Introducing . . . Porky

So, my birthday came and went, last year, and my friend, Spencer, texted me a link for a race car, that was for sale on Craigslist. 

Fast forward to the following, rainy weekend, and we are on the way back into town, with this little disaster on the trailer. A few hours later, and it's neatly tucked away, under roof, ready to have some neglect lovingly polished away. Except, some of the POs' misdeeds won't quite just wipe away with a cleaning cloth.

Here's where I dump photos in some semblance of chronological order, and call it a build thread. I promise that I'll neglect this thread, but not the car, and that I'll be awful about answering questions. 

Bernard

It has a modified 914 powertrain, and everybody needs a name. Besides, I thought it might upset some Porker faithfuls. 

We could turn "how many idiocies do you see" into an exciting and competitive game. 

Following with interest.  Is this homebuilt?  If not, what make/model?

Interesting.  The body looks like a LeGrand Mk 18 but I don't think LeGrand ever built one with a 914 engine.  What's its history?

Built around 1980, by Bill Lomenick, using LeGrand front geometry. Apparently, the front suspension came from a friend of his’ Turner, which equates to Spitfire. It was originally a DSR car, with a 1,000cc Kawasaki air cooled inline 4. He said he could never get it to stop overheating. 

Previously discussed here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/legrand-mk15-info-needed-please/31952/page1/

And here:  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/2000-challenge/porsche-914-in-legrand-dsr-1200-obo/69846/page1/ 

According to The builder, it would originally have carried a body of his own design, and it would have been clothed in LeGrand bodywork after his ownership. 

I was gonna say, I recognize this car!

Glad to see a build thread for it

Pretty cool.

The first thing I addressed, was the E36 M3 installation of the Engine mounting plate. There were multiple interference conditions, as well as a lack of support at the long stud. 

Also straightened the plate, and hacked off some unnecessary weight.  

Then the battery tray. Out with the bad, 

and in with the good. 

Next, I fabbed up some rear sway bar mounts, to replace these beauties: 

Next I noticed, why the rear end was binding up.  

Which explained why there was a weld repair on the other upright. The caliper and mount had enough. 

So, some wheel clearancing, and one rebuild, to replace a damaged barrel.  

I decided to check the Heim joints, and noticed that at some point(s), someone had been working on artificially aging them.  

I also replaced the bolts, to allow for a bit less touchy feely attitude, with the wheels. 

Modified socket head cap screws. Sorry, no photos on that. 

Youch.  I can kind of sense a point at which everything comes back apart, which will of course beget a complete re-think/re-build/life plot.  Enjoy the corrections!

On a side note, it is kind of like a tiny Can-Am car, but without . . .

In reply to rustomatic :

In its later iteration, CanAm also had a 2.0l class. 

Neat car!  I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

This is quite an interesting car. It looks nice, and I am looking forward to keepijng up with this build.

There was also an interference condition at the top of the shock mounts, where there was no space for the sway bar bracket fasteners, as well as the bottom, where they touched the shocks.

Soooooo, . . . a little more whittlin'/weightloss. 

When the die grinder noise starts, my neighbors remember why they hate me. 

Then, there was that loose carb linkage. 

And most of the fuel supply lines were replaced with the right stuff. 

And the sway bar links needed some love. They were complaining that they wanted a trial separation from the steering tie rods. Bought them some shiny bits. The upper links also didn't enjoy the lack of uninhibited motion caused by being sandwiched between flat washers. 

Then there were four pieces of tin foil, masquerading as sway bar drop link attachments, that needed to go on permanent vacation.  

So I sent some CAD drawings to the eMachine shop, . . . 

. . . did some waiting . . . 

. . . some more waiting, . . . 

. .. and these arrived: 

so in they went.

Great to see a build thread- I keep thinking about this car with my odd idea of making a Fiat 850 looking DM car.  

I assume you are planning on keeping the VW engine?  Or are you considering going to a bike motor?  The BM rules seem to favor bike engine cars- pretty significantly.  I know this is far off- since you want to get the car back on the pavement first.  

With so much of your work on the rear- do you have similar major projects on the front?

Following with great interest!!!

In reply to Slow_M :

for joints not held in double shear, please start using https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3068&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=3068&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkMD66-DC6gIVV-DICh1gSw0ZEAQYAiABEgI8NvD_BwE

Will help with movement as well as safety containment...