My '72 911T

[Gary71]

Got bored with wiring, but have done the main loom, fuse boxes and both headlight harnesses. One was really bad so I made a new one from scratch for that side, just need to remember the wire colours!



I’m not doing anything more on the shell before Barry does his magic so I’m getting it built up and profiled best I can. I know it will all come apart again, but want to know it fits.

Profiling the bonnet with the gas struts on is fun... it’s finally done and I’m happy with it.





The bonnet has a crown of about 3mm you can see in this pic, probably due to overpacking many, many times to Le Mans.

I’m sure a gentle persuasion can recover this as it’s otherwise bang in line and fits front and back.



I’ve also spent about 4 hours metal finishing the front bumper as my early efforts a were not all that. Still needs filler, but less!

Hopefully I’ll get the bumper, lights and back end built up tomorrow.

[Gary71]

Front bumper. Alignment. That seal.

All I'm saying is I'd like to meet the person that designed that setup and have a word. Why put access holes in the slam panel to get to the bolts that only line up with one of the bolts so they are of no use?!

4 hours (4!) fighting it on Sunday trying to dry build it. Such fun.

Oh and I've noted during that fun that the LH side of my front panel is 3mm longer than the RH so the seal gets a little kink in it.
Out with the grinder again!

[911hillclimber]

I could never get my f'glass bonnet to fit with gas struts, just too strong when compressed and the bonnet bulged like your steel one.
Can't help feel the strut is fully compressed before full closure of the lid.

As to THAT SEAL, totally agree, what a pain it all is and most is clamped in place by the top face of the bumper.

Getting it 'right' (ie compromised) to a f'glass bumper is the job of a patient saint, which I'm neither.

Soon be with Barry and time for a tidy-up and more loom games.

[Gary71]

Just checked the strut question as I can actually see it at the moment when shut!


So not fully closed, but obviously at high pressure. My bonnet crown is definitely just distortion as it doesn’t need to be latched to be the wrong shape

[Gary71]

Continuing the dry build today the back end is all built up and I’ve made a bracket for the front bumper that connects the battery box to bumper and headlight bucket.

The original brackets seem to have vanished into the twilight zone normally reserved for 10mm sockets and the spanner you’ve just put down!

Checking a few pictures on line I can see what I’m missing so made one up out of some thick stainless I happened to have. It’s probably a mm or so thinner than the original from memory so I’ve added a little brace to reduce flex.





Pic shows it loosely balanced in position.
Same again for the other side tomorrow.

[Gary71]

Other bracket now made and all bolted up. Not entirely symmetrical as the battery box brackets are different, probably my fault!

Just for reference for people worried about original finishes I’m thinking of going ‘original’ for my engine and luggage bay as it can be recreated by a blind man and two rattle cans of green and badly applied satin black for £4.50. I’ll not spray the rust layer back on though!

Found this old photo lurking on a hard drive from when I first owned the car and pulled the tank out to fix a leak.

[Gary71]

Current state. Ready for proper green

[Lightweight_911]

.

Looking good Gary !

.

[Dougieboy1]

as i know from my own experience, those before and after shots are soooo satisfying

wish i had your welding skills!

[911hillclimber]

It's not just welding skills, grinding skills etc, but the attitude of mind that this CAN be done in a house garage if you are determined enough, can navigate all the tasks and overcome the lows.

Credit to you Gary!

Your front bay looks the same colour as mine painted!

[Gary71]

Cheers guys, appreciate the positivity. As my old foreman used to say ‘as a welder you make a good grinder’... nothing’s changed in 30 years!

Front bumper/wing mounts are now in and hold everything really steady. Not sure if it was supposed to but my car used to have a bolt through the front wing and bumper just inside the arch. The new wing doesn’t have a hole so thinking this may have been a later addition to try and line things up.

With the new bracket it’s held firmly enough not to need anything else.

[911hillclimber]

Mine has 'custom' brackets too but I needed to space the bowl and front valance to get them to line up, esp getting the bumper to compress the front seal to clamp the seal firmly in place.
Thus, my brackets were shy on height by about 10mm to allow a variety of spacers to pull things around.
This introduced a lot of stress into the assembly which is best avoided as you know.

It was a bit of a frustration doing all this after the repaint and using Dansk wings, fibre glass bonnet and a good glass front bumper.

[Gary71]

While earlier I was joking about the black underbonnet finish this car (from the for sale thread) has made my change my mind, and not just because it will save me a few hundred quid!

[Gary71]

Another few hours this afternoon fighting lamp/horn grille fitment. Just bolted up they are dreadful.
The only way to get it right in the end was to cut off the top of the bracket that goes between grille and lamp, fit everything without the bracket then move the bracket to the lamp and weld it back on. Wing on/wing off/wing on...

It’s still not perfect, but maybe it never was (and certainly never has been whilst I’ve owned the car) and I’m too used to cars with +/- 1mm tolerances!



I’m going to try the other side tomorrow, that’s an original period wing so maybe better than this £1000 Porsche panel

[Gary71]

Not touched the car for weeks due to various things, but I have bought a replacement LH front light housing...

Spot the mistake? Yup. needed a RH. Idiot.

Anyway after that setback decided to have a look at the rears and started with the RH which dissolved in front of my eyes once I started to clean the paint off!



I guess the advantage of the whole mounting surface having dissolved is that I can put the fixing anywhere I want so the unit lines up without modifications to the new 1/4 panel.

Repairs started:


As with body corrosion you always have to cut more out than you thought.

Started on a little repair panel that I’ll chemical metal in place.



Lots to fix yet, plus the bulb holder mod as per the other thread.

I was just going to buy new after seeing this much corrosion, but then looked at the price and carried on with repairs!