NineMeister

I realise that the definition of a track day 993 (or any 911 for that matter) covers a plethora of specifications, from cars with just a single race seat and race harness to full-blown professionally built race cars which have been de-tuned to run on the street. Some people start with a standard car and slowly evolve it as their abilities and desires grow, others execute a detailed plan to get to their chosen end game. Then you have the rare project which starts with a sensible plan that, though no real fault of the owner, subsequently escalates during the course of the build to become something much more than first envisaged. This car is one of those projects, a project which I think perfectly defines the term Mission Creep. Let's see what you guys make of it....

Bill Verburg

I agree, peoples skills, knowledge and ends change over time. It certainly helps to have a vision and budget for what you want 5 years down the road, but as Tom Hanks says "Sh*t happens"

NineMeister

The job started with a reasonable enquiry from a customer involved in the Motorsport business to whether we would be willing to strip and paint the inside of a 993 which had already been fitted with a full & welded in roll cage. No problem so far, fairly major job but well within the 9m Panelcraft bodyshop capabilities.

Roll forward a couple of months and the job then expanded to include a Motec engine management system with complete engine wiring loom, primarily to enable the customer to apply his electronic vehicle system and mapping knowledge to the car, secondarily because the original DME wiring harness had been damaged during the cage installation. It's a nice Motec job for 9m Racing, all done before and relatively straightforward.

With the owner doing other work on the car we waited his call to arrange collection; a month later the car was on our trailer heading back to Ninemeister to begin the paint job. Or so we first thought.

Magdaddy

bum, bum, buuummmmmm

enter dramatic music sequence here...and digit's for cost to the left of the decimal point.

Matt Lane

Do tell!

NineMeister

We started with the vehicle strip and immediately there were extras required:
Remove main wiring harness for customer to lighten.
Remove fuel tank & remaining parts in front compartment to repaint.
Remove engine & suspension.
Investigate apparent door lock issues.
Fit RS rear window (rear wiper delete).
Engine service.
Oil leak repair.
New wishbone bushes and ball joints.
Fit KW Clubsport suspension (supplied by 9m previously).
Full geo & corner weight set up.

NineMeister

Close inspection of the bodyshell revealed evidence of its age and use with corrosion issues in most of the usual places. Rust in the window apertures, microblisters on the rear quarter panels, rust on the rear quarter joints (due to prior repair) and rust on all the wheel arches.

NineMeister

...and:
Rotten rear bumper hangers
Rotten cat heat shield
Corrosion in rear chassis leg (from poor quality repair)
Split near rear subframe mount (surprisingly common)

NineMeister

....
Leaking gearbox
Oil cooler leak
Power steering pipe corrosion
Thermostat oil leak
Front wing corrosion

It was clear and agreed that we needed to address the corrosion issues and oil leaks.

trophy

Interested to see where this goes, mission creep is exactly what I have experienced on a bunch of occasions.

Your cars sure do cop a beating with salt etc on the roads.

NineMeister

We soon had it stripped bare to repaint the interior and front end, at which point it seemed sensible to add the 9mRS seam welding and tub reinforcements to the slowly growing list.

Bill Verburg

Rust never sleeps

NineMeister

They certainly do. I suspect that this one came from the north of England or Scotland looking at the general corrosion about the car. It's not uncommon to see this level on cars that are not pampered, the good news is that the owner bought the car at a price which reflected the condition and allow more funds for the project.

NineMeister

It does in California......

NineMeister

I should mention a couple of details which are personal choices of the owner.
The first is that the car is retaining the factory fitted sunroof. Removing weight from any performance car is important, and specifically removing weight from high up in the shell is doubly important to lower the centre of gravity, so please believe me that the decision to leave the sunroof in was questioned by myself several times before I was convinced that the owner regarded it as an essential luxury. This is a fast road and track day car only with no intent to race or pass off as an RS, so the sunroof stays by absolute choice. Respect due there to the client for knowing what he likes and sticking to his guns as I can be fairly persuasive when there are engineering reasons why not to do something.

The second major decision is that the entire heater system has been deleted, substituted by a simple cold air box in the front end. Now I know that this is also a very unusual move for a UK car, especially given the unpredictable weather and temperatures in the UK, but again it was a conscious decision and there is absolutely no truth in the rumour that the car will be sponsored by Damart.

So far, so good.....