1973 Porsche 911E RHD – Silver

[Bigfoot]

Omg!!!! Seriously!!! Did it keep chassis number

[inaglasshouse]

Omg!!!! Seriously!!! Did it keep chassis number

Yep.

And why not? It was properly repaired (by Barry) using Porsche panels. Is it any less authentic than my car or yours? Not really I think. By the time we have blasted / dipped, cut out all that rust, repainted using modern products - we're firmly in Ship of Theseus / Shinto Shrine / Trigger's Broom territory!
They're only original once. After that they are all restos, the only question is how good a resto.

[Bigfoot]

Unless it's been dry stored from new and only a handful of miles there's never going to be a rust free 40+ year old car!! Even today's cars won't last with winter use. It's just a bit of a shock until you realise it's in good hands and will be so much better in the end

[911GP]

Thanks guys. I guess it is important to keep perspective on something like this and it is the end result that matters.

With around 20% remaining and all the new panels bought it is easy to think that this will be a life size Airfix model where Chestertons bolt on the new bits and hey presto! Not so and here is a good example of where skill, experience and craftsmanship really shine and where all the hours go.

The rear torsion tube was in poor condition at the ends, which I understand is a common problem. Roy has been busy repairing this area to the tube and panels surrounding it. John said that pattern part repair panels are available but they aren't very good in his opinion so they prefer to make the parts themselves.

Rusty area cut out:






Torsion tube repaired and aligned on the jig:







New section fabricated out of sheet metal on form/jig they have produced in house:












And a similar operation conducted on the left hand side:







Gitesh

[210bhp]

Fantastic work....

Regards
Mike

[911hillclimber]

I don't believe my eyes!
Gas welded parts! I can't recall last seeing gas welding used on a resto thread on DDK.
I gas welded all of mine as that was all I had to hand in '89. Hired a spot welder to do the floor/flange welds, not plug welds.

Lovely repair.

[MarkIII]

Gitesh, looks like you are enjoying the Chesterton experience, I can't sing there praises high enough,
I believe Roy has been working on Porsche bodies for over 40 Yrs so there are probably not many craftsman left out there who were around when these cars first hit the road. From speaking to John he loves his job, as he's apparently tried retiring twice.......

Your car looks as though it's progressing nicely, love your last update my car had similar issues, end product looks great.

Mark

[Bigfoot]

Enjoy the ride, looks fab

[911GP]

Absolutely agree, Roy is amazingly skilled. Here is a photo of him working is magic on the skeletal remains of the right side:






A repair section he has fabricated for the inner right wing:



And here it is aligned on the car:



Together with repairs from the inside:




Moving along towards the front of the car:








Here is an example of the detail Chestertons pride themselves on. New A-pillars from Porsche do not have the "M8" pressing. A previous repair and replacement of the driver's side A-pillar had left the car without the "M8" pressing on the A-pillar so John located a replacement pillar from which they could cut out the M8 tag:



The tags were then used to backdate the new Porsche A-pillars:






It is little things like this detail that make all the difference and will make the car indistinguishable from when the car left the factory.

Gitesh

[Tp81]

Brilliant work, on the a pillars. I have the very same problem and I am looking to try and source two. Would he have anymore?

[911GP]

Hi Tom, he didn't have any at his workshop so had to search around for one. Sorry.

[sladey]

Great work

[911GP]

Roy had cut out the old floor as you can see from the previous photos and we had to make a decision on what to replace it with. Porsche currently make a floor but it is LHD. John informed me that Dansk make a RHD floor which he has used previously; it would require some fettling to get it right but then again modifying the Porsche floor from LHD to RHD would also require work. Trusting his judgement and experience once again, I decided to go for the Dansk and save some money.



I would also require inner longitudinal repair panels for both sides and here John recommended Restoration Design parts:



Old floor section cut out in preparation of the new floor:



New floor on the jig:



Some adjustments conducted on the new floor:



And here are a couple of shots of the car being lowered onto the new floor:





Some backdating and adjustments carried out to the floor:



New Porsche fuel tank support panels aligned to the floor:





And a new Porsche inner front wing also aligned:






And lastly a shot of a lovely bracket Roy has made which I believe fits next to the fuel tank support panel and the floor:



Gitesh

[jjeffries]

Wow, i am a compulsive thread reader here, but that's the first time i've seen a complete new floor being used. Very cool how they pivoted the body around the torque tube ends to get the floor in place. Those repair panels made for the areas, right and left, around the torque tube are very elegant and efficient, too. I hope they have apprentices learning from these blokes. John.

[911GP]

Roy has been making good progress over the past month. Work has continued at the front of the car and here is some more back dating of the new panels to get them period correct:













Tow bar hook welded into place:



The front latch panel was deemed to be in a poor state so John advised replacing this. Here is the new Porsche panel being back dated:
















Gitesh