1973 2.4T CIS Restomod

[Nige]

How bad is that!


As you are finding out they are typically not difficult cars to work on, after all it's just nuts and bolts, and lots of washers!

[Ian 2.2S]

That is truly shocking, and to me that's verging on criminal for a 'professional' workshop to do that.
The thread of the mounting bolt/stud doesn't project past the Nylok, so no locking. Nut vibrates, off pipes move/wear/snap - no brakes.
Hope somebody from afore mentioned business sees this thread.

[911hillclimber]

Picture says a lot doesn't it.

The pedal box is actually fastened well, spreader thick form washers, Spring washers and nylocs on correct stud length.
The union is awful by comparison.

The new pipe on the left was not made with a new nut!
The grime is still on the old nut!!
The old pipe on the right is kinked at best.
The mounting of course is stupid.

I find no suppliers except our known restorers on here, Barry, Canford, NickM etc ever comment about anything they do so I doubt this one will respond on here, just too dangerous.

They hope memories will be short.

[shoestring7]

The big Essen event was a perfect chance to choose the colour for my car. Present were 911s in every shade and hue, from the brightest of the 'safety' colours to classy but more subdued metallics, so I could compare and contrast to my heart's content.

But first of course, we had to see what would be needed in the way of bodywork repairs and new panels once the paint, rust and bondo had been stripped from the 40 year old shell. I'd arranged for it to be delivered to the bodyshop; a small outfit near Mick's in Newdigate. Charlie, the owner, had worked on several of Mick's cars and while the finishes might not have met the very finest of concours standards, to my untrained eye it was good enough - much better that you find on a modern car - in fact perfect for a classic car that would actually be used. And at a touch over £3k, the estimate was a third of those from the 'proper' specialist classic paint shops I'd approached.

Earlier, I'd taken down some of the loose parts that had already been stripped, as well as a good genuine lwb steel front valance I'd found to replace the shonky RS glass fibre job that was on the car. We'd tack welded some steel strip on the back to cover the trim holes, as I was aiming for a clean S/T look.

At the end of April the shell was delivered to Charlie's, coated in the grey finish Anti-Corrosion Services had used to protect the metal. Mick went down to expect it, while I sat at home wondering what the damage would be.

The call came: "I've never seen anything like this before" he said. My heart fell, and I wondered what outlandish combination of rusty cars had been stitched together to make my Frankenstein's monster of a 911.

He continued "This is the first and only shell I've seen or heard of that can go straight from the blaster to the paint shop without any metalwork at all. You lucky b*****d!".

Still stunned and somewhat relieved, I visited the car a couple of days later, by which time Charlie had started work; it needed some filler where the RS rear wings had been attached, but that was it.









Relieved that I'd dodged a potentially very expensive bullet, all that remained for me now was to finalise my choice of colour.

>C

[Gary71]

Nicely dodged!!!

[shoestring7]

I suppose the easiest option would have been to return the car to its original silver. Several factors dissuaded me from this course. Firstly Charlie-The-Paint wasn't too keen on the additional work applying metallic paint represented and wasn't quite as confident of getting a good result (his reasonable estimate was for a solid colour). That also ruled out one idea I toyed with; using a later darker metallic like seal grey.


A seal grey 911 yesterday

Secondly in my mind I was a long way from attempting to return the car to original; when I found the car it was already minus the factory interior, bumpers and wheels, and the rear arches had been cut to fit RS flares. And at the time a boggo 911T was still the ginger haired orphan step-child of the 911 world, so there was little financial incentive for a restoration to its original colour either.

And thirdly I was sure the world could live without another silver 911.


Silver Porsches drivers being individuals

Another factor was that I'd been running around in a lairy bright yellow and black 911, with stickers on, a car that just shouted 'boy racer'. For every admiring glance from other road users there was a disproving look, so this time I was looking for something a lot less in-your-face. And the bit of me that admired what Piech, Butzi and Stuttgart had achieved with the 911 by 1973 liked the idea of using one of the correct early 70s palate........


..and I had very fond memories of the way my old Maritime blue 968 looked in the evening light:


So in the end, the decision sort of made itself: Gulf Blue the car would be. I sent the paint codes over to Charlie, and had a word with Mr Jury:


I was very careful about one thing; the whole Gulf Blue/Orange thing is horribly over-played in my opinion. All sorts of unlikely machines are splashed with bright orange and light blue paint in an attempt at 'heritage', and hardly any benefit from it. Its also one of those things folks who know a lot less than they think about motorsport history latch on to. In period, only John Wyer's cars carried the scheme, that's a handful of Ford GTs and Porsche 917s, and his Mirages. No Factory 911 was every painted so, nor were any factory Caterhams, Triumph Spitfires etc. etc. or the other cars you see at any big petrolheads meeting.

Apart from a hint in the side decal, my 911 would not carry any Gulf Orange.

Hindsight is a powerful thing; with regards to this project there are many things I would do differently had I known then what I know now, but the one thing I wouldn't change is the paint. It looks great in all light; other road users and peds receive it as well as any sportscar, and most importantly my glance always lingers over those soft light blue 911 curves whenever I open the garage door.

In May 2013 I couldn't wait to see it in the metal.

>C

[jjeffries]

Mr. Shoestring:
1. I mentioned it it another thread I started, but that kind of $hit workmanship is inexcusable from a name brand shop. They get all this flowery press from the Andrew Frankels and Chris Harrises of the world, whose cars they sort with fine tooth combs, then put that out, but at their full retail rate, no doubt. And yes, we all err from time to time, and should be judged on how we respond. But when said response is pi$$ off, well....not cool. You'd think they'd want to protect their name? At least you can rest assured that your hard earned money, spent on zip ties and the knuckle-dragging mis-use of tools, was consumed by their deluxe ice-racing jollies. Maybe you paid for their jacuzzi?
2. That 968 is gorgeous, and reminds us what a great job Porsche was able to do keeping older bodyshell designs looking contemporary. I had a 944 S2 and thought it and the 951 so much prettier than base 944, but the 968 was another huge step forward, IMHO. Especially in that color.
3. Re your former neighbors hassling you: are the English the absolute worst at that kind of pettiness? I've been in the US since I was a kid but am from the UK originally (Bristol/aka Brissle), and despite the MANY crazy things about life over here (Trump, violence, etc) one nice thing about MOST Americans is more of a "live and let live" attitude. I suppose the fact we have so much more space to spread our crap out makes the difference. My Dad used to say that Brits resent others' success, whereas Americans admire it. That comes through in how our old cars are perceived.
4. Keep up the excellent work on this great project.
John

[911hillclimber]

Nice colour.
When I decided to have my Lola race car's body gel-coated in 'Gulf Racing Blue' it quickly became obvious that there are a 1000 versions of that colour!
The RAL number I thought was right turned out to be quite dark, I expected a colour shade like the image above...Baby-Blue.

[shoestring7]

Nice colour.
When I decided to have my Lola race car's body gel-coated in 'Gulf Racing Blue' it quickly became obvious that there are a 1000 versions of that colour!
The RAL number I thought was right turned out to be quite dark, I expected a colour shade like the image above...Baby-Blue.

Graham,

I know what you mean; I tried to get my second Caterham painted in a McLaren Orange called Mango, but in truth it came out nearer peach!

If I recall, on this occasion all I did was get the code for 1973 Porsche Gulf Blue from the nice chaps at the Glasurit paint stand at Essen which I then gave to Charlie who in turn got his local paint supplier to mix.

>C

[shoestring7]

The painting process took a good few weeks. One decision we'd made concerned the undersides of the car. The factory underseal was in very good condition, so much of it was simply painted over, while the wheel arches etc were coated in a modern anti-chip finish. Later on I used copious amounts of Dinitrol in the box sections and POR15 for any metal work. Together they should protect a lightly used car for the next four decades.

I travelled to Newdigate several times over the next few weeks to watch progress.

Rear arches now smoothed:


No. 1 helper cleaner up the original petrol tank. It was perfect bar the odd small dent:




Now it too got a coating of anti-chip:


By the next visit the blue was on:






Then Charlie sprayed the dash, inner door edges, seatbelt mounts etc. with black satin:






Until finally the work was done:


A couple of days later the newly painted shell was sitting in the Sussex sunshine on my driveway:


The finish was much better than I had expected:


Now I just needed to put it back together again. Shouldn't take long then

C>

[shoestring7]

Mr. Shoestring:
1. I mentioned it it another thread I started, but that kind of $hit workmanship is inexcusable from a name brand shop. They get all this flowery press from the Andrew Frankels and Chris Harrises of the world, whose cars they sort with fine tooth combs, then put that out, but at their full retail rate, no doubt. And yes, we all err from time to time, and should be judged on how we respond. But when said response is pi$$ off, well....not cool. You'd think they'd want to protect their name? At least you can rest assured that your hard earned money, spent on zip ties and the knuckle-dragging mis-use of tools, was consumed by their deluxe ice-racing jollies. Maybe you paid for their jacuzzi?
2. That 968 is gorgeous, and reminds us what a great job Porsche was able to do keeping older bodyshell designs looking contemporary. I had a 944 S2 and thought it and the 951 so much prettier than base 944, but the 968 was another huge step forward, IMHO. Especially in that color.
3. Re your former neighbors hassling you: are the English the absolute worst at that kind of pettiness? I've been in the US since I was a kid but am from the UK originally (Bristol/aka Brissle), and despite the MANY crazy things about life over here (Trump, violence, etc) one nice thing about MOST Americans is more of a "live and let live" attitude. I suppose the fact we have so much more space to spread our crap out makes the difference. My Dad used to say that Brits resent others' success, whereas Americans admire it. That comes through in how our old cars are perceived.
4. Keep up the excellent work on this great project.
John

Thanks John. I've said all I want to about Tuthills, but agree with you about the 968. One of my favourite ever cars - and IMO a much better road car than a contemporary 964RS.

Mine had a/c but no sunroof, and I should never have sold it!


Sadly the chap I sold it to turned it into a track slag

C>

[jamie]

This is nice!

[yoda]

What a great result on the shell / paint! Makes up for some of the bad luck elsewhere.

[shoestring7]

Anyone who's undertaken a 911 restoration will understand that while stripping a car to its components is the work of a few days, putting it all back together again takes much longer!

While the shell was being stripped and blasted I started cleaning up components.


Suspension components cleaned of old paint


Clean metal appealed to the OCD part of me - no cracks or splits spotted

I was more gentle with the oil tank


Numerous coats (sealer, undercoat, and a couple of top coats in chassis black) of PO15 later:


Front struts POR15'd, with a nice bright top coat:


Various bits back from the blast cleaners (and a pair of the Best Motorcycle Boots in the World!)


After more POR15:


Finding a use for the metal tree thing in the garden:


Brake callipers went off the the lovely chaps at Classic Car Automotive:

The came back better than new. Remember I was still a little disappointed with brake feel in spite of the new mastercylinders? It turns out that one of the fronts had a 15mm crack in it. Classic Car Automotive had another one on the shelves - the original makes a great paperweight!

Now to start putting the nice clean bits onto the shiny shell!

C>

[shoestring7]

One thing I hadn't expected was to find so much media residue from the blasting process. It was in every nook and cranny - even when the car was complete and running I kept finding small amounts every time the car was moved. I spent much time with the vacuum cleaner trying to get rid, but I imagine there is still a bit tucked away:


I also discovered the wool sound-proofing(?) Hans had left in the open box section under the rear window in 1973. When this gets wet its a car-killer; I took it out and replaced it with Dinitrol:


Rear suspension fitted:


Front anti-roll bar:


Front suspension: fitting it was only just a one-man job:


I gave the floor a good coating of POR15 while it was still nice and accessible on the dolly:


The loom was installed, plus all the wiring, controls and pipework that fight for space in the central tunnel:




Expensive pedal box in:


And eight months after I laid the first spanner on it the car was back on its wheels (with a bit of help from Mick):


Progress so far was immensely satisfying and along with the superb state of the shell felt almost too good to be true.

I wondered what disaster could possibly be around the corner...?

C>