Porsches ARE made for the snow :)

We got a few inches (ok 8 inches or so) of the white stuff today, so stephen decided to have a little fun in his 800hp 996TT. Who says you can't drive a Porsche in the snow? It is his daily driver no matter snow or shine.

996TT Stage 4 Kit For Christmas

Last week we had a customer drive in from Iowa to leave his baby with us for a few weeks. Call it a Christmas upgrade. This Silver 996 Twin Turbo Cabriolet is getting our stage 4 kit, which will produce approximately 605hp at the motor. Without a doubt, the 996 is my favorite car to work on and drive, so it should be a good couple of days. Upgrades will include our larger turbos, a Fabspeed exhaust with 100 cell cats, custom headers, Evolution Motorsports V-flow air intake box, twin billet diverter valves, and a GIAC flash tune. I will also be putting in a clutch that is a little more stout to handle the horsepower, as well as a B&M short throw shifter. Last night i dropped the oil and put in the larger turbos. While replacing a turbo is not rocket science, everything must be extremely well protected during the install, as one single tiny piece of dirt in an exposed oil passage can ruin the turbo.

On the lift ready to go....


A new turbo ready for action....

Shot of one of the new headers.....

Next in line will be the exhaust and the clutch....stay tuned for a little magic.......ok, not really magic, but it is still pretty cool......

Update: December 06, 2005
Went after replacing the stock diverter valves with the billet units this morning. While they are hard to see, there are actually 2 diverter valves stuck back there. It is a very tight fit, and you wonder why spring hose clamps were invented, but once you get the stock clamps off, it isn't too bad of a job.

And the billet valves in place. We replace the stock valves because they have a rubber diaphragm in them that tends to fail after very short periods of time, especially under heavy boost. The billet valves have a billet plunger or diaphragm in them that will not fail. If your turbocharged car doesn't seem to make as much boost as it should, check your diverter valve first by sucking and blowing into the top nipple. If you can, then the diaphragm is shot.

After i got the DV's in, the Evo V-flow was installed to finish up the engine bay portion of the project.....

Update: December 7th:
Decided to go after the clutch this afternoon, since it is scheduled to arrive tomorrow via UPS, this way i could get the flywheel out and turned, and bolt everything back in place as soon as the clutch shows up. Porsche says you have to drop the motor to remove the tranny, but we disagree.

The tranny has left the car......

And there it is sitting on the craddle.....
Newly resurfaced flywheel waiting for a new clutch to show up.....

Update: Sunday Dec 11th:
Got the clutch in (left camera at the shop with the pictures), short shifter installed, fabspeed exhaust installed, and GIAC ECU flash tune done on Friday. Aaron was to deliver the car to the customer in Iowa on Friday night. Got it all together around 5:30, but the clutch pedal wouldn't go to the floor. Turns out the pin on the slave cylinder wasn't making contact with the clutch fork. Got that issue fixed, clutch bled, and the car warmed up and double checked on everything by about 10pm. He ended up leaving Saturday morning for Iowa, and by that afternoon the customer had the car. Another Stage 4 complete.

Coming Home

I have fallen into a deep dark pit from which there is no escape… I bought my first 911. I wonder if it’s coincidence that the designation for this most inspiring of Teutonic autos is the same as the number that we dial in a severe emergency?

Working here at the shop, I get to see Porsches in various conditions; some amazing, some not. Those of us who have idolized Porsche since our youth dream of the day that we buy our first one. That day for me was actually more than eight years ago when I bought my ’91 944 S2. And while I love that car (handles great, gobs of torque) it’s still not a 911; not what I lusted after as youth. So I bought a car that rolled off the line when I was 3 years old. I bought a 1971 911E. It’s burgundy, but it was black… and red… and before that metallic baby blue. Lots of new chrome trim, 15” chromed Fuchs, 81,000 miles. When I first met this car it needed a master cylinder so I took it home (even though I hadn’t yet completed arrangements for its purchase) and replaced it. The first in a long list of little things that it will need. Aside from being a remarkably straight car for its age, there’s nothing really remarkable about it. It’s a pretty stock old car… besides the 1973.5 “T” motor in the back. Most don’t know (or care) what that means, but to those who do, it’s a 2.4 liter injected motor that was a bit of an oddball and, by most accounts, fairly rare. Neat! Even better, it’s 200cc larger than the original motor. Power is good.

To put this into personal perspective, my first car was a ’72 Bug, baby blue no less, and my folks had a ’71 Karmann Ghia when I was younger. It’s amazing the sensory similarities between these cars. That old German car smell of gas, oil and something else entirely. This car is just a very refined version of those old cars. Like going home but with better handling and a lot more power than the 46hp offered by 1535cc VW engines. So I’m back home to cooling fans and valve clatter, and horsehair stuffed seats, and perforated headliners, and understeer that transitions into oversteer in the middle of the turn, and nice flat torque curves, and steering wheels that are too skinny…and... any how…

I’m going to take the car back to an original Porsche color in the next few months, any suggestions? No Speed Yellow though, Roxanne would never forgive me.

930 On The Dyno

This is a customer's car from California that we are doing an EFI conversion on. The car is a 1977 911 Turbo that the customer did a big horsepower motor build. Bigger than we had originally thought. This little 3.0 put down 433hp and 395ft/lbs of torque to the rear wheels.....very impressive.

Stephen hooking up the pulse sensor for the dyno.....

It may not look like it is moving, but this is at about 5500rpms and a lot of boost.....

Boys instead of cars

A blog twice in one day. Does this allow me to take the month off Ms.iA?

Thought I would share a quick personal picture. These are the future tuners and engine builders of ImagineAuto. The one on the left and right are Ms. iA's, oh and mine. Quinn is on the left. He has C16 running through his veins. No fear and little common sense to go with it. Like his mom? I suspect he will be our driver. Our other son, the one on the far right is Jett. He is the smart methodical one. More like me :) Yea, right. He will be our engine builder. The hotdog in the middle is our friend and tech Stephen D's son, Andrew. Andrew will more than likely be the crew chief as he is always on the go and never gets tired. He is a go getter..

Last one, Ms. iA and our red head Monster!

PhD and motors

The holiday breaks are always a love hate thing for me. I personally find tranquility when I am in the engine room building motors or doing an EFI conversion. So, while Ms iA and the boys took some of that holiday time to hang Christmas lights I made a B-line to the shop.



I have spent most of time in EFI conversions and engine builds. Everything to the 67S motor to a 996TT upgrade and engine build. My days are filled with piles of motors. This is a good thing, but keeps me from the forums and the blog. I have a special case that I wanted to share. No pun intended. This is one of the two motors I worked on over the break. The other is a 996TT motor which I will show later. This is an example of extreme in every aspect. Originally an EFI conversion customer the HP bug hit hard and fast. The car came back and went to the drawing board for MORE. The new design mapped out a 3.5 liter short stroke motor. Pauter Rods, SS head studs, flame rings, ported and polished intake and exhaust ports. Flowed heads, custom exhaust, custom intake and a T78 turbo. The projected HP of this steed will be apx 800HP. Oh, and powder coated and polished everything. Originally the owner wanted to polish the case. I agreed this would be fine. It cam back in full powdercoating. Reservations aside I was shocked how nice it looked.




What do you do with something like this? Well, sit down and hang on. It is headed to the drag strips to prove that wheelies still exist. Not for the faint of heart.

The owner is also a die hard Mustang fan and not afraid to pull a time slip from some 8 second rides he owns. So this will be the small toy in his collection. Enjoy the pics.

Turkey Thoughts

Thanksgiving day is always such a welcome break from the fast-paced hectic days that so quickly pass this time of year. The opportunity to spend time with immediate and extended family and good friends renews our soul and reminds us of what is truly important in our lives. Granted not everyone is thrilled with the prospect of being "forced" to see their family on this day. We are either inspired by those we admire or encouraged by the fact that we did not inhereit some of the traits that run deep within our family lines.

Whichever the outcome of those experiences yesterday and even if there was no family or friends with which to gather, the world was forced to shut down and slow down for one whole day. That in and of itself was, as they say, priceless.

Oh Little Rock......

Today a customer drove up from Little Rock, AR to us in Kansas City (425 miles roughly) to do some work on his 996 Twin Turbo. We did a 60k mile service, a new battery, new wiper blades, brake fluid flush, K&N air filter clean, new fuel filter, Coolant flush, Mobil 1 oil change, etc. We had previously installed a fabspeed exhaust system on his TT, and it was a little loud for his taste, so we found him a Miltex system instead, which is a little more gentle on the ears. He stopped in this morning, and by 6 he was out the door.

Getting ready to start the day.....

Not bad for a daily driver......

With 60k miles......The old Fabspeed exhaust system.....
The new Miltex system. O2 sensors mounted and ready to go in the car.....

A few hours later, the car came to life, and sped off into the night.

We take great pride in saying our customers will drive hundreds of miles in from neighboring states, and all over the east, west, and midwest to have us work on their cars. Usually a day or 2 in KC, and they are fixed up and ready to head home.

996TT Motor Drop

Speaking of 996TT motor drops, I was digging through my camera last night and came across some pictures from a motor I dropped a couple of weeks ago. This motor will be taken apart, beefed up, and put back together, ready for a LOT of horsepower. I believe we are looking for around 800hp with this Stage kit. Dropping it consists of the lift, a ladder, a big table, and lots of tools......and typically a mess of coolant, pentosin, and oil. Out the bottom she will come....

The car on the lift.....

From the underside, lots of stuff already taken apart......
The pile of shields and suspension parts starts to build.....

HEY!!! Where did the motor go????

Oh, there it is!!