Milwaukee Mile is fun, somewhat bumpy and quirky. Road America is big, usually more costly to run there too. I'd probably try to make the Mile the maiden voyage.
Milwaukee Mile is fun, somewhat bumpy and quirky. Road America is big, usually more costly to run there too. I'd probably try to make the Mile the maiden voyage.
In reply to turtl631 :
That's the goal, I figured Mile is a bit smaller not quite as hard core. Would be nice to have a weekend under the belt before taking on RA.
I've seen Autobahn CC and Blackhawk Farms on some schedules as well, so I suppose those are possible too depending on when we get this thing safe for the track.
In reply to Stefan :
Thanks for the tip. I'll try to get my hands on the tool but if that proves fruitless I think I'd be comfortable going by feel (ignorance is bliss).
In reply to BrewCity20 :
Autobahn is a nice fairly technical small track with runoff space. It's nice for a slower car, I think I enjoyed it the most when I had my S2000. I can't remember offhand, are you in the Milwaukee metro area? The convenience of Milwaukee Mile is hard to beat if so. The local SCCA group is very friendly and welcoming.
In reply to turtl631 :
Yes, I'm in the Pewaukee area. Drive by the Mile every day to work.
In reply to BrewCity20 :
With respect to running with a depowered steering rack:
Don’t do it. I had a 944S2 with a built 968 motor and transmission. It was a full on racecar with a de-powered steering rack. The car was almost undrivable, the steering wheel kicked back so violently. I was running at Sebring which is pretty bumpy. Talked to a couple of racers and they said the de-powered rack has too much internal play without hydraulic pressure to take up slack. I was dubious, but after inspecting everything else in the front and rear suspension, we could find no other issues. I bought a rebuilt manual rack from a guy that specializes in procuring and rebuilding them. I can’t recall his name but a Google search would find him.
Absolutely fixed the issue. I sold the car before tracking it again, but the guy that bought it said the car was a dream to drive and he had run a 2:20 lap at Sebring, his personal best.
If you want I can help. I raced 944's for years and there is not a bolt or part on these that I have not removed and replaced (or broken) LOL
Belt's I never have used the Porsche tool. I tried a kricket tool and it was ok but the twist method is much better for me. The special thin wrenches are a tool I recomend. It makes adjusting the rollers & Idlers so much easier. There is a feel you get after doing many of these. The balance shaft belt is much looser than you would think it should be. I started using the kevlar belts. I think Gates makes them if I remember. Never had a failure. They are to be done every 30K miles or 2 years no matter what the millage. Change the water pump every 2nd belt change. Inspect rollers and idlers. I typically change them every 2nd or third belt depending on the millage (usually every 60K miles is how I do my cars and again never had a failure) Seals on teh front of the motor I do every 2nd belt as well. If you get the better seals you can go three belts MAYBE.
The paper gasket at the rear of the cam tower will leak. You have to take the cam tower with the cam off to change this. (do this when you are doing a belt change) The tappets get stuck in the cam tower during removal and then fall out as you lift it off so be carful as you have to put them back exactly where they came from.
Inspect speed and reference sensor wiring. It likes to fail at the connector (I think it is heat related). The wires in the bundle are tiny so when the insulation on that sourounds the wires dries out and crackes the wires usually do as well and cause a no start condition. If wiggling of the wires on either side of the connector gets it going you know where to start looking. I eventually just hard wired mine with solder eliminating the connector and I have never had a speed and reference sensor issue since.
Bearings are going to be an issue if your track runs any sweeping left hand turns. Bearings are a matter when if you race these cars. I finally put an accusump in my cars and solved that problem. I also kept a spare motor in the shelf because of this. Some say you can overfill the oil but I managed to kill 2 motors trying this. For reference the south oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 944 motor bearing killer corner.
I run standard brake components and used better pads. I liked porterfields but also have run others. These are momentum cars so to be fast you end up using very little brake BUT when you need it I could out brake just about anyone going in to a corner if I had to. The brakes on these cars really is a huge strong point. Standard brakes in these cars are excellent. You don't need to upgrade to the turbo or S2 rotors and calipers. In my opinion it is a wast. I never had a want for more brake performance in my cars with the stock single piston one in the NA cars.
DONT drop the clutch. The R&P in the NA transaxle will let go. If the gears don't physically brake then the Ring gear carrier bearings will. I have broken both in NA trans's Going to even an open dif 951 unit will solve this and they are relatively cheep compared to a 951 unit with LSD but the gearing is longer so not really a great thing but I made the change as I was sick of changing trans axles. Being on track and being a little slower is better than being at home with a broken car.
Rear hub bearings suck. Pay some one to do them if you need them done.
Front ballpoints will ware out really fast if you lower the car much in the front. Being they are part of the alu A arm they a bit of a pain to fix. There are kits now for this. You use to have to replace the whole a arm and that was expensive.
I ended up changing my front suspension back to an early setup that used different spindles so I could use the stamped steel A arms. This let me use the easily replaceable VW ball joints. If I remember I also ahd to change to the shorter pre 85.5 inner tyrod ends
Don't pull the muffler and run open pipes. It will be cool for a very short time then the drone will drive you crazy. I have tried a bunch of exhaust setups and stock is a very good option. There are some off brands out there that rust so fast they become a ware item.
Centric makes good cheep rotors for 944's. I was getting them delivered to my door for under $25 each from amazon. I really liked the quality never had any issues with them.
The bushings for the shift linkage will need to be changed back at the transaxle. Take this opportunity to get a short shift kit. You will also need to change the shifter lever up in the cockpit. These ware out and getting to revers becomes very difficult. A short shift kit on these cars is a big help.
For handling I tried allot of combinations but the following I found to be the best.
Koni Yellows at all four corners. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE BUMP STOPS WITH THEM you will crash the valving into the bottom of the tube with out them due to the lower springs and torsion bar settings.
Eibach progressive springs in the front (drops the ride hight 1 to 1 1/4 inches
Autopower hollow torsion bars in the rear. 32mm I think. I can check if you need me to
Autopower adjustable sway bars front and rear bot set dead to the middle of there adjustability range.
Tires are you choice but I strongly recommend you run a square setup. I don't recommend using the larger tire options for the rears that some 944s came with.
As for alignment I would use the stock setting EXCEPT I would dial in as much camber as possible with the stock components. Toe and caster were never really something I found to help or hinder things. Those were more of s drive feel thing I cam to think.
To me this sets the car up perfectly. After lots of experimenting and testing this is the combo that I found to be the best. The only real pain is the replacement of the torsion bars. That is a suck job. I re indexed them dropping them about an inch to match the drop from the front springs. I measured this with a level on the door sill
Clarks Garage is a good place to nose around. I am working on getting the Forum sorted out so for now you can only read through it and search it. The garage shop manual will be your friend as well.
maj75 said:In reply to BrewCity20 :
With respect to running with a depowered steering rack:
Don’t do it. I had a 944S2 with a built 968 motor and transmission. It was a full on racecar with a de-powered steering rack. The car was almost undrivable, the steering wheel kicked back so violently. I was running at Sebring which is pretty bumpy. Talked to a couple of racers and they said the de-powered rack has too much internal play without hydraulic pressure to take up slack. I was dubious, but after inspecting everything else in the front and rear suspension, we could find no other issues. I bought a rebuilt manual rack from a guy that specializes in procuring and rebuilding them. I can’t recall his name but a Google search would find him.
Absolutely fixed the issue. I sold the car before tracking it again, but the guy that bought it said the car was a dream to drive and he had run a 2:20 lap at Sebring, his personal best.
I ran my cars with depowered racks and never had this issue. I like the powered racks better as they have a faster ratio than the manual racks. For autocross or tight technical road courses I like powered rack for its quickness. At places like Pocono or maybe the glen I could see a manual rack would be ok but I am not good enough to be able to notice. I actually subscribe to the theory that your car can not necessary have to have the ultimate HP or weigh numbers to be fast. For us mere mortals making a car easier to drive and les tiring to drive will always make you faster. Only the best of the best will be slowed down by the slight reduction of HP and the increase in weight from a power rack.
In reply to dean1484 :
Wow, some great stuff here, thanks for taking the time to put it together. This added to my "to do" list significantly.
I have a small follow-up question, any recommendations for oil and coolant mixture? I've seen some suggest Mobil 1 15-50 or Amsoil 20-50 for engine oil and Red Line Water Wetter for the coolant.
In reply to dean1484 :
Good call, my goal is to re-power the rack eventually but since we are itching to get the car on the track we were looking to run it de-powered for the first weekend. Our main concern was not destroying the rack in the process.
BrewCity20 said:In reply to dean1484 :
Wow, some great stuff here, thanks for taking the time to put it together. This added to my "to do" list significantly.
I have a small follow-up question, any recommendations for oil and coolant mixture? I've seen some suggest Mobil 1 15-50 or Amsoil 20-50 for engine oil and Red Line Water Wetter for the coolant.
Check your track requirements, some are disallowing coolant on track.
BrewCity20 said:In reply to dean1484 :
Wow, some great stuff here, thanks for taking the time to put it together. This added to my "to do" list significantly.
I have a small follow-up question, any recommendations for oil and coolant mixture? I've seen some suggest Mobil 1 15-50 or Amsoil 20-50 for engine oil and Red Line Water Wetter for the coolant.
Seems like you're on the right track, for track use you'll want 15-50 or 20-50 oil. Though I did run 5w-40 for a little while in my turbo with no oil pressure issues, but it wasn't a track car. The cooling system shouldn't really be too much of a weak point, though water wetter couldn't hurt. FWIW I've been using hyperlube super coolant, it's basically the same thing but cheaper and seems to be the most effective product for coolant/water mixed (where water wetter and others work better with straight water). Most race series don't allow coolant but I've never heard of it being an issue for HPDE stuff, though I could be wrong.
In reply to dps214 :
I looked through Road America and Milwaukee Track Day's rules and didn't see anything banning glycol. Maybe I'll be alright given it is just an open track day and not wheel to wheel. I'm planning on doing a coolant flush in the coming weeks so that prompted the question.
In reply to Tom_Spangler :
Wow, looks like your car was almost identical to mine. Many of the same issues. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
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