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Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:47 pm
by FRUNKenstein
Man, I'm worn out just reading this thread. Dude, you are the king.

Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:36 am
by TheDeckMan
Thanks! Always lots of work to do!

Dropped the GT2 deck off for paint last week. Should have that back in a week or two. Still have to order up all the coolant hoses for the front GT2 radiator setup and the top outlet duct.
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Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:14 pm
by Black-Out
going through this thread just made my day. Between my wife and we have had 3 Corrados. I seriously should have kept my last one. You. Are. AWESOME sir....

Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:51 am
by TheDeckMan
Black-Out wrote: Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:14 pm going through this thread just made my day. Between my wife and we have had 3 Corrados. I seriously should have kept my last one. You. Are. AWESOME sir....

Awesome! Corrado's are special and that is why mine will never be parted with.

Made some progress yesterday on the day off when some friends stopped by to lend a hand to make the 996 RWD. About 45 minutes and all said and done.

Undo support and axle bolts
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Then remove axle nuts on hubs

Unbolt diff and gas tank straps to get clearance
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Lift diff and cardon shaft out then put belly pan and supports back on
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To save having to pull the axles apart, I used new stubs in their place.
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Back on the ground and took it out for a drive.
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Things I noticed almost right off the bat. The steering is way lighter and power is much better with out having the front drag. With the 315's NT01's on the rear there was no traction issues in 30°F conditions from 30mph in 2nd gear under full throttle. Cannot wait to get some more seat time in shortly, I left PSM on and it never interfered once under hard acceleration or braking.


Next up took the chance to tackle putting some new shocks into the the track TT as getting it ready for track season. These poor old H&R's have over 150k miles and were still doing pretty well.
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Ready for a timing belt job next and some track time!
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Jeremy watching drinking beer while Rick and I mount up the shocks after preloading them.
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After it was all finished time to enjoy a beer...

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Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 9:55 am
by Black-Out
I'd imagine once you track the 996 you'll probably notice that the turn in and corner holding will be more pronounced without the front diff in place. The inherent understeer of the 911 at the limit should be a little more benign, and it's not like the understeer is a problem. I'm thinking this thing gonna feel real sharp on turn in at speed without the extra weight up front- I'm anxious to hear your feed back on the conversion, man!

Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:57 pm
by TheDeckMan
Thanks Will! Yeah cannot wait to get the diff in and get to the track to try it out, so far pretty impressed with getting rid of the front diff.

This weekend I was able to go collect a small barn find that I had stumbled across. Another 1993 Corrado SLC, this one having sat for 11+ years when the owner had diagnosed it as needing a head gasket. Never have I had a VR6 that had a blown head gasket, but small leaks/coolant/oil exchanger failure is pretty common. So worst case it does have a bad HG and will require the head to be gone through. Best case is that the HG is fine and I will still pull the head and redo the valve seals/timing chains and HG.

Overall the car is stock other than a stainless exhaust, the good news is that the trunk was full of parts to redo the head/clutch/timing chains. The impressive part was the floor pan and general body was in good condition and without a doubt a great candidate for a OEM+ resto.

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Showing up first thing Sunday morning to get her out, the first hurdle was the two flat tires which I was not really worried about as it would still roll up onto the trailer with the winch. The bad news struck when the owner could not find the keys, which then required dollies and oil in order to get the car on the trailer. Thinking that I would be in an out in an hour turned into an all morning battle.

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Oil helped allow to slide the car onto the trailer semi straight.

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All loaded up I headed home to power wash the old girl and see how things really were.
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Not bad once washed, paint has some small dings here and there with the major damage being the drivers rear quarter panel needing some pulling, lucky it just has some surface rust which should be easy to fix. The plan is to try and get her running some point this year and then repaint over the winter.
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The hood has a couple small dents that should pop easy enough
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Interior is not bad and all there just needing lots of cleaning
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Overall not a bad little save for a fun stockish Corrado that will be a good summer run around car for myself or the GF.

Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2018 7:12 pm
by Black-Out
Dude, you're killin' me! That SLC looks fantastic for having been sat up for as long as it has!

Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 5:17 am
by TheDeckMan
Black-Out wrote: Tue Apr 03, 2018 7:12 pm Dude, you're killin' me! That SLC looks fantastic for having been sat up for as long as it has!
Haha! Thanks, yeah she needs some good loving but is all there which is the big part along with not being hacked up like most I have come across these days. Original paint means that fixing the body work should be not terrible.

Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:25 am
by TheDeckMan
Got hopefully the last of the parts ordered up for the GT2 bumper other than chasing down a radiator currently. The body shop sent me over a couple pictures of the primed up GT2 decklid which is some good progress, shooting to have it back by the tail end of the month. Then next up is getting the bumper sorted out and painted.

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Managed to find a good home for the Cup hood for the time being that I have already moved it half a dozen times. Hoods make great wall art, just need a few more :lol:
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Had a chance this past weekend to get the 997 up on the lift and do an oil change and begin planning some suspension and exhaust stuff out.
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While on a roll the Saab needed an oil change, which went well until I noticed some coolant leaking from the water pump.
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MF'r!
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Well I guess I should not complain as that is 217k miles on the original pump and timing chains. The down side is that to do the pump you have to mess with the timing chains, so for now it is a little limping around and watching the coolant level until I can get some time to take the car apart, perhaps a good summer project with all the other toys to drive during the non snow months.

Of course now have the TT back on the road and ready for some use. Next up for her is to replace the 4pt belts with some new 5pts and put the radio back into the car to break up the random pings and clanks from the cage and suspension.
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Re: Widowmaker Project (Building a Faux GT2)

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:00 pm
by FRUNKenstein
I spent 4 hours last night swapping the blower motor on my 955S (which should have taken less than an hour).
You are NOT helping my self-esteem.
Off to go buy a 12 pack of Torque Wrench :oops: