DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Ferry Man wrote:Full marks to Chesterton Coachworks Ltd.
What a fantastic job they've done.
Hats off to 'em.

It is fantastic work, the pictures make it look easy but we all know it takes great skill and experience to achieve results like that. I really hope they are training a few apprentices as these skills are dissappearing very quickly.

Do they tackle any make or are they mainly 911?

Regards
Mike

210bhp wrote:Do they tackle any make or are they mainly 911?

They certainly do specialise in 911's but they are a proper old-school coach builders too.
The car before mine was an early sixties Rolls Royce Silver Cloud.
That project was a restoration and conversion from 4 door saloon to 2 door convertible.
In parallel with repairs to my shell they were building a Bugatti body from scratch.

This is the fuel tank from the car.

It was badly corroded along the seams.

It was also somewhat scraped and worn in places along the bottom of the tank.
It certainly needed refurbishment.

So I quizzed Nick at Early911 as to the processes he would use in restoring it.
I imagine that would necessitate blasting the tank to strip the outer paint finish and then probably a chemical dip to cleanse the inside.
Then a series of flushes to ensure no debris or muck is left within.
Next some careful welding to repair and patch the corrosions.
Then a specialist sealer applied to the whole inside to make sure the tank was sound and leak free.
Finally repainting in the correct finish.

No, he said, what we do is throw the old one away and buy a new one.
Oh, OK, that was easy.

So, I purchased a brand new one.
When the new fuel tank arrived at my place of work it caused some consternation.
A big carton arrived for me marked ‘body parts’.
No one wanted to sign for that delivery.....

Well it will be wonderful to start with nice new metal.
And reassuring to know there will be be no contamination in the fuel supply.
Nick just needs to paint it to replicate the original Porsche finish (which means matching colour and texture).

The fuel tank sender was the original but proved to be completely gunged up.
It wasn't moving up or down, it was stuck solid with old fuel residue and not giving the correct reading.

Well, you know what a stickler for retaining originality I am.
I was keen to re-use the sender, so I set about cleaning it.
A task I've documented before: http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewto ... der#p68425

Sure enough, when opened up the 'float' was gummed to the central shaft.

It was easily cleaned up and now moves freely up and down.

Date stamped 1973.

The Carrera 2.7 was fitted with the aluminium S/RS type calipers on the front.
Full marks to Porsche for minimising the un-sprung weight.
Unfortunately they can flex a little and have come to be regarded as not the best of components (the later 3.0 Carrera used heavier cast iron versions).
However, I had the same such calipers on my ‘2.4S’ and I found them to be just fine.
It was certainly no problem locking up all the wheels if occasion required it.
In a car this light they work well enough and for originality’s sake, they’re staying.