Porsche RS60

[afx]

Recently picked up a Revel RS60 glue bomb.  The Revell is a very nice 1/24 scale slot car body kit.  The builder fabricated a crude chassis.  

[afx]

I have a mint kit in the original box (photos form the internet).   I was very reluctant to cut into it in an attempt to build a static model, now I don't have to.

[afx]

After a few days in the pond and some vigorous scrubbing I've got another Porsche project to work with.

[afx]

I've modified a 356 chassis to fit the RS60 body.  It's not accurate to the 1:1 which was built on a tube chassis.  Not sure how far this one will go, I don't have the suspension or engine to complete this chassis.

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Borrowed the front suspension from one of my 356 builds to do a mockup.

 

Might be a little high in the front but not by much.  The cars had significant tire clearance back in the day.

Edited October 25, 2023 by afx

[afx]

Decided I should start a new thread for this project my Porsche 356 thread was getting unwieldy. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

The RS-60 is, of course, also mid-engined, not rear engined like a 356 or 911.

I snagged one of those bodies a while back too, to build a static model as well.  

I'll be interested in seeing which way you go with this one. 

I'd think that, judging by the skills you've already demonstrated, building a reasonably accurate tube frame for it is doable.  

[afx]

Got to track down more parts but my intention is to tube the back half.  The 1:1 rear suspension is very challenging, might have to fudge that a bit. 

[Pierre Rivard]

Year of the Porsche at the Reckner shop. Definitely.

[afx]

I am a certified Porschephile!

[afx]

Fabricated inner fender panels, front half of the chassis is fitting nicely.

 

[afx]

A lot of chassis structure is exposed in the cockpit which I hope to replicate.  First up the main forward hoop.

 

Looks like the 4-cam will fit under the body, was concerned about the height.

Edited October 28, 2023 by afx

[Ace-Garageguy]

Very nice adaptation of the 911 chassis to the required RS60 mid-engine configuration.

The necessary removal of the transverse rear torsion bars and housings and all the related structure, and then fabbing up new structure and coilover rear suspension is what makes converting a 911 to mid-engine in reality a significant piece of engineering.

There have been a few.    https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-and-drivers-education-forum/450089-mid-engine-911-a.html

 

[afx]

13 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Very nice adaptation of the 911 chassis to the required RS60 mid-engine configuration.

The necessary removal of the transverse rear torsion bars and housings and all the related structure, and then fabbing up new structure and coilover rear suspension is what makes converting a 911 to mid-engine in reality a significant piece of engineering.

There have been a few.    https://rennlist.com/forums/racing-and-drivers-education-forum/450089-mid-engine-911-a.html

 

Thanks Bill.  The chassis is form the Fujimi 356, thought that would be more believable.  I am on the fence about opening the body and creating a tube chassis back half. If I go that route I will use swing arm suspension similar to what Porsche used in the 550 from my research.  

Do you have any insight as the how the 4-cam was mounted?  I assume there where some sort of motor mounts but haven't been able to find photos.

[afx]

The rest of the interior tube structure.

 

It is removable for painting. 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by afx

[Belugawrx]

Nice work so far JC ? 

Your tube work is always second to none

Cheers

[Pierre Rivard]

Slot car origins are fast disappearing. Beautiful work go the cockpit structure and looking forward to see how you engineer the rear chassis/engine mounting structure.

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 hours ago, afx said:

Thanks Bill.  The chassis is form the Fujimi 356, thought that would be more believable.  I am on the fence about opening the body and creating a tube chassis back half. If I go that route I will use swing arm suspension similar to what Porsche used in the 550 from my research.  

Do you have any insight as the how the 4-cam was mounted?  I assume there where some sort of motor mounts but haven't been able to find photos.

1) Same thing goes about the transverse torsion bar housing on the 356 chassis and its surrounding structure.

2) The Porsche 4-cam type 547 engine mounts vary somewhat by generation and application.

All the 547 engines mount primarily to the gearbox through 4 bolts-studs surrounding the flywheel, with the gearbox mounts taking most of the weight. Interestingly, the VW Bug and Porsches 356 and 911/912/914 and the aircooled derivatives use the same flywheel-end transmission 4-bolt pattern...including the 4-cam 547 engines.

Some applications use a pulley-end supplementary mount attached to the case through 4 smaller diameter studs.

Note the 4 studs projecting past the crank pulley in the photo below. 

Those studs can carry both an optional extension housing that allows distributors to be run on the pulley end, and a fabbed mount that can carry a portion of the engine weight.

Photos at the Revs Institute site show the RS60 rear gearbox mount fairly clearly.

https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1960-porsche-rs-60/#gallery-3

https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1960-porsche-rs-60/#gallery-8 

The flywheel end of the gearbox is supported by 2 lower pad-type mounts that bolt through the bellhousing, like a Bug or 356. I don't know if the RS60 uses the supplementary pulley-end mount, but IIRC, the 4-cams mid-mounted in the 550 Spyders did not.

NOTE: mid-engine-mounted 4-cams usually used distributors mounted to the heads and driven by the cams, where the engines intended for rear-engine mounting usually used distributors mounted on the pulley end of the engine case, driven by a jackshaft off the crank.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy

[absmiami]

Excellent research

motor in ?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Just FYI: the photo below shows a 547 4-cam in a 904 chassis, using the pulley-end distributors and long fabbed pulley-end mount.

This is possible because the 904 engine bay was designed to accommodate the longer 911 flat six engine, so there's plenty of room forward of a 547 engine. All that space doesn't exist in the RS60 chassis.

 

[afx]

I plan on positing the distrubutor 

5 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

1) Same thing goes about the transverse torsion bar housing on the 356 chassis and its surrounding structure.

2) The Porsche 4-cam type 547 engine mounts vary somewhat by generation and application.

All the 547 engines mount primarily to the gearbox through 4 bolts-studs surrounding the flywheel, with the gearbox mounts taking most of the weight. Interestingly, the VW Bug and Porsches 356 and 911/912/914 and the aircooled derivatives use the same flywheel-end transmission 4-bolt pattern...including the 4-cam 547 engines.

Some applications use a pulley-end supplementary mount attached to the case through 4 smaller diameter studs.

Note the 4 studs projecting past the crank pulley in the photo below. 

Those studs can carry both an optional extension housing that allows distributors to be run on the pulley end, and a fabbed mount that can carry a portion of the engine weight.

Photos at the Revs Institute site show the RS60 rear gearbox mount fairly clearly.

https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1960-porsche-rs-60/#gallery-3

https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1960-porsche-rs-60/#gallery-8 

The flywheel end of the gearbox is supported by 2 lower pad-type mounts that bolt through the bellhousing, like a Bug or 356. I don't know if the RS60 uses the supplementary pulley-end mount, but IIRC, the 4-cams mid-mounted in the 550 Spyders did not.

NOTE: mid-engine-mounted 4-cams usually used distributors mounted to the heads and driven by the cams, where the engines intended for rear-engine mounting usually used distributors mounted on the pulley end of the engine case, driven by a jackshaft off the crank.

Thank you for the info.  I plan on driving the distributors off the cams - space is going to be tight.

 

[afx]

3 hours ago, absmiami said:

Excellent research

motor in ?

Not yet.  I have to get the rear wheels located then work forward from there to fit the gearbox and engine. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by afx

[afx]

Inner door panels.

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Found some beefer tires.  Have the rear suspension done enough for a mockup.

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Dash panel.