1973 2.4E Restoration

[Darren65]

Thanks for all the comments guys.

The car was wheeled off the trailer and straight into the bodyshop the moment I got back.

Paint work will start next week and I'll detail the process and products we plan to use then.

Cheers,
Darren

[Darren65]

The shell is now prepared and ready for its first coat of paint next week

Our Bodyshop Manager, Rich, was keen to see as many early 911s as he could so we paid a visit to Canford Classics on Wednesday. Chris at CC kindly allowed us to look at a number of cars and highlighted the many variations that came out of the factory, this reassured Rich as there's nothing he can get fundamentally wrong!

That being said the plan is to keep as close to factory specification as possible and although it obviously makes sense to use the best modern materials available I really wanted to avoid water based products. So after much research and discussion with our local area Glasurit Technician (cheers Mark & Mal) we've opted for the following products:



Base Coat - rather than a conventional etch we'll be using Glasurit 801-72 Epoxy Primer. This is a high build primer and acts as an excellent etch coat although with superior rust protection qualities.

Filler Work - with commercial repairs you would normally always go back to bare metal, repair, fill and then paint. As only very light filling will be required in this instance we'll leave the epoxy coat and prepare from here, inevitably some bare metal may be exposed in the preparation so we'll probably go for a second coat of epoxy. Overkill maybe but well protected.

Primer - this will be Glasurit 285-655, again a good quality 2K high build primer and an excellent base. Although obvious it's critical to ensure that all products used are compatible with each other.

Top Coat - Traditionally this would have been Glasurit 11 Line, almost impossible to find now and I'm told a slow curing paint that takes a while to harden. In recent years Glasurit 55 Line would be used as a base and then lacquered however wanting to stick with a solid 2K product I've opted for R-M Graphite HD.
Like Glasurit, R-M is also a brand of BASF Coatings and this is an excellent quality traditional high solid 2K paint that produces a deep glossy rock hard finish.

Underseal - I wanted to avoid standard stonechip products for this. Regular stonechip can become brittle and crack over a period of time and despite the name (or like) does actually chip, it can also be quite thin and difficult to build. So here we are using Teroson Terotex Record 2000HS - this can be applied in various thicknesses and has a rubberised texture like the factory product, it also sticks to blankets (and cars) better than anything else you could think of and we should be able to replicate the original heavy underbody texture whilst applying it slightly lighter elsewhere.

Seam Sealer and Sound Pads - For the sake of increased protection, other than the under bonnet area and unlike a lot of factory finishes(?) I've seen, we'll be brush seam sealing everywhere using Teroson Terolan 53. The sound pads will be Teroson Terodem SP300 which are a good quality anti-drome product.

Now all we have to do is apply all this to the highest of standards

Cheers,
Darren

[Darren65]

A moment I've been longing for since the day she was stripped bare......



They say it's all about preparation although it's surprising how long it takes to ready a bare shell.....



It's only epoxy primer and there's a long way to go but a relief to finally have the shell protected.

As Frank said - 'Every day in every way I'm getting better and better'

Cheers,
Darren

[johnM]

Looking good. Always good to get the shell in one colour. Very exciting.
Kind regards

[jtparr]

Darren
Looks like a good final colour in it's own right..pale mid grey..?
Great to get to this stage

Best
Jonathan

[DustyM]

love this picture - looking good...

[Darren65]

Thanks for the comments guys...

I'm not sure about that picture though Jon - bit embarrassing really, should have tidied up beforehand and the booth definitely needs a lick of paint! - But then I only had my eyes focused on one spot

Cheers,
Darren

[Darren65]

Steady progress over the last couple of weeks - we're about 70 hours into preparation and nearly ready for the next coat of paint...

The merging of old and new panels and various repair sections necessitates working over the whole shell to eliminate minor imperfections. Hard to show in the pictures but now super smooth to the touch....



The backdated new sills now feel like they were pressed this way. The stopper we're using is a super fine and rubs back to minute degrees - the repairs Barry carried out are so good that the stopper is typically no more 0.5mm thick and almost translucent in places...



We've tidied up the floorpan which now looks as good as new - shame it's being covered with underseal!



I've been really pleased with how Rich, who's doing the bulk of the work, has taken to the task, he's finally stopped apologising for things taking so long and now just keeps telling me how 'right' the job has to be!

As if I need to be told!

Hopefully things should turn out really well.

Cheers,
Darren

[murph2309]

Looking really lovely Darren - this is going to be quality isn't it!

Can you tell me what a 'stopper' is please?

Thx

R

[Darren65]

Looking really lovely Darren - this is going to be quality isn't it!

Can you tell me what a 'stopper' is please?

Thx

R

Thanks Richard, that's the plan and I certainly hope so

Stopper is another word for 'filler' but very fine and generally for detailed finishing. In some areas you could just rely on the high build primer to improve the surface finish although the more time put into preparation the better the end result should be.

Darren

[Darren65]

Received a massive injection of inspiration today when I went along to view this little beauty:

A genuine 20,000 mile unrestored, unmolested and totally original work of art...



I took over a hundred detailed pictures and realised this was only (rather poor) photo of the whole car

Seeing such a genuine original car in the flesh is going to be a massive help in getting the details right on mine

A big thank you to Keith for letting me visit and drool all over his car - nice to know that such a great car found its way to really great guy.

Cheers,
Darren

[myatt1972]

Darren it was a pleasure to chat today and the fact that you will make a 250 mile round trip to help get the details on your car correct just shows how dedicated you are to doing your car justice.
You are doing a fantastic job, I enjoy every update

P.S I will come and drool over your car when its done

[Darren65]

Holidays and dealing with other issues has meant the E taking a back seat over the last few weeks however I have been busy hunting for the bits I need.

My car, being a sporto, would originally have had alloy front callipers and after seeing the (practically new!) set fitted to Keith's car I decided I had to source a pair.

Supplied by a fellow DDK'er at a very reasonable price (thanks Chris) these will be sent to Canford Classics and hopefully come back looking as good as new once Alan has worked his magic on them .....



Another item we decided to change was the throttle bodies as these are different on sporto models and my originals weren't too great anyway. An initial request on DDK wasn't successful and these were proving difficult to find however DDK to the rescue again and a man who knows everything (cheers Andy ) helped me source a very nice set from the states. Duly dropped to Mr Fulljames for refurb...



Cheers,

[Darren65]

Most important part of the restoration arrived today, cheers Paul - Also collected some very nice shiny bits from Canford Classics

[MT]

Also collected some very nice shiny bits from Canford Classics

Nothing like a bit of re-chromed shiny stuff to get the enthusiasm going again, eh Darren. Some of the stuff I sent off was a bit iffy, but when it came back ....

And what's with all this defeatist talk about not being ready for CLM 2012. Turn up the wick, my lad.

Mick