DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Darren C wrote:...That said I have had quite a lot of feedback from folks who think I should set up shop!...

Potentially good for them - how about you..?!

No problem with getting a punctured wheel in the rear Andrew, needs must and all. Plus I could always slide the passenger seat back and seat belt it in the front. (As I have no mates)

Unfortunately no time to set up shop, not enough hours in the day to do my own stuff let alone all the Charity stuff I do. (Currently spent most of my time outside work this last week on another charity job & up at dawn today to continue working on it. It's going to consume my whole Easter weekend without a look in on any of my own stuff) Doing things for pleasure and helping those who are unable to do stuff themselves through disability or illness is one thing, doing "jobs" where people are paying and with deadlines is another.
Then obviously my own health issues. Those who know me, know I had a mini stroke 2 years ago and finished off a course of immunosuppressant Chemo end of last year, to no avail so now looking at going onto a new type of drug (in a months time, subject to suitability tests) that you can inject daily at home instead of having it intravenously in Hospital.

So gotta make hay while the sun shines.

The term craftsman is oft bandied about but seldom accurately, you Sir fit the bill.... I am following this thread in awe!


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Great stuff Darren - keep it coming!

Very nicely done, sir!
Looking forward to hearing more and seeing that work of art bumper on the car.

Great frunk mods. I desperately need to sort out my frunks, now inspired to do so.

Thanks again for the comments; glad to inspire other

Carrying on with the project, I thought I'd share the details on my door mirror plans.

Wanting the retro Outlaw look I really like the 60's Bullet Mirrors
But since the 997 has grown in size, simply buying a fitting a genuine mirror would not be an option as they look ridiculously small against the car

So, looking at Singer, I still thought their mirrors look impractically small & with no quarterlight glass in a 997, they would have to door mount or replacement fit on my car. Fitting to the door would leave an odd triangular blank where my original 997 mirrors were (not a good look) so the best option was to build a mirror on the 997 mounting.

So I purchased an original bullet mirror, took it apart & scaled it up, like the rear over riders to 997 proportions.

The plan was to metal spin them (like the originals are made)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJT360dR3BY&t=2s

But first I needed to turn down form tools, for the spinning process, to match my oversize drawings.
Armed with my form tools I visited a local metal spinners in my village who do a lot of prototype spinning for the likes of R-R & Spyker
With my tools I'd just pay for machine time, rather that the whole R & D

Next stage was to spin some dummy Aluminium from my tools to check the shape & fit etc, before stainless steel was involved.

I got a few nose cones spun including the dimple in the top and an array of mirror bowls of various depths.

My idea was to fix/set the cone & bowl to the original 997 mirror angles then transplant the 997 motor assemblies into them to enable full electrical adjustment of the glass. (Even Singer don't go this far with joysticks only, which is pants on a £500K car and you cant adjust the passenger mirror from the drivers seat )

The first thing I needed to do was buy a set of 997 mirrors as my car was a daily driver & this would take some time.

eBay to the rescue 2 mirrors arrived and I set about building a JIG
It became very apparent how handed the mirrors are when you bolt them on a JIG

To progress the JIG, I built two angled blocks that replicate each mirror housing angle for reference (marking centre lines, verticals etc) then stripped off the plastic casings.
The mirrors were then further dismantled to harvest the motor assemblies.

With the motor assemblies out I could then check the various mirror bowls I'd aluminium spun for mirror glass movement clearance & select the best suited.
It was a bit of a compromise & the form tool needed a little tweak along the way, but I got the best fit in the end.

There was also the detail of the return spin edge to consider around the glass. Cant have a sharp edge so I got another tool turned down to spin and roll the edge in. This will leave a stainless wire bead rolled into the final stainless version for a super neat look.

So, next was to sort out the best prototype nose cones to match...
You car really see the 997 scale on the rule

So, on to making sure the bowl angle matched the original 997 plastic housings in the JIG & figure out mountings.
In this way I could retain the 997 spring arms in case of a light knock

I know it’s already been said, but this is a frankly remarkable enterprise and I tip my hat to the range of your expertise Darren!

Engaging stuff

With all the geometry sorted I needed to make some sort of pedestal to marry the cone to the Triangular mounting...

So out with cornflake box template & then some thin ali for a prototype build....
And a final aluminium fettle to fit the cone perfectly. (These will eventually be flattened to make the stainless templates)

With the obligatory offer up to the car for a quick clearance, fit & googly eye look over

So, this week I'm toying with the idea (just because) of tweaking the pedestal mounts yet again to take a nod to Porsche evolution, by making the pedestal hollow like in the 997 onwards....

This far I'm cornflake box templating them.
This really is making hard work of it for me in stailess fab, but what do you guys think?

Solid pedestal

or

Hollow

Oh & by the way, because the mirrors are angle handed left to right, so are the arms

This means each side has to be bespoke (the templates aren't reversible)

Well having gone this far Darren, 'in for a penny in for a pound', go hollow.

Think I must start having cornflakes!!

I say hollow as well!