Kit Car Builder, December 2006
Tim Loy
Seal Grey Porsche 550 Spyder

Of the two His & Hers Spyders here, Tim took a bit more of a performance attitude, surely based on his experience at the wheel of drag racing VeeDubs. By no means though is his 550 a stripped-down quarter miler. Instead it has about as much creature comforts as the little car can muster as well as some of the shiny bits found of hot street cars.

The engine compartment on this car got lots of attention, as it should have. In face, it got so much attention that it took “Best Engine” gold at this year’s Knott’s (CA) show. And that says a lot considering there were over 100 snake replicas in attendance and some very high-zoot mills powering them. Most of Thunder Ranch’s turnkey cars are powered with brand new Scat Zero-Mile motors, typically with 2275cc of displacement. For the high-performance models like this one, the Ranch specifies billet chromoly counterweighted cranks, forged I-beam connecting rods and other such hard-core internals to keep the beast living. Tim’s engine additionally received and FK87 cam, D-port heads, Thunder Ranch tuned exhaust and a pair of 48mm Weber IDA carbs fitted with short velocity stacks. The engine of course additionally has a full-flow oiling system with a deep oil sump, remote filter, 96-fow oil cooler and electric cooling fan. The engine also wears a Thunder Ranch 911-style fan shroud fitted with a Porsche alternator and proprietary fan. The company has found that this fan shroud system works much better than the standard VW cooling tin at keeping the air-cooled engine cool. In keeping with the performance theme, oil lines, fuel lines and such are all braided stainless aircraft-style AN fittings.

Spyder cockpits are about as simple as one can get – mostly painted surfaces, a pair of original-style bucket seats, a bit of carpeting and some belts. Tim added a shift light, fed from some engine sensors to the dash, a carbon fiber covered switch and a small fire extinguisher as a tip-off that this car may be a little more than stock when it comes to performance. The dash is outfitted with the traditional VDO Porsche instruments including tach, speedo and a combo gauge reading fuel lever and temperature as well as indicator lights. A Brandwood cable shifter handles the transmission duties. The seats are upholstered in perforated leather and square weave carpeting covers the decks and rear bulkhead. A Nardi wood-rimmed steering wheel ads to the nostalgic flavor of the replica.

Tim’s car was painted with DuPont Seal Grey (a Porsche color) basecoat and slathered with clear to give it a rich, distinctive look. Thunder Ranch uses a Porsche Speedster windshield of the street Spyders, instead of an acrylic windscreen like the original, and it provides ample protection from the elements. It also allows for windshield wipers for those times when the weather turns inclement.

The car rides on polished Fuchs (Porsche 911) wheels, 6” x 16” fronts and 7” x 16” rears wrapped in Falken directional rubber, 205 and 225 respectively.

Kit Car Builder His & Hers page three