DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

I did all this on my 73T back in 1988 and it was worse than that lot! However, many areas of the shell were really good and still are, but little wet driving and certainly no salts roads since 1990.

I found the whole bowl/sill/inner panels and under the torsion bar tube area interesting but demanding. Took a long time, and a lot of gas/MIG and spot welding.

I hope your floor/inner sill joints are good. Most of the corrosion on mine was due to the factory underseal coating failing due to jacking damage.

Nice thread.

Going to be stunning when it’s back in tangerine

Look forward to seeing how the resto goes

Latest updates

Offside inner sill not to bad





Inner rear quarter okay



Front nearside inner wing clean, but you can just see the kidney bowl is shot



Nearside inner sill. You can see the door post has been cut away as it was rusty the same as the other side



Rear valance needs a little attention



Nearside rear quarter looks okay, but lets see what its like after a clean

Looks like the car is in pretty good order.

Enjoy!

Looks like a great result and a great base to work from.

Paul has been busy after Christmas.

Rear quarter after cleaning. Looks okay



Looks like round the tank is a separate panel welding on. I assume this is original?



Other side left to do



Parcel shelf removed









Roof sanded



Rear valance removed



Looks nasty and probably will be removed

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I only have one picture but inner sills on both sides look new

That looks pretty good

Not sure about the oil tank panel. Mine was all one piece but was quite a different shape as a ‘72

Gary71 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 30, 2025 7:06 pm That looks pretty good

Not sure about the oil tank panel. Mine was all one piece but was quite a different shape as a ‘72

Cheers for the response Gary. I’ve looked at 3 1973 Resto’s on here and they are all one piece.

DDK members are brilliant posting resto’s as they are great reference material.

Engine bay stripped



Bad metal removed from front scuttle

Will you be blasting/stripping chemically this shell before repairs?

Someone's been busy this holiday Mike. I would like a bit more support under that shell if it was mine.!

Its fine Dave.Stands at all corners plus door braces welded in.Yes.Ive been plenty busy!

911hillclimber wrote: ↑Wed Dec 31, 2025 5:14 pm Will you be blasting/stripping chemically this shell before repairs?

blasting

I wanted to get peoples thoughts on this, with regards the offside rear quarter panel, oil tank hole.

Paul seems to think this might be factory, as the primer was the same and it is spot welded exceptionally well. He says maybe the factory used a rear quarter from a 72 and then welded the panel for the oil tank.

If it was a repair panel a restorer would have welded in flat, rather than spot welding. And the outer quarter panel was original, so I dont know how someone would have fitted it.



It matches closely with this plate in the front quarter which I know is factory as I have seen it on other RHD cars



Looks like a factory job here as well



What do you think, could this be factory where they used a 72 quarter panel ?

Also I know this front wing joining panel has been replaced, is this correct for a 73 ?



Restoration Design have this. I have looked at a couple of other cars and I have seen both ! So now unsure which is correct



Many thanks

Paul has been busy again, most of the car has been stripped and almost ready for sandblasting.

After stripping this off the floor pan is in amazingly good condition for a UK car.





The front corner has had a bit of previous work





and the rear



A few small holes in the pan. it will be interesting to see what these are like after blasting



The front wheel arch has a small tear in it.



From what we can see the car has had a front knock at some stage in its life.

As the underseal was being burnt off the bottom, the floor sound deadening came off. The pans look clean.