DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Yep!
Gary knows I'm on the same page as him, and you are on 'our' page!
There are others, look at Gary, Peter; Sladey will weld like mad, Peter will tackle everything, Gary the same.
My 911 has been mine for 32 years, proud of that, and I've done mine all over with a few controversial changes, LHD to RHD that for some classes mine to the lowest rung of the ladder.

My front boot space is hand painted in coach paint, so is the engine space, did that 31 years back, soiled to hell, scratches etc but don't matter to me, it's mine.

I still have 90% of my under floor in the original PVC coating, black Hammerite smooth over all the areas that were welded, put there 31 years/65,000 miles ago, still there sound.

For every originality comment there are 3 who love the car and love watching your approach and have said so!

I've had some tarnished days due to comments on my 911 here, goes with the territory, but you won't find a better place to work along side you.

I keep away from any specialist unless I REALY feel I need their help, usually the gearbox, and more recently the re-paint which cost me £1300 by a local accident repair shop.

I do not write cheques easily, never have, DIY as much as I can.

You will enjoy this car hugely because you did it with your own hands, your way.

Keep the reports coming!

As said by Gary and Graham, please don't give up the thread!........DDK is all about sharing and I think you'll get a lot of fulfilment in doing so with a lot of support along the way.

The most liked and appreciated restoration threads are always those where people tackle the jobs themselves and those from Sladey, Gary, PeterK et al have always received fantastic support and praise......a car that has impressed me as much as any is Mick's Chartreuse Targa which he painted under a tarpaulin at the side of his house!

You do have a special largely unmolested car and your end goal sounded perfect to me......imo always worth listening to advice from those that have a lot of experience of these cars but ultimately how you build it is up to you.

Keep the faith, keep going and please keep sharing.

Cheers,

I’m really enjoying the thread and please keep at it
Yes, some members crave originality and nothing else however many other just love the cars and want to share the passion put into a project and the joyous conclusion of getting it on the road

Yes, please do keep the thread going. Some of us who are not all knowledgeable may well learn something from it as well as enjoying the journey with you.

Look forward to more, although I wouldn't be that surprised if we didn't hear from Knapman again. That would be a great shame. DDK is an absolutely fantastic forum and there have of course been some amazing very high end restorations on here which serve as the benchmark. But personally I think some need to think before they post however much they may disagree with the OPs approach. Owners are entirely entitled to do whatever they want to their own cars!

I'm off to paint some suspension. I may even use hammerite. Just for badness.

Nothing wrong with smooth hammerite imho.
Used it for years to good effect

Please keep going, I appreciate you posting here and showing us your project and thank you for that.

Best Wishes,

Dave

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In the hope that 'knapmann' does return, I'll take a shot at answering some more of his questions:

I've never owned a RHD 911 but those pedal boards don't look like the LHD ones I've had so I think that they probably are for a RHD car.

Your picture has them upside down - the metal part circled in this picture is the throtle pedal stop:

knapmann wrote:
7) what is 12 and 14 for? does 12 have the correct bezel?

- one hole is for an optional foglight switch & the other is for a heated rear window switch - don't know if the layout for RHD is the same (or 'mirror image') but in a LHD model the hrw switch is to the rhs of the cigarette lighter ...

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knapmann wrote: 8.) what is this hole for?

That's for the heater blower switch when an auxiliary heater was fitted - (mounted in the smuggler's box) ...

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knapmann wrote:
3) I have a mystery solid green wire behind the dash. There should only be one solid green wire on the whole car according to my wiring diagram, which is from the fuel tank sender to the gauge, I have identified this one, but I have a second solid green wire, which according to my diagrams should not exist...

I can't remember if the Sportomatic models utilised a different wiring loom - I don't think so - but those models had a solid green wire (which would be redundant in other models) that went up to a warning lamp (for oil temp) in the combination gauge ...

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Lightweight_911 wrote:

knapmann wrote:
7) what is 12 and 14 for? does 12 have the correct bezel?

- one hole is for an optional foglight switch & the other is for a heated rear window switch - don't know if the layout for RHD is the same (or 'mirror image') but in a LHD model the hrw switch is to the rhs of the cigarette lighter ...

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From the memory left on the dash panel, 14 is the HRW switch - photo from my LHD 1972 car, but the same switch in 69, I think.



I used the other hole to feed through the pull cable for the battery master switch.



Cheers
JW

Stolen off Andy's for sale thread, I know its LHD but may be of use.

Further to the above illustration the hazard switch is a unique one year only part on a 69.
It’s a 7 pin switch I think.



Regards
Mike

knapmann wrote:Oh well, Im done with this thread now, its clear I will only get criticism as I go along as I will not be reaching the ridiculous expectations seemingly required. I never started it to be critiqued by the originality police and their fat wallets, telling me how naive I apparently am to not realise how better a finish I can get by writing blank cheques to people... If only I had consulted knowledgeable members then I would have known that all I needed to do was to pay someone else, like 10 grand and Id get a better floor pan paint job (an absolute top priority)! It literally never crossed my mind! I'm off to give my money tree a shake and see what fall out...

Originality police - possibly. But I don't think it's condescending or meant as a personal attack (given that all those who said anything "negative" had also offered help) to point out to a new member who is asking basic questions, and who has never restored one of these cars, that surviving original finishes are fairly rare, RHD 1969 cars are fairly rare, the option exists to preserve, and in some people's opinion it's a bit of a shame not to do so.

This part ...

knapmann wrote:...and their fat wallets, telling me how naive I apparently am to not realise how better a finish I can get by writing blank cheques to people... .
.. pay someone else, like 10 grand and Id get a better floor pan paint job...

... misses the point rather, I feel.
You don't have to be rich to care about originality. It costs approximately zero pounds more to paint a floor a bit more authentically, leave a dash top unpainted, or wrap a loom in the correct material. It does require research, which is fairly easy these days.
In the end though, fair enough if you don't want to do that. Your car. I respect your (and anyone else's) choice to do whatever you like with your own car.
But you asked for advice. To respond with sarcasm, and say that anyone who offers advice you don't like is rich, ridiculous, and just pays people to do their restorations, is not reasonable or fair. And completely untrue of some of us. (Not me, obvs, before anyone says anything. I am clearly ridiculous, and my resto definitely exercised my chequebook).

Love and peace!

Wise words - this hobby takes all sorts. You just have to embrace it