70 S, RHD, Signal Orange, UK->Australia->UK

[inaglasshouse]

We had a VIP visitor yesterday, welcomed with mediocre coffee.
At least the sun was shining.

Preparations:


I've been on Barry Carter's waiting list for a while, but am now getting somewhere near the top. So yesterday was the day Barry came over to have a good look at the car and the motley collection of other panels shown in the pic.
We had a chat about plans, and about the big pile of metal I now need to buy from Porsche.

Feels like progress. Other pics to follow.

[inaglasshouse]

I've been holding off posting pics and my ignorant opinion about the state of the metalwork.
But now the shell has been seen by a few folk who know what they are talking about, here goes.

Mustn't speak too soon, because it's not yet been blasted. But I think there's a fair amount of good news.
Based on research so far, it looks like my car left the UK for Australia quite early in its life. No salt on the roads there, I'm told. See what you think of it from the pics.

Barry is pretty optimistic we can keep the front inner wings (with localised repairs).
Bulkhead is good, no accident damage kinks, and we can see some original Signal Orange paint there. The car had been subjected to the obligatory widebody Guards Red update treatment in the 80s / 90s, but the paint job was not 100% thorough.

[inaglasshouse]

Moving inside the rear seat area is original and seems good.
Surprisingly (to me) the floors are also original - new edge repair sections have been used to blend them into a sill repair, but the main section (and the floor boxes, central tunnel etc) is all factory metal.

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[inaglasshouse]

Seat cover not original. But I think I shall re-use it

[inaglasshouse]

Round the back, and completing the good news section, we have nice straight rails and the original rear slam panel.
No sign of previous accidents here and all nice and sound.

[inaglasshouse]

Bad news section begins.
The rear wings and rear door pillars have been replaced as part of the previous owner's partially-completed resto project. Unsurprisingly Barry expects to take them off again, have a good go at the lower rear inner wing / torsion bar tube / kidney bowl areas, and re-do to his exacting standards. Suits me.

Front wing closers have been done, but similarly will be re-done:

The pic also shows that there is pitting to the inner wings.

The front pan and slam panel will also be re-done. There are some local repairs that need to come out.

[inaglasshouse]

Final points: it looks like my front wings, door frames (need re-skin), bonnet, and probably bumpers are save-able. Roof seems fine.

Overall I'm feeling very optimistic. As previous evidence shows, Barry can reconstruct a car from very little, so failure is not an option. But based on what I see so far, I think / hope we will end up with a lot of original metal in the car.
Time will tell.

[one-two]

Good pics Richard - and steady progress! Best wishes, Robert

[inaglasshouse]

Good pics Richard - and steady progress! Best wishes, Robert

Thanks Robert.
Is "steady" a euphemism for "glacial"? I remember a wise man, from whom I bought an old Porsche, once told me that patience is a pre-requisite for getting a proper restoration done. The real experts all have more work than they can handle, I think he said...
How's that 356 coming along?
Cheers, Richard.

[one-two]

Richard, I never actually ran a marathon, but I was told it's best not to set off too quickly. My 356 is due to be on your nearest race circuit next month. Hopefully.

[Darren65]

Final points: it looks like my front wings, door frames (need re-skin), bonnet, and probably bumpers are save-able. Roof seems fine.

Overall I'm feeling very optimistic. As previous evidence shows, Barry can reconstruct a car from very little, so failure is not an option. But based on what I see so far, I think / hope we will end up with a lot of original metal in the car.
Time will tell.

Your optimism is well placed....the cars looks good and all sounds promising

Hope all goes well and please keep the updates coming.

Cheers,

[sladey]

Yep - love these threads

[stretch]

Good stuff Richard. An easy road ahead then..

Best Regards

Dave

[911hillclimber]

I wonder how much Barry would need to remove of my repairs!

Great start. My 911 had the guards Red treatment too, and that hid a few 'areas for improvement', but my shell was very similar to yours.

Looks like you are good with a camera, so lots of updates please.
Restoration threads thin on the ground atm.

[inaglasshouse]

Thanks all for the kind replies, I'll post some more pics as things progress. Don't hold your breath.
Cheers, Richard.