Words: Wong Chern.
Nakai-san’s quickest build from start to finish was 1.5 days, he averages about 2 days per car and spends around close to 10 months away from Japan now. For Southern Cross, the first RWB in the Southern Hemisphere, he spent about 3.5 days.
This series of black and white images by Vien Nguyen relives the quiet moments of the build as we closed the workshop and continued building into the winter nights.
Day 1 – The RWB 930 kit was held together by tapping screws and masking tape and yet it resembles the final product. A close inspection will reveal Nakai-san designs the body work to be held in tension. Removing one element of the kit causes all the other panels to misalign.
Day 2 – Polyeurethane and hex screws work in unison to keep the body kit in alignment once optimum positioning has been achieved. Upon measuring, we realised the chassis was only 4mm off from corner to corner. Rear left corner will always be higher than the front right due to the engine’s rotation constantly exerting forces clockwise.
Day 3 - Nakai-san started working in a Porsche panel shop in the west of Tokyo. He now has two decades of experience with air-cooled 911 under his belt. He owns 10 of these cars himself – SCs, G-series, 964 to 993, from a Cabriolet to a Coupe and anything in between.
The experience was very personal as he takes the owner through his process in sequence, explaining to them why he does it the way he does and how.
