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?

D2B61C72-2B9A-46F5-A6CB-236E6678B8BD.jpg

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).

[Lightweight_911]

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Finally finished making my RS LWT-style interior door panels - just need to remove it all & paint the perimeter of the door shell satin black once I have the car at home:

[Lightweight_911]

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Also finally found a use for this sticker in a tribute to my old friend Chris (from a batch produced by James Puttock several years ago):

[Lightweight_911]

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Removed the final parts of the US fuel tank vapour recirculation system - the plastic rectangular expansion tank (from up by the n/s bonnet hinge) & its associated (old/brittle) hoses at the front & the old braided hoses running from the rear of the tunnel up to the engine compartment:






The expansion tank will be cleaned up & repaired then refitted with new PVC tubing - taking the opportunity to convert the system to the simpler ROW version (which dispenses with the charcoal canister & its associated recirculation circuit).


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[Lightweight_911]

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Since I'm planning on replacing the std air cleaner assembly with a pair of K&N Watershields, I fitted the 'period' VDO plastic washer bottle (mentioned earlier in this thread) as an oil vapour catch tank in the right hand rear corner of the engine compartment:



I'm using some new/more flexible 25mm ID hose so removed the old braided vent hoses.



- however I don't like the glossy finish & the printed details so, after cutting the hose to the required lengths, I de-glossed them using wire wool & talcum powder:




Just waiting for the hose clamps to arrive now ...

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