The disassembly of a Stohr DSR. :)
Well long time and no update! I am sorry I have neglected getting an update in the blog here for so long but with the holidays upon us and a nearing trip to Skip Barber I have been busy. Oh yeah and there is this little piece of hell called work that keeps me busy as well. So as you can see in the pictures below the Stohr is getting its new heart slowly but surely. The whole process so far has been painless and taken a little over 7 hours total working time to get the engine, fuel cell, and other bits out of the car. This I think is really good considering I have never touched a car like this before and we are learning as we go. <br />
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To give you a little more detail on the disassembly here we go. First off obviously I removed the whole body from the car and deposited in my basement…much to my loving wife’s chagrin. After that was off my buddy Rob and I spent the first two hours just removing zip ties and wiring to remove the old electronics from the engine. The biggest pain in the butt really was just removing all the zip ties. It all looks great when in place and keeps the engine bay clean but my god removing them is a nightmare. A straight up engine swap without having to change out all the electronics and fun would have been much easier as this wouldn’t have had to happen. BUT WHAT FUN WOULD THAT BE! I want my extra 24bhp. <br />
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The next step up in the engine removal was disconnecting all attached parts not essential to the engine starting with the headers, clutch cylinder, brake lines, and godforsaken radiator lines (lets just say my garage was red for a few days). After those were off then came the fuel line removal and lastly the throttle cable. It was after I had all this done that I then decided hell might as well go all out and remove the radiator and other components at the same time and work them over to be as good as new as well. Question: How many of your Stohr guys are running a single radiator? I would love to as plumbing is a lot simpler but I just worry about cooking her. I was thinking a single water radiator and then a large oil cooler would be more than good but any advice would help.<br />
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Finally I pulled the engine mounting bolts and then Rob and I lifted the engine and rear spar out of the car. The whole assembly was a lot lighter than we both expected but then again we are both 6’3+ and not exactly weak. After that was out I set everything on the ground and went to work stripping the back of the car to have the new engine cradle welded onto it. Right now I have the fuel cell out and after an hour of working at it the fuel pump as well! So that’s ready to have the new one dropped in here in the new year when I get the racing bank account replenished after X-mas shopping. The remaining parts of the year are going to be me drilling out the old fuel cell baking plate’s pop rivets and then cutting off the old engine cradle. Once again the target is a running car by April which means engine in the car in January at the very least. It’s going to be a busy winter, but what else is there to do in the Minnesota winter when you don’t like the cold. <br />
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