Building A 935 Replica At Madlane Japan

What does it mean to exist? For Kazuki Ohashi of Madlane, the difference between existing and not existing equates to some steel tubing, fibreglass, and a very special (and no doubt expensive) rear cowl.

Kazuki-san is building a 935 (Replica K4), of which only two exist in the world. There’s plenty of debate on whether a concept or idea equates to a thing’s existence, but I tend to lean towards the side which believes that only physical objects can be classed as such. It is a replica of course, but it’s pretty damn close so let’s not split hairs. 

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At just 27 years of age, Kazuki-san has built a number of slammed, modified and restored supercars, and you can read about some of those hereThey’re impressive for sure, but now Kazuki-san is really stepping up his game by taking on the incredible challenge of recreating one of the greatest Porsche track cars of all time.

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The Kremer Racing 935 K4 was the final iteration of the Kremer brothers-built 935s that dominated a number of races and series in the late 1970s and early ’80s including the IMSA GT championship, DRM, Sebring and the Nürburgring 1,000km. 

Racing legend John Fitzpatrick, who owned and drove the first Kremer 935 K4, confirms: “The K4 was a sensational car, the fastest 935 ever, and still is.” 

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With its sleek custom silhouette built around the remnants of a factory 930 Turbo roof, the Kremer 935 K4 had immense presence on the track. Kazuki-san is now bringing that magic to the streets of Japan.

The base car for Kazuki-san’s build is a 964 Carrera 2, although, just like the Kremer 935 K4, there’s not much of the original car left, especially at the rear. The 964 chassis has been completely replaced from the rear door sills back with a tube frame hand built by Kazuki-san.   

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From an engineering standpoint, I was intrigued at how Kazuki-san had mapped out the frame and especially how he has calculated the position of the rear suspension setup. He’s used the hubs and control arms from a 993, but with a pushrod suspension.

What you see are just motorbike shocks for the fabrication process and to move the car around. He’s having custom billet case and external tank units made for actual use.  

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To create something tangible from nothing but an idea takes time, knowledge, resources and a decent-sized budget. Luckily for us, Kazuki-san can tick all those boxes.

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Knowledge is probably the most important element of this build. Most of the car’s dimensions and form have been created using photos and even plastic models of the Kremer 935 K4. There are no online car forums to follow for build tips, and likewise there are no blueprints or spare parts to copy.

There is, however, a master Porsche mechanic living in Kobe, a few hours from Madlane HQ, and he has been guiding Kazuki-san with many of the technical details. 

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It would be madness to go through all this and not have the K4 drive like a proper race car, right? Absolutely, and that’s why Kazuki-san has chosen a 3.6L 964 flat-six, bored out to 3.8L. To make big power, Kazuki-san will use twin KKK turbos with 935 wastegates and manifolds from Reid Washbon Racing Exhausts in California.

Just like in the original Kremer 935 K4, the gearbox is upside down which makes the drive shafts parallel and reduces wear on the universal joints. 

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As I read more about the K4 and look through my photos of Kazuki-san’s build, my heart is racing with excitement. This isn’t just going to be show car that looks like a race car – this is going to be a proper K4 replica with the guts to match. 

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While much of the build is a piecing together road car parts, custom panels and fabricating the tube frame from scratch, there is something very special that brings a heavy dose of authenticity to this build, matched by no other.  

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Resting in a dusty corner of the workshop sits a rear cowl from the John Fitzpatrick-owned and developed Kremer 935 K4.

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This is a cowl which covered the engine that pushed the car to victory countless times. How cool is that?

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There’s obviously much more to cover with this build, but Kazuki-san has asked that it’s kept secret until the car is finished. For now, let’s just be happy that he’s building such a cool replica.

Toby Thyer
Instagram _tobinsta_
tobythyer.co.uk

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1
MIGUEL ANGEL CASTELLANOS TABORDA

buen infome thy me gustaria ver ese proyecto terminado saludos desde colombia

2

That welding looks like hell.

3

My thoughts exactly.

5
Jay Soh Tsu Chung

My respect level for him just gone up another level!

6

Can't wait to see the finished product with the entire bodykit!
It's going to look so cool! A big up for Kazuki-san for this build himself!

7

I wonder if he will actually risk running the authentic rear cowl on the road/track, or if he will use it to make moulds for a duplicate (out of CF this time)?

Author8

Good question! Knowing Kazuki I dare say he’ll want to use the original

9

A time bomb! Good luck.

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Author10

Patience please

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Author11

It’s very early days yet and he has a network of professionals supporting him through the process, no doubt everything will be up to spec once this monster hits the streets. Plus it will have to pass all kinds of inspections and regulations before it goes anywhere. Let’s not forget he’s 27 and not a fabricator by trade!

12

Toby

Get a load of this pic. That is some SERIOUS engineering going on in the back of the original car! Holy smokes! And this was in the early 80's!

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Author13

Yep! Pretty ridiculous!

14

Only way to fix those welds is grind them off and do them again. As has bee suggested by others, these welds will fail under load. Other welding on the suspension is also faulty in that they've been overheated. And yes, I am a fabricator by trade, amongst other things. No-ones perfect, and there are a million opinions out there on what makes a good weld, but there are also good, hard facts on the types of weld required for race applications. Suspension failures are a significant cause of driver fatality.

15

I respect his efforts and passion. Thats not my point. Proper welds are critical, especially on a vehicle and even more so on suspension components that are put under high load. His welding would be significantly improved just by making adjustments to the settings on his welding machine.

16

there we go, another youtube commentator.

17

As a welder by trade, I'm naturally drawn to both good and bad weld jobs. I can't help it. So if I see a good weld, I'm give the person praise. If it's not good, I'll give them criticism.

18

Will break off, you reckon?

19

Doesn't look like it has any penetration on those welds specifically. And this is a part with shear loads (as in the weld has to take it, it's not just holding the piece in place).

20

Welds are way too cold. It’s very easy to see from the appearance of the bead

21

A very amazing feat building such a great car. With more guidance, hands-on technicality, esp welding department I am very sure the project will be great success. I was once mid 30s, and my welding skill was chicken-shit-ish. My welding improved with lots of sweat, tears, hours of trying and never-give-up attitude.

Ganbatteh kudasai, Kazuki-san!

Author22

He’s doing a stellar job and failure is an alien concept!

23

Wiating for the final product but for the time being 1 question: with all the fabrication going on, is it worth it chopping a genuine carrera just for the sake of the roof instead of adding 1 more item on the "items to fabricate" list?

24

Pays to be rich

All this to break the interner and hard park it

25

Shame all the welding on various places looks like absolute shit.

26

What is a rose by any other name kinda deal. It's posted here that the welds and cage is mostly to inspire the kid to finish this (good) idea and well with the right pro$$$.$$$.$$
All this is BS until it's done, to be honest... As the cost of seeing this through will require an easy six digits. If he has the dough and is of the stubbornest species of Asian, can't wait to return to this site in a year (or two) and see the running car with some amazing photography!

Author27

Exactly. It’s not over until the fat K4 sings…

28

Thank you, Mr Thyer, for fixing your post processing. You initially had the habit of boosting the reds and blues so much that the cars looked like cardboard cutouts. It was so bad, I refused to look at any of your articles after the first two, until now. Please continue your efforts at improving so that the people in the articles also look a bit more... well, peopley. You come out with a lot of articles, and some of the subjects looked very interesting. It was sad to see the subject let down by, lets call it "exploratory photography"

29

A 964 bites the dust for another “build”
What a shame .
I wonder how many cars each year get butchered for “likes”

30

> It would be madness to go through all this and not have the K4 drive like a proper race car, right?

Right, so where's the axial fan?
A 934/5 replica is OK, but do not over-cook just for 'likes', as this isn't a K4 anything.

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Author31

The engine in the article is not the engine for this car, and at no point did I say it was.

This is the engine, prepared by Jim Torres in the states.

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Author32

If your talking about the engine fan, who said there isn’t one?

33

Idea is nice. Shame the welding is so bad.
The cage is a mess. He has ground down all the welds on the pipe joints, no doubt because they looked so bad, therefore making the whole thing weak and redundant.

Author34

If we can all just relax about the welding, the photos I took are purely to show what Kazuki is up to. At no point did I say he is anywhere near finished.

Here’s what he says;



I tig weld all points after assembling by mig welding. Why is that? The frames are completely connected by applying heat to the tubular frame welded only by mig. Because it's a frame, not an additional tube. Must be fully connected. The welding is before processing. So everyone denied. Looks are not good. However, I am doing heat treatment after this. The only place I didn't install it when you came was the location of the suspension. This is not for the appearance, but to make a frame by repeating Mig and Tig to melt a sufficient amount of wire firmly. This is a very important step in making a frame. I'm doing this on all of the many welds. This is a technique I learned from my master who made 935 and full tubular frames. he said

“Don't get caught up in the appearance, what matters is the composition and strength. Do not spare time and effort for that”

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Author35

Rear

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