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Huckleberry
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Desertbreh wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:26 pm
Huckleberry wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:15 am

Some times, it is the best tool for the job.

I really wish I could remember where I had ordered the tip from.
I support the single tip as homage to the original as well as visual stealth (the audio stealth is gonna be tough). That said, what is the unit the two downpipes feed into with the single exit? And if errthang is the same diameter isn't that a restriction problem?
They feed into a Y-pipe. So, it is dual 2.5" inlets and a single 3" outlet. There shouldn't be an issue with restriction.
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Huckleberry
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[user not found] wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:57 pm
Detroit wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:54 am :thankyou: for keeping it a single exit exhaust. And that tip looks damned near OEM. Outstanding work as usual.
Should've gone center quad exit with a chrome finisher panel. :trollface:
You jest, buuuuttttt.....

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And yes, the tips are crooked.

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:wat:
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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Huckleberry
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I realize that it has been a while. I've been working on the car, but things have been going slower than expected. A lot of stuff has popped up outside of the garage and I have been dealing with all of that stuff, and I have encountered some issues that have caused delays, as well as vendors being shitty, causing further delays. I don't have a ton of pictures as I have been slacking in taking pictures and just trying to get things done. So, I apologize in advance for my text-to-picture ratio being off, but here we go:

We left off with the exhaust being welded up and me needing to get a spacer for the clutch shim. The Mcleod slave cylinder I am using is designed to bolt in place of a Muncie bearing retainer. Luckily, I had one laying around. So, I delivered it to my guy at B2B Fab for a template, who has been helping me with the custom machining I have required throughout this project.
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And he was able to produce this spacer ring, which is an 1/8" in thickness:
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I don't have pictures of it, but a friend and I removed the transaxle and pulled the torque tube back. Unfortunately, with the adapter plate, I wasn't able to get it back far enough to slide the ring over the input shaft. However, I was able to get it back far enough to unbolt the slave cylinder and cut a slot into the spacer to pass it around the input shaft and bolt everything back together. It was a tight fit, but the SK X-Frame ratcheting wrenches made quick work of the task.

Because I had to move the torque tube's shaft forward to engage the pilot bearing, I had to notch the splines so that the coupler bolt could pass through and clamp the coupler down onto the splines. Luckily, I have a 3/8" belt sander that was perfect for the job.

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This was ideal because it needed to fit into the smaller of the two access holes in the rear of the torque tube for coupling the shaft to the transaxle.
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Once the transaxle and torque tube were back together, I reattached the underbody shielding using some M6 hardware and cage nuts that I got from the data center at work. They had a whole bin of rand hardware that they were going to toss, so I took it. You never know when you can use some spare hardware, and having it laying around saves trips to the store or waiting for online orders to arrive. I suppose this 944 heat shield is brought to you by Xfinity.

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Once the tube was in, I realized that the old shift boot needed to be retired, and placed an order with Redline Goods. It shipped directly from Poland, shortly after a certain Russian started getting all uppity, and I was happy to see the boot's transit wasn't impacted as a result.
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One item I wasn't happy about was the return line from the hydroboost. I felt that this bend created a highpoint in the system where air could get trapped.
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So, I ordered a tee fitting and a bleeder valve just in case the line needs to be bled at that point to ensure proper brake and steering performance.
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While all of that was going on, I had sent my midpipes off to Jet Hot for coating. I had actually planned on using a local company, but on the day I told them I was able to come down after work and drop the pipes off, and after them going so far as to giving me the address for dropping them off, after driving an hour in rush hour traffic, I came to a building with the doors locked and the lights off. I tried calling and emailing to no avail, and went back home rather heated. The next day, the guy informed me that they close at four, which wasn't an excuse I was willing to accept when I told him I was coming down after work that evening and he gave me an address as a response, which typically means that the person will be at that address. So, I boxed them up and shipped them off to Jet Hot.

After all of that, my midpipes came back from Jet Hot:
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Of course, I had made a mental note to go back and check the welds on the midpipes. And I did, except for the one that was still attached to the header and I had hastily removed to get to the local place in time. This sweet pinhole was the result of that unwarranted haste:
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Luckily, I was able to hit the backside of the pipe so that the damage to the coating would be minimal.

Once that was sorted, I bolted everything together and looked up some videos on doing the initial setup for the Terminator X. I had foregone the small display screen option to make the cost a bit cheaper and am just using the Holley laptop software. Sure, there is a learning curve, but I feel it is the better option in the long run. Once I got the initial tune setup, it was time to turn the key... and she fired right up!

Yeah fucking right. I've never had a project car start on the first try. Ever. This is where a number of issues started:

Firstly, at least the starter worked. I turned the key and the starter cranked the engine. However, the engine wouldn't fire. I did some sleuthing and it turns out that the Holley systems are very particular about battery voltage. Basically, if it drops below 11v while cranking, it's no dice from Holley. The battery I had purchased was for a new Mustang 5.0, and it was dropping down to 10v while cranking. Why the Mustang battery? It had a smaller footprint and was a bit more economical and a bit more available than the 944 battery. It also had only 590 CCA. At the time, I figured if that was good enough for a 4 cam V8 of the same displacement, then I should be alright. I thought wrong, and replaced it with a Die Hard from Advance that has 720 CCA.

Once the battery was replaced, I tried turning the key again. No dice, but 11.9v when cranking. I looked at the diagnostic LEDs on the Holley and noticed that the cam sensor LED was green, but the crank sensor LED was blue. When I looked that up, blue indicates that a gap is detected. I pulled the crank sensor and measured the distance and came up with a gap that is greater than the preferred .030". I thought on why the sensor would be off, and I remembered that the engine had to have a line bore for the new main studs, which would have caused the crank to shift a hair upward. So, I took the sensor over to B2B and we turned the sensor's seat down on the lathe.
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(It would later become evident to me that the indicators will flash between green and blue while cranking, which shows that the sensors are picking up the teeth on green and the gap on blue, and not necessarily too large of a gap. However, my misinterpretation led to discovering an issue that needed to be corrected anyways.)

Alright, so the battery and the crank sensor were dealt with. I turned the key again. No fire again.
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Now, I had to dig deeper and start checking the harness. After looking at a wiring diagram from Holley, I figured out the issue. Early on, I had installed my own fuel pump relay and just needed the trigger from the Holley system since Holley's instructions said to run your own relay if the pump draw was over 11 amps. When I finally began installing Holley's harness, I noticed that it had a relay in there. I looked it up and it was described as a fuel pump relay. I thought, "Well, that's stupid to have a relay energizing a relay," and eliminated it while extending that relay's trigger wire to mine. In that regard, it worked. The fuel pump was priming with key ON. However, unbeknownst to me, until I looked at the diagram, Holley's relay also energized the coil packs and fuel injectors through a splice further down the line hidden in the loom. I ohmed out the power pin for the coil pack plug and got continuity to the one wire I had capped off. So, I reinstalled their relay, but spliced the trigger wire so that it will energize both the fuel pump relay and the Holley relay. After that, I turned the key again:



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Actually, what we smelled was the engine running stupid rich. I ordered a fuel gauge to put on the rail, and as it turns out, the fuel system is running at 50 PSI instead of 43.5, and I had programmed the injectors with 43.5 PSI data. GM has two fuel regulators that fit into the LT1 rail: FP10003 and FP10004. The regulator ending in -03 is for 43.5 PSI, and the one ending in -04 is set to 50 PSI. Looks like I got the -04 piece. Whoops.

And this brings us to where I am right now. If you noticed, she's a bit louder than one would expect with two mufflers. That's because there is an exhaust leak at one of the v-bands where it wasn't seated properly. No big deal, but this leak does play into the diagnosis. During that first start up, the brand new, zero-mile steering rack decided to puke all over the floor.
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All I can say is that Detroit Axle is absolutely horrible to deal with. Do not let the lure of their lifetime warranty fool you. When I called them, they were going to do the warranty exchange, but they didn't have a unit in stock. So, they asked for two weeks to find a steering rack or I can get a 50% refund. I wasn't jazzed about either option and gave them two weeks. Two weeks later, they had no rack. I told them I wanted a full refund since their zero-mile rack failed out of the box, and they can't honor their warranty agreement. They refused and told me that I could use the other rack for the 944, which is known as the "short rack," and swap the inner tie rods. Since the rack itself is the same through all of the years, I said that was fine as long as they put it in writing that I am absolved of any wrongdoing should the rack fail after I swap the tie rods. They refused. So, I demanded a full refund. They refused. It has now been left at they are purchasing and installing the needed tie rods and then will send the rack. So, this will be a full month of aggravation just to get a warranty claim, and the hope that this new rack will not be a leaking piece of shit. So, if you are ever considering Detroit Axle for anything, steer clear. They blow.

After getting the sweet sound of victory, I let the car sit overnight while I began the process with Detroit Axle. The following day, I wanted to try and fire it up again after adjusting the tune for the injectors. The starter was now only working periodically where some times it would crank, and other times the gear wouldn't pop out and would just spin. So, I called Speedway Motors about it, and I do have to say that they are great with customer service. Though they did state that they usually don't do this because it had been so long, they gave me a full refund on the starter since they didn't have any to replace it. I sent the starter back, got my refund, and purchased a different starter from Jegs.

However, the bigger issue is that when the Speedway starter did engage, the motor wouldn't fire, and some times, it would stop cranking for a brief second. This is when I began smelling raw fuel. I noticed a puddle under the car by the fuel lines, and checked the connections I had made. One appeared a little wet, so I tightened it up. After inspecting further, I saw that the passenger side exhaust was wet, and it was wet with fuel. As it turned out, gas was running down that exhaust leak I had mentioned earlier. When I disconnected the exhaust pipe, fuel poured out. So, as it turns out, when the motor briefly stopped cranking, it wasn't due to the battery running low or the wonky starter being extra wonky; it was due to an injector leaking all of the goddamn gasoline into the cylinder causing a slight hydrolock.

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I popped the fuel rails off and found the culprit. Luckily, it was an injector for a cylinder where the spark plugs are the most easily accessed. I put the compression tester on an unaffected cylinder and got 155 PSI. I put the tester on the affected cylinder and got 160 PSI. So, it seems like the cylinder isn't hurt.

I was using Bosch 30lb injectors, the Ford part number is M-9593-BB302. This is also a Volvo injector, with a Volvo part number stamped on them, part number 9454556. So, I ordered brand new ones from FCP Euro.

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I haven't tried restarting the car since I want to get the steering rack squared away so I don't run the power steering pump dry and don't keep puking fluid onto the floor. And this is where I am at: waiting on the steering rack, which should hopefully be getting shipped out after Memorial Day.
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Desertbreh
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You have the patience of Jobe. Very cool updates. I do believe some of these issues would have just sent me over the edge.
Detroit wrote:Buy 911s instead of diamonds.
Johnny_P wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 3:21 pm Earn it and burn it, Val.
max225 wrote: Mon May 01, 2023 5:35 pm Yes it's a cool car. But prepare the lube/sawdust.
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Huckleberry
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Desertbreh wrote: Sat May 28, 2022 3:15 pm You have the patience of Jobe. Very cool updates. I do believe some of these issues would have just sent me over the edge.
I definitely stepped away from it for a little bit and just concentrated on other things.
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Huckleberry
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Well, it has been a year, and it has been quite a year. Picking up where I left off, I had numerous back-and-forth conversations with Detroit Axle about the steering rack. They were supposed to purchase inner tie rods and send me my new rack, but said that they couldn't locate new tie rods. So, they finally agreed that I would remove the existing inner tie rods from the current rack and they would cover the shipping. Once that was squared away, I received the new refurbished rack (in July, so a solid two months after starting the process), installed it, and tested it. Much to my happiness, there were no leaks.

And just to show how grand of a job Detroit Axle does, they painted the rack with the old bushings on:
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When this rack fails, I'm going to reach out to Flaming River and see what can be done. The 944 rack options are pretty non-existent.

With the rack replaced, I was left to contend with the non-releasing clutch. I had another shim made up to space the slave to the very minimum clearance the McCleod allowed. With the large adapter on the torque tube, I was only able to pull the assembly back just enough to unbolt the slave, slide it forward on the input shaft, and then bolt the shim in place. Because the input shaft was still partially in the bellhousing, I had the shim made in two halves. This made it tricky to line everything up in a tight space, and as luck would have it, I dropped a bolt into the bellhousing. After several failed attempts at trying to find the bolt, I wound up getting a borescope and having a look. Sure enough, the bastard bolt wedged itself between the bellhousing, block plate, and flywheel.

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I was finally able to get the bolt by using some grabby fingers while looking through the borescope screen, which can be a bit disorienting. Once the bolt was retrieved, I installed the new shim and bolted everything back together, and still had no release. God damn it.

And that is where the car sat for a bit, as I was less concerned with figuring out the clutch and more concerned with the birth of my daughter in August. I spent a lot of 2022 preparing for her arrival, and the past eight months have mostly been about her with the occasional getaway to the garage.

Once I was able to step back into the garage, my friend suggested that there was possibly an issue with the clutch setup since I used a Chevy flywheel and pressure plate and a Mopar clutch disc, and he said that maybe I should just get the stuff designed for the swap. So, I said, "Fuck it," and ordered the Quicktime bellhousing specific to 944 V8 swaps and the Spec Stage 2+ clutch kit for this swap. While waiting for those parts to arrive, I began pulling the old bellhousing and clutch kit out.

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The bellhousing was a bit of a pain to get out of the car. It was already bolted to the engine when I installed the whole assembly, but its bulky design was now interfering with the body as I was trying to get it around the clutch. I wound up needing to get longer crossmember bolts and lower the engine a bit just to get the clearance I needed. Once I did that, it still took some creative twisting, but the bellhousing came off.

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Just to verify, I checked the flywheel's runout, which came to .003". Perfectly acceptable.

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Once the new parts came in, I did some comparisons. You can clearly see the difference in shapes of the original bellhousing and the new Quicktime bellhousing. The Quicktime bellhousing tapers down to better fit the chassis. You can also see where the exhaust, in what little runtime the engine had, was already killing the paint on the original bellhousing.

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I ordered the lightened version of the Spec pressure plate, which uses aluminum instead of steel.
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The disc on the Stage 2+ is a similar design as the Ram's disc, where it is full-faced on one side and raised pucks on the other. It provides extra grip without really sacrificing anything on the drivability end. For a single disc clutch, I always recommend this kind of setup over the puck disc.

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I also compared the spline engagement of the Ram's disc to the Spec's, and I think Spec's disc engages the Porsche splines much better.
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Before installing the clutch and flywheel, I verified the input shaft engagement of the pilot bearing with the new bellhousing, and then measured the input shaft fore and aft of the torque tube so that I could verify it didn't move upon reinstallation.

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Of course, when I measured for the bearing clearance, I discovered that the distance from the bellhousing to the clutch fingers had been reduced... enough that my current McLeod bearing was now too tall. Looking around, I found that Tilton makes a low profile bearing, so I ordered that.

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Naturally, this bearing doesn't utilize the existing bolt holes in the bellhousing, so I had to have a 3/16" spacer made to get the bearing to the needed clearance, and then drill and tap for the new bolt holes. With the way the bellhousing tapered down, I also needed to either buy a new line with a 90* end, or drill a hole in the side of the bellhousing. I opted for the latter.

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With the larger opening, I was able to easily look in and verify my bearing gap.
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The next piece to the puzzle was getting the transaxle back in. Previously, I had to flip the trans mount and shave it down for the old setup. The new bellhousing moved things around. I had thought it would put the transaxle back to its factory position, but not quite.

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I wound up slotting the crossmember and using some square washers to get things lined up.
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With everything back together, I started the car and tested out the clutch. And still no engagement.
And I walked away again in frustration.


After taking some time away from the car, I came back and started brainstorming on what could be going on. Two different clutch setups now have the same engagement issues. I began looking at the 13/16" clutch master. I decided to order a 7/8" version. I elongated the holes and installed it. However, due to the larger bore body, I couldn't fit my socket around the nuts to secure it to the firewall. So, I had to purchase some jet nuts to get the job done.

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With the new master in, I tested the clutch again. And again, no dice. However, it seemed like the rear wheels weren't spinning as much with the clutch pressed in with the engine running as they were with the 13/16" master. So, I ordered a 15/16" bore and installed it. This time, I was able to get it into gear with the engine running as long as I wasn't on the brakes. As soon as the brake pedal was pressed, the stick would not go into gear. Subsequently, with the stick in gear, pressing on the brakes would bog the engine with the clutch pressed. At this point, I ordered both the 1" and 1 1/8" bore masters and installed the latter. I figured, if the clutch doesn't work with the 1 1/8", then it won't work with the 1". And the clutch finally released!

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Being a 1 1/8" bore, the pedal was rather stiff. So, I decided to try the 1" bore master, and the clutch worked with that one, as well. It just requires more stroke of the pedal to get the clutch to release, but the pedal effort is much lighter.

After that whole ordeal was through and the car was able to move under its own power, it was time to reinstall the hood. There was interference with the intake tube, and one small area on the alternator bracket that hit:
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So, I masked, ground, and repainted.
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And I also changed the intake to snake around the headlight armature:
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And then it was dyno time.
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The final peak numbers were 321 HP and 267 lb/ft. Not bad for 305 cubes. Looking around, it seems the drivetrain loss for the 944 is around 15-17%, which puts the crank horsepower around 370-375.

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The one issue I need to figure out is the steep power drop right at 7000 RPMs. With each of the pulls, it dropped and then held steady to 7500. It could be valve float, but the graph doesn't get erratic after the drop like valve float usually does. Plus, I am at 175lbs on the seat and 409 lbs open. The hydraulic lifters are rated to 7500, but maybe they are raising the white flag early. It could also be a flow issue, either on the intake or exhaust side. Either way, the car is tagged and driving, and I can simply shift at 7000 until the issue is figured out. The car has been on jack stands long enough, and I'd much rather enjoy it for a bit before putting it under the knife again.
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Desertbreh
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You are a complete fucking animal. That car looks GOOD, man. Congrats on your daughter.
Detroit wrote:Buy 911s instead of diamonds.
Johnny_P wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 3:21 pm Earn it and burn it, Val.
max225 wrote: Mon May 01, 2023 5:35 pm Yes it's a cool car. But prepare the lube/sawdust.
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SAWCE
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This is wild. Your perseverance is second to none. Bravo.
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Congrats on finding the car and more importantly having your daughter!

I imagine this thing is an absolute blast, that is some really good powah.
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Killer car dude. Props for sticking with it. That’s a lot of crap to work through.
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wap
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Great writeup, as usual. Grats on figuring the clutch out, and on the new :baby:

Can't wait for some driving impressions.
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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Really really :impressive: mad wrenching skills mang....
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Huckleberry
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Thanks everyone. It definitely felt great driving the car for the first time and getting it through inspection. Right now, I'm just going through and checking that things don't loosen up.

I have a new cat to weld in. The next thing I am going to look at for the power drop-off are the 5/16" pushrods and replace them with tapered pieces, which should help with any sort of harmonics that may be happening.

One thing I have noticed is that the gas pedal is recessed much deeper than the brake pedal, which makes it difficult to heel-toe. It looks like a company makes an adjustable gas pedal, so I may go that route.
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Huckleberry wrote: Sun May 14, 2023 9:58 pm Thanks everyone. It definitely felt great driving the car for the first time and getting it through inspection. Right now, I'm just going through and checking that things don't loosen up.

I have a new cat to weld in. The next thing I am going to look at for the power drop-off are the 5/16" pushrods and replace them with tapered pieces, which should help with any sort of harmonics that may be happening.

One thing I have noticed is that the gas pedal is recessed much deeper than the brake pedal, which makes it difficult to heel-toe. It looks like a company makes an adjustable gas pedal, so I may go that route.
Yeah but how does it DRIVE? 944 handling perfection + the sound of god?
Detroit wrote:Buy 911s instead of diamonds.
Johnny_P wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 3:21 pm Earn it and burn it, Val.
max225 wrote: Mon May 01, 2023 5:35 pm Yes it's a cool car. But prepare the lube/sawdust.
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wap
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Desertbreh wrote: Sun May 14, 2023 10:16 pm
Huckleberry wrote: Sun May 14, 2023 9:58 pm Thanks everyone. It definitely felt great driving the car for the first time and getting it through inspection. Right now, I'm just going through and checking that things don't loosen up.

I have a new cat to weld in. The next thing I am going to look at for the power drop-off are the 5/16" pushrods and replace them with tapered pieces, which should help with any sort of harmonics that may be happening.

One thing I have noticed is that the gas pedal is recessed much deeper than the brake pedal, which makes it difficult to heel-toe. It looks like a company makes an adjustable gas pedal, so I may go that route.
Yeah but how does it DRIVE? 944 handling perfection + the sound of god?
:dat: :dat: :popcorn:
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
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Huckleberry
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Desertbreh wrote: Sun May 14, 2023 10:16 pm
Huckleberry wrote: Sun May 14, 2023 9:58 pm Thanks everyone. It definitely felt great driving the car for the first time and getting it through inspection. Right now, I'm just going through and checking that things don't loosen up.

I have a new cat to weld in. The next thing I am going to look at for the power drop-off are the 5/16" pushrods and replace them with tapered pieces, which should help with any sort of harmonics that may be happening.

One thing I have noticed is that the gas pedal is recessed much deeper than the brake pedal, which makes it difficult to heel-toe. It looks like a company makes an adjustable gas pedal, so I may go that route.
Yeah but how does it DRIVE? 944 handling perfection + the sound of god?
On the highway, she does really well. I opted for the S2 trans instead of the Turbo trans for the steeper rear gear ratio, and I'm happy that the aggressive gearing keeps her in the engine's preferred RPM range. At 80 MPH, she's turning a hair under 3500 in 5th.

In terms of ripping around the backroads, I haven't gotten there yet. I want to make sure everything feels snug before I start really ripping on it. You know when you change brake pads or something and you are wondering in the back of your mind if you tightened that one bolt? It's kind of like that right now, but for the whole car.
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Huckleberry wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 1:43 pm
Desertbreh wrote: Sun May 14, 2023 10:16 pm

Yeah but how does it DRIVE? 944 handling perfection + the sound of god?
On the highway, she does really well. I opted for the S2 trans instead of the Turbo trans for the steeper rear gear ratio, and I'm happy that the aggressive gearing keeps her in the engine's preferred RPM range. At 80 MPH, she's turning a hair under 3500 in 5th.

In terms of ripping around the backroads, I haven't gotten there yet. I want to make sure everything feels snug before I start really ripping on it. You know when you change brake pads or something and you are wondering in the back of your mind if you tightened that one bolt? It's kind of like that right now, but for the whole car.
This build is great not sure how i missed till now. 3500 seems like a lot for a big v8 on the highway? but wont be a thing since i assume this car wont be for that kind of thing anyway
Desertbreh wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 4:28 pm I'm happy for Brad because nobody jerks it to the Miata harder on this forum and that is the Crown Prince of Miatas.
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golftdibrad1 wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 2:48 pm
Huckleberry wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 1:43 pm

On the highway, she does really well. I opted for the S2 trans instead of the Turbo trans for the steeper rear gear ratio, and I'm happy that the aggressive gearing keeps her in the engine's preferred RPM range. At 80 MPH, she's turning a hair under 3500 in 5th.

In terms of ripping around the backroads, I haven't gotten there yet. I want to make sure everything feels snug before I start really ripping on it. You know when you change brake pads or something and you are wondering in the back of your mind if you tightened that one bolt? It's kind of like that right now, but for the whole car.
This build is great not sure how i missed till now. 3500 seems like a lot for a big v8 on the highway? but wont be a thing since i assume this car wont be for that kind of thing anyway
There is an Audi 5th gear that can be installed that drops 5th down from .78 to .68, but I think it is becoming scarce to find. There are also parts coming out to swap in Audi FWD 6 speed boxes like the 01E and 01X, Aside from the exhaust noise, though, cruising at that RPM may not be too bad due to the cam's efficiency being higher in the RPM range. But time will certainly tell and I can recalibrate if needed.
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Huckleberry wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 1:43 pm
Desertbreh wrote: Sun May 14, 2023 10:16 pm

Yeah but how does it DRIVE? 944 handling perfection + the sound of god?
On the highway, she does really well. I opted for the S2 trans instead of the Turbo trans for the steeper rear gear ratio, and I'm happy that the aggressive gearing keeps her in the engine's preferred RPM range. At 80 MPH, she's turning a hair under 3500 in 5th.

In terms of ripping around the backroads, I haven't gotten there yet. I want to make sure everything feels snug before I start really ripping on it. You know when you change brake pads or something and you are wondering in the back of your mind if you tightened that one bolt? It's kind of like that right now, but for the whole car.
Yeah there are some tight clearances in that thing.
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Johnny_P wrote: Thu Feb 09, 2023 3:21 pm Earn it and burn it, Val.
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golftdibrad1 wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 2:48 pm
Huckleberry wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 1:43 pm

On the highway, she does really well. I opted for the S2 trans instead of the Turbo trans for the steeper rear gear ratio, and I'm happy that the aggressive gearing keeps her in the engine's preferred RPM range. At 80 MPH, she's turning a hair under 3500 in 5th.

In terms of ripping around the backroads, I haven't gotten there yet. I want to make sure everything feels snug before I start really ripping on it. You know when you change brake pads or something and you are wondering in the back of your mind if you tightened that one bolt? It's kind of like that right now, but for the whole car.
This build is great not sure how i missed till now. 3500 seems like a lot for a big v8 on the highway? but wont be a thing since i assume this car wont be for that kind of thing anyway
I'm sure it doesn't need that many revs to cruise but assuming this car is all about fun I would personally be :aintcare: Seems like the ratios would really add to the :lolol: factor. I remember driving :melon: 's C5 with the 4.10 rear end and man, that was a hoot.

Glad to hear everything is working so far, I would proceed with caution at first as well. Hell, I've built/rebuilt a couple of bicycles and even with that which is like 1/100 of the moving pieces, I was mighty cautious the first couple of rides.
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golftdibrad1
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Huckleberry wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 8:37 pm
golftdibrad1 wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 2:48 pm

This build is great not sure how i missed till now. 3500 seems like a lot for a big v8 on the highway? but wont be a thing since i assume this car wont be for that kind of thing anyway
There is an Audi 5th gear that can be installed that drops 5th down from .78 to .68, but I think it is becoming scarce to find. There are also parts coming out to swap in Audi FWD 6 speed boxes like the 01E and 01X, Aside from the exhaust noise, though, cruising at that RPM may not be too bad due to the cam's efficiency being higher in the RPM range. But time will certainly tell and I can recalibrate if needed.
awesome, saw you were planning on doing a swap to LSD transaxle later in life anyway, so you have some time to find one. I'm sure its out there sitting in a scrapyard trans somewhere.

Congrats on getting to this point. Its a ton of work you've done and a great result.
Desertbreh wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 4:28 pm I'm happy for Brad because nobody jerks it to the Miata harder on this forum and that is the Crown Prince of Miatas.
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golftdibrad1 wrote: Tue May 16, 2023 7:01 am
Huckleberry wrote: Mon May 15, 2023 8:37 pm

There is an Audi 5th gear that can be installed that drops 5th down from .78 to .68, but I think it is becoming scarce to find. There are also parts coming out to swap in Audi FWD 6 speed boxes like the 01E and 01X, Aside from the exhaust noise, though, cruising at that RPM may not be too bad due to the cam's efficiency being higher in the RPM range. But time will certainly tell and I can recalibrate if needed.
awesome, saw you were planning on doing a swap to LSD transaxle later in life anyway, so you have some time to find one. I'm sure its out there sitting in a scrapyard trans somewhere.

Congrats on getting to this point. Its a ton of work you've done and a great result.
There is a shop down in Maryland that specializes in rebuilding these transaxles, so my plan is to send it down there this winter for a refresh, as long as pricing isn't astronomical.

Thanks, it took longer than I had hoped, but that's usually how these things go, and a lot of life shit transpired during this project.
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I decided to take her out for a spin last night on some twisty back roads, and the car is an absolute riot to rip around the curves. Considering that I used junkyard Koni struts because they had the 200lb NLA Weltmeister springs I wanted and the Koni shocks that came with the car, and I know I added weight to the nose of the car with the iron block and hydroboost, she felt very balanced and controlled. Having her rip around a curve screaming at 6000 RPMs is definitely a hoot.

Unfortunately, the fun was cut short when the hydraulic release bearing decided to puke fluid all over the ground. No clutch. No go. I called Grundy to get a tow, and much to my surprise, they told me they can't schedule a tow after hours. :wat:

Luckily, my friend was able to come and flat-towed me home. Now I just need to get things apart and see what the hell happened.
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Huckleberry wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 9:23 am I decided to take her out for a spin last night on some twisty back roads, and the car is an absolute riot to rip around the curves. Considering that I used junkyard Koni struts because they had the 200lb NLA Weltmeister springs I wanted and the Koni shocks that came with the car, and I know I added weight to the nose of the car with the iron block and hydroboost, she felt very balanced and controlled. Having her rip around a curve screaming at 6000 RPMs is definitely a hoot.

Unfortunately, the fun was cut short when the hydraulic release bearing decided to puke fluid all over the ground. No clutch. No go. I called Grundy to get a tow, and much to my surprise, they told me they can't schedule a tow after hours. :wat:

Luckily, my friend was able to come and flat-towed me home. Now I just need to get things apart and see what the hell happened.
Dang.
From :fuckyeah: to :(
I'm sure you'll get it sorted out pronto and will be beating on it again soon.

In4pics on the road.
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