Galvanizing

[james33]

I just spoke to Gary last night and he sounded very reasonable. I guess the upside is when you have it all apart you replace the broken bits ... and suddenly it's slightly more than 5K

Has any one out had this done yet to their car?

[james33]

Just spoken Garry, 3,500 for Galvanising and 5,000 to strip rebuild car.

He has a demo shell coming up and I'm going to go and see it.

I think you need to budget more than 8,500 because making good the existing chassis and replacing all the things you didn't realise needed doing is going to add up

A potential down side, that Gary is very upfront about, is the sun roof and the fact that they don't stand up well to being dipped. For me they are a curse so if I had the job done I'd have it replaced with a new non sun roof.

But it does begger the question of resale value. (Although I have no intention of selling) If you have your car galvanised and it has a sunroof you have to have the old roof chopped off and replaced with a new one.

Personally I'm not horrified by this replacement (if done properly) because this is exactly what the rally boys do. However the car could never be rebuilt to original spec again and be sold to a garage queen. Would this affect its resale value?

Any one any ideas on this aspect? Nick, what do you think?

For those interested in Garys detailed response I have included it below.

Hi James,
As we discussed, the actual galvanizing process alone costs £3,500.00 which is inclusive of all hand finishing necessary prior to painting. This price is inclusive of first prime.

Normally the client delivers the car, and we then completely strip the car down to its bare chassis, attend to any repairs that may be required and make good any previous poor repairs (impossible to price without first inspecting the chassis). Once the chassis has been galvanized and hand finished (as above), we then prepare the chassis for painting. The majority of our clients have all the other panels painted at the same time. The car is then carefully reassembled using all new fixings (nuts, bolts/screws/washers etc) and rubber seals (see below). The cost of this process complete is typically circa £5,000.00 - dependant on the client’s final brief. So you need to budget around £8,500.00 if you want 911classic to carry out the whole job.

Within the next few weeks I will have a fully galvanized early chassis in its natural state; this will be for demonstration purposes and will allow potential clients to view the finished object and the excellent quality of workmanship.

We are very flexible and always happy to discuss client’s individual requirements.

Summary

(Galvanizing) £3500.00

(Bodywork) £5000.00 (may vary)

Bodyshell fully stripped down, cleaned and inspected to identify any signs of corrosion/damage/poor repair
Remove engine and gearbox
Remove front and rear suspension
Remove all interior trim and dash
Remove wiring loom
Remove all glass and brightwork
Remove all items in engine bay
Remove all items in front compartment
Remove all bolt on panels

Once chassis has been galvanized:
Spray bodyshell and all bolt on panels in chosen body colour
Stone chip all inner arch surfaces and spray in body colour
Reassemble car using all new fixings and weather seals.
(Seals)
Front Bump/Body Seal 65-73
Bump/Body Seal 65-73
Seal for Torsion Bar Cover
Bonnet Seal 65-73
Pop Out Window Seal L/H 65-73
Pop Out Window Seal R/H 65-73
Rear Engine Lid Seal 65-73
911 Door Seal 65-73
911 Sunroof Long Seal 65-73
911 Sunroof Short Seal 65-73
911 Door Handle Seal 65-73
Bottom Glass Outer Seal 65-73
Inner Bottom Glass Seal 65-73
Front Indicator Seal L/H 65-73
Front Indicator Seal R/H 65-73
Rear Lens to Body Seal L/H 65-73
Rear Lens to Body Seal L/H 65-73
911 Headlight Seal
Rear Centre Panel Seal
Windscreen Rubber Seal
Rear Windscreen Seal
Seal Fender to Cowl

I hope this is of interest and look forward to receiving your further instructions.
Best Regards,
Garry

[Dyno Soar]

Thats fantastic! However when you have a perfect shell you do not want to start bolting grubby old bits to it. Looking at my own car I can see how I could hand over 15k to have my car finished and all the mechanicals bar the engine and box overhauled.

It is a truly excellent service though. Your car will leave Classic911 better then new.

[james33]

Dyno Soar,

I've been thinking of nothing else and your last post has hit the nail on the head.

I think to sort mine out it's 8,500 plus welding plus new carpet, sound proofing, plus ... I'm going to spend around 11-14K GBP on the rebuild and what I want is a daily driver I can take out in any weather, leave in the super market car park so folk can smash their shopping trolly's into the doors and generally use/abuse.

For 13-15K GBP I can get a mint 77 3.0 galvanised car and get it retro-ed.

Therefore why not have two 911's for roughly the same price or a summer car and a winter car?

[Dyno Soar]

We are on the same wavelength buddy.

check it out. http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4960

[james33]

Is it working out as you envisaged?

[Dyno Soar]

So far so good, but we will see after it gets all the body panels bolted on and is ready for painting. I am gonna have to negotiate with the paintshop.

[Nick Moss]

I saw the first shell that Gary had galvanised before they painted it. The roof panel had distorted due to heat generated in the dipping process and had to cut out and replaced. The panel was very corroded which may has exacerbated the problem.

I am uncertain as to what value can be added by having a galvanised shell, but I doubt that many people would be prepared to pay £3,500 more for one of two cars in identical restored condition. Possible for a 2.4S or 2.7RS but I think unlikely for other 911s.

I think its something to do if you "never intend to sell the car"