cjv,
my apology if this question has already been asked, but You included your Mother's name in the thread title - could You share some of your Moms thoughts on KA? Thanks!

 

werksracer,

KA is a special project and my mom was a special person who I loved very much. My mom learned she had stage IV cancer in 2004 ...... about the same time KA was sent in for a rebuild due to bending all six rods. My mom never rode in KA, but had she been given a chance (it was in the shop most of the time) she would have loved to. For most of the later part of her life she had sports cars and she put them to good use. She loved to drive fast and loved the sound of a good exhaust. I can remember taking her for a ride in my AC Cobra (almost wide open) and she loved it. She also loved to go for rides on my Harley before I sold it. She drove her AM Vanquish up to about 30 days before her passing.

When KA is finished she will be very special ......... just like my mom.

 

Hey Chad what are your plans to keep the fuel cool in your fuel system. I have two o44 pumps(parallel) and when the fuel gets hot the pumps began to cavitate. Any advice you can share? Thanks

 

Haven't checked in on this thread in a while. Instead of going back many pages, is the body work completed?

Regarding turbos, I'd look into the Precision Billet series. These have been out a couple years with great results(quicker spool AND more top end). There are other/newer turbos out there, but not as proven yet. In any case, you may be able to do more with a single set of turbos then you are planning on.

Hewland working on your tranny / diff?

 

I have not posted because we have encountered a few issues. We have not given up on the front wheel LSD, however we have hit a dead end as to being able to convert the stock unit.

Here is some information that most people are simply not aware of.

Hello Chad,

I hadn't heard anything from the factory, so I rang them up last night when I got your email. They've got your unit disassembled and their feedback is not positive. The interior case space isn't really the issue, as you can see from the picture of the housing that they sent to me and which I have attached.

However,the issue more than anything else, is the ring and pinion set. I've attached a second picture they provided that shows the ring gear on the differential housing. Based on what they are telling me is this thing is about 2/3 of the size of a 901 gearbox ring and pinion set as used in the last 1960's 911s. The 150bhp that goes through this on a stock 996Turbo is realistically pretty close to the limit of the part. Altering the differentials in the way that we are discussing will be putting 400-500bhp through this thing and there's just no way that it can take it. We don't even put that kind of power through a 915 gearbox, let alone a standard G50 5spd. There's just not enough meat there on the gears to handle the forces. This really leaves us dead in the water on this project.

I'm sorry it's taken this much time for me to get back to you with information on this, especially since it's bad news. It's been a stupid busy Spring at our factory and they just didn't make the time to fully explore this on your behalf until I reminded them last night.

Regards,

 

That certainly is quite a bit of an issue. Next step would be an aftermarket unit I'm assuming?

 

I sent the following:

Not good news however I do appreciate your time. If you can have it sent back to S Car Go (cheapest way) I can give you my credit card number for the shipping.

My next question for you is I still would like to install as strong of a front LSD as I can. Do you have any suggestions?

Chad

The reply was:

Hello Chad,

I can still have them bid a front lsd for it. It doesn't appear that there's a space issue in that case in that respect. I'll give them a call and ask them to let me know what one will cost.

Regard,

 

It has been awhile since I have posted any real news. I was afraid of the numbers and afraid of some of the things we were seeing. Time was spent reviewing and I just received the following e mail.

Will email over the estimate for the revisions to the EFI, CDI and all of the wiring. The harnessing will be in 3 parts. Chassis, Engine and Ignition. The connections will be at the bulkhead allowing the engine to be removed without having to remove the harness. The factory is this way...... except we need more terminals due to your added functions and 12 Injectors. We have removed the Ignition wiring from the main harness to eliminate any chance of interference. This system is extremely powerful so best to keep it separate as much as possible.

We got word from Italy that the CDI COP Coils are now available again. This helps as we do not have to run the “near” Coils with HT leads. I have all of the wiring diagrams drawn, costing done etc. I will put it all into a quote and send up.

BTW, the new Turbo Camshaft designs are done. The lobes are huge and the testing to date shows huge improvements. We have matched your previous performance numbers with less manifold pressure. Now we have the heads flowing as they should the limiting factor was the Camshaft. These new designs are outperforming anything we have tried to date. NA Cup Cams, our older Turbo designs on the GT3 street shafts have all been out performed by these new designs. We modify the Cam Housings which was a limiting any bigger designs. We are in the process of mass producing new shafts with the factory trigger wheel incorporated. This will lower the costs substantially. These new designs like your prototypes are single lift Cams. We will not build a high performance dual lift Cam as the associated parts are too weak and have failed in the past. The risk is too high to try and use the factory Intake Tappets. Our testing showed it was not a case of if, but when these failed. Even in stock applications these have failed. Adding more stress to them with added lobe configurations is playing the risk game with customers engines. I won’t do this.

When these are ready, I will have a set put aside and will change these on the dyno to see what gains they give on your engine. I will have to do some homework on your engine to see the limit we can advance the IN Cams before we get to close to the Piston. I think we will be Ok as your engine already makes plenty of torque without having to move the centerlines too close together.

It has been a long road to get to this point. We have the EFI under control now with the new throttle controller working really well. Removing the hardware from the ECU has opened up more Aux channels for other functions as well as allowing us to drive multiple motors. This new system will give us full control over the engine and the added functions we have included. I have included limit functions that will shut down the engine upon any Water Temp, Water Pressure, Oil Pressure, Exhaust Temp and Fuel Pressure problems. This will save the engine if you happen not to be paying attention to the gauges. We have gone way past an ECU “reflash” with this engine. Another added advantage with this system will be other tuners and shops will have the ability to remap these engines on their own without having to pay for reflashes and having no control over the end product.

You have all of the engine upgrades included in your engine, the new Intake, and now the EFI system. Let’s get all of the last parts completed and get this engine back into your hands.

Talk to you soon,

nh

 

Its coming along. What are you doing in regards to the tappets to handle the new cams?

 

The design incorporates less friction and materials utilized are not only stronger but also lighter. The prior tappets utilized were the GT3 radius top tappets which were hydraulic tappets. Expecting these parts to survive while operating with approximately 400% more power wasn't realistic.

 

[quote=cjv;3139230]I have not posted because we have encountered a few issues. We have not given up on the front wheel LSD, however we have hit a dead end as to being able to convert the stock unit.

Here is some information that most people are simply not aware of.

Hello Chad,

I hadn't heard anything from the factory, so I rang them up last night when I got your email. They've got your unit disassembled and their feedback is not positive. The interior case space isn't really the issue, as you can see from the picture of the housing that they sent to me and which I have attached.

However,the issue more than anything else, is the ring and pinion set. I've attached a second picture they provided that shows the ring gear on the differential housing. Based on what they are telling me is this thing is about 2/3 of the size of a 901 gearbox ring and pinion set as used in the last 1960's 911s. The 150bhp that goes through this on a stock 996Turbo is realistically pretty close to the limit of the part. Altering the differentials in the way that we are discussing will be putting 400-500bhp through this thing and there's just no way that it can take it. We don't even put that kind of power through a 915 gearbox, let alone a standard G50 5spd. There's just not enough meat there on the gears to handle the forces. This really leaves us dead in the water on this project.

I'm sorry it's taken this much time for me to get back to you with information on this, especially since it's bad news. It's been a stupid busy Spring at our factory and they just didn't make the time to fully explore this on your behalf until I reminded them last night.

Regards,





Things are still moving along with the front differential. Here is the latest. e-mail received. As soon as I issue the order I will disclose the source for the work. It is hard to believe the conversations started in November '10 and we are just getting to the point of releasing the order.

"I just got an update on the project last night. I'm sorry I was unable to call today but we had a lot of shipments going out with too much going on to even breathe. They cannot do a clutch type lsd in your case. The spider gears in the center of the lsd would just be too small. While it would be the smallest differential we've ever done, it is possible to make a torque biasing gear driven differential for you. The cost for a single one-off design would be $XXXXX. The lead time at this point would be 8-10 weeks from the time you say to move forward on making it. Think about it tonight and come up with any questions you have for me and we can discuss it tomorrow".

Since the above correspondence, we have spoken. The differencial being proposed would be a minimum of twice as strong and up to three times as strong as the stock differencial. They can make stronger flanges however this work will require stronger axles and CV joints.

We are continuing to work on this. More soon.

 

I don't know how you are so patient My head hurts from trying to keep up heh.... Seems like so many folks promise but don't quite deliver and props to you for keeping things going and we could all learn a lesson or two in patience from ya!

 

Alex,

Now just imagine the end product being worth the wait.

Alex, remember the article about this car in I believe it was May 2004 Excellence. Go back and look at what Dave Colman (the writer) said in his last paragraph.

 

I've been following the thread for years, and it amazes me to this day. However I have a couple thoughts I do not mean any offense by, but just throwing out there as a reality check per se.

Regarding re-engineering everything piece by piece. I understand the passion for building something out of this world, but is there a limit to what needs to be re-engineered vs. parts that are already available one way or another?

Basically this build/car unintentionally suggests that there isn't a Porsche on earth that is good enough/fast enough. Only because there never seems to be any parts good enough for what you are going to do to it.

I do realize that even though there are incredible Pcars out there, that doesn't necessarily mean those parts are compatible with what you are working with. But is this the case or are you just shooting for something beyond imagination(2000+whp while being able to be driven smoothly by a 16 year old girl on a road course)?

Regardless, as always, great read, and unbelievable build.

 

KhanNSX,

In 2004 this project started out with 1000 hp in mind. The most at the time was the 850 hp Gemballa motor. Since then the bar has been raise to above 1000 hp with some hefty boost numbers. Looking at what was being built I truly did not know what I wanted to achieve. We engine dyno tested and learned new things along the way. We learned 2000 hp was not impossible providing you didn't mind lag. We learned 1200 hp could be achieved with a somewhat low boost. The most important thing we learned was how to make the motor extremely responsive. In reality it is all about how fast you can get from point A to point B. I can tell you the most hp isn't the key factor. All these refinements put gobs of stress on the motor. One very respected individual told me about a year ago ....... "Chad when this motor grenades in Southern California there are going to be pieces landing in Las Vegas."

If the truth be told, we a playing with fire no matter what we do. So what are we doing or what is going on here? The answer is rather simple. If we are going to do anything it is all out ...... the best we can achieve. If we were to have analyzed all the parts and the costs from the beginning would we have done this .... hell no. Doing it part by part over seven years allowed something to go forward that should have never gone forward had the true costs been known. Problem is it is too far along to stop now. One part just leads to another part. Example, the rear wheels will not hold the power we have. Solution ..... move some of that power to the front wheels. We spent six months figuring the best way to do this. Once we start the differential, we realize the flanges, axles, splines and CV joints will not survive. Yes, you know what is happening now. Where would you go for a front differential, flanges, axles and CV joints that will handle 350 to 500 hp along with fit in a certain space?

We are not shooting for anything other than having the project be the best it can possibly be. I hoping the light is appearing at the end of the tunnel. It's kinda like the old saying ........ One cat leads to another.