Well, I had another bummer realization yesterday. The real 15x9 Fuchs are not going to fit. Not that big a bummer since I can sell them for $$$$ or stash them for a potential future project. I have ordered some Braid repro 15x9's with a different offset, and for now I have some 16x9 Fuchs on the back, same offset as the Braids will be and they fit fine with small spacers.

The braids have been working great on our spec 911 cars the are also 1/2 lb lighter then the fuchs..

Great to hear! I have felt like a wheel dealer the last few years. Will be buying, selling and refinishing several more pairs in the near future. The Weidman RSR 16's are so nice I am tempted to buy a car to put them on...

Today was the first day in a very long time that I worked on my car myself...

I changed the clutch cable, which is an un-fun job on any 914 but even worse with a full rollcage.

Supposedly Terry Cables don't break... (Granted, this cable may have been 10 years old. I went back to stock this time.)

I also installed a Triad muffler I got a while back, in place of megaphones, so I can test drive a bit on the street before heading to the track in a few weeks.

Today I drove my car for the first time in >2 years! Just a quick test drive on Mulholland with a little photo op. I'm sorting out a bunch of details. Tidied-up some wiring, rolled the front fender lips more for clearance, put on a Rennline alternator/fan band, started on the dash cleanup, etc.

I may put on the graphics tomorrow.



(Shot before the new alternator band)

That is one gorgeous machine!

It looks amazing. Congrats.

Love it!

Nice!

WOW

• Reconnected the front turn signals & euro parking lights
• Continued gutting the dash; removed the glovebox (not fun)
• Put on some new bling (targa/sail trim). $hundreds worth of tin foil more or less...

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Here's another view of the car from last weekend. I still haven't gotten the numbers/graphics put on. Maybe tomorrow.

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Very Nice, Congrats on a great build.

Van914

Willow Springs tomorrow! First track event in nearly 2 1/2 years. All loaded-up, fingers crossed the car is good and I'm not too rusty.

I got some Braid 15x9 Fuchs repros which seem very nice. These won't go on the car until the current rear tires are toast, 3-4 track days.

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Congrats and good luck...hey what ever happened to the 2.8?

Great car you got there!

I sold the 2.8 P/Cs to a local guy; not sure if they'll end-up in his 914-6 or something else.

It was a great day at Willow Springs! I'm very rusty but got comfortable with the car after just a few laps. I did a 1:38.8 which is not super fast but roughly middle of the pack in POC terms - there are some guys with insane skills, experience and cars out there.

Nothing broke, and I'll be back at the track in 11 short days.

Next up is installing the G2X data acq/display, and finishing the dash in general.

1:38...heck I remember when I got a ride in Art Zap's. Old -6 when he did a 1:35..he was flying and only tap the binders through turn 1 and 4 and into 9...your flying! Congrats!

Sunday at Willow Springs. Decals are in-work. Also matching wheels - will have a black & satin set and an "RSR" set.

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In watching my video I can see several places where I can easily pick-up time. Better line and later/less braking. Primarily turn 8 scares the crap out of me in general and in this stiff, light car with no aero it's a pucker-fest. I should get down to 34's or 35's after a few more events.

The car is much better than me. Same with my cameras, and my guitars. I guess life would be pretty boring if there weren't always room to learn and improve.

Nice nice nice! Better without the numbers but that's only my personal taste.

Thanks! It's a racecar so numbers and rock chips are unavoidable facts of life...

I have a whole bunch of vintage decals to put on, but need to plan that out carefully so it looks cool and not overly busy.

I installed my new rear Braid 15x9 Fuchs repros with fresh Hoosiers. I was going to sell them but decided I'll probably keep the 16x9 Fuchs too, for the taller gearing effect. But the next event is short track (Streets of Willow).

I reduced the spacers slightly as I was getting a bit of rubbing on the left front and just a hair on the left rear. All 4 corners seem optimal now.

The Braids are nice wheels. I'm going to order a full set in "RSR" finish.

Also got the bulk of the install done for the Racepak G2X GPS data acq system/dash. Just have to zip-tie and tidy things up tomorrow.

We'll be expecting some nice Go-Pro video since your car is running again Chris.

Nice job. It must feel nice to be driving it again.

I will record some new video on Friday, Streets of Willow. I was too rusty at the big track last week so I'm not posting that...

Here are some fresh pics. I'm still working on the dash - the black paint is still a little wet in the shot. It's satin not glossy. At least some of it will be covered-up later.

I got the G2X GPS data acq box, antenna and display mostly done this weekend.

Gutted, removable GT-style lid.
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Engine.
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Cobra Suzuka kevlar seats with Schroth harnesses
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Cockpit
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New Braid 15x9 wheel with Hoosier R6
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NOS Fuchs 15x8 wheel with Hoosier R6
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Factory stem, cap and brace thingie
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Smart Racing Products windshield hold-down detail
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Factory-style hood crest decal
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This care gets better each time I come back to this build.

This build thread does not go nearly all the way back to when I started this saga in 2002, so I'll sum-up the history July 2002-Feb 2014 by copying this from the COTM thread.

I apologize for repeating some pics I posted before, but it's the only way for the story to flow right and catch-up to present day.


Before

It started as a very clean, "no rust" SoCal 73 2.0 street car that had been hot-rodded a bit by the PO. He had put a big-bore 2.4L/4 with Webers in the engine bay, Eurorace headers, redone the seats in a nice corduroy fabric, short-shifter, and put on the rear reflector and spoiler.

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Version 1

But, I had just sold a really nice stock 73 2.0 and that wasn't what I was after this time around. So, I almost immediately started gutting the car. In went a welded rollcage by TC Design. I also swapped to fiberglass bumpers, and put on a freeflow Dynomax muffler, removable steering wheel, new gauges, alloy pedals, race seats and harnesses, etc. Then I had Ottos do a 5-lug conversion with SC front-end and brakes, bigger t-bars and springs. I ran a few track events this way.

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Version 2

I know the Type4 has its fans and merits, such as nice torque. But I was very worried about the longevity of this 2.4 in track use, and had the lust for a /6. So I bought a hot-rodded factory /6 engine that had purportedly been rebuilt with 2.2S parts. It was a mystery motor but turned out to be a great deal and gave me no trouble in about 6 years of use.

Ottos also installed the PMS fuel cell, giant oil cooler, metal fuel lines and other mods during the /6 conversion.

Somewhere along the way, Ottos (John W.) also built me a killer transmission for the car, with 904 mainshaft, short gears, Quaife TBD, billet intermediate plate. I also installed a Rennshifter and redid all the linkage bits, and added the Spa fire system. I added a fiberglass skin top at some point too.

I really loved the car at this point, and ran it this way from 2003-2009 or so without major changes.

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Version 3

By 2009 the racing disease had gotten worse and times were good financially so I sprung for a very nice, 0-mile 2.7 built by JB Racing for a customer who'd fallen on hard times. This twin-plugged, Weber 46 carbed beauty went in in the car, with dual MSD 6AL boxes, an M&K "R" stainless muffler, and some trick Getty GT-style deck lids went on the body.

I left the lids unpainted amber for a unique "road warrior" look. Plus, I didn't want to deal with painting the car at that point anyway.

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(To be continued)

Version 4

The bigger engine was really a blast - powerful, and looked and sounded fantastic. Now the car really needed more rubber as the 205's just could not keep the power to the ground. So, I ordered some custom flares from Tangerine Racing (Chris Foley) and set the wheels in motion so to speak for some more major rework. The car went to Kundensport (Ed Palmer) in Camarillo for bodywork, paint and rollcage extensions.

After a couple seasons of pretty heavy track use, the engine was noticeably down on power and showed fairly bad leakdown in one cylinder. So the engine went to Galen Bieker at WerksII in Burbank for what turned-out to be a complete rebuild and upgrading process with extensive new parts and machine work. This was a good choice as among other sketchy things found inside, the 964 oil pump housing had cracked. (It now has a 930 pump.) Galen also rejetted the Webers for top-end, and spent a lot of time optimizing the heads.

Somewhere along the line the car also got Carrera calipers with vented, cross-drilled rotors and both ends, raised spindles, custom-valved Bilsteins, a Smart Racing front swaybar and additional tub bracing.

I added the 911R-style tail lamps to carry the "914R" theme farther along.

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So, there you have it. The car has many, many more mods not listed here and countless hours and dollars poured into it, and of course that's still ongoing. I am working on the dash now and just installed the Racepak G2X data acq system last weekend. I'll probably cover the dash in perlon felt and aluminum, with a factory-looking pod over the gauge cluster.

Nicely done! One of the best I've ever seen in all the years.

914R and I had a most excellent day at Streets of Willow with Open Track Racing yesterday. Great people, great weather, and awesome cars. 2 1/2 hours of on-track time - holy moly was I tired! Here are are couple of pics (via Cali Photography).

The car is extremely fast on this sort of track and all day long I passed if not lapped everyone in my run group including a Boss 302 Mustang, Cobra replica, Cayman R, WRX STi, Cayenne Turbo, a couple of M3s, a Lotus Exige or tricked-out Elise maybe, and of course some 911s. Granted I have a ton of experience on this track, but also the car just sticks and fricken rockets off the corners with the rebuilt engine and wider rubber. In the afternoon when the track surface heated-up and junked-up a bit, I was getting wheelspin in 2nd and 3rd gear and getting very sideways. That’s with an LSD and fresh 245 Hoosiers…very fun, but not fast at that point. Going drift-style cost 2-4 secs/lap.

In the first morning session I put the right wheel off into a horrible rut then back on track which bottomed it HARD. It sounded like a bomb going off, and cracked the damn windshield as well as ripped-out the dzus fasteners holding the front spoiler on that corner. (Luckily the spoiler is fine and I zip-tied it in place.) So, I’ll be adding a windshield to the list of stuff to do soon.

At the end of the day, coming down the hill (clockwise) very hot in 4th gear I had a spectactular spin but by then the @#%^ camera battery had died. I stayed on the track and it was a minor pucker moment. Fortunately nobody was close behind me.

I beat my personal best laptime here by around 2 seconds — got down into the 1:24.5 range! Unfortunately due to what was most likely an operator error, I did not get any data off the new-to-me G2X box. Not sure what happened and hopefully the box is not broken. It was a last-minute install and I should have tested it thoroughly first. Sigh.

I have some in-car video I will try to edit and post here later. I really wish the GoPro had better audio. People always compliment how cool the car sounds at full rip, but in the video it sounds like crap and I want to hear it myself! I will work on that too.

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Great looking car! I like the engine decklid setup.

Time to go W2W

I am heading that direction, working towards POC license and also checking into VARA. I doubt I'll get hardcore into the club racing scene -- wife and boss and insurance agent are not thrilled - but I definitely want to do some vintage and special-events stuff.

Is there a reason why you use the LE spoiler vs the black spoiler on the track?

The one in the latest above pics is not the LE, it's in between that one and the really deep Sheridan one. I used it at this last event due to the bumps, curbing and ruts at Streets of Willow. Good thing too as a pesky rut almost destroyed it! The deeper one is also thinner/lighter and likely would have been toast.

Sorry it's been so long but life got ahold of me again and the car sat for a while. Today I dropped it off at TLG so Marco and Tony there, as well as John Esposito across the way, can take care of a few things. It will be freshly tuned, with a Sheridan rear spoiler, trans cooler and some new wheels with fresh Hoosiers for (hopefully) Laguna Seca with POC next month!

I may try to do the next POC Racers Clinic to get licensed and do some W2W. I'm jonesing to get back on the track!

Man, I love your car.

Vrooooom!

Marco at TLG has finished dialing-in my Webers, and did the valve adjustment and oil change. So I got to test-drive it a few blocks today and the off-idle and idle-to-main transitions are MUCH better now.

He also discovered that my little 'ditch incident' tore-off the front right swaybar mount tabs from the A-arm, which is easy to fix but I'm damn glad he found that because somehow I had not and probably would not have until it was too late.

Next week it'll get the windshield replaced and front fenders and swaybar mount fixed and then she'll be track-ready again!!!

Good choice with Tony +Marco , father and son Porsche techs
Are you going for an oe windshield or Safe-t-lite racing?
Streets of Willow does have some interesting terrain just off of the asphalt. On one occassion with a slow speed off track expedition, the spoiler caught the soft sand and shredded it
Have a blast at Laguna Seca !
Marty

Quick update: The car is at the body shop now and the fenders and swaybar mount are fixed, fenders and spoilers should get painted today and the Sheridan rear spoiler will go on.

Marty, I'm not sure on the flavor of windshield but should know today or tomorrow.

I'll be trying some Hoosier radial slicks this time, which will be my first time ever on real race tires vs. DOT R. They are going onto a new set of Braid 15x8 and 15x9 RSR finish wheels so the car should look and work sweet.

I'm excited!

Hi All,

Well, 914R has made another big step towards being "done". Marco Gerace at TLG got my Webers really dialed-in nicely as well as doing a full service and coordinating a windshield replacement. John Esposito then repaired/reworked my front Tangerine flares for clearance and blended the paint masterfully. John also fixed other minor damage and installed the Sheridan rear spoiler I've had for a while. Both shops are top notch and I highly recommend them.

I headed straight to Laguna Seca (literally) after the work was finished. The only bummer is I didn't have time to order and reapply real numbers on the doors -- paint was blended-in -- so I had to use cheesy masking tape. This was also my first time on the new set of Braid 15x8&9 RSR finish Faches and Hoosier R80 radial slicks.

WOW - the car is stellar. The grip is shocking and the engine pulls very strong. I've never driven Laguna before but quickly settled to 1:50's and Sunday I got into 1:47 if not 1:46 territory. Unfortunately my data acq system is malfunctioning but official transponder times should be on MyLaps shortly.

My big lesson-learned was re. brake cooling. Laguna is HARD on brakes. Mid-weekend I switched from Pagid Black to Orange front pads to try to alleviate serious fade after ~20 minutes on track but that did not help much. I then realized the deep Sheridan front spoiler was blocking airflow and I have not yet hooked-up the ducting. So, Sunday I switched to a less deep spoiler and the problem vanished (but I went slower.)

Here are a few shots. I'll post video this weekend!

914R at Laguna Seca June 28-29, 2014 by cjcam, on Flickr

914R at Laguna Seca June 28-29, 2014 by cjcam, on Flickr

914R at Laguna Seca June 28-29, 2014 by cjcam, on Flickr

914R at Laguna Seca June 28-29, 2014 by cjcam, on Flickr

Wow--1:46 is fast!

LS is quite hard on brakes; I have a friend who warped his E36 brakes every time he went there.

--DD

I drove this road the other day, quite nice! I also passed an ariel atom going the other way, he thought it was a race track...lol. Btw, your car looks awesome!

Too much braking will do that .....................

The Cap'n

E36es will do that.

His E30 doesn't, and it turns faster lap times!

--DD

Wow, beauty!

Hi All,

As promised but a bit late, here is some in-car video of some of my fastest laps (no traffic) of the 6/28-6/29 weekend at Laguna Seca. I'll have to pay attention to my bad habit of leaving my hand on the shift lever too long vs. going back to the steering wheel.

This weekend had a 105dB sound limit so I was running an M&K "911R" muffler with the right outlet capped-off (so it was a 2-in/1-out). While that sapped some top-end HP vs. the megaphones I normally run, interestingly it allowed the GoPro audio to be less crappy than usual.

If any of you get a chance to drive on this historic track, I highly recommend finding a way to make it happen -- it's unbelievably fun!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPEaNcOiLi8


Cheers,

Very nice!

LOVE that camera angle, so you can see your hands working the wheel and shifter.