Day 26
One of the unfortunate things about having a family is that they want to spend time with you! This presents a conundrum when you want/need to spend time with your Porsche. Lately my allotted P-Car time is rapidly diminishing yet the work isn’t. This week I didn’t get my normal weekend time at the studio, rather I had to squeeze it in after work on Friday which is less than ideal as I’m kind of spent after working all day and it’s hard to muster the energy.
Stop whining, Julian and get to work!
A part that I was waiting on showed up!
Right out of the CNC it looked really good!
Nice shape, mimicking the original but a bit smaller
Looks even better shiny!
Looks ok, but I'm not totally sold.
Because I don’t yet have a lathe and Chris didn’t offer his up to me… I guess he is a little busy… I designed and had CNC milled a key bezel… in brass. It arrived with a machine finish which was actually really nice but I though it might look better polished. I tapped the hole and threaded it onto the ignition switch and… not bad, but not perfect- because the new dash sits more proud than the old dash the bezel can't go all the way down to sit flush against the key slot and that bothers me. So I think I'll make a version 2.
In preparation for painting this heap I took a lot of stuff out/off the car. I’ve had to remove a lot of stubborn bolts thus far but honestly, getting the window frame bolts out was without a doubt the most trying. It took 2 hours to get one frame out. All of the bolts were completely seized. Copious PB Blaster and heat barely had an effect. It was only through the grace of the gods that they came out. One needed to be cut out… that was an ordeal. Suffice it to say, I got them all out along with all the trim and weather seals, the quarter windows and their associated bits and some other stuff.
Taking stuff off is too easy... putting it back on...?
I’ve decided to leave the front and rear glass in. I know, controversial decision (or not, since honestly, who cares) but hear me out; I’m respraying the car white, it’s already white, the glass fits really well and is water tight, and given the nightmares I’ve read about getting the glass in and out…well, I’ll pass on that one for now. I may regret it later but that will be a problem for then.
After that, sanding. The whole car was sanded with 400. This was exhausting and really kind of fun. I was able to knock down all the orange peel and runs from the last paint job and the surface of the car is really smooth and even.
The hood and engine lid were removed and sanded as well. I thought about removing the doors but that proved to be a non-starter and I’m not buying a $400 hinge puller. The doors can stay put.
You can see the reflection of the overhead light go from shiny to matte
And after a bit of clean up I dropped the car off jack stands for the first time in 6 months. I forgot how small and short these cars after it being up 16” for so long!
Tiny little clown car
Oh, I also painted the bumpers.
Velvety smooth
Gray is the new black
Way back when I was young and naïve, I decided I was going to rattle can the bumpers just to see if I could. This is going to be a daily and I’m aiming to put all the miles on it so the bumpers are going to see hell. I prepped the glass, sanded them, primed them, sanded them, primed them, sanded them and then laid down 5 coats of rattle can grey. Then I wet sanded them, laid down 2 more coats of grey and wet sanded them again. Seems like a lot of work but it went really quick. Grease remover and tack cloth and they were glass smooth and damn near perfect. So, I threw on some clear 2K satin. They looked a bit glossy for a while but as the clear flashed off, the exact finish I was aiming for developed; a velvety, satin deep grey.
Next week we paint some car parts!