14.07.11 - It is no secret that I prefer the air cooled Porsches over the new ones.  Unfortunately they are getting old and some of them have been badly neglected.  The 993 GT2 BB (it looks like a bumblebee) below was recently purchased and hasn't been reliable even though it has some really nice gear in it and has some great potential.  The Motec looked as if it had been wired up by a monkey, it used a diesel water separator as a fuel filter and some parts looked as if they were installed by a carpenter.  I am not saying that carpenters shouldn't work on cars, just that tek screws are fine in a deck but don't use them in a Porsche.  I am sure the same person was responsible for the checker plate floor and the Autometer gauges.  At least they weren't installed in front of the windscreen!

The car is considerably lighter now just by getting rid of redundant systems and the angle iron battery box etc.  We made a simplified Tefzel wiring loom, installed our usual push on / push off circuit breakers, and mounted relays in a logical position in the existing aluminium centre console.  Easy!  It is also amazing how the exhaust leak is fixed when there is actually a gasket there and not just a glob of silicone...  Doing a job right the first time will cost less in the long run and the car will spend more time on the track and not on the trailer.  Rant over...

15.05.11 -  As you can see from the picture below, the dyno cell is ready for action again and just in time too!  The backlog of engines waiting to be tuned is becoming alarmingly large!  To test the autotune / autoload and auto throttle settings I am going to pull the twin turbo 3.2 motor out of my green car to check the calibration.

I had been intending on tuning the green machine just before the flood.  I had just finished swapping the Motec ECU with a Vipec V88 so I could do a back to back comparison between the two computers in a car that I know well.  Unfortunately, the first drive it had was through the flood waters, over a retaining wall and through a muddy back yard that was more suitable for 4wd!  The car definitely needs a bit of love now in the form of some panel work underneath.   At least I can finally get around to finishing the tune!

12.05.11 -

Targa Tasmania was a bit different for me this year.  It wasn't all about loud flame-throwing turbocharged motors and screaming close ratio gear sets.  This year I had the environmentally friendly electric experience!  I went down with Tesla Motors who were taking two cars down to run cars in the Tour section and also compete in the inaugural EV Challenge class.  The cars both did the event with absolutely zero emissions because they were recharging on hydroelectric power!  Before everyone assumes that I have gone to the dark side and am now eating mung beans and tofu, I should mention that these Roadsters are quick!  They accelerate from 0 - 98km/h (60mph) in 3.7 seconds because the electric motors produce stump pulling torque from 1 rpm and their lightweight motor keeps on spinning to 14000rpm!  As well as doing the setup on the cars, I was roped into being the navigator in the Challenge car so I got the full electric experience and I have to say that the technology is fantastic.  We had some GoPro cameras hanging off the car supplied by our shop, of course!

13.03.11 - The year is flying past already!  The dyno will be rebuilt and functioning by Easter but almost everything else is back to normal (or as normal as it gets around here!). 

After a few delays we have just finished a rebuild on the F2 Rally car that we knew all too well when we travelled the countryside for Rick Bates in the Australian F2 Rally championship.  I hate to think how many hours went into building that car but we did end up winning the championship.  It's good to see it again!  Here is how it used to look in the good ol' days -

and now ready to go to the sticker shop for its new graphics -

This car sounded amazing in the forest. The induction noise and the ultra close ratio gearbox made it sound like a (really) big bore sports bike!

17.01.11 - It has been an interesting start to the year!  We were one of the lucky ones in the Brisbane flood and only got relatively minor damage.  The water was waist height in the lower workshop and about a foot in the top workshop.  Damage was limited because we had time to get most of our portable gear to higher ground.  The engine dyno will be out of action for a while and the J85 jets are ruined along with the electronics for the CNC's etc but luckily no customer cars were touched.  It was lucky that we had lots of stands and ratchet straps so we could lift gear off the ground.  (The photo below shows one of the engines that was ratcheted to the roof beams.  They aren't as easy to get down!)  It was funny to have my Hobie 16 floating in the yard and tied off to the workshop!

The clean up is almost done already thanks to the help of some awesome friends so we will be back to normal fairly soon.  One of the locals had the right idea about how to get home through all the Police road blocks and traffic from all the 'mud army' that was helping in the general cleanup.  The next time it floods, I will have to park mine next to his!

10.12.10 - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We will officially be closed for the break from the 17th of December and reopening on the 17th of January.   Buy a GoPro Motorsport HD camera as a Xmas present.  You know you want one!  They make the perfect gift and you won't find one cheaper at $399 (ex GST).  We have just ordered the last stock order for the year so be quick! (Edit - all sold until new stocks arrive in Jan!).   Follow this link to them in our shop - http://www.promotive.com.au/shop/Accessories/GoPro-HD-Motorsport-Hero-Camera/prod_37.html or here - www.mygopro.com.au  

10.09.10 - It is turbo time!  Just a quick snap to show some of the big turbos that have made their way onto the bench. 

The first in the row is the Garrett for the Quattro E2 rally replica - a big single sized for about 700hp.  It is a bit bigger than used on the 'standard' group B rally car but we can keep them spinning by using a more refined antilag through the Motec.   The other two GT Garrets are for the rebuild of our flat fan 930S race hack which should let us hit the 1000hp mark and blow really big flames!  They might not look big in the photo but when you see them compared to the little KKK's on a 996TT they are monsters!  Think of them as 930 K27 size! 

31.08.10 - It lives!  It seems to have a bit of mumbo too!

26.06.10 - I have always believed in a private shakedown for a new car but the PLM GT2 did make a very public debut at the Shannons meet even though I didn't believe it was ready!  The tune wasn't finished so it was a case of testing everything else and letting it get warm for the first time.  I was amazed to see from the datalog that Pete had held back and didn't exceed more than 50% throttle and 5000 rpm for the duration of the test!  That is some amazing self control!  Now that there are some kms on the car without blowing off an intercooler hose we can put it back on the dyno to see what numbers it will make, put in some decent Ferrodo brake pads and let it run free!

19.06.10 - Things are almost back to 'normal' now.  We have spent a bit of time on the GT2 project and are now to the stage where the car can be tested over the next few months to fine tune it and sort out the bugs.  Unfortunately there have been a few issues that have delayed it from being tuned and setup for its planned debut at the Shannons Nationals meet.    We will get some videos of it in the next few weeks...

This was an enormous project!  We have stripped as much weight as possible out of the car and threw the factory electrics and wiring in the bin and replaced it all with a Motec dash and ECU. The wiring is a light weight Tefzel loom with helicopter style circuit breaker switches on a custom carbon console that we made. The weight distribution has been improved by deleting the air conditioning and power steering from the engine and replacing with an electric power steering pump which is controlled by the Motec. In the end, it didn't quite meet our weight target but it currently stands at 1210kg.. The roof scoop is now functional and plumbed to feed the K24 turbos via a custom plenum and filter system. The engine Y pipe is now custom fabricated to also improve the flow and aftermarket intercoolers had previously been added. Once it is up and running, we will dive inside the motor to optimise the internals, switch to a pair of Garrett's and really make it sing!  A sequential gearbox would be nice too:)

We have almost completed another nice 3.6 twin turbo conversion on a road going narrow body 911. 

This one has our usual internals including Carillos, custom pistons and cams, with intercoolers, exhaust and little Garretts on the outside.  We are using a V88 Vipec to control the sequential injection and coil pack ignition and knock control.  Being a road car, we are aiming for minimal lag and maximum drivability.

I will try post a video of a dyno pull when we have this one finished (but those who know me better, know my views on silly dyno pull videos on the internet so it probably won't happen!)

For now, a photo will do.  I am sure this car will need a wide body conversion soon!  If you are looking for a varioram manifold and all the parts to convert your early 3.6 motor, we have one for sale in the second hand parts area...