What happened to the Mulholland "King of the Hill" RSR?

[Banning]

The B Pillars are now fully welded in with no gaps.



After welding in the pillars all the way, the car feels very solid now.
The opposite of a Targa.



A Pillars completed also.
I may leave a small part un-welded to accommodate the windshield fitting well. See photo.

['73 TargaS]

Living in NC and always dreaming of getting to LA to see all the action, after watching the movie I had always pictured in my mind that the Speedster replica had a 930 motor in it. I guess because of the oil cooler mounted on the decklid. With the fact that this car was so heavily modified and Hamlin working at the Independent Porsche repair facility it could have easily been pulled off.
It was sad for me to hear that it was a VW powered movie car only. It would still be cool to own it.

[Arizona 911]

Does anyone here know where the garage that Hamlin worked at is located?

[Banning]

After getting more MIG wire, Ruben attached the left side drip-rail.
He's been taking advanced welding class at Pasadena City College, so I have been letting him do some of the welding to get practice with MIG.



The bottom front of each rear quarter window needed some grinding so that the glass and frame will fit nicely.
I always apply primer when I'm done to prevent any incidental rust from occurring.



After some more grinding and sanding prep, we are ready to Bondo!



Driver's side ready. All visible rust removed, sanded all around the area and heavily sanded in the fill section.

[Banning]

I mixed up some Bondo, about a third of a can. Using a 4x6 spreader, I evenly applied it to cover the area.
Here's the driver's side. A few low spots remain but the welds and the splice are covered. Just a little more Bondo needed here.
The curve in the quarter glass is correct.



Here is the passenger side. Low spots gone, no bulges. Even and smooth.
This is after I used the surfoam, a grating tool used before sanding to expedite finishing.



Not done yet, but looks pretty good.
Just some block sanding, a little glazing putty, primer, and let's see the final product.

[Banning]

Since we are getting closer to painting the "Targa" and in the painting mood, I wanted to also paint the El Camino.
Chris H. and I started to sand and prep the car/truck.

This time dark green with white SS stripes. Very much like my old friend Bruce K.s moms car.
That was a 1970 SS396 with Cowl Induction and he used to tear up Benedict Canyon in it.

Many fun memories. LOL



This is a 4 speed Muncie car, center console with buckets,with set up suspension and motor.
I've had this a few years but don't really use it much, will probably sell it.



I found this photo of a Porsche 356 in the color, Slate Grey.
Porsche used this color the 1950's and 1960's. This is one of Steve McQueen's favorite Porsche colors.
I am considering painting the "Targa" this color.

[Banning]

Last week trucks parked in the turnout just west of Beverly Park.



Some big machinery here.



And some big steel beams, some already painted and ready to go.
You can see some nice hilltop homes in the surrounding area.



Some street signs also appeared last week.



Some signs like this one are also located at the top of the Esses.

[Banning]

Here is the problem at the top of the Esses.



This could be a serious failure if not addressed soon.



It looks bad and some trash has already found it's way into the canyon.



Here's the other failure just west of Beverly Park.
It has been like this for the last year at least.
Recent rains have worsened the situation.



Upon closer examination, you can see that this area also is in deep need of repair.

[Banning]

Little red flags have appeared along Mulholland like these between Deep Canyon and Benedict Canyon.



More are located in many areas. Here is a line of red flags going west from Doughnuts.

I believe that these flags are for drilling locations for new gaurd-rails.

Lately I have seen more cars being pulled up from the steep slopes near my home.
Charlie Sheen started a fad of some sort.

The city may be trying to discourage more dumping of cars over the edge by putting in barriers.

[Jeff Hail]

Surveyors flags can only mean a few things. Widening, sidewalks, Armco barriers or runoffs. In the spirit of Mulholland lets think run offs for those unfortunate to run out of talent. I'm sure Mr. Sheen would sponsor and approve!

[Jeff Hail]

Originally Posted by Arizona 911

Does anyone here know where the garage that Hamlin worked at is located?

Of course we do. Lets see how many of you can recall who's shop this was? Give you a hint.. The Burger King is still there..remodeled now.
Located in the San Fernando Valley. RPM Motors. Who owned this shop? Would you like to buy a vowel?

TRE Dave probably remembers?

[fourblades]

Found these taking apart some early 911 front struts:





John

[Banning]

Originally Posted by fourblades

Found these taking apart some early 911 front struts:





John

Very cool, and great memorabilia!

[Arizona 911]

Okay Jeff, Who owned the shop and what is the location of RPM from the movie? I tried to find it by looking up the Burger King locations on Google maps but there are a lot of BK's in the valley.

[Noah930]

Is that BK on Van Nuys?

[Banning]

It took some work to blend in the grafted roof C pillars.
Several thin applications of Bondo were needed.



After some more blocking and attention to detailing the drip-rail, primer is now applied.
What a difference!

When you run your hand over the entire surface, it is smooth with no ridges, bumps or depressions, beautiful!



Driver's side, same procedure.



This side also came out very nice with smooth surfaces and contours.
This "Targa" is becoming more beautiful with every completion of our last details.

[Banning]

A lot of work but worth it. The drip-rails look factory on both the inside and outside.



Some minor blending is required on the inside of the A pillars.
This is due to the Targa's window frame being much wider than the Coupe's window frame.
So a little creativity is needed, LOL.
This should look great when done.
I expect to be called a liar when I say this car was a Targa once.
At least I hope so.

[Jeff Hail]

Originally Posted by Arizona 911

Okay Jeff, Who owned the shop and what is the location of RPM from the movie? I tried to find it by looking up the Burger King locations on Google maps but there are a lot of BK's in the valley.

Dave from TRE stumped me with College Auto Parts a few years back and I grew up in that neighborhood. He got me on that one. My turn.

I'm not telling. I will give some hints.

RPM was for Ricks Performance Motors the fictional character played by Dan Haggerty. The shop was real but RPM was not the actual name of the location other than the movie.

The white and red RSR that Dennis Hopper was standing next to was the #31 Lanfre car which changed bodywork a few times.

Lets start the time machine. I bet Van Zannis could figure it out.

[fieldsken1]

i was one of the lucky ones that rolled off the c liff one night and survived a 500 ft drop. i dont remember how many times i rolled but it was at least 6 times.

i was up there every night in the late 70s early 80s in a blue 67 camaro

[Banning]

Originally Posted by fieldsken1

i was one of the lucky ones that rolled off the c liff one night and survived a 500 ft drop. i dont remember how many times i rolled but it was at least 6 times.

i was up there every night in the late 70s early 80s in a blue 67 camaro

I remember an early Camaro that was blue. It stuck out for me because my A Sedan Racing Camaro was originally blue before I painted it Porsche India Red Lacquer.

When I first bought my blue Camaro in 1978, it had a Hi-Perf 427 Motor with a M22 "Rockcrusher" Transmission.

Not long after getting the car, Dave Gainey and I went to test it's acceleration driving up Beverly Glen on the steep uphill. By the time we were half way up we had reached about 100mph.
All of a sudden...BOOM! The aluminum Tunnel Ram with two 750cfm Carbs blew off and took the front hood with it. Dave and I were surprised, LOL.

Had it towed home and later installed an LT-1 IROC small block. Much better for handling, less weight. Also installed a fiberglass hood that looked original.