tcsracing1

You guys do great work!

NineMeister

He's actually mellowed over the last year or so. Questioned it, just like I did, then accepted it as just part of the job. That must be progress?

NineMeister

Thanks, all down to the love of the job I guess?

Now we just have to work out how to enjoy it as much whilst also making a profit....

NineMeister

Now, where were we? Oh yes, back to the Mission Creep. The conversation with the customer went something like:

9m "Shell is on the jig, chassis straight, upper body now straight, doors close again."
Owner "Great, sorry about the cage, I figured it might be something to do with the welding"
9m "So, do you want it seam welding and reinforcing like the 993RS whilst we are here?"
Owner "Would seem a shame if we didn't, so add that to the list"
9m "OK, good decision. Of course, if we seam weld it we will need to repaint the floor, so if we are doing that we might as well deal with the rust."
Owner "Well, it is a track car and I definitely don't want it perfect but I don't want rust eating away the chassis and wings so that sounds fair enough"
9m "The time we would save in preparation for the seam welding & rust rectification by having the shell paint stripped would offset the cost of the stripping and speed up the job no end. Obviously we could also then see clearly what we are dealing with in the rust. A heat strip process is probably best which also keeps everything dry after the job. What do you think?
Owner "That's a great idea as I really don't think that Iris Blue suits a race car and was hoping to change it"
9m "Full body strip it is then. And no underseal. And colour change."
Owner "Agreed"

Four days later:

NineMeister

The rusty areas were now completely visible and as a result would be straight forward to address. I have to say that this kind of corrosion is fairly typical of a well used, all weather 993 although in this case sometime in the past the car had a quarter panel replaced and repair which has heavily contributed to the chassis leg corrosion on the left rear. The good news is that all the metal was still good and the rust had not taken hold, so with the right preparation we could catch it in time and stop it from recurring.

JPP

Colin, can you elaborate on this process a bit? i.e. is it done by hand? Or in a 'hot box' of some sort?
tx,
JP

NineMeister

No.
No.
Yes.

Juha G

I really need to find a good pre-1978 911 chassis and send it 9m way along with my varioram 3.6.
Then let Colin do his magic! A singer style 911 with high revving 3.6.
It needs to be pre 1978 so i have no emission tests to worry about...

mklaskin

Amazing! I'm still saving my penny's for the 9M 993 RSR 4.0...

NineMeister

Sure, we could do that Juha, more R Gruppe than Singer though, we're still firmly sat in the camp of "less is more". Funny you mention high revving 3.6 though, we have contemplated fitting a short stroke crank into a 993 engine to build an 8000rpm 3.5 litre. Should be good for around 400hp?

Juha G

Yes, with singer i just mean the concept of old chassis with newer technology. So gruppe R is the right direction, like you say, less is more.
I want it lightweight with high revving engine, good suspension and brakes.

8k rpm 400hp aircooled engine would be nuts!
Should we make a proto out of my 3.6? I can send it your way as soon as I have time to drop it...?

certz

You guys are animals! I cannot believe the way you waterboarded this guy into submission. CIA should take lessons

Seriously, though, I so want to send an example over, but this would be me "Yes. Oh yes how can we not do that? Yep, that too. And that. First born on the way with arm and leg..." Love you guys and your work, keep it up!

NineMeister

We've already got three major engine development projects scheduled for release sometime next year, however I could see how building a fast-revving 3.5 litre engine could be achieved. Maybe we should consider the specification first whilst you are looking for a suitable donor car to put it in?

NineMeister

Just for reference, these were the spots where the surface rust had got a hold of the shell before we stripped the paint. Clearly you can see why we opted to remove all the paint, if nothing else it allowed us to ascertain the extent of the problem we are attempting to address.

NineMeister

With the shell perfectly devoid of contaminants the seam welding was a breeze for Oggy, great penetration and nice clean welds.