DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

I did all that Gary in '89 on mine, so your shell has done well.
Thin as a biscuit tin?, yes, designed to flex I think once the wing is bolted down hard.

Soon be Boxing Day and you can retreat to the Garage.

Back on it today for a grindathon this morning. Some good news, some not so good. At least the not so good was in areas I already knew of, it’s just more than expected.

I briefly considered changing the whole front slam to avoid lots of small fabrication jobs in the corners then checked the panel price,realised it didn’t fix everything anyway and got over it!

forgot the good news:



The tank support and inner longits are really good around all the seams, not perfect but certainly not needing any significant repair.

With all the other rust, the front pan condition is a real bonus!
My front slam panel edges were just like that, easy to repair, but I gas welded mine.

I kept my original front panel.

I had to remake my battery boxes, the nsf had to be totally remade, a few new sides on the other, also the outer wing under those boxes needed replacing. Have you poked around them yet?

Soon be on a rotiserary

RH corner coming together. Still need to make the little add on triangle that has the fore most wing bolt in it. Total rust trap, but hey keeping it original!

Looking Good Gary.
The 4 x 20mm dia holes in the front panel...do yours align with the front bumper inner irons?
Mine are miles different, not sure why they are there even.

Just to note, those small 6mm front bolt holes in the inner wing you refer to do not align with the corresponding holes in my new Dansk front wings, a good hole out. My 'Triangle' panel is totally original and was not rusted out in '89 or today.

At least you are making progress, I've pulled a knee ligament working on mine...

911hillclimber wrote: I had to remake my battery boxes, the nsf had to be totally remade, a few new sides on the other, also the outer wing under those boxes needed replacing. Have you poked around them yet?

Soon be on a rotiserary

LH battery box is ok, it’s had one repair in the past which will remain. I’ve not cleaned back the RH one yet so we will see!

Derek is still using his spit as he’s having a ramp installed. However looking at these corners it’s best I repair them first as they will fall apart if I try and hang a shell from them!

Nice work Gary. It’s amazing how solid those self-tapper hold things isn’t it?

sladey wrote:Nice work Gary. It’s amazing how solid those self-tapper hold things isn’t it?

And much easier than welding. Result

Finally finished this corner today, very time consuming and tricky to fabricate from scratch. I’m not happy with how it looks inside the luggage bay due to the number of welds, but the outside has come out OK in the end. I’m sure a good coat of textured underseal will improve things!

The little corner where the front wing fixing goes is slightly different to stock to avoid too many layers, but the parts you can see when the car is built are fairly correct.

I tried the new wing and the bolt hole lined up exactly with the mark I made from the original wing. I’ve not drilled it yet until everything is together.

I also remade about 200mm of the flange and little return edge across the front as it was held together by luck!





Other side to do now, then the battery boxes, then a couple of minor inner wing repairs...

Top work..satisfying to complete mini sections and move onto the next one...

Great progress Gary.......in awe of your skills!

Got bored with hand stripping so I’m off to Envirostrip early tomorrow.
I was planning to take the bonnet as well but that magically doubled in size when I aimed it at my car...

Taking bets as to how much of it will actually come back.

Yea on the return leg you’ll be able to get the kids in the back as well

I just about survived the Envirostrip toilet so time to actually do some metal work.

Little patch to the top of the inner wing:



I bought this massive repair panel and luckily (for once) only needed the corner. Screen corner looks really good!



So I made that bit from scratch:



The car has been repaired here before (probably 20 years ago) with a big, but well fitted patch. So that’s staying, even though it’s lacking the rib features. However the join to the inner wing wasn’t great and the outer layer was flaky so that came out:



I’ve started on a patch, needs a few hours work tomorrow before welding it in.