The Carrera Project

And this is the new upper shock location

Engine is in and it fired right up!!! I can't beleive how quite it is. It purrs like a kitten.
Only had a few minor issues with the install. The driver side support brace was in the way of the header so we had to cut it out and we'll weld a new one in tomorrow.
Tomorrow we just have to finish up the wiring (relays for the fuel pump and oil cooler fan), weld that new barcket in and put the axles in and it should be time to give it a run.

The muffler is way too close to the tire so I'm gonna need some spacers for the rear wheels. Especially if I'm going to put those 185's on the car. Anyone know of a good source? Cip1 is out of stock.

After tomorrow all that's left is the front wheel/brake conversion. Depending on how the morning goes I may try to do that tomorrow as well. If not Wednesday for sure. Then I guess a few days of sorting out here and there and hopefully by the end of the month I'll be able to just cruise until it gets too cold. Then I can start on the interior.

I'll post pics later when I get home.

Sounds like it is coming on rather well. I'll bet you can't wait to put your size 13 into the foot feed to see what happens.

Glad yo hear Mickey. Hope my install of you other one goes as smoothly.

Here's the deck lid "fitting". It really sits snug now. Luckly I won't have to do any cutting, it still fit snug with the engine installed.

The engine is in!

I put the oil filter right in the rear wheel well as close the the back as possible.

The oil cooler fan went on the outside of the firewall.

That's pretty tight fit back there. Who'd of thought I would have just been moving my fitment issues from one side to the other when I narrowed the rear? I just ordered spacers for the rear wheels. They are 3/8". I hope that's enough. If not, I can always get bigger ones when they are back in stock.

Keep it up. I can't wait to see it finished.

I had the same space issues with the sidewinder - at least partially due to the heater boxes, and the rear frame rails. Carey has to modify the muffler to make them fit a Beck, and mine required a couple of tries. It's worth it though.

One question about your oil cooler - It looks like it's flat against a wall there. Is there a hole to allow air flow through it?

Uh......Holy Crap!!!!

My car is sick fast!!!!

The little dinky 165's that are on there now are on borrowed time for sure. I cannot believe how F'ing quick this thing is.
There are a few little things to sort out (small leak from one of the oil hoses, ect...) but the initial road test was a huge success!

Lane,
The oil cooler fan has about 3/8" behind it. It's set to push air across so it should be OK. The fan was designed to work in tight spaces. Obviously it's something that will have to be watched and adapted if need be.

Still lots to do but hopefully I'll be able to drive it in between the remaining projects.

good for you man!!!! I'm happy you were able to take her for a rip!

We have to tidy up a few connections on the oil filter bracket. The thread sealant I used must have not been adaquate so tomorrow I'll remove the nipples and use teflon tape.
Also, in searching the leaks we succeeded in breaking the electric themostat, so we bypassed it until I get a new one.
Hopefully I can get to the front wheel/brake conversion tomorrow.
I'm a little bummed about the single out exhaust. The rear apron is too low so I had to turn the pipe downward to fit it. I may cut the apron to get it to go straight out but even that may not be enough. I'll figure something out.

Props must go out to Pat Downs. My wrench buddy Steve was VERY impressed with Pat's build. We literally just put it in, hooked up the accessories and turned the key, VROOOOOOM! We haven't had to turn so much as a screw. It's awesome!

Mickey, that last bit sounds like my installation at Carlisle. It's even recorded and available on Carey's website.

To clarify, my engine was also built by Pat. It also slipped in easily and started right up. He usually runs them on a dyno and gets them properly tuned prior to shipping.

Yeah Lane, Pat did dyno my engine and he told me it would pretty much be a "bolt in" gig but I didn't think it would be that spot on. I guess I'm just used to hearing something from a vendor and it not being quite as easy as stated. Not in this case, this engine is absolutely the best money I ever spent on this car. I'm very happy I decided to go with Pat (CB Performance).

I spent the day putting the new spindles (thanks to Greg B) on and the new wide 5 front rotors/wheels. Now my car is starting to look like it's supposed to. It's going in for a front and rear alignment tomorrow and then I have to sort out a little brake issue.
Ever since I switched the rear 4 bolts out for the wide 5's and narrowed the rear, the brake pedal got soft. I thought it was that I hadn't adjusted the rear brakes properly but since I knew I would be doing the fronts soon I didn't bother to adjust them. So after bleeding the brakes and adjusting the rear brakes the pedal is still long. The brakes with the old 4 bolt set up were perfect. Other than switching drums on the rear and rotors and calipers in the front I not much has changed, I even used the old master cylinder. Anyone got any suggestions for fixing the problem. I'll do a search in the meantime.
Also, it seems like the shifter is tight. I have an empi trigger and it used to shift very smooth. Now it's much tighter and not as easy to go from 2nd to 3rd. Is this just one of those "break in" things?

I'll take pics tomorrow.

There she is with her new shoes.

I'm waiting on some spacers and then I'll put the new tires on when they're in. I don't mind the wait on those because the longer they take the more I can't smoke my old ones! The little 165's let go with just the tap of my foot.

The car is in today for a front and rear alingment. I told the guy to raise the front so it's level with the back. I kinda like the ride height where it is in the back. It sits a little higher than before but it's a better ride and I think it looks a little more aggressive sitting slightly high, in an old school way.

When I get the car back later today from the alignment I get to park it in the garage for a couple days because there is some wicked storm working it's way up the coast, bummer.

Mickey

I am so happy for you and jealous as hell. There is something with the old Intermeccanicas (CMC'S too)that look more "real" than the new ones.
On the front drum skinz, can you paint the tips black? I wanted to do it on mine but...I sold it...s#$%.Great job again and ENJOY.

Looks great! You're almost there.

I know that the brakes, rims, and tires were a huge pain to set up, and I really ought to mention that they look great, but they just look like they belong on there, you know? What's the big deal, another five lug replica . . .


But those louvers/that deck lid, now THAT is something SWEET ! ! !


Looks TERRIFIC ( ! ! ! ! ! !), even WITH those 'ol plain-jane five lug wheels . . .

Mickey - Next time you take some pictures, take a close-up of the bumpers where it looks like you did a great job of wrapping the aluminum around the bumper.

Mickey -

Your car has a great 'old school' look! I LIKE IT. I can picture you driving around in cuffed-legged Levis and a pack of Camels tucked up in the sleeve of your white T-shirt as you comb more Pomade/Brylcream/Vitalis through your ducktailed hair-do.

Good job on the conversion!

Peace - Out!

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Lambros,
I agree 100%. Those drum covers look a little weird the way they are. Painting

Mickey, keep those revs low until that engine's broken in.
FYI; handed off the transaxle today, right on schedule. Of possible interest, the exchange took place at a psychiatric institution in Catonsville, Maryland.
Ironic?

Now we're talking, bro! That's the sh*t! Love those painted wheels with the drumskins; the wide fives make all the difference in the world in terms of looks; at least for the purist old school fan. About your CB Performance mill; I posted about them last week. Felix Bircher's Intermec has one and I drove it; it was a thing of beauty. It was really peppy and silent and didn't even vibrate while idling; the best air cooled VW mill I've ever experienced.

Thanks Cory, you're the best. I appreciate you doing that. You HAVE to come by and drive the car. It's not a suggestion, it's a demand.

Ricardo,
It's funny you said something about it not shaking. That was one of the things I noticed the first time we fired it up. The thing just sits there. And it's hard to believe all that power comes out of such a quite engine. I guess it's the sidewinder exhaust that keeps it a "sleeper". I just can't get over it. I'd have to say that CB Performance engines are to the air cooled world what Intermeccanicas are to the speedster world.

Between the engine and the reinforcement of the subframe, and I guess the new front and rear brakes and suspension, my car is sooooo much tighter. It feels like a new car. No more rattles. I still have a small issues with the rear shock mount. It still rubs a little in the lower mount so we again have to move the upper mount. I assume that's because we negelected to consider the geometery changes a bit when it's on the lift?

Mickey, looks fantastic! Glad you are happy with the motor, too. I just got drumskins for the front of mine, black painted "caps" are the way to go. I do have to cut my skins, though. They won't fit over my CSP front discs, so I'll cut them on the lathe soon to just bigger than the wide-5 bolt circle. This should also prevent any brake cooling issues that others may or may not have had!

Mickey, great job! I am enjoying following the progress of the personalization of your car. You can really be proud of the great machine you have created.

Teresa will be by in the next couple days, making the NY/Charm City run. She'll probably call you for a hop. Cool?

Daniel said: "I do have to cut my skins, though. They won't fit over my CSP front discs, so I'll cut them on the lathe soon to just bigger than the wide-5 bolt circle. This should also prevent any brake cooling issues that others may or may not have had!"
Let us know how this works. I'm thinking of doing the same thing. Mickey, sorry about the hijack.

No worries Warren. I too would like to know the results of Pauls mods. The skin on the drivers rear is rubbing (just a tiny bit) when the brakes heat up. And I'd like to avoid any unnecessary overheating on the brakes as well.
I took pics of the carrera bumper trim yesterday. I'll post them for you later. What did you do to polish the aluminum on yours?

Mickey, I am so glad you are enjoying your new engine. Like I said in our email. I had something to prove with that engine. My competition in the industry could learn a few things from your engine,LOL. They can talk a good talk but few engines of your particular size will compete with power and reliability. The cylinder heads on your engine are the secret to it's power and drivability. This comes from years of in house flow bench testing. Yes, we do not farm out our flow testing, it's done in house. Those intake ports have incredible port velocity, over 340 ft per second. It runs smooth because it was balanced on a 30 thousand dollar balancer. Now, let's wait and see if a certain individual will come in and steel this thread like they are so good at=)

Here's those pics Warren. The two bolt heads you see are so I can reattach my bumper guards if needed. If you look closely you can see some very small gaps which I'll fill with aluminum caulk after the car is painted.
When the trim delivered it was bent like a hockey stick. I managed to get it fairly straight but there were some little dings and kinks from the straightening. I got those buffed out fairly well and I'm hoping when I polish them they'll become even less noticiable.

How's the aluminum attached?

Mickey, could you post your build sheet for the 2110?

Lane,
The aluminum trim has a channel in the backside that you slide flat head bolts into (came with the trim). It was fairly easy to install. All you have to do is drill holes to run the bolts through. I used the existing ones from my former bumper moulding except I drilled new ones closer to the outer ends of the bumper to insure a snug fit there. Slide the bolts in the trim, starting at one end you tighten the first bolt and gradually form the trim to the bumper as you move along tightening bolts as you go. If you want a more detailed proceedure I can walk you through it but it's pretty straightforward stuff.

Will,
I will see what info Pat sent me. What specificallu are you looking for so I know to post what you need.

Mickey, Teresa couldn't get in touch tonight, so she's gonna sail right on by. She's at the PA Turnpike and 95 split at 7:42 p.m.
Give a yell. Your phone went right to voicemail.

Yeah, I just picked my phone up and it was dead. I hate that thing. I'm not sure when I hate it more, when it's on or when it's off?

I'll catch you, her, both of you, on the next trip through.

Almost there. Today we did the adjusting on the rear arms and spring plates to get the rear toe out fixed, put on the rear sway bar and put on the new tires. I also just cut the cans off the top part of my rear shocks (they were still banging into the arms) until we can relocate the top mount again. I tried a 185/55-15 Yokohama but they looked ridiculous. They we wayyyyy to small and made it look like the car had wagon wheels on it. So I ended up with a 175/65-15 Dunlop Sport 01. They look pretty good but still a tad short on the sidewall. I wanted a performance tire and they're pretty hard to come by for a 4.5" wheel with a reasonable sidewall. These are a Ultra High Performance Summer tire and man do they stick! I know they'll wear faster but I figure if I can get two seasons out of a set I'm OK with it. They're still really tight on the back side. I may, or may not, put the spacers on. I got a set of 3/8" aluminum spacers and the longer lug bolts and I have room going out; what do you folks think? Is there any benefit to picking up 3/4" more track in the rear? The cars drives like a completely different car now. It's even tighter than it was after the body reinforcements and alignment was done. The car no longer lets go like it did with those hard, skinny, worn out tires I had (though I kinda liked the drifting thing a little) now it just hooks and goes, sweet. I haven't given it a proper test drive yet but I feel confident in saying the adjustments made to the rear have solved and sloppyness that was there before.
So all that's left are a few little fixes and it's done, mechanically speaking. Over the winter I'll do all the "pretty stuff" but for now I'm just gonna drive it! There are only a few more weeks of good weather so I'm gonna fill them with lots of miles.
I'll post a few pics this weekend. As inconsequential as asthetics are it just won't be "done" until I get it painted and the interior done. But that's alright, these cars are never really "done".

Sweeeeeet!!! Glad you're back on the road.

Will,
I just noticed that Pat had posted right before one of my posts and I never saw it. Duh! I emailed Pat the other day and asked him if he had a build sheet or if he wouldn't mind posting here on the specifics. I guess after reading his post there are a few things he'd like to "keep in the shop". I will post the specs he did give me and I'm sure he'd be more than willing to discuss it with you if you called him.
I have to say that I'm still very impressed with the engine. After I put new tires (summer stickies) on the other day, adjusted the rear toe and added the rear sway bar the car is even more impressive. Now having all the power put into the road (instead of spinning those little 165's rocks) the car just keeps pulling. Especially when you get to about 2800 rpm, it really takes off! I'll put that stuff up tomorrow for you.