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

[inaglasshouse]

Popped in to DC today to drop off a few bits.
My car waits, in good company, for work to start next week:

[911hillclimber]

This latest info from Barry is very balanced and as a very keen DIY practitioner on cars and bikes it just puts the blood sweat tears and cold nights in perspective.
Finding the time can be the hardest resource to have to hand, and money will always buy someone's time of course.
This winter I am conceding defeat and having my car re painted by a pro simply because I don't have the facilities to hand, loads of time, little money but no facilities at the time I want to do the car.
So, again some have to hire the skills and the shop to get it done, me this time.

Good luck with the next stage in your restoration.

[murph2309]

I'm sorry if the mention of money has had a negative effect. Not intended to make anyone, whether they have spent half my cost or twice that, feel bad. Or indeed feel good! I'm not saying I've done this the best way or even competently - the spend is just a fact, which I hope others find useful in finding the way they want to do a resto.

Cheers, Richard.

And that is exactly the point - the money side of this thread is an invaluable reference point and the generosity with which you have shared it should be applauded. Not used to make you feel in any way bad about sharing the fact that you have the spends to do this. That's what I got grumpy about.

Now - full nuts and bolts on the paint stages - don't forget the seam-sealing pictures

This is a fab part of the restoration - you'll love this next stage......

[inaglasshouse]

And that is exactly the point - the money side of this thread is an invaluable reference point and the generosity with which you have shared it should be applauded. Not used to make you feel in any way bad about sharing the fact that you have the spends to do this. .

Don't worry, I don't feel got-at.
Very much looking forward to seeing this car in paint. Nice Dino at DC yesterday to whet the appetite.

[lamakdaddy]

It incredibly helpful to find pricing and time taken information. There are probably many more people relying on using a professional restorer than doing DIY when it comes to 911s and so whilst I applaud DIYers, having reference points for cost of restorations is very important.

For example the costs to restore my 61 e type(full not and bolt rebuild) ranged from 60k GBP to 140k GBP. The latter being a throw everything away and start again' and the former using quite alot of local repairs and filler... horses for courses but having access to a wealth of info on the web by which to decide helped make the right decision on a balanced resto..so please dont be shy!

[yoda]

I don't think anyone was having a go at anyone ...... wrong side of the bed Mr Murphy ( - ;

Very helpful, as well as interesting, to see these build threads - warts and all.

[911hillclimber]

Indeed, I was not picking at anyone; as I usually start these frustrations on DDK, thought I'd set that clear.
English was not my strong point at school then or now, I am often mis-understood.

In Nov this year my 911T hotrod will go to be pro prepped and painted on my DIY body I re-built in 1988. It took me 8 months of spare time welding, sprayed in my one-car garage in the summer in cellulose. The car was presentable, door gaps a bit iffy, the only specialists I knew of was Autofarm and Bob Watson Engineering, and there was no internet then, just the newly published Porter Restoration Guide book. Everything I did on the car came from that book, the ONLY reference source then.
Body and paint cost me £2000, car was worth £5K tops.

The pro painter has promised even gaps, flat panels (filler skim all over, flatted as one shell like Jamie did) and very shiny (2K paint), exactly the opposite to my DIY skills then (or today).

I will be paying around £8000 for this, but I will have to deliver a shell stripped of external and shut-face surface paint, 2 new front wings, new rear lid, glass out, roof out (fabric sun roof), all hardware off etc etc etc, so DIY'ing the labour non skilled first stage to reduce costs.

[inaglasshouse]

Indeed, I was not picking at anyone; as I usually start these frustrations on DDK, thought I'd set that clear.

No offence taken, Graham!

[Bigfoot]

Well, the shell looks absolutely amazing absolutely no one can argue with that.
Words and the amazing updates and photos on here still don't do the Barry experience justice. Best money I spent, he deserves all of the praise he gets.
Steve at DC was also enlightening as his workmanship was first class too!!! I wanted the very best shell and paint I could get and that's what I got and is exactly what you will get!! Your painted shell will be the best in the business.
There will always be criticism by people but who cares. Your car will be amazing, enjoy it! I'm so proud of my car and if I could afford to do another I would use Barry and Steve again in a heartbeat!
Can't wait to see your shell painted exciting times!

[inaglasshouse]

For various reasons, including a dalliance with some possible aluminium rear bumper corners (that didn't quite work out), I was pretty late getting the rear bumpers and number plate panel to Barry.
In the end I bought new (steel) ones from Porsche. Not cheap, but the quality is good.

I asked Barry to do a bit of sports purpose modification before they went to paint:









Oooh yeah, I'm so creative.
Surrey Outlaw styleeee:

[inaglasshouse]

No bumper trims for me, so Barry has welded up the holes:

[PMNorris]

Hi Richard,
What exhaust do you have on your blue car? I'm planning to do something similar to the rear end of my car (possibly a project for next year), but am planning to fit a 2.7 RS single piece bumper to reduce the weight a bit. I am thinking of getting the eisenmann-exhaust-systems.de RSR design exhaust, which is also twin outlet.

Thanks
Paul

[inaglasshouse]

Hi Paul,

Mine was hand crafted by the person who built the car. I think he only does them for his own builds.

Method is to start with a usual cheapo Dansk exhaust, slice it open, fairly simple set of interior mods (I have documentation somewhere from earlyS about what works and what doesn't). Couple of pipes on the back, bit of high temp paint et voila.
Barry's doing the one for this project, based on an original Bischoff standard exhaust that came with the car. Will post details when it's done.

Cheers, Richard.

[inaglasshouse]

The 1970 S had an aluminium deck lid and number plate panel. Deck lid already sorted, but the number plate panel needed some work. I bought a cheapie Restoration Design aluminium version to use as a starting point, and Barry set to work with the TIG welder.

Barry's comments on his work on this part:

Following the supplied template, I set about making the twin exhaust cut-outs.

There was no way I'd be able to free-hand these on an already made panel with the cut-outs right on the outer edge. After a bit of thought, I came up with a one-off tool that would do the job. In fact I did end up augmenting the tool with an additional dead-weight just to give a bit of stability.

I then used the tool to mark the fold and cut lines, and removed the metal not needed. The flanges were then formed. These terminated right on the vertical flange and would have been a weak-point, so these terminations were TIG-welded solid before sanding back out to blend in everywhere. I also TIG'ed the top seal holder on where the factory welds had already failed, as well as reinforcing various slip areas. The panel in places was paper-thin, so this was not a straightforward process!

With the main panel modified, I then pondered how to fix it to the two bumperettes. As specified, the exhausts run right through the existing brackets (which by now had been removed). I elected to use some thicker aluminium and fabricated a couple of brackets which were TIG welded into place. These have worked out very well, and have obviously now been drilled as appropriate.







The panel itself also needed quite a lot of basic fettling.
They are pretty awful, but cheap and can be salvaged.

Few more pics here: https://www.safetycolours.com/porsche-9 ... late-panel

[inaglasshouse]

Barry took a little drive over to DC, to fit the modified rear bumpers and number plate panel.
Fit was good, only minor tweaking required, and the end result is rather nice I think.

Here are a few pics of the shell in its current state.
A few more here: https://www.safetycolours.com/porsche-9 ... ing-to-car