1988 Porsche 944 Track Toy

Today I tried not to get carried away with a lot of disruptive work...

i finished the headlight covers...

Even after I got that stickum off, the paint still looks like starry skies...

But it’s nice to have that done.

Next I removed the heater core pipe and the tubing I had used to bypass the heater core. I have now capped both ends... the outlet from the head...

...and the return at the water pump...

That’s a big chunk of aluminum stuffed into the short elbow. Lindsey Racing sells the perfect cap for that inlet for ten bucks plus shipping, but I’m too... GRM? ...for that nonsense.

While I had the front bumper off (to access the bolts for the headlight covers), o removed the heavy rubber pads. Unfortunately these nubs are protruding without them. I think I might put them back on.. if I ever bump anyone, these will leave a mark...

Sorry for the blurry picture.

i also removed the turn signal lamps, and replaced them with some plastic to retain some of the slippery shape...

That plastic came from a plant pot...

Finally, I started in on the intake scoop. I decided against cutting the headlight cover... I just think any gain would be lost to air resistance at speed.

instead, I will use the fog light opening.

One of the obstacles here is the path between the scoop and the intake is mostly blocked by this panel which I think supported the horn and some other things. It makes the hose bend pretty drastically.

I fretted about how much I would be able to remove without compromising chassis stiffness... until I looked at the other side of the car...

There’s no panel at all!

Yeah, that whole thing is coming out tomorrow.

In reply to CrookedRacer :

Interesting that the tech guys didn't balk at it. Good to know!

Today I found the leftover piece of gutter guard, and installed sone of it between the fascia and the air scoop.

I have to say, it looks marvelous.

I cut out that panel between the scoop and the intake, and the routing of the duct looks gentle enough.

So that’s all, folks! No more mods until after this weekend’s races. Now it’s time to pack up and be ready to roll at Summit Point’s Main Circuit!

Looks meaner now. I think the black blanks where the turn signals were might be a factor there. :-)

Looking good!  I’ve been meaning to do something with those turn signal holes too...inspirational use of plant pots!  Well played. 

Nice work!  Seems like some euro bumpers would clean that front end up quite a bit, probably not class legal.

Are the bumper overriders a requirement?  Those things are a bit heavy and the holes aren’t bad to fill.  Just a thought.

Looking good!

Good luck at the races!

damen

Who knew gutter guard makes a perfect grille.

Good luck this weekend.

Thanks everyone!

the grille is the same as that which is in the center, guarding the rad and oil cooler very effectively. I love that stuff.

And yes, aero mods in the class are (mostly) illegal, so we can’t run euro or aftermarket stuff up front. I’m cool with that because it’s less $$$ to keep up with the Joneses.

the bumperettes on the front hide some protruding “nubs” that would leave a mark if I ever bump-drafted someone. I decided to put them back on, but yeah, they’re relatively heavy and you’re allowed to take them off. There’s a blurry picture of the nubs a few posts ago.

Gutter guard is nice, it lets the water in and the tire chunks and leaves out.

Thanks for the well wishes, but the car had other plans. It deposited this, plus six or eight quarts of 20w50 on the braking zone to turn 1 during this morning's warm up session:

My weekend, and potentially the season, was abruptly ended.

In case you're wondering, that piece was attached to a piston less than 12 hours ago.

Oops

How does that happen without warning.  This is why I prefer quiet exhaust, lame but I can hear all the noises.

It's interesting that you mention the noise.

I've edited the video with a few clips from each lap preceding the event, and then the actual event itself.

There are a couple factors at play here that made it a little difficult for me to detect any issues... One, the car had been sitting on the race tires for three weeks and were going WOMP WOMP WOMP for a while. I expected that, and when the failure occurred, the tires themselves were finally getting round again. Two, I put earplugs in, while I normally don't. Under normal circumstances, I really think earplugs would have actually helped things, but my right plug didn't make a seal. It actually amplified the sound in the cabin in an unpleasant way. With three minutes before the session I thought about taking off my helmet, disconnecting the hans, etc. and resetting it, but I didn't feel like I had enough time to do it.

You can see my gauges pretty clearly, and they weren't screaming at me. The failure totally took me by surprise. It never crossed my mind that the engine sounded "rough" or anything.

Here's a picture of the underside- it looks like the rod departed the engine from the cylinder #2 area.

So it splashed oil all over the passenger side of the car. Everything is oily. The entire back side of the car made everyone's hands dirty while pushing it up onto the trailer.

Today, Monday, it took me all afternoon to jockey my car into its position in the operating theatre (aka my driveway just outside the garage) where I'll be removing the block...

I have the engine hoist staged ready for the operation. More to come.

“This day extracts a terrible toll.”  -Thanos 

How difficult is it to find one of those short blocks? I just checked inventory at the LKQ closest to my house and there are none. 

As your earplug supplier, I'm truly sorry. 

jimgood said:

As your earplug supplier, I'm truly sorry. 

Weren’t you aware those things say “Not for children under 50” right there on the package? And you gave them to a 48 year old! What kind of monster are you?

OH no! What a bummer. That's some serious carnage!

I got the head off the block. It’s not too bad, thankfully. Maybe a slightly bent valve, but I can’t tell without removing it and spinning it.

So it looks like I’d just need a short block.

What’s obvious to me is the head never cooked. The gasket looks like it did the day I put it on. So I can stop beating myself up for not adequately purging the cooling system of air just before the session... It was ok as far as coolant goes.

I’ll find something else to beat myself up for as soon as I get into the block.

In reply to Slippery :

I’ve got a few options from fellow racers. And I’m heading up to the Porsche-only swap meet at Hershey, PA this Saturday. There will be all kinds of stuff up there, hopefully. I haven’t been before but I hear it is vast. And not just 911’s.

Bummer. Been there.

Don't let it end your season!