Project 996 Road Rallye: Part 7

We have been playing around with bumper ideas for this build. Most of the Safari-style tube bumpers are more aggressive that we want - and heavy. 

stock bumper is hidden behind the rear fascia

 Our goal is to create smaller bumpers that are effective and can support lights and tow straps. We decided to build some bumpers that would attach to the factory pistons that the internal bumper bolt to. 

The stock internal extruded Al bumpers are pretty cool.  The rear, shown above, has additional extrusions that attach to the rubber bumperettes that are visible on either side of the license plate.  The front is a bit simpler and shown on the left.  Both have threaded bungs for the factory towing loop.  The rear requires license plate removal to access it.

too big!

We tried several ideas and landed on small bumpers that I think should do the trick.  The front bumper attaches to the factory pistons and deletes the internal Al bumper.  The rear attaches to the bumperette mounts and is a bolt on solution that requires no permanent modification to the car.  Our tube is easily as strong and since it is external to the fascias, we should be able to take a bump or two without damage to the body.

We want to mount two driving lights from the bumper and hang a fabric tow strap.

The rear bumper will get a rear fog lamp and also a two strap.  The final design is still in the works but I think we are getting there...

Project 996 Road Rallye: Part 2

The car is in rough cosmetic condition.  It needs quite a bit of things inside and out.  The old window tint was bad and the windshield was cracked.  We got those sorted as we waited for additional parts that we ordered from Elephant and Girodisc.

We pulled the front and rear fascias off the car.  This gave us a peek at what we would secure tube bumpers to.  Our fabricator, Danny, came by to assess the possibilities.  We plan to create a fair discrete bumper that will allow us to hang driving lights while also providing some protection from parallel parking.

Overall the car appears to be in decent mechanical condition. There appears to be an oil leak coming from the engine that we will need to investigate. We have the car scheduled for a dry ice cleaning of the underbody.

While under the car, we noticed some opportunities for improvements.  Expect some new ideas from us soon.

The front facia was pretty bad and I managed to find a good used one along with a front DS fender.  The front headlights have washer nozzels - one of which is broken.  We are deleting these along with the pumps and associated hoses.  That'll save a bit a weight.

Wheel and tire considerations are proving to be a bigger challenge.  The suspension will sit 1" higher and ideally we would like to go with taller sidewalls.  We are working closing with Paul at Braid USA on solutions.  Two wheels I like include the Rallycross and the Dakar.

Project 996 Road Rallye: Part 1

 We kicked off a partial restoration and build of a 2000 Porsche 911.  We have secured this car for a client who is keen to have us build a car that will work on the rough CA canyons and ocassional dirt road use.  Read more about our thinking: HERE  

I am really excited about this build as I fell in love with Ariel Nomads after putting a few thousand miles on them.  This 996RR will be a worthy alternative.  I blogged about the Nomads: HERE  

These 996.1 cars are a bit of a 'red-headed stepchild' in the Porsche community.  The stigma of being the first water-cooled car coupled with the 'fried egg' headlights make it a real point of contention for many Porschiles.  But in reality, the car drives really well and is a true 911.

We placed the car on the lift and began inspecting it.  Overall the mechanical condition was good.  We've found a few things that will need to be addressed but for a car with 120k miles, she was in good shape.  

Cosmetically, she is a mess!  The paint is bad and so is the interior.  We will need to replace at least one panel (driver front fender) and repaint at least one panel.  Ultimately we will install a cool livery on the car with the help of our colleagues at BrandXTR.

We decided to work with Elephant Racing to sort out the suspension.  These guys are well loved in the Porsche world with their Safari kits (and more).  We talked at length with them about this build and making adjustments to suit our specific needs.  This car is a C2 (rear wheel drive) so is lighter and more in line with what we want for tarmac use.  

Of course we had to put her onto scales = 3219lbs

I drove the car and it drives very well.  I am amazed at how tight she remains even after 120k miles.  Porsche's are built to be endurance race cars so longevity is engineered in.  The steering was good and the shift action not bad - though we discovered one of the shift cables was ready to let loose!  Brakes are solid feeling and the handling good - though I did not really push it beyond 6/10s.

The magic of AI renders...

We are getting the car cleaned up, first by Lee with an exterior/interior detail.  Then it will go to Rolando for an underbody dry ice cleaning process.  Then we will start the disassembly and build process.  I am hoping we can deliver a car that is as light, if not lighter, than the stock car - 3219lbs.

Ultimately, we will leverage the relationships we have built with so many of our excellent suppliers including: Girodisc, Scarbo Performance, G-loc, Expert Upholstery, Xclusive Tuning, Champion Motorsport, ReVerie, Nitron and more.  Plus we are developing new partnerships with Porsche specialist companies like Elephant and Slakker.