Ready for Launch: The Project is Done (big pics)

[Don Plumley]

As much as any race car project is ever "done", mine is. What started off as four innocent track days last November has finished with a fairly purposeful 993 track beast. Here are the threads I've posted about the project:

Project Kick-Off
2nd update
Floorboards
Prep for cage install
Cage Install
Painting the cage
Headliner Install
Battery hold down
Interior In
DME Relocation
Good, Bad and Ugly

Well, that should be most of them. What are not listed are the many questions I posted here and on Rennlist -- I'm indebted to everyone that helped. I have some other folks to thank, but let's show the first set of pictures:





A lot has happened in the past few days to bring this together. I had the car towed to Wevo where Tyson worked his usual evil magic to setup the car. The corner balance revealed the result of putting the girl on the slimfast diet: 2,817 pounds with 3/4 tank of gas. The drive home was amazing...what a beast. I installed a set of Pagid Yellow RS-19 pads, did a fluid flush and bleed, finished up the Schroth Profi II harnesses...and she's done. I drove to Sears Point today to drop off my helmet for a HANS install (and to bed in the pads). Yikes. It's a lot of car for a newbie like me.

And in another turn of good luck, a slot opened up for met at the PCA CDS event at Infineon on Monday so I'll have a chance for an initial shake-out. High pucker factor no doubt.





With the exception of the cage and the suspension setup, I did all the work myself. It's very satisfying. And it enabled me to establish a fairly reasonable modification budget, and I'm pleased to report that my budget variance is less than 10%.

There are many folks I need to thank. First and foremost, my wife and family -- they provided unwavering support and encouragement. The Pelican and Rennlist community -- I can't imagine undertaking this type of project on my own without the resources and talents of those that contribute. Jack Olsen gets a shout out -- I still remember reading the original BBI story and thought to myself, "wouldn't that be fun one day?" That day is here. Todd (Nostatic) -- for helping me understand that a shiny car is not a fun car, and many other things. Bill Verburg -- always ready with advice about brakes, tires and all things 993 RS. Hayden Burvil of Wevo for his advice, support and guidance on Safety and doing it right. Bob Brooks of VB Motorsports for all the important parts and a reliable source of advice and coaching helping a novice bolt in JIC Cross suspension and TRG sways from 2,500 miles away.

And finally, Tyson Schmidt. It was Tyson that first suggested a 964 based track car. He instructed me on two of my four track days. And has been constantly behind the project, with email, PMs and phone calls to help me make all the initial build decisions and is the only other person that turned a wrench on my car.






See you all out there!

Don

[Bill Verburg]

Congratulations!, the car looks great! That is the car I was originally looking for

[Tom W]

I'll be looking for you Monday. The car looks great.