Michael Meldrum

Model 911T Targa Year 1972 Acquired 2013

Model 911E Year 1972 Acquired 2014

Model 930 Turbo 3.0 Year 1977 Acquired 2014

Model 930 Turbo 3.0 Year 1977 Acquired 2015

Model Carrera 3.0 Year 1977 Acquired 2016

Model 911 SC Year 1981 Acquired 2015

Model 3.2 Carrera Year 1986 Acquired 2015

Model 993 C4S Year 1996 Acquired 2016

Model 964 Carrera 4 Year 1994 Acquired 2016

Model 997.1 GT3 Year 2007 Acquired 2017

Model 991.1 GT3 RS Year 2016 Acquired 2018

I love my gulf blue 1978 RSR backdate. It’s completely period incorrect, but has lots of details I love, like the painted dash, and 15-inch wheels with sticky Michelin TB15S that make me smile.

It has developed quite the collection of stone chips, so it’s a great car to enjoy without worrying about the consequence of a mark here or there, but I might have been a tad overzealous at the last Hill Country Rallye, so I’ve sent it back to its creator, Rs-werks, for an engine rebuild.

Rs-werks pulled the engine and disassembled to assess the condition. There were signs of contact between the pistons and valve, most likely due to overrevving on my part. As a result, the engine would no longer be able to maintain the integrity of the rod bearing, so we decided to tear the engine all the way down to the crankshaft.

The good news is that the crankshaft was still within tolerances. However, now we had started down the rabbit hole and the engine all the way down to the crank, we agreed it would be the perfect time for an upgrade. It would be rude not to!

Phase one: increase the displacement by lengthening the stroke, requiring a custom crankshaft and connecting rods. Phase two: twin-plug the heads to allow the compression to be increased to 11.5:1. Rs-werks expects the new displacement will be around 3.55L or 3,550cc with a healthy gain in power from the 258 WHP the 3.4 with 46mm PMO’S produced prior to the rebuild (with a conservative tune).

The most important statistic will be the increased smiles per mile it will yield for me!