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Metal work is nearly complete, and the 930 rocker panels now attach properly (not just mocked up anymore!)
Required a few ($$$) new panels to make it work, but that's the cost of doing business I guess.
Next, the car is going back on the rotisserie, then after the holidays we blast down to bare metal again followed by the correct epoxy primer.
Assuming my big shipment from RUF arrives soon we should be on to final bodywork and prepping for paint by the second week of January.
Front bumper, rear bumper, wing, suspension... pretty much everything but my side mirrors!
The shell is back on the rotisserie at a new blaster, and should be ready for primer by the end of the day tomorrow.
Then we can start doing the fit-up and body work to make all these parts fit.
It's going to be a fun jigsaw puzzle, many of the parts are similar to Porsche parts but some are quite different... wait until you see the front impact bar they fabricate!
Of course there are no instructions (these aren't meant to be sold to nobodies like me!) but I'm sure we'll figure it out.
Front bumper, rear bumper, wing, suspension... pretty much everything but my side mirrors!
The shell is back on the rotisserie at a new blaster, and should be ready for primer by the end of the day tomorrow.
Then we can start doing the fit-up and body work to make all these parts fit.
It's going to be a fun jigsaw puzzle, many of the parts are similar to Porsche parts but some are quite different... wait until you see the front impact bar they fabricate!
Of course there are no instructions (these aren't meant to be sold to nobodies like me!) but I'm sure we'll figure it out.
What wing are you using?
Nobodies?? LOL Mechanics is mechanics and most these days are just parts changers and half as knowledgeable as many here. Only solutions never problems.
The wing is RUF's take on the Turbo S wing.
On their advice I decided to go with their fiberglass wing on the factory steel decklid, as seen on a narrow-body car below:
There is a single-piece carbon fiber version of the part, but it's significantly more expensive and had a longer production timeline.
Most importantly, I was told that getting proper fitment is a real challenge even for them given minor variation in panels between different 964s.
Since I am already not going all-out on a lightweight build and they're using this wing on special cars like the Ultimate, I agreed that this was the kindest solution for my wallet and my body guys (who, as you will see, have plenty of work cut out for them already!)
Last edited by spartansix; 01-04-2024 at 11:28 AM.
IMO it is the best wing they ever used along with the TSL wing. It is also the largest single piece wing installed by the factory on a production car. I had the only known turbo S wing in its original gel coat. I always assumed the Ruf part was made by the same people but can't say. I foolishly sold the wing I had for $10k and was offered $40k not long ago. All for the blob of resin with the factory OE stamp on it. LOL I am assuming the quality is equal to the factory unit and was a perfect bolt up to a 930/964T deck lid. All hardware and holes were in the exact location. Somewhere there is a picture lost in my Icloud showing it bolted to a turbo deck lid. I tried to have it painted to match but I tried every best name in the business and most wouldn't touch it or wanted to blend as cobalt is hard to match properly. Jim N was willing to try but I had to leave a blank check and the car for 6 months. So it made great wall art.
IMO it is the best wing they ever used along with the TSL wing. It is also the largest single piece wing installed by the factory on a production car. I had the only known turbo S wing in its original gel coat. I always assumed the Ruf part was made by the same people but can't say. I foolishly sold the wing I had for $10k and was offered $40k not long ago. All for the blob of resin with the factory OE stamp on it. LOL I am assuming the quality is equal to the factory unit and was a perfect bolt up to a 930/964T deck lid. All hardware and holes were in the exact location. Somewhere there is a picture lost in my Icloud showing it bolted to a turbo deck lid. I tried to have it painted to match but I tried every best name in the business and most wouldn't touch it or wanted to blend as cobalt is hard to match properly. Jim N was willing to try but I had to leave a blank check and the car for 6 months. So it made great wall art.
What do they say Hind sight is 20/20
Looks like the same part, or at least very very similar. I was promised perfect fit up with the 964T decklid, so hopefully it fits as well as the factory piece!
Looks like the same part, or at least very very similar. I was promised perfect fit up with the 964T decklid, so hopefully it fits as well as the factory piece!
After months of slow progress, things now continue to progress at a good pace.
Today's arrivals included new, cut-to-length SCEET duct to replace all of the tired tubing in the heating system as well as the engine tins back from blasting and powdercoating in satin black.
The big news is that the chassis has been stripped again and yesterday it was properly primed in BASF (Glasurit) Epoxy Primer.
The amount of prep work that went into this was incredible -- almost a full day with a whole team working to make sure that the car was totally clean inside and out, top and bottom before they sprayed any primer.
We also removed the brackets that hold the parcel shelf and side panels in place, completing the factory RS conversion instructions and getting the car ready for the full RS carpet kit (with some custom touches) that is on its way from Southbound Trimmers in the UK.
With the car sprayed, we're now onto final bodywork. Re-blasting the car revealed some porosity and suboptimal welding on the drip rails, so that is all being fixed before the car goes into paint.
I expect the next step will be fitting up the bumpers -- a bit daunting since there are no instructions but today's email from my RUF contact included an offer to do a video call with their bodywork team if we get stuck.
I very well might take them up on it!
As some of you may know, a few months ago I took a gamble and placed a bid, sight unseen, on a RUF listed on PCARAUCTION.
The car had a number of obvious issues: damage to both the front and rear bumper, lots of interior wear, swirls and scratches in the paint.
But it also had a compelling backstory. It had been owned by the same gentleman since 1992.
He'd had it converted from a 'standard' 3.3 964 Turbo to a RUF BTR 3.8 in Pfaffenhausen in the late 90s for an at-the-time astonishing cost of $100,000.
He then drove it regularly for the next 20 years, and really got his money's worth, driving a mile for each dollar he spent.
I had no experience with the 965, but having done a fair amount of work on my 964, I didn't see anything too scary mechanically and figured that I could handle most anything that needed fixing.
Nonetheless, I fully expected the auction to go over my limit and was awfully surprised to win the car 'cheap' -- at least for a 964 Turbo these days, especially one with RUF provenance.
Having won the auction, I figured that the question marks around the car meant this was a real "bring a trailer" situation -- but the owner assured me that it really was up for the three hour drive back to my place.
Taking him at his word that the car was better than it appeared in the photos, a friend and I drove out to the cape and picked it up.
Here it is on it's first night in its new home:
Picking up the car confirmed my initial suspicions: the car was solid mechanically, but pretty rough cosmetically.
12-19-2023 | 02:49 PM
