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Thread: Project Minne - a 72 build thread

  1. #211
    mad scientist
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Austin, TX
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    537
    The other night I was working on the brake system. I was able test fit the smaller MC with excellent results. Then it was time to fit fluid feed lines. HMM. The new MC has a much larger diameter seal than the factory feed lines would take. So the MC came out of the car to get a better look.

    It turns out that I was able to use a VW beetle (early bug) MC feed line grommet and it fit snugly inside the existing VW Corrado MC grommet. REally. Perfect fit. They even had a rubber locating ring/detent in the exact same place. Right now this is the best solution I have. The only fluid pressure here is about 24" of gravity fed head height. Let's see where this goes.





    Once the feed lines were attached to the MC I slide the new body grommets in place and then fished the lines through the body. This is not an easy one-man task. I wish I had extra hands and log arms for this one. Eventually the MC was in place.

    The next step was modifying the pressure lines. The front PS was the most difficult since it normally crosses over to the DS with a banjo bolt. I did an S bend in the line to fit it to the PS front of the MC. The line looks crooked because I unbent and rebent and reshaped and finally got it straight in the MC. I did use my hose-bending pliers but there is only so much you can do. At least its not kinked or cracked. I expect I will be buying another line at some point and fixing this.




    Since the feed lines were mounted in the body I had to connect the reservoir to them. I just cleaned up the original one and screwed it to the body. All good here.




    Of course, what is a reservoir when its dry? I had to fix that. First step is to open a new bottle of fluid. I am using cheap fluid at first. This is to flush the brake system of any contaminants.




    Once the fluid was in I opened a few bleeders and connected a borrowed Motive Power bleeder. 10psi on the pump and fluid was really moving. The catch can showed some gross crap coming from the calipers. Basically old fluid that was left over from the PO's 930 braking experience. I found some ATE blue and brown, maybe some gold and eventually clean clear fluid. Sweet!

    If you have fluid you might as well have some pads. I dug out my boxes of Ferodo magic pads. I have this same compound on my targa. Great initial bite, excellent torque and friction characteristics and really good temperature resistance. And they last forever without scorching rotors. Huge Fan of Ferodo.



    ONce the pads were in place I started bleeding and actuating the pistons. Thats when the first leaks started. It really helps if you go back through the braking system and make sure all the lines are tight. Especially the hardline to flex line connection through the sping clip at the struts. Yeah, They were finger tight. Easy fix with 11 and 15mm flare wrenches.

    So.. The car has brakes. The pedal feel is firm but good. Getting closer.

    After brakes I moved on to making the car have forward progress. This meant connecting the clutch cable. I have previously run a 911/01 transmission in front of a 3.0. The challenge here is the lower oil cross-over line. The 70/71 cars use a soft crossover line that goes over the transmission. The 72 uses a hard line that goes underneath the transmission. This means the oil line occupies the exact space where the rear cable stop mounts into the bell housing. A little lever action to reposition the oil line combined with slight shaving of the split collar cable support and that means....

    The clutch cable is installed. A few wrench turns to set clutch tension and things are moving smoothly.




    I really want to drive the car around the block. I know it doesn't have lights or several other things but no critical parts are missing. Well, except for a seat. I don't want to pull a Hightower (Bubba Smith in "Police Academy") and sit on the floor or milk crate. I am tall enough to almost sit in the back seat but that would be quite uncomfortable. So I just bolted the DS seat in place.

    These are GTS Classics Rallye ST seats. I have had them since they were first introduced and this is the second car they are in. I couldn't part with them when I sold the last one.



    This is the first time I have sat in Minne with a bolted seat, with steering wheel, with shifter, with working foot controls. Amazing that I felt right at home.



    So what's left before a maiden voyage? Axles. Rebuilding CV axles. That's next!
    1971 911T SWT - Sun and Fun Machine
    1972 911T - "Minne" painted and undergoing assembly.

  2. #212
    mad scientist
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    537
    Today started off great. First thing was to complete cleaning of my balls. HMM. I mean CV joint bearings. Don't forget the cages and races too.



    While those parts were wiped down and ready to go I went on and cleaned the outer joint and axle shafts. These received a few coats of black epoxy paint. smooth and shiny now. I admit I did not spring for new boot collars and I just painted them black.



    ONce the parts were dry I spent some time assembling them. Everything went smoothly. Circlips popped in place. New boots were installed. Hardware was cleaned. So I then bolted them into the car with no issues. My hands were still greasy so I didn't take any pics under the car. I wiped them down after installation so they would not attract unwanted dirt.

    I then realized that the car had everything needed to move under its own power... Except for gas. The 1.5 gallons I poured in a few weeks ago to start the engine did not go very far. So I added about 5 gallons and the car fired up.

    Next thing I knew this happened...

    https://www.youtube.com/embed/nnlLq_IHXNs


    And this is what it looked like from the driver's seat.


    https://www.youtube.com/embed/DjZWkSQrkHM


    Sounds like a proper 911. I was able to test 4 gears. R,1,2 and 3. No drama. Just smooth running. I noticed a clunk on the front right. Turns out the previous owner of the wheels put large weights on the inside of the wheel. If you want to know how tight 930 calipers are in 15x7 wheels just add some wheel balance weight. I can tell you they clunk as they pass the caliper. Yes, you can hear it in the in-car video above.

    Still a ways to go to get her fully road worthy.

    I always thought that Tangerine is a spectacular color in sunlight. I am not disappointed. This driveway shot is the best ever... Because Minne arrived in the driveway under her own power.



    I went back and looked at the old pictures. 1988 was the last registration on the windshield. So... 21 years and she is back on the road. I guess I can buy her a beer now.
    1971 911T SWT - Sun and Fun Machine
    1972 911T - "Minne" painted and undergoing assembly.

  3. #213
    mad scientist
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    537
    Sorry, none of my embedded youtube links are working here.
    1971 911T SWT - Sun and Fun Machine
    1972 911T - "Minne" painted and undergoing assembly.

  4. #214
    Member
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    Dec 2010
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
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    56
    Thanks Jamie, wonderful tutorial. Can't wait to see her survive one of your blistering drives!

  5. #215
    Serial old car rescuer Arne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Eugene, OR
    Posts
    1,956
    Awesome, Jamie. Do you want to come up to Oregon and help with my windshield and rear window installs? I've got new factory rubber on hand, just bring your rope!
    - Arne
    Current - 2018 718 Cayman, Rhodium Silver, PDK

    Sold - 1972 911T coupe, Silver Metallic; 1984 911 Carrera coupe, Chiffon white; 1973 914 2.0, Saturn Yellow; 1984 944, Silver Metallic

  6. #216
    Senior Member Simonjjb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    Connecticut/Florida
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    1,375
    Fantastic !
    1968 911L Coupe - Golden Green
    1971 911S Coupe - Gemini Blue
    1973 911S Targa - Signal Yellow
    1974 914 2.3 - Sunflower Yellow

  7. #217
    Senior Member csbush's Avatar
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    Jan 2009
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    San Antonio Texas
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    510
    Super. Look forward to seeing it!
    Chuck

    Early 911S registry #380
    '70S
    '75S
    '96 C4S
    '65 R69S

  8. #218
    Senior Member
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    Oct 2013
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    Kirkland, Wa
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    119
    Congrats, Jamie!!! Buy yourself a beer too....
    Ravi

  9. #219
    Senior Member
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    Oct 2013
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    Kirkland, Wa
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    How did you "softened" the wire harness?
    Ravi

  10. #220
    mad scientist
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    537
    Que Haya Luz!

    Let there be light!

    I always thought that modern forward lighting was an asset to driving our vintage cars. Everything from simulated DRLs to nighttime driving is improved when there is good illumination to see where you are going. There are many threads about converting to modern lighting. Here is my take for Project Minne.

    I started with some early SWB housings. These have an H4 bulb assembly inserted behind a curved, non fluted glass lens. The bulb assembly has its fluted lens and controls all the ray bending and focusing to give a standard E-code beam pattern. You know, cutoff to the left and angled high and right on the other side. They work great but take some higher wattage bulbs to really bring them close to modern light sources.

    The problem here is that over time, our modern wiring systems are not up to the task of delivering current (power) required to properly run higher wattage bulbs. Yes, there are relay kits, larger wires and a few other items that can make these work better but the cost of new H4 assemblies really starts to get away from my budget minded build. So, Let's see what I can do on the cheap.

    The SWB housings were disassembled and the H4 bulb assembles removed. These assemblies were then separated. I did not want the fluted lens installed but I did need the H4/9003 bulb mount as well as the reflector bowl. Separation was easy. I used a heat gun to soften the adhesive between the glass and the bowl. You have to evenly heat the circumference until it softens. Then a non-metallic pry apparatus was used to lift the glass off the reflector bowl. Sorry, I don't have pictures of this.

    I went online and found some H4 mini projector LED assemblies. These are a dual (hi/lo) LED setup with discrete LED elements, a focus bulb, a reflector bowl, and H4 mounting style and a large heat sink. These were about $45 online.

    Make sure when choosing the lights that you get some with the highest rating of illumination possible. the higher the rating, the higher the efficiency for a given output. These were rated at 1400 lumens each.

    Color output is also important. anything under 5000K (K as in Kelvin as in color spectrum) is on the white to yellow side of the spectrum. Above 5500K and they look blue and incorrect. Plus the blue hue adds glare in poor conditions and really bothers the eyes of oncoming drivers. Be thoughtful here!

    Here are the lights as received.







    You will notice they have a short pigtail wiring assembly with what I assume is a current limiting electronics box. The termination is a standard H4 plug. This makes conversion easy.



    I had originally considered HID when I started this project. I Have some HID lights with the H4 mounting points and they work exactly the same. The choice to move to LEDs was based on the extra wiring and install location for the ballasts. Additionally ballasts for aftermarket lights are not known for being robust.

    Mounting and Modifications

    The lights easily slip into the back of the reflector and lock down with the same 2 spring clips that are known to all of us with existing H4 lights. Easy. I was really hoping at this point they would drop into the light bucket. I had used a ruler to measure the install depth clearance and it said I had 1mm to spare without the headlight seal. I was hoping to gain a few extra mm once the seal was in place. Nope.

    The top edge of the light easily clipped in place on the bucket lip but it would not sit down all the way. HMM. Closer inspection shows the faceted rear panels of the headlight bucket. At least at this point I knew what to do.

    I pulled the grinder out (that means I picked it up off the floor since it is permanently plugged into a drop cord and always by my side) and used a flap wheel to shave the lower corner of the heat sink. You can see the bevel edge in the picture below. I also beveled the top corners just for a little extra clearance. This took about 3 min per side.



    Final fitment

    With the slight mods the lamp assemblies drop right into place. Sweet. This is as close as I could get to vintage lighting looks, modern lighting performance all wrapped in a smooth edged housing. Mission accomplished.



    Next step is to take it all apart and then clean up the reflector bowl. It doesn't have to be perfect but I have to get rid of the rust bubbles at the bottom.


    LIghts Performance

    Since the lights fit the car I went back to do some testing. I removed the assemblies from the car and connected them to my external power supply. I ran 13.0V to simulate a car running with the alternator on. These pics were taken in a dark garage using the back of the garage door as a projection screen. for reference, The lamps were approximately 15' behind the door. they were sitting on the floor and propped up with some cardboard boxes for the purpose of "aiming".

    The low beam has a very sharp cutoff. there is a slight rise on the right side as one might expect. This is much closer to an Asian (Japanese) beam pattern rather than the European pattern. That is fine. Nice bright lower section to fill in the dark areas. This means the projector lens is working properly.


    The lights draw 1.05A current on low beam. That is only 13W of power per light.




    When the high beam is activated there is a bright center spot beam right in the middle. The low beam is on but at a reduced power. Current draw is 1.45A (19W) per light on high. To put this into perspective... This is about the same current draw as a side turn signal light. I have cleaned all the contacts and expect I can install these without a relay. Though I will eventually add one when I install my auxiliary lights.





    So.. Yes, Minne is really close to having headlights.

    I also spent some time cleaning up the rear light buckets and installing them. I used the Italian lenses because I like the non-colored side marker. the running/brake lights are LED panels from SPOKE. These are so worth the improvement. I will be getting colored amber bulbs for the TS and forward, rear housing side running light.




    Next up is the front turn signal housings.
    1971 911T SWT - Sun and Fun Machine
    1972 911T - "Minne" painted and undergoing assembly.

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