Would this car be better loved (and valued higher) w/ RSR body work?

John Schaefer · 09-30-2009, 05:05 PM

I am thinking of moving on to a new project before I am completely finished with 'my minds eye' vision for my daily driver. The engine, transmission, brakes and suspension are all where I want them to be and now it's time for cosmetics. My mechanic thinks I am crazy to put the RSR bumpers, early turbo front metal fenders, and RSR rear wing on this car as he states "you already know your going to sell it. Don't put any more money into it." I want to finsh what I started. What do you think?

nota · 10-01-2009, 05:24 AM

would help if we knew what the car started as ??
and what motor and other bits are in it now ??

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

John, in my experience, most people do not have the ability to visualize.

So you have two options: find the person who loves slantnose coupes or replace the fenders with Turbo versions and sell the slantnose fenders separately.

If you do put Turbo fenders on, it might be overkill to actually install the RSR front bumper, but if you had one located, you could show pictures to a prospective buyer. At least that's how I'd do it.

Matt Monson · 10-01-2009, 09:30 AM

I haven't followed your build so I don't know what I am looking at. Is the slantnose stuff real factory bits? Steel or glass? It infuences my answer.

If it's factory stuff I'd leave it how it sits. Sure, it's a mix and match when you look at the back end, but it's still a nice looking car. If it's just glass, then sure, finish the RSR look on it.

John Schaefer · 06:01 PM

Thanks guys. You confirmed what my gut feeling was. I dropped off the RSR wing, front and rear bumpers, and front fenders from a '75 Turbo to the body man tonight to have them painted. Couple of weeks and it will look like a different car!

Here's the rest of the story:

This car was delivered new as a 1976 non sunroof 911S; Black on tan w/ aircon and p/w. The original owner was one of the founders of Underwriter Laboratories and must have found himself with buckets of money. He always wanted a RSR, so he commissioned a couple of his engineers to build his 911 into one. Sometime in the late '80's he had the RSR bodywork updated to a slope nose Turbo look

and 10-12 years later died (maybe by then he had realized the mistake he made on the bodywork years prior). It had a twin plugged aluminum case 3.2 RSR motor with slide valve injection, modified transmission with limited slip, 2.8 RSR suspension and brakes, and 9 & 11x15" Fuchs... lots of other factory correct and valuable race stuff too.

I found the car on a used car lot where it had been sitting for over 4 years. I guess all potential buyers (and obviously not knowledgeable) figured if it had Turbo bodywork, it should have a turbo motor and passed. Curious as to how a '76 911S could be worth the very high asking price posted, I requested the salesman send me a photo of the engine. I fell out of my chair when I opened the file to see this-

In the past 6 months I have 'harvested' the motor/trans, suspension, brakes, and some of the electronics and they have gone to good people who have real RSR's. Here is a list of what I have built onto this chassis to replace what I took off:

Completely refurbished and rebuilt '74 Euro Carrera suspension and brakes.
Front thru the body and rear drop link sway bars along w/ adjustable spring plates and big torsion bars.
Completely rebuilt 7.3:1 915 transmission from a '73S with the special short shifter, linkage, and clutch pack that was on the RSR stuff.
Newly rebuilt aluminum case (modified for increased air and oil flow at high RPM's) 3.0 European Carrera motor running CIS. 9.8 to 1 compression Mahle P/Cs, special Factory high lift cams (more lift than 964), ARP race head studs, backdated exhaust, custom dual in/out muffler. Based upon what I have know, this should all be good for about 240 HP. I have a custom MFI injection system w/ 964 grind MFI cams from Henry at Supertec, but have left the CIS on the motor as I drive this car everyday and want something to take to the track or DE only once in a blue moon. The better fuel economy and reliability of the CIS is hard to beat for my purposes.

Only cosmetic (if you can call it that) change done on the exterior and interior to date is the addition of the 9 and 10.5 x 17" Zuffenhaus Fuchs-look wheels w/ Michelin Pilot tires.

Here is a photo of the 3.0 Euro Carrera engine now in the car

And the interior. All I have changed are the gauges.

Matt Monson · 10-01-2009, 06:27 PM

Wow John,
That's quite the story and quite the find. I also have to say that I appreciate that there are guys out there like you who, if they aren't going to personally use those rare old parts, make sure they get into the hands of the right people. With the rarity of some of these cars, being able to put them back together "right" helps preserve the history of the marque. There's so many good aftermarket parts out there these days for building a hot rod, that when you find something rare and unique, if you can reunite it why not?

I think the RSR front end will make the car more sellable. As much as I worshipped the slantnoses as a kid, I now think the '74 RSR is among the prettiest Porsche street cars they ever did. You'll have no problem placing it, especially with a story like that.

kilodawg · kilodawg's Garage

Hey John PM me if you still have the front valence

John Schaefer · 10-04-2009, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilodawg

Hey John PM me if you still have the front valence

Sending PM.

Funny, I was going to post the slope nose fender/light set up, 930S type front spoiler, rear bumper/valance, and rear Turbo tail for sale today.

trader220 · 10-05-2009, 03:51 PM

That first motor is a thing of beauty. I would ditch the slant stuff too, that 80's look didnt age well IMO

John Schaefer · 10-19-2009, 06:48 PM

I am glad I backdated it to the RSR look. The IROC tail goes on tomorrow and then I have to work on the interior and getting rid of those flag mirrors.

onboost · 10-20-2009, 08:53 AM

Yeah... I kinda like it better as an RSR too.. especially with the vent still in the rear fenders..

What are going to do to the interior?

John Schaefer · 10-20-2009, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onboost

What are going to do to the interior?

Not too extreme. Just a set of vintage racing buckets, Momo Prototipo, and maybe some RS type door panels.

Got the rear spoiler installed...

Matt Monson · 10-20-2009, 10:55 AM

Very nice. I love that look.

onboost · 10-20-2009, 01:43 PM

Yeah.. that looks right..

This car has been very good to you!

John Schaefer · 10-22-2009, 02:37 PM

Did a couple of things to the interior. I don't know if I should just leave the metal backs on these seats this strange blue, or paint em. Problem is, what color?

onboost · 10-23-2009, 07:59 AM

I haven't seen a set of those in quite some time! Nice!

Agree, you should paint them...what color? Duh? Maybe Silver or a metallic grey..?

dave m · 10-23-2009, 02:22 PM

Nice looking. Big improvement. I like the RSR look. May I ask ... where'd you buy the RSR front bumper? I've heard some need lots more prep work than others. Did yours need much prep work? Thanks

Matt Monson · 10-23-2009, 04:52 PM

Yeah. Those seats need to be painted some variation of black. Maybe something kind of smoky or charcoal coloured that gives them a bit of a carbon fiber look.

Macroni · Macroni's Garage

John,
You are the master! The Porsche communities own version of HD Theater's "Wheeler Dealer"
Luke

John Schaefer · 10-24-2009, 09:47 AM

[QUOTE=dave m; May I ask ... where'd you buy the RSR front bumper? I've heard some need lots more prep work than others. Did yours need much prep work? Thanks[/QUOTE]

Dave, I purchased a SWB car cheap that had everything I needed already on it (If I found the individual items separately I estimated $3,500.00 total cost. I bought the complete SWB car for not much more than that - and it runs and drives). I just had to have the parts repainted as the black paint that was already on them was pretty poor.

I have found it far better to purchase used fiberglass parts. Someone else has already had to do all the time consuming work to get them to fit on their car. If I have to purchase new, I usually go to GT Racing. They have hi quality and offer excellent service/support.

Regarding the seat back color, I have 4 different looks in mind:
1. Leave both the inside and outside of the car looking all Darth Vader-like and paint the backs flat black.
2. Put silver IROC 'Porsche' script of the rockers and paint the backs silver.
3. I have a set of orange "Carrera" scripts already left over from another past project. Install those and paint the seat backs to match.
4. Go completely off the wall and find some Martini graphics and do a RSR looking version of the '76 936 'Black Widow".