Visitors since June 2008. Page update v9.01

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION UPDATE JULY 2008

I have had to remove a number of areas of the site due to overload. The new site is under development and is anticipated for release in September 2008.

At that time all the events covered so far in 2008 (including PCGB events such as Frontrunner, Cotswold Rally, Porsche Open, Porsche Club, region & register meetings plus other events such as GT Cup) will be uploaded to the website first and then the remainder of the current site will be refreshed, updated and added to the new site which will have a number of new sections and much better facilities.

Thankyou for your patience while this all takes place. It is a mammoth task but hopefully the end will justify the means!

Please visit www.highgatehouse.co.uk  to see our range of  Vehicle, Circuit & Track decals and a lot more !

944 Turbo

Is currently awaiting the fitting of M030 suspension all round. The parts were sourced from Simon Butterworth at Porsch-apart. New bushes were ordered from Lancaster Porsche in Colchester. Fitting will be carried out with Peter Philips at Motorpreparation. When that's done, it's down to Northway Tyres in Colindale for a 4-wheel laser alignment. We'll probably change the brake fluid at the same time. I've just noticed a slight weeping from the flexible pipe attached to the clutch master cylinder. I'll order a replacement and we'll change it and bleed the clutch system the same time as the brakes.

My HKS CAMP data logger has now arrived, I'm assured,  from Japan and should be fitted during the next couple of weeks, after which a lot of temporary wiring can be replaced and the interior steam cleaned and the leather Zymol'd.

The data logger on the SBC-Powermeter is recording very sub-5 second 0-50 MPH times with no real effort and without torturing the clutch. Hopefully a trip to Bruntingthorpe should allow updated timings and power measurements to be made after some remapping. The SBC-ID allows four boost strategies to be stored. I currently have two setup - the first peaking at 15PSI and the second with 10 PSI (lethargy mode !) that is OK for road (protect the license) use.

I am now getting a consistent 18 In Hg vacuum at idle, rising up to 22 In Hg on over-run with the new Purosil pipe-work in place. Fuel pressure is currently set to 31 PSI at 875 RPM idle, giving 1000 °F exhaust gas temperature. The Westach charge air temperature gauge has crossed needles to simultaneously indicate temperature in to and out of the Intercooler. Inlet temperature will very slowly rise to 70 °C after prolonged sitting in traffic, dropping to about 30 °C on light throttle. Intercooler outlet temperature is generally 20 °C lower under most conditions. Exhaust gas temperature hovers around 1,400 °C when cruising, rising up to 1,550 °C under boost conditions, at which point the charge air temperature can also rise over 100 °C.

The GPS calibrated speed readout shows the over optimistic nature of the standard speedometer. This is currently calibrated as it left the factory (180 MPH speedometer  with Design 90 16" rims and Contisport 245/225 tyres fitted). I will create a proper table after Bruntingthorpe, but briefly a TRUE 70 MPH is indicated as 78 MPH on the speedometer (needle in the middle of the figure 8 in eighty), speeds above 20 MPH seem to read at least 5 MPH high.

I have been experimenting with an in-car APRS setup using a self contained GPS / NMEA unit feeding a Kenwood TH-D7G handheld with mag-mount whip antennae. I've also now got the Icom 706- IIG working on 2Meter and 70 cM bands with a glass mount antennae, and also have a very strong mag-mount that works really well with a Comet CA-UHV multi-band vertical for HF / 6M band.

I've started calibrating the HKS Camp data unit. The speed was set in KPH from the SBC Powermeter, itself calibrated against the GPS unit in the Alpine sat-nav. Both units agree with the GPS figure to within 1 KPH at 150 KPH, recorded in a straight line. The fuel / injector calibration will be calculated after a whole tank of petrol has been used, but again just about 1% accuracy should be easily attained. Unfortunately, changing the fuel pressure will require a repeat of the calibration procedure. I hope to fit the oil temperature sender over Easter on the ramp. The readings from the lambda sensor are very unstable so I think a replacement is in order - it is over 12 years old now and may be the cause of slight surging under high boost.

I've ordered a strut brace and gear quick shift for fitting over Easter with the M030 while the ramp is available. Should also change the weeping clutch pipe and change clutch / brake fluid at the same time. If time permits, I'll renovate the brake callipers at the same time as the suspension is off. I also ordered a new thermostat (lots of help from Lancaster at Colchester as always), but don't know if I'll have time to fit it at the same time.

Easter arrives and it's time to modify ! With the help of Peter Philips at Motorpreparation, the M030 suspension was fitted with new bushes as appropriate. Unfortunately I managed to damage the pipe between the O/S/F brake calliper and bracket on the strut when trying to remove a corroded clip, so Pete made up a new pipe on the spot. When all the suspension was replaced, we changed all the brake fluid and bled the entire system. The pedal now feels a bit more solid.

Good Friday's first job was to fit the gear change quick shift linkage that I didn't have time to do on the ramp. This is a replacement of the standard gear linkage on the top of the gearbox which reduces the throw of the gear lever by 30%. This is easy to fit from a ramp, but a real pain without ! I also changed the nylon bush that the ball at the bottom of the gear lever pivots in, as this had some wear. The end result of this is a much tighter, shorter and more precise shift, and the SBC power-meter is now viewable in 5th gear !

Next job was to take the wheels off and do a thorough steam clean of all four arches, front suspension including the trailing arms and power steering pump and sump. At the rear, the gearbox, diff and gearbox oil cooler were also steamed clean. The inside of the wheels were also done before the wheel studs were then  lubricated and the wheels torqued back on. Finally a quick blow over the sides of the engine bay to clean up and brake fluid spill from the previous night's brake bleed session and power steering fluid from the reservoir expelled when the rack was moved manually when fitting the front suspension.

Saturday morning was the trip to Northway tyres in Colindale for a 4 wheel check and alignment. They have probably the best equipment available, the Hunter DSP400 alignment rig, if fact they've got two of them !

The car was driven on the ramp and the calibrated reflectors were mounted to all four wheels, then the car raised on the ramp. The Hunter fires infra-red light at the sensors, which is then picked up by 4 cameras on the top of the rig. The video from each camera has it's own DSP (digital signal processor) and from this, the computer gives real time readout of toe angle, camber, cross camber, caster, cross caster and thrust angle !

I had the settings reset to factory defaults, except front and rear camber, which were set to 1.5 negative at the front to match the rear. These are my initial settings to set up handling while the shock settings are tweaked.

The suspension is still settling slightly, but the whole car now feels much tighter, controllable and provides more feedback through the steering without being too harsh on motorway and white surface. It also seems less susceptible to tram-lining. The strut brace has probably helped here too, particularly through tight corners.

I finally replaced the clutch fluid flexible hose and fluid. It is possible to bleed the clutch without removing the starter motor, but it is much easier on the ramp. A 7mm spanner is needed for the slave cylinder bleed nipple.

Had a near disaster this morning (27/04/2003). Got 200 yards from home and the oil pressure light came on and the gauge plummeted to 0 ! I stopped and checked the dipstick - plenty of oil and none on the ground, wires on the oil pressure sender unit. Started up again and the light stayed on. Drove back home 200 yards and could just see a pulley at an angle by peering beneath the air filter. I had to leave the car for the day as I was booked on the annual JEC London-Brighton run in the Daimler. When I got back, I took the air filter off and found the power steering pulley rolling about in the under tray ! The crank pulley bolt was completely missing. Disaster - had it sheared off, meaning a complete engine out and possible new crank ?

I managed to 'borrow' a crank bolt and washer from another 944 owner who had an engine in bits, hoping to see that the bolt would thread all the way in. When I opened the bonnet, I found my original crank bolt and washer at the end of the under tray, and in tact ! I refitted the power steering pulley and torqued the bolt down as much as possible from above, crossed my fingers and started the engine - I got immediate oil pressure and the tappets had pumped back up within about a minute !! A very lucky escape indeed. I got the car on to a ramp and dropped the under trays to get at the bolt from below with a 24" extension to tighten it back up and refitted the power steering belt. I'll certainly make sure I check this bolt on both 944's from now on when they're on the ramp.

I've now fitted Magnecor 7mm spark plug cables, and replaced the lambda sensor while on the 4 poster ramp. I also checked the tightness of the suspension mountings. The A/F ratio is still not stable so it's time to test the TPS, air and water sensors.

I replaced all the M6 nuts and captive nuts that secure the engine under-tray. I also loctited the allen screw that secured the quick shift linkage to the gear selector shaft  in an effort to prevent it from coming undone. The oil was changed to Magnatec and the gearbox was drained and refilled with Swepco (courtesay of Bert at Berlyn Services).

I've now adjusted the mixture to 1.5% in the open loop state by adjusting the AFM with a revised fuel pressure. Closed loop state is still a solid 0.5%. I also re-oiled the K&N air filter cone after steam cleaning the engine bay after the oil change.

After a lot of enquiries, I cannot get any 18" rims to my liking to fit the Porsche PCD. Preferred were OZ magnesium or Dymag 5 spoke. As an alternative, I'm trying to get some 18" cup 1 wheels. My existing design 90's might get refurbished and go on to the 944 S. The big rims will pave the way for the next mods - big brakes, either big red's and 996 Turbo discs, or a complete AP setup with 6 pots.

Turbot has now joined toe 100,000 mile club ! I have looked further in to the wheel situation and decided to go for 20002 Carrera type 5 spoke 18" rims. more to follow on this ...

Update. The Carrera wheels and tyres are now fitted. No clearance problems. I've now got room to upgrade the brakes ... Game on ... now on order big reds (993TT) and c2 turbo 3.6 322mm drilled discs.

08 & 09 August - big works afoot, with the help and experience of Peter Philips at Motorpreparation. The rear discs were removed and the calipers were painted red. The front discs and calipers were also removed to make way for a big brake conversion. This consists of 322mm x-drilled discs from a c2 Turbo 3.6 and big red calipers from a 993 TT.

The calipers are a direct swap for the 928S4 calipers fitted to late spec 994 turbos. These also come as 'big blacks' as fitted to the 928 GTS. The difference is that the big reds are designed for leading mounting (ahead of the axle) 911 applications, while the big blacks are trailing mounting, as used on the 928 and 944. Although the big blacks are a direct fit on the 944, I chose the big reds and converted them to trailing mounting by swapping the bleed valves and crossover pipes, so that the bleed nipples remain at the top when the calipers are inverted for their new trailing position. No new solid pipes were needed between the back of the caliper and the strut.

The choice of discs is limited to 968GTS, 993TT or 911c2 3.6 turbo. The 928GTS discs are non x-drilled. The 993 TT discs need a 5mm 'hat' adaptor, but the c2 discs have the correct offset. I decided on the latter as a direct replacement, although they work out slightly heavier than the 993 TT discs / alloy spacer ring. I had to dispose of the rear stone shield for the discs, as the new ones are larger ! To do this, first the hub is removed, then the backing plate removed. This was then cut down with tin snips and replaced, continuing protection for the ABS sensors. The front hubs and bearings were then checked and re-greased. The new pads and sensors were then fitted. The rear discs were replaced with x-drilled items, pads and sensors fitted and the whole system thoroughly bled and tested for leaks.

I had already painted the hub parts of all discs with matt black high temperature paint to prevent the formation of rust and make the whole setup look cleaner.

The air-conditioning was the next to be attended to. A replacement compressor was recently bought from Porsche-apart. This was sent to Mirage Air for fully testing and servicing before fitting. Lancaster OPC provided a new receiver/dryer and new seals for the dryer and compressor. With all new parts fitted (the condenser and pipes were replaced last year, but the system not gassed or run), the car was taken to Alpinair in Stanmore for a completion of the conversion to R134a refridgerant.

The necessary valve converters were fitted and the system thoroughly vacuum tested for 30 minutes to make sure that there were absolutely no leaks anywhere in the system. The new R134a gas was then introduced and the system thoroughly tested. It now performs perfectly ! While the air conditioning compressor was removed and the power steering belt also out of the way, the front timing covers were removed to change the timing belts.

Although the cam belt was in good condition, if slightly slack, the balance shaft belt had broken !!!  On examination, 3 teeth were missing one one side and the belt had given up !

After a huge sigh of relief that there had been no other damage done, the cam belt was also removed and all the rollers checked and found to be OK. The water pump was also checked for telltale signs of leakage, none were found and no water is being lost. The new belts were then fitted and tensioned.

The oil was drained and a modified sump plug with temperature sensor fitted. A new filter and Magnatec then completed the works.

While changing the front brakes, a camber bolt on the OSF strut was found to have loosened, allowing play and variable camber ! This was tightened up, but a visit to Northway Tyres the following morning saw a full geometry check. The only setting that had changed since the recent full alignment / adjust was that strut. The setting was adjusted and everything re-checked by Andy. The new Pirelli tyres should now be safe !

The car in now bedding in the brakes, This should be done in time for the Tuesday night Essex PCGB meet (12/09/03) and the London PCGB meet the following night !

Update. The brakes are now bedded in and performing as expected - much better retardation and less fade are immediately noticeable. The pedal now provides a lot more feedback. The car now has a much improved stance due to the new wheels & tyres. I haven't noticed a significant increase in tramlining, and black tarmac is not much louder than on the previous wheels & tyres. White tarmac is horrendous (although I've noticed the same in all my cars !) with very loud road noise.

18/08/03 The next stage of engine development is currently underway. Dave Lindsey (Lindsey Racing) has supplied a matched set of 55 lb/hr fuel injectors. These will be run with a fuel pressure increased to 3 bar, giving a lot more headroom as the injectors have been reaching saturation at peak power. A new induction and metering setup will shortly be fitted, along with a significantly better turbocharger than the standard KKK K26/8, and uprated Lindsey Racing intercooler. A completely revised engine map should see a significantly increased power capability.

22/08/03 A stage II intercooler has been ordered from Lindsey Racing, and am still waiting to finalise the turbo spec with Dave Lindsey.

A GURU racing MAP2 kit with hand held programmer, serial data-logger and Lambda-Link air fuel ratio gauge are now on order. The gauge will replace the K&N LED version mounted to the side of the centre console, and work in conjunction with the data-logged display on the HKS camp.

The GURU kit has a single 4" pipe & K&N filter relocated behind the N/S headlamp. This allows ditching the restrictive 'barn door' (standard 952) AFM and leaky J pipe.  I have also got another badge panel now ready to cut cooling slots for the intercooler. I'm hoping to drop the charge air temperature right down and reduce a large amount of restriction all the way from atmosphere to the throttle body.

A 968CS adjustable rear spoiler has been located and is on the way and will be sprayed before fitting.

29/08/03 The Link Electronics illuminated air / fuel ratio gauge is now fitted.

I bought a LRC100 laser diffuser at Eynsham, so that will be fitted in the front air dam when the intercooler is changed and the modified badge panel fitted. I also bought a road pilot, but will probably share that between the 944S and the Daimler, leaving the Morpheous Geodsey in the Turbo.

The road pilot seems a permanent feature now ! It works really well.

I have fitted the Lindsey Racing supplied 55 lb/hr fuel injectors. A very easy installation that took about half an hour. What took longer was installing the GURU Racing chips, not because of fitting the chips but getting access to the DME/KLR through the additional wiring in the passenger footwell. I am still awaiting many things from Danno at Guru Racing, including the MAP2 kit and programmer, and info as to which strategies he has actually programmed in to my chipset for which I asked for both standard and #55 injectors and K26/8 and K27/8 turbo.

I have bought a wideband O2 kit from PLX Devices www.plxdevices.com . This has a wideband Bosche sensor, wiring loom and electronics module that provides outputs for both wideband and narrow band. This sensor is a direct replacement for the standard 944 Turbo sensor in the exhaust downpipe. The new loom will be fed through the bulkhead and the narrowband output  used to feed the DME, HKS Camp data-logger and Guru MAP2 kit (when it arrives). The wideband output will feed the Link AFR gauge in wideband mode to allow much better resolution (+/- 0.1) resolution between 10:1 and 17:1, and allow much more accurate tuning with the link programmer when it arrives with the MAP2 kit.

The PLX M250 converter and wideband sensor is now fitted.

08/02/2004. I finally got around to installing the stage II Intercooler that I bought from Lindsey Racing last August ! Total time to install was about 2 hours as I carried out other works at the same time. No problems with the installation thanks to clear instructions on the LR website. A test drive (in highly dense air) indicated solid boost and a faster spool up time. Must have been helped by the weather because the car seemed to fly !!

Tried a bottle of Wyns Hydraulic Lifter Treatment. Seems to work well.

01/04/2004. The saga of the LambdaLink AFR gauge is now over. The gauge was sent back to Link in New Zealand to be reprogrammed. This was needed as the wideband calibration was inverse, 0-5v instead of 5-0v. This took a long time to resolve, but thanks to Walter at Link, all works properly now. I have also replaced the blue purosil hose in the booist control circuit with Aeroquip braided hoses. When using boost over about 15 PSI, the purosil seemed to be ballooning and allowing unstable boost control. The Aeroquip has now bought this under control.

29/04/2004. A spare cylinder head, inlet manifold and cam/tower have been sourced from Porsche-Apart. These are now at CTM heads in Ilford (who have done all my cylinder head work for the last 10 years). The head will be stripped and cleaned, crack tested etc. New valve guides will be fitted, along with bigger inlet valves. The inlet ports are being taken right out and polished. Five angle valve seats are being cut. The exhaust ports will remain pretty much standard (retaining the ceramic liner) with just minor smoothing and possibly replacing the sodium filled exhaust valves. The inlet manifold will be honed and blended before being port matched to the cylinder head. The throttle body will also be improved with radius and knife edgeing. It will also be modified around the throttle spring mechanism to allow the fitting of a T04E turbocharger underneath. A modified cam profile is under investigation at the moment as well. When completed, the inlet manifold and tower will be powder coated.

04/06/2004. Test fitting of a 944 2.7 inlet valve in to the turbo head is a success. This valve is 3mm bigger (48mm). This, in conjunction with the Lindsey Racing Titanium valve retainers should remove a considerable amount of weight from the valve gear, giving much greater air flow and allowing a higher rev limit. UPDATE: std valve+retainer = 132.65g, 48mm inlet valve +LR titanium retainer = 129.35g, a weight saving of 3.3g per inlet valve assembly.

The inlet valve seat inserts are being replaced with bigger versions to fit the enlarged valves. Initial enlargement of the inlet tract is completed. Final works will see enlargement and smoothing to inlet gasket size. The exhaust ports have the ceramic liners intact, and have has a good cleaning and tidying. The inlet manifold has had a lot of internal metal removed from the casting to get rid of rough edges and increase tract size. The inlet manifold is also being drilled and tapped to accept a Bosch air temperature sensor to experiment with the DME programming relating to charge air temperature.

Interestingly, a Lindsey Racing head with big valve conversion (stage III) flows 39% more air (252 vs 180 cfm) in the inlet, 190 cfm exhaust.

After a long phone call to Dave Lindsey, the turbo has been ordered. This will be a LR Super 75 Turbo, retaining water cooling and with a #8 hotside. This is a Garret T04E turbine with 67mm compressor and will flow 1,088 cfm (standard turbo/250 uses KKK K26/8 which flows about 367 cfm) at 1 bar boost.

I'm replacing my standard fuel injection rail (currently fitted with LR adjustable FPR and fuel pressure gauge) with the LR billet fuel rail. This runs much cooler and has better internal fuel flow and distribution to the individual injectors. It has the fuel damper mounted directly on the end, and the large capacity adjustable fuel pressure regulator is mounted remotely in the engine bay with integral fuel pressure gauge.

Because of the increased boost (and therefore crankcase pressure from blow-by), and because it's not very efficient to combustion to vent pressurised oil vapour directly back in to the inlet, I'm fitting an LR remote oil catch tank and vent system. This will also allow more of the 'knitting' under the inlet manifold to be removed.

07/06/2004. The Lindsey Racing delivery has arrived (4 days after ordering !!!).

I installed the 'Flamingeye' LED instrument cluster kit. This uses LEDs to illuminate replacement lenses at the edge of the instrument cluster. This is an easy kit to install and replaced the factory bulb and silver-coated plastic lenses that crack and break down over time leading to the familiar dim illumination on 944's. The LEDs are available in a number of colours. Mine are high UV content blue.

14/08/04. The Lindsey Racing billet fuel rail is now fitted. The old fuel rail came off complete. The new rail went on with the #55 injectors. Because the LR kit is designed for LHD cars, the remote fuel pressure regulator and pressure gauge mounting have been changed to fit my RHD car. The pressure regulator is mounted directly to the inner wing, just behind the clutch reservoir which remains in it's original position. There's not, however, space to mount the fuel pressure gauge (removed from the front end of the original fuel rail) directly on the pressure regulator. It has been mounted directly in to the fuel damper instead, replacing the Schrader valve. On USA cars (and also on UK 1998  turbo's such as John Sims) the flexible fuel pipe between the existing fuel rail and the hard lines from the rear of the car are crimped just inside the engine bay. This would have required removal of the O/S inner arch liner and cutting the existing 6 & 8mm steel hard lines and using the (LR supplied) compression fittings to make the now flexible pipe ends. On my 1990 turbo, the hard lined terminate on the engine side of the  inner wheel arch with male -6 & -8 couplings. I therefore didn't have to cut my lines and use compression fittings, but just used -6 Aeroquip fittings and steel braided piping. I also replaced the existing -6 Aeroquip for the boost control with smaller -4 and changed the pipe-work routing from the boost pipe.

12/09/04. Lindsey vented headlamp cover is now fitted.

14/09/04. More goodies arrive from Lindsey Racing. Vernier adjustable cam gear allowing 4 deg retard - 6 deg advance adjustment of cam timing. KISS oil cooler kit with 11 row remote radiator to keep oil temperatures down (up to 55deg reduction). CM billet oil filter with replaceable 8 micron filter. Siemens powerpack matched #72 injectors (#55 currently fitted, standard are #34.5). New coolant header tank. Raceware head stud kit and Widefire head gasket. Bosch high volume fuel pump. I have now also sourced a 924 Turbo (931) bonnet, complete with NACA cooling duct. A 931 complete badge panel and vents. Also a spare N/S metal headlamp cover to modify with NACA ducts to replace the Lindsey Racing one.

18/11/04. After having a boost pipe blow off, I decided to carry out a full check of the clamps and general air-tightness, including all the vacuum lines. I have been getting sporadic over-boost for some time and wanted to get to the bottom of it. Using a combination of a footpump with pressure gauge and several types of purosil hose, a vacuum pump and some smoke matches I found a number of small leaks.

Firstly I had been getting a hiss during boost from behind the instruments where I have a number of sensors for the SBC-iD boost controller, HKS camp and feed to the A pillar mounted boost gauge. These are all fed by a single purosil feed through the bulkhead. I had used a number of adaptors to link all the necessary pipes, but these were now worked loose and starting to leak. A change to the plumbing means that this segment now holds 20 PSI indefinitely.

I then checked all the heater control and vacuum reservoir segment, which had no leaks. Likewise the non-return valve (blue/black plastic) was fully functional.

Next up, the vapour purge / dump valve. This was leaking quite badly from the dump valve when over 10PSI was applied. This is a Bailey DV vent to atmosphere piston type valve. I stripped it down and cleaned the piston sealing ring and the rest of the internals. This is now performing as it should. The next leak was from the metal fuel purge valve where the purosil joined the nipple. Not wanting to use cable ties to secure the purosil, I looked for an alternative.

A phone call to John Sims about the number of small leaks found us discussing a better way of sealing the purosil. John came up with the excellent idea of tight rubber O rings rolled over the joint. A quick rummage in the spares rack found a whole load of suitable rubber rings. I have fitted 2 to a number of places where the purosil vacuum hoses fit over connection nipples, such as both vapour valves, dump valve, fuel pressure regulator etc.

This has bought about a remarkable improvement as all the small individual leaks add up to quite a loss ! I now have 20 hg of vacuum at idle again.

Next up, I thought I'd pressure test the boost control circuit. I have an EBC fitted and this is still fed from the banjo on the boost pipe, via small bore Aeroquip hose to the boost controller and finally to the Lindsey dual port wastegate.

There was a considerable leak coming from under the car in the wastegate area. Putting the car up on the ramp and dropping the undertray revealed that the nipple on the top of the wastegate had worked loose. I disconnected the Aeroquip pipe and tightened the brass elbow adaptor further in to the wastegate then reconnected the pipe. A new pressure test from above revealed there was still a significant leak. Moving the Aeroquip pipe around revealed the reason

The Aeroquip had moved around and got too close to the the exhaust flange at some point and melted some of it's internals. In one position the pipe was leaking badly, in another position (small change) the seal was good. At last a reason for the intermittent boost control ! I replaced the section of Aeroquip between the boost controller and wastegate, and rerouted it further away from the hot areas, cable tying it in place. The final pressure test shows slight leakage from the wastegate itself. A discussion with John Sims again confirmed that his Tial wastegate also leaks copious amounts of air from the control lines!

A final road test shows that vacuum is now much better, maxing at 22 Hg on the overrun and 18-20 Hg at (hot) idle. The boost controller is now able to to control down to a rock solid 7.2 PSI. I haven't tested the upper limits yet because it was absoloutely pouring with rain and I was on the North Circular Road in quite heavy traffic.

I have now fitted a G-Force RR performance analyser http://www.gtechpro.com/. In pouring rain, with 7.2 PSI boost I managed 0-60 8.28 sec, 157.8 BHP @ 4869RPM, 179.6 ft-lbs @ 4477RPM. This is RWHP. I'll be able to put some proper figures out when I've weighed the car accurately and got some decent dry flat road !

A more recent snap-shot graph taken without and special preparation. This is from G-tech RR and represents RWHP. More fine tuning has taken place since to adjust fuelling around 4000 & 5000 rpm to fill the curve out more.

I've sourced a separate vacuum manifold to tidy up the control signal routing in the engine bay. It six ports, all fed from a single banjo bolt on the inlet manifold.

04/04/05 The throttle body is now finished. The (3) fibre seals on the throttle body were decomposing, allowing an air leak past the throttle spindle bearings. These fibre seals were removed and replaced with rubber o rings. The throttle plate screws were also shortened to be flush with the spindle, further increasing airflow. 

06/04/05 A new order has arrived from Lindsey Racing. Order placed at 22:15 on 04/04/05, arrived at 09:00 06/04/05 - unbeatable service all round. The order consists of the in-line turbo oil filter kit, a pair of Supermount engine mounts and a pair of adjustable camber plated with spherical mounts.

THE NEXT PHASE !!

08/04/05 Work has finally begun on the big conversion ! Works are being carried out at Motorpreparation by myself, Pete Philips and (occasionally) John Sims. Custom wood chocks have been built to protect the underside of the Porsche on the two poster ramp. Wooden ramps have also been made to drive the car on to while positioning the ramp arms in order to properly clear the body rubber side skirts. The bonnet and under trays were removed. The battery disconnected. The engine set to TDC. During the rest of the day, the engine bay was stripped of air intake, hard pipes, injection system & boost control, inlet manifold, water pump, timing belts, rollers and tensioner, cam tower, expansion tank, alternator.

The head was removed complete with the exhaust manifold. The front wheels were removed, as was the N/S inner wheel arch liner.

The condition of the head was excellent. Looking in the inlet ports shows clean ports and valves. The inlet tract was a light brown varnish colour. The exhaust ports and valves also look in good shape. The top surfaces of the block also showed no signs of problems or leaking head gasket (the car looses NO water and minimal oil, except through a leak that was revealed when the under tray was removed and found to be the sump drain plug weeping). The turbo charger is also in remarkably good condition with virtually no play in the shaft bearings. As for the bores, they are all clean with no scoring at all. No problems with wear ridges either. Just a good carbon seal around the top rings. The piston tops also look in very good condition.

Problem No.1 was found when we tried to remove the head studs to replace them with Raceware items. We could not shift the first stud we tried - No.1 cylinder. Despite me using two locking nuts with a second spanner extending the first for more leverage, and Pete using a pair of mole grips at the bottom of the stud at the same time, the stud just would not shift. A quick call to Jon Mitchell saw us heating the stud and block to try to break the seal. All we succeeded in doing was to bend the stud. Time for a rethink. If we sheared any of the studs, the block would probably be scrap. A call to Lancaster OPC at Colchester found that they had one head stud in stock. This was ordered , along with some other nuts, bolts and studs for the exhaust system among other parts and was to be ready for collection on the following (Saturday) morning.

The revised plan now was to  somehow get the damaged stud out. This we managed to do after a lot of heating the block around the bottom of the stud with a blow torch. It still took two of us to get the stud out. The 944 has very long studs for the head and the bottom thread of these are sunk deep down in to the block. With the engine in the car, there is no easy way to get enough heat in to that direct area of the block, particularly as there is not enough clearance in the engine bay to get at the rear of the block without melting something. Jon Mitchell had suggested dropping an over-size washer down the stud to sit on the block face, followed by a nut which would also slide over the stud. The nut then could be mig welded to the stud. The intense heat of the mig would help break the sealant, and the nut nearer the threads would allow more torque.

Sounds good,  but still risky. It only needed one stud not to play along ... And our MIG had just run out of gas ! I called Dave Lindsey later in the evening (Lindsey Racing are 6 hours behind London Time) to discuss the situation. His suggestion was to heat the block only (apparently he puts the whole block in an oven before removing the standard studs - not possible with the engine still in the car) or try freezing the studs. I made the final decision not to risk the block by trying to remove the studs with the engine in the car. Since the block was staying in, so are the original studs !

Problem No.2 is related to the new turbocharger. As can be seen from the pictures, the new LR Super 75 turbo compressor housing is much larger than the original KKK 26/8. This means that the original hard fitting of banjo connector, turbo temperature sensor and y piece no longer fit. An entirely new fabrication is needed. We decided to go to think automotive in West London on Saturday morning when I got back from Porsche at Colchester with the head stud. They keep a large stock of pipe work and fittings.

A call to John Sims late Friday evening, from the pub, saved some time as he very kindly offered to collect the parts from Porsche Colchester when they opened the following morning (Saturday) and bring them down to London. This would give Pete & I more time to work on the car in the morning when we got back from think automotive.

09/04/05 Problem No.3 John rings me from Porsche Colchester parts counter. Good, I say, because I've been through PET and need some more parts while he's there. Bad news. The head stud is not there, nor is my normal parts man. The very un-helpful parts man says there's no sign of or paperwork for a head stud on the order. They've never kept them. But I know that the other two parts men had the stud there for me. That's why I sent someone on a 140 mile round trip to collect it ... I could see I wasn't going to get anywhere with him, so I started phoning other OPC to see if they had any.  Chiswick checked the computer and found some at Porsche's warehouse in Reading. Unfortunately not open until Monday. This has caused a major problem in that we can't get the new head on until at least Monday or possibly Tuesday. John Sims set off to London from Colchester while Pete & I went to think Think Automotive in west London.

We took the new turbo and old fittings. We also took the water hard pipe that runs across the front of the engine bay and carries the feeds to the radiator top hose and turbo coolant outlet on the thermostat, which we wanted to ditch to make more room in front of the engine. After an hour we walked away with a large box of pipe work and fittings to fabricate our new parts.

Work recommenced. The engine mounts have been replaced by Lindsey Racing SUPERMONTS. These are a far superior product to the originals whish had started to collapse. In order to fit the mounts, parts of the front suspension had to be dismantled to allow access to the bolts from underneath. The control arms had to be moved as part of that process. While these were disconnected, new castor mounts were fitted.

The original 944 Turbo castor mounts have a large amount of rubber in them, which can cause some problem with the front suspension when running larger wheels or tyres. I have to say that my car exhibited no un-toward behaviour, despite the front 8.5x18 rims with 225/40 tyres. The normal solution is to fit the part from M030 968, which has much less rubber.  My solution is to fit the Lindsey Racing Mono Ball mounts. The don't have rubber inserts, but rather Teflon lined spherical bearings, so offer the best and most positive location for the rear of the control arms.

The new turbocharger was fitted

The vapour purge system is going to be removed and replaced by a purpose designed aluminium catch  tank with venting filter and remote drain tap. The original charcoal canister had been removed from the rear of the N/S/F wheel arch. John Sims fabricated a new steel bracket to mount the Lindsey Racing Crank Case Breather Tank. The drain exits under the n/s sill rubber extension, where it is tucked safely with it's drain tap.

The car is fitted with a GURU racing MAP2 kit. This dispenses with the AFM (air flow meter) and 'J' pipe that runs from the inlet of the turbo to the cone air filter in front of the expansion tank. There is a rubber boot that reduced the 70mm end of the inlet cone to the front of the turbocharger. The new turbocharger has a much larger inlet (76mm O/D) and is also longer. This needs a new coupling between the pipe an the turbo. Just to add to the complication, two of the additional ports on the inlet pipe are now redundant (the oil separator pipe is now replaced by the oil catch tank in the inner wing, and the pipe to the old turbo boost control valve has long been replaced by a separate pressure circuit controlled by the electronic boost controller). I had bought both a reducer and straight 76mm coupling hose. John Sims did a lot of work getting the reducer pipe on to intake pipe, but lengths are not right to finally place the cone air filter accurately between the expansion tank and the rear of the headlight. More fabrication will be needed to get the length correct and delete the two obsolete pipe stubs. 

10/04/05 Fitting the new fuel pump. The up-rated Bosch pump is longer and has a larger diameter. The standard pump comes sealed on a rubber cocoon as an anti-vibration mount. I cut the rubber cocoon to split it off, then scalloped some of the inside to provide a better fit around the new pump. The entire outer diameter is still much larger than the original. We got the new fuel pump in to final position and piped up to a new fuel filter. New rubber mounts were found for the fuel filter bracket which had perished. The inlet to the new fuel pump is slightly larger than the original, but the existing rubber pipe from the fuel tank stretches to fit, just a new jubilee clip is needed.

The front PU was removed to allow better access to the front of the car. I removed the now redundant plastic snorkel that feeds up in to the N/S inner wing to feed the alternator. I am no longer fitting the rear shield to the alternator, so have been able to create more space in that area of the engine bay.

The KISS oil cooler kit was installed. This consists of a 13 row oil cooler that is mounted up next to the horns, two heavy duty hoses that allow the new radiator to be plumbed in series with the OEM item, plus assorted brackets and hardware. This kit installed very easily and all the parts fitted nicely.

The alternator was fitted with an adjustable voltage regulator, set .5v higher than normal, then reinstalled along with the new ICESHARK headlamp wiring loom. This takes a feed directly off rear of the alternator to a pair of relays located beneath the new air filter located just behind the N/S headlamp, which then replaces the existing Headlamp wiring. The voltage drop through the old loom is eliminated by the new much higher rated loom. The N/S headlamp connector is simply connected to the loom to control the two new relays. The quality of the loom (and additional earth link between the engine and chassis earth point for the headlamp circuit) is excellent. While the front P/U is removed, the loom can be threaded across to the O/S headlamp as well.

The new balance shaft parts and rollers have been installed. Also the water pump has been fitted with new thermostat etc. The water temperature sensors in the top of the block for the water temperature gauge and DME have been replaced with new items.

The new big valve cylinder head was fitted up with new studs and nuts and the exhaust manifold mounted. The water elbows were cleaned and loose fitted. I took the head home in the evening to my garage to heat wrap the exhaust manifold.

12/04/05 The new head stud arrived from OPC and was loctited in place in the afternoon.

Next job was to replace the oil pressure sender unit. What should have been a five minute job turned out to be another hours work. The best way of getting to the flats are probably with a 24mm crows foot, which we didn't have. Instead, a combination of wrenches were  used to back the sender out enough to get a spanner on. This also needed the removal of the metal heat shield between the exhaust manifold and engine mount. To get the replacement sender unit tightened up properly needed a combination of a mocked up tool, centre punch and hammer and finally 24mm spanner.

The heat wrapping of the exhaust manifold was finished to ready the head for fitting. The top face of the block was given a final clean, along with the bores. The water jackets were then flushed out to remove any final debris before fitting the head. The stud threads were lightly oiled and the Wide-fire head gasket fitted on top of the block. The head was then lowered in to place and torqued down using new head nuts. The inlet ports and spark plug holes were then taped up !

A new knock sensor was bolted to the block. The idle speed control valve was given a final clean with carb spray and new hoses and jubilee clips fitted before the assembly was mounted to the engine.

Next up was a trial fitting of the inlet manifold over the new turbo. Lindsey Racing had already ground the necessary clearance from the compressor housing so all looks good.

The engine bay is being re piped and two major hard pipe assemblies removed. The three pipe assembly that used to run under the inlet manifold has now gone. This used to carry a pipe between the J pipe and top of the air separator, and passageways for the obsolete boost control valve. The pipe from the top of the oil separator is now routed out to the bulkhead and then down to the oil catch tank that has replaced the old vapour purge tank in the N/S wheel arch. The other assembly to be removed used to bolt across the front chassis rails and carry the pipe from the top of the radiator to the header tank and the turbo water feed from the small elbow on the water pump to the 'Y' pipe assembly on the turbo. The former has been replaced my Mocol hose mounted to the cooling fan assembly. Next up was to find a way to replace the solid pipe assembly that has a banjo connection to the turbo, reservoir for the turbo water temperature switch and metal 'Y' pipe to the expansion tank and water pump. This assembly no longer fitted because of the larger compressor housing. 

14/04/05 New seal for the rear of the cam wheel housing was ordered, along with the gasket between the cam wheel housing and distributor cap. A visit to Think Automotive sourced more parts for both the turbo cooling system and the turbo inlet. The turbo cooling circuit is now complete. The Y section of what was the grapevine hard pipe that ran across the front of the engine bad has now been cut off and fettled to the correct length and the base ground off so that the pipework is fully floating. This allows the turbo intake pipe to sit down low enough to allow the air filter to fit in the correct position. a P clip mounted on the radiator electric fans assembly locates the two major hoses and allows a smooth path to be followed with plenty of clearance. Next up was to fit the throttle body to the inlet manifold, then bolt the inlet manifold in to place. The pipes to the brake booster and idle speed control valve were fitted, then the KLR signal line and banjo bolt to feed the other vacuum pipes.

The cam tower was reassembled with plenty of oil on the new cam. The original lifters were refitted after cleaning and checking. The new adjustable vernier cam gear was fitted.

15/04/05 The cam tower was fitted to the head along with a new rotor arm and distributor cap. The belts were fitted and tensioned

For the turbo hard pipe inlet, the original idea we had (with the 76/67mm reducer pipe fitted by John Sims) got superseded when we put the header tank in to position and finalised the water pipe work. The current modification would have left the filter to far forward. Also, we no longer needed two of the hose unions that were fitted to the turbo inlet pipe. This pipe is the one supplied by GURU racing and is designed to mate to a standard turbo and retain standard piped. Since we are no longer using the original oil vapour system (where the oil separator feeds back in to the inlet before the turbo) or the original boost control valve, these two pipes are no longer needed. Fortunately, these connect the the end of the turbo inlet pipe nearest the turbo. The solution was to saw off the rear of the turbo pipe. This did three things - firstly it got rid of the first hose takeoff point - secondly when we cut and ground the second take off point, the new 76mm silicone hose slid up to cover that old orifice - thirdly we were able to adjust the overall length to position the air filter accurately in the gap between the the header tank and the rear of the headlamp. The filter now also sits lower because of the modified coolant pipes to the ports on the header tank being floating and therefore moved to the optimum position.

With all pipe work completed, it was time to see if it would hold oil and water ! The new exact oil capacity is unknown. This is because of the additional pipework, external oil cooler and turbo oil filter. We started with 5 litres of Castrol Magnetec. We also added 4 litres of antifreeze to the header tank and began filling with water. Everything (oil, water, petrol) stayed in (a big relief all round after such a major amount of work and modification / fabrication. With the spark plugs not yet installed, the battery was reconnected and the engine turned over on the started for a minute. Oil pressure appeared on the gauge within 10 seconds. Full fuel pressure within 10 seconds. We let the starter cool for a further minute then repeated the process another 3 times. Raising the car on the ramp showed no oil or water leaks anywhere. We left it for another 10 minutes while the new iridium spark plugs were installed. the oil was dipped and topped up and more water added.

The moment of truth - startup time. The car fired and ran on the first turn of the key. The tappets pumped up within about 2 seconds and we were running ! I immediately backed down the master fuel setting on the link computer by about 25% (it was set for the #55 injectors and #72 are now installed). We let it run for about 2 minutes while checking the engine bay and the floor underneath. After turning the heater controls full on, we added some more water and loosened the bleed screw on top of the coolant elbow and allowed a load of air out. Leaving the engine running, we raised the engine on the ramp and started checking for any sign of leakage. Fortunately every thing from the fuel filter unions to the oil cooler unions looked dry. During the next 20 minutes we bled the coolant system and fitted a new pressure cap on the header tank. After the engine had stopped for 10 minutes (beer break) we dipped and topped up the oil, rechecked the power steering reservoir fluid and had a thorough poke around the engine bay looking for any signs of any leakage. Not a bad end to a day...

16/04/05  Saturday morning. another thorough look at all the unions and a spanner check. Only one spot of oil found, at one of the unions on the new oil radiator. A slight nip with the spanner and all was well. We dipped the oil and topped it to the correct level (the new oil radiator was now full), topped the water and rechecked the power steering fluid.

Since I had fitted the new Lindsey Racing fuel Rail and regulator, I had noticed that the rail maintains full fuel pressure for over a week ! he standard rail and regulator seem to loose it after an hour or so. One major advantage of the up-rated system is that the engine fires much quicker as it doesn't have to wait for the fuel pump to re-prime the injectors.

The engine fired immediately. We let it run for about 20 minutes until fully warmed then set the base idle. Two pins on the test connector on the bulkhead are linked to prevent the idle speed control valve from operating. The (new) throttle body screw was then adjusted to give 860RPM, as indicated on the very accurate Link control box. The jumper on the connector was then removed and the engine power loaded (Air con, headlights, heated rear window) to make sure the idle speed control valve was working correctly and maintaining the correct idle speed.

The front PU was refitted, but none of the N/S lamps would work. The fuses and connectors all looked OK.

18/04/05 The fault with the lights was traced to blown bulbs ! All three in the driving cluster had mysteriously blown. An excuse for the bulbs to be up-rated to Xenon plasma 30% brighter bulbs for the fog and drive lamps, standard bulbs for the front side lamps. The front PU is now bolted fully back in to place and the new front splitter bolted to it with special fasteners.

We took off the badge panel to finalise the routing of the IceShark wiring loom. The relays are mounted on two of the studs on the mystery bracket on the N/S inner wing, on the wheel arc