Interesting point. Very possible that its not getting start signal. Not really sure how I would test it, I'll bring it up to my tuner.

Injectors should be timed right, but who knows... I'll have my tuner check the existing tune and figure it out and we'll go from there.




Taco bell run for lunch. Ran pretty good. Transmission seems to be getting slightly worse. Not as slick as it was last night for some reason specifically getting into first. I'll try it again next week and see what I find. Some noises I didnt like, and the steering has a weird spot where something feels loose, I'll nut and bolt everything and check the bearings in the column.

Also did a 1-2 pull. For some reason the gearing seems much shorter than I remember. 2nd gear should be the same but it was shorter than I remember. Im only on wastegate so it wasnt very quick, first gear probably didnt make more than 6lbs or it spun (which with the new LSD it shouldnt) and 2nd gear was decent, then it seemed to get a bit more boost for some reason and felt OK. My frame of reference is my 350hp daily sedan... I think theres room for improvement in the tune Cant wait till I get the boost in the 20's. Should feel like a rocket.

My tuner says he's ran 25psi on 91 octane with no adders. Which would be deep in the 300whp range.


So to recap the items Im going to be focusing on during the week this week are:

1. Solving the hot start issue with my tuner remotely
2. Calibrating the AFR guage
3. Fixing the intercooler fan controller power issue
4. Wiring in switches for the electric water pump and fuel pump
5. Program in the new boost controller settings
6. Start figuring out what Im going to work on at the build day and get materials accordingly.
7. Mount and wire in the USB charger and stereo
8. Find a better permanent home for the water pump controller

Messing around with the new boost controller programing. It's now closed loop capable

Im building an rpm x throttle position tune as I'm thinking this would be best for drivability.

Hi Andrew - Regarding how the shifting is feeling: I don't recall if you have a 5 or 6-speed but if it's a 6, I have the Numeric shifter and cables. You're welcome to borrow them to see if any/all of those components are the root cause.

Or, if you're planning to bring the car to my place on the 18th, we could swap it in for a quick test.

The Numeric site also has some nice vids on adjusting the cables. Not sure if this helps with non-Numeric parts but it may be worth a look.

https://numericracing.com/guides/

See you soon!
Chris

Shifter assembly shouldn't be any different.

Doesn't feel like a shifter issue but heck who knows. It could be just crappy cables but I did just swap them out with my spares and they feel pretty good.

I'm now realizing that I didn't tie up my cables after I swapped then so they could have gotten some heat from the turbo and messed up. I'll have to check that.


Thanks for the offer Chris do you have the N100 or N400?

Mine's the NM100 and I have the Numeric standard length cables. I'm thinking it "should" be a straight bolt-in swap for yours?

Shifter yes, cable maybe not due to length but I see no reason.

Fyi the cables are difficult to change for my car so if I brought the 914 I would just swap the shifter for a test.

Lots went on this weekend!

Saturday was Build day at The Red Barn hosted by Chris @tygaboy!

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=337633

As per usual I got a lot done but its never enough!

I should really go up there myself for a day and just work with all his tools... Just a killer awesome fab shop he has!


What I made! Center console pieces. They are just laying there right now, I'll be fabricating mounting points for them and trimming the pieces to fit then upholstering them. Not sure if black or brown yet or possibly both.






Very comfortable arm position, Could be higher but uphostery pads will raise it some. As it sits now its a stretch to hold the wheel and rest the elbow at the same time, that will change.

Dyno day on Sunday went pretty well.


Ended up making 8lbs of boost actual manifold pressure on the wastegate and that did 247hp/198tq at the wheels. This was about 50 more than I was expecting which was the highlight of the day

My boost controller was reading boost inaccurately so while I was showing 17+lbs of boost I was really only making 14psi. I had some spikes to 16psi but with a 7lb spring in the wastegate as we suspect right now we can only effectively double that and we didnt make any more power/boost after 14psi. So while the setup was ready for us to make 25psi yesterday we werent able to go over 14.


What did that net us?
282HP/258tq at the wheels. Its interesting, that 40ish hp delta between wastegate and max on this actuator feels way more than it actually is.


So whats next? I have a dual port internal wastegate actuator on order.
https://www.full-race.com/store/borg-warner...-port-actuator/

I'll put the small 7lb spring in it and then I can run the same 7psi but it will let me bump up the spring to what I want to do (30psi). I figured I could get into the 20's before the wastegate would let me go anymore but we were absolutely wrong..

At that point what will hold me back is the intake manifold and cams. You can see my power curve rolls over about 6600. Which for an engine built to run to 9k and running this large of a turbo is wasted potential. Cams would bump my power curve up but it would also extend it out considerably.
This explains why It fell on its face after 7k. I'll do this next year. This year will be focusing on driving and finishing the majority of the car. Next year we'll go for power.

Side note, If I put cams and an intake on it, we would be into the 500whp territory...




Biggest thing about yesterday was the clutch though. Were having issues with the clutch dragging/ not fully disengaging when the engine is hot. This must be my shifting issue. When were doing back to back pulls with the engine hot we simply couldnt get it into gear... I had to force it in third gear to get the car rolling on the dyno then do the pull from there...
I'll try replacing the slave cylinder (I have a cast iron one on hand) and bleed the system again, then also extend the rod from the slave to as much as I can. The next option is the flywheel is a self adjusting unit and I've never reset it. I'll try that and put a new disk on. It might just be at the end of its travel and wont release any more even though its "released". Finally a new disk will just ensure its not the disk itself expanding when it gets hot.



And lastly, the starting issue is not fixed. But either starting works. We got it a bit better but it always starts with either.

Dynos
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3P0h9JyGbc

I personally like the 288/251 number myself. But that number will be surpassed in days to come. if it never does, it will still be a screamer..

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Sounds great Andrew!

It was pulling some timing so we backed the timing off a hair. However Look at the dyno curve. the 282/258 had significantly more power under the curve. It has a more aggressive boost curve programed into it on the low end which is why... But it just wouldnt push more boost in the end.

Its ok. I've been told the tune is safe for 25psi on the street as it sits. Also its a hair rich so I can safely add a gallon of E85 on it and bump the octane significantly.


Side note on all the dyno runs. We didnt see intake air temps over 30deg C for the entire run. Which means the air hitting the cylinders after pressurization was only 85F.... If that doesnt push you turbo guys to air to water intercoolers I dont know what will...

Very nice!

Yeah, typically wastegate springs need to be about 1/2 desired boost in my experience. Easy change for you.


Do you measure air temperatures at the compressor exit before the intercooler?

Comp Turbo is a bit sketchy since they don't publish compressor/turbine maps (claiming they are proprietary which is total BS), but I'm wondering if you're operating at a 75+% efficient point in the map with your current conservative pressure ratio and corresponding air flows. That might make your IC setup look a really good. It'll be interesting to see when you go to higher pressures.

IAT's were measured in the manifold.

Sorry, should have been clearer, I meant did you measure before the intercooler too?

No I did not. Ambient was about 70

Tried the metal slave cyl. The quality on the unit looks great. But the damn bleed screw is metal on metal.... What idiot thought that would work? Won't hold pressure, bleed screw was cast so I cleaned up the castings and still no go. Damn thing needs a rubber seal. I might experiment with one sometime later but I have a spare plastic slave.

First things first was to try and get fluid to pull through the line... No luck. I'm going to need someone else to help me with this as this fkin thing is not working. I messaged a friend so hopefully tomorrow or Friday I'll have the clutch properly bled.


I can hear some air by the master so who knows.... the whole thing is not well layed out for a good bleeding. Really needs a power bleeder and not s vacuum bleeder.

If this doesn't work I suspect pressure plate needs alignment. If that doesn't work, new clutch/pp. If that doesn't work. Add more lever action to pedal assembly. If that doesn't work....... Pay someone smarter?

Ugh.

Yeah, I hate that last step too.

Andrew - Great meeting you at Chris' shop last weekend. I hope to see your car one of these times. It sounds amazing. Cheers, Michael

@Andyrew - Let's pick a date that works to have you come over and do more fab work.
Also, let me know if you want me to send the panel you left here or if you're OK waiting til you're here next.
Talk soon!
Chris

My reservoir is the highest point I'm my system. The lowest is where it exits the tunnel via the clutch tube. From there it is strapped up against the engine/trans, then level about 1' then up to the slave. In order to bleed the system I remove the strap at the engine/trans creating a temporary "new" low spot. Next I break the flare nut loose at the slave cylinder and wait to let gravity do it's job. The next morning I top off the reservoir then pump clutch and bleed the remainder of the air and clamp. Finally the tube is strapped back to the engine/trans.
I didn't plan or foresee this method. I just got lucky. There aren't any "peaks and valleys" in the line. It flows downhill from reservoir to MC to the low spot I "create" by removing a strap. And that low point is only 2' from and directly below the SC.
I'd say stay after it but I don't believe you need any encouragement at this point. See you at WCR.

Send me a pict of your slave, I have a spare, it's a pull type.

I'll bring my Mityvac pressure bleeder down JIC. I just need to see your reservoir cap.

Its tiny. Think motorcycle. Like 1.5" I was thinking I would get a spare cap, drill a hole in it and put a nipple on it so I can pressurize it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Audi-Porsche-B...7M/152549321531

I've got a decent amount of loops in the line and I tried that last night essentially. We will see what actually happened.

I really think pressure is required from the reservoir side.

You to Michael! It was fun chatting with you and your brother

Agreed. I've been debating back and forth about what makes sense for me, to try and make another day up there or to just push forward myself here and have you ship it... I need another bend in it which is why it was on the brake, but I was trying to figure out the measurement and how to use your machine.


It really makes a lot of sense for me to come up there again with the car. I could get the center console done as well as the lower and possibly the upper dash pretty much in a day. (You know my quality standards so I would just bust through those things now that im familiar with many of your tools a bit more)

Ok some progress.
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Wastegate came in. I took out a spring so it's 7psi now. It's a bit bigger so fitting it will be difficult. We'll have to work on that after WCR. Too bad, I was hoping to pump it up to 400whp when my dad came down so we could have some nice roll racing.

Another note. My tuner said he's going to tune another ECU of mine, I bought a tuner cable for dirt and I'll be able to tune like he does. He's a nice guy and has shown me a bunch. He'll be down tomorrow to set me up. We'll work on it a bit and do some remote tuning and editing. I told him I want an E85 file and I'll just get set up with whatever files I want and I can swap them whenever at a gas station or swap ecu's if something happens. Anyways I'm pretty excited about that

I removed the brake master and got the lines really flat. I removed the slave and left the line open to the vacuum. It still didn't pull anything so I suspect there was just to much air with me fiddling with it. I decided to cycle the master a bit and finally was getting somewhere. I kept cycling it and it seemed to just pull fluid from the reservor and push it out the line. I did this till the line seemed clear. Then connected the slave and installed it.
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Side note I extended the rod for the slave a bit more than I had previously. Which required me to weld on an extension instead of just using some tiny nuts in the end caps. Added another 1/4". This means that I should have more total travel with my pressure plate. If it's too much and I get slipping I'll cut it down a hair.

Back to bleeding. Im going to do some more hand bleeding and then I'll be getting a friend, installing the master and trying it some more.

I can't get any more out of the pedal unless I redesign it and then it would only be an extra 1/8* of travel. So I don't think that's enough to worry about.

If this doesn't work then it's a new clutch/pressure plate. I have a couple available.

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Back to actual progress... I started working on the center console. Biggest problem is I have all the wiring in the car and the new seats all mounted. So I needed to be very careful when handling the steel and any welding. But I got the center cage done. Dimensions based on my steel pieces. I also trimmed them a bit to fit, but more trimming will be necessary when I add carpet and such.. I'll have to redesign the top pieces or at least the back and I'm still figuring out the seam between the two as I'm debating on black sides and brown accent top. Still up in the air.





PS Chris I was trying to get the girls to go to 6 flags one of these days and I would just drop them off but that's looking like a no...

Andrew - On planning some more time back at my shop, just give me a bit of a heads up and I can make most any date/time work.
Chris

More progress on the center console... My friend to help me bleed the clutch and my tuner we're a no show. Probably do family things tomorrow and Monday but we'll see. I really need to get the clutch dialed in by Tuesday or know if I need a replacement.

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Finished the mounting of the center console base then trimmed the sides to fit.
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Then I worked on the top portion and got it squared away and fitting decent.

This was most of my day. Not a lot but the rear section is done as far as the sheet metal is concerned. I will probably drive it to WCR this way.

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Frony/middle section with the shifter is difficult due to the curve in the top/base. After a couple tries I got the piece bent that I have and it looks good. I did the lower easy mounts but need to work on the upper mounts. Then I'll need the other side from Chris as well as to do the top portion.

Excited on the progress

Hi Andrew,
I look forward to seeing your car at WCR. Michael

Full custom fabrication!

Alina hadn't had her nap and it was almost 3pm. So we decided to go drive. Her naps are about 2 hours... So where do we drive? Petaluma to grab the piece I left at Chris's. Thanks Chris for letting me swing by on such short notice!!

Alina went to sleep almost immediately in the car...

Had a nice dinner at a local Petaluma restaurant that had a great playground and had some nice BBQ.


Got home and couldn't resist myself I wanted to see where we were with fitment of the panel.

I knew this one would take some more work... We'll like the other one I needed to bend it and since I don't have nice press brakes I make do
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Couple go around to get this one right. But happy with it. I need to work on mounting it and the other side. But I pulled them together loosly and checked out the top.

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Some measurements and I'll need to make a new piece for the top I think. I'll cut out the shifter hole and see what I think. I also need to figure out how to mount this one. Outside the box thinking might be necessary.

Andrew, you and I have been thinking outside the box so long that I forgot where I put that fucking box. Now I just toss the piescs at the car and some how they seem to guide me to the solution. I believe that is form fallowing function.
Man I want a bead roller.

A man on a mission!

Received my tow bar from @914werks. Nice looking product! Very heavy duty.

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Not designed for a 916 bumper so I'll just trim my bumper to fit as its probably going to be changed at some point.

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Mounting of the actual pieces. Some shims needed to be made to fit it right. But 4 bolts holding each piece firm.

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Construction paper to the rescue for the new shifter plate.


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And new shifter plate in place, not mounted.

I've determined im going to build a removable upper cage to hold the plate in place, Should be pretty simple to build, probably a couple hours.

That there is some real progress! WCR, here it comes!

The 914 and 951 have a different stablemate for the week

Stay tuned for fun progress.

Dad and I redid the clutch reservoir and used a spare of his mounted next to the brake. This gave us an easier bleed and we could pressurize it with his system. Not that it helped. It was still a very difficult bleed.

We're going to try bleeding it again. Still difficult to get into first. But it does shift.

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Changed front shocks to Koni Yellows
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Changed the valve cover gasket. Hopefully this fixes the leak.
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Spent a lot of time on the center console. You can see the shifter solution I made. Really happy with it.
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And the big question is black or brown
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I'm leaning towards brown. But not sure. I'll powder coat the screws whatever color I need them. Shifter trim will stay black for contrast and the foam arm rest needs to be done still.



Also my tuner came by and set me up with the ability to change my tune myself.


My wife and I went for a quick drive. She liked it, but the clutch still needs work. LSD is working well though, put down good power in first!

Andrew - Looking good! Also good to hear you're making progress on the drive-ability items.
On the console, it's totally a personal taste thing but the brown will likely make the beading detail more noticeable, which I happen to like!
Hi to your dad for me.

I like the idea of the contrast with the brown. If you cover the console in black it might get kind of lost in all the black. It's nice piece and the brown will look nice. Love the seats BTW.

Been a busy couple days.


Yesterday my dad worked and prepped the fabric for the dash, removed the dash, and put carpet on the car. Today we put the vinyl on the dash with the basketweve pattern. There is a seam in the middle but I'll figure something for that.

We also worked and tested the tow system. Lots of work to make it better needed. Not the happiest with how clunky flat towing is and we're working on streamlining it.

We also added a trans cooler to the Honda so it shouldn't have any issues pulling up the hill.


Pics.
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10 internet points if you can figure out what the metal pieces are for.
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Dash pad replication?

Lower dash pad

Wow! Lots of fab in a short amount of time. Great job.

WCR 2019 Came and went.

Nothing major happened except dads car almost falling off the trailer. Honda pulled the 914 incredibly well. I got 29mpg going to the event and got 24mpg back with a bit of city driving, both times up and over the grapevine. It might be slightly elevated, but I confirmed the 24mpg number on the way back when I filled up, didnt have a chance to confirm the 29mpg.

I had a great time driving around a couple of guys, some decent compliments on the car, especially the sound. It was really great getting together with everyone. So many familiar faces I was surprised I knew half or better!

The 914's hot start issue is better, It takes on average 3 times to start the car, sometimes when its warm it'll start right up, sometimes when cold it'll start right up. I think we can tune it out now. Clutch is MEH at best when warm. Odd bit is when the car is very cold or a cold morning it shifts really well. I have some ideas on it. Probably will redo the master cylinder with a universal master cyl maybe oversized to give me some extra throw and I'll adjust a clutch stop accordingly. Another possibility is its simply air in the lines still. I'll try bleeding it some more and see what we get.


Dad and I had a great time driving together and spending some good time together, It was a fantastic early fathers day!

Some pics from the event. Some great photographers there!





Interestingly, Magnus Walker took a couple pics of a few cars, including mine and my dads and posted it on instagram. Very nice guy, took time to say hi to anyone that wanted to.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BybZWVZJN0f/


Oh I also won the DIY award, which is pretty fitting given my DIY attitude towards the car.

Some shaky video. Note, Im on wastegate here just so I dont get into trouble, but we all took it really easy. Small pull at 19:55 and some decent views around 15mins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlm-4iVpzXI






Going to a local autox tomorrow, Swapped over to the 944 turbo track tires (Toyo Proxy RA1's) so I'll have a decent amount of grip. I normally bag the tires and swap them out at the track but Im going solo tomorrow so I just mounted them tonight. Im concerned about gearing, I dont think I'll be able stay in 2nd the whole track, the smaller tires and the fact my tuner turned my redline down at our last dyno event means I could have to go between 2nd and third or bounce off the rev limiter... Theres only a couple straights so we'll see. If I have to I'll just throw it in 3rd and stay out of the powerband most of the run.

Andrew-

Your two cars at WCR side by side were quite the head turners
Great that you can share these 914 events with your dad but I wouldn't want to race him.
Until next time...

Oscar

I love both cars. How cool that you and your dad share this passion.

It was definitely a life event for us. Andrew getting his car road worthy after many years. Me bringing a car back to life after devastation. Many many thanks to our families for giving us the space and time needed to make this happen.
We will continue to develop our cars until they are ‘done’ and then do it some more…

Thanks to whoever took the picture of Andrew and I at the table. That doesn't happen a lot.

Andrew in his element…
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I like my angle better…
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The best shot of the week.
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Love the center console treatment & shifter knob Andrew, a classy touch of the CGT right out of the Leipzig Factory

Autox went well. Still having clutch issues and I was getting a pretty large amount of oil blowby but it is overfilled by about half a qt. Starting it was a pain a couple times but I'll fix that.

It's been a long time since I drove a 914 at speed and never a turbo. The engine seemed to be made for autox, I had amazing throttle response and tons of power. I was never ever lacking for power and I was just above wastegate pressure. I probably could have dropped it to the wastegate, but I was partial throttle 95% of the track just struggling for traction.... Hell the back straight through the lights I couldn't get it pointed straight fast enough almost every run and just put the hammer down and let the tires spin all the way through the lights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXLC59RiHe8

At this point I need to work on:

1. Clutch
2. Starter
3. Catch can for the blowby
4. Balancing the car, maybe front bar.
5. Balancing both sets of wheels (death wobble in both but horrible on the Gotties)


6. Interior
7. More tuning for more power. (Barely beat a modified BMW 335i on the freeway)