my road race SBC V8 Porsche 914

[byndbad914]

just found this section in the forums today and figured I should do my part It's rough but it's a road race car - I recently added a Mendeola sequential shift transaxle to it over the winter, so next racing season should be a blast - first available track day of the year is a month away assuming the weather isn't bad.

the one with me standing next to it gives an idea how short the car is - I am 5'10".

[byndbad914]

even kneeling I am taller than the car Forgot to mention it is totally street legal (loud as Hell with the 3.5" diameter sprint car headers and mufflers slipped over them but otherwise ) as you can see the wipers, signals, etc in this photo. Headlights function as well, tho' I recently removed the motors and you have to put them up by hand to save some weight, but technically I have headlights and can drive in the dark.

[Flash68]

From a fellow Porsche owner.... that is a badass machine!

[byndbad914]

Thanks! You'll like this photo given your 996TT... went to the drag strip here in Denver just for fun with a friend racing his car and this guy got behind me. The AWD made a huge difference, we both ran 114mph but he did it at 11.97 sec and I did a 12.78 burning rubber most of the way Fun to have back to back Porsches run the same mph tho'!

[Payton King]

I would love to go for a ride. What does it weight 2200 lbs?

[byndbad914]

I wish... it grew in weight a fair amount with all of the modifications. It is around 2580lbs right now. It was 2350lbs on the dot with a stock 914 chassis before I went tube chassis, dry sump, twin oil coolers, added a splitter and wing, etc. I figured it would go up a couple hundred pounds in doing so and it went up around 300lbs in the end and I did some creative light weighting to get it back down a bit.

It is worth the extra weight of course for safety, rigidity (you could feel the car wrapping up coming out of corners with the stock tub) and handling with the extra 40lbs of wing/splitter stuff. And I think if I really work at it and/or just throw money at more fiberglass parts, I could get another 100lbs out of it.

Still a rocket ship of a car at sea level (used to live in SoCal) when it was making the full 525HP (about 5lb/HP) - at a mile high here in CO I am down about 100HP. Still fast at about 6lb/HP tho' and corners really well which is the fun part

my YouTube channel with some vids https://www.youtube.com/byndbad914

[Flash68]

Originally Posted by byndbad914

Thanks! You'll like this photo given your 996TT... went to the drag strip here in Denver just for fun with a friend racing his car and this guy got behind me. The AWD made a huge difference, we both ran 114mph but he did it at 11.97 sec and I did a 12.78 burning rubber most of the way Fun to have back to back Porsches run the same mph tho'!

Very nice! I actually have my front diff and driveshaft removed so I am RWD.

[byndbad914]

so the car was apart for just over a year (from Aug 09 - Oct 10) while I completely redesigned the suspension to be dual A front and rear v. the strut/5-link setup in the above photos. Added Penske DA shocks as well as new CCW wheels as I had a significant reduction in scrub radius, driving me to all new front wheels, and the rear had longer arms as well now, also driving the centers out.

I did all of the design and a lot of fab work myself in a rather modest garage, and had a machinist friend helping me with stuff requiring tight tolerances, lathing, etc and he did the final welding of everything for me as he is a certified welder, I am certifiable, but not at welding

The car now has 2.5" front ground clearance and 3.25" rear, so it is low enough I can nearly step right into it over the door bars

Here is some vid from an open track day on Halloween - note I had significant (and I mean bad) understeer so I certainly have tuning to do, but that was expected as the first setup is always a guess. Also the vid was rather shaky as it is hand-held so I edited it as best as I can. Before too many nausea comments start flying, I ordered a GoPro Hero HD cam and it just showed up yesterday AM so already started toying with it and will get much better footage, and in car, at a later date.

vid 1 has some out of car with a quick in car with my friend as a passenger
https://www.youtube.com/user/byndbad9.../1/z8S9v2LkacM

part 2 is all watching the car chase down other guys
https://www.youtube.com/user/byndbad9.../0/eEkrIEixEuQ

[Top Fuel Tom]

Nice!

[byndbad914]

thanks Tom!

Got the car out for another track day on Sat - weather was great and some good cars were out at the track.

After taking forever to process, then have it take almost forever to upload to YouTube only to fail at the end, then reload again, I finally have the fourth session up online. Eesh. It does have a 480p max, I am not going to bother with trying a 1080p again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SliMdISeDmI

Not the most exciting thing you will ever watch So bummed I didn't get my next and last session on vid (my 8GB card is clearly not enough so I need to bring a spare) as it would be much more exciting as the two Porsches at the beginning of this vid, the SCCA T1 Nat'l Champ and I were out there really working thru the traffic and having a good time. All four of us were the fastest fendered cars on the track and running within 1 second of each other.

For me to be less than a half second off the pace of the SCCA T1 champ, who was running below his record pace (he was high 57s, record he holds on this track is low 58s but I have seen him run a high 57, just not in the race) and know I still have suspension tuning to do, I feel really good about the car. I honestly believe the car has a second in it with tuning and I certainly have a second in me with more seat time, so I may just have a low 56 car here, which is getting into Porsche Cup car territory (the Cup car in this vid was 4 seconds off their typical pace).