it begins...

[micahbones]

Rick and I removed the interior carpeting, insulation, seats (had to reinstall the driver's so I could get home), sunroof motor/mechanism (what a screwy design), and any other unnecessary miscellaneous debris from my 944 this afternoon. Race seat goes in tomorrow...and so the build begins! :D

Will try and post a couple photos tomorrow.

[svochuck]

Thanks Joy, for helping grow 944-spec !

[Snymo]

Chuck, what the heck are talking about?

Here's a picture of Micah's car from sometime mid-afternoon today. Couple more hours and it will be ready for the cage work.

http://snydermotorsports.tripod.com/temp/944/micah1.jpg

Rick

[Weston]

Chuck, what the heck are talking about?

I find myself asking that question at least once every day. I'm still wondering what the "NASA Mid-Winter Social Experiment" is... :confused:

[chris_venturini]

that dash just looks too pretty to destroy

lookin good

[ker]

I find myself asking that question at least once every day. I'm still wondering what the "NASA Mid-Winter Social Experiment" is... :confused:

a swimming pool of kool-ade?

[Special Ed GT]

Chuck, what the heck are talking about?

Here's a picture of Micah's car from sometime mid-afternoon today. Couple more hours and it will be ready for the cage work.

http://snydermotorsports.tripod.com/temp/944/micah1.jpg

Rick

So THAT's what a 944 dash looks like. Pretty cool - I've never seen one before! :)

Hank

[micahbones]

Couple more hours and it will be ready for the cage work.

We had planned to get the race seat in yesterday, but had to fabricate (well, Rick did while I watched) some flat steel mounting plates due to the mounting brackets on the Race Tech not seating well with the floor of the 944.

I'm getting excited now... :D

[micahbones]

So THAT's what a 944 dash looks like. Pretty cool - I've never seen one before!

Couple questions Hank (thought it might be useful to post publicly for future kool-aid drinkers/spec-944 owners ;)):

1. How do you remove the remaining sticky adhesive and stubborn insulation that will not come up by pulling, tearing, and chiseling? You can see the remains at random spots in the photo posted by Rick...

2. How much of the dash do I need to remove for you to install the cage? I plan to drive the car to and from races, and would like to retain some of the interior ventilation.

Thanks!

micah

[Bottoz]

Micah - I struggled A LOT with that foamy gluey insulation crap. Finally I took an angle grinder with a wire brush to it. Oh... it made a MESS! :eek: But it got most of it off. It's still a little sticky where the 20 year old glue is. I'll try and finish it off with some "Goo Gone".

[chris_venturini]

Acetone will take care of it, just wear gloves and ventilate properly. Still have to do mine

[Weston]

I think Dirks said he used Xylene. I still need to do mine too...

[dmdirks]

I think Dirks said he used Xylene. I still need to do mine too...

Xylene works well to remove the glue & crud that is left over AFTER you scrape all the tar out of there. On a 90F sunny day the tar in my car came up fairly easily with a putty knife. Then I soaked the areas with the Xylene and the metal cleaned up nicely. In this cold weather you may need to use a heat gun or something...

[cullenwinter]

+1 on the Xylene. You'll need gloves made for stripping paint or furniture, as latex and nitrile disintegrate very quickly. I got some Stanley gloves from Malwart (paint section) for that purpose. They still only lasted about an hour, so get a few pair.

[Saridea]

Dry Ice works very well for stubborn adhesives/sound deadening material. Leave the ice on the area for a 5-10 minutse, and then go to town with a chisel!

[micahbones]

Thanks for your tips bros! The mechanical solution sounds best to me -- I just wanna grind it down to bare metal...anyone have some power tools they wanna let me use?

[Bottoz]

Thanks for your tips bros! The mechanical solution sounds best to me -- I just wanna grind it down to bare metal...anyone have some power tools they wanna let me use?

LOL.. Harbor Freight has a cheep ass 4-1/2'' grinder for $16 bucks, and a wire brush attachment kit for $7. Goggels were $1.99 and a mask was $2. :)

[cullenwinter]

The xylene will be a heck of lot less work..(and time).... just my $0.02.
If you soak some rags in it, let them sit on the goop for a couple minutes, it just wipes off, leaving a nice painted surface.

[Special Ed GT]

Couple questions Hank (thought it might be useful to post publicly for future kool-aid drinkers/spec-944 owners ;)):

1. How do you remove the remaining sticky adhesive and stubborn insulation that will not come up by pulling, tearing, and chiseling? You can see the remains at random spots in the photo posted by Rick...

2. How much of the dash do I need to remove for you to install the cage? I plan to drive the car to and from races, and would like to retain some of the interior ventilation.

Thanks!

micah

Hey, Micah, sorry I didn't see this earlier; it was a pretty busy day. A heat gun helps, then I use acetone to clean the sticky greasy residue. I wouldn't use a grinder until most of the greasy residue is gone, otherwise you'll load up the grinder disc and spread the residue around more. A wire wheel also helps, buy I prefer 3M roloc discs since I can spin them faster without being pelted by metallic shrapnel when the wheel breaks apart!

On the 924/944s, I ask that the entire dash be removed, since we tuck the forward hoops right up against the corners of the firewall. Most racers leave the gauge pod in place (taped to the steering column) since it doesn't get in our way while we're building the cage. You can refit the dash after the cage is finished; you'll just need to trim it to install around the tubes.

LMK if you have any other questions, thanks!

Hank

[svochuck]

Thanks Joy, for helping grow 944-spec !


Lets see where do I start...

Thanks Joy (Ricks wife) for letting Rick race with us and build a car.

Thanks Joy for the book she gave me.

But this is the one i was talking about this time.

Thanks Joy for allowing Micha to have your garage spot . Her car is out in the cold so you guys could make a mess in your garage insted of mine.

Sound good ?

[MHISSTC]

After pulling up as much of the sound deadener as possible, Dave T did a good low budget job removing all the crud on the floor of his '85 Mustang using a hammer and old screwdriver as a chisel on the seam sealer and a small wire wheel and wire cup chucked in an electric drill for all the other crud on the floor.

We didn't have any really gooey stuff left over, but I had a gallon of lacquer thinner standing by. I expect to have to use the lacquer thinner on my car since the prior owner decided to use contact cement to glue down his own insulation and painted everything under that with cheap black paint.

[BADVENM]

After pulling up as much of the sound deadener as possible, Dave T did a good low budget job removing all the crud on the floor of his '85 Mustang using a hammer and old screwdriver as a chisel on the seam sealer and a small wire wheel and wire cup chucked in an electric drill for all the other crud on the floor.

We didn't have any really gooey stuff left over, but I had a gallon of lacquer thinner standing by. I expect to have to use the lacquer thinner on my car since the prior owner decided to use contact cement to glue down his own insulation and painted everything under that with cheap black paint.


Does this mean we can start on yours while mine is at Hanks...or are you going "the other route"?

Hard to believe but I had a lot of fun removing the sound deadener and stuff of the sort, it was about the only thing I could do without braking, burning, twisting, or melting something else. Even if I did, there are SO many Stangs in the driveway parts are readily available. I even drilled small holes in the hood for the hood pins, and they work :)

I'm having a blast building up this car for CMC with MHISSTC!

[Snymo]

But this is the one i was talking about this time.

Thanks Joy for allowing Micha to have your garage spot . Her car is out in the cold so you guys could make a mess in your garage insted of mine.

Sound good ?

Chuck, that makes sense but don't think for a second that my wife would let her Beetle sit outside while we work on cars in the garage. :eek: No, she's at work and when she comes home, I kick Micah out pretty fast. Her Beetle has not spent one night outside since I met her and I know better then to even bring up the subject!!! ;)

Rick

[95sprtcpedrvr]

Chuck, that makes sense but don't think for a second that my wife would let her Beetle sit outside while we work on cars in the garage. :eek: No, she's at work and when she comes home, I kick Micah out pretty fast. Her Beetle has not spent one night outside since I met her and I know better then to even bring up the subject!!! ;)

Rick

That is very honorable of you Rick! ;)


I removed my sound deadener using a pnuematic air hammer with the chisel attachment that only took me an accumulated time of 3hr 45 min. and due to our cold weather I haven't been able to use my laquer thinner which works very well to remove the adhesive with virtually no effort.

[micahbones]

On the 924/944s, I ask that the entire dash be removed, since we tuck the forward hoops right up against the corners of the firewall. Most racers leave the gauge pod in place (taped to the steering column) since it doesn't get in our way while we're building the cage. You can refit the dash after the cage is finished; you'll just need to trim it to install around the tubes.

LMK if you have any other questions, thanks!

Hank

Got it...will remove as much of the dash as possible. Quick FYI as well: for the cage design, I will likely go with the X-style door bars instead of "NASCAR" style in order to maintain window functionality.

Only one question for now: about how much does a 944-spec roll cage weigh?

Thanks Hank!