1971 Burgundy 911T

[Lightweight_911]

- how did you get the dials out?

Brendan - the '70-on cars did away with the retaining brackets/threaded studs on the rear of the instruments &, instead, utilised 'concertina' rubber seals to hold them in the dash - so they are much easier to remove/replace.

[Lightweight_911]

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In parallel to the interior refurbishment, I was continuing to clean up the front luggage compartment.

Initially, once the Perlon mats had been removed, it looked like this:





- but, with a bit of brushing/vacuuming & a wipe over, it was already significantly better:



I felt that it could be further improved by painting the fuel tank &, although this would have been better with the tank out of the car, I had no intention of removing it at this stage.

Most of the time a 911's fuel tank is out of sight under the (Perlon) 'carpet' - & much of it is hidden by the spare wheel & tyre anyway - but I would know what was lurking under there so wanted to 'spruce it up'.

After wire brushing & painting the few bare metal areas with Kurust, I gave them a stippled brush coating of Gravitex stone chip.

Rather than the typically-chosen stone grey for the paint finish I opted for more of a beige tint &, after having some paint mixed, I gave the tank a couple of (brush) coats :





I also took the opportunity to remove the sender unit & give it a good clean, making a new gasket whilst it was out & then refitted it.







It's by no means perfect but to my mind looks a thousand times better* ...





* once I have the car back home I'll replace all of the old/hardened/discoloured vapour venting hoses which will smarten up the area further.


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[Lightweight_911]

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Both underbonnet lamps were missing from my car & I was somewhat surprised at just how much the prices for these Hella lamps varied - cheapest I found were from Heritage Parts (even more so with a DDK discount !) & the most expensive were over 200% dearer !

In addition I decided to convert them to LED bulbs - so all in all a reasonable total of ~£30 for 2 lamps & 2 LED bulbs.



- & this is improved illumination provided by switching to LED's:




Next gauge to receive some attention was the speedo:



- it turned out that it wasn't the first time it'd been apart:






- & after dismantling/cleaning/repainting:




- then re-assembled:





- & stickers re-applied:






- followed shortly afterwards by the oil temp/pressure gauge.

The only slight problem was that the red warning lenses for oil pressure & charge light disintegrated upon removal:




I was sure I had an old roll of red lens repair tape somewhere in the garage - which I did but it was too thick & not translucent enough.

However, I did find a roll of red see-through adhesive tape - 'contractor's sheathing tape' - no idea where it came from but I used it anyway ...





Hopefully it'll do the trick :

[Lightweight_911]

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Finished off refreshing the gauges by removing the rev counter - which involves taking off the steering wheel/hub followed by the column plastic 'clamshells' :



- I think that's the first 911 I've owned where there wasn't any damage to the threaded fixing lugs or the fragile plastic side lugs.

Dismantling/cleaning/repainting the bezels all went according to plan



- only the green lenses behind the indicator 'tell-tale' warning lights required some attention as the arrowed areas had faded:



I didn't have any translucent green acrylic so simply coloured the faded areas in with a green felt tip marker ...

Gauges all back in & looking much better:




Also managed a bit more progress on the passenger side lightweight RS-style door panel




- just need to cut out the access hole for/& fit the leather pull strap ...


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[Gunscrossed]

Fantastic thread Andy, lovely car (sort of wish I’d bought it but would never have done it the justice you are).

[DarthMJH]

Hi Andy, great work as always. I have a couple of questions.
How did you attach the seat belt receiver to the lightweight seat mounting? I have attached mine but it’s not that elegant.
Also how did you remove and refit the bezel around the rev counter? Did you use a knife to bend the metal around the gauge to get it off, and then use a small screwdriver to bend it back?

Cheers

[Lightweight_911]

How did you attach the seat belt receiver to the lightweight seat mounting?

I used the angled brackets from the original comfort seats - this is the passenger side (before repainting):



- had to enlarge/elongate the holes slightly & then mounted it between the lwt cross bar & the original seat runner support bracket :



- sorry, that's the only picture I took of the fitting.

Also how did you remove and refit the bezel around the rev counter ?

To remove the bezels I use a small blunt screwdriver & go round the rear edge multiple times levering the lip up/out a little at a time.

When replacing I use a selection of 'tools' - short lengths of hard plastic & hardwood dowels - again going round the rear edge mutiple times until the bezel is crimped on.


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[DarthMJH]

Thanks Andy. Did you use the same bracket to attach the receiver the other side of the seat, the inside?

[Lightweight_911]

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No MIke - the car has inertia reel seatbelts & utilises this Factory part for the receivers:





- sorry I don't have a specific picture but this screen shot from another one is the best I have:





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[DarthMJH]

Thanks for that Andy. Didn’t know that was available

[IanM]

Didn’t know that was available

But the question is - How do you install that? On top of the tunnel like this?

Anyway, inertia seat belts were first introduced in around 1970, so you can use the angled brackets from the stock comfort seats (both inner and outer).