claykos

We are in the process of "restoring" a 2000 GT3R and a few people have encouraged me to post some updates about the process.

A gallery that I will update with pictures periodically is here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/claykos/GT3R#

Some history:
We purchased the car a few months ago from James Sofronas at GMG and are making slow progress getting it back on the track. The car was originally run by Mike Colucci in 2000 at Le Mans and for much of the ALMS season. After that it was run by TRG for 01/02 in Rolex and then it was the Rennwerks car in 2003 where it finished 3rd overall at the Daytona 24 hr race. At some point I know the car has been retubbed, but it retains the original VIN that corresponds to this history...

In it's original livery at the Petit in 2000 driven by Cort Wagner:



And at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 2000:


The car came to us as a rolling chassis with an engine and a few boxes of parts. Several miscellaneous things had been pulled from the car like the shifter, gas pedal, some of the wiring harness, fuel cell, air jacks and more that I can't remember right now.

When we got it:


Engine before it was removed:


The engine was somewhat of an unknown. It was apparent that the oil and water had mixed, but there was no visible damage and the motor seemed to turn freely. According to the ECU read it had 37 hours. We sent the motor up to Chris Cervelli and he determined that the motor had swallowed an M5x12 mm bolt that was supposed to be holding one of the intake restrictors in! The bolt took out the valves and combustion chamber in 1 cylinder and dinged up the piston. Other than that there was no damage.

I found out about the diagnosis of the engine about 6 weeks ago and have been trying to figure out the best course of action for the rebuild. We decided to go full 04 RSR spec and I've now collected the cams/heads/rods and pistons to do this conversion. So hopefully the engine will be done within a few weeks...

Now onto the chassis: Overall everything is in reasonable shape but it's obvious that the car has sat for a long time since it was last run. So far I have been stripping everything down in preparation for the rebuild. I have also collected about 90% of the parts needed to put the car back together. Still need to get a gearbox, some small interior bits like inner door handles, gas pedal/dead pedal/driver floorboard, fire system, other misc. Also need the front wiring harness - but I believe Rick Deman has what I need and am just waiting for him to dig it out for me...(Rick if you're reading this... )

Some pictures of the progress so far:






Parts piling up:




That's all for now, but hopefully in a couple of months she'll be back on the road!

996TT_STEVO

Well done... looking forward to seeing the finished article

bgiere

looks like fun, should be an awesome car when you're done!

analogmike

looks like a clean car, have fun!

claykos

Thanks guys. The chassis is SUPER clean - which is why we bought it. I can't wait to drive this thing. It will be my first real "cup car" driving experience. We have a 74 911 chassis with a 996 cup drive train, but this should be a whole other level of turning and stopping and have about 100 more hp on tap!

jrgordonsenior

Too bad it won't be ready for the POC's Tribute to LeMans June 5th. Blake Rosser has won it 2 years in a row in his 05' RSR and then last year in his 03' RS. There'll be several RSR out there again this year including Blake, lots of 6 & 7 cups, and even a few cups w/sprint motors. You should bring your 74' cup and come play.....

claykos

Would love to but the 74 has the motor out right now and will not be ready in time either....the curse of race cars! More like the curse of taking care of race cars yourself! Hopefully next year.....

tcsracing1

very cool build! 996 GT3 CUP, R and RS projects get me all warm inside

James-GMG

Clay,

It's apparent that I sold the car to the right person.......you will turn this baby into a real gem! Good luck with the process.

John, we will have 1 if not 2 car in the Tribute this year.....that will be fun!

claykos

James - hope to be chasing you around at some POC races next year with it!

GTgears

Cool project. I got to see your engine at Chris' place a few weeks back. He'll make it right for you.

J richard

Clay, I was wondering who got that one, nice...are we going to be seeing it at PIR soon?

claykos

Going to try to make NASA nationals with it, but that might be a little optimistic....

Maybe october at PIR?

J richard

That's a beautiful project, I ws trying to think of how I could manage to get it in the garage, glad to see it comming to town. Nice to see the direction your taking it, that's a great peice of history, will be amazing on the track...

Look forward to seeing it run. What class are you aiming for?

Jim

claykos

With the estimated unrestricted HP and weight it will be ST1/GTS5 if I run DOT tires or SU on slicks. I plan to try to make the car work on Hoosiers with the extra HP but if it's terrible we'll rev limit or restrict the motor and add some weight to make ST1 on slicks. From previous experience I think ~2700 lbs and ~450 RWHP on hoosiers will be faster than 2700 and 390 rwhp on slicks - especially on a track with long straights like Miller.