65 Porsche w C5 Drive

[Garage Dog 65]

Removed the rear jig and separated it into 2 parts. Built 2 more supports and reinstalled the rear jig. Moved the wheels/tires in 10 inches total. I can go ahead now and template out the rear suspension frame and get those off to be bent for me.

Taped over the cut to see what it might look like.

Tomorrow I'll remove the engine and front suspension - and do the same to the front jig and reinstall. I'll install the transaxle and wait on the shortened torque tube for the final setup.

Jim

[c.schulz]

Hey Jim,
The car is looking great!!! Love the rear shot of the car. That is going to look killer from the rear. Just one thing Im spoting.... you may want to widen the track of the wheels and get those out closer to flush with the wheel lip. If thats a problem for the wheel bounce then maybe raise the ride height a little. I dont think it would hurt the looks in order to get those wheels out for the stance to be correct.


Chris

[ironworks]

Wow lookin good. What is your rear track width down to now? At about 56" things get really tight with the diff and the stock lower control arms. You might want to mock up the transaxle before you have any tubes made. It gets really tight back there on the lower control arms. just some info from struggles I have had with this suspension

Let me know when you get to shock mounts I can give you some part numbers to make you life easy if your running Coilovers.

[Beach Cruiser]

Looking good! can't wait to see how you sort out the front. I hope that's 200 mph duct tape you used for the body work!

[Garage Dog 65]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the support gents - that's always appreciated and keeps me going !

Chris, Excellent comments. The body profile of these cars is very tear-drop shaped. The track is very wide in the front susp - and pretty small in the rear. The rear wheel well opening changes pretty drastically from front to rear of the opening - something like 2 or 3 inches. It gets very narrow at the back. I attached a pic looking straight up - but it's difficult to see it clearly. So the plan is to add a 2 inch wide pie shaped insert into the fender - pointed end at the door edge, and 2 inches wide back by the tail light. That will flatten the difference and allow me to either run a wider wheel - or move the track out. I agree that the front of the wheel well and all that extra room ruins the appearence. I'm thinking about running the 285's I have in the rear right now - so I'll probably move the track width and raise the entire car an inch and lower the rockers. It's 6.25 in the rear and 5.25 in the front.

Rodger, The current track is 52. If 56 is close to the minimum - I'm gonna be in trouble. I should be able to get close to 54/55. I'll take your advice and drop the transaxle back in and see what happens. Packaging is the tough part of this project. And I haven't even gotten to space needed for a battery, AC, wipers, electrical system, pedals, - oh yeah, seats ....

Thanks guys !! Time to get back in the shop and cut something.

[ironworks]

Brother, I cannot even imagine the packaging issues your gonna deal with. Building Johns nova with a backseat is like 10lbs of crap in 5 lbs bag. Good thing your not trying for a back seat. If you can pull it off you should have a low ride height and great ground clearence. And lots of toe board trans room for gas pedal and feet. That is big issue when I build a car cuz of my size 15s.

What is gonna happen is the front pick up point on the rear a arms will crash into the bottom of the diff. And on yours you should be raising that front point over stock to shorten the instant center of the rear. With as much as you have shortened the drive train, and if you kept the stock instant center geometry, you may have an instant center that is landing in front of the engine or farther forward than is recommended. If i have just confused the heck out of you, PM me and I will I will give you my number to try and explain what is happening and some trade secrets to fix it.

Your car is looking awesome. This is the part I really enjoy, the engineering and making things work. The fab work is easy, making it look good and function is another story.

Rodger

[xvette]

I narrowed my c-5 rear 7in, 3.5 a side ,that brings the lower control arm right to the rear diff on the pass side with about 1/2 in clearance.

pic www.picturetrail.com/55xvette

[Garage Dog 65]

Thanks to all you guys for your interest, comments and solutions. Any help I get is greatly appreciated - so feel free. Rodger, I'll get you my number - any guidance is welcome sir. Xvette - man I loved your car and all the work !!! I took a ton of pictures - thanks for the inspiration.

Sunday update and here's how it ended up. Moved the rear wheels out 2 more inches. That get's me 54 inches track width - leaving 13 inches between the lower a arms. Outer fender clearance is 4 inches at the leading edge of the tire - and 2 at trailing edge. If I insert the 2 inch wedge - should work. How's that Chris ?? More better I hope. The front and rear inset now match.

Cut and shortened the front jig and reinstalled all the suspension stuff. Track width ended up at 55 leaving room to swing the tires full arch. That left 18 inches between the lower A arms.

Raised the body 1 inch. Back is now 7 and front is now 6. Thinking I should raise it some more - but I've looked at this so much I'm starting to get confussed. I'll keep working on it until I get it just right.

[BRIAN]

That is one cool looking project. I am a little skeptical about fitting that wide of a track in that car. If you pull them in does it get that look like it will tip over. Kind ok like early Pro Street cars?

What about making a pie shaped cut in the body. You could widen the body a couple of inches at the rear without destroying the shape. You already have some serious compound curves to deal with so a wider at the rear section shouldn't add too much. It could add up to 3-4" to your rear track width. Drop the rockers and maybe even lower the rear pan this way you can lower the suspension mtg points and not have it look jacked up in the rear. You could even lower the w/o an inch again giving you more travel with the lowered look. The sheetmetal will give the illusion of a lowered and tucked suspension.


Finally not a twin turbo Camaro.

[ironworks]

The stance is "MONEY". the shop number is 661 399 8999

Rodger