The Manhattan Project

Ongoing and archived Porsche (and other marques) restoration threads from DDK members

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AndrewSlater
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by AndrewSlater »

I finally got a fairly dry day on Sunday, so it was time to give the car a test run.

The plan was to take if for a short drive to get the engine temps up, check my mods to the oil level sender had worked whilst topping the oil up, reset the idle CO level and take it for a spirited run.

On the warm-up trip the engine pulled really well even from cold and drove much better than I've previously had. No sign of a flutter in the 2K-3K range!


As part of the oil level sender modification, I'd drained just over a litre of oil out of the oil tank, to allow me to reintroduce the oil slowly to check the gauge.
With the level just under minimum the gauge showed in the red, at a third between the min and max on the dipstick the gauge showed a third the way between red and max.
Finalising the oil level to halfway between min and max the gauge shows halfway.
Image
Result - much better!


I next checked the CO level at idle with my Gunson, and it appeared quite high, so despite the car running well I quickly tweaked it down.
Back out on the road the driveability had worsened and it felt to be running too lean. A quick check with the Gunson again and the CO level measured very low this time.
I think I'd not left the Gunson to warm up long enough when I made the first adjustment and should have probably left well alone when it was running so well.

Oh well - A further tweak and it ran better but I ran out of time in the day to dial it in further.

Image

I think it suggests that the correct fuel pressures have made a big difference and that I just need to fine tune the mixture now to getting it running 100%.
One for another dry weekend.

Another issue to add to the list is one I spotted quite some time ago but that I keep forgetting to fix.

I would find that on some instances after applying the handbrake the engine idle would unexplicably rise.
I soon realised that the handbrake gaiter is somehow fouling with the hand throttle and moving it. Despite tightening the hand throttle lever to make it hard to move the effect still happens.
When I first stripped my car I noticed that the gaiter had two 'tears' lengthening the slot on both the hand throttle and heater lever sides. I'd assumed these had torn over the years through use and so bought a brand new gaitor ( free of tears ).
I'm now wondering if the tears were in fact a modification to stop the same problem happening when new. If I can't think of a better solution I'll add a cut to the hand throttle side to try to fix this.


The final item on the snagging list is that my gearlever knob keeps falling off during brisk driving. I'm guessing there is some technique to fitting it with the supplied retaining ring, so that's something else to research.

Oh well - there's always a snagging list.
1966 Porsche 912 Slate Grey, red interior - first owner owned for 41 years
1974 Porsche 911 2.7 (The Manhattan project) viewtopic.php?f=28&t=51455
1973 VW 914 1.7 Olympic Blue - ( gone to a good home )
Gary71
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by Gary71 »

So nearly there, that’s not a bad snagging list for a full rebuild!
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AndrewSlater
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by AndrewSlater »

The car hasn't had much use yet this year. I had planned to take it to the Greatworth swapmeet back in March, but decided to take the Cayman instead.

If only I'd known that would have been one of the last opportunities to drive it for a very long time. Missed opportunity :roll:
Mind you the Cayman drove OK.
Image
Whilst there I managed to purchase a pair of RHD H4 European style headlights.
Image
I think it was the fire damage that drew me to them.

So last weekend after sourcing new chromed rings and bulbs, the lights were scrubbed up and rebuilt and the 911 was 'upgraded' to a European style face.
Bye bye sugar scoops!

Image
1966 Porsche 912 Slate Grey, red interior - first owner owned for 41 years
1974 Porsche 911 2.7 (The Manhattan project) viewtopic.php?f=28&t=51455
1973 VW 914 1.7 Olympic Blue - ( gone to a good home )
911hillclimber
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by 911hillclimber »

Looks a lot lot lot better too!
What a sunny colour. :drunken:
73T 911 Coupe, road/hillclimber 3.2L
Lola t 492 / 3.2 hillclimb racer
Boxster 987 Gen II 2.9
jjeffries
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by jjeffries »

I'm glad you didn't backdate it. Such a handsome example, amazing color. John
sladey
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by sladey »

Nice work - I’m not a scoops fan
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young but I'm just backdated yeah
Dougieboy1
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by Dougieboy1 »

that looks really really good. I said it before and i will say it again, fantastic colour. One of my favourites for a 911.
1972 911S
1944 VW Schwimmwagen (originally a Porsche typ128, eventually VW166)
A bunch of other crap (according to my wife)
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by lamakdaddy »

Great to catch up on this thread.

I finished my 72 T and need to add some photographs.

I also have a 77 Targa sat in the US and I would like to use it as a base to modify and have some fun.

Changing the interior to black was a great move BTW. Looks great.
1972 911 T (USA)
2014 Porsche Cayenne S
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by Cortina »

AndrewSlater wrote:I finally got a fairly dry day on Sunday, so it was time to give the car a test run.

The plan was to take if for a short drive to get the engine temps up, check my mods to the oil level sender had worked whilst topping the oil up, reset the idle CO level and take it for a spirited run.

On the warm-up trip the engine pulled really well even from cold and drove much better than I've previously had. No sign of a flutter in the 2K-3K range!


As part of the oil level sender modification, I'd drained just over a litre of oil out of the oil tank, to allow me to reintroduce the oil slowly to check the gauge.
With the level just under minimum the gauge showed in the red, at a third between the min and max on the dipstick the gauge showed a third the way between red and max.
Finalising the oil level to halfway between min and max the gauge shows halfway.
Image
Result - much better!


I next checked the CO level at idle with my Gunson, and it appeared quite high, so despite the car running well I quickly tweaked it down.
Back out on the road the driveability had worsened and it felt to be running too lean. A quick check with the Gunson again and the CO level measured very low this time.
I think I'd not left the Gunson to warm up long enough when I made the first adjustment and should have probably left well alone when it was running so well.

Oh well - A further tweak and it ran better but I ran out of time in the day to dial it in further.

Image

I think it suggests that the correct fuel pressures have made a big difference and that I just need to fine tune the mixture now to getting it running 100%.
One for another dry weekend.

Another issue to add to the list is one I spotted quite some time ago but that I keep forgetting to fix.

I would find that on some instances after applying the handbrake the engine idle would unexplicably rise.
I soon realised that the handbrake gaiter is somehow fouling with the hand throttle and moving it. Despite tightening the hand throttle lever to make it hard to move the effect still happens.
When I first stripped my car I noticed that the gaiter had two 'tears' lengthening the slot on both the hand throttle and heater lever sides. I'd assumed these had torn over the years through use and so bought a brand new gaitor ( free of tears ).
I'm now wondering if the tears were in fact a modification to stop the same problem happening when new. If I can't think of a better solution I'll add a cut to the hand throttle side to try to fix this.


The final item on the snagging list is that my gearlever knob keeps falling off during brisk driving. I'm guessing there is some technique to fitting it with the supplied retaining ring, so that's something else to research.

Oh well - there's always a snagging list.
Aggghhh .... a photo of one of my "Pet Hates"

What ??

A container of oil sitting about (in this case outside ... which is worse !) with a wide open top.
Little bits of grit get blown about in the air ... usually they land somewhere ..... the rest I'll let you work out for yourselves.

(Gurn over .................)
(Apologies if it has a top on it ... but the photo looks like it's open )
Royal Enfield .. still in India
GL 1800 Tour DCT, for pleasure / Fantic 240 Professional - play
Rally 911 (1966) build parked for a while
Rally 928 (work started again - inc serious weight loss programe !)
.... and now another VW Up GTI owner.
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AndrewSlater
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by AndrewSlater »

Since finishing the car ( is it ever finished? ), I'd been considering a pair of Coco mats. The other day a pair of Jaspe (Calico) ones turned up on eBay so I decided to buy them.

Image[/url]

First impressions are they lighten up the interior a bit, and the orange and black content seems to go well with the car.

Image[/url]
1966 Porsche 912 Slate Grey, red interior - first owner owned for 41 years
1974 Porsche 911 2.7 (The Manhattan project) viewtopic.php?f=28&t=51455
1973 VW 914 1.7 Olympic Blue - ( gone to a good home )
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by Gary71 »

Looks great, 70s hippy vibe suits the colour scheme
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AndrewSlater
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by AndrewSlater »

Thanks Gary as a 70's child the vibe definitely suits me!
1966 Porsche 912 Slate Grey, red interior - first owner owned for 41 years
1974 Porsche 911 2.7 (The Manhattan project) viewtopic.php?f=28&t=51455
1973 VW 914 1.7 Olympic Blue - ( gone to a good home )
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AndrewSlater
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by AndrewSlater »

As I have never been 100% confident that the fuel mixture was quite right, despite adjusting to a CO level on my trusty Gunson exhaust analyser, I eventually took the plunge and bought an Innovate Motorsport LM2 Air/Fuel Mixture analyser.
Here it is.

Image

The rebuilt engine has got enough miles on it now to perform a valve adjustment, so the plan is to complete that, fit new spark plugs and give the AFR meter a proper go.
I bought the better LSU4.9 sensor and also the Innovate exhaust clamp as my exhaust has no bungs for sensors. General concensus is that the meters tend to show a little lean in this configuration at low rpm as there isn't enough exhaust pressure to keep some air from re-entering the exhaust.


I briefly run the car static with the meter, but the higher RPM figures all looked lean to me.

14:7 at idle ( could be OK )
15.4 at 2000 rpm
17.6 at 3000 rpm
18.3 at 4000 rpm
19.0 at 5000 rpm

I'm not sure the readings mean much off-load so will try again after the valve adjustment.

Anyone know what figures I should be aiming for?

I was thinking the rich side of 14.7 from idle, with maybe 13.5 at wide open throttle (WOT).
Obviously I only have one adjustment so can only choose a setting with the best compromise of AFR across the range.

Any thoughts?
1966 Porsche 912 Slate Grey, red interior - first owner owned for 41 years
1974 Porsche 911 2.7 (The Manhattan project) viewtopic.php?f=28&t=51455
1973 VW 914 1.7 Olympic Blue - ( gone to a good home )
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by Nine One One »

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AndrewSlater
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Re: The Manhattan Project

Post by AndrewSlater »

Thanks for the links Ian.

There seem to be a lot of discussions on Pelican about AFR that all seem to end without a conclusion but no definitive answers. I think I need to log some real world data after I redone the valve clearances and see where I am at. I was thinking of making some adapter to funnel/speed up the exhaust gases to get better measurements. Sounds easy but probably difficult to make.
1966 Porsche 912 Slate Grey, red interior - first owner owned for 41 years
1974 Porsche 911 2.7 (The Manhattan project) viewtopic.php?f=28&t=51455
1973 VW 914 1.7 Olympic Blue - ( gone to a good home )
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