1976 Porsche 912 build with 993 motor swap by freedomperiod

120 minute(s) of a 253 minute read

1976 Porsche 912 build with 993 motor swap

Compliments of freedomperiod @ www.vwvortex.com

Found out she was a transvestite. It was devastating at first, but I got her the surgery and now we are both much happier...

So TCLr's, lemme tell you how this transvestite love story goes...

Right around this time of year in 2008, I was going about my usual business of messing around with cars when I came across an old Porsche for sale. As it turns out, a friend of mine knew the owner from the track and P-Club events. My friend went on to tell me that the car is a lightweight 911 that seemed to be exceptionally quick for a MFI 2.7. Having always regreted selling my old Carrera, my interest was immediately piqued.

I inquired about the car and the owner explained to me that it was a rare, "factory sun roof-delete car" with a nice exhaust and some weight saving mods. I don't like my cars to be any other color than black and this car was white, so I wasn't really that interested. The owner however, offered to take me for a ride in the car. Thinking me a serious buyer, he even offered to let me take it for a spin. Next day, I was there with bells and whistles on.

Since I'm not really into white cars, I had it in my mind that this intimate encounter with the car was strictly for fun and that it wasn't gonna be no long term relationship, lol! Needless to say, I was wrong. After just once around the block, I fell in love and bought the car.

(Edit) This is a pic of the actual car.

I was in heaven! This was sheer bliss! The sound of the air-cooled motor above 5k rpm's! ... the thrill of a light weight 911!... The feeling of that old torsion bar suspension as it sets up to launch the car out of a turn!!... This was TRUE love.  I felt like I was driving a real '73 RS on the way to work every day. Even though the car had no A/C, I was happy!.. oh so very happy to drive her every single day. We sure had some hot, sweaty times in the summer.. but she was my girl. All she needed was a coat of black paint, and she'd be perfect. Sometime in 2009, I took her to the body shop to get that paint job. Nothing was ever the same again.

An astute mechanic noticed that the car was not a "rare, factory sun roof- delete" car, but it was actually a 1976 Porsche 912.  

.......

........

I was duped! Bamboozled!! This was no rare Porsche!! It wsn't even a 911!! It was an imposter!!! A transvestite !!! A 911 wannabe!! It was nothing more than the ultimate un-sleeper!! A bastard, red-headed stepchild of a car, playing dress up!! (vestis= latin for dress / clothes). 

If you're a 912 purist, I apologize for my remarks. I know the 912 won the European Rally Championship for series touring cars, but c'mon! It's a little weak and you know it. 

The only reason Porsche brought the 912 back from the dead after having discontinued it, was to have a smooth transition in entry level cars. As they were phasing out the 914, they needed a replacement car until the 924 could be offered to the public. In fact, the 912 was replaced by the 914 and discontinued for 6 years. 

It's only in 1976 that Porsche re-introduced it for a year, while the 914 was on it's way out and the 924 was not yet ready to replace it. They brought it back after throwing it away, just to use it like a whore. Poor 912. No love. 

A 912! How could this be??? The title even said 911!! 

...It seems the car was mis-titled sometime during its history of previous owners. Even the DMV thought it was a 911. 

..... I felt like the damn guy from the crying game.

...Here's where the story turns, and love prevails:

Rather than to get rid of her, I decided to stay the course and make the best of this less than perfect relationship. I decided to make the car into what IMO the car always longed to be. Can a car long to be something if it's not alive? Yes it can! ...In so much as every Porsche has a "soul". This one has the soul of the '73 RS.

Here's what I did....

Brought her to the surgeon for a nose job!! Long nose, that is!! Long nose, as in 1973 Carrera RS!!

I'm looking for the pics of the long nose conversion. It's fantastic body work. If I find them, I'll put 'em up. 

The (fiberglass) front bumper is super light. I can pick it up by 2 fingers on one hand. The fenders are also extremely light.

In 1976, the 912's body was completely identical to the 911. This was a sort of cheap and dirty way to get a 911... buy a used 912 and put the flat six in it.. voilla!!! ... Poor man's 911, so to speak! The absense of a sunroof (which, including the mechanism, weighs like 90lbs btw) made this car a great performer when paired with the 911 engine.

Unfortunately, I failed to realize that the '73 RS had wider fender flares than the '76 911/12, so we're going to have to go back now and weld on some proper RS flares. Many people who build '73 RS clones/ tribute cars use the Carrera SC flares. I believe they're actually different than the SC flares (but not sure), so I'll have to deal with that later. 

The good news is that Porsche offers these flares new. They started remanufacturing them, so I can actually buy '73 RS OEM steel flares. Perhaps they did this in response to the "Clone Wars"... '73 RS clones have been gaining popularity over the years. Look at the Singer 911.

For now, she finally has the beautiful black paint and one hell of a nose job!!

Light as a feather!

Even the carpet is lightweight carpet!!

What's this old beat up thing??

Hmmm ...it would look nicer in UV resistant suede...

MMMmmmmm... New headliner! Smells gooood!

Let's make the undercarriage look like it just rolled off the assembly line!!

It's the way daddy likes it! 

my answer to what ought to go under the bonnet:

..as you can tell from the SX4 thread, I'm going through an Orange phase right now 

(my version of) Signal Orange!

It's the last and best of the air-cooled engines. The 993 series. The pinnacle of Porsche's air-cooled technology. With a simple ECU reflash and a nice exhaust, this lump will make a solid 300 peak hp at the crank on regular gas, and more bottom end torque than a 3.8 (because Vario Ram manifold)! Dead-solid reliable. Almost bulletproof! 

Now at this point, you might be thinking G50 gearbox. 

Remember, we're on a diet.

The old 915 gearbox is 50 lbs lighter. 

Sure, the G50 is better, stronger, etc, but I've mentioned in other threads that I've personally seen turbocharged 911's making upwards of 350-400 hp use the old 915 gearbox. Guys who go to the track love mating the 915 to newer, more powerful cars and they run with no issue whatsoever. 

There's no doubt the 915 can handle the power of a NA 993 motor, but mating it up with a clutch and flywheel requires some skill. ProtoSport is fantastic with custom fab. They're my go to guys for Porsche, and their workmanship is outstanding. They're part of the company Protomotive, who's claim to fame is their ability to get their aftermarket TT sytems to work with the factory Bosche Motronic system. They were one of the first.. if not THE first. They've been in the game for a long time and build some mean-ass twin turbo Porsches. They are by far, the fastest Porsches I have ever been in or driven. 

http://www.protosportinc.com/services.htm

http://www.protomotive.com/home.html

Now enter the "real" tranny of the thread:

This is no ordinary 915 gearbox. These are harder to come by over here in the states. This is a Euro-spec 915 gearbox. What makes it different? The LSD! 

915 gearboxes over here did not come equipped with limited slip diff, as far as I know.

Additionally, the gearing is a little different, with 5th being an extra tall gear compared to gears 1-4.

If there are any P-car trans experts, please shed some light on this for me. Thanks. 

Here's a vid of the LSD in action... sort of :

So it all adds up, you see!?? ...or rather subtracts down ... 

...the weight. 50 lbs here with the trans, 80+ lbs there with the absense of a sunroof, lots of composite body parts, etc...

You might be wondering then, what's holding me back?

These:

Porsche Boxster brakes (front). Plenty of stopping power for what this car will weigh.

Much, much, much, much, much lighter than what was on there, and immensely more powerful.

So, how light is light??? 

The diet.. it's working.

Are you updating the trans at all for the extra torque or just hoping for the best?

Hoping for the best. It ought to be totally fine. 915's can handle way more than 300 hp reliably. The Euro-spec one is even tougher I think, but not 100 % sure.

This sounds lame, but these threads (Diablo, SX4, 912/911) are inspiring. They make me want to achieve some kind of success so I can have such fun. Until that happens, I am happy to read about your automotive endeavors.

It probably sounds lame because I'm guessing you haven't ever experienced a very lightweight car. You see, I used to be from the church of horsepower. Then I got my ass beat a bunch of times at the track by a lighter car. While I pulled away from lighter Porsches in my 600 hp twin turbo, the very same lightweights would shoot past me when I would brake hard before turns.

You can dive into turns, and brake much, much later than other cars. Also, there's a certain feeling you get from a lightweight 911, that no other car can deliver. It's part of the reason that even though the new Nissan GTR can outperform a GT3 RS in most departments, real driviers often prefer the GT3RS to the Nissan GTR.

Let me put this in perspective for you... This car will weigh an estimated 2000 lbs and make 300 hp (and believe me, that's a conservative #, because the engine reflash and exhaust could give this car up to 320 hp). That gives it a power to weight ratio of 6.7

A dodge Viper SRT10 with 510 hp has the same ratio. A 2011 Corvette Z06 has a p/w ratio of 6.4, If my car would have 320 hp (which is quite easy to do), it would have a better p/w ratio than the vette.

It's not anymore lame than these cars:

So...

..how about a little walk thru!

Needed to make mods for the dry sump too.

looking for some proper euro lights.

Got these for the front:

What?? You say these clear lenses are not DOT approved, even with an amber bulb????

Well... I won't tell if you guys don't tell. Besides, if I get a hard time about it, I'll just order up the half amber/ half clear ones from eBay. 

Some issues with our little transformation:

1. Many RS clones/ tribute cars have 16" wheels. There are many more tire choices available for 16". The Carrera RS had 15" wheels. Those look better on older cars IMO, and they're the correct wheel to put on the car if it's going to look like a '73 RS. Trouble is that nobody makes a good tire for 15" wheels anymore. Tire Rack has Pirelli P600's but I've heard from a few sources that these tires suck REALLY bad! They dry rot in 6 months, I've heard. I've also heard they're not that sticky and cost a ton of $$

Also, the '73 RS tires are meaty. A lower profile tire won't look right, so I'm searching for the right set.

2. The 993 motor needs a lot of oil cooling, and the large oil cooler I need to use is too thick to fit in the front bumper. ProtoSport will need to custom fab a duct that leads to the oil cooler from the fron bumper. They're going to try stuffing it somewhere near the front wheel.

3. Getting a 915 trans to mate up to a 993 motor may take some work.

4. This car is meant to be daily driven. It needs A/C, but this compromises the weight. Hopefully we can put one of the new style A/C upgrades for these old cars on and it won't be so heavy. The new stuff is all mostly aluminum. We'll see.

5. Retro style seats are usually not DOT approved. If I get hit hard in this car, the seats may collapse, as well as my back. Currently searching for some tube-frame retro-style seats.

Another issue is that this 915 trans does not use mechanical drive for the speedometer. It's an electronic drive. It's not possible to get the 1973 gauges to work with it. 

Therefore, I'm going to have to use the updated electronic gauges (tach, speedo). 

I'm going to have to send these style gauges out to be backdated. They ought to be able to chnge those needles for me.

A little icing on the cake....

If the car is light enough, it'll get some A/C. If it's still light enough, then perhaps I'll put a few light speakers in there. I have in my posession a very special head unit for just this type of application. Enter the Becker Mexico 7948. It has classic retro styling, and if there's any head unit that belongs in this car, it's a Becker!

Trouble is that it's a Euro version, and the Sat/Nav won't work here in the US. At least I can get the iPod interface to work. If I decide to put it in, I'll have to find a hack or a crack for the GPS. If I can't, then at least I'll have a sweet lookin head unit and some tunes.

I was so surprised to find out that the '73 RS flares are totally different than the '76 911/2 flares. I completely overlooked this fact, even after the bodywork was complete! 

As it turns out, the 1976 911/912 flares actually mate up perfectly with the '73 RS rear bumper!!!! PERFECTLY!!! 

It's because they're a different shape at the top and only come out further at the top. 

Engine bay lookin a lot better now...

Interior is starting to shape up now too...

Lighweight soundproofing and lightweight carpet!

The red bits will get the suede treatment.

12/18/2011

To be continued....

Porsche replaced the 912 with the 914. The 912 then disappeared for 6 years.

When they were ready to replace the 914 with with the 924, they brought the 912 back from the dead. They did this in order to have another entry level 4-cyl car available to the public, because the 924 was not quite ready yet. That's my understanding of it.

Previous 912's had a slightly different body style and appearance. Since these were entry level cars, almost none came with a sunroof (1965-69). When the 912 was brought back for a year in 1976 to cover (the entry level, 4 cyl market) for the 914 as it was being killed off, they used the 911body to make the 912.

EDIT: I like the fact that mine has no sunroof!

One of my favorite Porsches. Also a 4 cyl VW. 

are the fenders 'glass

It's all fiber-composite. 

http://www.gettydesign.com/

They have a tech manual there online.

http://www.gettydesign.com/general_frp.html

If you were to try and make a fiberglass hood for this project, you might have to lay down so much fiberglass that it winds up being so heavy it's not worth the trouble in making it out of FG.

There is a fiberglass honeycomb core used in the process (in which they suck out excess resin from the mold). It's in the layers of plastic or whatever it is, lol!

http://www.gettydesign.com/911_body.html

Did 912Es have aluminum trailing arms? 

Tell us about the suspension setup please. I'm guessing some Elephant Racing goodies?

Nothing wild. Nothing squeaky. Nothing that rides hard like a racecar. Nothing that'll have noisy and creaky bushings. I plan to dd this car and want to be able to take wifey out in it and have her be comfortable. 

On a separate note, I've made my mind up about the A/C. Upgrading to a colder lighter one.

The suspension is all pretty standard 911 stuff.

Tubular aluminum trailing arms in the rear.

Bilstein sport shocks all around.

Torsion bar. 

Turbo tie rods.

There's a debate as far as how galvanized early 912Es are. Some sources say that all are fully galvanized, some say that the roof isn't, and some say that they aren't galvanized at all (but the galvanization process on 911s started in 1970, and everything but the roof was apparently done by 1975).

I'm fairly sure it's been galvanized, because there was almost no rust at all on the car.

There was a bunch of rust on the cowl by the windshield, but almost every older 911 has some rust there. On this car, I had it properly repaired.

Turns out I won't need to keep looking for the pics of the bodywork! My body guy has a copy of the folder with the pics of all the bodywork! Hope to have that soon so I can post it!

Even if it's not galvanized, I guess the only things that could rust on this car now are the roof and the quarter panels. Everything else has been replaced. The doors have been replaced as well. 

Hmmmm. Did they make a 912 Sportomatic? That theory dictates that it'd be one hairy-chested beast! 

All joking aside, and in all fairness, I have heard 912's could be quite peppy with that 4 cyl. because of their weight. 

'76 was the last year before significant weight increases in the 911.

Speed is relative. Relatively speaking, this car was a bullet with the 2.7

I think that even a veteran driver would have needed to be cautious with it on the street, and it was known to be a "fast" car.

With the 3.6 VarioRam and the narrow body, the car should be be positively lethal! In relative terms, a missile compared to a bullet. The LSD should help a lot, but this car is going to be a real handful.

To be honest, neither myself nor ProtoSport know exactly what to expect. On paper, the car should be an animal. 

12/20/2011

The pre-op photos

This is how I first saw the car. The previous owner updated the car's appearance quite a bit. He got rid of the cookie cutter wheels and got a proper set of Fuchs. Carrera tail replaced the standard decklid.

He hated the chrome trim and door handles, so he changed it all to black, which was what's on the newer Carreras, of course. 

Fortunately, he kept most of the orriginal chrome stuff in storage and I was able to get my hands on it. 

Yes the car's interior looks black in the pic, but it's the same beat up red stuff i posted. Looks like the owner before the previous owner had it wrapped in black vinyl. It was beat up and weathered, so we just pulled all that stuff off. As I mentioned, we have some UV resistant suede to wrap it up in now. That ought to look pretty nice... not necessarily period correct, but it'll look nice. 

Some surgery pics...

Rust by cowl and windscreen chopped out and repaired.

It would have been nice to get all the body work right the first time, but to do the RS flares is only a (max) 2 week setback. I might even be able to drop the car off on a Friday and pick it up on a Monday or Tuesday.

It drives me crazy that I let that happen.

Since we need one more surgery here, my plan is to road test the car using the standard (no tail) decklid. It'll look a little odd with the '73 RS bumpers and no ducktail, but it'll be a total sleeper! Besides, I haven't found the right RS wheels yet and with skinny fender flares, the look just won't be complete.

ProtoSport has been kind enough to let me road test the car with those polished Fuchs in the pictures. They have basically donated those tires to the project. I intend to fry the back ones off while road testing the car.

Then, when I get a proper set of RS style Fuchs with the proper offset, resolve the tire situation, and have the RS fender flares put on, I'll put the ducktail spoiler on.

No duck tail, but I'm gonna wait until the wheels and flares (medical punn) are resolved. Then I'll throw on the duck tail. 

Oil cooler for 993.

Got this little beauty at a local Army/Navy store.

It's supposedly came from a Russian Mig fighter jet! Any aviation experts feel free to chime in. 

I've had my eye on this little piece for years, and it's been sitting in a display case for a very long time. Amazingly, the timer runs without any electricity to the leads. I guess it was designed in such a way that the timer can always be activated if there's a loss of electrical power. 

The shop owner said no one has pressed the buttons in years, so I'm amazed that there's still energy stored in that mechanism. Perhaps it's self winding, like a self-winding watch, where only movement is required to store energy in the spring. Maybe people picked it up just enough times over the years to keep it alive 

Whatever the case, I plan to have the needles painted to match the rest of the gauges. It'll make a sweet lap timer and replace the factory clock. I never did like the factory Porsche clock much. 

Many thanks! I'm deeply flattered. Glad you like 

^^ Seems like it ought to work in theory. Apparantly that's kind of the same way a 993 oil cooler sits in a 993 (see video explanation). 

We're going to need to put some heat reflective foil on the inside of the bumper there... don't want it to start melting lol!

Went with Carrera brakes in the rear. (Boxster brakes in the front)

Nice little RSR conversion in the background there. That wide body looks hot, but there's something so cool to me about the narrow body '73 RS look. 

Widebody is played... I'm on to the brand new sh*@ now... NARROW BODY 

12/23/2011

The new dilemma (finally learnt how to spelt dilemma)...

The issue of the wheels:

The real '73 RS had 15's. In order to get the real authentic look, they're a must! Trouble is, tire choices (in the US) are quite limited. 

The other thing about that authentic look is that you need meaty tires. The ones on the real '73 RS look downright ballonish! 

The biggest problem of all, is that such a balloon-like tire is going to have tremendous side wall flex while turning hard. That's actually they way they were (the '73 RS and RSR) back then. They shimmied a bit during hard cornering, because of this. Braking is also worsened by all this "give" in the tire.

The green car is a real RS from Wikipedia. It has 15's.

(EDIT) I think I may actually stick with the 15's. 

16's really screw up the proportions of the car. IMO, to really pull that narrow body, long nose look off, you need the 15's. I'll just have to do with tire wall flex... or become a better driver.

The black car ^above, looks wrong to me. Out of proportion.

Compare that to this black car...

Or this white one:

15's DIR ?

16's DIR ?

^^^Custom Fuchs.. do not want.^^^ 

12/26/2011

How often do you plan on driving this car?

I may not use it as a daily driver, but I'd like it to be daily drivable in all but snowy, or extremely cold weather. That's going to be a problem. Especially with the 15's, since such a small wheel isn't going to look right (IMO) with a lower profile tire. 15's will require balloons

I suppose I could use one of the all-weather tire options for the 15" wheels, and then have a set of summer tires (the Pirellis perhaps). I think Sumitomo makes one that looks like the correct tire (balloon-like, meaty, high profile). I could also use the Pirelli P6000's. They also look like what they're supposed to on a real '73 RS. At least, from what I can see on this orange car here. I can see that the tire says P6000

I'll look into the Hoosiers too. 

Dunlop makes one as well.

A long nose... I guess I ought to say "long-hood" instead, but in 1974, Porsche added impact bumpers that changed the look of the 911. See the front of the orange car up there? The earlier cars without the impact bumpers had longer hoods.

^^This one has the impact bumper and thus, a shorter hood. 

12/27/2011

More 993 oil cooler pics! 

The radio location on older 911's is perfect for 2 or 3 of these side by side.

Something like this would also be a nice replacement for the factory clock

Like so.....

12/28/2011

PROJECT STALLED 

Major issue with the fender flares. Not many people can tell the difference between the '73 RS flare and the Carrera (SC) flare. There IS a difference, though. The 73 RS flare has a slightly different contour.

It seems that even at Porsche no one cares enough about this subtle difference. People doing these type of backdating projects have noticed that when ordering the flares from Porsche, sometimes they send you RS flares and sometimes they send you SC flares!! Hard to believe but true. It seems they have them all mixed up.

Body shops have ordered the flares in batches and have reported that sure enough, they get a few RS's and a few SC's. 

Not that resale value ever mattered to me, but making a 73 RS replica with the wrong flares may significantly lower the value of the car.

Unfortunately, it seems that no one makes these flares at this time. 

Looks like my car is going to look like a 911 S or T with Carrera flares welded on. Had I known this beforehand, I wouldn't have taken the car in this direction. 

I am beyond disappoint. I am extremely pissed

^^the correct ones 

Had I known about this, I would have started off 2 years ago with the thread title: "Where can I get these parts? '73 RS Edition"

Just goes to show you, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

These are the correct part #'s: 

Part #: 911 503 608 02

Part #: 911 503 608 03 

2#'s since they're L and R handed parts. When you enter the #'s into the PET, you get a "superceeded part #" 

Can the flares currently on the car be hammered into the correct shape? It seems a couple of pie slices to add/subtract metal here and there may do it. It's subtle enough I don't know the differences off the top of my head, though. Either way, here's an e-beer. 

This is also no excuse to stop building, dammit! If reshaping the standard flares doesn't work, finish it with everything but the flares and when some come up (Auto Atlanta, perhaps?) then graft them on. You have to break the paint anyway, right? Have another e-beer. 

Thanks.

The other option is to just put the damn SC flares on and try to forget about it. They look so similar that even a real P-car fanatic might not pick up on it.

They can't be hammered out that far I'm sure. The ones on there now are just thin little slivers. I'm surprised they mate up with the RS bumper so well, but that's beccause the difference in contour is at the top of the flare.

They had a few for sale on Pellican parts, but they've all been snatched up and only the SC flares are left.

RS flares next to an '88 Carrera. Slightly different shape 

You're welcome. Perhaps the SC flares could be welded on and then the shape changed. It looks as if the flares are a little flatter across the top of the wheel opening, correct?

Looks that way. Also, they taper off a little differently. To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure because I've never seen a real RS in person. The green one is real.

This blue one is a '76 Carrera flare. The edge is a little different than the RS, which seems taller at this spot.

Well, I suppose if my car winds up not looking EXACTLY like a '73 RS, then I can live with that. It'd be nice to be able to track down a set of "real" RS flares, though.

I press on... 

12/28/2011

PROBLEM SOLVED!!! Back on track!

ProtoSport will handle it. They're going to source the fenders for me. Worst case scenario is that they can't find them and they have to hammer out the Carrera fender flares so they're a bit taller at the brim and look identical to the real ones. Better yet, they'll be galvanized and won't rust off the car in time. 

Thanks again! 

Dash done! 

Not so sure I like the stainless steel grill. I think it looks cool because it matches the chrome trim, but it's too much of a departure from the '73 RS look. 

It's starting to look a little too different from the '73 RS. I'm already pushing it with the chrome horn grills and the clear side markers. 

Things that will look different on this car than a real '73 RS:

1. The chrome horn grills. I'm too fond of them ..especially on a black car.

2. Clear side markers. I have some amber ones for backup, in case I either cahnge my mind or get a ticket.

3. The wheel offset. It is nearly impossible to find a set of Fuchs in the exact offset that the RS had. ...more on that later.

4. "Carrera" script will not be on the car.

5. Suede dash and some interior details will be a little off from the RS, but they're aesthetically (and sonically) worthwhile trades IMO.

6. The exhaust will look different, as well as the oil lines running under the car. Both the exhaust and oil lines are features you can see on a real RS without looking under the car. 

I feel like the shiny steel grill (as opposed to the correct black) might be pushing it too far. 

I'm definately sticking with the 15" Fuchs, now that I'm going through such trouble to do the RS flares. 

...There is perhaps one little mod that I was considering. I was thinking about a decal Porsche crest like they have on modern RS's. It looks lie it's painted on the hood, instead of the traditional gold metal crest. 

I guess they do it for aerodynamics (since it's flush). lol or weight saving! lol.. lol, whut??

Anyway, I think I'm ditching the grill for a black one. 

An interesting little factoid...

It is not uncommon to find an odd color dashboard underneath the factory vinyl wrap. If you ordered your dashboard wrapped in black from the factory in 1973, they didn't necessarily use a black dashboard at the Porsche factory. They would sometimes just grab what was available or in the parts bin... that may or may not have been a black dashboard they wrapped for you. It may have been a red one they wrapped in black. You'd only know the difference if you peeled it all off.

Case in point, the dash on my car seems to have been wrapped in factory black vinyl, but underneath, was actually a red dashboard. It's just how they did it back in those days.

A little trim on the door to complete the look. ..again, not going for a true '73 RS look for the interior, but in the end, it won't be far off. No early 911 interior is, really.

^^^ sorry for the crappy ones. My phone cam was in the wrong picture mode

A little tour around ProtoSport. Some nice projects there. One of my fav's is that white RSR long hood conversion. This car has a reputation for being very fast. The guys at the shop say that in terms of performance (if I can keep the car on the pavement), my car will destroy this car. It's way heavier, much less aerodynamic, and "only" has a 3.2L Carrera motor. It's a real beauty, though!

I don't like the orriginal hood tie downs. My car will have a trunk latch instead.

Hold your hand out the window when going 60mph. Can you imagine how much drag those RSR flares create!! My car will be slippery in the air. Ruf appreciated this too when the made the first CTR Yellowbird.

15's just look so right. Now if we could just do something about that offset and those tires..

This guy is not playin! Nice 3.2!!!

Hey! Look who's there in the parking lot!! It's Suzie!!!  She's just gotten her winter lift !

^^Beautiful as always. (Esp in black lol!)

12/30/2011

Into the eyeball...

It's the 993 oil cooler!

In order to really get that authentic look I think I may need to sacrifice either the horn grills, or the side markers. One or the other. Can't have em both.

This green car has euro lenses/partial amber for the turn signal. The orange car above has full amber.

None of the real RS's I've ever seen, have chrome horn grills.

I may need to ditch one or the other. Shame, because it's very hard to find those clear side markers I have.

I just happen to love the chrome horn grills, but they may need to be black. It seems there is significant variation in turn signal lenses among the real RS's. Some RS's have the partial amber lens like the green car, but the pattern is in reverse order. See the orange car below? 

Plenty of variation in side marker lenses, but none in horn grills. I have never seen a real RS with chrome horn grills. ..much as I love them. 

Lightweight door panel is lightweight. Simple is simple. Going to probably put a small speaker in there too.

Dash looking good.

1/2/2012

Sorry for another fluffy post, but I was surfing around and found an exhaust pic as well as a perfect car I'd like to share. It's here http://www.fantasyjunction.com/cars/...20Flat%206-Cyl, and also below. 

Another way my car will look different than a real RS (on the outside), is the exhaust system. The correct one is a huge, ugly, grey colored, saussage-shaped monstrousity. This car has it. ^^

My car will look a lot cleaner under there, but still have the single tailpipe.

Look at that fender flare^. It looks like it shoots almost straight across at the top. Those are CORRECT RS flares!!

This yellow car right here has the exact look I'm trying to achieve for the outside of the car. It's a really good RS replica. He has the ugly saussage muffler, but other than that, It's the exact look I want. 

Correct 15's

Correct flares

One mirror

Black horn grills

Chrome window trim

Large offset wheels

I like the absence of any script. This is exactly how I want my car to look, except black.

Another thing you'll see on a real RS, are the oil lines. You can see them well on this white car. They run along the underside of the car there. They look like white tubes in the above pic because they ARE white tubes. They were factory painted to match the car.

The 993 oil cooler uses braided metal lines. ProtoSport will position them in such a way that they resemble the configuration of the old fashioned tubes (one side sends oil, the other is a return). I think we're going to need to use black shrink wrap to make them black.

Exhaust fab will begin soon. I'll have a better post next time.

1/3/2012

Ok, change of plans. 

We're going back to flexible lines. The reason is this:

If the tube gets dented (rocks, gravel, etc.), or it kinks, the whole tube has to be replaced. Also, since it's a rigid structure, oil flow will be instantly compromised in the event of a dent. A flexible hose reforms its shape after impact.

Paul at ProtoSport informed me that it's the reason why oil tubing is replaced with flexible lines in Porsche race cars. The oil must continue to flow no matter what! You can't dent a flexible line as easily. 

1/6/2012

Found a nice little paragraph about flares from Excellence Magazine I'd like to share, as well as a mini update.

RS flares are often referred to as "nine-inch flares," corresponding to the widest Fuchs wheel that can be fit within them, at nine inches wide. RSR flares are sometimes called "eleven-inch flares" due to the ultra-wide 15x11 Fuchs they'll accommodate. S-T flares, on the other hand, approximate a ten-inch flare - with room to spare for 15x9-inch Fuchs but not quite enough for 15x11s.

S-T rear flares also have a sharper transition - almost a crease - where the body meets the flares behind the doors while RS, RSR, and 930 flares have a smooth, flowing transition.

-Excellence Magazine

I have located a pair of orriginal 1973 RS fender flares in the UK. They have a bit of rust on them. 

The rusty ones are 100% AUTHENTIC!

I also found these green primer ones below, which are NOS (new old stock) flares. 

I'm not 100% sure these are the authentic ones, but I believe them to be. I'm waiting for confirmation of the part#'s on the stickers, and trying to get more info on them. I've been trying to move heaven and earth to get these damn flares. Seems like I might finally have a set. I hope I don't have to take the rusty ones.

There's also a guy I found that has a single left side authentic RS flare. My other option is to buy the single flare and either try to replicate a set, or have someone make me a right side one.

Why would Porsche go through so much trouble to make the damn fender this way on an RS????

The answer...

BECAUSE RENNCAR!!!!!!

The so called "9 inch flare" on the '73 RS makes it possible to accomodate a 9" wide Fuchs wheel. The orriginal 9x15 Fuchs wheels are equally as rare and hard to find as the RS fender flares. They were an option on the orriginal '73 RS, so not all RSs have them. 

The OEM 9x15 Fuchs extremely rare and difficult to find. 

Fortunately, I managed to track down a set of 2, with the orriginal serial #'s on the back of the wheels. Look at those things!!!! Those things are as wide as what the 930 turbo had, and they're going on a narrow body car. 

Look at the size of the lip on those bad boys!! 

Part # 911-361-020-03

15 x 9 factory OEM Fuchs. The real deal.

1/11/2012

Made the decision to change the finish on the Fuchs to the silver annodized finish. The polished petals look too blingy for me, and most of the really badass looking RSs have the less shiny finish.

I like this finish best. Any more chrome is too much of a good thing.

...plus the horn grills are getting blacked out too. 

1/20/2012

RS Flares demystified, once and for all!!!

In the video, the top flare is an RS flare. The bottom one a Carrera flare. Paul is commenting in the video that the person I bought a set of RS flares from, threw in a Carrera flare by mistake. They don't match.

Turns out the ones in green primer are the real deal flares. The sticker has the correct part # and it says "original" (new old stock).

The metal is incredibly thin.

1/20/2012

Let's get jacked!

Bye bye skinny fender flare.

Interior looking warm and fuzzy!

Too much bling?? 

1/21/2012

What else lurks inside ProtoSport?

This...

..and these!

Look at that neat RS tribute car in white. What I like: 15's

What I do not like: Why you no use chrome trim?

ProtoSport is an authorized Fikse wheels dealer.

I like the FM 5's and FM 10's

Window seals for my car!!! Yay!!!

Out of the box and soon to be installed.. finally!

How do you guys and gals feel about early 911 green gauges?

The interior will be somewhat of a departure from the '73 RS style anyway. My dash is a '76 dash with A/C vents. 

I like the little chrome ring on the face of the gauge. RS gauges don't have the concertric rings. They're straight black and orange with the silver "bead"/dot . Similar to this:

I personally love the early green faced gauges, but like the beautiful, chrome horn grills, they might not be best for this car. I always remember though, that Alois Ruf liked to equip his cars with green gauges. Also, that silver 911 at Cooper Classics had the greenies. Just sayin...

...an idea. Nothing more.

Opinions? 

1/22/2012

This is a nice look^^

Hmmm. Maybe the Prototipo isn't the right wheel after all.

It's a big dilemma. The greenies are so cool looking. Not sure which direction to take with the gauges.  It IS a resto mod/tribute car and not an RS replica... 

..on the other hand, at this point, I'll never go wrong if I keep it looking as close as possible to a real RS.

The later gauges are indeed a little stark, but (for a driver) less distracting and free of shiny frills. The greenies however, are prettier IMO and more classic looking (356/early 911 era). They really make a statement about Porsche history, and could be an artistic liberty I may just have to take. Not sure yet.

The greenies look better IMO with a different steering wheel. I was orriginally going to take a friend's Prototipo, but if I do the green, I might change steering wheels.

Steering wheel? http://www.classicowheels.com/Porsch...RS-Gallery.htm

Alois Ruf likes green gauges! What's wrong with them in a souped up Porsche?

Another huge dilemma... THE WHEELS!! Annodized or polished? Mine, as you know, are polished. Not sure if want 

I am told that it is not possible to duplicate the RS silver annodized finish on the wheels I have. The best that can be done (so they say) is to dull the polish with something similar to "Scotch Brite" and then clear coat it.

There's also a guy in the UK who probably would be able to get my wheels to look like this, but it would suck to have to ship wheels to and fro.

^^^ This is the RS "dual annodized" (lip and spokes)

Now there's also a "frosted" annodized that they used on the RSR, which would also be "correct"

To me, frosted looks too white. Polished is too bight. Silver annodized is just right.

1/23/2012

I've posted this car before, but I think it's one of the best looking around. I can't tell what finish is on there, but it looks like silver annodized.

Not sure what finish they are, but they definitely give the car a "tougher" look than the polished Fuchs IMO.

I learned about this fellow named Magnus Walker from a post (above) on this thread. I mistakenly called him the flying Dutchman (it said "Dutchman photos" under the vid), but I think he's an Englishman. Check out his thread.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...rol-hobby.html

I'd say he really has the life. We all have something to aspire to. He's doing with early 911's exactly what I would do. I like his taste in P cars and his hair. I wish I had dreads like that!

1/25/2012

'65 Porsche 356

Wrong color, but whatever..  (kidding, it's gorgeous) It likely has the tacky greeen faced gauges with the silly, distracting chrome (shiny whatever) ring. It would be ridiculous to spend so much time making the outside of my car look like a '73 RS, and the inside look frankenstinish (80's style dash with A/C vents, suede dash, and proposed silly green gauges). (After all, it has an orange engine) 

lol 

....silly green gauges..

Know what a (steering wheel) "dogbone" or "bowtie" is? Steering wheel 3rd from top image above has it (it's the horn buttons)! In days of old, when diving into a turn in a 911, a proper driver would turn hard and mash his/her foot down on the gas, then let the wheel SPIN back (looser grip) in their hands! ..(a classic beauty, driving a classic beauty ....the beautiful and talented Belgian driver - Vanina Ickx )

As the story goes, when that wheel would spin back, it would sometimes get caught on the driving gloves () ...therefore, they did away with it on the race cars.

^^^^^^this wheel has a "bowtie" AND a "hockey puck" (center).

silly, silly green gauges

Correct RS wheel^^^^ with dogbone. It's a large diameter wheel. No want.

This is what the classic ST Prototipo wheel looks like. It's the Momo wheel fitted by the factory to the 911ST. Edit: it has an "R" horn button, not a hockey puck.

That's IMO the better looking wheel when compared to the RS wheel, or the RS wheel on this Singer 

1/27/2012

Here's the deal,

The workers did indeed lick the brushes. They did indeed get sick from eating radium.

Radium can also be an inhalation hazard (for anyone refurbishing gauges)

Fortunately, these needles are painted with phosphorous and not radium. Phew!

As you can imagine, this post (about the radium) caused quite a stir among those who are intimate with my car. Thank goodness it's no longer a concern.

Tuns out the clock is a Soviet ACS-1M clock. This guy's a pro at it.

He even explains the (bimetalic) heater.

The dials are "Radium safe", but as he says in the vid, "you never know what you're gonna get, used". This clock is military surplus. You never know where it was laying around. The gauge itself could be (radioactively) contaminated, just because of where it came from.

Fortunately, I have access to a Geiger counter! After sweeping my Mig clock with a Geiger counter, I have determined that my gauge is not contaminated.

Now the question is, does it belong in the cockpit of this car? I just read a thread recently about a restomod Lincoln with a dash that didn't "flow".

The Mig clock is a larger diameter than the Porsche clock. I now know it's safe, but is it going to look bad? Would the factory Porsche clock look better in that location than the Mig clock? 

It's one hell of a conversation piece, that's for sure! It also matches the green gauges (without having to be painted green)

Since it's safe to work on, the needles could always be painted red as well.

1/30/2012

The car looks pretty much the same as when you last saw it, but it's all ready to come together quickly. As soon as we get those flares on, the car will be ready for assembly. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll be ready by the time you're here, but I'm trying to get the car into the body shop this week (flares, paint, window seals, hood latch, etc.)

I know you've been waiting years to see this one, lol! Just hang in there, we're getting close LOL!! We can head on over to the Bath Tub Gin, and have some martinis to help take your mind off it. 

Here are some minor updates...

I purchased this little beauty from Classico Wheels 

http://www.classicowheels.com/index.htm

I spoke to Jeffrey, the owner, who really impressed me with his knowledge. He makes amazing replica wheels. This guy really knows his stuff! 

This is from his website (about the wheel I bought): "this wheel is a very accurate reproduction of the special wheel fitted by the factory to the 911ST as well as other Porsche racing models. It was developed with the cooperation of members of the R Gruppe, and others. Also used by many other famous race cars of the era such as Alfa Romeo, BMW, etc..."

As to the gauges, I'm going with the green!!  

I like the way they look on this car, except I'm not sure I want to go with the chrome outer bezel. What I like about this picture, is that this owner had the faces printed so that 7K points to 12 o'clock. It looks a lot nicer than twisting the tach by hand to the same position, and having "VDO" and "RPM x 1000"read vertically.

My feeling is that chrome outer bezels look best when there's chrome on the steering wheel. Since my wheel is black, and mig Mig clock's bezel is black, I think I'm going to go with black outer bezels.

Chrome can be like opening up a can of worms. If you have it one place, you have to have it in a few more spots... and then you've gone too far. I'm already doing the window cranks in chrome. The Becker unit has some. The gauges have a little too. I think it'll be enough.

I love this pic, and haven't ever found another like it..  

See what he did there? He put white numbers and red needles on the early (green) gauges!! You can tell by the chrome inner bezel.

Although I'm sticking with the green, I put that picture up because it shows how good those gauges can look with a black outer bezel and a chrome inner one. 

I saw these in one of the Magnusmobiles, as well as (similar aluminum floor boards) in the Singer 911

I'm not into adding unnecessary weight to the car, but they sure look good. Giving serious thought to a set.

This ^ is a regular 915 flywheel.

Here's my flywheel below. It just came back from being speed balanced.

Note the flat 915 style disc, with the 993 engine management teeth on the outside. Lots of good stuff at Patrick Motorsports http://www.patrickmotorsports.com/ 

2/1/2012

There are 2 things i don't like about Jenson's car... I realize I'm being nit picky, but a lot of real RSs have that chrome rocker panel below the Carrera script. I'm leaving that off my car I think.

Also, I'd rather have these Italian style side markers  , or the clear ones on my car.

I also like the look of my round mirror more than the classic RS one. 

If I were ever going to buy a real RS, though... Jenson's would be the one. I haven't seen many in black.

I'd be scared to drive it, though. It's like a museum piece.

Oh man, this ^ white one's a beauty!!!! It's a real RS. 

It even has my beloved mirror (except one too many for my taste). Notice it has No rocker panel. The car looks a little more raw without them, and the lines of the car flow better sans rocker IMO

One advantage of the rocker, is that it does do a nice job of covering the oil lines from certain angles. If my oil lines wind up not looking authentic enough, I may need to change my mind about the whole rocker thing.

I always go back and forth about the mirror and wheel finishes, but I definitely prefer no rocker.

2/5/2012

The 915 is the perfect gearbox for this application because it's about 100 lbs lighter than the G50. Unfortunately the 915 can be a bit of a pig. It can be made to feel more G50-like with one of these^^. A nice shift kit can eliminate all that free play in the stock 915 shifter unit. 

The one at the very top is a "tall" version of their 915 shifter. The "classic" version looks like the factory unit. 

Alot of people like the RennShift ^^. The ones above are Wevo, and as you can see, you don't need to sacrifice the vintage look to get the precision.

Maybe it'd be cooler to leave it alone. The experience of driving the car with a sloppy gearbox would really give it an interesting "feel".

It can be equally annoying if the gear throws are too short. The mechanism can fell notchy. To me, it's actually fun "row" the gears on old cars.

....however, my daily driving style is to match the revs practically every single time, unless of course I'm using the clutch as a brake. I do like the gear to be right there when I call upon it.

The tactile experience is a very important component of this project. This car is all about "feel". In that sense, it is a purpose-built car.

....which is why I'm going with a set of corduroy seats

2/7/2012

Had to take 'em down. Wifey no like, but she's my copilot!  She's also affectionately named the car "Tangie" because the fan blades look like a tangerine to her.

Anything else I write at this point, is pure fluff. ..You know it all now. 

How the car came to be.. its psychotic life..

..and even a little about my life. 

I have alot of other things to handle. Thanks to everyone for watching.

This is the end of part one, but we'll be back! Me, Tangie, and mabe even wifey.

This is the hard part of the transformation. The waiting. ..the trust you must put in me to DIR.

Count backwards from 99 and breathe deeply.

..I leave you with the Black Keys.

Why? Because of the sheer tonnage of music coming from just 2 musicians. ...Because sometimes less (as in narrow body, lightwt) is more! 

Keep breathing!

....see you on the other side. 

http://youtu.be/KcjyWiGg2Lc

2/22/2012

Came in to say hello  and to let you guys know that our little intermission is almost over. Part 2 is almost ready to begin. I'm still gathering material, making phone calls, sourcing parts, and cracking the whip.

Another week or two and I'll have much to share with you. Part 2 will include pre and post-op pics of the final surgery (flares welded on), the final assembly, and road testing. 

Having been a customer at ProtoSport for the past 12 years has afforded me a few privilages. For instance, nobody questions me when I poke around the shop. Fortunately, I always have my trusty Blackberry at hand, so I thought I'd put up a few more pics of the cool projects they have going on over there.

Here's a classic beauty in the famous Arena Red ^^ visiting the shop for some nice tweaks.

There are a few different types of customers at ProtoSport. Some are street car guys, others are track car guys, and some fall somewhere between. There's a forced induction crowd and a normally aspirated crowd. There's an air-cooled crowd and a water cooled crowd. These ^^^ are the guys you don't mess with at the track. They'll tear you up if you come up short on skill. These guys are very serious about suspension and chassis mods. Unless you want a shot at the title, you'd better move over when these guys come up on your tail at the track. 

ProtoSport's claim to fame is their Motronic Twin Turbo system(s), developed by Tod Knighton of Protomotive. They can safely and reliably extract 800+ hp from the air-cooled cars, and over 1000 hp from the later 911's. If you're into superchargers, they'll take care of you too.

The sky's the limit at ProtoSport. Paul and John have the skill to build almost anything the customer can dream of. This one guy wanted to have a piece of his Cayman chopped so that the engine is visible from outside the car....

NA, forced induction, street, track, resto, resto-mod, resto-rod, even retro-mod rod!! Whatever you want out of your 911, they can build. Having the power to build whatever their customers dream is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, sometmes that power falls into the wrong hands....

^^^I really wish this thing would f'n XPLOD

Interiors, stereo, ICE, fabrics... whatever you want. ProtSport's got your back... even if you're really tacky and want your 911 to be obnoxious as hell.

Anyways, thanks again for being patient. Thanks for tuning in. 

Part 2 is on the way! Hey look... what's that thing peeking out of the engine room? 

The Wevo and RennShift upgrades are nice. I just got a RennShift for my 901 box, I know the guy from the 914 boards and he's VERY helpful and easy to work with. I have yet to install mine though.

I like the Rennshift because you can adjust it to as little as a minimum of 20% reduction in gear throw. I don't like it to be too notchy feeling on a street car. On Pellican Parts, people seem to really like the Wevo better, though. We'll see...

See you soon... 

3/1/2012

Final surgery: Excised '76 flares..

. 

...the cut 

... the fit.. 

The weld... 

The finish... 

Flares handled!!! Another day or two at the body shop, and we can start final assembly. 

Since I'm nothing more than an admirer of Porsches, I have no idea what the significance of that engine is. Would you mind laying out the details of what it is vs. what you had in there?

Thanks,

Chris

That is a 993 (last of the air cooled 911s) VarioRam engine! It and the TT version represent the pinnacle of Porsche air-cooled technology. It's the very last, and very best (IMO) air-cooloed engine they ever made. 

The VarioRam manifold (big orange thing on top of the engine) is able to change the conformation of its ducting, depending on engine speed and load. The length of the intake runners actually changes mechanically, to maximize torque at low end rpm. A long intake length at low rpm provides high intake air velocity, which aids low-end torque. At higher engine rpm, the intake length is reduced. The result is a flatter torque curve, with more torque available at low- and mid-range engine speeds.

It's a 3.6, but actually makes more bottom end torque than a 3.8 

Porsche actually did make a 993, 3.8 engine for their 993 Cup cars... 

...but it did not have a VarioRam system. You can definately include the 3.8 in the category of best ever (air-cooled) as well.

The first time VarioRam was introduced, was in a special version of the 1992 964 RS, but we didn't get those in the US. Over here in the US, the VarioRam was first introduced in later model 993s 

Here it is opened up. The upper portion is the primary plenum with moving trumpets.

A pair of vacuum actuators (one per side) retract the trumpets so the primary runners breath from both upper and lower intake tract and throttle bodies. 

Here, the trumpets are extended...

3/2/2012

I had a break in at my storage location. The clock was in a box, which was stolen 

Can't even tell you how pissed I am about that! Such a shame. I had to get a damn Geiger counter to make sure it was safe to work on. I also spent a lot of time learning how it works

At this time, I am having a set of 993 gauges backdated to look like early green 911/356 gauges. I have an outside temp gauge from an early 912 that also fits in the hole for the clock. I may put that in there until I can find a nice chrono. 

3/6/2012

Freedom any way to tell is this was a real one?

Looks real to me from the shape of the flares. Everything else is spot on, however there's no real way to tell from a photo (barring pics of VIN).

It could be a perfect clone. There are lots of them out there.

I think the way to tell is by touch (if you can't see the VIN). The real RS was made of thinner sheet metal (for weight saving) than the standard Carrera. Gently tapping or knocking around the body with your fingers (is a good way to get shot or arrested) might be the best way to tell, if you can't see the documentation.

Otherwise, if someone actually modded a real '73 Carrera to RS spec, it could look the same, right down to the engine.

Looking at the gear shifter to see if it was a type 901 gearbox or type 915 wouldn't be reliable either, because a real '73 RS can have an upgraded gearbox. There were also exhaust differences among real RSs, so you can't really go by that either.

The thinness of the sheet metal would be best way to determine if it's real (aside from the docs and VIN) IMO. 

Something like this would obviously be much easier....

No need to get closer than a few hundred yards. Wrong wheels, wrong headlight trim, almost- but not quite right flares, wrong window trim, black door handles, faux oil cooler looks suspect, wrong rocker, seats look suspect.

Absesnce of Carrera script and stripes don't really count, but are suspicious. This car below is a real '73 RS. Mirrors don't count either. Some had round mirrors, others rectangular, some had one, others two. The RS Touring cars often came with the rubber bumper mouldings as seen below.

There is significant variation in types of exhaust/ tailpipes as well. Some even had a sunroof.

I think it's pretty hard to tell a decent clone from the real thing at a glance, but some you can spot instantly. A really good RS clone would be impossible to tell apart from the real RS just by visual inspection. You'd have to knock the windshield and body panels, or see the VIN.

There are a few exterior details that will make it easy to tell that my car isn't a '73 RS.

1. The oil lines: The ones on a real RS are metal tubes.
2. The width of the wheels: Although I've got the right diameter, the real RSs came with 15x6 (f) and 15x7 (r), or 15x7 (f) and 15x8 (r). Even though the RS flare was made to accomodate a 9" wide wheel (on the track), I've never seen or heard of one delivered with this option. My car will have 15x8 (f) and 15x9 (r). I need the extra rubber.
3. Knocking the front fenders of my car gives a knuckle on plastic sound.
4. One look at the interior through the glass, and you can instantly see it's not a '73 RS

• 
  If I wanted a perfect RS clone, I'd have made one... right down to the engine. I want only the shape, proportions and lightness of the '73 RS. I don't mind departing from the old school when it comes to the drivetrain. 
  
  As to the interior, a retro "feel" is good enough for me.
  
  3/17/2012
  
  

A 9" flare does indeed barely cover a 9" wheel. I was so worried it wasn't going to fit under there, because the 9 x 15's I found had a strange offset. 

I can't decide on wheel finish. Everybody at the shop loves this polished finish. I need to get a set of 8's polished for the front in that case.

I originally intended to go with the more painstaking process of having them annodized in a more traditional RS finish. ...plus 2 8's for the front, to match.

The car will definitely come together faster if I just stay with the polished. The annodizing process takes 2-3 weeks.

I just don't know  All I know is that I want silver

3/27/2012

Part 2 off to a slow start. Sorry about that. Always something comes up...  At least the flares are handled.

When it finally comes together, it'll happen fast. 

I made the big decision to go with annodized wheels. Undoing the polished finish (+ annodize x 4) is going to take 3 weeks 

Fortunately, my (356/Ruf/early 911/2 tribute) green faced gauges are back from the shop! These started life as '86 Carrera gauges. I decided to eliminate the chrome outer bezel. 

From the driver's point of view, I find the chrome outer bezels to be too distracting from the gauges themselves... especially at speed. With the black outer bezel, my eye zeros in on the gauge better.

I went with side by side temp and oil pressure gauges (vs. over/under). 

All old Porsches have regular lights for backlighting of the gauges. I went with LED lights. It was a last minute decision. I hope it was the right one. I hope they look good when they come on! 

I figure they have to be better than those old bulbs that turn yellow over time. I thought LED backlights would tie together the digital-ness of the Becker's screen. We'll see (pardon the punn).

There's also the matter of the rightmost gauge. I was going to use the Mig clock. Then I lost it. 

After that, I picked up another one on EBay for under $200. In the process, the lost Mig clock was found. Trouble is, that the winding spring is busted on one, and the other doesn't run. It's a shame that I went through so much trouble (had to get a Geiger counter) and I still can't use a Mig clock. 

Here are my 2 busted Mig clocks...

I still have a few things that are good alternatives to the Mig clock. This is a 912 Outside Temp gauge. I had it made to match my gauge set (also with LED).. 

It would certainly be apropos, regarding the cars history.

I can sell the Mig clocks on EBay and keep the 912 OT gauge... or vice versa. 

I'm not sure how much a broken clock is worth, but it's right twice a day. With 2 clocks, you can be right 4x per day. It's win-win really.

Anywho, there's always the damn factory clock. Got one of those too (also with LED).

Got these as an option as well.

..In case the clear ones don't look right.

3/28/2012

Ok decision made. Outside temp gauge it is! That's even extra cool because it's from a 912. Perfect fit. Perfect match. LED equipped already.

I will look for Rally timers for glovebox door instead.

Gonna put the Mig clocks back up on EBay. If anybody wants them, PM me. I'd be willing to exchange them both for a $50 donation to either March of Dimes or Memorial Sloan Kettering.

More pics coming soon..

4/17/2012

A minor setback. 

We're going to need another (minor) surgery. 

This is a 993 transmission (aka G64)....

This is my Euro spec 915 transmission....

The bell housing is much longer on the 993 trans. We basically have to extend the bell housing.

The throwout bearing will need to be machined.

I've been terribly busy. More updates soon. 

4/27/2012

The vintage Momo Prototipo replica wheel looks great (suits my taste). The newer ones don't have the flat dish shape of old. A little more work needs to be done on the hub... that part doesn't look so good yet, but it will.

The clock is merely a test fit. As discussed, I'm going with the 912 outside temp gauge.

You can also see the Rennline floor board(s) in this pic.

We don't have a very nice fit on the wheel hub, but it won't be a problem fixing that.

The Becker is installed, but it clashes a little bit with the interior. Not sure if like 

Tunes! Groovy!

Lovin that McIntosh, but the faceplate is shiny black glass. Not sure how it will look. 

The Hi-Fi place I go to has one in the window. It's used, but looks new. I think he wants $999 for it. If I could chew him down on the price, I would consider it, because it also matches my stereo at home, so you know I'm a huge McIntosh fan.

This is what I listen to records on at home.

That's pretty sweet, too. Since its custom, another thing you could do is put the aluminum trim all the way across the dash so that your current Becker blends in properly.

Trouble is, the dash I have is hard to put chrome trim on. The older dashes already have it. I suppose I could put chrome trim on the ventillation controller.

 It's always something 

5/3/2012

First comes love 

Then comes marriage!!!!

5/4/2012

Obnoxious? YES!!! AND I LOVE IT!!  

5/5/2012

Try taking a black sharpie to the grooves in the faceplate. That should tone it down considerably. If it doesn't work, easily reversible.

Also ever thought about rotating your tachometer so that the redline is at the 12 o'clock position?

I've always done that with my Porsche tachs, but this time I wanted the numbers to be facing rightside up instead of sideways. I specified for the tach to be made so that the #'s are all rightside up and redline @ 12'oclock like this:

Unfortunately there was a mixup. Later on I may actually have the tach redone.

As to taking a black sharpie to the grooves on the faceplate, the grooves are black and the raised part is chrome. Not sure I'd want to try that anyway. I'm just going to put it up for sale instead. I have another solution... 

All the 993's (including the turbo) have 2 oil filters. One is near the bottom of the oil tank in that very same location. The other hides behind the right rear wheel.

In the 993 engine, Porsche added an additional oil filter on the 993 engine to provide extra filtration of the oil for the protection of the hydraulic lifters. "Zee Germenz!!"

My second oil filter lives here, by the oil fill

OK, fine....

..I was going to surprise you guys with the pics of a clean installation, but I pulled the trigger on the Mac. I got it used, for $750. No scratches (poor photo). I'm putting the Becker up for sale.

Here it is..

I'm going to take the little silver trim pieces off the side, so that it blends into the dash better.

Thanks, x(why)z! It was a great suggestion, and yet another example of the fact that many ideas for my projects have come directly from TCL member's posts.

Perhaps down the road, I'll add some speakers that can match this unit's superb sound quality.

Right now, it's mostly about the right look. 

5/21/2012

Earl lines!

I has thermostat!

5/22/2012

Man, at this point, if it weren't for the fact that we already put holes in the RS door panels for speakers, I would have just done away with the sound system all together. The Becker not matching was such a dissapointment.

I hope the McIntosh looks right. Unfortunately, it's a preamp and the manual expressly says to only use it with a McIntosh amp. Had to invest in that too. Then the speakers needed to be upgraded. Yeesh  !! 

care to share how much the restoration work is costing?

purchase price of the car?

also, how about the differences between the 911 and 912, i mean if its such a big deal to you, how did you not notice? Is it just the fact that you know its not a 911???

Well, just to quickly summarize:

That particular year (1976), Porsche brought back the 912 to cover their 4 cyl, entry level market. The 914 (which replaced the original 912) was on its way out, and the 924 (which was to replace the 914) was not quite ready to release to the public. What they did in 1976, was to simply use the 911 body and put a 4 cyl engine in the car, and voilla!! 912 resuurected (after being out of production for 6 years)!!

Somehow somebody along the way fraudulently had the car retitled as a 911. When I bought the car, I neglected to look at the VIN#.

Older 912's had a slightly different body style. Since this was a '76 and had the exact same body as a 911 and a 2.7 flat six, It never even occured to me that it might not be a 911. 

I noticed it didn't have a sun roof, but I just figured the original owner ordered it that way so it'd be lighter. As it turns out, since 912's were the cheaper car for the cheaper market, they often came less optioned.

I plan to have the title changed back to 912 when I register it. 

5/31/2012

I has windshield!

6/4/2012

I've decided not to go with the old fashioned sloppy feel of the 915. I'm goint with the tighter feel of the G50.

Installing this:

From Wevo:

The WEVO GateShift kit is an ingenious kit of precision parts that create a gate system inside the 915 transmission. This kit enhances tactile sensations of gear selection and controls gear selection forces.

The GateShift kit assists with "hand mapping" of the gear selection pattern and provides positive limits for each gear position.

Unique 3-D design process, Rapid Prototyping and investment casting technology makes these parts technically viable in a way that never existed for Porsche during the design and production of the 915 transmission.

The GateShift kit mimics the operation of the internal gate that offers such an improvement to the G50 series transmissions.

The WEVO GateShift kit includes all parts, gaskets and hardware required to install the kit. Designed for all road and race 915 transmission equiped 911's. 

I think I'll skip the short shift kit for now, and just give the shifter a more modern g50-like feel 

9/15/2012

One last peek at the oil cooler.

Speakers in!

Not only is it a good looking lightweight door panel, it's also a good sounding one!

RS finish on wheels! Not too dull, not too shiny.. just right for me.

The 9" wide wheels didn't work out. I have them stored for a rainy day. They are a strange offset and the tires looked more square than the front ones when stretched over the 9's. When I find the right set of 8" Fuchs in the same offset, then I'll be able to use them. For now, I fount the combo of 7's in the front and 8's in the rear to give a better, more authentic look.

No muffler yet. No ducktail yet, but lookin good with the RS rear.

Replaced mirror with an authentic OEM piece. Proper!

McIntosh power! Clean sound for a clean interior.

Gonna throw a hood emblem on there!

Finishing touches will include:

• A proper set of 70's style seats
• Chrome bands around the headlights for that authentic RS look
• Wevo shift kit
• Sexier looking muffler than original RS
• THE DUCKTAIL!!!!!!
• Clean underwear
  IT LIVES!!!!!!
  Can't wait to get back the remapped ECU so we can see what this baby can do!

9/17/2012

How long do you think it will be until you have the details buttoned-up?

Soon..... Very soon! Need to run the air conditioning lines... All aluminum stuff. Need some seats. ECU coming back this week. Need the ducktail and a few more things. We're getting there.

9/23/12

If I have time tomorrow I will drop by and snap a few more pics. The ECU is being plugged in tmrrw and theyr'e working on the exhaust. I just got the chrome headlight rings. They will truely complete the 70's look, even though it looks good with the black ones on. Can't wait for the duck tail and seats. Glad I changed that mirror. It looks right. Glad I went with 15" wheels too. It was the right thing to do.

10/19/2012

 I haven't got all that much show except for a few more pics and some details. I got the hideaway front license plate holder hooked up... that's pretty neat lol.

ECU still being soldered, then will be bench tested at Protomotive in Cali. There are alot of aftermarket engine mgt systems out there. Eddie Bello ran 8's in his 911 with Haltec. I prefer to go with the company that spent millions to R&D the factory ECU for Porsche. Bosch. 

Bosch Motronic. Good enough for the factory. Good enough for me.


There was a huge problem with the gas tank. At idle, under the pressure of the 993 fuel pump, it nearly broke open. The fuel pump pressurized the tank. Needed to have it sent to a guy who mods old Porsche fuel tanks. 

Took some pics of an old (not original) Targa Turbo which was parked next to my car for comparison purposes. It could not be pushed up a slight rise by my friend alone, whereas my car can be pushed with one hand (engine and trans in car). Both cars have similar power.

This Turbo Targa has 301 hp. It was difficult for my friend to push by himself. By comparison, my car can still (with engine and trans) be pushed with a few fingers on one hand.

The black paint won't stay on the chrome horn grills. It's peeling off. Idon't want to get the cheap, black plastic ones, so I'll try one more time. I know a guy who can refinish them. Then again, the plastic ones are lighter, lol!

Speaking of silly lightweight items, I was thinking about going with the same hood emblem as the GT2RS... the sticker. It's lighter  and more aerodynamic. Looks identical to an original Porsche hood emblem until you get really close. Might be a kinda cool finishing touch.






My friend did this ^ with a cool phone app. It got me thinking about a decal Porsche crest / hood emblem for some reason.

Dash and vintage Prototipo wheel lookin tight. 

993 Headers coupled to a very inconspicuous looking, but very angry sounding exhaust. Much nicer than the original saussage can that the real RS had. Tight little package!

 

 

Hideaway front plate is an absolute MUST!

 

The reason why the original fuel tank nearly popped^^

10/12/2012

Interesting point. Since the whole thing gets covered up by carpet, you won't see the tank. However, I had given some thought to spraying it black and putting an orange spare or donut to match the engine. That might look pretty cool.

10/25/2012

Need help with seats. 

I was originally looking at Nurburgring seats, but it seems like Cobra RS seats look just as good, and are steel frame.http://www.subesports.com/products/c...ra/prodID/1986

These? http://www.ompracing.it/detail.html?...tcode=HA/757/N

A lot of replica RS sears are made just for look and not to be driven in daily. Many times they are made by an artisan's basement, without much thought being given to how it's going to hold up in a crash, or feel like after 30,000 miles of seat time.

I figure since OMP and Cobra seats are made by car seat company, they'd be better choices.

11/17/2012

I went with Patrickvr6's suggestion. They're not steel framed but they're steel reinforced factory replicas.

Radio still looks a little off, but better than the Becker.

It's a hell of a good head unit too.

3/22/2013

 

Been test driving. Been driving to work in the old gal every day lately. I never have a passenger, so no vids, but I'll put some up when I can. 

The car feels fantastic! Sounds amazing. 

 

Both my truck and my wife are jealous!  

Sorry long time no post. I've been a busy bee! 

Anyway, the car pulls hard as hell! Pulls every bit as hard as a 997 GT3 IMO. Manual brakes give the car such a great feel, but the stopping power is far from vintage. Turns on a dime and doesn't feel squirly.

Sounds even better from outside the car.

3/23/2013

Bagels???

Sorry I don't have any 

I brought donuts instead...

3/27/2013

..what it sounds like from inside the car.