1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

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911GP
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1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by 911GP »

Introduction
I wasn’t sure about starting this restoration thread since there have been several 1973 RHD 911E restorations on here. However, a few of you have asked for an update and DDK has provided me with so much knowledge that I feel I should give something back. Besides, most of you will have far more experience than me and I will probably need plenty of help through this process.

I had been searching for a car passively for a few years; I didn’t know about DDK then so obviously had been looking in the wrong places! It was after I bought the car that the insurance company salesperson introduced me to DDK (best bit of advice anyone has ever given me). I came across the car in 2015 and it ticked all the boxes for me: pre-74, matching numbers, E or S, RHD and a colour I really like. Being a novice, I didn’t know much about what to look for other than the obvious stuff that I had read about. However, it was clear even to me that the car was in a bad way body wise. The seller had owned the car for 18 years but hadn’t done much mileage (about 10k). He informed me that an engine rebuild had been carried out soon after he had bought the car but he hadn’t paid much attention to the bodywork other than addressing issues raised during MOT tests. Given the state of the bodywork, I should have walked away but I was thinking with my heart and not my head. On the plus side there was a lot that was good about the car: it seemed to drive well and although the interior looked worn, it had a genuine feel to it. The car hadn’t been raced so there appeared to be many original features. Here are some photos, a few of which I have posted previously:

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It was clear that the bodywork would need to be carried out. I am fairly practical but I have no experience with something like this so doing work myself would not be an option. The previous owner had a slot penciled in with Chesterton Coachworks but taking on a project like this needed consideration. Having read some restorations threads here, I contacted a couple of restorers I had read about on here: it was clear they both knew their stuff and would do a proper job. The only problem was, as with anyone good, they had long waiting lists. So I decided to keep the slot with Chestertons and had the car checked over by them and Gary at GDC Automotive. I knew then that they were the right people for the job. They were also relatively easy for me to reach and I figured this would be important since a project like this would require regular visits. So, a few months later and with a few hundred miles clocked up, it is time to start the restoration.

More to follow,
Gitesh
Last edited by 911GP on Tue Jul 09, 2019 4:47 pm, edited 3 times in total.
210bhp
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by 210bhp »

Looks like a very typical condition and worthwhile project. A great find. I'm sure you will enjoy the journey of the body restoration.

Good luck and keep posting. I'm sure you will get all the advice you need from previous excellent restoration threads or asking questions on here. Glad you found us!

Regards
Mike
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jjeffries
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by jjeffries »

What a great looking car. Those Chesterton guys do proper work. I will look forward to your thread..this stuff NEVER gets old. John.
MarkIII
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by MarkIII »

Plenty of pictures and updates please, can't have to many restoration threads in my book.

Your car will be in safe hands with John and Roy at Chestertons

Mark
911hillclimber
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by 911hillclimber »

Totally agree!
Hope you can get a good flow of work and picture reports to us!
:)
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AndrewSlater
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by AndrewSlater »

Looks like a good starting point - you can never have enough restoration threads ... and photos.
Good luck with it all
Andrew
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Darren65
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by Darren65 »

Lots to love about the car and certainly looks good in the flesh! :wink:

Congrats for taking on the project Gitesh and look forward to following with interest.

Best of luck.
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by silver911 »

Lovely looking car! Great to see another restoration thread. Keep us posted.
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by silver911 »

Lovely looking car! Great to see another restoration thread. Keep us posted.
murph2309
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by murph2309 »

Hi - great to have you on the board and sharing with us. We love a resto! As said, Chestertons have a great rep and with Gary from GDC alongside, you've got a great team helping you.

Car looks lovely on the inside too - good luck with everything. It can be a bit of a rollercoaster :-) But definitely worth it...
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911GP
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by 911GP »

Thank you for your kind comments. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so I will do my best to indulge you with as many photos as I can, Photobucket flakiness permitting.

They also say that the camera never lies but in this case it really does flatter. Trust me, the car is in a bad way as you will see when we get to that bit.

My aim is to get the bodywork to A1 standard with a first class paint job but I would like to retain the patina particularly inside the car. There is so much originality that it would be a shame to lose this. Now I am all for preservation over replacement but I am also realistic. There was no way that we would not need a lot of panels. This was a 43 year old UK car that had not been restored previously. Also, I had seen where the car had been stored and it left a lot to be desired! Many of the panels are not original anyway so I have no qualms about using new panels where necessary. John at Chestertons provided me with a long list of parts we would need. I had read that getting hold of panels can be hit and miss so I was keen to place an order with Porsche early. However, I didn’t want to have the parts in my garage for months and the logistics were daunting since I don’t have a van or trailer to get the parts from Porsche to me and then to John. John recommended I speak to Porsche Silverstone and they were superb. I must have been lucky since all the panels I needed were available bar two and these were due to be in stock shortly as well. More importantly, Porsche Silverstone kindly agreed to store the parts for me until I needed them and would have them sent to Chestertons directly. They made the process totally pain free and I cannot recommend them enough. The cost for panels was completely insane but I wanted the car to be done properly with no short cuts. The parts were ordered in May 2016 and ready and stored by July 2016.

Around this time my COA arrived and while most of it was fine (engine number, gearbox, colour, chassis etc), I had an issue with some of the optional extras. I didn’t have Recaro Sports Seats and I didn’t have a rear wiper. I had read that COAs are notoriously inaccurate so I started to question these points. With your help I was able to confirm that the COA was correct.

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There was wiring for the rear wiper in the engine bay and a dash switch so the rear wiper must have been removed at some point:

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The comfort seats I currently have must have been changed because one of the seat belt receivers is an extended type found on Sports seats and the head restraints are peanut shaped, again from Sports seats*.

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Garry at ClassicFX helpfully suggested I contact Marc Noack at Porsche Classic in Germany who also confirmed option 425 (rear wiper) and option 409 (sports seats, leatherette black with corduroy seat inlays) were fitted to the car. A few days later Porsche Customer Services UK also confirmed the same. The bad news was that I didn’t have either of these options on the car and in order to get the car correct I would have to source them. It wasn’t easy. Or cheap (even now I still don't understand why the Sports seats are so much more expensive than Comfort seats). After a few months searching and emailing, I was offered two pairs of correct, late ‘73, double locker Sports seats in need of re-trimming, one pair in Australia and the other in the US. The latter were cheaper to ship so I went with these. The rear wiper was also difficult to source but Gary Cook (GDC) and Ian Cox came to my rescue.

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* Edit - I have learnt that headrests changed from D-shaped to peanut around October 1971 for comfort and sports seats. There will always be exceptions, as Mike points out, but generally peanut would have been the norm for '73 cars. Porsche Classic in Germany have confirmed that option 409 (Sports seats) were originally specified on the build sheet/Kardex.

Gitesh
Last edited by 911GP on Fri Jan 19, 2018 9:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
210bhp
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by 210bhp »

Great parts sourcing Gitesh.
Just one point, not all sports seats came with peanut headrests.
Leather sports seats came with leather D headrests.


Regards
Mike
_____________________________
73 RS (Sold)
67 S
Mint T (Sold)
996 Turbo (Sold)
73 2.4E (home after 25 years) and Sold again :-(
73T targa (signal yellow project)
1953 Vauxhall Velox
914/6
1963 356B
https://www.mybespokeroom.com/
911GP
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by 911GP »

Thanks Mike, you are quite right. My car had vinyl and corduroy seats so would have had the peanut shaped headrests. For reference, here is a pic of original leather Sports seats which have leather D shaped headrests:

Image
Last edited by 911GP on Thu Jul 06, 2017 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
210bhp
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by 210bhp »

Yes, I have a very nicely patina set of leather recaros in my RS, I sit in them just about every week. They are the most comfortable seats I've used especially on long Contenental trips.

Regards
Mike
_____________________________
73 RS (Sold)
67 S
Mint T (Sold)
996 Turbo (Sold)
73 2.4E (home after 25 years) and Sold again :-(
73T targa (signal yellow project)
1953 Vauxhall Velox
914/6
1963 356B
https://www.mybespokeroom.com/
sladey
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Re: 1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

Post by sladey »

Great thread - thanks for sharing - we love a resto
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young but I'm just backdated yeah
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