My RSD story
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Joined: Dec 2007
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From: was: CA, 956XX
My RSD story
Ever since I saw the first RSD in a 993 cab, I wanted one bad. For about 2 years, I've been looking all over the planet and pretty much gave up. At some point I considered building my own rsd but the front face with the glove box doors can't be replicated and I didn't want to go with anything less then original.
Checking the Rennlist forum everyday, I noticed Joe M's thread about a 964 coupe RSD for sale. I quickly went down the responses and it looked like nobody had made an offer so I gave it a shot and got the OK from Joe a short time later. I never even looked at the price but considering the flawless condition of it made it worth bying.
He wanted local pick up only which I knew would be a handful for me to organize. Why wasn't he there when I still lived in Sacramento. S.F. would have been only a short drive away, compared to Nuremberg Germany.
So I called my buddy "Blender", who still lives in Sac., he's a forklift mechanic who also services the Bay Area. Unfortunately, his route changed but his buddy Todd was able to pick it up.
So from here on up, the RSD changes hands quite a few times. Todd drives it from S.F. to Sac. hands it to Blender who hands it to my good friend PB who did a marvellous job in crating it. His wife Stacie tried to ship it to Germany via UPS or FedEx but got stopped cold when she got the quote. Almost $ 600.- for something that weighs in at 25 lbs. It wasn't the weight but the length of 52 " that got the cost up.
So I had to find a better solution to get it over the pond. Rescue came in form of our little foreign exchange student Nicole, who's been a long time friend from San Diego. Actually she's not a student anymore, but her going on a European backpack tour sure made her look like one again.
Now here's the alteranative plan! Stacie in Sac. shipped the now fully crated RSD to San Diego which just cost $ 35.- Nicole's dad rigged up a handle so his daughter would be able to carry it to the airport terminal and just check it in all the way to Frankfurt Germany, together with her backpack and suitcase. That would have cost her $ 60.- as a second suitcase, but as luck has it, my party girl Nicole knows the check in gal at the airline counter who let's her check it for free.
So picture her in Germany at the baggage claim, picking up a giant zebra colored suitcase, a hugh touring backpack, a smaller backpack and a 52" long RSD in a cardboard box with a handle on it. She's now exceeding max. weight and size but manages to haul it all to the train station about 500 yards away to catch an ICE train from Frankfurt to Nuremberg. On the positive side, she drew looks and even some guys inquired about its contents of the box while she had some delays along the way. I personally think the boys had other thoughts in mind but it was a nice conversation starter. She held it all together while the train rushed at 180+ mph to Nuremberg. I should have taken a photo of her showing up at our door step, looking like a mule, but I missed it. We were just happy to see she made it in one piece after such a long journey. It took here a while to recover.
The RSD made it just fine too. The conversion from a 964 to 993 wasn't very difficult but lot's of measuring and cutting, See for yourself:
I never imagined to own a RSD but this one turned out absolutely nice. It took a full 4 months from the purchase to the final install after I got it back from the upholstery shop. At times, my patience grew thin when things didn't go together as planned.
I spent about 20 hours in getting the mounting points and parts right, cutting the final shape of the panel. Preparing the new side brackets out of stainless steel was a major pain. Since I don't have the RS carpet, the insulation is so thick that the stock mounts don't reach down far enough to the seat belt lock nuts. I needed an extra 1/2" so I decided to just fab new brackets. I had them upholstered with classic gray carpet as well.
There's only a weight saving of 13 lbs. over the stock back seat but I care more about the additional storage it provides.
So here are the pics:
This is how I got if from Joe, in perfect shape and condition.
My rear seat assembly in and out of the car, all 17kg of it.
I mounted tabs through the carpet where the seat used to be to mount the wooden panel from underneath.
Doubled up wood with M6 anchors inside.
Custom stainless side mounts which are 1" longer due to the padded non RS carpet.
I even purchased the cabrio hoops for Euro 300.-. Had to have it and wanted it to look stock plus extra protection for the GF's heavy luggage on short trips.
Upholstered in OEM classic grey carpet, installed.
Also had the shop make up some carpet for the inside.
I want to specially thank Nicole, Stacie, Rima, who let me have the time in the garage, Todd, Blender, PB and Melanie, from the upholstery shop. I couldn't have it done without you.
Not to forget Joe M. who I purchased it from.
Ed.
Checking the Rennlist forum everyday, I noticed Joe M's thread about a 964 coupe RSD for sale. I quickly went down the responses and it looked like nobody had made an offer so I gave it a shot and got the OK from Joe a short time later. I never even looked at the price but considering the flawless condition of it made it worth bying.
He wanted local pick up only which I knew would be a handful for me to organize. Why wasn't he there when I still lived in Sacramento. S.F. would have been only a short drive away, compared to Nuremberg Germany.
So I called my buddy "Blender", who still lives in Sac., he's a forklift mechanic who also services the Bay Area. Unfortunately, his route changed but his buddy Todd was able to pick it up.
So from here on up, the RSD changes hands quite a few times. Todd drives it from S.F. to Sac. hands it to Blender who hands it to my good friend PB who did a marvellous job in crating it. His wife Stacie tried to ship it to Germany via UPS or FedEx but got stopped cold when she got the quote. Almost $ 600.- for something that weighs in at 25 lbs. It wasn't the weight but the length of 52 " that got the cost up.
So I had to find a better solution to get it over the pond. Rescue came in form of our little foreign exchange student Nicole, who's been a long time friend from San Diego. Actually she's not a student anymore, but her going on a European backpack tour sure made her look like one again.
Now here's the alteranative plan! Stacie in Sac. shipped the now fully crated RSD to San Diego which just cost $ 35.- Nicole's dad rigged up a handle so his daughter would be able to carry it to the airport terminal and just check it in all the way to Frankfurt Germany, together with her backpack and suitcase. That would have cost her $ 60.- as a second suitcase, but as luck has it, my party girl Nicole knows the check in gal at the airline counter who let's her check it for free.
So picture her in Germany at the baggage claim, picking up a giant zebra colored suitcase, a hugh touring backpack, a smaller backpack and a 52" long RSD in a cardboard box with a handle on it. She's now exceeding max. weight and size but manages to haul it all to the train station about 500 yards away to catch an ICE train from Frankfurt to Nuremberg. On the positive side, she drew looks and even some guys inquired about its contents of the box while she had some delays along the way. I personally think the boys had other thoughts in mind but it was a nice conversation starter. She held it all together while the train rushed at 180+ mph to Nuremberg. I should have taken a photo of her showing up at our door step, looking like a mule, but I missed it. We were just happy to see she made it in one piece after such a long journey. It took here a while to recover.
The RSD made it just fine too. The conversion from a 964 to 993 wasn't very difficult but lot's of measuring and cutting, See for yourself:
I never imagined to own a RSD but this one turned out absolutely nice. It took a full 4 months from the purchase to the final install after I got it back from the upholstery shop. At times, my patience grew thin when things didn't go together as planned.
I spent about 20 hours in getting the mounting points and parts right, cutting the final shape of the panel. Preparing the new side brackets out of stainless steel was a major pain. Since I don't have the RS carpet, the insulation is so thick that the stock mounts don't reach down far enough to the seat belt lock nuts. I needed an extra 1/2" so I decided to just fab new brackets. I had them upholstered with classic gray carpet as well.
There's only a weight saving of 13 lbs. over the stock back seat but I care more about the additional storage it provides.
So here are the pics:
This is how I got if from Joe, in perfect shape and condition.
My rear seat assembly in and out of the car, all 17kg of it.
I mounted tabs through the carpet where the seat used to be to mount the wooden panel from underneath.
Doubled up wood with M6 anchors inside.
Custom stainless side mounts which are 1" longer due to the padded non RS carpet.
I even purchased the cabrio hoops for Euro 300.-. Had to have it and wanted it to look stock plus extra protection for the GF's heavy luggage on short trips.
Upholstered in OEM classic grey carpet, installed.
Also had the shop make up some carpet for the inside.
I want to specially thank Nicole, Stacie, Rima, who let me have the time in the garage, Todd, Blender, PB and Melanie, from the upholstery shop. I couldn't have it done without you.
Not to forget Joe M. who I purchased it from.
Ed.
Rennlist Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,483
Likes: 64
From: Las Vegas, NV
Excellent story and write-up!
Very nice with the new carpeting and hoops.
Now we also have a definitive statement on the (not so huge but present) weight savings over the massive cab rear-seat structure.
Very nice with the new carpeting and hoops.
Now we also have a definitive statement on the (not so huge but present) weight savings over the massive cab rear-seat structure.
