Sell the cab! Noooooo why? You finally have the power?? What will you get that could compare now? However I would be very interested if you were interested in a wheel swap? I REALLY need some wider wheels and those black wheels would suit my car beautifully! Drop me an email if you would consider it?
As for George well... since you asked so nicely [
] I'm over 1500miles now, I've been using the advice of Dfastest951 (from the Rennlist) and doing an extended run in period ..if nothing else just because it makes me feel safer. Its only been over 5000rpm's a small no. of times thus far and we're still on super low low boost. "¦For now!
I've been through the new engine panic crisis twice so far. First time was when I saw a cloud of smoke on start-up (having never emitted so much as a molecule before this time) then found oil all over the back of my engine and noticed that the oil level which hadn't moved previously had dropped on the dipstick! Rang Jon only to find out that the same thing happened to Paul a year ago. Jon had filled the oil up to the max on the dipstick for running in but because the dipstick is for a 2.5sump and the sump is a 3.0 its actually too short so the oil was over filled by about 15-20mm. As a consequence the first time I started holding the revs to 5k it pulled a load of oil through my breather system and as I have no catch can it just spat it out over the nice clean engine! I'm very happy to say that now the engine has ejected the extra oil it is still not using a micron of oil and is lovely and clean.
My second and more recent sleepless night was when I found coolant in the recess between the block and the balance shafts! It looked as if it was leaking out between the head and the block and my mind was going through a million and one horror scenarios about how I was going to get to work, was it really a sensible daily driver and how could it be solved!! But thank god the leak has now been traced to a slightly loose clip on the coolant hose that enters the top of the head. Phew!
You hear and see so many horror stories with re-built and modified engines that I suppose everyone is probably this jumpy when putting the first few miles on a major re-build but I'm very pleasant to report that Simon and Jon have really done their homework on this engine and none of my worries have had any substance.
The car starts and runs smoother than when it left the factory in 85'and sounds fantastic on boost which is the one area the standard 944 always lacked slightly. Whilst mine sounds different to Paul's car because of the different turbo, it still has that pure aggression full bodied war cry when the turbo gets spinning! Unfortunately with the weather at the moment it's not very often I get to hear this because it will easily spin the wheels in any gear ever before it gets into full stride but it's a fabulously flexible car that will easily get you around smoothly and quietly at speeds which could get you into a lot of trouble without ever even bothering the turbo which sits around the atmospheric pressure mark just assisting the engine from almost zero revs giving the impression that the car has no lag.
Now all that remains is to feel the cars full fury as it gets its proper wastegate and boost pressure installed and set up in maybe a couple of weeks time! Should be pretty fierce![
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Regards,
Ben
p.s. I would love to hear how 333's 3.0 is going now? Looks stunning on the track. Hope its living up to expectations.
