many cars have been cracking their firewalls over the last year or so, due to a number of things like stiff pressure plates, worn fork bearings causing bad geometry and too much mechanical advantage, and corrosion from east coast roads
to date, the only real repair was to remove everything and weld in a new pice of steel - very time consuming and fairly costly
as a result, pete had me playing around with designing a reinforcement unit to repair that problem on cars that had broken theirs, and prevent it on the rest
i've been at this on and off for quite a while now - what seemed on the surface to be a simple job has proven to be a far more difficult task than i first thought - there is a LOT of stuff in the way down there, and figuring out how to make the thing, get around all of that stuff without hurting it, AND be able to actually install it has been a real challenge - i also did not want to have to remove any major components, modify the car to install it, or do any welding, or anything like that
well, i think i finally have it figured out now - i have done a first prototype unit, and will be sending the drawings off for the beta prototype to be made, which should take a week or so
the only real issue is that this will only work if you have the Design 1 Racing strut tower brace - sorry guys - porsche gave me nowhere to mount the thing - it will require a slight modification to one of the brackets if you already have the strut tower brace, but the mod will be incorporated into the next batch of braces - it won't work with any other brace
i haven't worked out the costs yet, so you'll have to hang on there - pete will let you guys know about that one
no, i don't have any pics yet - that will have to wait until the beta unit
i'm determined to have these ready for hershey
Thanks!
I have no brace at the moment, and will order a new one when the next revision is released along with the fire wall brace.
Thanks for your continued support for our cars.
The ball was dropped long ago and seems as though you and Pete are the only ones to continually develop new parts.
Yes, I second the thanks for your continuing to develop new parts for the 968. We're really lucky to have you guys around.
Just curious - do you think the firewall brace will add any stiffness to the chassis? I realized this isn't its primary purpose, but I'm wondering if it in some way interacts with either the cab chassis brace, or the upcoming coupe brace, in some positive way stiffness-wise. Thanks.
i suppose it will add a bit, but i wouldn't think it would be much
this does not connect to those braces you mention - it connects to the strut tower brace, and lives in the engine bay
Will this generate and/or transfer stress to another area? In other words, will the stress point (which was at that point along firewall) be moved to another area thereby creating a totally different focal point?
not much - it will transfer the load from pushing the clutch pedal to the left strut tower (only the pedal force, not the hydraulic force) - the forces applied there are far less than the forces transmitted from the road impact, so i don't see it having any negative effect - we are only talking about a few pounds of pressure - it's a design flaw we are correcting
the big thing is that this will almost certainly happen to all of the cars exposed to the same conditions to which the number of them which have already seen the failure are subjected - pete is seeing more and more of these - east coast cars are the most likely culprits, as corrosion is so much more common - we're not sure which is the biggest culprit, but it is happening with an alarming frequency - when it happens, you're done - the car is off the road until you fix it
drawings are away - should see beta unit on monday or tuesday
well, finally picking up the beta unit tomorrow morning - should be able to do first test fit tomorrow afternoon
<!--quoteo(post=67261:date=Feb 17 2009, 07:14 PM:name=flash)-->QUOTE (flash @ Feb 17 2009, 07:14 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->well, finally picking up the beta unit tomorrow morning - should be able to do first test fit tomorrow afternoon<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'd be interested in this modification. Unfortunatly i would now have to buy a New Strut Brace aswell. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img]
In any event, i'm looking forward to seeing pictures of the finished product.
lol - yeah, sorry - that was not an intentional design feature - there just wasn't any other place both adequate enough in ability to handle the load, and accessible without drilling holes in the car - this one was tough - they really didn't give me a lot of room to play in there
<!--quoteo(post=67263:date=Feb 17 2009, 04:23 PM:name=Fox944)-->QUOTE (Fox944 @ Feb 17 2009, 04:23 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I'd be interested in this modification. Unfortunatly i would now have to buy a New Strut Brace aswell. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img]
In any event, i'm looking forward to seeing pictures of the finished product.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well if it's a Design 1 brace I'll offset you're loss but buying it [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]
arrrrgh - back to the drawing board - finally figured out a bracket that would hold the load, but can't get a tool in there to tighten down the nut - those danged germans left NO service room in there
rev 6 coming up
this thing is kicking my butt
If you were a true Porsche purist you would design a special tool that would serve only one purpose (to install this brace) and then charge more for the tool than the brace. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]
<!--quoteo(post=67281:date=Feb 17 2009, 08:44 PM:name=DaveN)-->QUOTE (DaveN @ Feb 17 2009, 08:44 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Well if it's a Design 1 brace I'll offset you're loss but buying it [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Its a KLA Brace [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif[/img]
gene - i almost had to do that - it was absolutely crazy - i was really getting pretty upset - i was spending a huge amount of time on this and i don't even need it, and doubt i ever will
however, I WIN!!! i came at it from another direction and came up with something that will work - whew!
i'll send over the drawings and get the real deal made up tomorrow - glad this is finally worked out
tested the beta unit yesterday - woohoo!
i'll be having them run off and work up the instructions this week - everything should be at pete's by next week
problem solved - i'll post a pic as soon as i get the production units here
<!--quoteo(post=68721:date=Mar 17 2009, 09:30 AM:name=flash)-->QUOTE (flash @ Mar 17 2009, 09:30 AM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->tested the beta unit yesterday - woohoo!
i'll be having them run off and work up the instructions this week - everything should be at pete's by next week
problem solved - i'll post a pic as soon as i get the production units here<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Cant wait to get this brace & the peace of mind that comes with it. With the Clutch & other mods i'm running...i'm almost scared of driving my northeast car hard.
no worries - very soon now
no worries - we'll do this in batches - this is something that will end up on most cars, either as a cure or a preventative measure, so we will plan accordingly