DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

911hillclimber wrote:I like black centre wheels, and they match the black panels, even better.
Good story.
Interior changes make quite a difference, made me think.

Don't get too comfortable with the story - he's barely started .....
I see me and Mr. Hall in his 356 in the background of the Brooklands photo - if only I'd known where it would lead.

Sometime in the summer I responded to an ad on DDK for a right hand wing. The seller was in North London, something of a schlep up from Chichester. However, he was due visit another DDK member in Sussex within a couple of weeks to collect some parts, so we arranged to meet there.

That was how I came to meet MT (Mick Temple) of this parish. One couldn't fail to be impressed by the quality of work Mick was producing from his small home workshop near Horsham - the Doctor's car was already a magazine star - and Mick had more projects on the go.

He was very welcoming, and was very happy to spend the afternoon dispensing words of old Porsche wisdom to this DDK newbie. Over the next few months I made nuisance of myself by visiting several times, and I also met Garry 'T-Bone' Hall - who was then starting his enterprise that would go on to become the successful Classicfx trimming and restoration company - as well as several other DDKers in the area.

More importantly, I was invited to pick their brains when it came to any technical problems I encountered, enlist their help if needed it, and given access to their network of reliable suppliers for the services I would need to undertake a major re-work of my car. With Mick's encouragement, my initial plans for a 'windows-out' respray, a new carpet set, and an engine refresh became more ambitious, and on Boxing Day 2012 I headed into the small single garage at the back of my rented house to start the next phase of my 911 project.



C>

January 2013

It's amazing how quickly you can take a 911 apart with a bit of grim determination (and matching tool box ), even in a small, cold garage.


Interior was out.


Glass out (with some help from MT):


Ill fitting dash gone. A couple of the fixed studs in the dash didn't have a hole, so it was sitting proud by 10mm or so. I suspect a PO tried to use a '76 dash (i.e. before Porsche fitted central vents), and CBA when they discovered it didn't fit!


German handwriting:


January the 9th:


I took some time out to drill the engine cover for some bling:


One factor I hadn't taken into account was how much room a 911 takes up in its component form. There were bits all over the house:


(A very, very steel door, one of two. Tuthill's magnets needed new batteries).

New garden ornaments:


As space was tight I did have to roll the car out of the garage if needed (and if it wasn't raining!). A 'helpful' neighbour did point out that residents were barred from 'car maintenance' on the shared driveway, so I couldn't do that too often.


Next step: engine out!

C>

February 2013

The first time I've performed a motorsectomy since my Caterham days. Earlier I knocked up a dolly with some scrap wood and some probably-a-little-too-light-castors.


Using the Dempsey check list, I disconnected the various cables, pipes and fixings attaching the drivetrain to the car. Then, with more help from MT, I lifted the car up nice and high:


..and out it came:

(spot the over-spray on the silencer and the oil tank!)

Traditional picture:


Fabulous Porsche engineering: magnesium cased 'box on the bench*:

*if you need up up-end your gearbox it's a good idea to drain the oil first....


At this point my landlady gave me notice to quit. With luck, a suitable place came available just around the corner; it was nearer the beach, had a large garden and an (even smaller) garage. But there was hard-standing outside - and no moaning neighbours.


Now all I had to do was move a 911's rolling chassis and its components a quarter of a mile down the road..

C>
PS I took the opportunity to add another model to my collection:

I really don't like moving. This was the second in just over a year, and was no easier the second time, especially as I now had most of the components of an old 911 to shift as well. The various boxes or parts and tools needed their own lwb Transit trip, but the 911 wasn't going to fit in..

The new house was about 400m away along the main road, then a further 300m down a private drive. Early one Sunday morning, I sat eldest son on a box behind the wheel, and youngest son and I pushed him (and the car) the 700m to the house. They roll pretty well unladen by that lump of a drive-train.

That completed without hitch we turned to the engine, still sat on the dolly - the one with the too-lightweight castors. Sure enough, within a minute or two one had sheared off, and the three of us had to half-lift, half drag the contraption down the road. The row caused by metal scraping along the road surface brought out the residents' committee but I was in no mood for a discussion, and suggested that if they didn't want 250kg of flat 6 traffic calming in the middle of their road they should either lend me a hand or get out of my way.

Before long the car was in its new home:


The strip-down continued: steering and front suspension:


MT being unimpressed by what we discovered when we stripped the rear suspension:


Remember the expensive suspension refresh - the one that included the uprated torsion bars? It didn't extend to the trailing arm bushes:




Mounted on the Temple dolly:


The next task was to send the shell and panels off to have the paint stripped. After discussion I decided to use De-Corrosion Services in Chertsey. They'd stripped a couple of 911s at that stage and had produced good results.

C>

Fantastic stuff

Wow..what an expose...I cant believe they didn't change those rear bushes..hardly costs anything to do?

lamakdaddy wrote:Wow..what an expose...I cant believe they didn't change those rear bushes..hardly costs anything to do?

And the photos don't really show how deformed they were, which was evident from the location of the arm boss in the cover before we even dismantled them, so clearly visible as an issue to anyone working on the rear suspension.

And as for what they did to the drivers pedal board to fit the fancy brake cylinder thingy.......

Not good - taking the pi$$ in fact.

Mick

MT wrote:

lamakdaddy wrote:Wow..what an expose...I cant believe they didn't change those rear bushes..hardly costs anything to do?

And the photos don't really show how deformed they were, which was evident from the location of the arm boss in the cover before we even dismantled them, so clearly visible as an issue to anyone working on the rear suspension.

And as for what they did to the drivers pedal board to fit the fancy brake cylinder thingy.......

Not good - taking the pi$$ in fact.

Mick

I was wondering about whether to share that; not their finest hour really.


Modified brake line fixings:


Mole grip marks on strut inserts:


Fuel pump mount


This thread isn't intended to be a moan about Tuthills as I've since had plenty of time to move on. To draw a line under my experience, I did communicate with them after we discovered these various issues, but to no great effect. And not all of their work was crap either.

My take is that while specialists like Tuthills are capable of doing great work, occasionally their QA slips. I suspect my little project was given to a unproven/new technician who wasn't supervised sufficiently.

In hindsight I would have taken a very different approach but I can say that about plenty of my past decisions!

C>

Smacks of laziness and complacency though ( Tuthills, not you )

Just to give a balancing view I must say that that my experience over the last 10 years with Tuthills has been brilliant.

Yowch - that's tough - although I am enjoying your story...

I'm guessing by your avatar there is quite a long journey here

We had some final tasks before the shell could be sent for blasting. Removing the soundproofing is a horrible job, but I had enthusiastic help:




I'd packed up the doors, bonnet, lid, sunroof etc. and taken then up to Chertsey before the house move:




And finally the whole rig was strapped securely ( I hoped) to a trailer:




Would the shell fall off? Was the solid looking shell hiding corrosion?
What colour should I paint it? Would I survive the DDK trip to Techno Classic in Essen?

All to be revealed...

>C

Great thread!
I used Tuthills just once a few years ago and they cocked up, refused to fix it, told to go away. Little job to them, critical to me. Voted with my feet for the future, doubt they are bothered.

Mike Bainbridge fixed it in the end with zero hassle, max success, £50.

Good to see a youth getting dirty and learning skills.