My 'new longer-term project' ...

[Lightweight_911]

The MSD coils have now been 'aged' ...

[210bhp]

The one on the right looks six months newer


Regards
Mike


(nice job Andy)

[Lightweight_911]

The one on the right looks six months newer


Regards
Mike


(nice job Andy)

That's because it will be mounted inboard of the other one & thus wouldn't have been subjected to the same degree of weathering ....

[Darren65]

Andy, will you be ready for CLM?

Cheers,

[Reza]

the way you're going about this car Andy, it's just gonna be perfect

[Lightweight_911]

Thanks Reza - hope you're enjoying Solvang ... wish I was there !

[DustyM]

WOW.... Just read this through from the start, inspiring stuff

[Darren65]

The MSD coils have now been 'aged'

Tut, tut - 6 weeks since your last update

You know what Oliver wanted

[vicpolky]

Need... more... updates... Must... Have... updates......*

*said in Captain Kirk voice

[Lightweight_911]

Sorry for the lack of any recent update - I'll post something at the end of the week ...

[Lightweight_911]

I spent an hour typing an update last night & promptly deleted it ... so this is going to be an abbreviated version.

The engine & gearbox have been installed - note the 'aged' modified MSD Blaster coils on the rear bulkhead :



& the fuel tank & dry sump oil tank fabricated & fitted:





The dash, gauges/switches, modified upper column & switches (very pleased with how these have turned out - just need to swap the knobs to the correct 'Ivory' version) are in :



- as are the pedals & gear linkage



The next stage was to fabricate/fit the front & rear suspension but unfortunately there has been a delay (6 weeks ) in supplying the laser-cut steel components ...

Whilst waiting, I returned to my 'wanted' list:

One of the features of the original cars that I was keen to emulate was the aluminium quarter-turn fasteners used to secure the bonnet & rear opening 'hatch'. These vary slightly from car to car (I think they were probably individually fabricated rather than 'off the shelf' parts) but essentially this is the style (the rear ones are smaller versions of the same):



Barrie uses a commercially-available fastener that comes in a black powder-coated finish:



which he bead-blasts & then reshapes slightly:





Needless to say I'd already spent countless hours trying to source something closer to the originals (or, better still, some actual originals) but hadn't found anything that I'd be happy with, so ... I turned again to DDKer Andy Haas (who'd machined my steering wheel parts).

After numereous discussions backwards & forwards, we decided to start with the fasteners that Barrie supplies & fabricate new upper parts from aluminium bar.

The end results look great & managed to produce the look I was aiming for :





- so that's another item ticked off the list ...

Another part that I hadn't managed to track down - or identify the original source for - was the fuel filler cap.



It looks like an 110mm version of the '72 911 Blau oil tank cap but Blau had nothing similar in their catalogue & had no knowledge of the originals ...

Over the years, many 904's have either lost their original caps or replaced them due to damage, so many/most now seem to feature the style of finned Blau caps more often seen on the 911R/ST/RSR etc with 'through the bonnet' fillers.

I could use one in that style as accurate repros are fairly readily available but I would prefer to use the original version ...

A posting on the Early S Registry produced some useful contacts who can fabricate a faithful copy of the originals based on an early 356 cap (I may still go down this route) but also an offer of a very similar cap from a member in the Netherlands.

I bought the cap & will (probably) use it to start with :



Although I'll reserve judgement until after the neck is attached to the tank & the cap sits at the correct height in relation to the bonnet:





- it looks too small in the photo since it's sitting below the level of the bonnet at the moment (just resting on the tank).

More updates later ...

[Lightweight_911]

Another unique feature of the 904's is the front windscreen seal - it has an off-white integral 'band' around it (it's not a separate insert) :



Barrie has a roll of the correct profile rubber seal - but unfortunately it doesn't have the off-white band in it:



Some owners have attempted (unsuccessfully in my opinion) to replicate the original look by either painting the rubber (difficult to get a 'clean' cut-off line around the edges) or adding a self-adhesive tape (difficult to prevent it peeling/lifting over time) so I looked for an alternative ...

My search revealed that original seals were available from a couple of sources but prices of £600+ ( ) immediately ruled out that option !

I don't remember how I stumbled upon it (honest ! ) but I found that I could buy 2m strips of very thin white latex ... from a 'fetish' outfit suppliers !!!

Apparently they're sold for decorating/personalising latex bondage gear ...

Anyway, I bought some in 15mm width to test its suitability.

After cleaning a short length of the screen seal with various solvents, I used tyre vulcanising cement to glue the latex strip onto it - & this was the result:




I was very pleased with this initial result - my only concern was that it appeared a bit too bright, so I looked at various ways to 'dull it down' a bit ... so far I've tried various strengths (& brands) of tea, coffee, curry paste (!) & diluted woodstain but nothing so far has given the result I'm after ...

When I originally enquired about a suitable adhesive, the latex seller told me that he didn't think my intended application was suitable as the latex strip would age prematurely - little did he know that was exactly what I wanted :

[Darren65]

Andy, this build looks so delicious - I really do hope we're seeing the car at CLM

Magic

[Lightweight_911]

Andy, this build looks so delicious - I really do hope we're seeing the car at CLM

Magic

Thanks Darren - sadly that deadline went by the wayside a while ago ...

[sladey]

Awesome stuff Andy. Latex window surrounds - marvellous!