The "SKYLINE" Commission
The Transformation
This 1980 chassis was selected because of its rust preventative galvanized coating and the rear SC flairs are quite close to the actual RS flairs used in 73. The sunroof on this car was deleted and the entire front end sheet metal was replaced with factory Porsche parts. The car had already been partially stripped and primered in green. The original color for this chassis was Dark Metallic Brown.
Getting Started
The chassis was completely stripped of all parts and taken to the body shop to get things underway.
Since we were deleting the sunroof, we removed all the mechanism and support from the roof by carefully drilling out every spot weld so it was as if never there.
After the sunroof was removed, we used a sheet metal plug that was bonded into the roof skin using Wurth Power Panel Bonder which is a special 2-part epoxy that Porsche uses to bond the chassis panels on their modern cars. Once bonded and coated; we allowed the adhesive to cure for 45 days before putting any epoxy primer on the roof.
All suspension was then removed and the chassis set on a rolling dolly for the rest of its time in the body shop.
The front latch panel, hood and both front fenders were replaced with factory OEM Porsche new sheet metal to ensure a perfect fit.
The Front latch panel for the hood is seen here put in place with clamps before welding. The old panel was removed by drilling out the spot welds from the original panel and installing the new one, rewelding every hole to make sure the integrity of the unibody is as strong as when it left the Porsche factory.
Since we are running a center front oil cooler, it is important to provide somewhere for the air to go. Here you can see the new factory latch panel has been modified to incorporate an RSR style steel duct behind the cooler. Note the washer bottle hole has been filled.
The brackets for the factory 5 mph bumper shocks were removed to save weight.
You can also see the through-body front swaybar has been retrofitted.
Details Matter
A lot of time was spent in fitting the front center oil cooler & the cooler in the right front fender. Here you can see the metal work done to make room for the fittings to turn the corner at the nose of the car. This is a great example of the attention to detail taken to build this car following the vision we had for the final result.
The Process
Hundreds of hours were spent fitting every piece of the car before painting. From the oil coolers and all lines, front and rear bumpers, lights and even the dash were all hand-fitted to ensure a perfect fit after paint.
Time to Paint
Once the fitting was complete, the chassis was stipped bare again, prepped with an epoxy coat and then prepped for paint. Our method is to first paint the interior, then reverse mask the entire car and paint the front trunk, engine bay and wheel wells.
Meissen Blue
And finally we came to the day to paint the exterior of the body. The plan from the beginning was to build this car as an homage to the iconic "Gulf Livery" worn by the venerable LeMans winning 917 racecars in the 70's.
After doing a color study we chose Meissen Blue over Gulf Blue. Gulf has a tint of periwinkle and Meissen is more of a "Grey Blue" and along with the "Pastel Orange" for the centers on the Fuchs 7's and 8's we felt it created a look of sophistication while being unmistakably "Gulf Livery".
Mechanical Details
While the car was at the body/paint shop we were busy restoring and preparing all the mechanical components of the car. All suspension pieces were blasted, painted and all new suspension bushings were fitted. The braking system consists of factory Porsche 930 front calipers, Elephant Racings ERX rear calipers and a 930 master cylinder.
JRZ Pro3 Active suspension was chosen to handle the damping mated to 19mm front torsion bars and 27mm rear torsion bars. 22mm RSR style sway bars from Tarrett Engineering were fitted front and rear.
Finishes
All the trim on the car was refinished in this stunning "Satin Nickel" finish by first bead blasting each part and then using either anodizing or nickel plating to achieve an exact color match between materials.
The Heart
We chose to purchase a 3.2 Liter core engine from an 85 Carrera as our platform and the engine was built by longtime friend and Porsche engine builder, Chris Smith.
Using the Mahle Motorsports piston & cylinder kit, the displacement was increased to 3.4 Liters at 10.5:1 compression. Oil circulation was upgraded with the use of a 996 GT3 oil pump. The crank and rods were polished, balanced and paired with ARP connecting rod bolts.
1.75" headers from BBR were mated to a 2016 GT3RS Titanium muller to handle the exhaust and then brought to Jeff Gamroth at Rothsport Racing for his state-of-the-art ITB fuel injection system with Motec engine management. This engine made 300 hp and 265 foot pounds of torque on the Rothsport dyno.
Interior
When backdating a G-Body 911 to "F" appearance, there are so many choices to make and lines to be drawn. We decided to incorporate styling cues from the pre-68 short wheelbase 911's into our build. The full length "Knee Pad" with no ashtray, the magnetic glovebox door and the rear parcel shelf trim were only a few details we used.
Scheel-Mann 101 seats were selected and covered in gorgeous Bordeaux leather. 2 additional hides where purchased to create the custom door panels and rear covers.
A 380mm RSR style steering wheel completes the driving experience.
As you can see, this car turned out stunning and it drives as good as it looks.
The complete package works together flawlessly to create the ultimate driving experience that must be experienced to understand.
An Analog Experience
This car has no "Nannies"; no ABS, no Traction Control and no apologies.
Weighing in at 2360 pounds with fuel, our 911 build creates a visceral connection between the machine and driver that is pure magic at 6500 RPM's!