DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Ralph wrote:Richard / Dave,

Is this the car you refer to?

Love that car. Had a good look at it when it was at Hedingham

Now, where were we?

I should probably mention that I am now out of sync with Barry. He is doing the work faster than I am posting drivel about it.
Which, among much other evidence, demonstrates that roles on the project have been wisely allocated.

I remember, front inner wing evaluation. Let's find some pictures of that.

Evaluation of Front Inner Wings

With full access to the inner wings and A-posts, Barry took plenty of photos and we had a discussion about what to do.
Here's part 1 of what Barry sent:

I'm leaning towards repairing both front inner wings. The internal structure on both is perfect, both from luggage bay and inside the cockpit area.

We can get all the repair areas we need from Restoration Design.
I'm thinking that both of them have so much % of good metal, I'm sure we'd end up regretting getting up under the dash where the replacement of inner wing is so hard to conceal.

(If the scuttle had gone, or the inner structure of the inner wings had gone (they often do), or if it looked impossible to get the correct alignment, I'd say replace. )

The accompanying pics looked like this:

Evaluation of Front Inner Wings / A-posts (continued)

Barry says:
The A-posts (which get scrapped if inner wing replacement is undertaken) are both very good. In fact, I propose we even re-use the bases as we know they fit.
I'll chop them out, re-flange with new metal and weld back in once the inner wings have their new metal. We have nearly 400 euros to play with on these, and that assumes they fit perfectly. Yours, we know, do.

Here's what I think we need, if you concur on the front inner wings:

Restoration Design:

PP236TR ribbed area of offside front inner wing
PP204B tank support (non-battery tray)
PP236BL battery area repair
PP236BR ditto
PP280R torque tube housing area
PP280L ditto
PP221A parcelshelf
PP227B parcelshelf upstand.

Genuine:

rear slam panel
nearside engine bay seal holder (under chassis, offside one fine)
heater tubes X 2

General:

I'll need your steering rack subframe please, as we're messing with it's mountings later on.


Pics:





This pic shows why we'll need one of the RD panels (PP236TR).
It's a real mud trap at this point of the inner wing, and as we've seen from various DDK resto threads it's common for corrosion to set in here.
In my case severe pitting is the result, so it's coming out:

Evaluation of Front Inner Wings / A-posts : Conclusion

As you've doubtless guessed, we chose to keep the front inners and repair.
This makes me happy for reasons already covered. I'm glad to be keeping the original steel, especially bearing in mind the view of the scuttle / bulkhead and its join to the inner wings, as seen from inside the luggage compartment.

Given that inner wings are not exactly cheap from Porsche (best part of 3K GBP plus VAT for the pair), you might also imagine we're saving some money. Not so much, though. Individual repairs will take time, and the RD panels also cost. With that said, inner wing replacement is also many hours of labour (because they are so embedded in the structure at the top end), so the "pay for panels, save on labour" maths doesn't work quite the same as in other cases.

RD parts list was:
PP236TR ribbed area of offside front inner wing
PP204B tank support (non-battery tray)
PP236BL battery area repair
PP236BR ditto
PP280R torque tube housing area
PP280L ditto
PP221A parcelshelf
PP227B parcelshelf upstand.

2240.70 EUR for that lot, including VAT, shipping and modest discount.

And at my friendly local OPC:
Rear slam panel
Nearside engine bay seal holder
Heater tubes X 2

719.56 GBP inc VAT etc.
I did manage to get a cup of tea and eat some OPC biscuits this time, though.

Dead interesting this. I am particularly interested in the A post by where the small 'drip' ledge meet the seal face for the door seals. Looks like yours are sound.
Thanks for posting this lot, it certainly is not drivel!
Graham.

Very much enjoying this, thank you.

Thanks both.
Bit of work on the underside now, so the shell moves to the Rotisserie.
Before I post more pics of Barry's witchcraft, let me share a "before" picture of the front subframe mounting point:



Don't have nightmares...

Reminds me of mine, which looked like antique lace. I drove the car from SF to LA without any idea. I reckon a good speedbump would have finished it off.

jamie wrote:Reminds me of mine, which looked like antique lace. I drove the car from SF to LA without any idea. I reckon a good speedbump would have finished it off.

Very precise, Mr Lipman. Not just lace, but antique lace. Clearly sir is a connoisseur of a bit of Reticella. Or perhaps Gros Point de Venise.
Hope all is well with you. Cheers, Richard.

Just caught up with this thread Richard - excellent stuff! You are quite the author. Best wishes, Robert

Very kind Robert, glad to have you on board.

I remember you advised me that, if I ever sell, every prospective buyer will read the thread.
Luckily I'm not planning to sell. Therapeutic though I find this DDK posting exercise, I may live to regret such full disclosure if needs must...

One thing that genuinely interests me is whether this one will end up as good to drive as "your" 69 car. That one is now on period-ish road tyres (Pirelli CN36s) and if anything is better than ever. I might need to hypnotise our mutual friend to get those suspension settings.

Hope to catch up soon. All the best, Richard.

Centre Tunnel Dents

Moving on, here's the next instalment from Barry:

With the car mounted on the rotisserie, work proper could begin.

As is usual, the centre tunnel had been battered over the years, although I've seen very much worse. Much of the damage could be pulled out with welded studs and a slide hammer. Towards the rear, it was too badly crushed to retrieve using studs, so I removed the whole area, scraped and blasted it, before beating it back to the correct shape. With this done, the edges were primed in a zinc rich weld-thru primer, and the centre in black etch.

With the painting done, the area could be welded back in and the whole area tidied back up.

LH Floor Edge Out

Barry says:

I measured the existing replacement floor edge, and it was projecting about 1/4in too far out at the front, and about the same distance inwards at the rear. Further down the line this would have caused a lot of problems with the outer sill to door gaps.

After a bit of a battle it was removed without going too far backwards on the good original metal. Note that the seat mounting reinforcement panel had only been welded on with three welds, rather than the 15-20 it should have had.

Really enjoying the thread Richard.....makes me want to do another.

Thanks for sharing.