While I had everything out, I went through the rear shifter linkage in my car. I had a few linkages around - these are pretty common as they get taken off blown transmissions or spare transmissions. I found some interesting stuff. Like everything else, the parts vary in condition. What's interesting is that the linkage arms that were visibly corroded on the outside (like they were exposed to a lot of salt), also had worn pins, while the ones that were not, had good hardware. This seemed to correlate more than mileage.

If the outside of your mechanism looks like the one on the left:


Then the shift pin may be galled like the one on the left in this picture. The one on the right cleaned up nicely with some scotchbrite & fit tight with no play.


Another shot where you can see the top pin is tapered & galled some vs the bottom one, which has nice square edges, and minimal pitting (lloks worse in the picture than after it was cleaned up)


So look around for arms that are clean, their associated hardware should be as well. This should help in sourcing good used hardware. Don't forget to put a new M8 nylock nut on there as well when you're done, and re-install the c-clip:


Doing this removed all the play from the rear mechanism, and only required mixing and matching part from my original trans and another blown trans that I had bought for it's LSD. You could also take the mechanism off of any spare trans you have, as you only nee one good shifter mechanism.

Well after some intense work the last couple of months to get all the details, and bugs work out, the car is done, just in time to leave for vacation - so I don't yet have pics of the final result. Took it out for a break-in drive through some deserted back roads (benefits of living in the boonies) - it's awesome!

Now I need to catch up on some of the things we did since the last update (this will take a couple of posts!);

Hole for easy torsion bar indexing (very handy, highly recommended):


Had hollow tosion bar threaded for easy removal (very hard stuff to tap!):


Thin aluminum cover plate for said hole, and high - abrasion area on rocker:


DIY aluminum bracket for 11lb Battery:



DIY bracket for tie-down of rear hatch. The brackets were had formed by my German Engineer father (thanks dad!), and thread into the OEM hard points where hatch pins mounted, using stainlesss button-head screws. The rubber tie downs were bought from our sponsor trailer dealer Ekquist Racing (www.ekquistracing-trailers.com) for $10 - they are used to hold removable trailer fenders down. Solid, & light weight solution:





Aluminum roof panel. Had a local sheetmetal shop cut it to the right dimension with a break, the filed the edges to fit. I re-used the OEM gasket, and some clear silicone to make it work. The antennae in the center is for the car to pit radio. Makes the car almost look remote controlled!



Gotto put on the stickers for the new sponsors!

www.BENMS.com - full service, race prep, and 944 Spec Rental program here
www.apartabove.com Porsche dismantler with lots of optional/upgrade OEM parts, and replacement part your street or race 944



Rapainted abraided nose panel (Rustoleum gloss metallic black is a pretty good match, just a bit more mettalic:

Final Budget, including 1st round of brakes & tires - right on target

Now, time to go racing next weekend! :burnout:

Expenses:
Car= $1,600
Fire system, & window net w/ mounting kit = $415 (minus $300 paid for by CDOC contingency money) Thanks CDOC! http://www.CDOC.com
Steering wheel: Used 350mm Momo found on Rennlist = $60
AC Delete bracket found used on Rennlist = $60
Steel A-arms (free from other parts car, market value maybe $30)
Mesh Window net kit - $100
Turbo front antiswaybar - $60 (to be resold now that we have weltmeister bars F&R - deleted from budget)
350 lb front springs $50 (used) (To be resold since we got springs with our used Konis & coilover - deleted from budget)
Aluminum to form into Dash & brackets $50
951 Oil cooler housing/adapter, not including cooler itself (salvaged from other project) market value - $100
Used set of front Koni inserts with Ground Control over kit, and 350 lb springs (used <10 races, bought from 944 Cup racer upgrading to high-end suspension) - $450
Misc. gaskets, seals, and rollers (most of a front end reseal & roller kit). Bought from a Pelican Parts forums post (never installed!) - $200
Bearings (rod, & main balance shaft), clutch throw out bearing & guide, a few other seals, fuel filter) - $400
Machine Shop bill for rebuilt head (shaved) - $312
Machine Shop bill for Polishing & cross-drilling crank, reconditioning rods, ARP rod bolts $415
Torsion bars $260 (new)
Weltmeister front a-arm bushings $152
Camber Plates $450
Windsheild $180 (installed myself with $10 of clear silicone)
Lines & fittings for oil cooler - $100
Cleaned & balanced fuel injectors - $100
Tow hooks from hardware store - $15
Rear Hatch tie downs: $10
New front Rotors $80 ($40 each, rears were in good shape)
Hawk Blue Brake pads $225 (total for all 4 corners on group buy)
4 New R-888 tires in 225/50/15 $630 total (group buy)
Vinyl for graphics & number plates $250


Weld-in Roll Cage from hanksvillehotrods.com:
Base cage, regular price: $1,274.93
Introductory pricing discount: -$318.73
Base cage, discounted price: $956.20
Additional bars as discussed (NASCAR-style door bars, both sides; dash bar, footwell connectors, both sides; rear brace diagonal): $276
Shipping, introductory half-price: $81.19
Roll Cage Total: $1,313.39


The following was purchased at an estate sale for $1650 total
-Welmeister antisway bars front & rear - new in box! (missing front droplinks, though)
-Several sets of Cookie Cutter wheels ( car came with late offset 16's, that we sold)
-Setrab oil cooler
-Longacre switch panels
-Multiple ancillary gauges
-Weltmeister front A-arm busings
- Rear Torsion tube - assembled with Delrin bushings, and powdercoated black - a little undercar bling! I don't yet know what size torsion bar is in there yet, though - I'll have to pull it out & see.
-Used straight-through stainless steel muffler
-New clutch friction disk
-Quick Release steering wheel hub
-Spare fuel ralis
-Front of Motor reseal Kit
-Head gasket kit
-Stainless steel brake lines

So we have $9,688 into the car, with $9,358 out of pocket.


Income:
Carpet (was new), sold for $330 - $56 shipping = $274
Ratty sport seat, sold for $200 - 100 shipping = $100
Airbag Steering Wheel (installed by p.o. for reasons unknown) sold for $119- 20 shipping = $99
Blue power coated Intake manifold (replaced by regular one included with short block) - sold for $35- $15 shipping = $20
Instrument cluster - Sold for $100
Heater controls - sold for $75 - $10 shipping = $65
Stainless steel Borla exhaust - sold to myself for the street 944S - market value $300 (conservatively)
Center console - sold to myself for $20 (I got a bargian!)
16" Wheels - sold to Ray for his street car for $300 market value (conservatively)
Crank from extra short block traded to Ray to replace his "cheater" knife edged crank, which sold for $500 on Rennlist (market value of crank $100, at least)
Window motors, hatch release parts - $100
Porsche Center Caps - $50
Misc. switches, turn signal stalk, hatch release motor (separate from the hatch release arm above), etc. $150 (sold in bulk).

So we have recouped $1,678. This is not as good as the $2,400 we made out of our last parts car (bought with snapped timing belt for $900), but that car had a full leather dash and mint interior. This car is a good racecar base with the LSD & complete drivetrain.

We recouped the cost of the donor itself, and are into the car for a grand total of $8,010 Out-of pocket expenses: $7,670 ( contingency payouts subtracted)

A few final thoughts:

1) Get a parts car - it was not included in the budget, because it more than paid for itself (part sold>$500 cost). It was invaluable!

2) While the car itself was on budget (amazingly), don't forget the associated expenses of building a car - I broke or wore out innumerable drills, hole saws, and one $200 Bosch drill, etc. I also brought a lot of new tools, taps, misc. hardware (though the parts car provided most all of the OEM hardware needed). Also welding the cage, and other parts cost me about $300 in electricity, $200 in gas, welding wire, etc. I also did a lot of favors/bartering for the a lot of the labor involved, including some time in the car (autocross/track days), which will cost some consumables, but well worth it. The "real" total cost was probably closer to $10K.

3) While the build itself was a lot of fun, and I gave myself time to all the "little things" right/the way I wanted, it does take a lot of time. I found I have a very patient spouse, but I won't be building another one real soon if I want to stay married. Suck up to the wife, and make no promises about being around a lot for a while! It helped that I have an extra garage attached to the house, so I was around when needed & for dinner, etc. The entire car was build inside the garage, except the engine head. This build was a solid 5 months

4) Get a group together - you may owe them some when you are done, but it makes things go so much better! Buy lots of snacks, "refreshments"

5) The internet is your friend for buying/selling batering, and tech support. I have so many to thank on this board any many others - I used Craig's List, Pelican, Rennlist, 944Spec.org, NASAforums, and others - HUGE help! Thanks to all who contributed! :thumbup:
6)This is one of those things every racer should do - once anyway! Do it!:cheers:

A few fun pictures from getting the family involved:

Kids sorting bolts from the parts cars-



This is what happens when the kids sort the hardware:





Gotto love the "love screws" :eek: (If they only knew!)




Sarah's ring & bracelet collection -

Eric...do you plan on putting a cap over the torsion bar end to keep dirt and water out? Another question, is ther a retaining ping that prevents the bar from working its way out or since it's underload, it not likely to happen?

Steve