The Phoenix project begins....finally

Some of you long-time posters will remember my 1984 Intermeccanica (84IM). I originally purchased the car, through Henry at IM, in 2001. I poured a ton of money into her and in an off moment sold her three years later. I've always regretted selling that car.
Three years after the sale I got a call from the new owner. She'd had an engine fire and the car was a write-off--would I be interested in buying the car? I thought about it for about one second, and said, "YES!" A few weeks later she was back home, sitting my my garage. At the time I had a V8 powered Mazda Miata and the IM was put on the back-burner, where it sat for two years. Well, it's time for this bird to rise from its ashes and she's off to Intermeccanica next week for a new rear clip.
The journey begins...
Ron

Ron - great to have you back to the Dark Side. Now you can build your IM better, faster, stronger like Major Steve Austin!! Good luck with your project.

Ron you CRAZY CANUCK! One in the saved column. Good on ya!

Wow!

Ron.....a long, difficult, but, fulfilling road lies ahead.

All the very best in getting your beauty restored and back on the road where you both belong.

gordon

I'm sure they will clean up the blisters and re-glass them now . But That is a nice start. and She (WILL) com back nicely.. I have faith in what your doing..

Henry has been very helpful. I've already found a very good shop to take apart my old 2110 and rebuild it and Henry will probably handle the new interior and paint job. I could probably get my car painted elsewhere for cheaper, but after looking at Henry's paint jobs I think the extra money is well worth it. Presently, I'm thinking about exterior color and seats. I think I've found a source for seats http://www.classiccarseats.com/ Not cheap, but very nice. As for paint, I'm presently leaning towards dark blue--maybe VW dark metalic.
I'm still not sure what color I want, but I'm sure of what colors I don't want: white, silver, red & black. They're great colors, but I want something a bit different.
Ron

Barry, Henry is putting in a new rear clip. The join will be down on the door sills. I'm also getting a bar put along the back, behind the seats, so I can use a four point seat belt setup. I was going to go with a roll bar, but after reading many posts on the subject I've decided against it.
Ron

". . . a bar in the back . . "

WOW, those IMs really are different!

That's why I love this SITE. You guys are amazing. Just what I need after a long days work at the Hospital. You guys keep my sanity in check. Great stories and always a bunch of laughs.

Thank You all and Happy Holidays.


David

San Jose Ca.

Go Ron, Go!

Hey! Welcome back to the madness Ron. Good to have you back man. How about making plans to do Carlisle next spring?
Hoss

Ron, I'm really hoping this goes well for you!
Please keep us posted!

As I suspected first class all the way. and I'd rather have a well seasoned cab than a all new one.. Is the rear half new or recycled?



But I'd use the Epoxy Urethane rubber bed liner stuff on the entire under side of the cab.. It is very very tough. messy If your not careful. But also first class,,

Welcome back, stranger....Git-R-Done!

~WB

The rear clip is new. I've purchased a car hauler and the IM is off to Henry's this Saturday. The IM will probably make more than a few trailer trips to various locations over the next six months.
Ron

You gonna name it "Fawkes"?

That was the name of Dumbledor's Phoenix in "Harry Potter"

I don't usually name my cars, but if I did Rocinante would be my first choice (Don Quixote's skinny old horse). I like Fawkes too--very fitting.
Ron

I stopped by Intermeccanica's today and left my IM in Henry's capable hands. Step one of the transformation begins.
Ron

Ron,

Good luck w/ the refurb. Congrats on having the grit (and $$) to make this happen -- as Lane is fond of saying: "Resistance is futile."

And, these rear-end fires are frightening. Anybody keeping book on why these happen? My guess is fuel line leaks, but maybe there are other contributing factors. I'd really like to know about these and do all possible to avoid. The thought scares the poop out of me.

Kelly - DrClock's white/red candy Speedie had a build in fire suppression system - I see several others with the red T-handle on dash. I'm thinking for the <$500 its a worth while addition. Suspect some travel without even a fire extinguisher and first aid kit though. Hard putting out any fire with road side gravel! Relative had VW bug catch fire in FL. The brass fuel furrel pulled out of single carb pumping gas on hot engine. I've seen a lot of platic $1 fuel filters dangling over engine too as well as fuel line rubbing on parts (unsupported).

After seeing some of the meltdown disasters of the past, no offense Ron, I put one in. I have a nozzle at each IDF, and one aimed at the Eberspacher heater also.

http://www.spyderclub.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=12157&start=0

Kelly:

Another thing to consider is that many, many of us are using K&N air cleaners, and most of us use WAY too much of their cleaner oiling aerosol, AND clean and re-apply the stuff way too often. Even K&N recommends a 50,000 mile element service interval and I know that a lot of folks on here are cleaning and re-oiling their K&N's every year (or more often for some folks).

BOTH the air cleaner element AND the oil are flammable - doubly so when the elements are over-oiled. All it takes is for our Webers or Dells to cough up a small flame and it might be all over. Downshift into a stop light and it coughs, then sit at the light while the flame takes hold and then accelerate to fan the flame with more air. Next thing you know, the elements flame up onto the underside of the body right above them and, POOF!

Maybe it's time, over the Winter, to find out what 356 racers have done to avoid this and all start to migrate in that direction.

gn

The used fire suppression system in Candy was acquired through eBay for $225 there are deals out there for the looking ~the

I don't know how well the new owner looked after the car. When I owned the IM (the first time) I installed an electric fuel pump (near the gas tank), a fuel regulator on the firewall and braided steel fuel lines. Unfortunately, when the car caught fire (and stalled) the owner didn't turn the ignition to 'off' and the fuel pump continued to pump fuel into the fire.
A fire suppression system sounds like a VERY good idea.
RonO

10-4 on the non-rubber fuel lines -- which I have by the way. Original P-cars were all hard-plumbed, and I have in mind to do this. Get stainless parts and silver solder 'em up; attach to the shroud here and there. No plastic fuel filter, which I also have. These things sound right. And fire suppression system. at $200 or so, seems cheap insurance.

This time around I'm 90% certain I'm going with fuel injection (single throttle body). Hopefully, FI will be less prone to catching fire than carbs.
Ron

I know my 914 had 35# pressure to feed the fuel injectors - you don't want leak there between pump and injectors!

Since my last post I've done some more research, and now I'm leaning towards dual throttle bodies (the CB kit). I'm concerned I'll lose too much hp with the single TB. I'd like to keep my hp around the 130-140 mark, and I don't think I'll get that with a single TB.
Ron

Hey Ron, I too have acquired a car that had an engine fire, the interior was gutted, however the fire only took out the deck lid and part of the rear quarter I am repairing my car myself.. How are you planning to re-register?? As far as a fire extinguisher, I will definitely have one in the car. Funny though I owned a VW when I was younger .. had it for 14 years with no engine fire. Good luck with your restoration.

Hi Simon. I'll have to come over to the Island when I get my IM back on the road.
I've also owned a number of air cooled VWs over the years and never experienced an engine fire. I ran dual single carbs on my 1970 beetle and never had a lick of problem in 60,000 miles of driving. On the other hand I had nothing but troubles with the dual 44 Webers on my IM. That's why I plan on going with fuel injection. I know that many VW owners have put thousands of trouble-free miles on their Weber carbs, but I didn't, and for me, that's all that counts.
Four or five years ago I owned a 1970 Single cab, with 911 running gear. Once, while driving home on the freeway from my mechanic's shop, I could smell gasoline. When I got home I let the truck idle and walked around to the back to have a look. To my horror there was gas pouring down from the engine! The fuel injection return line had failed and was pouring gas over the engine. To this day I can't understand why that engine didn't catch on fire.
I'll pm you about the registration.
Ron

Update:
When Henry installs the new rear clip I'm also having him install a bar behind the seats, so I can attach four point seat belts. The photos below show the support bars welded to the frame. The rear clip goes on tomorrow.
Ron

Back clip is on. Next step is to bring her home and start on the running gear.
Ron

Full speed ahead, Ron!

I would love to have a mini bar in my back seat, just like in the hotel rooms.
Cheers,

I saw the progress yesterday Ron, looking really fine!

I'm picking up the IM tomorrow. She'll come home for some mechanical work and then go back to Henry's for paint, interior and top.
Latest photos shown below.

Wow looks great I better pick it up a little to keep up with you! I found a local owner up in the Okanagan that is restoring his right now too it's an older pan based IM, color going from Red to White at the end of the month. We should organize a BC cruise through the old Hope Princeton then up from Osoyoos up to Vernon and back to Kelowna.
We would meet up in Princeton and head south to Osoyoos maybe pick some US Speedsters at the border then head up HWY 97.

Ron that looks fantastic! Are you going to keep it white? What about the interior color?

Rick, the car should be ready for the summer. The 5a highway from Princeton to the Connector is an awesome drive.
Lane, I'm going with a Graphite metallic paint with a brown (a color somewhere between toffee and coffee) interior.
Ron