New POS project vehicle!

[ILikeMud]

When's it out of the body shop?
Zermatt doesn't look too bad.

My car is pretty much stock again....facking winter.

[CurtP]

I picked it up last Friday. I've started putting it back together, but the weather hasn't been cooperating - nothing but rain all this week and I haven't been able to get pictures of the progress. The exterior is mostly back together - hatch is on (but needs to come back off), the nose is back together and all the body panels have been lined up. I have the new seals and weatherstripping in the driver's side door, but not the passenger side. I had Safelite come out to replace the windshield just to find out that what they have is the exact brand/model as to what was already in the car. The guy was awesome though - he looked it over, we talked about it and he wanted to do an experiment. We cut out the glass that was already installed, ripped out all the old urethane down to the bare pinch weld and applied a slightly wider weatherstripping to the edge of the glass. It looked pretty good, so we pulled it back out, he glued the weatherstripping to the glass (so it wouldn't pull off), primed the glass, primed the pinch weld and laid down new urethane. I wish I had taken pictures of him doing it - he was amazing. It looks perfect - the only thing that you can tell is different is the wider trim and you wouldn't know it unless you were familiar with the 951. It cost me $50 for him to reinstall the windshield and I'll be giving him a call when I get the hatch apart so it can be reinstalled too.

I had applied a new Porsche sticker across the back of the car, then realized that it was crooked on one side and I couldn't pull it back off without destroying it. It got destroyed. I'll have to order another one on my next parts order. Now I'm debating on the rear badge that goes on the passenger side. It originally had "turbo", but I'm thinking about putting "951" in its place. Or maybe put the "951" in the middle of the panel instead. I just can't make up my mind.

As for the Zermatt Silver - it's beautiful, IMO. I absolutely love it and think it looks so much better than the Diamond Blue Metallic. It's actually a pearlescent paint, not a metallic. I guess that explains the color shift. I posted what new pictures I have on my site. New pictures start here: http://www.geek-racing.com/Site/Pors...y_work.html#45

Here's a couple of pictures:

[CurtP]

Making a little progress. A couple of pictures:





Looks kind of strange without any emblems on the back. I have a new "turbo" emblem to put on, but I'm thinking about putting "951" on it instead.

[ILikeMud]

I like badgeless personally. Coming together nice though man.

I'm picking up my new brakes tomorrow and possibly a hair drier later in the week

[ELLLLLIOTTTTT]

This thing is wicked man! Is there a way to paint the rear orange signals red to match the rest of the tail light? It would look alot cleaner IMO.

[MuddyV8ZJ]

Sweet! When are we going to see some pics of it out at VIR?

[CurtP]

I like badgeless personally. Coming together nice though man.

I'm picking up my new brakes tomorrow and possibly a hair drier later in the week

I have to put something back there. I'm very partial to the lower "Porsche" sticker that goes all the way across the back right above the bumper. I have both the "turbo" and "951" emblems - I just haven't decided which one it will be yet.

Did you pick up a turbo kit?

This thing is wicked man! Is there a way to paint the rear orange signals red to match the rest of the tail light? It would look alot cleaner IMO.

Some people paint the lenses with Testers model paint. I kind of like the factory tail lights - it looks like an old Volvo

New tail lights are on their way. No plans on doing anything to them though. Maybe at a later date, but I just want to get it back together!

Sweet! When are we going to see some pics of it out at VIR?

Maybe next season. I had hoped to have it back together by now, but it's still in pieces. I started putting the interior wiring harness back in this last weekend and it's quite a chore. I'm still not completely done with the harness either. I still have a few wires to replace and terminate the radio connection. Weather just hasn't been cooperating here. Once I get the harness sorted, I still need to strip out the rest of the old sound deadener and start installing all the new stuff.

[ILikeMud]

I have to put something back there. I'm very partial to the lower "Porsche" sticker that goes all the way across the back right above the bumper. I have both the "turbo" and "951" emblems - I just haven't decided which one it will be yet.

Did you pick up a turbo kit?

Call me crazy but I dig the badgeless look on a Porsche, it's a fucking Porsche, it don't need no stinkin' badges!

I had a line on a kit but it feel through, ah well. Still hunting for a good deal.

[CurtP]

SHE FUCKING RUNS! No new pictures - it looks about the same. The harness is in, now it's time to finish removing the rest of the original sound deadener and install the new stuff. I brought the foam isolator in the house to warm up enough to be worked. I still have to figure out what's going on with the passenger side mirror - all new harness and it still doesn't work right. Has to be either wired incorrectly in the plug, a broken wire in the door harness or a broken wire in the mirror motor.

I tried the 951 numbers on the back and it looked like shit. I didn't like it without something, so it currently only has the "turbo" emblem on it. It hasn't been warm enough to apply the Porsche decal.

[CurtP]

Progress! We've had great weather for the last few days, so I've been taking advantage of it as much as possible. I'd have been further along if it weren't for women drama - too much of that bullshit.

New dampener and isolator is installed, and the carpet is going in tomorrow (as long as it isn't raining). I laid out some of the carpet this afternoon to check fitment.

B-Quiet Ultimate on the floorboards and hump. I already have the isolator laying over the hump in this picture:


Isolator installed. Originally, there wasn't any isolator under the seat or on the rear floorboards:


I even replaced the isolator behind where the side panels go. There's some dampener under the isolator (there originally wasn't):


Other side:


Cutting board:


Yes, that's plywood. It's original. The two computers are installed under it:


View from rear of vehicle:



No, I haven't touched the hatch area. I'm going to have to order more isolator. I don't think I'm going to remove the original deadener either. My main focus has been the main cabin.

[Sporer65]

Not surprised at all to see some plywood in a Porsche. Corvettes still use balsa wood in their floors and have been since at least 97, maybe sooner.

[ILikeMud]

Nice man.

I want to put some of the B Quiet in my car this spring. Thing is friggin loud.

[CanadaDry]

Another gorgeous ride, she is coming along nicely. I still wish your 5.9 would have been up for sale 2 years ago when I was ready to buy I definately would have made the trip for her. Good luck with the baby momma drama

[CurtP]

Nothing like a new dent in your fresh body work to put a damper on your day. Wind caught the passenger side door and smacked it against the neighbor's fence post. It's not bad, but just enough to piss you off. I'll have to have PDW come out to see if they can work it out. If not, not that big of a deal - I'm sure I'll be trashing the body work soon enough on the track.

As always, progress is slow. The carpet for the front and rear seats is in, but that shit fought me the entire way. The carpet I'm using is wool and can't be heat set so trying to work it to shape is a pain in the balls. A couple of places I'm not entirely happy with, but I'm expecting perfection. I just don't think it can happen. I still need to install the carpet in the hatch area, but I still need some more sound isolator and spray carpet adhesive.

Things would be moving along faster, but since my company decided to lay everyone off and close their doors, I've been busy with the job search and interviews.

A couple of pictures:

Carpet down - for the most part.


Front seats mounted, dash is set in place, but not bolted down.

[2jeepsforus]

Looking good so far... I like checking in on this, keep the updates coming

[WJJEEPIN]

That is one NICE POS project vehicle. Might have to change the name to Purdy Project Vehicle.

[CurtP]

Spent the weekend working on the car. The dash is in and back together, minus the gauge bezel. Center console is in too. After all this work, I still have a couple of electrical issues - the passenger side mirror goes down and in, but not up and out (same problem as before I replaced the harness). The sunroof goes down, but not up (this is a new issue). I'm pretty sure the problem with the mirror is on the mirror itself, since the main harness and the door harness have both been replaced. I'm fairly confident that the sunroof problem is in the back where the harness connector plugs onto the motor. I'll dig out the wiring schematics tonight and compare the '86 harness to the '87.

I actually drove it last night too! The seatbelts aren't back in yet and I need to trace out the connections to the cooling fan ballast resistors, but I'm really close to getting this back on the road again. Between the airbags, sound deadener, carpet, lighter harness, etc, I'm pretty confident that I've dropped close to 100# off this thing. I'll gain some of it back when I finish putting the rest of the interior together, but I expect at least a 60# reduction. The factory carpet and sound deadener was *very* heavy.

Unfortunately I did not get pictures last night - it was too dark by the time I was done. I'll try to get pictures tonight if I get home at a decent hour.

And the new TurboSmart dual-port bypass valve sounds pretty good. I know, kind of ricer-ish, but under normal driving conditions, it's quiet. At least it doesn't make that annoying fluttering noise. Just a "whoosh" until it closes. I can make it into either a full bypass or a full BOV too, depending on which side I install the plug.

[DJJordache]

now you just need a duck call!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbNxugO-uf0
100% RR free!

[CurtP]

now you just need a duck call!

Thought about doing that, but we didn't have much success on a buddy's car, but his turbo is honking huge.

New pictures are up, and I've redone my website to show some pictures of my Formula and ZJ. I don't have any recent pictures of the 'Bird though - I'm no longer running the Electromotive SDI or shorty headers. www.geek-racing.com

Bypass valve:


Dash mostly done:


Rennline pedals installed:

[CurtP]

Moar!







Of course, I can't seem to ever make much forward progress. I've driven it a couple of times and it's been falling flat on its face between 1750 - 2100 RPM. If I hit that range while driving, it feels like the engine cuts off - no power, no acceleration, no anything. Once I rev it past 2100 RPM, she's fine. I wasn't sure what to expect, but she ran fine (for the most part anyway) before I tore it apart, and the wiring harness I replaced didn't touch the engine or the computer harnesses. I figured I'd check out the TPS - the seals wear on the TB over time and dry out letting oil blow into the TPS, messing them up. So I took it apart and it was clean - thankfully, because I just tore the TB apart and rebuilt it not too long ago. Looking at the TPS closer, there's a microswitch in there that tells the computers when you're at idle. The plunger on the microswitch is stuck, so it never comes off the idle program (which kicks off around 1750 RPM). $91 at AutoZone, and it's not in stock. I'm calling the Porsche dealership today to see how much a OEM one will cost. One online vendor I found has it for $140, but they're known to be high and it doesn't say if it's OEM (Bosch) or an aftermarket one. If a new TPS fixes it, I think that will be the cheapest fix I've ever done to this car!

[ELLLLLIOTTTTT]

Who cares if it doesn't run. It looks sexy enough just sitting.

Out of curiosity, where are the window switches?

[CurtP]

That's all I need - another static display. The Formula is that job just fine holding down the floor of my garage in IL. Damn, I miss driving that car too, but for different reasons.

The window switches are on the doors, right above the speakers. That's where the mirror adjustment knob is too, but the switch that changes between the driver/passenger mirrors is on the center console

When I had the harness apart, I almost pulled the wires back from the doors to relocate the window switches to the center console. I wasn't sure how I was going to blank off the holes in the doors though, so I left them where they were.

Speaking of the harness, I can't find my alarm bypass plug and it's annoying the hell out of me. I know I took it off the original harness and put it someplace specific so I wouldn't lose it. I swear it's like I'm missing a box of screws/parts to put this thing back together

[SuicideTireZJ]

5 Months and no update? Where ya at on the POS?

[DJJordache]

yeah where you been Curt?

[CurtP]

yeah where you been Curt?

Trying to get through a really rough time in my life. Just seems like everything bad keeps coming my way. Still having ongoing GF issues and I'm growing tired of being alone all the time (she lives 4 hours away). My last grandparent passed away a couple of months ago and a few weeks ago one of my rescued Rhodesian Ridgebacks had to be put down (who was in FL with the ex-GF's parents, so I didn't even get to say goodbye). Selling the 5.9 was one of my biggest mistakes that I'm sure I'll regret forever (just like I regret getting rid of my BMW). The Formula is now here with me in VA, but put away in storage until spring. I haven't hit the dirt since I sold the 5.9 and seeing pictures being posted of it from the new owner is too depressing for me. AND that asshat Nick still owes me for the damaged trim pieces from two years ago. I've already come to terms that I'll never see that money again. He stopped responding to my emails about a year ago. Now I'm getting similar treatment from another guy who is supposed to be sending me interior pieces for the 951 that I've already paid for.

So basically, I hate my life and am presently only just existing from day to day.



As for the 951 - it was running great. I was using it as my daily driver for a while. I'm now on my 4th windshield - the aftermarket one that was in it was broken while I was gone to my grandmother's funeral in IL. The roommate chucked a 3" wide ratchet strap over the load in the bed of his truck and the hook landed right on the glass. He replaced it with another piece of Chinese glass and it was a horrible job. The whole thing was distorted, and it was set too deep in the body and the guy got cold-set urethane everywhere. I couldn't live with it, so I called my glass guy and had him install the correct embedded antenna Sekurit glass. He did a great job and it looks fantastic.

I'm on my 3rd steering wheel. I ripped out the power steering and installed a brand new OEM manual rack. The 350mm steering wheel was too small in diameter and made driving the car a PITA. So I went to a 360mm Momo Retro. Better, but still not quite right, and the grip was too small. Found a NIB 360mm Momo wheel from 1991 on eBay from a seller in Italy. Overall, I'm happy with it and can now actually turn the wheels in a parking lot.

About a month ago, I decided to change to a set of stock heat range spark plugs since it was getting cooler out. What ended up happening was a piece of steel made its way into #4 cylinder through the spark plug hole and damaged the piston, pushed up the head enough to leak coolant into the cylinder. So currently the head is off (just came back from the machine shop), I'm gathering the parts needed to put it back together and I'm about to send off a bunch of nuts, bolts, washers and heat shields off to get zinc plated. I've been toying with the idea of dropping an LSx motor into this thing and calling it a day, but I really do like the idea of keeping it all Porsche.

Pictures forthcoming.