Body back on pan

Made more good progress today, i fitted the new pan halves and got the body back on the pan. Somehow I managed to do this by myself - I guess it's a lot easier if you're not worried about scratching paint. I postponed fitting up the new front beam as I didn't have an adjustable 18-22mm reamer, which is necessary for reaming out the king pins to fit after they are pressed into position. I will try to source another beam as a doner and then outsource getting the king and link pins fitted as it will probably cost about the same as an adjustable reamer.

With the body in place the next thing was to get the engine trial fitted to make sure that there was enough clearance for everything, and to take measurements for the header system, but with the engine in place, several things became apparent.

The engine sits about 2 inches further back than normal - this means that the rear valance will need to be clearanced - not too big an issue, and one that I was expecting.



The second problem was that the injector bosses I had welded into the inlet manifolds foul the engine bay bodywork - but this too can be addressed with a grinder and a little imagination. I also had to remove the rocker covers to slide the engine in position, but the car was not on ramps and so this should not normally be an issue.

The rocker covers also foul the rear bodywork and so more tin will need to be removed to allow the rocker boxes to be fitted / removed with the engine in position, I will look into using stock steel covers instead of the finned aluminium ones I currently have to see if this gains me a bit more clearance.



By far the worst issue was that the Porsche cooling setup that I currently have prevents the engine lid from being closed. One solution would be to run deck lid standoffs, but this can be seen as 'streamlining' or trying to improve the aerodynamics. I could add a bulge to the lid, but that's also not something that I really want to do to a perfectly good W deck lid.

My only solution is to use something like a Cali cooling setup - this uses a Type 1 fan housing, mated to Type 4 cooling tin, not too hard a job to fabricate, but a bit of an issue for the generator stand as there is nowhere for it to bolt to on my engine. Sharpbuilt, here in Australia offer a complete upright VW style cooling solution for the Type 4 engine, but the generator stand bolts to the stock Type 4 breather tower - my breather tower has been machined off to allow the fan to be mounted directly to the engine so that it sits lower, not an insurmountable issue, but additional work I wasn't bargaining for.

Here's one I made earlier...



The problems don't end there either, the turbo is also proving to be a bit of an issue to locate, the ideal position is behind the rear valence - which is perfect for a Garret T03 or similar, but not so for the RayJay unit I have - it's huge in comparison. This means that ideally I need to fabricate the headers with the engine in the car as the clearances are simply too tight. I also considered cutting out the rear luggage area and installing it there with a cover made up to house it.



Lots to think about. Lots of new issues to address. But at least the pan is now ready to go off to get the cage made.