1973 2.4E Restoration

[squirdan]

I absolutely love watching true craftsmen at work. Looks like you've got the cream of the crop there!

I think they are Stuart and thanks for the kind comments.

And after seeing so many glorious early 911's yesterday I'm inspired to really paint this project tangerine.

Cheers,

amended that for you Darren

[Darren65]

I absolutely love watching true craftsmen at work. Looks like you've got the cream of the crop there!

I think they are Stuart and thanks for the kind comments.

And after seeing so many glorious early 911's yesterday I'm inspired to really paint this project tangerine.

Cheers,

amended that for you Darren

Love it - although saving tangerine for the 72 street racer

[23e Heure]

Oh come on... the world can never have too many 2.4Es in tangerine

[Darren65]

Oh come on... the world can never have too many 2.4Es in tangerine

Haven't you noticed the current restorations - Light Ivory's the new tangerine

[Mitch]

Oh come on... the world can never have too many 2.4Es in tangerine

Haven't you noticed the current restorations - Light Ivory's the new tangerine

Why not have both?! I love this car....

[MT]

Oh come on... the world can never have too many 2.4Es in tangerine

Totally agree, IKEA car will be returning to its original tangerine (when I get round to it)

Mick

[Darren65]

Why not have both?! I love this car....

Oh please don't!.....I'm trying to build a nice standard 2.4E

Hey Mick, sounds like we might end up with a matching set

Cheers,

[Mitch]

I'm trying to build a nice standard 2.4E

Yep, I was really thinking ahead to the hot rod

[squirdan]

Oh come on... the world can never have too many 2.4Es in tangerine

james is yours the one I have ocassionally seen nr Wandsworth Common with an Autofarm sticker?

if so - lovely

[Darren65]

Well, the plan was to leave the next update until after the car was fully painted however seeing a splash of colour over the last couple of days has got me all excited

After leaving the high build primer to settle for a while we fully fitted the car up to check everything has remained true with proper gaps - and after a few hours of frustrating toying, some final adjustments and a bit of fettling, it looked perfect....





The car was then stripped and seam sealed - my apologies to the true purists out there, although I would like the car to look as close to original factory finish as possible I want it to be far better protected over the next forty years than it was during its first - therefore seam sealing has been far more thorough than the factory whilst retaining the same type of finish.....



Next was underseal - I'm super pleased with the product we've used, it has an excellent rubberised texture, can be built up in layers and I believe replicates the factory finish incredibly closely.....





The under bonnet was left suitably roughly finished (as per factory) and then received just a light dusting of paint - this was actually the hard part, getting Rich to do something rough when all he strives for is perfection is like pulling teeth .....



Then came the colour - very creamy in the tin...



..but when applied, in my opinion, beautiful in the flesh......



Rich commented that the quality of the paint we've chosen is fantastic and some of the best he's worked with. It goes on super smooth, has a finish like it's been poured from the tin and has a rock hard feel when dry - to me, the car is super stunning and I can't stop smiling

Just a couple of more weeks and the shell will be complete

Cheers,

[left4dead]

Just keeps getting better doesn't it Darren?!! What a superb looking shell and a testament to the skills of the guys that have laboured so far. What's the time frame for the refit? Bet you can't wait, I know I couldn't! Keep posting the photos my good man.

[DustyM]

Looks superb.

What seam sealer and underseal did you use in the end?

Cheers
Jon

[hot66]

fantastic Darren You'll have your car on the road for CLM at this rate

[johnM]

Looks simply amazing.

Kind regards.

[MT]

Hello Darren,

Looks excellent as everyone has said. I will be very interested in your experience when the panels (front wings/bonnet especially) are refitted for the final time with the sealing strips in place, and all the bolts in place and tight. As you will have seen on my restoration although I did trial fit the panels several times before painting (not as rigorously as you seem to have done, I do confess), I did only use enough fasteners to hold the panel tight, and I did not pad them out in any way to simulate the sealing strips. Then on final fit with the seals in place, and with all the fasteners in place I found the gaps changed - by 2-3mm in places, requiring more twisting, pushing and shoving than I expected. On reflection it's obvious really. We are seeking gaps with a tolerance of ±1mm ideally, and the sealing strip I used (the standard auto stuff) is 2mm thick, and doesn't compress easily. Even where I used Dum-dum (which does compress) - mainly either side of the black sealing strip between the wing and the scuttle you still introduce a 1.5mm shift. Tightening ALL the fasteners also introduced in my case some shape changes - esp the ones at the bottom of the vertical wing support.

Talking to some DDK folk recently some of them variously didn't use sealant, only used dum-dum, or other very flexible mastic, and cut off the side ribs from the scuttle seal.

Not using sealant seems a bad solution, but the issue will certainly get more attention in my RHD 2.4E restoration!

If you could report on this when you get there I'd be grateful for any feedback or experience - or from anyone else for that matter (feedback on my thread to avoid hijacking Darren's perhaps...)

Anyway, you're getting to the good bit - refitting all the shiny new stuff.

Regards
Mick