Thanks Terry. Your opinion definately counts with me. I'm hoping to make some glass purchases soon.

Kelly

To all 914 pushers:

I took a run to RennSpeed Motorsports today and bought some spare 914 parts:

-A set of 11" rear flares: $175
-A set of rocker panels (to mate with my 9" front & 11" rear flares) $175

I wanted to pass on the info about this company as the prices are great and the parts are well made. I have had my original set since 2002 and can recommend
the quality: all parts come with a thick white gel coat and a very smooth and flaw-free finish.

Peter Ng is the company owner and a great guy to deal with. His prices can't be beat, however, since he hasn't raised his prices since 2002, he told me he would have to due to his increased cost.

check out his site for the 914 offerings:
http://www.rennspd.com/Products.asp?Task=S...=13&catID=4

As a "heads-up" if you are looking for fiber glass parts, order now before his raises
the prices.




Enjoy,
Terry

Hate to pee in the Cheerio's but...

I have nothing but horror stories about their glass. I know glass is glass and it all needs work but this wasn't substancial - it was severe...

* 2 left mounts fiberglassed into my front bumper?
* 2" had to be cut from each side of my flared front GT valance just to get it "close".
* Entire top edge of the front GT bumper had to be cut and reglassed
* 16 total hours of shop time to make everything "presentable"



There's much better glass out there unless... things have changed over the last 6-7 years.

You did an excellant job installing those rear flares. Nice work!

And the paint looked perfect.

Hey Randal,

Thanks for the attaboy! You know how hard they are to get!

Best,
Terry

Having gone through a complete noise bleed with my flares I ended up at Tony's shop and he finished the frond end FG work for me and did excellant job. So no small task to get everything to fit well and look good at the same time. You have to be a craftsman Terry.

In reality I'm looking forward to needing bigger flares as that would mean I'd run out of tire and needed bigger ones.

Of course the first thing is that I need to get my car back out there and finish the overall sorting, which has a long way to go.

You mentioned needing to trim their flares to fit, I did too, but assumed it was on purpose to allow extra material to fit any 914.

I'm using factory steel flares.

I mentioned having issues with the ends of the front "valance". They were so far off it was insane. They stuck out by 2" on either side. Almost like they were made for some weird big flare but... I never saw anything like that on their site.

Maybe it's just the GT pieces... maybe they've gotten better molds.

Hey stewteral what are those awesome scoops for and where did you get them? i was thinking about doing this for my oil cooler and my intercooler on the other side.

Hey rickthejetman,

Thanks for the compliment on the side scoops, since I made them myself.

I live near the ocean in SOCAL and thus was ablle to get a bunch of foam scraps from my local surf board shop for the cost of a 6-pack of beer. I shaped the scoops and made molds. After making my first pair of scoops, I recently made molds for them.

I also had to make molds for the feed-through channel to my oil coolers and fresh air intake on the right side, but those molds tore apart after the first use.

I looked at aftermarket sources for scoops, but nothing seemed to be a good fit so I was forced to make my own. They stand off the bodywork at 2-1/2" and are a good fit for the 914 lines. I have the BIG rear flares, so next time, I would make them taller. However, for a "modest V8 conversion" car, they are fine and appear to work well as they are.

Is your car a V8 conversion....or have you come up with the great idea of cooling a 6-Cyl WITHOUT running 30 feet of Aeroquip lines? If none of above, you really shouldn't need them: I tufted my car and found that the Porsche engineer's design
actually DOES flow air into the engine bay providing sufficient air to the 411 motor.

Best,
Terry

i have a subaru conversion so option "C". Its not done yet haven't quite figured out what i want to do with the intercooler and the oilcooler yet. I own an MR2 so thats where the sidemount intercooler ideas are coming from. thats why i got excited when i saw your scoops.
maybe i could get you to post up a few more pictures? i work at a place that builds composite aircraft so i can get one of the guys to help me make my own molds.(i'm an aircraft mechanic)

Hey rickthejetman,

Thanks for he explanation. I agree, with your application, side scoops would be a very good thing. I attached a couple photos I had, but will take some close-up shots with reference rulers to gage the size.

I have a question for you: how are you planning to flow the air through the engine bay with the Subi? I learned that my water-cooled Chevy STILL was 30% aircooled.

For the Chevy, I'm taking the air from under the car and running it UP through the engine bay and out to top. Thus feeding from a somewhat high pressure area up to the low-pressure area behind the notch roofline. To prevent the air going around the car back into the engine bay, I installed a 2" tall aluminum lip on the front edge of the lid. The more I've done to promote this airflow, the cooler the engine runs.

Another question: are you mounting the radiator in the front trunk or rear trunk?
I learned the hard way the exhausting out the bottom of the front trunk was not very efficient and blocked air flow back to the engine bay.

The absolute best exhaust flow is out the top of the hood and when I finally made that change, I was amazed at how much cooler the engine ran.

I have never liked the idea of exhausting the radiator through the fender wells : the wheels turn creating a lot of turbulence and inefficient air flow . However, with the 300 HP from the Subi, it should work fine. I have a bigger challenge cooling 500 HP.

I'm envious of the resources you have available to you. With carbon fiber, you should only need to make bucks the right shape and wrap them with the carbon fiber/resin fabric. Is should be a lot less work than fiber glassing. Do you know anyone with a CAD to prototype system?

Best of luck with your project. I'm guessing you have all the training and experience to do a very nice job of it.

Terry

Hey rickthejetman,
-well as far as the airflow through the engine bay that all depends on what i do with the intercooler set up. i was thinking of a sidemount if i do that the air will have to exit the engine bay lid. if i go with a stock type intercooler (air to air behind the engine over the trans) i was going to have it vent out the rear deck lid(i don't have a trunk anymore). option c was an air to water with the exchanger either side mount or all the way back up to the front trunk. then the engine bay would agian just have to exit the engine lid.
==> FYI: On my car I have 2 oilcoolers w/ a fan each stacked next to the left side scoop, so I would think your intercooler w/ fan could do the same, if you choose. Plan B: if you decide on exhausting out the trunk, I hope I have an idea for you: My V8 has a big bundle of snakes exhaust called "180 degree headers" that live about 1/2 in the trunk. Most of the trunk interior is cut out to fit. I have a lot of heat under the trunk lid and found that by propping the trunk lid open about 3/4", I can move a lot of air out of the trunk. The best part is that is doesn't show!
I just adjusted the latch higher and screwed down the corner rubber bumpers to match. Since mine is 90% track car, I cheerfully cut and chop as needed, but I'm thinking yours might be a daily driver. so how will you channel air INTO the trunk?

-as far as the radiator its in the front trunk its gooing to exit the hood ala gt40 style. i have a friend that tells me we can make hood louvers from composites as well. that might be pretty trick if they flow the lines of the triangular hood suppport.
==> PERFECT! It easy to cut out the hood and well defined by the hood supports. I made louver slats from aluminum to keep the large birds out, why AndyS installed a nice open-mesh screen in his....it's all good!

-i'm still in the early stages of my build so i havent got everything figured out yet.
i didnt like the idea of venting under the car either all thou it seems to work well on my mr2.
==> It works well for me with all the engine I have. After a drive I find dust all over the trunk lid and SMILE: Ah good airflow!

a-s luck has it i came across an oil to water cooler in the trash it was left
over from an R&D project at work the other day. if i can get that plumbed into my hard lines going up front that would be the ultimate setup. very minimal pressure/flow loss no need for an oil t-stat. very clean install.
==> Great type of oil cooler. If you can make it work, go for it!

-as far as skills with composites mine are really only based in airframe repair. im not so skilled in fabwork. but i have a few friends in the production side of life that owe me favors. if it burns fuel i can fix it/ build it/ make it better. if it involves fabwork/ bodywork i get by with a little help from my friends.
==> Great friends to have!! Have you mentioned body panels yet?

-i appreciate you sharing yourscoop pics with me. i have been kicking around a few ideas then i ran into yours and those look very clean/trick on the 914 almost factory race style.
==> I took a couple more pics and with my camera, just couldn't get the steel rulers to be readable. So check out the photos and let me explain that front to back in the middle of the scoops they are 9" while top to bottom is 11". As I said,
I laid out a basic outline on surfboard foam and then started hand shaping. It's a burn to realize that 2 molds are needed!

If I can be of any other help, let me know,
Terry

==> FYI: On my car I have 2 oilcoolers w/ a fan each stacked next to the left side scoop, so I would think your intercooler w/ fan could do the same, if you choose. Plan B: if you decide on exhausting out the trunk, I hope I have an idea for you: My V8 has a big bundle of snakes exhaust called "180 degree headers" that live about 1/2 in the trunk. Most of the trunk interior is cut out to fit. I have a lot of heat under the trunk lid and found that by propping the trunk lid open about 3/4", I can move a lot of air out of the trunk. The best part is that is doesn't show!
I just adjusted the latch higher and screwed down the corner rubber bumpers to match. Since mine is 90% track car, I cheerfully cut and chop as needed, but I'm thinking yours might be a daily driver. so how will you channel air INTO the trunk?
well i was actually thinking about venting right out the top of the rear deck lid. i read some of the airflow studies done by those students and it seems there is still a slight low pressure area even as far back as the deck lid so that coupled with the high pressure in the engine bay would make for good air flow through an intercooler. the stock intercooler setup sits right over the top of the trans. so the air would flow up through the intercooler and out the top of the deck lid. i dont have any trunk left (it was a big rust hole so i just cut it out) this also allowed me to mount the engine up a little higher to get good CV angle when the car is lowered.
[i]->Ok then, now I know you are a serious player! With the trunk cut out you will surely get lots of air from under the car and if you are willing to louver or cut open the trunk lid, you will certainly have the best airflow. I think you might find interesting what TimA. did on his V8 car with his oil coolers: http://www.negativereinforcementracing.com/ you will see how he cut through the top of his trunk lid to exhaust their airflow and if you go to the "Tube Chassis" section of the site and look at week 24, you will see how he mounted them.[/i]

-as far as skills with composites mine are really only based in airframe repair. im not so skilled in fabwork. but i have a few friends in the production side of life that owe me favors. if it burns fuel i can fix it/ build it/ make it better. if it involves fabwork/ bodywork i get by with a little help from my friends.
==> Great friends to have!! Have you mentioned body panels yet?
haha i did think about doing my own body panels but man thats a lot of work and expence i think i'll just buy some rennspeed parts they are only about an hour away from me so no shipping!!!

So you're a SOCAL guy, I'm up the coast in Camarillo of the 101. Where are you located? BTW: You're welcome to come up and check out my conversion ,if it would be of any help to you.

Good luck, I like your approach
Terry

Hey Eric,

Something I learned the hard way: we have jumped into "there is no such thing
as Bolt-On" world. All I can say about the mis-match fit of your flares is that something is way off on the front of your car....OR...you will have to find a way
to cut & weld the flares so they will fit.

Once one lets go of the belief that "Someone Else" will supply you a part that is GUARANTEED to fit, the sooner he can gasp the enpowerment of taking control of all parts to fit as desired. I don't mean this to sound sappy!

Just today, I was cruising sites that showed forming fender flares from steel sheet.
They had used an English Wheel and made some 6 pieces that were welded together to make a fender flare.

Since you have the flares already, can you see a way to cut pie sections out of them to make them fit? To do good welding, I have just read about using a Jeweler's torch to do the minimum heating while welding body panels. I found the torch on eBay for $136, but it requires the tanks & regulators of a normal Oxy-acetelyne torch.

In closing, you CAN do it, if you take a careful & slow approach to achieving the desired results.

BTW: There are many books on Amazon on this subject.

Best,
Terry

I know glass is glass and it all needs work but this wasn't substancial - it was severe...

All I can say about the mis-match fit of your flares is that something is way off on the front of your car....OR...you will have to find a way
to cut & weld the flares so they will fit.