Another hot rod

The contours of the longitudinals and sills provide a challenge to acheving a really good, tight look - not bad for a hot rod.

Like a Savile Row suit Tom. :D

The proper headliner for an ST is a murky subject, but one upon which we hope to shed a bit of light.

We know for instance that the Race Department build specs for the MY 1972 911S Competition Type, for circuit or hill climb use, called for a simple lining of the same black felt carpet material used for the lightweight carpets. Please refer to the section under the heading "Body and interior" of the scan of the 2,5L factory spec sheet which appears below.

That being said, however, a fellow board member's 2,5L circuit prepped ST has the more conventional black perforated headliner. Then again, that 2,5L has numerous details consistent with both Rallye as well as Circuit preparation.

A fellow 2,3L ST enthusiast in Germany indicates that the Race Department fitted the MY 1970 and 1971 Circuit prepped ST with black perforated headliners made from the same material used by the BMW CSL. The proper black headliner material for a CSL, and 2,3L ST, is NLA from BMW.

The 1971 Safari cars had black perforated headliners. We can assume these were fashioned from the same CSL type material.

We also know that the Race Department fitted out the interiors of customer cars according the wishes of Driver and Co-driver, especially the choice of seats.

Privateers who built their cars from production 911S coupes, like the Tart, would sometimes leave the standard ivory headliner in place or simply tear it out and leave the steel in its green primer.

We went back and forth on what to do but ended up with a standard ivory headliner. The trimmer at Auto Associates covered the A and B pillars in standard Porsche black, grained leatherette.

Note that the vertical and horizontal stiffening ribs in the parcel shelf are visible beneath the carpet.

The combination of lightweight carpeting with an ivory headliner for the hot rod looks identical to the trim specs of the MY 1972 ST raced by Max Moritz, as seen in the second image.

The original housings for the rear corner lamps and related wiring were cleaned prior to installation.

They look pretty good for being 38 years old.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jim Garfield

Like a Savile Row suit Tom. :D

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Jim:

Well said!

When considering the factory description of the installation as being "lined with black felt" we envisioned the green felt lining in the fitted case of a Purdey, or as you suggest, the sutured-on look of a bespoke suit of clothes.

A future installment for the interior will provide details on the fitment of:

-sturzbugel ALU

-RePa hosengurt

-Plexiglas

Threaded mounting plates for the roll bar and RePa harnesses can be seen in the second image, their outlines clearly visible beneath the lightweight carpet.

Wow...nice!

John

Readers will recall that the first post to this thread set out the basic objective of the project:

“a detailed examination of the Porsche 911 S - Racing Version and construction of a freshly built example using factory preparation techniques and all the corresponding parts as originally supplied by the Porsche Race Department.”

As we have come to understand, the Werks made great efforts to homologate an extensive, coordinated parts program for their customers contesting Special GT Group 4 events. The Werks described the full range of special equipment as providing everything required for the owner to “re-manufacture the Type 911S into a competition car,” a statement indicating the serious intent of the program.

The full extent of Werks’ effort seems generally to be ignored or, at best, woefully under-appreciated by authors of the enthusiast books dealing with the subject matter of racing Porsches. At least this state of affairs allows us the opportunity to examine the topic without preconceived notions.

As a general proposition, construction of the Porsche 911S – Racing Version required parts from two categories:

1. parts used in Series Production of the 911, as catalogued in the standard factory parts books, the same books sitting on the counter at every dealer’s parts department
2. special race parts, as comprehensively set out in the Competition Spare Parts list and homologated with the FIA

However, it is not always that simple. Race Department preparation techniques spawned still another category of parts for us to consider: parts of the third kind. Parts of the third kind result from the modification of genuine parts used in Series Production. Most often, these modifications were rendered by hand out of simple necessity to make parts used in Series Production work in conjunction with special race parts. We will look at an example, but first let's explore some background to give context to the discussion.

For MY 1970, Porsche began manufacturing an aluminum rear center panel for Series Production of the 911S. The 911S center panel duplicated its steel counterpart in all respects, save its aluminum construction. Designed for Series Production, the alu center panel understandably lacked provision for installation of the 911/20 Rallye Box, or R style muffler, which displayed prominently its twin 42mm exhaust outlets. The Rallye exhaust, however, was fitted to a considerable proportion of the STs produced.

Although the Competition Spares manual listed a special grp rear bumper designed to accomodate the Rallye muffler, and the Race Department fitted it to most 2,3L cars in MY 1970, it seems that the Series Production, three piece rear bumpers continued to be used on many STs prepped to Circuit specs and most STs prepped to Rallye specs. Some of the three piece bumpers on these cars were stamped out on the factory tooling, but entirely in aluminum. Many 2,5L cars (but not all) seem to have been produced with three piece rear bumpers. Using the Series Production center panel with the ubiquitous Rallye Box exhaust, however, required modification to the center panel.

The alu rear center panel for the hot rod illustrates the pragmatic approach adopted by the Race Department’s mechanics and panel beaters. Most noticeably, the panel’s amply relieved lower corners provide clearance for the twin howitzer-like outlets of the Rallye Box muffler. Besides the large, symmetrical cut outs, in its upper corners we see the tell tale holes left behind when the fittings for fastening GHE rubber locks were removed. The adhesive outline of an old sponsor’s sticker glares out at the observer. On its reverse side, a nicely turned edge is welded to provide strength, rigidity and a suitable mounting surface for simple exhaust shrouds, fashioned from aluminum sheet, to be attached by rivets. Noteworthy also for what it lacks, the panel shows no evidence of a license plate ever having been mounted.

Unremarkable at first glance, an examination of the panel conveys a tale of Werks race craft from another era. A confident eye and skilled hand, working in concert with snips, torch and hammer fulfilled the requirements of the task. Perhaps this example conveys the ethos of the Race Department at that time: plain, not fancy; workman-like, not customized.

Age has turned its finish post-apocalyptic, a hideous camouflage of checked and peeling satin black, spray bombed over lurid Vipergrun. Its needy cosmetics repel the eye, providing little to restrain an urge to turn away. But old parts chasers well remember the adage that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.

So much of what we encounter in the old car trade amounts to no more than deception and artifice. But the vigilant enthusiast recognizes full well that camouflage works equally to disguise truth and authenticity.

Perhaps separated from its unknown donor as being insufficiently “pretty” for the restoration of an historic chassis, this old license panel languished in a pile of cast-off parts in Germany. It was rescued by a fellow enthusiast who recognized it as a legacy of an unknown fabricator in the Race Department, working during the era of the ST.

Eye and hand.

Snips, torch and hammer.

A part of the third kind.

QUOTE: "As we have come to understand, the Werks made great efforts to homologate an extensive, coordinated parts program for their customers contesting Special GT Group 4 events. The Werks described the full range of special equipment as providing everything required for the owner to “re-manufacture the Type 911S into a competition car,” a statement indicating the serious intent of the program."

Tom:

Using the factory parts, 911T and E models could be converted to a 'competition car' just as easily as an S, as the specific features of the S vs the T or E are changed out to make a competition car. I wonder how many non-Ss were converted? Wouldn't the low homologated weight for the S beginning in 1970 be applicable to any 911 modified into a competition car? They were all classified as a 911S because of the homologated weight, but I doubt that the FIA checked to see if the VIN showed an S number.

Gib

Hello Gib,

Thank you for your post.

Your point is well taken and no doubt reflects the true state of GT racing back in the day. Certainly the Kremer brothers bought T tubs and reconstructed them to Group 4 specs. Often, their official race entries show the model designation as 911S. I don't think the FIA cared as long as the car was race legal for its class.

However, please note that the quotation is not mine. It comes straight from the Spare Parts List Type 911 S competition type, Edition april 70 as published by Dr. -Ing. h.c. F. Porsche KG - Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

We know from PORSCHE Vehicles Used for Sports Purposes 2. Edition From Model 1970 that the 911S ONLY was homologated for competition in Group 4 racing. See scan of p from Sports Pursposes shown below.

Post Script:
entire development history
I recently re-read Chapter Eight of Porsche 911 Story The Revised and expanded seventh edition by Paul Frere. Chapter Eight covers "The 911 in Motor Sport" and provides a very interesting statement on page 245, first para, last sentence which states:

Quote As from 1970 all competition cars were built on the basis of the 911 S, homologated in Group 3, Porsches now having been disqualified from Group 2 and not being eligible any more for touring car events. Unquote

A scan of the relevant page appears below.

My interpretation of this statement is that the Werks reconstructed all the factory built ST competition cars on the basis of the 911 S, Group 3 and, with corresponding modifications, Group 4. However, this does not necessarily mean that privateers followed suit.

Gib:

Attached is the relevant page from the Spares list.

I think you could update virtually any chassis, T E or S, including SWB, to participate in GT as long as the parts conformed to the homologation.

There are a few T-Rs said to have been updated by the Werks to ST specs, just as there is at least one ST out there that was transformed in later years to 935 specs!

The factory homologated new parts pretty much every year, and as Raj says, its all a bit confusing.