My 79 Porsche 924 journey

What is that intercooler off of?

I think its off a Isuzu or Mitsubishi Diesel box truck, picked it up on the last day of the swap meet for $50 (was $100). I'll see if I can get a part number off of it if you'd like.

In reply to turboswede:

Great build just read it start to finish

Very good build. Lots of work put into that car for sure.
Quick question, because I have the part but have yet to install it. Can you install the header with the engine in? I know there is very little space in the engine bay, may hands can attest to that? I really do not want to remove the engine, but want the better flow the header will provide.

Thanks and keep the updates coming when you have the chance.

Cheers;

Well, to be honest the header doesn't help that much compared to the stock manifold. I would also ensure it is ceramic coated to prevent potentially melting the rear lower control arm bushing (especially it is polyurethane) as well as generally adding excessive heat to the engine bay. That said, the stock manifold likes to crack and typically the studs break off when trying to remove the downpipe, so in many cases it makes sense to drop a little weight and add a header.

Now, you can install it with the engine and head in the car. It is not exactly enjoyable, but it is possible. You have to remove the spark plugs/wires, exhaust studs and nuts, alternator, alternator mount, oil filter, and driver's side motor mount. I don't remember if I removed the starter or not.

Be careful of any heatshields around the exhaust and passenger motor mount, you'll want to re-use as many as possible. I had to trim/strategically dent a couple. The passenger motor mount is no longer available, so if it is broken, you'll want to sort that out while you've got it apart. Be very careful to ensure the starter and alternator wiring is in good shape and protected from heat.

I had to gently pry on the motor between the head and the strut tower to move it away from the passenger strut tower to fit the header in place. Depending on the work you're doing, you could also remove the lower cross member and slip it up from the bottom.

Once you get the header in, you can begin threading in the mounting studs along with the exhaust gaskets, which takes a bit of finagling to get it all lined up properly. Once all of the studs are in and the mounting nuts added, you can start snugging it up and tightening it evenly. From there its a matter of reinstalling the parts you removed and ensuring the alternator wiring doesn't short and that the ground strap is installed properly.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Sweet build!

Thanks! Can't wait to get back to it.

Still sitting around waiting for me to finish fixing the OTHER German cars in my life (namely the 944 Turbo and now the 740iL).

Soon....

Time to resurrect the damned thing. I've ditched the 944 Turbo and I'm tired of fighting with the 740iL and I'm waiting for my Focus RS to arrive so I can trade it in and let them deal with it.

So I parked it last summer due to an issue with the electronics someplace causing the car to stop running. Attempts to restart was just met with a pulsing fuel pump relay.

Since I wasn't happy with the state of the wiring work I did when I installed the MegaSquirt, I figured I should start with a good starting point and work outward to verify all is well with the harness and connections.

Old and busted:

New Hotness:

I have a V3.0 board loaded with MS2nExtra that I'm going to move to later so I can take advantage of its features when I add boost.

First step is a running car so I can get it in the garage and go over it and clean it up, fix a few things and add some stuff to make it a little more comfortable.

Wow that looks good. Better be carful someone might think you have done this before and hire you on steady.

brad131a4 wrote: Wow that looks good. Better be carful someone might think you have done this before and hire you on steady.

Thanks.

Spent many years of my youth working in my Dad's computer shop, back in the days of the Kaypro/Osborne/IBM PC and the initial clones, Amiga and of course Commodor. Not to mention years I spent electric R/C Car Racing.

Now I work in IT, my skills have atrophied a bit, but I'm getting there

Son is in IT works for EMC. Me I can wipe out the hard drive in 2 key strokes. Luckly my daughter is still here so I have a IT department to fix my mess. Now if you want power for the data centers I've done plenty of those over the years. Just was released to go back to work after a 5 month L&I vacation rehabbing my wrist.

How do you like the megasquirt? I bought a whole set up from someone that was going to run a turbo vr6 but sold the car.

I want to turbo one of my Fiat spiders and thought it would be a good investment for that. How hard is it to tune being that I might hit the wrong key are they very forgiving in that avenue?

Still a little ways off on that as I need to get the other one put back together and sold to finance this one.

Cracks me up looking at the picks of the cars on the street. It looks as if you might live right down the street from me in one of the newer developments. Seams all the builders like the same colors and styles for around here.

In reply to brad131a4:

Yeah, they all use the same plans and buy the bits and pieces in bulk.

As for MegaSquirt, I've enjoyed it, but I'm a tinkerer. That's not to say it wasn't frustrating. The software side was actually fairly straightforward, getting the engine to start was another matter and you'll pull your hair out getting it there.

The biggest piece of advice I have is this: Read the official manuals, print them out and refer to them as you need and read them again until you get it. Then start simple with MegaSquirt. Go fuel-only at first and add ignition control and other features later as you learn the software and troubleshoot any issues you might run into.

Glad to see this build back!

I completely agree with the post above. All of my headaches with megasquirt have been configuration somewhere between software and combustion. Once everything is configured & communicating properly and all the board mods/jumpers required for the hardware are in place it's smooth sailing. Getting it there can be the hardest part. . . . Reading the same thing 10 times and still not seeing the problem, etcetera.

End rant. Love this car. Glad to see your getting work done on it.

Making progress:

Stupid cheap material in the fuse box, corrodes like no one's business:

I also washed the car yesterday after 2 years of sitting in the weather:

The Rustoleum paint job still looks fairly decent for a track car project. Gonna need some touchup, but for now it will suffice.

I laughed as I washed my car today. I live in Seattle and saw your apology for the rain on the PNWR facebook page. :) Let's hope it doesn't rain tomorrow!

I picked up a 924 with a Microsquirt setup that supposedly has a firmware issue but was running before they tried to update it. I haven't touched it yet but i'll be watching this with interest!

Cool.

The US 924 engine takes to boost quite well due to the low compression and relatively strong bottom ends. Just saying.

The Microsquirt should be removed from the car with the firmware updated on a stable bench power supply.