TIME-LAPSE. Porsche 917/30 full engine restoration. Canepa Motorsports

Watch the flat-12 engine from a 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am car be torn down and fully restored by Canepa Motorsport in one 4-minute time-lapse video.

I’m struggling to work out where I stand on this. On the one hand, watching the monstrous V12 from a Porsche 917/30 Can-Am car being restored in time-lapse is mesmerising. On the other, watching California-based Canepa Motorsports tear a flat-12 down its componentry whilst simultaneously listening to the William Tell Overture is, well, abstract to say the least. My suggestion? Welcome to the Jungle. Just trust me on this…

The ‘story’ behind the video itself is pretty straightforward: tear an engine down, bag-and-tag each part, restore every nut and crankcase to factory-fresh condition (or replace as needed), and put back together. Now read that sentence again, only this time I’ll mention that the engine in question is the 1100bhp, 1,112Nm (820lb ft) 5.4-litre twin-turbocharged V12 that catapulted the Porsche 917/30 to the 1973 Canadian-American Challenge Cup title.

The engine though is just one part of a tantalising re-build of this 1973 Porsche 917/30 by Canepa Motorsports. Specifically, the subject is the Penske Racing-run chassis #003 with which Mark Donohue dominated the 1973 Can-Am season: of the seven races he started with chassis #003, Donohue won five of them and scored another 2^nd place finish to ultimately collect 77 points MORE than nearest rival George Follmer and that year’s Can-Am title. Out of retirement for just one race in 1974, 10 months since its previous race, Penske’s Brian Redman took chassis #003 to another 2^nd place finish at Mid-Ohio.

On-track activity was restricted to a number of closed-circuit high-speed runs in 1975, and by 1983, the Porsche 917/30 had found a new home with a private American collector. Now under the Canepa Motorsports umbrella, chassis #003 has made sporadic appearances at historic events – most notably Rennsport Reunion V last year – but has since gone under the surgeon’s knife as part of a full restoration. Though we don’t have room for them all here, the Canepa team has snapped more than 150 images of the work in-progress which you can see on their official website HERE. In the meantime, we recommend watching the video again. And remember, Welcome to the Jungle. You’ll thank us.

Enjoy this Porsche 917/30 / Canepa Motorsports engine re-build? 

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