Well, it's not been that bad I suppose but sometimes it does feel like two steps forwards and one step back!
What with Alex's karting, work and general "stuff" about the house, I didn't get out to work on Project 160 until mid-November. And then the early snow and desperately low temperatures meant that Driveway Motors didn't get much done! But looking at it now in mid December, the car is stripped out, the roll cage is due to arrive tomorrow and the cut out/ignition system has been rewired to comply with MSA rules.
I' looking forward to the cage arriving, even though to finance it I had to wave goodbye to my trusty trailer. Bit of a sad moment, we've done a lot of miles together, but the trailer didn't take the Porker that well anyway, so it had to go -and I couldn't afford the cage without selling it!
So that's several steps forward, but what about the steps back?
Step 1 - in the extreme cold I snapped off the driver's door handle. Quick cri de couer on the porsche924.co.uk forum and one was found for a really good price. Fitted it in the extreme cold last week, really difficult to adjust with numb fingers and now the door opens easier than ever. Re-sult! Out of desperation comes...well I dunno really but something good I suppose.
Step 2 - stripping out excess wiring, it was meant to be just the remote micro switches, but all of a sudden it won't start. You idiot! Got a bit careless with the wire clippers did you? Out comes the Haynes, a bit of testing tracks it down to a failed fuel relay and not anything I'd done. Phew. Wow! Aren't they expensive? Hit the 924 forum again and within a couple of hours I've found a guaranteed one for less than half price. Thanks Chancenellie!
So as we approach Christmas and a few days off work, where are we? Will try to get the cage in over the break. Have disabled the steering lock as per MSA rules, remote switch panel and starter button fitted (it looks s-o-o cool), isolator switch in place, just waiting for some big cables for the battery earth strap and it'll be fully race legal. Once cage is fitted I need seat and FIA extinguisher and we're ready to test! Looking for FIA spec kit so I can race in Europe, so it's a bit more expensive.
Speaking of the finances, where are we? Well, everything has been paid for so far by a bit of horse trading and eBay which mean Project 160 has still only cost - well £160 which can't be bad. Spares from the car, swapsies, and flogging the trailer have even raised enough money to start building up a modest spares package. Major purchases now are seat and extinguisher (on Santa's list), windscreen and respray. The decision has been made to save money by not modifying the car at all, even down to pop up headlights and electric windows...should garner some interest anyway.
Once we've got it running and a basic test, I'll think about stuff for the 360 like fuelling kit and possibly a few mods to the car, although I'm planning to make places through famed German reliability rather than speed. There are a couple of people in the frame for sharing the drive and costs it actually looks like we'll make it in some form or other :-)
