 AM Post #103
Blue Sky Motorsports, LLC Group: Members Posts: 1,465 Joined: 2-August 05 From: Durham, NC Member No.: 4,523 Region Association: South East States	QUOTE(jdogg @ Mar 23 2010, 08:40 AM) Updates?!?!? Hey Jason, it's been awhile since we have talked! How is it going? Give me a call or shoot me an email sometime. It is creeping up on a year since my last post in this thread. 2009 was a rough year for me various reasons so I haven't been working on the car much. Work and other personal stuff had been taking up my time over the past few months. But it seems to have improved recently. It's actually been a bit embarrassing recently as I really don't have much excuse these days to not work on the car. I have co-workers asking how it's going and just the other day a neighbor said he is looking forward to seeing it done. I have been shamed by enough people recently that it has nudged me into activity. So I actually did work on it for the first time in months this past Sunday. I have started to replace the front left fender that the PO crunched. So expect some updates soon. Richard

rwilner	Mar 25 2011, 12:09 PM Post #104
No Ghosts in the Machine Group: Members Posts: 953 Joined: 30-March 10 From: Boston, MA Member No.: 11,530 Region Association: North East States	Hey Richard Been over a year since an update on this thread. Just wondering -- did you abandon the project or have you made progress?

Richard Casto	Mar 25 2011, 12:54 PM Post #105
Blue Sky Motorsports, LLC Group: Members Posts: 1,465 Joined: 2-August 05 From: Durham, NC Member No.: 4,523 Region Association: South East States	QUOTE(rwilner @ Mar 25 2011, 02:09 PM) Hey Richard Been over a year since an update on this thread. Just wondering -- did you abandon the project or have you made progress? Haha (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Well, no, I haven't abandoned it, but I have been horrible about doing updates. A number of things (ranging from the death of my dad over a year ago to starting up the transmission repair business about a year ago) has gotten in the way. But I am back working on the car. I just need to update this thread. I also haven't updated my personal website either. I have been waiting to update it as I wanted to convert it to a new content management system. But that is no excuse for not listing updates here. I will try to get something up in the next few weeks. I bought a newer larger media blasting cabinet awhile back for many reasons. One is to start cleaning transmissions, but I also have some other parts (such as suspension) that wouldn't fit into my older smaller cabinet. I also am about 90% done with welding in a new floor for the front truck area and just a few weeks ago welded on the replacement driver side front fender (the PO had backed his car into it and crumpled it a bit). I also just bought a Caswell electroplating kit, so I am going to be re-plating a number of parts (including my front/rear calipers that are completely disassembled). I hope to have the platting tanks setup in the next few weeks. I probably will do some small amount of re-plating via Blue Sky Motorsports as well. Along with getting the calipers and other misc braking parts plated and put back together, I will probably work on finishing up my 911 e-brake setup. My plan has been to use the 928 style cable pull along with the 911 e-brakes. This will require some custom cables, but will not require a bellcrank on the swing arm. My new goal is to have all bodywork stuff addressed within the next 12 months. Richard

rwilner	Mar 25 2011, 12:57 PM Post #106
No Ghosts in the Machine Group: Members Posts: 953 Joined: 30-March 10 From: Boston, MA Member No.: 11,530 Region Association: North East States	Well, I for one am glad you decided to delay working on the car to start up your transmission business as it got my car back on the road! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) I hope to see the car in person some day.

Richard Casto	Mar 25 2011, 01:03 PM Post #107
Blue Sky Motorsports, LLC Group: Members Posts: 1,465 Joined: 2-August 05 From: Durham, NC Member No.: 4,523 Region Association: South East States	QUOTE(rwilner @ Mar 25 2011, 02:57 PM) Well, I for one am glad you decided to delay working on the car to start up your (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) transmission business as it got my car back on the road! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) I hope to see the car in person some day. I am glad the transmission is working out for you. I saw your thread about the taco plate leak and it sounds like you fixed that. Is the car off the jackstands and on the road now? Richard

rwilner	Mar 25 2011, 01:06 PM Post #108
No Ghosts in the Machine Group: Members Posts: 953 Joined: 30-March 10 From: Boston, MA Member No.: 11,530 Region Association: North East States	QUOTE(Richard Casto @ Mar 25 2011, 03:03 PM) QUOTE(rwilner @ Mar 25 2011, 02:57 PM) Well, I for one am glad you decided to delay working on the car to start up your (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) transmission business as it got my car back on the road! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) I hope to see the car in person some day. I am glad the transmission is working out for you. I saw your thread about the taco plate leak and it sounds like you fixed that. Is the car off the jackstands and on the road now? Richard It was on the ground to run it and make sure all was sorted. It's still tight shifting but if I'm not a pansy with it, the gears are engaging. I'm pretty sure it's the tight new synchros. I've got it back up in the air now just to check all the fasteners and also replace my rear bumper top. Should happen today and then I should be good to go for the season! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

r_towle	Mar 25 2011, 01:15 PM Post #109
Custom Member Group: Members Posts: 24,705 Joined: 9-January 03 From: Taxachusetts Member No.: 124 Region Association: North East States	QUOTE(rwilner @ Mar 25 2011, 03:06 PM) QUOTE(Richard Casto @ Mar 25 2011, 03:03 PM) QUOTE(rwilner @ Mar 25 2011, 02:57 PM) Well, I for one am glad you decided to delay working on the car to start up your (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) transmission business as it got my car back on the road! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) I hope to see the car in person some day. I am glad the transmission is working out for you. I saw your thread about the taco plate leak and it sounds like you fixed that. Is the car off the jackstands and on the road now? Richard It was on the ground to run it and make sure all was sorted. It's still tight shifting but if I'm not a pansy with it, the gears are engaging. I'm pretty sure it's the tight new synchros. I've got it back up in the air now just to check all the fasteners and also replace my rear bumper top. Should happen today and then I should be good to go for the season! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Weather and temps have alot to do with shifting on these boxes. Get it warmed up and it will shifter even better... You do that by DRIVING it...lol Rich

rwilner	Mar 25 2011, 01:17 PM Post #110
No Ghosts in the Machine Group: Members Posts: 953 Joined: 30-March 10 From: Boston, MA Member No.: 11,530 Region Association: North East States	QUOTE(r_towle @ Mar 25 2011, 03:15 PM) You do that by DRIVING it...lol I'm just waiting for it to stop snowing. ENOUGH SNOW ALREADY

r_towle	Mar 25 2011, 01:19 PM Post #111
Custom Member Group: Members Posts: 24,705 Joined: 9-January 03 From: Taxachusetts Member No.: 124 Region Association: North East States	Today only...get out there. Rich

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