Dude, that is impressive work!

Love it!!! Are you planning on having it ready to drive to WCR?

@Andyrew - Let's see... It's early March. WCR is late July. And all I have to do is get it running and not do something like start more silly updates?

Probably not.

Seriously though. Yes, I want to attend a WCR and actually have my 914 running/driving. So the goal is make it run well, keep after the suspension tuning/development and make progress on the interior. I won't be painted by then but should otherwise be in fighting shape.

@Krieger - Thanks Andy. Let's just hope it works!

Confidence is high; I have seen your work in person. I have no doubt your car will be in the procession headed north.

What's this? I added an NPT bung to the H2O collector in prep for swapping in a Davies/Craig water pump. It modulates the pumped volume based on temp from their supposedly proprietary sensor. This should address my "over cooling in cool weather" issue.
I still need the GM sensor to get coolant temp to the ECU which then sends it over the CAN bus to the dash.

A picture I've taken what seems like a thousand times. I just never get tired of this view!
I really like the way the ceramic coating on the exhaust turned out.
And this version of the engine harness is even more tidy than the last. Note I didn't yet update the injector harness as I really want to get it running again first. Then I'll construct a new one with the labeling, etc.

Anyway, everything is buttoned up and ready for a remote session with the tuner.
We're targeting this Thursday. I made a lot of changes and I'm looking forward to seeing how I did. Wish me luck!

Yummy

One little issue I see.

The air temp sender is usually located in the air box which is a controlled environment. Where you have it, it is likely to heat soak at lights and run lean or get wet, cool from evaporation, and run rich.

@Chris914n6 - Thanks for the observation, I really do appreciate it as there's plenty I don't know! The location wasn't without some thinking - I noodled on it and spoke with my tuner. Here's the current thinking:
- The MAT sensor used to sit between the ITBs, directly under the engine lid grill. So in an "even worse" location - and it didn't create any noticeable issues.
- My tuner said that with the Holley speed density model, MAT location ends up having a small impact on getting a good tune. I was surprised to hear this but I'm no tuner.
- Once I fab the air box, the sensor will be installed in a more traditional location. So in the final version, it shouldn't be an issue.

And you know me and transparency: I'm learning as I go. If any of this creates problems, I'll post about it.
Thanks again!

Results are in:
Short version IT RUNS!!!!

Longer version:
The remote tuning session was a huge success! It took about 3 minutes for my tuner to assume control of my laptop, download the updates into the ECU and setup/configure the specific sensors I'm running.
Then he says "OK, so is it ready to start?" I glace around the car and look at all the changes I've made since it last ran and I'm like:

"Sure!" I say, with all the bravado I can muster. And I turn the key one click to ignition hot. The fuel pump whirs to life, the H20 pump starts pumping- as does my heart! I think to myself "OK, here we go - I hope you got all this stuff right.." and I advance the key to "start".

Urrrr, urrr, urrr, VROOOM! It fires right up like it had been running 20 minutes ago. A total non event.
OK, so then we spent about 20 minutes adjusting the fuel map and a bunch of stuff I'd never seen before and the day closes with a 775 RPM idle and nice, snappy (DBW) throttle response!

I will say, I did take care with all the wiring and fab work in this round of changes but I'm always amazed when what I did actually works. And yes, EVERYTHING works!

@andyrew @cairo94507 thanks for your votes of confidence - you proved to be spot on.

Next step?

See you all at WRC 2022!

Everything works! Not a bit surprised!! Must feel good to be back up and running!!!

Heck ya!!!!! Some more road tuning and you’ll be golden!!!

You’ve done a heck of a job Chris!!! Congratulations!

nice !!! Always to good to get things back running again after changing things out.

So - time for a at least 3 airbox design iterations before WCR 2022 ?

- Tony

@Retroracer Tony - you know me well! I'll be starting on V1 soon...

And I can't leave my momentous "starting day" with no pic. My friend Bill stopped by and I couldn't resist snapping this pic. Zoom in and check out the paint on his Speedster. Unreal.

It was a lovely day at the Red Barn...

Wow man, awesome! Drive the hell out of it now! Did someone say air box?

@Tygaboy - OK, now you get to take it for a nice ride and enjoy all that work. WCR is going to be a blast.

Congratulations Chris. When it's finished you'll experience the male version of "empty nest syndrome" and want to start another.

@76-914 Kent, you're hilarious!! You said "finished"...

Fantastic Chris- looks like I came by a day too soon- had no doubt you’d getting going without major bugs. Incredible electrical work.

Boring pic? Not to me. We are back on the road!
Just a brief test run to capture some data in the ECU that the tuner uses to, well, tune.

The short update is classic good news/bad news.
Let's start with the bad:
- First, it isn't really that bad. The tune needs work - and we were expecting that. When we did the first tune session, I'd left a major vacuum port unplugged and because chasing that allowed the engine to warm up a but, it ended up masking settings needed at "totally dead cold" start up. As it stands, I have to blip the throttle a bit for 30 seconds or so else it struggles and mostly dies.

- Next, it's not smooth right off idle and the pedal isn't as responsive as I think I want it. When I try and blip in a heel/toe, the blip doesn't do much.

Now the good:
- The DBW pedal is a joy, particularly compared to the cable/ITB set up. It feel like I'm driving a new car.
- The pedal response is programmable so I've no doubt we can set it to feel and respond just how I want. Plus, these tuning sessions are training for me to be able to learn how to be self-sufficient - for example, I'll know how to program the pedal on my own going forward.
- The new exhaust sounds really nice. It's actually quiet at idle.

In short? We're getting there.

That's one hell of a accomplishment Chris!!!
Now put some miles on it!!!

This morning's remote tuning session addressed the currently known issues. It had rained last night and was still cold/damp when we wrapped up. Dave, my tuner, asked if I was going to drive it. I figured with the crappy weather situation I'd pass. But in the end, I couldn't resist. Dave's guidance was keep it under about 4500 RPM - and I always do as I'm told...

OMG. I'd swear it pulls harder and is more "driveable" than the ITBs ever were. And the pedal is like butta! And the tune isn't even complete.

I'm very happy.

I plan a few more drives to gather more data and get additional seat time so I can provide more detailed and thorough feedback. More as we make progress.

Oh, and I added some LED interior lights in the foot wells that come on when the doors are opened. I swear, it's like a luxury car.

Congrats!

So just a few minor things on the punch list?

Nice! Sounds like all your improvements were worthwhile!

@Tygaboy - WCR here we come!

Party at the Red Barn! Apparently, even the insects are interested in seeing the 914 and its new set up!
So yesterday, I'm working away on my car when I suddenly notice there's been a growing sort of "buzzing" noise. I turn around and there's a LARGE swarm of bees hanging out RIGHT outside my shop door! Yikes!
I immediately close everything up and thankfully, they didn't make it inside. However, they did decide the gutter area just above the side door would be an excellent spot to establish a new hive.
Zoom in on that first pic and you'll get an idea just how many visitors there are...!

A quick call to the local bee keeper society and John heads right over - in a very cool '54 Chevy pick up!
Anyway, he thought he'd enticed them into a bee box but when he came back last evening to collect them, the colony had decided they REALLY did like that gutter. He's back this morning with his bee vacuum and some other bee herding tools.
As Bullwinkle said "This time, for sure!" Fingers crossed!
Never a dull moment at the Red Barn...

That so cool!

Holy beeswax Batman!

It's nice to see so many bees but it would be better to see them from a a distance. Glad you did not get stung.

The bees are have been re-hived so it's back to the boring task of tuning. I had the 3rd remote session this morning, having put in a couple shakedown drives to gather more data.
I'm learning a lot by watching the tuner do his thing and make changes based on what I tell him. Interestingly, while there are certainly specific targets/ranges for things like air/fuel ratio and timing, a whole bunch of stuff is down to "how do you want it?"
For example, going full lean on decel means you'll get some popping out the exhaust. You don't like that? Add a bit more fuel and the popping goes away.
I told him when I come off the pedal, it felt like it should have more engine braking effect. He messed with idle decay and some of the timing parameters and now it does.
And you wonder why I'm so enamored with all the electrical bells and whistles... It's like magic!
@markhoward Mark and @buddyv Robert are coming by on Saturday and I've asked them to drive the car and see what they think. I'll leave it to them to report back on their experiences.
I'll end for now with: Man, this thing runs GOOD!
Driving video soon, I promise.

I don't know whose car this is but its 53 - 93mph, 4th gear roll-on performance seems decent. Sounds OK, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxGs3F_-Dcw

With the car back in action and running really well (!), it's time to make progress in some other areas. I picked up that cool air dam with the wide cooler opening and today was getting an idea of if I'll like the look of what I'd planned for the mirror image cut out in the front bumper. That glamour pic is my the photochop inspiration and others are the initial result on a junk front bumper.
The bumper opening will get a return all the way around the cut-out, just like the air dam has and the car's nose will be painted black so the area behind the opening will disappear.
I think I like it!
BTW. the air dam is just sitting on blocks/spacers so give me no crap for how things line up.

Anyone have a nice front bumper they don't need?

Great work Chris! I really enjoyed the electrical porn Can’t wait to see it all done, and go for a ride. Do you have a paint scheme picked out yet?

Cheers,
John

@Tygaboy - Hey Chris, I like the opening; once you get it finished I think it is going to look very nice and more importantly, function well.

Looks like a clean and functional design.

What did the test pilots think about the car on Saturday? Still shaking in their shoes with ear to ear grins?

Bee herding. lol

That would look killer if you can keep it that small. Looking at a water pumper, the front opening for cooling has always been hard to get past for my eyes. This would look tough.

I'm so unaware of the world outside the Red Barn that I didn't even know there was a Petaluma Cars & Coffee on the 3rd Sunday every month. Bill, my buddy with the Speedster, called this morning saying "...hope to see you there...". So I decided to head down.
You know it's a "traditional hot rod/muscle car" crowd when they walk right past a near perfect Speedster without even looking at it! I'm sure they thought it was a kit car. Maybe not surprisingly, my car got a ton of attention, what with the LS and all, zip tied license plate not withstanding.

It was a bit chilly this morning and I can happily report the GTS Classics' seat heaters are awesome!

A car like yours, as a kid, I'd look and wonder how they managed to get 20 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag...And make it look good. Bet it was great to just get out

Tool Whore Alert! A got a slip roller from a buddy who needed it moved. For those who may not have heard of this tool, it's essentially a roll bender for sheet material. Same concept of three rollers, one of which is set to apply pressure to material as it passes across the other two. More pressure = more shape into the material. Plus, you can adjust the pressure differently, side to side, and get very cool / interesting effect, cones, etc.

Anyway, today I wanted to make progress on the openings in the tail panel so I cut a shape that I think compliments the look of the car and hides the center latch and support area. Once cut, I gave it the slip - roll, that is.

This is one of those "get a feel for it" things: set it "loose" and see how much the panel moves, check fit, adjust, roll again, check fit. You know the drill. It turned out nicely.

Then I cut up a crappy engine lid grill and fed it through the slip roll. It works on perforated material just fine, too.
Here's pic of the empty panel - to give you a feel for the overall look - and one where I'm just holding things in place to show the effect of the grill.
I love the way you can still peek in there and see all the mechanicals - and that it matches the engine grill.
Still some trimming to do but you get the idea.

@Shivers - thanks for the kind words! Yep, it's been a hoot to drive the car again, especially now that it works so much better. If you can't tell, I'm back to being motivated about making progress on things I've neglected or just not yet focused on. And I'm totally with you on the radiator opening shape. I've never seen one that I think looks cohesive. What I'm trying to do with this set up is about as good a look as I think I can come up with.

Most importantly, I'm feeling pretty good about the drive to WCR in July!

@roundtwo Todd - With the rain on Saturday morning, maturity prevailed and we opted to reschedule when the traction weather would be more conducive to WOT application!

Love the OE 914 engine grille mesh; re-purposed on those rear vents are the bees knees Chris !
Looks like this (very similar) mesh is what floats the boat for Porsche's late 911R too...what's old is new
Click to view attachment

Loving that rear mesh, Chris!

And too funny about that air dam. I wonder if it's the one I sold years ago after not getting around to mounting it. I didn't want to cut it up to match a narrow car. I believe I got it from a friend, who bought it for his 914-6 with GT flares from Peter Stacy at Kinesis after falling in love with the front spoiler on his dark blue car with red wheels. No wonder the car and its spoiler looked so good—Peter was an Art Center grad.

https://www.iwsti.com/threads/my-1970-914-6.89073/

I remember the one I had being a high-quality part, even in the flat black it came in. I don't think very many were made, and not sure if Peter still has the mold—but it would be cool to see these re-popped.

@tygaboy - Look what I just found - similar design to your rear panel (which I like).
Click to view attachment

@Cairo94507 Michael - Yep, I've seen a few with some sort of cut out rear panel and it's certainly not an original idea on my part! I will say that after looking at it for a bit, I think I'm going to try stamping or otherwise creating some inward dimension around the grill openings. Then try and give the grills a radius so they poke out from the panel a tiny bit. Everything just plain flat isn't quite doing it for me. Though if I fail miserably at making this new look, I'll claim I love flat!