Progress and Setback today with the Project 959 (Monday Oct 22nd)...

[MOMO3.2]

Wayne:

The photos and reports are fascinating. Thank you for taking the time to post them.

Having seen some of the guts and inner workings of your car, I can further appreciate the fact that the 959 really is a Carrera 3.2 stuffed with all the technology of the day.

The whole idea that our impact bumper 911's (Mid-year cars through Carrera 3.2's) are lurking under the wild bodywork of every 935 and 959 produced makes me smile. I get the urge to run out to the garage and start wrenching on my Carrera.

Keep the updates coming!

Mike

[boxster03]

Won't the parts you need for the most part be NLA and if available take months upon months to receive from Germany? I understand even basic old 911 parts are starting to take that long now a days as they all come from Porsche warehouses there.

[Scott at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by boxster03

Won't the parts you need for the most part be NLA and if available take months upon months to receive from Germany? I understand even basic old 911 parts are starting to take that long now a days as they all come from Porsche warehouses there.

Michael,
There are a surprising number of parts still in stock at the Germany warehouse.

When customers order parts that are available only from the Germany warehouse, it generally takes us about two weeks to get them before we can send them to the customer.

- Scott

[David]

Great pics and info, keep 'em coming.

The greatest feeling for a car guy has to be when you find the obvious fix or free hp .

[LakeCleElum]

The way things are going, the book will be titled: 201 959 Projects!!!!!!!!

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by dtw

Agreed 100%. One thing that really surprised me when I started eyeballing one really closely is the wheels. They are works of art, to be sure, but the finish is, surprisingly, not what you'd expect on a high-zoot supercar. Just makes me more fascinated with them, though.

They are magnesium. If you've ever seen the Mahle "gas burner" wheels up close, you will notice the same thing. It's difficult to polish / finish Magnesium. Also, if you're looking at the photo above, what you're seeing on the edge of the wheel is the edge of the rubber of the tire, not the edge of the wheel. The wheel looks ragged because the rubber on the tire is blocking the edge - I saw that too in the photo...

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by boxster03

Won't the parts you need for the most part be NLA and if available take months upon months to receive from Germany? I understand even basic old 911 parts are starting to take that long now a days as they all come from Porsche warehouses there.

Surprisingly, a lot of stuff is still available, if not expensive. A new plastic gas tank is $3300, which is really not that bad in my opinion, considering that a new 911 RS tank is plastic and is long unavailable. They have 3 in Germany, and I can get one here in 7-10 business days. Normally, our Germany stuff takes about a week to reach us here. For our customers, it seems like much longer, when you have to ship the package out after we get the parts here...

-Wayne

[911boost]

Very cool thread(s) Wayne.

With regards to German parts, some of the 965 part numbers for my turbo are tough to find. After my recent mishap on the interstate, I needed to replace the peice that goes from the rocker panel to the quarter panel, and it was only available in Germany. Surprisingly it didn't take very long to get here.

Bill

[dtw]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

They are magnesium. If you've ever seen the Mahle "gas burner" wheels up close, you will notice the same thing. It's difficult to polish / finish Magnesium. Also, if you're looking at the photo above, what you're seeing on the edge of the wheel is the edge of the rubber of the tire, not the edge of the wheel. The wheel looks ragged because the rubber on the tire is blocking the edge - I saw that too in the photo...

-Wayne

Actually I didnt notice your wheel in the photo. But yes, the 959 wheels are hollow mag castings and have some roughness in their finish - I definitely wasn't criticizing. I think 959 wheels are pure sex - one of many features on the car that have stood the test of time beautifully.

[Cdnone1]

Just my two cents, but i thought they would have removed those panels during the PPI. I would have thought they would have looked in there and certainly saw the hose and clamp.
I guess not though
Steve

[911nut]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

I heard that Dieter at Andial got rear-ended once when out driving a customer car - the bumper was destroyed and a new one from Porsche (they had only one left) was a mere $100K. I think they had Getty Design make up a replacement instead for that particular car (cost $25K I think).

Damn, and I thought my car was a money pit

[boxster03]

Just my two cents, but i thought they would have removed those panels during the PPI

PPI We don't need no stinking PPI

[masraum]

Wayne, again, thanks for sharing. This is terribly interesting. At the rate that you're going, the 959 will be done and perfect in no time.

Hmm, thinking about the next interesting project for Wayne, I'm thinking original 550 w/4cam, 908, 917, or McLaren F1. So, whichever you decide is fine with me.

[Early_S_Man]

Wayne,

By the time you finnish all these pesky problems ...you are going to have a pre-flight checklist [for weekend trips] long enough to rival an SR-71A Blackbird!

That white composite heat shield [that the latch is attached to] that looks homemade ... looks suspiciously like it could be asbestos! You don't suppose?

[burgermeister]

Makes a regular 911 (which I consider to have lousy access for repairs) look like a 1965 Mustang with the 6 cylinder engine (the kind where there is enough room in the engine bay to climb in next to the motor)...

Thanks for all the pictures, it's tons of fun to spectate.

[THECARREAPER]

excellent thread as always. i am enjoying learning about the 959 immensely!