Body
Body |
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"Enclosed is a view of the dash of the car I purchased. As you will quickly note it only has three guages. The car started out as a 912. The car was completely stripped of everything and dipped. Initially, I purchased the car for the extra parts that came with it and to turn around and sell. After an inventory of my parts I decided the car was perfect for a race car project. Oh Boy!" |
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"This photo depicts the right side of the car. Notice no glass or suspension. Also note the SC flares. The previous owner wanted to convert this car to an 86 Carrera. The observant Porsche fanatic will notice the short hood on an early body." |
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"Here's what a 912 engine compartment looks like. Notice the 911 engine mounts are already welded in. The previous owner painted the car red but did not like it and decided to try it again. That's when I came on the scene. The rear has been updated for the reflector and the other Carrera body pieces." |
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"Rear view of my race car project. Things were amazingly straight and clean. Just the kind of car you want to start with. The previous owner spent a lot of time fitting and welding to make things fit good. One area he overlooked was the suspension. The rear suspension points for the banana arms are different for the early and newer cars. That was my biggest project on this car." |
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"A custom made roll cage has been fitted to the car. The cage has been run through the rear fire wall and dash and mounted to the front and rear shock mounts. In addition, the cage has been extended down to pick up the A-arms. The rear shocks and front sway bar mounts have been gussetted for strength." |
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"Front trunk. Notice fuel cell support and aluminum floor. Next step is to prep for painting." |
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"Just couldn't wait. I had to paint it. The car has been freshly painted in, out, top and bottom. The roll cage has even been painted. Its painted Chrysler purple. The combination is really striking." |
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"This is the dash coming together. I am planning to only run an oil pressure light, a tach and a combination oil pressure/temperature guage." |
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Almost complete! |
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Battery: Plans are to move to front smugglers box. Moving it to the front will help with weight distribution and allowfor a passenter front seat. Initially seat was left out for keeping weight down, but as it turns out, the car will now be used for instructional purposes. |
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Finished dash board: Dash board is purposely left basic. Only the essential gauges are needed, i.e. large oil pressure indicator, tach, oil temperature and oil pressure. Switches are for ignition and fuel pump. | |
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Fuel cell: Fuel cell is a 12 gallon using a low pressure Holley fuel pump. The fuel pressure is currently running at 3.5 psi. |  |
Brake Bias: I added a proportioning valve to fine tune the brakes. I wanted the control to be accessible to the driver while he was seated in the car. You will notice I am also using a Stomski Racing shift rod coupler. |
Suspension |
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Well here is the front suspension going together. Notice I'm going with coil-overs, and the struts have bent Pitman arms. Those are real 1970 vintage RSR strut assemblies with the raised spindles, gusseting and inverted Bilstein struts. The strut plates are custom built with a spherical bearing. | |
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The calipers are Brembo 4 piston calipers that use standard 955 Turbo brake pads. The complete brake system had to be designed and installed. I've included stainless steel lines and a proportioning valve in the system. The master cylinder is a 19mm and the rotors are 911 Carrera. I hope that's big enough. I've reinforced the sway bar mounting plate on the inner fender well and installed a 22mm Weltmesiter sway bar. Also, note the studs have been changed to 100mm to accomodate thicker wheel spacers. |
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The rear has been updated to accept the coil over system. The other big change was to weld over the torsion bar tube with a 1/2" thick piece of steel and convert to a heim joint set-up on the spring plate. This was done to eliminate all rubber in the suspension system and thus converting to the 935 type of spring plate. |
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I had to make a special jig so the mounting points for the banana arms and transaxle would line back up. I cut a 2' center section out of the torsion bar tube and TIG welded the new section. This was done to convert the car to a long wheel base and to accomodate the aluminum banana arms. The roll cage was tied into the rear shock mount as well as additional gusseting for strength. |
Engine |
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Here is the heart of my Porsche project. There is something to be said about a clean Porsche engine compartment without all the emission stuff and open room to work. The goal with this engine was to build it for durability since I didn't want to have to build a Porsche engine every couple of years. This engine is a 1977 2.7L engine with 40mm Weber carburetors. I initially started out with Zenith carburetors but switched to Webers because of a problem I had with no# 3 cylinnder continuing to flood. The carbs are fed by a Holley fuel pump with the fuel pressure regulated to 3.5 psi. For ignition I used MSD 6AL unit and a Pertronix ignitor. Both units have performed flawlessly. For additional specs check out the spec sheet below. |
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How sweet it is! Since this was a race engine, I did away with the SSI exhaust and went with a set of 1 5/8" Jet Hot Coated headers. I've experimented with numerous exhaust systems, e.g. megaphones (short and long) and factory sport muffler. The car seems to run much better with the factory sport muffler. Future experimentation will be to try out a set of Flow Master mufflers. I've noticed a lot of racers use those these days. |
The Finished Product |
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Racing Action |
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 | "Here is the completed project being rolled out on its maiden voyage. That's Old Yeller in the picture above on November 7th 2003 at Summit Point Raceway, WV. Naturally with a new car there is a lot of sorting out that needs to take place not to mention further engineering and enhancements. Stay tuned!" |
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Just an update on Old Yeller. This is my second time out with OY and as you are aware, there are still things being sorted out, however, we are making progress. I had a Drivers Ed. event on April 9th and 10th at Summit Point, WV. Had a few problems, but the car is starting to come together. Here are some photos of me entering and exiting turn 8. |
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Here's a quick update on my latest outing. On October 10, 2004, I went to the hills of Summit Point, WV. It was a beautiful day for driving. Temperature got up to about 70 degrees and the turnout of Porsche cars was light which meant plenty of driving time. The car is finally starting to get sorted out. It ran superbly with a few minor issues that have to be worked out. The biggest compliment came from a 996 driver in my run group that informed me that after I gave him the signal to pass me that he couldn't get around me. Needless to say it was pretty humbling for him to have to follow old number #53 around that track lap after lap. Once the run session was over he looked me up and wanted to inspect my car. After inspecting my car and engine he wanted to know what size engine I was running. He was flabbergasted when I told him a stock 2.7 liter. What he didn't figure out was that I was probably 1300 lbs. less that he was. Go figure! |
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"No Way Jose!"
Everyone knows you can't just go around Ole Yeller without asking permission! Anyone who tries to go around Ole Yeller without permission might be lit up in the process. |
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Everytime we go out with Old Yeller gets better and better. We're still tweaking the suspension and brakes but it is still a fun and fast car. Car oversteers slightly and suspension adjustments are being made. The rear brake bias needs to be adjusted to compensate for the rear brakes locking up and not allowing the car to brake in a straight line. We are currently experiencing electrical problems that is preventing the car from starting. Hopefully, after several phone calls, discussions and tests this will get straightened out shortly. Stay tuned! |
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Here's Old Yeller on an outing at Summit Point July 11th and 12th 2005.
Old Yeller is holding her own through this turn. Photo courtesy of Matthew Kalokitis |
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Coming down the chute at Summit Point on July 11, 2005. Photo courtesy of Matthew Kalokitis |
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Here is a Top view of #53 approaching turn 6. The car is still a little tail happy.
Between now and the next event I will increase rear spring size to 500LB and front to
400LB to help with handling issues. Car runs consistently strong now that electrical
problems have been solved. Photo courtesy of Matthew Kalokitis |
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Click here for a short video clip (Apple Quick Time format) of Old Yeller going through a high speed turn! (Click here to download the Apple Quick Time player for Windows (free!) |
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| Click here for specs on Old Yeller. | |
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