Tomorrow morning, the next big project(s) get underway. While I'm off on a biz trip next week, my 6-cyl engine and front oil cooler will finally get installed. Ottos is tackling this job for me. I would have liked to do more of the work myself, and document it thoroughly, but time and expertise just are not on my side right now. Not to mention that I don't have a lift or welder at home.

I procrastinated quite a long time to make sure the finances would work out OK (I'm still not totally stress-free, but ready to take the plunge anyway).

So, now I have a track event on 4/12-13 and exactly a week to get the work done or else pretty much knock myself out of the class championship running for this POC-STS season.

Most of the parts are either on hand or readily available so I think we're in good shape.

With any luck, exactly a week from today I will have test-driven Version 2.2a of the 914R and will be packing up for two days at the Streets of Willow.

What! You are not having Brad install your six? Just kidding!
Congrats!!! I bet you can hardly wait...I have forgotten what size the six is??
Are you going with fiberglass front GT bumper for the oil cooler?
Geoff

Seeing as Brad is about 400 miles away, the logistics are tough I am still hoping/planning to have Tony and Brad do some camberboxes and further suspension upgrades for me, later this year, if business stays good.

The engine is a factory 914-6 that was built to a 2.2S spec setup. Has pristine Weber 40's, S cams, barrels and pistons. We are unsure if the heads were ported or what other changes might have been made; also I haven't checked to see if it has a counterweighted crank yet. I will try not to spin it past 6500-6800 anyway, for longevity's sake. It came out of an early 911S, ironically enough, which underwent a R-Gruppe transformation and got a bigger n' badder powerplant last summer. This is basically a "trainer" engine, until I'm ready to bump to a higher race cla$$.

I already have f/g bumpers and my front bumper and spoiler are already cut for the cooler opening. It's gonna be a pretty huge cooler, because I live and race in some extremely hot weather, like 110+ in the summertime.

R U going to use the Patrick Motorsports oil cooler metal cover or something else that Otto sells?
A 2.2S motor should be fun!
What about the tranny?
I know that is a haul for you to Brads but for Tonys cage and all it seems like it would be worth it.
Geoff

I already have a TonyC cage

The trans is a project for later this year (hopefully). It is pretty fresh and working fine right now, but the (stock 914-4) gearing is not optimal for most or all of the tracks around here. Planning to do a 904 mainshaft, modest gear changes and LSD. Perhaps some oiling mods and an external cooler also.

The front oil cooler shrouding will probably just be fabbed.

I dont have time nor the space. Otto knows his shit. I just hope Chris can walk after he gets the bill.


B

When I started my project I called Otto's shop and the acted like it was an inconvenience for me to bring my car to them.
I called Pelican and talked to Tom he recomended my mechanic. Seems Tom and Alex both used to work for ol Otto.

I'm happy that I didn't end up there.

I've had less than pleasant dealings with John Williamson (a.k.a. Otto). But he has damned near legend-status. His customer base and reputation keep him comfortably employed, so I guess he can afford to be a dick.

-Rusty

Good luck Chris, I'll bet you'll be a little stressed on Friday. Adding a front oil cooler is the next project at the top of my list. I'll need to crawl around your car at Willow on Sat and ask some intelligent questions.

I also had an unpleasant experience with the people at Ottos.

I asked them multiple times how much a part cost (a rear reflector panel). Each time I asked, they asked me back how much I would pay. After going around like this for a while via e-mail, I just threw out a price in order to get the negotiation rolling. I told them I had seen reflectors for $50. on e-bay, and then I asked again how much their reflector was.

Instead of providing me a price, they responded that they were shocked that I would even offer $50 and explained that a reflector from the dealer, even if you could get them, would be $700 (or some figure close to that; I've forgotten). I asked again what their reflector cost and Otto's never replied after that.


Douglas

You're gonna love it, Chris.

My dealings with Otto's have been straight forward, tho I have seen too many discordant posts to discount them all. Of course, I haven't called them and asked how to set up my car for AX. . I let this fine group hash that out

What kind of HP/Torque numbers do you expect from that 2.2?

Me too...the bill will be pretty "impressive", no doubt. Although, most people probably don't know this (minimal advertising), but Ottos has extremely good prices on parts. At least if he "knows" you. I already acquired the bulkhead mount and NOS oil tank at deep discounts elsewhere (private parties), which saved me $400+ right there.

I get along with him great, but I have heard other comments like above, i.e. some people find him tough to deal with. I guess it doesn't hurt that I am a fellow POC racer and 914 fan...and have written a few juicy checks in the past.

Andy - the cooler setup will be a clone of the yellow (area51) car. BIG MazdaSpeed cooler, Mocal thermostat, fabbed shrouding. Everything else will be textbook 914-6 conversion; basically a factory -6 clone. (Which is what it basically has to be, for me to stay in POC V4/R6).

Good question. It may see some dyno time later, if I get more "serious".

IF it was truly built to a 2.2S configuration, with bigger ports etc, then it should pull 180hp. We are not sure of this (yet) so I would guess in the 160-180hp range. It definitely has the 9.8:1 S pistons and the S cams. The Webers were fully rebuilt and rejetted (by the PO) to suit this engine. I will be running headers with open pipes (where allowed) which will also help further.

A 6 conversion in a week. Wow.

It's doable, when the engine, conversion parts & labor are basically sitting there ready to go. This is JUST the engine and cooler install.

If I tried to do it all myself in the garage, it would take me months/years, LOL. Which is why I gave up on that route...I have been getting home from work around 8:30pm lately. And I have a kid, wife, and house to take care of. Doesn't leave a lot of garage time.

And it doesn't hurt that John (otto) will be at every event you go to at Streets. His reputation will bo on the line (literally) so me thinks he doesn't want the motor to fall out of the car while it's on the track. Less run time for him if there is a motor laying in the middle of the track. I'm sure he will do a spot on job.

I went to his shop once. Took me twenty minutes to order the correct steel lug nuts for Fuchs rims. 2 minutes of ordering and 18 minutes of him telling me how many victories he has. If you look on the shop walls, the trophies go all the way around the place. He definately has something to brag about. He talks the talk, but walks the walk.

Usually the guys who know their shit are assholes up front, but once you get down to business and they get to know you they loosen up.

Milt is dead-on, IMHO. But I edited your quote slightly

My car is, in effect, an advertisement for the shop. The smarter shop owners fully realize this, and more and more of them are getting into track car building and trackside support roles. We are even getting fully supported "arrive and drive" big rigs at the Short Track POC events now....

BTW I think another reason for the "attitude" some of the pro wrenches (probably including Otto and Brad) portray, is this: Most people have NO idea how many phone calls and emails these guys field every day. (I would not want to be in their shoes.) Probably 50% of them are from people who have no intention to spend money with the mechanic/shop, and are just fishing for free advice...914 owners in particular are not known for being "big spenders". They are largely DIY types looking for dirt-cheap parts and free advice how to install them... So I think some guys tend to be a bit "gruff" until they know for sure whether the person they're dealing with is legit, as opposed to a distraction taking away from important deadlines.

Just an observation...I may well be full of shit, who knows...

If that's true, it's too bad.

I'll never go to Ottos or buy anything else from Patrick, for the same reason.
They don't know who I am, that I've got as much in my 914 as my Range Rover or not,
and not knowing, assuming the worst is a bad idea, IMHO. Not a good way to run a business!

Sean,

I hear what you're saying. I didn't mean to come across like every shop owner, champion driver, or "guru" is automatically justified to act like a dickwad and think of customers as an interruption.

My point was -- let's say [Bob Bitchen the Successful Independent Porsche Mechanic] has been on the phone for the last 7 hours, wrangling with parts suppliers, the bank, 25 different customers, the ex-wife, the landlord, the race committee chairman, yada yada yada. He just spent the last half hour giving free tips to a guy 2500 miles away who can't get his 75 1.8 L-Jet to run right. He hasn't had lunch yet, needs to take a mean piss, and there are 5 unfinished cars and 17 UPS packages that have to be out the door by 6pm. Imagine you're the next caller.

This is the life these guys lead; it ain't an easy one by any means. As a small businessman myself, I understand the juggling act pretty well.

All I'm saying is I try to cut 'em some slack (to a reasonable degree). I usually find that if I stay cool and flexible, things work out OK in the end.

Cheers,

I'm not successful, but I fit that mold. I'm going 125mph at all times. We bring it on ourselves. Bontempi is EXACTLY the same way. The best bet is to show up. Dont call.


B

Does cutting slack include letting someone sell parts off your car, then when you find out, listening to "Don't worry man, they'll be back on the car before you pick it up"

Bullshit, I'll never do business with Otto's. But yes, he does know his shit. Too bad he doesn't do the work on the 914's anymore.

Selling parts off your car? Did that really happen? If so, it's pretty bold.

-Rusty

No, that would NOT be kosher in my book.

In fact when I put the car (any car) into the shop (any shop), I usually leave explicit instructions about what I want to do with any old parts that are usable/valuable. In some cases I will "sell" them to the shop, i.e. mark-down the price of the replacement parts, otherwise I bring 'em home and put 'em on ebay or something.

You're right Otto (JW) doesn't wrench himself much anymore. He builds trannies and engines on the bench, that's about it. George does all the suspension and fab work, and other guys do the rest of the general wrenching.

This thread is like Deja vu.
About a zillion years ago I was trying to figure out how to build my first supercharged hemi engine for my drag boat (on a tight budget of course). I stopped by Gene Mooneyham's shop and he obviously was too busy to spend time bench racing with some kid who wasn't holding a blank check.

I hung out for a while waiting for an opportunity to talk to the legend, and in my boredom I picked up a broom and started sweeping up. After about 20 minutes I made a pretty good dent in the mess that had accumulated around the lathes.
He wasn't sure what to think at first but I told him it was just a habit, I'd spent a lot of time in machine shops and hate to see them messy.

After that he treated me like his long lost son, I showed up almost every Saturday and cleaned, he sold me parts at cost and did all my machining free.
Oh, he was one hell of a bench racer, too

You're gonna make a hell of an old fart, Sammy.
Next time you tell that one, you can embellish it a bit more.

It's in, and it runs

The carbs are at bit gunked up (the engine sat for about 9 months) but other than that, it fired up and drove home with little drama.

Semi-bad news is that the front cooler couldn't get done this week. Just not enough time to get the parts & fab work pulled together on top of the shop's other committments for the week. The weather will be cool enough and the sessions short enough where I think I'll be OK for a sorting-out day.

Other bad news is that it's supposed to rain this weekend...SHIT! I'm gonna head out to the track Saturday and try to get in some timed laps. We should see light drizzle at most tomorrow, hopefully nothing. The storm may hit Sunday, but it turns out I couldn't go Sunday anyway, cuz some other stuff came up.

The front cooler will get done next week, and the exhaust will be reworked with a different header & muffler setup. (The exhaust was cobbled together using some extra parts sitting at the shop.)

That's about it... woohoo

Which mount did you use ??

Please please tell me they welded a Vellios or RJ mount in the car.

B

Of course...I had a Vellios mount. Factory tank, GPR sheet metal. Install is clean.

Just checking.

Hows it feel ??


B

Well...need to get the carbs straightened out, but it is about what I expected other than that. The powerband is about 2K higher than the 2.4/four which will take a lot of getting used to. I could shift the four at 3-4K all day long. With the S cams this six wants to be >4K before it will play.

The sound is bitchen

Nice having that fan behind your head buzzing. Nothing quite like it.

Glad to hear you have it on the road. The journey is just beginning my friend.


B

JP, that's embellished as much as I know how already. Masybe when I get older.

That is actually exactly how I remember it. Are you saying my memory isn't what it used to be?

Post-track update.

The day started off frustrating as all hell. The car was running like absolute shit on the way home last night and on the way to the track this a.m. It wouldn't pull past 4K and stumbled & popped etc.

Ottos never worked on the engine so I knew it was either just constipation from sitting in a crate for 9 months, or something really bonehead.

Cleaned out the idle and main jets. Changed the plugs. Checked the dizzy advance. Stared and scratched my head for about 2 more hours.

I finally noticed that the plug wire lengths on the 4-5-6 side looked a little "weird". Sure 'nuff; the plug wires on 4 and 5 were reversed! Bingo...

So I made it out for 1 practice session after lunch, timed runs (didn't win; 3rd out of 6) and 1 open practice after that. I beat my "personal best" by almost .5 sec even with increasingly crappy Kumhos and no practice time to get used to the new motor. Not bad, I guess, but I still need to pick up 4 more seconds (whole ones...US seconds too, not those Canadian ones) to be competitive or dominant in my class.

I think it's doable. Some carb tuning, a real exhaust system (the car had a last minute boneyard exhaust), more suspension tweaks and some 16" Hoosiers. LSD and maybe a gear swap. Plus a second or two from the driver...

Oh yeah, I also straightened out my brake issue by putting new Pagid Black pads on the front. I already had Orange's on the back (A calipers up front and 914/4 fronts on the rear; tee in place of prop valve). The Pagids stop about 300% better and the bias is pretty good now. Hauling down from about 110-ish at the end of the front straight was far less dramatic. I should be able to go way deeper with some more practice. A lot of time to pick up right there.

I shot some pics today as well. The fast guys/cars came out of the woodwork today. Alarcon, Hergesheimer and some other folks who don't normally do the short-track events anymore were all there. Some of the cars were so pretty and blatently fast and expensive it was sick...

Last thing and then I'll stop rambling. I got a passenger floor joyride in JW's (Otto) "Rudy" car; the 1800lb open 3.8RSR 914 with 12" slicks. Hoooooooooooly shit. We were just on the access road, but when he nailed the throttle in 2nd from 3000 rpm's and then grabbed 3rd for a split second, my eyeballs squished. The thing idles too, which is freaky considering how fast and hard the revs build. I guess that's the beauty of Motec. Even with crazy cams and compression the car can be driven around the paddock like a street car. As usual, he got TTOD again, in the 1:09 range. My best was a 1:20.49.

Congrats Chris. You're gonna love the noise behind your head....