RSR Update

[motley911]

There seems to be quite a few RSR "build" threads - so I thought I would start an RSR Update thread - just for something different.

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My car was pretty extensively covered here a few years ago when the previous owner transformed the car from a yellowbird replica into an RSR – see attached links
My RSR in GTPorsche magazine
few pics of my RSR
The last rebuild was pretty extensive with the PO mainly focusing on the aesthetics of the car while also doing a some mild engine updates with a 3.2 conversion.

I purchased the car about a year ago and after enjoying the car for a summer decided to carry out some drivetrain updates over winter to give it an extra bit of go to match the show. My initial intention was an engine upgrade however “updateitis” set in and the plan has grown - not to mention the budget. My Winter project is also turning into a Spring project.

Most of the info / ideas for the update came from this BBS and almost all of the parts have been purchased from the Parts For Sale section. I started the update a few months ago have been taking photos, with the intention of starting a thread but have been a bit slack in getting started.

The current update plan is as follows:
Motor – Twin Turbo 930 – created by The Motorsports Group in Florida – purchased from the PP Classifieds

Transmission – shortened G50/50 with factory LSD, Spec Clutch and Flywheel – purchase from the PP Classifieds. Hargrett shifter - from our host.

Brakes – 996TT with IG hubs and adaptors

Front Suspension – Bilstien coilovers and bump steer kit - from Rebel racing. Tarret sway bar, ERP polybronze bushes and new ball joints from our host.

Rear Suspension – Bilstein coilovers and 935 spring plates from Rebel Racing. ERP monoballs from our host. Smart Racing adjustable rear camber boxes.

Other updates – G50 conversion with an extensive list of parts from “Kaefer” (PP BBS member). Rear seat delete to make room for the camber boxes. AC delete. Fuel system update. And the list keeps growing.

I am doing most of the work myself and will try to cover it here as I progress

[kycarguy 935]

I remember when the previous owner was building the car. Nice car for sure.

It is good to have you here on Pelican.

[DW SD]

that will be very cool once it is a wolf in wolf's clothing. The sheep's underpinnings deserve to go.
Good plan!

Doug

[PcarPhil]

I'm looking forward to watching this thread. Please take lots of pics!

[motley911]

The mid-rise lift made the engine removal a fairly simple exercise.


All of the suspension was then removed for a refresh and update.


My tub is an 82Sc and as I was planning a G50 install I deliberated for some time on the best way to proceed. The main options that i considered were:
- Short bell-housing G50
- G50 Torsion tube transplant
- Modify the 915 torsion tube.

Luckily I found a full G50 conversion "kit" that a fellow Pelican member had for sale. "Kaefer" supplied just about every single part - including the torsion tube - needed to carry out the conversion from a donor car. This made for an easy decision - G50 torsion tube transplant.

Prior to taking to the original torsion tube with the hack saw I fabricated an alignment jig to locate the rear control arm mounting points - doweled off the rear sway bar mounts. I used the original centers from the old rubber control arm bushings for the jig.







The welding is a bit rough - but it is only a jig.

I hope you enjoy and have more to follow,
Richard.

[jwernquist]

Richard, nice man, looks like your doing a killer job. Can't wait to see how this turns out. Welcome to the board! Keep going with the pictures and progress write-up!!

JW

[Targa4now]

IMO, there aren't too many killer yellow rides. This certainly in one of them! Good luck with the transplant.

[motley911]

Thanks for the positive comments guys. I am deep into this project so there is no turning back now.

Following the manufacture and a few trial fittings of the jig it was time to take the big plunge. I did a fair amount of research on the torsion tube install and had a basic plan however it was clear that welding in the new torsion tube was going to be difficult with the rear seat in position due to the clearance on the front and top of the tube - very tight to get a mig gun in there. I had also seen a few installs of the adjustable rear camber boxes and Jay, my engine builder convinced me that they would improve adjustability and the handling the car. I had also read Jack Olsen's thread and became convinced that removing the rear seat would not only allow for an easier installation of the torsion tube, but would also allow clearance for the Smart Racing camber boxes - so the plan was set.

I must admit that taking to a perfectly good car with an angle grinder and sawsall creates a fair amount of apprehension. Here is a shot of the rear seat area before I started. The PO had spent a bunch of $’s on the interior including the fully trimmed rear seat area in Alcantara (or suede to some).


I stripped all of the fancy stuff out and marked it out (black line) for cutting.



The cutting took a fair bit of determination and perseverance. I cut the complex shapes with a small cutting disc on a Dremal which I brought specifically for the job. Even though I took it very easy I ended up burning the motor out on 3 units before I got it completed. The store where I purchased them from changed them under warranty each time and finally told me that they have some sort of problem on some models . Even running unloaded for a few minutes they would get too hot to hold with you bare hands - frustrating when you are kneeling in the back of a car with 110V of smoking motor in your hands
Here is a photo showing the rear seat panel removed and some tape lines to measure up the replacement sheet metal.



With the rear seat panel out of the way, I had plenty of room to access the torsion tube - both for cutting out the old and welding in the new one.



Stay tuned - I will cover the modification of the G50 torsion tube in the next instalment.

Richard.

[Reaper930]

Holy F****...yeah doing that takes balls for sure.

[juicersr]

Great work. Gotta get one of those lifts for future work. Makes things 200% easier.

Would luv some pix and/or more details on that motor ur stuffing in her.

[motley911]

Gabriel - either balls or stupidity. I just hope my abilities can keep up with my ambition. My goal is to do most of the work on this project myself. I figure that if I find I am getting into trouble I will have to out-source for help - but generally there is enough good expertise on this forum to give one confidence to tackle just about anything. BTW - How is the blackbird coming along? I have been following your build and am most impressed. You gave me the inspiration to go twin turbo

Juicersr - "once you give up your jack, you will never go back".
I was trying to build some suspense regarding the engine. But as you have asked I will give you a preview of what is to come.








Enjoy,
Richard.

[purplehaze]

Richard -

Very clever alignment gig for the trailing arm mounts!

You're also ahead of me with removing the rear seat pan for access. I'll use your outline as a reference in the future.

I have the exact same lift, including the use of hockey pucks. Cool.

This thing is going to be great!

[motley911]

Thanks Glenn - the jig was fairly simple to manufacture and worked well to center the replacement torsion tube. If you are also doing a rear seat removal I have the drawings of the panels that I had folded up it you are interested. See in the pictures in the post below.

A fellow PP member "Kaefer" supplied me the complete G50 conversion kit. Fortunately for me Kaefer supplied the tube complete with all of the sheetmetal still attached to the center portion of the tube. This was very helpful as it allowed me to understand how the torsion tube is attached to the body. The tricky part is the 2 curved sections that attach to the rear of the tunnel in the floor pan. Having this section from the doner car allowed me to experiment with removing the tube without destroying the mounting points.

Here is the G50 torsion tube after the sheetmetal had been removed.



One discovery that I made following the delivery of the adjustable rear control arm boxes from Smart Racing was that they are not designed for G50 torsion tubes.
Following a bit of measuring



I took another big leap of faith and sectioned the brand new $600 camber boxes with the grinder.



I then applied some heat and bent the inner side plates back to be striaght with the main body of the control arm box.



This provided the necessary shape to fit to the G50 torsion tube.

Next task was to carve up the G50 torsion tube to fit the camber boxes. The instructions from Smart Racing were simple enough however the rear control arm mounts on the G50 torsion tube are 1/4" cast steel and not 1/8" formed sheet. The Smart Racing instructions suggested to use a 1 3/8" hole saw to open up the 14mm rear control arm mounting hole to position the new control arm boxes. This was not as easy as it seams as you need a 1/4" hole to center the hole saw and keep it at the same angle as the control arm mounting hole. To achieve this I turned up a length of bar 14mm diameter and drilled a 1/4" hole in the center and used this to both center the hole saw and keep it at the right angle.

[purplehaze]

Richard,

Again, very clever solution with the 14mm centering jig.

I think you did the right thing with modifying the SRP piece. Ballsy, but spot on.

I didn't know the SRP piece wouldn't fit a G50 tube. I'll be installing that same piece into a 74 tub, for use with 930 trailing arms, plus the G50/50. I think I'll just notch the tube instead of do the whole switheroo as you did.

I also didn't know you had to cut a 1-3/8" hole, so I'm looking forward to your next sequence with anticipation.

Yes, please hold onto the paper panels! Thank you.

[juicersr]

Damnnnnnnnn!!!! Now THAT is a proper motor for this car!! Love the raw old school non-bling look and incorporation of the 964 manifold. Thanks for the early peak and cant wait to hear more details on it (injector size, turbos using, engine mgt, etc)

WHERE did you (or the previous owner) source those billet injector adaptors???

Very cool project taking an already jaw-dropping car to a whole other level. Keep up the posts and good work.

[purplehaze]

And where did you get the 180-degree bend from the I/C to the intake please?

I've been thinking of going to the C2 intake on my 3.3 TT, and I have the same Protomotive I/C I could modify.

You're building a really cool car!

[motley911]

I then cut the top section or the mounting points out with a hack saw and cleaned up the edges with the grinder.



I then spent some time trimming and grinding to fit the control arm boxes.


The finished product - shown with some spacers to maintain the width.


The next task was to remove the 915 Torsion tube. This photo shows the 2 curved sections that attach the torsion tube to the rear of the tunnel in the floor pan.


Cutting the weld off the 2 curved sections.


And the torsion tube removed.


The old with with the new

You can see in the photo above - in the end of the G50 torsion the "spacer" that I had turned up to act as a spigot for aligning the new torsion tube. I borrowed this idea from another PP thread.

I trimmed the G50 torsion tube to the correct length


I then pushed the spacers inside the remains of the 915 torsion tube still attached to the chassis, slid the G50 torsion tube into position, tapped the spaces along so the were centred at the joint of the G50 torsion tube, installed the jig and welded it all in position using the spacers as a back up to the weld.



Overall this was made considerably easier by the fact that the rear seat had been removed. This would be do-able without removing the rear seat however you would likely need a stick welder, a mirror and a very steady hand.

In the next instalment I will show the fitting of the new rear seat panels.

Richard.

[motley911]

Juicersr - the motor as shown in the photos is is just being mocked up to do all of the plumbing work. This is being done by Jay at "The Motorsports Group" in Florida. Once all of the mock up is complete the custom headers will be thermal coated, the IC / tanks cleaned up and polished and the motor will be disassembled and completely re-assembled. Jay had the Injector adapters CNC'ed and is also making the custom fuel rails to suit.

Glenn - I am not exactly sure where the 180 bend is from - Jay has been working with Orbit Racing and Holcolmb on the intake / turbo design. The intake manifold is from a 993TT engine - so I guess it came directly from there? I will try to find out.

Richard.

[Reaper930]

Originally Posted by motley911

Gabriel - either balls or stupidity. I just hope my abilities can keep up with my ambition. My goal is to do most of the work on this project myself. I figure that if I find I am getting into trouble I will have to out-source for help - but generally there is enough good expertise on this forum to give one confidence to tackle just about anything. BTW - How is the blackbird coming along? I have been following your build and am most impressed. You gave me the inspiration to go twin turbo

Glad I could help in the inspiration department I'm sure your wife hates me

She's coming along, we just traded out rear tires to fit the 28.6" tall 345/35/19 Pirelli Corsa DOT race tires. And now we're going to recontour the flares to fit over them.

You're going to love that motor and especially love the sound of the unmuffled hellhound when spooled. Mine still makes the hair on my neck stand on end, and that's just at idle.

Wish you the best, and i'm watching with eagerness and in suspense!

[al lkosmal]

You have mad DIY skills. Great work and very inventive.

regards,
Al