Long Distance Restoration 1970, 911T

[Midlifecrisis]

A few pics from this week. Troy has set about blocking and sand sand sand.....


















Guide coat then more sanding....

[Midlifecrisis]

A week of block sanding, primer, block sanding, sanding, sanding.......
Troy has left the panels wet to show the straight lines.








Notice the reflection from door to qt, and parts leaning against opposite wall, hood and trunk.






I have a new found admiration for bodywork specialists. its a far cry from when I painted my 69 Beetle 25 years ago!

[Darren65]

Silky!……it's gonna be special

[Midlifecrisis]

So like a lot of restorations one thing led to another (well a PPI which turned into a full restoration....) and if we had done things differently we would probably have taken the windows out a long time ago. However we were kind of working on the basis that they wouldn't need to come out until the last minute and it has meant that the inside of the car has been saved from being covered by a great deal of cr*p. Troy has worked tirelessly over the past two weeks rubbing down and now we are at the primer stage, hopefully very close to paint.....(I thought this was going to take 3 months....not 9!) happy with the result so far though.

I was also lucky enough to be on Barrys course on Friday which was a complete pleasure and helped me to really appreciate how much goes into a good resto. On top of that - seeing Squirejoes beautiful 2.2s (well practically stalking him on the way home) made me see what mine will hopefully look like when finished. His car looked like nothing else on the motorway, beautiful in the evening sun and the definition of 'head turner' as it zoomed past my Audi. One of the drawbacks of a long distance restoration is that everything is via a computer screen or telephone, so to see a 911 that is the same shape and colour as the one i have been dreaming about since I bought it last summer - was brilliant. Anyway with a bit of imagination and if you squint your eyes....









Not sure I would get much done with that view.

[Darren65]

Spectacular…..the view and the car

Had a chuckle to myself thinking about my work 'view' ………Station Road, Swindon!!!….says it all, exotic it ain't!

Getting close now Jos, well done

[squirejo]

Wow roads and scenery to die for. You definitely need to take physical delivery and drive home. Or to a port!

Pop round any time - for inspiration or a drive.

[Mitch]

Had a chuckle to myself thinking about my work 'view' ………Station Road, Swindon!!!….says it all, exotic it ain't!

Maybe, but I reckon it'll take a lot less to heat your shop in winter, looks a bit nippy over there!

Jos, just catching up with your thread & looks like you'll get the 911 you wanted and it'll all be worth the wait. Exciting stuff!

[Midlifecrisis]

Been a busy week over in Utah and finally we have colour! After weeks of prep the base coat in Glasurit 8080



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Then clear over the top.









I know silver isn't for everyone but i am super chuffed with the result, although it looks so perfect am slightly worried about driving it! I guess after the first scratch..

Now we've just got to put it back together again.

[Darren65]

I love silver …..

….beautiful finish.

[Midlifecrisis]

Thanks Darren, I'm planning on going over in about 6 weeks so hopefully it will look as good in real life.

[Midlifecrisis]

After finishing off the paint with the bumpers and a few other pieces the guys started the rebuild with the sunroof. The mechanism had rusted inside but they managed to get the cable out and then get it working again.









Next came reinstalling the electrics which had been bagged up during the metal work. Hopefully all back and correct....



Not sure what that red wire is doing dangling bit I guess time will tell.



Then it was on to sorting out the dash. after lots of research into restoring the current one I eventually decided to bite the bullet and buy a replacement from Lakewell. Not cheap but by all accounts the best on the market. Eric was very impressed,



So it was time to take out the old.....



As I want to keep the car as close to factory as possible I will be relying on the dash speaker to listen to the radio/ipod etc. I found this replacement speaker which makes it technically stereo....



To change the speaker you have to remove the dash - as the speaker grill doesn't detach in the same way (and removing the dash means removing the screen etc) so Im hoping I haven't got caught out here. One thing I wish I had asked if there was any yellow crayon/chalk markings that everyone else seems to find. To late now....

[shoestring7]

What's the speaker Jos?

C>

[Midlifecrisis]

I bought it from these guys as the car was already in the US. I think theres similar on ebay or probably a build your own is very viable.
http://hardtofindradiodashkits.com

[Midlifecrisis]

Next up was the new headlining















And then the refurb of the headlights and sidelights

[Midlifecrisis]

So with both headlining and dash done next up was glass going back in both front and rear.
The front screen had a small crack so had to be replaced which was a shame but a necessity. I understand Troy and his team got the experts in to replace it.








Starting to look like a car again rather than just a shell.