by John Glynn | Nov 30, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
The Porsche 911 RSR used an external gearbox oil cooler on its modified 915 transmission for better heat dissipation and increased reliability. The external housing for the additional oil pump gears required by an external cooler has been unavailable for decades, but EB Motorsport has now recreated the RSR oil pump housing using the latest production technology.
The EB oil pump housing is recreated in cast aluminium, using an original RSR assembly including the transmission end case to ensure an accurate fit in reproduction. A series of complex engineering procedures is required to achieve the high quality associated with all EB parts.
EB Motorsport’s reproduction 915 transmission oil pump housing is supplied assembled with bushes for pump gears. EB’s part also includes the correct metric/fine adaptors and crush washers. The price is £296 plus carriage and VAT.
As an additional service, EB can supply the complete system including transmission spray bars, pick-up drive gears and pressure relief valve. Prices for additional services are available on application via the website at www.eb-motorsport.com.
by John Glynn | Nov 19, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
Superb result on the school run this morning, as a Volkswagen XL1 hybrid swooped in at Orla’s school: moving on a public road right in front of my eyes. Dads love the ultimate school run challenge – what car to take to freak their kids’ friends out – so I’ve seen and employed some cool school run cars in my time, but this was the winner by miles.
330 miles in fact, as that’s what the XL1 can eke from one imperial gallon of diesel. The 795-kilogram carbon-fibre body is beautifully shaped and exceptionally aerodynamic: a drag coefficient of 0.186 is half that of the Porsche 918 Hybrid. The XL1’s low drag means that 62 mph can be maintained on a level road using only 8 horsepower.
Volkswagen XL1 Encounter
I’ve loved the Volkswagen L and XL concept cars since the first one was shown in 2009. They are absolute fantasy cars, so what full-on madness to see one on the road and in the carbon fibre. A tiny machine at less than 4 metres long, it still has more than enough space to do 90% of your motoring.
The styling is pure sports car, with the roof just over three feet off the ground. I could not resisting parking up for a chat with the driver, who turned out to be Volkswagen UK ‘s ‘hybridisation’ programme manager. He told me how only 32 examples are coming to the UK from the total production run of 200 vehicles: two will stay on the press and demo fleet while the rest are up for grabs. With names like Peter Gabriel on the customer enquiry list, I have no doubt that the XL1 will sell out pretty sharpish.
The hinged doors are light and easy to operate. Fit and finish across the body is sublime: Volkswagen actually developed and patented a new system for the manufacture of the Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer parts on the car called the Resin Transfer Moulding process. A bare chassis weighs just 230 kilograms, the complete interior weighs only 80 kilograms.
Less than one-quarter of the car’s weight is iron or steel: just 184 kilograms. The car saves weight by using magnesium wheels, ceramic brakes and aluminum brake calipers, steering components and suspension.
Sitting in the XL1 is familiar Volkswagen territory, albeit the dash is reduced down to the (very smartly presented) barest essentials. Less familiar are the door mirrors: rear-facing cameras with iPhone 3G-sized screens embedded into the door panels. The seats are comfortable if a little flat and hard – light weight could mean sore arse in the long run – and anyone with bad knees won’t be buying this car: it is super low when getting in and out.
The XL1 has an 800cc two-cylinder common rail TDI diesel engine developing 48 PS, linked to an electric motor producing 27 PS. Total output of 75 PS is well enough in such a light car. XL1 has a seven-speed DSG gearbox. The electric motor can either work independently of the TDI engine or in tandem when accelerating.
Electric range is 50 kms, 0-60 is 11.9 seconds but the effect of seeing it on the road is where the real WOW happens. If I had the £98k required to put this car in my garage, I would be all over it immediately.
by John Glynn | Nov 8, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
I’ve been swapping emails with friends at McLaren regarding Jenson Button’s future (not that they know anything) but another man at the Woking F1 team has a different connection to Ferdinand. Richard owns this Porsche 911 SC hot rod, which recently went back on the road after a long laid-up period.
I’ve been following the project for a while, after meeting Rich via EB Motorsport. The Porsche fan bought some of Mark’s Porsche 911 SC RS bumpers for narrow-body 911 models including the SC, and added a ducktail for fun.
“I was very happy with the EB Motorsport parts,” says Rich. “The ducktail engine lid fitted straight on with no issues, and the bumpers were good as well. I modified the smile at the front to make a centre bracket, which looks good and supports the front edge over the whole width.”
Gulf Porsche 911 SC
The 911 has just come out of paint and Richard has shared some new pics of the project. Normally, the Gulf tribute schemes involve light blue all over with orange stripes running from under the bumpers across the cars: it’s a look I’m normally not that sure about. Richard’s decision to go orange with the bumpers and carry a modified stripe theme is a good one: the car looks very cool.
“I’ve owned this Porsche 911 SC for more than 18 years. This is rebuild number three! It’s a pretty standard 3-litre SC engine, that has carried us more than 100,000 miles so far. Interior is RS-like, with 993 GT2 seats.
“Last painted eleven years ago, it came off the road for a few years when an oil leak required the engine out to repair. My wife was then ill with cancer and, after she passed away a year ago, my mates got me sorted with a barn with lift and it’s been keeping me occupied ever since.
“The engine was a filthy mess when I dropped it out, but we’ve done what it needed and tidied it up. It’s running very well: just needs lots of super unleaded!”
It’s always sad to hear stories of loss, but the aftermath of these traumatic events can be motivational, as we seek to cope with the loss and make sense of what comes next. My brother-in-law, David Bolger, was claimed by cancer over a decade ago: that was my wake-up call to share the Porsche love. What I do today is closely linked to his passing, and I think of him often.
Kudos to Rich for a car that looks good! It cheers all of us up to see long-owned air-cooled cars modified nicely, not just put back to standard and shoved on the market. A good way to move on: and well done to your mates for helping out too.
by John Glynn | Oct 31, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
The lightweight Porsche 911R race car in build at the EB Motorsport workshop has almost reached the end of its bodywork journey and is now being prepared for paint. Earlier this year, EB added another metal fabricator to their engineering business, who was also experienced in restoration. The new man has extensively rebuilt the rust-ridden chassis, replacing the huge amount of corrosion in the base chassis with nice clean metalwork.
Pictures I received of the project in progress made it look very nicely done. More shots just shared by Mark at EB Motorsport show the 911 with EB’s light composite body panels (handbuilt in the same workshop) attached, including front wings, doors and rear quarter panels. The roof is still steel, which begged the question why the guys didn’t use the EB Motorsport fibreglass roof panel to replace the original metal panel.
“Simple answer is that the lighter EB roof panel is perfect for replacing sunroof holes on cars originally equipped with a sliding roof,” says Mark at EB. “On a car without a sunroof, we would be putting a lot of work in to save two kilograms, so we’ve opted to leave things as they are and look elsewhere for weight savings.”
EB Motorsport reports a number of 911R kits sold to satisfied customers. I know a few people who have opted for a 911R conversion on their challenging SWB 911 restorations, using EB’s lightweight Porsche 911 doors and aluminium hinges, full front wings with built in sidelights, 911R tail light conversion and composite rear quarter panels. Target weight for the EB 911R is circa 860 kilograms: that would be quite an exciting achievement.
Also in the EB project stable is the 2.1-litre RSR “Baby” Turbo replica, which now looks little short of insane. Mark has been working on the flat fan conversion prototyping and recreating the magnesium oil cooler housings as per original race cars. He is also building a new front end for his Harley chopper. So much stuff going on up in Yorkshire: kudos to the guys there.
by John Glynn | Oct 29, 2014 | Project Cars, Porsche Cayenne
Anyone interested in buying a Porsche Cayenne who’s been researching their purchase via forums is forgiven for massive paranoia regarding propshaft failures. The truth is that propshaft or cardan shaft failure is going to happen to any Cayenne you buy. Propshafts or driveshafts are maintenance items on any vehicle: especially 2-tonne 4wd SUVs.
Porsche Cayenne Centre Bearing Mount
Prime suspect of a Cayenne propshaft issue is the centre bearing mount. The bearing supporting the CV joint in the middle of the two-piece propshaft is mounted in rubber. Like all rubber mountings, it eventually wears out. The vibration from a failing centre CV joint will often kill the bearing. It is under a heavy 4wd car in all weathers, so do not be surprised about this: the part cannot be expected to last indefinitely.
I just had to sort this ‘cardan shaft’ centre bearing mount failure on my Cayenne S. The centre bearing mount failed two weeks ago and I have been driving it around ever since, in the process of sorting it out to my satisfaction. If you’re easy on the throttle you can keep driving it a bit. I am now on my second shaft this week: a brand new OEM GKN Spidan propshaft.
I went a slightly long way around this issue, as the usual suppliers wanted the original prop shaft in exchange and I wanted to keep it for rebuild. I bought a recon propshaft from eBay and fitted that to the car, but as soon as I drove it it was obviously wrong. So I ordered a new shaft and fitted that last Thursday morning. I’ve got a miniscule vibration above 80 mph: more a sound than a sensation, but it still needs sorting out.
Porsche Cayenne Cardan Shaft Propshaft
My old shaft had apparently been on there for 135k miles. The car has been maintained by a Worcester specialist since 60k miles and we know they have never done it. I very much doubt that it had ever been apart: it took me ages to split the shaft off the diff input flange. In the few days I ran it with a less than perfect centre bearing mount, the centre CV joint was seizing until it warmed up, which could easily have caused the rubber mount to fail.
Taking the second (supposedly recon) propshaft off the Cayenne, no doubt the centre bearing has been replaced on this, but the centre CV joint is just like my own one: sticky and recalcitrant. The new shaft feels totally different.
Speaking to a few propshaft experts this week, all agree that the problem is tied to the centre CV joint. The complete shaft has three CV joints for maximum smoothness, but the centre one takes most abuse, is the most exposed and will eventually seize up and fail. That wears out the rubber bearing mount, but most people just swap the bearing and don’t sort the CV, which causes the same problem soon after.
Although I have a new shaft on the Cayenne now, I plan to send my old shaft to a specialist who was very helpful this week and obviously knows his stuff. He will refurbish it before balancing at the highest RPM. I plan to refit that to the vehicle in due course and see where we go from there. This is a key part of the transmission, so I want it perfect.
Cardan Shaft/Propshaft/Driveshaft
A Cardan Shaft is a propshaft is a driveshaft. The original concept to adapt ancient Chinese gimbals into a universal joint to use in transmitting power came from the Italian mathematician, Girolamo Cardano, in 1545. It’s been called a Cardan Shaft in mainland Europe since becoming common in the early 1900s. It’s a prop shaft/propellor shaft here in England, thanks to common use in the industrial revolution. A driveshaft is the same thing, normally smaller.
So, don’t think Cardan Shaft is Porsche’s fancy name for this. Cardan shaft, prop shaft, drive shaft: same thing.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
