Jherriott

Gordon Bennett! That is a thing of beauty! Did people gingerly touch the surface to see if it had cured yet? It looks dripping wet!

Jase.

r911

It would be a real dream to start with a carbon fiber shell and make it perfectly stiff and light in weight, while still looking like an early 911.

That would take real money

NineMeister

We all place our trust in vehicle manufacturers when we buy a car, or more accurately we place our trust with their engineers that they have done their job to the best of their ability when they designed the bodyshell. Prior to CAD systems designers worked with the development engineers to produce a structurally integrated design which would withstand the relevant crash testing requirements of the day. Roll on 30 years and bodyshell production techniques have advanced significantly; bodyshells are significantly stiffer, the use of high strength boron steels is commonplace and (occasionally) manufacturers incorporate carbon fibre panels as stressed members bonded to the steel structure.

Now ask yourself a question: How many suppliers of carbon fibre panels for 911's have exercised due diligence and crash tested a 911 fitted with their panels?

In my opinion as an engineer (for what it's worth) when it comes to the race track anything goes as long as the car has a fully integrated roll cage, but for a road car I will only put my name behind a car where the main body structure is all steel to factory specifications. Happy to fit a carbon bonnet, happy to fit carbon doors (with suitable impact protection), happy to fit carbon engine lid, spoiler or bumpers, but that's it.

Now that said, if we had the resources to design and manufacture a complete 911 monocoque in carbon fibre that exceeded crash test standards, I'm all in.

NineMeister

With the interior light wiring in place, Rob carefully fits the new headlining. It takes a day, and what's more we have to make our own spring steel transverse struts because the factory ones do not fit. Whilst Rob continues with the interior, Mark nibbles away on the exterior lights and oil system, testing everything along the way.

NineMeister

Now the headlining is in, it's time for the glass. New side window lower trims, original SC quarter trims and door frames were polished and satin anodised.

Meanwhile, boxes of goodies continue to arrive....

NineMeister

Rear fuel system (3.2 Carrera) with custom long feed pipe to entry on right side of 993 fuel rails; new 3.2 Carrera matrix oil cooler, mocked into position to check clearance on electric cooling fan; 1972 washer bottle sitting on factory bracket welded behind long nose front panel; original SC brake servo looking at home; ignition and electrics completely restored with all old alarm connections and hi-fi splices put right; front footwell carpets with pockets installed (note the black leather trim edge going all the way up the dash; new headlight looking rather resplendent with its chrome rim and finally the oil thermostat and lines, fully painted black.

On that last note, I have to mention that because the oil line were all in perfect condition there was absolutely no point in risking damage to the stat housing in removing the lines in order to paint them. That's why we chose to paint it in one.

r911

Yes, like I said it is a dream. I trust ruf to make safe CF panels (see my current icon pic) and McLaren to make CF unit bodies. BMW just opened a CF plant in the PNW (ironically near lots of hydropower, which fueled Al plants in WWII), and we'll see their efforts soon. So I think the dream is a good one for people in their 30s right now.

... not to divert too much from your build thread

I see a nice new washer tank is installed, and the dash material suggests a high quality interior look as well.

NineMeister

I'm with you but I think the only way to achieve your dream successfully is to think big. Constructing a complete 911 tub in carbon which would accept all the 964/993 mechanicals and trim is possible. As for the cost.....

This build is very high end to a controlled budget. Naturally there has been a little "mission creep" on safety issues (like brake, fuel and oil lines that need replacing) as well as functional, like the new '72 washer bottle where the original SC/Carrera bottle will not fit in the wheel arch.

NineMeister

Assembly continues with new Bilstein Clubsport 220/180 rear shocks and 160/161 inserts for the freshly painted front struts. Neatrix bushes on re-plated spring plates with 25mm rear torsion bars. The new fuel pump was considered an essential addition given the specification of the replacement 993 engine, along with new main fuel lines through the tunnel. The front brake scoop kit was already on the SC - in fact I fitted it some 20 years ago to keep the brake temperatures under control on track days. New discs will be added soon enough.

NineMeister

A quick mention for the brakes. The stock SC/Carrera servo and master cylinder are more than up to the job. Whilst I owned the car I ran 3.2 Carrera brakes all round, supplementing the front disc cooling with a GRP scoop kit that we used to manufacture and remarkably (after 20 years use) is still in good enough condition to retain. We're keeping the rear brakes as 3.2 Carrera with the larger cylinder (than the SC), on the front it's having a Boxster front caliper upgrade on the stock discs, here mocking up the assembly with the old discs before fitting new ones. Since the car is for road use only we will use OEM pads and DOT4 fluid through the new Goodridge brake lines.

NineMeister

Interior trim is the next on the list, starting with the dash. Of course, all re-trimmed in high quality leather with impeccably neat stitching from our man Andy. Cheers mate, another great job coming together.

NineMeister

Dash top fitted, next up is the windscreen. With green tinted glass all round as standard in the SC and me having fitted a non-trim 964 at an earlier time, we sourced and fitted the correct (smaller) trim screen and opted for a non-top-tint to maintain a retro-look to the car. Definitely starting to look the part now.

NineMeister

Then came the exciting part - making it live again. Mark (aka Lance....) prepared the engine with the custom "60-2" 915 flywheel and new stock clutch, then fitted the refreshed '85 oil cooler gearbox. Rob completed the work on the 911 heater fan conversion on the engine then lifted the power train into place. Looks really great back there, the 993 engine.

NineMeister

993 engine in, now have to get it running. The stock Motronic ecu is being remapped to optimise the 3.2 Exhaust and 9m cam combination, installation required a few changes to the wiring with the addition of a 3.2 fuel pump relay. Next time we will budget for a complete, custom wiring harness, similar to the ones we manufacture in-house for the 9m Motec installations. A new side silencer with lambda port is installed along with the freshly refurbished fuel tank up front. Heater system is stock 3.2 Carrera, single speed fan on the engine blowing down through the stock heat exchangers via the cross-over pipe, a small modification has to be made to the right hand joint to clear the 993 chain tensioner cover.

The rear bumper was temporarily fitted to mock up the exhaust outlets, unpainted so we can fabricate notches in the centre panel to clear the eventual pipe positions. A few minutes with thin card and masking tape gave us a good visual for twin pipes with narrow or wide spacing. I preferred the narrow, the customer preferred the wide. Wide won it. What do you think of our choices?

RSCS

Narrow looks best