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

[Gary71]

Great story. Be good to see another card getting the full treatment:)

[visualfx]

Interesting read Richard looking forward to next update

[inaglasshouse]

Thanks chaps.

So, the car was Guards Red, Fat Backside, Whale Tail.
I said it was the full stockbroker treatment. But luckily our unknown 80s Australian fashion victim was, seemingly, not a stockbroker. Or not a very successful one anyway. We can tell this because the update was, luckily, not very thorough. Not much money spent, lots of original parts survived.

The first item not-even-slightly updated was the engine.
Here it is in Australia, as removed during strip down from widebody spec:





(6-69 date codes)

And here it is, more recently, at my house with gearbox attached.



(MFI type code shown here. According to Michael Burgess' website http://911mfi.com/5.html, this is correct for the engine)

In summary the original engine, MFI, intake system, oil union etc, gearbox survived. Some ancillary parts are wrong (throttle linkages, cam cover paint, fan shroud and trumpets painted, oil lines wrong, oil cooler has repair so probably scrap, etc etc). But basically it's all there.

Phew.

[inaglasshouse]

Here are a few more photos of the car in its 80s forward-dated state.


If you look closely through the window, you can see that the speedo etc are all still 1970-style, not updated.

The instrument set that came with the car looks like this:


Date stamps are 6/69 to 9/69, so probably the original instruments.

Note km/h speedo for Australia. I found a correct mph one and added it to the parts stash.
Here is that imposter with the originals.
I like the yellowed dials and the fact that the mph one is about as weathered as the km/h.


The mph speedo did not work, so I took it to Julian Reap for refurb. I asked him to leave the wear and tear / yellowing in place. Gentle cleaning only.
Here's the "after" pic - still clearly an old part.


My instructions to Julian might help to illustrate more generally how I'm approaching this build.
If I were a more successful hunter of cars, I would probably rather have bought a completely original unmolested car with battle scars and enjoyed the patina as signs of character.
Since I failed to find one of those (wanting a RHD S didn't help) I need to restore, but want to keep whatever originality I can salvage, and not end up with an "over-restored" car.
I find it tricky. More on this subject later in the thread, I suspect.

Cheers, Richard.

[inaglasshouse]

Our Australian forward-dating friend was definitely on a budget.

As this pic shows, the red paint liberally hit the outside of the car, but in other places a black rattle can (with very little disassembly) seems to have been used.

Which is why (up to date pics below) there's still a fair amount of original orange paint to be found in the nooks and crannies.
Might be useful for a colour match. Nice to see, anyway.

[inaglasshouse]

Last pic of the 80s legend.


Note
1) Vigorous use of the under-bonnet rattle can
2) The mod to replace the front-mounted oil cooler with a length of pipe. Maybe the cooler got damaged, or maybe it didn't fit with the new front bumper etc.
3) Front calipers are not correct - should be alloy of course.

[stretch]

Great research Richard. Good luck on the forward journey, i look forward to the updates. Enjoy.

Dave

[yoda]

This might give you some idea of how I'm approaching this build.
If I were a more successful hunter of cars, I would probably rather have bought a completely original unmolested car with battle scars and enjoyed the patina as signs of character.
Since I failed to find one of those (wanting a RHD S didn't help) I need to restore, but want to keep whatever originality I can salvage, and not end up with an "over-restored" car.
I find it tricky. More on this subject later in the thread, I suspect.
Cheers, Richard.

I like your approach Richard, a man after my own heart. Look forward to seeing this build take shape.

[Darren65]

I know, I know, the 80s were different times...

....but so much fun!

Great updates Richard.......I get the feeling this is going to develop into an all time great thread and no doubt the end result is going to be pretty spectacular!

Enjoy the ride!

[inaglasshouse]

What have you been doing for 2 years?
Item 4: Getting Sidetracked

I decided I needed better (more weatherproof and more secure) garage arrangements at home.

Long story short, I got a bit carried away, ended up with a 6m wide industrial door, and got a bit OCD about the cladding:



I also decided it might be nice to monitor the temperature and humidity, and have the lights come on automatically. Which led to a little detour into home automation. Very time consuming.

[inaglasshouse]

Item 4: Getting Sidetracked
I seem to have accidentally bought an Alfa.

Like almost everything I own, it needs work...

[inaglasshouse]

Forthcoming posts will actually feature the orange Porsche. Blasting and Barry dates are imminent.

[911hillclimber]

!0/10 for those gauges from me.
Julian did a similar job for me, "keep all the years on the speedo, just make it work please" and that's what I got and thus matches all the patina on the other gauges. Priceless.

Looking forward to the Barry reports, we are starved of his rust vanishing skills lately.

[210bhp]

Looking forward to the Barry reports, we are starved of his rust vanishing skills lately.

I could give you an antidote for that if you wish, I just didn't think there was all that much appetite for yet another standard original 911 Barry restoration thread here on DDK.

Nice looking Alfa Richard and I'd be interested in more info/spec sheet for your new garage. Been thinking about that for ages too.

Regards
Mike

[Gary71]

Bring on the sheet metal story Mike