New 917 body.

[Dan B.]

I just finished the carbon chassis Rlaarlo AK917 build, and although the current body looks good my vision has changed. I had a spare clear body to play with and decided to do it up differently. We’ve all seen the ubiquitous Gulf liveried 917’s, the Hippie Car, the Pink Pig, and the (rare) Martini schemes, all of which are awesome. What I’ve never seen is one done in the original paint of the 25 cars Porsche produced for FIA homologation. Chassis 917-001 had a green nose, and I just wasn’t feeling that. The other 24 were finished very simply in Grand Prix White with the classic Porsche stripe on the lower flanks and a minimal amount of sponsor decals used during testing and a few original outings before Le Mans. Thats what I’m doing.
Here it is, masked and ready. The photo of the prepped shell on that filthy workbench is for @Ron Burgandy

Here is my motivation. The very first 917’s ever produced, chassis numbers 917-001 through 917-025 awaiting FIA inspection in front of Porsches race production facility.

And for those not familiar with this story please, for the love of god, Google it. What your are seeing in the above photo was a blatant FU to Enzo Ferrari and Carrol Shelby. Due to a rule change in 1969, the FIA changed displacement rules for the upcoming season and required each manufacturer to have at least 25 examples to qualify for the exemption, never dreaming that Porsche (at the time, smaller and struggling) would pull 25 cars out of the factory in a few very short months. They did it, and when the FIA inspectors went to the Porsche Motorsport factory, they smelled a rat and thought many must be non-running cars. They were offered the keys to all, and suggested they choose one at random to test. They declined to drive any of them, signed them off, and the rest is history. Looking at that photo, 25 917’s awaiting FIA inspection in 1969, still gives me goose bumps.
Yimo go paint a shell now.

 

[332_RC]

That's pretty cool. Love car history. I'm not a Ford or Ferrari fan really. But I've always liked Porsches. Got a TT02 911 GT3 992 kit I picked up a while back haven't built yet. Gonna go with classic racing green & the bronze color wheels. Your build is awesome!

 

[305HemiGuy]

Can't wait to see how this turns out

 

[Gordo]

Your a man that loves his Porsche. I did not no that history of Porsche and Le Mans but I will look in to it.
Well happy painting..... look forward to see it done and thanks for the MCI racing tip.

 

[Dan B.]

Your a man that loves his Porsche. I did not no that history of Porsche and Le Mans but I will look in to it.
Well happy painting..... look forward to see it done and thanks for the MCI racing tip.

Thank you sir. And you’re welcome for the MCI link. I’ve been waiting for days for a response from Nathanial regarding some custom stuff and I’ve no response as of yet. Thats the reason you see the flanks taped on the sides of the chassis in the picture above! All I wanted was for him to make me that outlined Porsche stripe, BUT NO… Now I have to paint my own damn lines.
Meanwhile, I’m gluing tires in between paint coats. Good god I hate doing that. Zero fun for me.
And yeah, I know…the original 917’s didn’t have forged BBS Motorsport wheels on them, but the problem was they didn’t exist at the time. A few 917’s did wear them later in life, though. Trust me.

 

[Dan B.]

Paint and graphics are done. I’m digging the simplicity of it. The stripes on the flanks are a little too wide, but I guess they’re fine.
All and all, I like the throwback vibe.
Im going to tint the front light “lenses” amber, and modify the light buckets for something much brighter that you could actually see at a distance.

 

[Dan B.]

I went ahead and put on the headlight film. Makes the car look even more “period.” I can’t wait to get those retina burners wired up. For now, I hear that whistle down at the station and the last train to Dodo Town will be pulling out soon. I’ll catch y‘all when the sun rises.

 

[305HemiGuy]

No way you're driving those things bro, they gotta be shelf queens! Amazing work

 

[Dan B.]

No way you're driving those things bro, they gotta be shelf queens! Amazing work

Thanks man! But yeah, I run ‘em all. But gosh, I was just staring at it again and doesn’t it look mighty nice on the shelf right now! At least I have around 3 or 4 months of winter left before I can start systematically destroying them.
I do enjoy doing bodies though, so I look forward to doing them as needed. I usually get a season out of them unless I just have too many hard crashes.

 

[305HemiGuy]

Thanks man! But yeah, I run ‘em all. But gosh, I was just staring at it again and doesn’t it look mighty nice on the shelf right now! At least I have around 3 or 4 months of winter left before I can start systematically destroying them.
I do enjoy doing bodies though, so I look forward to doing them as needed. I usually get a season out of them unless I just have too many hard crashes.

Hey, I totally get it man. I also find myself enjoying working on bodies more and more. God speed sir, keep us updated

 

[Dan B.]

I cut up the headlight buckets and got those big retina burners in there. These should light up the night just fine!

 

[Dan B.]

Yup, these things are bright AF. So much better than those little LED’s that came with it. You could barely tell those things were switched on!

These things light up the whole downstairs portion of my house when you turn off the lights!
And now that it’s officially a wrap, she will be a designated Shelf Queen until spring. Unless I go full commando and infiltrate the gymnasium in the school down the street…

 

[Doom!]

Yup, these things are bright AF. So much better than those little LED’s that came with it. You could barely tell those things were switched on!
View attachment 342288
View attachment 342290
View attachment 342291
These things light up the whole downstairs portion of my house when you turn off the lights!
And now that it’s officially a wrap, she will be a designated Shelf Queen until spring. Unless I go full commando and infiltrate the gymnasium in the school down the street…
View attachment 342298

Dannnnng! You could use those for the bat signal.

 

[Gordo]

Yup, these things are bright AF. So much better than those little LED’s that came with it. You could barely tell those things were switched on!
View attachment 342288
View attachment 342290
View attachment 342291
These things light up the whole downstairs portion of my house when you turn off the lights!
And now that it’s officially a wrap, she will be a designated Shelf Queen until spring. Unless I go full commando and infiltrate the gymnasium in the school down the street…
View attachment 342298

That is 1 beautiful build, nice job Dan. I love the old school look.

 

[Dan B.]

That is 1 beautiful build, nice job Dan. I love the old school look.

Thanks very much! I took it downstairs to the basement last night (just because) and was farting around with it for grins. This is my first ever experience with a fully sensored system, and it pretty much blew me away. This thing has a 4000kv motor in it and is geared for 104 mph on 3s and you can literally make it crawl across the floor almost silently. Crazy. I can’t wait to run this car, and may actually see if the school will let me into the gym for a “test and tune” session.

 

[332_RC]

Thanks very much! I took it downstairs to the basement last night (just because) and was farting around with it for grins. This is my first ever experience with a fully sensored system, and it pretty much blew me away. This thing has a 4000kv motor in it and is geared for 104 mph on 3s and you can literally make it crawl across the floor almost silently. Crazy. I can’t wait to run this car, and may actually see if the school will let me into the gym for a “test and tune” session.

Great looking build. Great details. Props. You may need a warehouse parking lot on 4000kv & 104! Wow that's awesome!