Release the Kraken.........

To amuse ourselves, we give each car a nickname,  and when this customer ask the Boss to build a monster motor.....well, we thought of when it would be released.

When the boss started writing the symphony of power, we expected a nice ballad, instead we got a head banging heavy metal number one hit.

At the first test drive, it twisted the shock tower, so back in the shop it went, reinforce the cab, give it some big brakes, and coil overs and huge sway bars to keep it level.

To maximize the power band of this 3.576 liter beast, we had the crankshaft stroked 0.079 mm, dressed it with 3 liter offset bushed connecting rods, this combination allow the piston to dwell longer at top of the barrel crating a longer explosion.

 Twin plugged, flame ringed and ported heads let it breath to make this power run smooth.

We gave it alcohol injection and manual boost controller, but in all honesty, I don't think it needs it;  At 3 pounds of boost the tires leave the ground.

This dyno run was the first one, and some the ponies we still in the barn, in a weeks time a new dyno run will take place, it is then when we will release the Kraken.....

I come in..............pieces !!

Literally, it has happened three times this year.
Like orphans, they were moved from shop to shop,

This particular 1989 was converted into some kind of 964,  I have not yet been briefed on the whole story of why it was done this way, but I m pretty sure the boxes of stuff will tell a story.

Our mission......should we choose to accept it, is to install and wire a 3.6 liter with a G50 transmission.  standard procedure, one might think, except that the engine came from a wreck and it has bees sitting out in the open with parts taken out, not to mention that the 89 has been handled by a few sets of "expert" hands.

Working from someone else's bags and boxes is a little challenging, but we also like the surprise parts that are always in those boxes.  It is amazing to see what people buy when embarking into a journey like this. 

We are going to get dirty on this one.................

Get a grip...

......on the ground, that is.  It seems like our oil-less turbo make more power than we anticipated.

Basically a stock turbo with a couple of better items:
adjustable TurboSmart BoV, Boost gauge and manual controllers. and Waste gate.  An oil-less turbo from CompTurbo, and Custom headers made by us.
 and when I new clutch was needed,  we asked what kind........something not too radical, the horsepower is not that high.

But with an adjustable boost controller, pushing buttons can be tempting and once you past the 1 bar mark, the new clutch began to slip. 

This happened Friday........and we promised the client he can drive it on Monday.....

Some people have 3 day weekend, we sometimes have no weekend. 

We took a little trip to the Inland Empire and had the boys and girls of Clutch Masters custom made a disk and pressure plate.  they put a rush in and the boss had to pick it up late on Saturday.

In the meantime, back at the cave.....Gerardo and I got things ready, with the engine on the ground and transmission off, we waited.........traffic and time got the best of everything........I guess our Sunday just got cancelled.

But on Sunday morning, we put petal to the metal and by 11:30 the wheels hugged the ground without letting go.

Free range

It is not very often the we finish all the cars we've been working on at the same time, and this is one of those rare occasions.

It was a very intense week and with the band playing the same tune, we awaken all five turbos and the the little VW.

So now everybody is running and able to move beyond the confinements of the shop.

The Golden Targa from some posts ago got its turbo inspected, just in case.
The red one from the National Geographic show "Porsche in Pieces" got some dyno time, its Kung Fu is strong.
The oil-less one continue to be tested, but it will be released next week.
The Venetian Blue, got its twin plugged heads and fuel delivery and it's next in line to the dyno.

The one we nicknamed "The Kraken" it's ready to be releasedAnd last but not least, our 57 Speedster kit got its original carburetor, passed inspection and DMV put a sticker on.

No matter how hard the week is, when everything is running,......it's a good week.

Give me a Brake !!!

I know everyone likes a good tune while cruising down the highway, but if the boom boom keeps you from hearing the gggrrrrrr of your brakes, it's to to turn the radio down.

When working on brakes (yes,  I do some grease monkey duties every now and then) like I said, when it comes to brakes I get a little militant about it, specially in cars that have been sleep for several years. 

Some ignore the sensor squeaking noise:
1. They can hear it...to busy on the phone.
2. They can hear it, music's too loud.
3. They think nothing is wrong when the pedal goes too far down.
4. And some think that all you need is brake pads.

On cars that have been stored for more than 10 year:  I tell you what I think, moving parts live only by moving, this year we have to awake two of these and our customers wonder why all the brake system needed to be replaced;  Well, let's take a look shall we: 

1. Brake fluid, needs to move, if it has a chance, you will find it inside the brake booster.  remove the fluid before storage and the seals of the master cylinder and calipers will retract, making very difficult to bleed when trying to revive a system, not to mention that they will dry out.

This 1981 Targa awoke after 12 years of storage, and it took a good amount of Dollars to replace everything in the braking system, no point in asking for more power if you cannot stop.