For those of you with questions bodywork or 904 parts, please read the
For Sale Page
first.
***Well it's August 2011 and my project has come to a halt, we have the chassis
completed but I've run out of money to continue for the time being, once I find
more cash we'll resume and I'll post more pics the so stay tuned.. We will be
locating the
engine/transaxle assembly and designing the rear suspension and shock layout.
Stay tuned and
I'll be posting new pictures of my 904 progress as soon as I make any
(progress, that is). Once I'm started though, it should go fairly quickly as
tube frame chassis' "ain't rocket science" as they say. Just an update to
clarify the whole purpose of my 904 endeavor. As with the 962 I do this purely
as a hobby on no set schedule or time frame. I build the car the way I feel is
the best method and with my own take on style. Some aspects are left completely
original and some are changed to suit my personal taste. I do race the cars I
build, but I am not a die hard racer who has to go to every race during the
season. It is not my
intent to build an exact replica of a 904. I have always admired the looks of
the 904
and when the opportunity to purchase an original body presented itself I
decided to make molds from the original bodywork then produce my own
parts for my 904 project. I could then modify the bodywork to suit
myself and update it as I saw fit for my own car but still be able to produce
factory original bodies. For people looking for a "904 for sale" you're pretty
much out of luck as I believe there were only about 120 904's produced or maybe
less. You'd probably have more luck finding a 962 for sale, but maybe not. For
someone looking for a completed 904 you are basically stuck with the 2 or 3
outfits making replica's and they aren't particularly cheap. If you do have
some skills or know someone who does and do desire an original looking 904 you
can purchase the complete bodywork from myself and build yourself a chassis the
same way I'm doing it. Once my own project is completed, I'll have pictures
posted on this web page and you will have a good idea of what is involved.***
For those of you who don't know what a 904 is or looks like, they were produced
between 1963-65 and looked like the car in the picture below.
Here's something new, a friend of mine in Calgary, Alberta who used to own an
original 904 wanted to make a mock up of a 904 for display purposes and had
already acquired a pair of original doors. He purchased the main body, tail
section, hood, headlight covers and windshield from me and built a basic frame
to mount the bodywork and wheels on. The main body he used is the 4th picture
below with the roof scoop on top of it. The picture below is the result of his
efforts, the mock up does not have any interior, engine, transmission or fuel
tank.
So here's the plan: I've acquired a factory original body that was removed from
a 904 (904 093?) and I'm going to prep the parts and make molds from them. I'm
going to build a tubeframe to mount the
904 body that I make with my new molds. I think that a tube frame will be a
great improvement over the box section ladder chassis of the original 904,
which in my opinion was a disaster. You only have to look at the fact that from
the 906 to the 936 the factory produced tube frame chassis for these cars up
until their first monocoque chassis construction with the 956. It is NOT my
intention to build a "replica" or a "kit car", just an improved version of the
904 for myself. I will be using 962 suspension (which I manufacture), and while
the parts
from my molds will be stock copies, I will be flaring the fender wells to
accommodate 10" X 18" BBS centrelock rear wheels and tires and 8" X 18" on the
front with
Yokohama or Hoosier slicks. I also have a set of 17" X 9" and 17" X 8" BBS
wheels using my own 6 spoke centrelock wheel centres with Toyo RA-1's for my
wets in case it rains. I now have my new
sequential shifting 4 speed
transaxle with a torque sensing limited slip differential to run midengine with
my 3.6
litre 993 engine ready to be installed once the tubeframe chassis is built. I
will
be running an Aim MyChron steering wheel mounted display. Other body mods will
include a
front air dam/splitter which I think the 904 is in dire need of, a
carbon
rear wing in conjunction with the factory add on rear lip, and I might even add
the
roof scoop/intake like the GT1 has, we'll have to wait and see. I think this
car will weigh in the 1200-1500 lb. range and will turn out to be pretty quick
on the track with 300hp.
Billet machined aluminum 904 door hinges with stainless hinge pins, 1 set left for sale.
My new 5 spoke wheel centre with 8 inch wheel halves waiting to have a tire
mounted, these will reside on the front of my 904. Picture on the right is
complete wheel with Hoosier tire mounted, size is 17X8.
Picture below left (most recent) and right, shows the rear frame that will be
removeable with the engine and
gearbox, all the final tubing is in place. Still have
to do the rear wishbones and shock mounts as well as the transverse muffler
that I'll be using as the local track has a maximum 95db limit on sound.
Latest pictures with the chassis on a different jig, transaxle and engine block
mounted so we can design the rear chassis, body and tail section mounted. The
tail section will be extensively modified with flared wheel wells and flush
rear window. Starting to look like a car now but there's a long way to go.
Picture on left showing lower right wishbone that has been completely
redesigned, not
completed yet and the upper wishbone will be done shortly with pictures posted.
Picture on the right shows my new 5 spoke wheel centre design after milling out
the spokes.
Most recent picture showing side diagonal tubing, dash cross tube and forward
tubes for the upper front shock mounts. Right side picture is with the nose
cross bracing as well as the 3/4" bracing in the rest of the chassis. Will be
starting the wishbones for the front suspension and deciding on which shocks to
use (pictured in the rear). Then attachment of the engine and transaxle and the
rear section of the chassis.
Picture of the main roll cage hoop tacked in with the side tube going over the
door and down near the windshield frame, we may have to move it out closer to
the windshield post. As you can see from the picture below left, we have moved
the tubing closer to the windshield frame and because the Sparco seat was too
big to fit I've decided to use a 962 seat in my 904 and it seems to fit perfect.
The picture below left is the most current picture of my chassis build
progress. As you can see we have mounted the body and have attached the rear
bulkhead in order to fit the custom bent main roll bar hoop. The main hoop is
shown in the picture on the right, leaning against the bulkhead, it has to be
trimmed to fit on top of the side rails and close to the roofline so we can
start on the main rollcage. We will be making a completely removable rear frame
so that I can remove my engine, transaxle and suspension in one unit which will
be easier to work on. I will have to use quick disconnect fittings for my
brake, oil and clutch lines as well.
Pictured below right is the start of my 904 chassis, as you can see I will be
using Tilton aluminum pedals for the clutch and brake and a cnc'd gas pedal
same as I used in my 962. Left picture is 5 weeks later with some progress
being made on the chassis. We'll be getting the main rollbar hoop custom bent
to fit the roofline next.
I might make
dimension
drawings of the tube frame that we come up with so it can be duplicated as well
as all the suspension pieces, once the original design is finalized then I can
offer complete bodywork and chassis combinations. The beauty of the 904 is that
it uses a standard 911 engine and gearbox combination, turned around to run
midengine. You can use any 911 engine from a 2.0 litre up to the 3.6 993 engine
(as I'm doing) mated to a 901, 911, 915, 930 or G50 transaxle.
This is much easier than building the 962!
Below is a picture of the original body after major reconstruction so we could
pull a mold off it. As noted above the mold is finished and all the original
bodywork will be sent away. While the original bodywork has the front trunk area
still intact the parts out of the new mold will not have this trunk insert,
this will allow for a larger fuel cell and a better designed tube frame
chassis.
Below is a picture of the first body out of the main body mold, I will be using
this body for my own car it is very light weight as we used 2 oz. mat for this
body because of the modifications I will be making to my own car. The next two
bodies will be laid up with 3 oz. mat but will still be very light. Note that
compared to the picture above of the
original body, the new one below has the rear bulkhead filled in and does not
have a front trunk insert. We will be pulling two more bodies out of the mold in
the next couple of days. This body weighs approx. 60 lbs. I will be making
modifications to this body as mentioned before, 2" wheel well flares, front
splitter, roof scoop similar to the GT1 and ducting in the front hood for the
front oil cooler air to escape. The tail section will receive 3" wheel well
flares, factory rear spoiler/lip, rear window to fill in opening and a carbon
fibre rear wing. Not everyone's cup of tea, but something I want to do on my
own car. The tube frame chassis that I will be building for this body should go
quite quickly as it's fairly simple to design.
Below is the second body out of the mold with the door and hood resting on it.
This body was laid up with 3 oz. mat.
This most recent picture (below) is of the front body section with the second of
three tail sections (just out of the mold) sitting in place. There's a
scoop sitting on the roof that we'll blend in to make it more pleasing to the
eye, stylewise on my own car.
Pictured below is the fibreglass dash copy that I
made that doesn't require the dash cover piece that is required to finish the
original underdash. I offer the original underdash for those who want to stay
with originality and the
finished dash for those who don't.
Below are pictures of the original front hood and two doors that have been
sprayed with a primer/filler and just need to have a final sanding before I
make molds of the parts. A fair bit of work has already gone into the
preparation of these parts.
Below are new pictures of the first two doors that have been pulled out of the
new molds. Note that these are low res pictures and may show some distortion
that is not in the parts themselves.
The two doors below are for my car and have just been freshly painted, the
carbon hood which I will use on my car also will be sprayed with a clearcoat to
highlight the carbon weave. These doors are the same ones pictured above.
Below are pictures of the first two front hoods that have been pulled out of
the new mold. Note that these are low res pictures and may show some distortion
that is not in the parts themselves, also the glass hood has dusty fingerprints
on it which is not a flaw. One hood is carbon fibre which has been clear coated
and the other is plain
glass, these weigh 9 and 10 lbs. respectively and that is less than half the
original weight which is 22 lbs.
Here is the tail section just fresh from having a mold made from it. Most of
these parts have
have
been sprayed with epoxy primer and sanded smooth in order to make the molds.
they would probably require more sanding and prep before a paint job could be
applied.
Below is a picture of #2 and #3 tail sections pulled from the mold made from
the original tail section pictured above. These tail sections weigh in at 35
and 39 lbs. respectively. Of course these parts will have to be prepared,
sanded and primered before
painting as were the two doors pictured above.
I will be installing this 993 3.6 litre engine in the 904, as shown below it
has had the distributor removed as I'll probably be using a DFI setup and have
converted to a serpentine belt pulley system for the fan and alternator. This
is a nicer setup than the stock pulleys with the 3 v-belts if you're using air
conditioning. This means that my fan and alternator will be running at the
same speed.
I will be using the BBS centrelock 3 piece racing wheels on the 904, pictured
below left is the 18" X 10 inch rear wheel with the Yokohama slick mounted on
it. Pictured below middle is the 17" X 8 inch front wheel of my own manufacture
with the Toyo RA-1 that
I will be using for wet weather track conditions. Pictured on the right is the
front upright with the 14" brake rotor and Brembo Group C calipre that I'll be
running on my own car. The brake rotor actually hides the upright that it is
attached to. I
figure I will have to add a 2-3" flare to the front and rear wheel openings to
accommodate the wider rims and tires. I could retain the original body width of
60" but that would require a narrower chassis to allow me to use wishbones of a
reasonable length.
Below are two pictures of the 962 uprights that I will be using on my 904 on
the rear. The 904 will
have centerlock wheels just like the 962, these are pictured above.
Below is a picture of the new transaxle I'll be using in my 904 bolted to the
3.6 litre pictured above. It is a 4 speed sequential gearbox with a torque
sensing limited slip diff. I could have gone with a 5 speed but my experience
at the local track (which is quite short) dictates that a close ratio 4 speed
is more than adequate. This gearbox has a separate lever for reverse which
requires that you be in neutral before reverse can be selected. It will be
shifted with cables and has a hydraulic throw out fork. There's also a gear
display for the cockpit and as you can see there is a Tilton Super Starter
mounted on the gearbox.
This is a picture (below left) of the 10 pieces of billet aluminum that will
become
the wheel centres that I'm having made. The centres will use the current BBS
16" and 17" rim halves and sealing rings. They will be direct replacements for
the 962 centrelock wheel centres. The difference with these centres is that
they will have 6 spokes like the first Speedline wheels used on the 956. I'll
be taking more
progress pictures when the machining starts. I'll be using the first 4 of these
on my own 904. The picture in the middle is after the first milling operation
to remove the bulk of the aluminum before turning. The picture on the right is
after all the turning has been done, now all that's left is to mill the spoke
design and drive pin holes as well as the bolt holes for the rim halves, then
the centres will go out for anodizing. All 10 centres have been done and the
original BBS wheel centre is also shown in the picture. If there is any
interest in a 5 spoke design just e-mail me as I'm considering making that an
option to the 6 spoke centre.
The first pictures of the wheel centres after the spokes have been machined and
the drive pin holes and rim half holes have been drilled. The right side
picture below shows the wheel centres with the radius machined on the spoke
edges. Just some deburring left then the first 6 centres will be sent out for
black anodizing before lettering can be machined into the spokes.
pictures below of the final product with a fully assembled 17" wheel and Toyo
RA1 tire
mounted.
This page was last updated Friday, September 02, 2011 18:03:02
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