|
UPDATE*
Pictures of the new wheel centres that I'm having machined, which are more like
the Speedline 6 spoke design that were on the original 956's can be seen on the
"904 Page". I have finished the whole redesign of my 962's rear suspension
having switched to the Hewland 6 speed transaxle which meant that I had to
change from the inboard shocks with rocker suspension like the original 962 to
a pushrod setup. The car is sitting back down on it's own wheels right now and
I'll get back onto the task of
fitting the bodywork. So much for the setback of changing transaxles. Once the
bodywork is mounted I'll be going over the car to make sure everything is
attached properly and tightened to the appropriate torque settings. I can then
put the gas back in the fuel cell, oil in the engine, gear lube in the
transaxle and get the car running again as it was before I decided to change
transaxles. It now looks like it will probably be next Spring when I can take
it to the local track for a shakedown to work out
any bugs and to see what falls off!;) Of course more pics will follow on the
photo page soon.
Well you found the Porsche 962/904 page(s), I assume that you are a Porsche 962 or 904 fan so please take the time to read this and look at the photos. The 962 was my favourite Porsche, and I've always had a fondness for the 904 (which I've now started building). For some background on myself, my name is Derek Smith and I have been working on Porsches for about 35+ years, and have owned virtually every model from the 356 to the 928 (the only water cooled Porsche that I've had). Nowadays I limit myself to building race cars and Porsche engines for competition (only the six cylinder, air cooled, naturally aspirated variety) strictly for my own use. I also race the cars that I build and recently campaigned a semi-tube frame 914-6 GT-2 at the local road course (Mission, B.C.) and in the Molson Indy support race at the temporary road course in Vancouver in '94 and '95. The car was quite successful right out of the box, winning all the races entered at Mission and (almost) always being able to qualify on the pole at will. That car, (pictured below at Mission) was retired at the end of '95 and the rolling chassis was sold to end up its days racing in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China. Prior to my roadrace experience I competed in Solo II competition from 1986 to 1991 with a 2.7 litre powered 914-6, that car proved to be virtually unbeatable running in the D/Mod class and resulted in three consecutive Canadian National Solo II titles and even a writeup in the March, 1990 Christophorus magazine. I had been a contract sponsored driver for BFGoodrich for eight years and all my autocross and roadrace success has been on their BFG T/A R-1 slalom or roadrace tires. Due to BFG pulling out of motorsports in Canada and the fact that they don't have the tire size that the 962 requires, I'll be using the Toyo, Hoosier and Yokohama R tires on my 904 on the local road course at Mission. |
While I have built aluminum monocoques for the 962, my own is a tube (space) frame version (see below), which is identical to the monocoque version it just has different chassis construction.
T h e 9 6 2 R a c e c a r
| As a hobby I produce some of the components to build Porsche 962 and 904 racecars like the one pictured above, here, in Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA. With the exception of the wheels (BBS) note: I am now making my own wheel centres (6 spoke ala Speedline and 5 spoke) which will use the BBS 16" and 17" rim halves (pictures are on the 904 page) , brake calipres (Brembo), shocks (Bilstein), and tires, all the parts for this car are produced locally. I have constructed the aluminum monocoque as well as tube space frame (tube frame) chassis, although now I am starting the design and construction of a tube frame chassis for the 904. I do have drawings of the 962 chassis (tube version) as well as the plans (read aluminum patterns) for the monocoque available for purchase. These are the original factory patterns. The monocoque is constructed of 2024 T3 aircraft aluminum with a 4130 steel tubing roll cage. The complete tube frame version with a 3.2 litre Carrera engine weighs about 1800 lbs. which is less than the original turbocharged version. Considering the weight and an extremely reliable 300 horsepower this makes for a very quick club racer. This car will run in the A/SR (A/Sports Racing) class. The tube frame version proves to be slightly stiffer than the monocoque car although going up on the gauge of aluminum used on the monocoque does increase its torsional and structural rigidity considerably. The monocoque is produced using commercial aircraft airframe construction methods using AN rivets. The tube frame is built to SCCA GT tubeframe requirements. The windshields are aircraft polycarbonate and not lexan as lexan distorts the drivers view due to the compound curves in the windshield. All the body panels are made here in fibreglass (as were all original factory 956/962's) with some parts optionally being made in carbon fibre. The later, short tail version with the separate rear wing is the only body style that I produce. The dual plane, adjustable rear wings are made of carbon fibre or aluminum, with aluminum being the less expensive of the two. The suspension components (front uprights and hubs, rockers, a-arms etc.) are fabricated or cast and machined locally. The steering rack is a custom made steel and magnesium unit with the same ratio as the original all magnesium rack. I purchased a Lola/Hewland 6 speed sequential transaxle and have adapted it for my application. If you've read this far and are wondering if I build complete cars for sale, the answer is no. This is NOT a kit car and is not offered as such. I do however, have many extra parts and components:- monocoque patterns, bodywork, uprights etc. for anyone with the talent (and the funds) to build their own car. While these parts are not cheap serious inquiries can be sent via the e-mail link below. After some careful consideration I'm currently putting my efforts into building a tube frame 904 using original bodywork that I purchased and making molds to produce my own body parts and upgrading the suspension with some of the parts I manufacture for the 962. I have purchased an original 904 body that was removed from a factory original 904 (the owner re-bodied it with a new fibreglass body) so I will have some pictures posted on a new page that can be accessed with the button above. I will start with pictures of the body, then the tube frame as it is built and all the suspension as I adapt it for use on the 904. I already have a 3.6 litre 993 engine and a 4 speed sequential gearbox with close ratio gears that will run midengine in the 904. |
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Copyright ©1997
Derek Smith
Most recent revision Thursday, January 05, 2012 17:27:17
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- link to my chassis builder who does all my tube frame chassis fabrication, he has built all my 914-6 and 962
tube chassis and is currently doing my 904 chassis.
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