My 964 RSR clone arrived today....

[preston_brown]

What have I gotten myself into???











More to follow shortly...

[Evan Fullerton]

It is an expensive and time consuming project bringing a former racer back from the dead but it is ultimately quite rewarding. I look forward to reading your discoveries on what all it has in it.

[450knotOffice]

Yea, Evan. YOU are the first though that popped into my mind with your old 993 race car.

[Dan J]

That is a very cool car and you stole it. You'll probably curse yourself at some points and it at others but you now own a super cool car
PS: put a 964 nose back on it

[pantera]

You've gotten yourself into a seriously nice race car! Best of luck with her Preston. Look forward to more pictures and write ups as it unfolds. Good on you!

Dan

[H-viken]

Originally Posted by Dan J

That is a very cool car and you stole it. You'll probably curse yourself at some points and it at others but you now own a super cool car
PS: put a 964 nose back on it

+1 I saw the ad for it and thought exactly the same thing - back to 964!

Congratulations to a cool car!

[preston_brown]

OK guys! More pictures. and info. Let's see if we can figure this girl out.

1. Huge fuel cell.
2. Bunch of tech inspection stickers on the dash and on the roll bar
3. Triple(!?!?) fuel pumps
4. ITBs and 993 Motronic DME (at least, from all external appearances)
5. Bunch of weird stuff on the dash I don't quite get yet
6. Unhooked boost gauge and maybe turbocharger oil line?
7. Pauter rods on engine rebuild
8. 3.8 or 3.9L total displacement
9. twin oil coolers, which then feed brake ducts
10. Claimed 6 speed G50 but I seem to only be able to find 5 gears?
11. 2 sets of BBS magnesium center locks. Don't see any cracks but need to inspect more closely.
12. Engine looks to be in good shape / dry
13. What do people think about the roll cage? I think probably not OEM
14. What about the engine mounts?
15. The external nipple behind the right rear window leading to the canister on the rear passenger side...shocks?
16. Any other thoughts?

Pictures.

First album is from the seller:

https://plus.google.com/photos/105482174798695040533/albums/5718068183676348465

And these are ones I took this afternoon on the trailer.

https://plus.google.com/photos/105482174798695040533/albums/5718068412235399745

Here are some pics of the manuals I received -- the engine was rebuilt after a missed shift with Pauter rods, I know that at least...

https://plus.google.com/photos/105482174798695040533/albums/5718070825937837073

[GaryR]

None of those links work...

[kiwiokie]

Links don't seem to be working.

[preston_brown]

links fixed -- sorry guys.

[Ian Comerford]

Could the answer to 15 be air jacks?

[CHICKS]

Why didn't/don't you ask the seller those questions?

[Samujr]

Previous owner stated on sale ad that this car was build in Europe by Obermaier Racing. Most likely it's started as normal 964 or 964 turbo. Cage work looks period correct and if it's Obermaier car, surely it's well made. Based on Rennlist threads engine has JE pistons. Maybe heads and intake are from RSR? Please try to get all information from previous and possible from the owner before him to keep history with the car. I think it's valuable and kind of nice to have. If you have wagenpass, maybe we can search details of previous drivers and races in 90's here in Europe. It could have raced with turbo engine.

[Dan J]

The nipple is for the air jacks
If you post a picture of the trans we can tell you if its a 5 or 6
I agree you need to get more info from the previous owners. It looks like a great car but highly modified so the more info the better. It might behoove you to find a great air cooled race mechanic
There is a guy named Dave that worked at Carolina Speedwerks I don't think he's there anymore but he's the right guy for this car.

[preston_brown]

Guys,

I'm still talking to the previous owner but more details than this have been hard to come by. He is a very very nice guy but doesn't seem to remember all the details. He has stated that indeed the car was imported in the early 2000s from Germany, after it was campaigned there by Obermaier racing and others. He does not believe it is a factory car. He also stated that the car was re-tubbed at some point. I don't have any evidence of that but no reason not to believe it. The PO bought the car from the person who originally imported it and went Club Racing with it for a number of years.

Apparently during one of these races he missed a downshift and bent valves. During the rebuild of the engine the Pistons and Cylinders were replaced. He stated the pistons were JEs. He also says displacement is 3.9L. From the documentation that came with the car, it also now has Pauter rods. He rebuilt the motor himself while working with a "well regarded" person in the Denver area who I looked up and who is now the Service Manager at one of the local Porsche dealerships. I wrote him to ask about the rebuild; that person stated that "he couldn't state what had been done to the motor since he went through it; that was a long time ago."

One of the heads was cracked; he states that he replaced it with a genuine 964 3.8L head and ran it that way for awhile, but "it was never quite right." Maybe the Compression Ratio / Dome Volume of the head was off from the others? He ended up having the original head welded up and put it back on. I do have the other head. As the motor is now, he says it probably has 20-25 hours on it.

I have no pictures, receipts, notes or other details, though I tried to get some. He just doesn't have them. Why, I have no idea -- I don't think he is/was trying to hide anything. Sometimes life just works in funny ways. In the end, racing the 964 was expensive. He parked the car, bought a Spec Miata and did that thing, and basically forgot about the 964.

I can't try to start the motor yet because there is a high pressure fuel leak near the fuel pumps at one of the fittings, so I need to replace that. I am not afraid of projects; I wasn't looking for a turn key race car. And yes, I knew with the spotty details that this was not without risks. I hope this isn't a multi-year resuscitation effort, but I'm not in a huge rush. I'm going to put the second seat in it and use it for DEs anyway, not racing.

[OttoB]

In my humbled (and biased) opinion, the 964 bodywork is far more appealing than the current configuration. Since that's what your car originally looked like a few years ago, any plans on eventually converting it back to something like this? (Took the pics at Sebring last year at Historics):



This one isn't your, by the way, is it?

[preston_brown]

No, that one isn't mine, but it has the same flares and rear bumper. I do think the 964 bodywork looks good. I'm not quite yet to the point of worrying about bodywork though! First I have to get the fuel leak fixed and get the sucker started. We got the leaking fuel line off today. Need to fabricate a new line.

Car does have aluminum doors, hood, etc. 2 sets of BBS centerlocks is pretty nice too...

Also I think the racing team was actually "Team Oberbayerr". Don't you?

[preston_brown]

Tail on mine looks different too.

[kiwiokie]

Looks like a pretty serious piece of kit. Congratulations! Have you been able to determine if it is or isn't an original RSR tub?

[preston_brown]

Working on it. Here's the original chassis #...can anyone tell anything from this?