I have always tried to run with as many other clubs as I can. My first track event was actually with the Metro BMW club. Running with so many groups, I continue to meet an ever increasing cadre of new friends. As my driving skills have increased over the years, I have reached for drivers of greater skill than mine to teach me. Along the way, my list of friends continues to grow. One fellow in particular, who is always willing to share what ever newly learned tricks of the track he might have come across, is Kurt Faller. He and his wife Sutton share a modified 1977 930 Turbo and drive it in most of the DE events the Riesentoter Region holds. Our friendship goes back about five years now, and we go as far as trading cars from time to time, just to see how the other half lives.
My car in 1998 had upwards of 450 horsepower and was still a stock bodied 930 Turbo. Kurt’s car was of about the same weight and power and we always ran nose to tail whenever we were on the track together.
I’ve always liked the look of the late 70’s 935. At the end of the 1998 DE season I came across a guy selling a used, but never installed, 935-fiberglass body kit. We had already removed all the easy to discard creature comforts to try to get the weight of my car down. The A/C was gone, along with all the sound-deadening material I could remove. The lighter a car, the better it’ll stop, corner and accelerate. I also knew that those two, cute frog-like headlights that make a 911 look like a 911 were pushing way too much air. It was time for yet another change.
It was mid winter when I summoned my brother Charlie, who always had a flair for doing body work, to help me with his project. He was very excited to get involved. At night, my friend Tim Trapani would come by the shop to lend us a hand and on the weekends all three of us would tackle this seemingly endless project. Tim and I started with the removal of the front fenders, hood and bumpers. We also decided to gut the inner portion of the sunroof bracing and then replace the sunfoof with a carbon fiber lid, a weight savings of over 40 lbs. Weight that was high in the car, when removed helped to lower the car’s center of gravity.
The kit I bought was originally made by AIR, a company based in southern California and owned by Dan Mcloughlin. Dan was instrumental in the late 70’s and early 80’s with the development and improvement of the 935. I called him several times before and during the project and Dan was always happy to give advice and talk about the past. The most valuable words he said, which would ring in my ears as we reshaped these body panels to get them to fit was, “ It’s race glass made for race cars.”
When we tried to hang the new (used) front fenders, we were in for a bit of a surprise. With the uprights of the fenders securely bolted, instead of the fender tops slopping downward towards the headlights, they went out almost perpendicular to the uprights! We wound up cutting the uprights off the fenders, bolting the fender tops onto the inner fenders, bolting the uprights on, then reglassing it all together again. Lots of unexpected work. The hood was no problem at all.
I also decided to get rid of those heavy doors. I ordered carbon fiber doors from my friend at G.T. racing, Hank Godfredrson. They also went on without a hitch, a savings of another 100 lbs! Next it was my brother’s turn.He placed the metal shear on the rear quarter section, looked at me and said,” Are you sure?” I should shoke my haed up and down. I didn’t actually say, “ Do it.” He carefully cut off the rear quarter panels so they could be sold later. It seemed like only minutes and the old quarters were cut off and lying on the floor. I had previously measured the width of my trailer and knew that a real 935 would be to wide to fit. So I opted to install GTU style rear quarters instead of the 935 rear quarters. The GTU style quarters would be two inches less in width then the 935 quarters. With these, the car would just fit on my trailer. The rear wheels would be resized to 13 inches and the car would now have a rear track of 78 inches. After preparation of the bare metal, Charlie used a special adhesive to bond the new fiberglass rear quarters to the original steel tub.
The total time we spent was measured in weeks. After all the Fiberglass and carbon fiber body panels were hung on and fitted, there was a good amount of sanding to be done, along with many coats of body putty, and much more finish sanding, before the car could be sent out for paint. I sent the car out to another friend of mine, Mike, over at Chase collision, for the paint work.
We had begun the project in mid-February and we were all done and at the track in April. The new body work allowed me to run 11 inch wide tires up front and 14 inch wide tires in the rear, providing much needed grip. In all, we had reduced the weight of my car, from the original 3200 lbs. to 2150 lbs.! The aerodynamics were also greatly improved. now,being lighter, my car would accelerate faster, turn better, and stop quicker than before. The pictures tell the story.
The next season, my friend Kurt couldn’t believe that all we did was change the body. The difference in performance was just incredible. He thought we had increased the horsepower again. To quote my friend, Hank Godferson, “Lighter is faster.”