Project Minne - a 72 build thread

[jpnovak]

Here we are now into 2020 and I thought it was time for an update. I did not have much garage time over the holiday season since I was not home. But I did manage to get a few things working.

Let's go back to the lights. In the last installment I showed my version of LED lights. Since then I Have moved on to finishing the reflector bucket and installing the light housings into the fenders. Mostly this was straightforward.



Since the headlights were installed I thought I might as well add the TS housings and the horn grills. Yes, the mounting clips for the horn grills need adjustment. They are quite crooked and inset from the matching edge of the TS and hood line. Its an easy fix but I had to make sure that it all went together.



Before installing the TS housings I spent way too much time getting my lights all working. All of the housing front and rear were cleaned and painted. All the electrical contacts were disassembled and cleaned and then coated with dielectric grease. The rear housings needed new ground wires. The front housings were pretty clean. I had to install new H4 connectors. I really dislike when cars have wiring cut when connectors usually pop apart if you look carefully.

I really struggled (for days) to figure out why my turnsignals would not blink. I could get them to illuminate to each side in park position. The hazards worked. but not the Turnsignals. The TS switching goes through the hazard switch. It has a 3 pole setup with 3 different power leads for 12V battery, 12V key and 12V key TS. The 12V TS supply had a bad connection at the fuse block. That one was tough to trace back. In the end the TS, parking and headlights are all working.



The installed headlights have a really nice beam pattern. I can't wait for some night test drives for better pictures of illumination.



In the rear I am using the brake/running light combo from "spoke". I have these on my targa and would not go any other way.

[jpnovak]

I also took advantage of some recent warm weather to paint my wheels. I started by with a set of very used track wheels from a friend. They were crusty but straight and solid. So I used chemical stripper to remove the old paint followed by media blasting to get a clean surface. I wanted to just leave this surface but it was too uneven for me.



I followed the "diy 30 min RSR wheel finish thread". I will try to update with a link later.

The wheels received a layer of primer and then a full coating in black. I then taped off the backside of the wheels and set them level. I used a plastic paint can cap to balance the level on the center cap face and then shimmed as necessary to level. This was pretty easy.

The next step was to flood the centers of the wheels. I used a marked cup so that all 4 wheels had the same depth. The water mask then blocks paint from getting on the existing black layer.



I carefully mist coated 3 layers of wheel silver paint onto the wheels. You can see how the paint sits on the silver.



Then it was time for the unmasking. This was kinda fun. The paint layer peels back and lifts out. Here is a quick example.

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You are left with a mostly crisp cut line that was so much easier than taping them off to spray the center.



In the end they look pretty good. After I get some brake dust on them the uneven finish will not be noticeable.





and yes. old, hard track tires make great wheel paint masks.

[jpnovak]

A few of my evenings were spent assembling door internals. It took a little bit of time but the glass rolls up and down and the door locks operate.





I even used the factory superseded part number window crank.




I will be installing some early RSR door panels with the pull straps. This is why the latch release crank is not installed.

[jpnovak]

he next step was to install some new tires on my wheels. I went with some Yokohama Advan V701s in 205 55 15 size. I was not sure if the 225 50s would clear and wanted more of an all season sport tire compared to full sticky.

The tires fit just fine and the car was pulled from the garage. I leveled the car and set my ride height. So far I am right on target for my application.




Next step is to get out the scales and strings and setup the alignment and corner balance.

I am getting closer to driving and tuning.

[jpnovak]

In response to an earlier question that I did not catch.

I use a mixture of silicone oil and WD40 to clean and soften factory insulation. The WD40 is a great cleaner to remove all the grime so that wire colors are mostly returned. Then I will coat the harness with silicone oil until it is dripping and let soak in a plastic bag for a few days in a warm place. Then pull it out and wipe it down. This works about 95% of the time.

[jpnovak]

This past weekend it was time to setup the suspension. IMO proper setup is absolutely key to having a 911 drive in that legendary way. This means proper alignment and corner balance. I will walk through my process of setting up the car.

First, I put the car on scales. I have an old set of Intercomp wired scales. They still work great. I made my own scale ramps using some lengths of 2x12. I have one set that is cut for the wheelbase (minus scales) and a second set that extends in front of one end of the car. A 4x4 post prevents the car from rolling off the scales. This setup allows the ease of rolling the car on/off scales to make adjustments on the wood ramps.

I have previously measured the most level section of my driveway and always use this when setting up cars.

With the car sitting level and at a desired ride height (see previous post for pic) I will take initial measurements of the car. Yes, sway bars are disconnected for this step. I always run my scale wires through the passenger window so that I can weight the car with (me) driver weight. I can also use ballast if necessary to adjust up/down without a driver.

I will first preload the rear of the car up such that there is a weight shift to front wheels. Using the front adjusters I will set near equal front weights. Since the ride height was previously set this means you have to up on one side and down on the other to effectively shift weight without drastically changing ride height.

Afterwards the car is back on 4 wheels with a jounce or two to settle suspension. Then the rear weights are matched to the front.



Once the car is level and has a 98% CB number I will align the car. Often setting alignment can change the CB depending on how much ride height changes. I will follow up with final CB at the end.

I use Smart Strings for my alignments. They are easy to use and allow for adjustment of single wheels. The results are only as good as your string setup. Care must be taken to properly square them from the car. I use the wheel center cap lip as my known measurement point. The strings are set so that the FR/FL distance is the same and the RR/LR distance is the same. The F and R string offsets will be different due to individual car track widths.




The strings will have a height that bisects the center of the wheel. You will be measuring the difference from front and rear side wheel lips to the string. If the front distance is greater than the rear distance you have toe-in. I have my own preferred alignment settings and will not go into that here. The front and rear alignment settings are then set using thetie-rod end adjuster and toe adjuster cam bolts, respectively.



following toe adjustments I set the camber. I use a camber truss. This has 3 points and is adjustable for wheel diameter. I have previously spent time to setup the camber bubble gauge using a known level surface. This one is really easy to read. Place gauge truss on wheel. Read the center of the bubble. Then dial in your camber using the rear camber bolts and front strut tops.



Once you have set camber you have to go back and re adjust the toe. Moving the wheel in at the top changes toe settings. This is much more on the rear than at the front.



And then once you have your alignment completed you go back and finalize the corner balance. For a fast street car the 0.3% cross-corner weight percentage is good enough. But I didn't want good enough. Why not make it perfect. That'll do.



And once the car is corner balanced and aligned I pull off the strings and take a final weight of the car. HMM. Is that a calendar reading or the car weight? Yeah, pretty stoked to see such a low number.





I admit that the car is missing a passenger seat, seatbelts and some RS carpet. But even with all this I should still be under 2100 pounds. The build goal was sub-2200 pounds fully dressed with fuel, spares, tools and such. Lightweight is so much more fun.

[silverc4s]

Fantastic work Jamie!! Proud to say that my suspension was set up by such an expert craftsman. Kudos also for passing this along to others here.
Happy New Year! See you soon..

[jpnovak]

Thanks Bill. 44 days and counting to HCR. See you next month.

[csbush]

Thanks for sharing! Car is looking great

[karlusmagnus]

Thanks for sharing! Car is looking great

looks fabulous..super impressive build Jamie.