Tomorrow is the big day for my portion of the project. We're going to test fit the fiberglass hoods.

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Probably the day I've been dreading the most....
Paid a mint for these supposedly well made exact copies of the GT hoods.
I'll be pretty pxxxx'd off if they don't fit all that well and require some major reengineering.

These things are paper thin and very lightweight.
Just the thing for a daily driver, eh what?
The plan is to leave the underneaths bare fiberglass so they'll tie in with the engine shroud and backs of my
custom tartan plaid seats from GTS.
Not sure if the tops will be painted body color (light ivory) or.... some close complimentary color?
I'll leave that decision to the time the car is in the paint shop and we can do some test panels.

With my fibreglass lids I've found that the front and rear bulkhead seals make the lids bend. I'm not using the front bulkhead seal and I've had to trim the rear one in height. Do check the fit with the seals inplace before you go to paint.

Cary and I had a good day going over the car to see if there were any last little items to take care of.
Not many to mention.
We spent some time mounting up the fiberglass front and rear bonnets.
The fit on the rear was "ok" with one corner needing some tuning for sure.
The front lid looked pretty good on most counts.
Again, these lids are paper thin and light as a hummingbird.
The filler, primer and paint will be kept to the bare minimums.
Nothing on the bottom sides except possibly a single clear coat to keep the raw fiberglass happy.

So next will be to get the chassis back to the blaster/primer guy (Leonard Soda Blasting here locally in Portland) to get all of Cary's raw metal work blasted and re epoxy primed.

After that we'll (or Cary) will spend a couple of days in the blaster's heated shop seam sealing the entire chassis.

Then it will be off to the paint shop for body work and a few coats of L80E followed by wet sanding and polishing.

A major hurdle, the metal work, is finally complete.
Thanks to Cary and Super-in-Law for all their great work on my car.
Guess I'll be Middlemotor's 1st major "rustoration".

Not sure if I ever showed the seats that are going into this car?
These were put together by Stefan with GTS Classics.
I can't recommend him enough for the customer service, product quality and ease to work with.
I picked their Watkins Glen model as it most resembled the factory seat in silhouette or profile so they'll fit into the back pad seamlessly.

I opted for the raw fiberglass finish on the back (vs the standard black paint) to coordinate with the undersides of the bonnets and the engine cooling shroud.
The only other option I checked was the manual lumbar support with supplied pump bulb.

Definitely a "sport" seat with nice bolstering.
The tartan plaid is my own choosing.
It's called Robertson Modern Hunting tartan.
I thought the white stripe would compliment the light ivory body color.
I'm also running the dark green and blue through the car in various places....seatbelts, Porsche stripes on the side, carpeting accents, etc.

The seats are quite comfortable.

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Some better views of the raw fiberglass seat shells.
And the fully restored seat base, hardware.

The mounting flanges on the bottom of the seat bases took quite a bit of filing and sanding to get the seat sliders to sit flat and at the correct distance apart such that they would move forward and backward freely.
Something you never plan for when you initially make a purchase like this.
All these aftermarket fabricated pieces definitely require a certain amount of "fine tuning" as Cary would say.

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As Doug commented, the project is winding down. Yesterday I pulled out all the detached sheet metal for inspection. Looks like my Miller 141 will get a little work.
Doug you would have loved the two hammer and dolly work on the front trunk, almost comical. Got a good start before I started working with Mike.
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Eyebrows and lids are OK.

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The engine lid has a little wowy in it.

Super In Law continues with the rebuilding/repair of the front valence.
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Jig first, then we'll cut an oak buck for the hammer work.

So my early S calipers are finally done.
PMB Performance put the smack down on them with a very different finish.
First one on the block with a set like these.
Anodized black vs the typical clear or yellow.
Reminds me of a baby 930 caliper w/o the fins.

I'm very happy with how they turned out.
Should fit very well with my narrow car R Gruppe build direction that I'm going.
The only con is that I now have to send my freshly built 914-6GT calipers back to them to get a matching finish for the rear of the car.

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Those do look cool.

Last couple items before sending her back to the paint booth for epoxy primer touch up.

Drilled holes for the Tangerine Racing firewall bushing.
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Cruised around and tuned up the excessive gobs of seam sealer.
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Now you see it, now you don't.
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Doug has a new one ready to go after paint.

All but done with the tub. I'll do just a little more hammer and dolly work on the wrinkles that were bondoed under the paint.

Geppetto is still working on the buck for the front valence.
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I think its back to the drawing board. He put the buck in the 20 ton press to try and pressure form the piece and the buck broke. We'll see what today brings.

On a side note, the front has more issues that I remember. The usual nicks and splits. But I found a dent above one of the support pieces.

Last hole to fix and the tub is done.
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Into storage mode until I finalize the epoxy primer touch up at Leonard's.
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Chassis looks a bit like a bat going to roost in a cave for the day....

Here's what's left. 2 rocker panels, engine lid and the rear valence.
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Doug the rust spots came off the engine lid with the wire wheel. No holes underneath.

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Started on left rocker panel. One major split, which caused quite a tweak in the panel.
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Micro welding ...............
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That's a crappy picture ...............

Stopped at the Leonards to get the ball rolling on the epoxy touch up ................
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Greg was in Salem. I'll call or stop by in the am.

Here's what the black anodized S calipers are gonna look like installed on the Elephant Racing RSR struts with HD Bilstein inserts.

Stealthy....eh?

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One more view from the front....

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Doug, your project is looking great. The black anodized calipers look pretty cool.
Wasn’t sure about S calipers being done that way but I do like that. Very nice.
Thanks for compliment on my project. Sourced the 917 lite from a shop in Switzerland.

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That's a lot of engine porn.

What size screws did you use?

I just noticed thats a new model for them. I like it even better than the LeMans. Another part for my wish list.

Moving day at MiddleMotors.
Next stop Leonard's Blasting in Sherwood for epoxy primer touch up.
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Delivered at 1pm. Moving into Phase 2.

Hmmm....oh oh.
Didn't get the memo on what Phase 2 is.....

Epoxy primer touch up .....
I just made it up.

Picked up Doug's car at the blaster's after an epoxy primer touch up.
It's a thing of beauty ................
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Loaded in the trailer and heading home for the night.
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Pouring down rain ................

Indeed

New dawn....
The chassis was delivered to the body & paint shop today.
Big job ahead as this was not the straightest of chassis's.
Cary did an admirable job with all the metal work.
Hopefully this will get moving pretty quickly now.
I'm expecting to have the car seam sealed and undercoated in the next couple of weeks, with the body work starting very quickly thereafter.
The color will be the factory original L80E light ivory with something a bit different underneath....possibly medium ivory or a beige.

The calm before the storm (body & paint) right now, so finished up another small back burner project I've been working on.

Wasn't interested in a strictly concours accurate tool kit, but one that was functional and looked like it belonged.

Began with a reproduction tool kit pouch that a shop makes in southern Oregon.
Nice basketweave and I opted for a dark navy interior.

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The actual tools are a combination of real and reproduction.

The screwdrivers, P208 fan belt wrench and lug wrench are all reproductions (new).

The open wrenches are all Selected Special Steel made in W. Germany.

The pliers are a version of Hapewe, 22/19 box is a Stahlwille (as opposed to the uber expensive Chrom Vanadium), and a Klein spark plug wrench.

Of course a nice 914 tow hook.

Finished off with a new factory fan belt, a selection of fuses and Moto Meter tire gauge from Porsche Classic.

With correct, authentic 914-6 tool kits hitting nearly $2k, this seemed like a reasonable alternative.

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Starting soon will be weekly updates from the body and paint shop as they grind through getting the chassis prepared for the L80E light ivory paint that is to come.

Big day/milestones on Monday (tomorrow).

1) The 2.7 MFI engine is on the dyno. Film at six.

2) I see the spray out for the paint color we've selected.
Something different than the factory light ivory....but not too much.

2.7 MFI engine all mounted up on Rothsport's engine dyno....ready to go.

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Better view of the amber fan shroud and the milled-down turbo valve covers.

911 headers were used instead of Ben's 1-5/8" SS 914-6 heat exchangers as they fit on the dyno better.
Same diameter and approx length, so power outputs should be similar with Ben's HE's.
On the car, obviously Ben's HE's will be installed.
Using a Dansk single outlet sport exhaust.
Will try to compare power output with a Leistritz single outlet factory supplied muffler as well....later.

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Specs on the engine.
Factory 2.7 MFI identical.
Mahle 2.7 8.5:1 pistons/cylinders, Webcam reground the cams to S/RS specs, T heads opened up to S/RS spec with
S sized intake/exhaust valves, Pertronix ignition, Clewett spark plug wires, Series 900 amber fan shroud,
Mark Motshagen refinished fan/fan housing, 4 rib oil pump, distributor recurved to RS spec, throttle bodies
rebuilt by Burnham Performance to S/RS spec, plastic intakes bored out to S/RS spec, Carrera pressure fed tensioners,
MFI pump rebuilt and modified to RS spec by MFIWerks, all engine plating done by Tru-6, new Stoddard's 914-6 high
efficiency oil cooler, PartsKlassic high output coil with matching solid state CDI box, etc. HA


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Time to light 'er up.
Give me warp drive Mr. Scott.
Dyno run link on Facebook below pic.

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https://www.facebook.com/doug.skinner.712/v...e=3&theater

Factory ratings are 210hp @ 6300rpm and 188 ft-lb torque @ 5100.

The results:

My engine came at about 218hp @ 6300 with a peak of nearly 225hp @ 6800.
And the torque was right on target as well.

Job well done I'd say.

The engine is a bit lean at the top of the RPM limit, so we will likely tweek a few things like the space cam inside the MFI pump to fatten up the fuel curve a bit.
Should get a bit more power....hoping to hit about 230hp with this low compression setup.
The engine at 8.5:1 can run on any quality of fuel.
That's nice.

It idles really nicely and starts up on a dime....not always the norm for MFI motors.

My space cam is "special" I am told.
The single outlet sport Dansk sounds perfect as well.



I'd say a nice upgrade from the factory stock 1.7 liter than came with this car.
With the gearbox sporting a set of "sporty" gear ratios....this buggy should really move out down the road.

Lovely motor. Nice numbers too.

I am really enjoying this build... well done

The bodywork has begun at Superior Auto Body in Gresham, OR.
Mainly an accident repair and offroad shop....the supervisor, Dale, has shown the knowledge and experience to get this job done.
There are a few hot rods in the shop, a newer 911, some muscle cars, lots of big offload capable trucks (many of which are pretty rad), etc.

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Driver's side door a bit tight at the top.
That will be addressed.
The remainder of the gaps on the driver door look pretty good.

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Unfortunately this was one of those 2 steps forward....1 step back kind of project.
The guy that did all the media blasting and epoxy priming, unfortunately didn't know what he was doing with all his epoxy primer.
It's all coming off the exterior of the car anyway.
We found rust already forming on the bare metal beneath the primer.
Plus some you could just scrap off with your thumbnail.
Big bummer, but at this point of the project, I won't be sacrificing the quality of the final paint job.

So all the epoxy primer on the exterior is getting removed.

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In general, all the flat panels of the car are in relatively good condition and will only get a skim coat of plastic filler.

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More of the body work taking place.
The pace of work is really moving along at a very nice rate.
Pretty soon we'll have the body color Raptor going on the underside of the car as well as getting all the seam sealing completed.

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The gaps on the passenger door all look very good.
Won't take much work on this side to get it the way we want it.

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Instead of the factory light ivory L80E color, we're going to go with a more modern Porsche 911 color called "Biarritzweiz". All I know is that "weiz" means white in German and Biarritz is a town in France. It is definitely in the same color family as light ivory, a close relative in fact, but will appear just a bit darker in person. Should be perfect for this hot rod 914.

Couple more links to the dyno.

1st one is just running at 2000-2500rpm and checking all the spark plugs. With the Pertronix ignition, a cylinder can be advanced or retarded a couple a degrees due to inaccuracies in the manufacturing of the rotor with the magnets. Such was the case with my engine. Three of cylinders were dead on, the other three were advanced/retarded a degree or two.

Likely not an issue, but we look at a couple more rotors to see if we can find a better one.

https://vimeo.com/253575134?utm_source=emai..._campaign=28749

Next video is of the dyno run to 224.8 peak hp.

https://vimeo.com/253574791?utm_source=emai..._campaign=28749

Nicely done

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This is what Biarritz Weiz will look like....possibly.
You can see it...can't you?
Paint color seems to match the thread background color pretty well.
Weird.

Congratulations! Coming along very nicely. The color is going to be nice.

Just picked up my new back pad straight from Germany and Porsche.
Our local dealer here in Portland, Sunset, gets very good prices on most of the factory parts.

Really looks nice and the vinyl is perfect in appearance.
I tried to repair my existing back pad, but in the end, it wasn't in that great of shape and my "sorry" attempt to resurrect it just wasn't cutting the mustard.

Two of the local hotshoes checking out the new cockpit digs.
I think they both give it thumbs up.

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When is it too early to learn how to double clutch....never I guess. HA

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