Re: A Dream Fulfilled - MY 904FF
Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:38 am
I am amazed to find that it has been two years since the last post on this thread and thought some of you might be interested in what has been going on in the interim.
The cable change mechanism mentioned before was finally made up and fitted and after a couple of iterations it was working better than the rod change but was anything but foolproof. It was all too easy for it not to work and to find no or the wrong gear. It was particularly bad coming from 2nd to 1st and this led to us thinking that the dog teeth on 1st were not up to scratch. This resulted in a new dog tooth ring being fitted and the inevitable trip to Mike Bainbridge to remove the ring and fit a new one. This helped but was still liable to error. The next thing to try and help was to manufacture a gate and fit that to a housing around the Boxster shift to give a positive position for the shift lever. Slightly better but still anything but perfect.
Whilst we were working to get round this the engine developed an intermittant misfire. You were never sure how many horses would turn up on a day or even on any particular run. Everything on the ignition side was changed from plugs,plug leads, points, condensor and distibutor cap. We checked the distributor operation, altered timing but to no avail. The misfire would come and go and of course Sod's law would apply - engine fine then gear shift would be crap and vice versa. Total frustration!
Finally the FF was taken to Mike Stewat in Errol who finally discovered that the fault was the wire from the points to the condensor was shorting on the distributor body. Of course, you could not see that when the cap was on but Mike had been brought up on VW and had seen the same problem before.
In other words the points had not been fitted correctly. Mea Culpa!
This resulted in 8 clean runs at Bo'ness in September but still the gearchange was not precise eńough. However all the runs without tearing something apart was a new experience.
In one of the trips to Mike I mentioned that years ago I had bought a 911T 2.0 engine in parts in a number of boxes and that had sat on the mezzanine in my garage for the last 10 years. Mike suggested that I brought it down to him to have a look at.
Even on one of the few good runs at Shelsley Walsh it became clear even to me that there was not enough power. The run up the hill was without drama to the Esses and the perceived wisdom was that SW was a power hill and 200HP/ton was required. My engine produced just under 120HP on the Aldon rolling road so with the FF weighing 740kgs that equated to roughly 150HP/ton. More power was required!
On looking over the engine parts, Mike was of the opinion that the engine could be built up into a 150HP unit with new pistons etc but the "T" spec was not the best base to be used with its cast crank etc. We finally came to an agreement that the T would be used as part exchange against a 2.4S engine built up on 7R cases but with E cams for torque. Using the original Weber carbs, Mike thought that it would give 200HP ay 7000+ revs. Since the gearchange was still problem, Mike suggested that the gearbox be converted to 4 close ratios with sideshift rather than the tailshift. So that was the plan and both units would be available this winter ( now hopefully January).
Since we were moving house from Scotland to Lincolnshire at the beginning of Setember for all the usual reasons at our age of downsizing and to be nearer the family, it was obvious that I would not have the time, space or facilities to do the the engine swop on my own. So on the Monday after Bo'ness the car was trailered down to George Laycock in Norton for the old engine to be removed and the space to be checked with a dummy engine that Mike had provided. We thought that a couple of tubes in the chassis might have to be moved but that and new engine mountings would be all that was required. Even after 60 years working on cars, I have still not learned what looks simple never turns out that way.
When the 6 cylinder dummy was fitted besides having to cut out chassis tubes and insert others to maintain rigidity, we had a major "Oh shite" moment when it became clear that the radius rods running forward from the rear uprights to the rear bulkhead were in the same space as the engine. What to do now? We realised that the only practical solution was to retain the same suspension geometry and convert to rear wishbones. The chassis mods and the new wishbones were made by Andy Lockwood of Lockwood Fabs who works with George and produces the most exquisite TIG welds. Since the FF was up on a rotator, when the bottom was inspected to determine the damage resulting from bottoming going into the top paddock at Bo'ness, it became obvious that it was worse than originally thought (does that sound familiar). Andy has now fabricated a lower seat pan which should allow me to get in without my crash hat touching the roof, strengthened the seat belt mountings, modified the throttle pedal to minimise the chances of hitting the brake and throttle pedals at the same time, made new engine mounting brackets and a number of other small improvements. The car is now beginning to look much more professional compared to my original amateurish efforts.
Whilst at Bo'ness, when the tail was open for scrutineering, Paul Farrell was admiring the 914 engine and his eyes lit up when told it would be up for sale on the Monday after the event. The oucome is that the engine is back in Scotland in Paul's safe hands and the proceeds will help to pay for the 6 cylinder unit from Mike.
I should also mention that my 1967 Porsche 912 has been sold at the Silverstone Auctions at the NEC to an Australian couple living in Switzerland. I like the idea that some of the the proceeds from the sale of one Porsche is going into another Porsche rather than some frivolous use such as garden, furniture, clothing, holidays etc!
So that's the current position. I intend to have a full season next year at Shelsley, Blyton, Curborough etc as well as a trip back north to Bo'ness. I am looking forward to that even though I am already apprehensive of 60% more power but all my pals tell me that the pedal on the right may be involved. The plan is to be at the first Shelsley meeting in May and hopefully for the rest of years programme. If anyone is interested in seeing the final outcome do come and say hello
I will try to post some photographs when I can work out how to that again and give a further update when it is completed.
The cable change mechanism mentioned before was finally made up and fitted and after a couple of iterations it was working better than the rod change but was anything but foolproof. It was all too easy for it not to work and to find no or the wrong gear. It was particularly bad coming from 2nd to 1st and this led to us thinking that the dog teeth on 1st were not up to scratch. This resulted in a new dog tooth ring being fitted and the inevitable trip to Mike Bainbridge to remove the ring and fit a new one. This helped but was still liable to error. The next thing to try and help was to manufacture a gate and fit that to a housing around the Boxster shift to give a positive position for the shift lever. Slightly better but still anything but perfect.
Whilst we were working to get round this the engine developed an intermittant misfire. You were never sure how many horses would turn up on a day or even on any particular run. Everything on the ignition side was changed from plugs,plug leads, points, condensor and distibutor cap. We checked the distributor operation, altered timing but to no avail. The misfire would come and go and of course Sod's law would apply - engine fine then gear shift would be crap and vice versa. Total frustration!
Finally the FF was taken to Mike Stewat in Errol who finally discovered that the fault was the wire from the points to the condensor was shorting on the distributor body. Of course, you could not see that when the cap was on but Mike had been brought up on VW and had seen the same problem before.
In other words the points had not been fitted correctly. Mea Culpa!
This resulted in 8 clean runs at Bo'ness in September but still the gearchange was not precise eńough. However all the runs without tearing something apart was a new experience.
In one of the trips to Mike I mentioned that years ago I had bought a 911T 2.0 engine in parts in a number of boxes and that had sat on the mezzanine in my garage for the last 10 years. Mike suggested that I brought it down to him to have a look at.
Even on one of the few good runs at Shelsley Walsh it became clear even to me that there was not enough power. The run up the hill was without drama to the Esses and the perceived wisdom was that SW was a power hill and 200HP/ton was required. My engine produced just under 120HP on the Aldon rolling road so with the FF weighing 740kgs that equated to roughly 150HP/ton. More power was required!
On looking over the engine parts, Mike was of the opinion that the engine could be built up into a 150HP unit with new pistons etc but the "T" spec was not the best base to be used with its cast crank etc. We finally came to an agreement that the T would be used as part exchange against a 2.4S engine built up on 7R cases but with E cams for torque. Using the original Weber carbs, Mike thought that it would give 200HP ay 7000+ revs. Since the gearchange was still problem, Mike suggested that the gearbox be converted to 4 close ratios with sideshift rather than the tailshift. So that was the plan and both units would be available this winter ( now hopefully January).
Since we were moving house from Scotland to Lincolnshire at the beginning of Setember for all the usual reasons at our age of downsizing and to be nearer the family, it was obvious that I would not have the time, space or facilities to do the the engine swop on my own. So on the Monday after Bo'ness the car was trailered down to George Laycock in Norton for the old engine to be removed and the space to be checked with a dummy engine that Mike had provided. We thought that a couple of tubes in the chassis might have to be moved but that and new engine mountings would be all that was required. Even after 60 years working on cars, I have still not learned what looks simple never turns out that way.
When the 6 cylinder dummy was fitted besides having to cut out chassis tubes and insert others to maintain rigidity, we had a major "Oh shite" moment when it became clear that the radius rods running forward from the rear uprights to the rear bulkhead were in the same space as the engine. What to do now? We realised that the only practical solution was to retain the same suspension geometry and convert to rear wishbones. The chassis mods and the new wishbones were made by Andy Lockwood of Lockwood Fabs who works with George and produces the most exquisite TIG welds. Since the FF was up on a rotator, when the bottom was inspected to determine the damage resulting from bottoming going into the top paddock at Bo'ness, it became obvious that it was worse than originally thought (does that sound familiar). Andy has now fabricated a lower seat pan which should allow me to get in without my crash hat touching the roof, strengthened the seat belt mountings, modified the throttle pedal to minimise the chances of hitting the brake and throttle pedals at the same time, made new engine mounting brackets and a number of other small improvements. The car is now beginning to look much more professional compared to my original amateurish efforts.
Whilst at Bo'ness, when the tail was open for scrutineering, Paul Farrell was admiring the 914 engine and his eyes lit up when told it would be up for sale on the Monday after the event. The oucome is that the engine is back in Scotland in Paul's safe hands and the proceeds will help to pay for the 6 cylinder unit from Mike.
I should also mention that my 1967 Porsche 912 has been sold at the Silverstone Auctions at the NEC to an Australian couple living in Switzerland. I like the idea that some of the the proceeds from the sale of one Porsche is going into another Porsche rather than some frivolous use such as garden, furniture, clothing, holidays etc!
So that's the current position. I intend to have a full season next year at Shelsley, Blyton, Curborough etc as well as a trip back north to Bo'ness. I am looking forward to that even though I am already apprehensive of 60% more power but all my pals tell me that the pedal on the right may be involved. The plan is to be at the first Shelsley meeting in May and hopefully for the rest of years programme. If anyone is interested in seeing the final outcome do come and say hello
I will try to post some photographs when I can work out how to that again and give a further update when it is completed.
