While you're in there - a spiral out of control! 79 911sc Build/Progress

[dgtlhybrd]

Its great motivation that pelican parts is having a sweepstakes at the time of this post, as i’ve been meaning to post a bunch of things I have been working on for the past few months on my downtime with work!

my ig handle for the car is @79_911sc - i havent posted for quite sometime due to a bunch of factors, but hoping to get back to it after my work is done.

The Car
1979 911sc Euro - 3.0L/915



Ill do my best to update this when I can with new things; and bring everything up to speed.

I got the car a few years back after my M3 got totaled outside a restaurant out here in Los Angeles, I had just started my own business at the time and wanted to have something to tinker on and I always wanted one.

The car has been fantastic, but like most of us I never had the opportunity to really give the car the attention it deserves due to the work we were doing at the time. I was a fulltime designer, for the last decade or so working in the entertainment industry, and as of the last 2-3 years been full time game developer working on my own indie game release, set (hopefully) for later this year 2022.

Due to covid, i have not driven much at all due a cracked windshield and thought I would take the time to really fix up a lot of **** that bothered me; starting with the interior.

The Interior

this photo was after removing the old radio, and checkin out how the new continental looked but you can really get an idea of the quality of things after sitting for a bit and the dash cover removed - lots of dust now.

me starting to take some of the trim out etc


The interior seemed okish at first glance, but someone at some point had just sprayed the interior with black paint; over the dash, doors, carpet, and headliner - you name it.The carpet was a good starting point, and pretty beat - I actually dont even wanna call it carpet, it was a felt it looks like someone just laid down vs gluing.


I actually tried to cut the carpet into a uniform square here so it didnt look so wacky

I popped the windows out in order to polish the glass down the line, and get the dash out (that didnt feel right pushing the windows out, but it was fairly simple - a real uneasy feeling pushing windows out of a car)


I took apart the dash/lower dash pieces and trim in hope to remove the paint via some sort of thinner or stripper. Removing the paint partially worked, but really destroyed the materials under neath - but cool, it was a dark brown vs black (didnt know if the whole dash matched)… im getting somewhere.


Dash was pretty cracked and all jacked up from someone painting it - im assuming the velcro here was to keep the cover from rubbing and squeeking


that gasket on the center air vent was totally fried and crispy


cant believe someone did this

[dgtlhybrd]

While I was breaking down the interior I did my first purchase: Appbiz plush carpet, in a salt n pepper color. Talking to Appbiz was cool, very knowledgeable as everyone has mentioned before; would def recommend to anyone looking for carpet. I got mine on ebay actually to be clear vs their website

I began looking into seats, since mine were beginning to crack and some of the features were no longer working. I looked into covers, or reupholstery; but decided to take a chance on car-bone. I had been following car-bone on ig for quite some time now, and pulled the trigger on having them make some bespoke pieces. To start:dash/seats


(my quick and dirty mockup for myself and them)

I had them make me some bucket seats in chocolate brown leather, brass rivets, and porsche crest. I wanted the interior to be something much closer to the original flair of the car, but with my own taste and hugged me a bit better.

For the dash, I did the same color with matching stitching.

There was a lot of back and forth between car-bone and myself, i felt like it took 2-3 months of waiting between emails to get it all sorted. It feels like their cadence was: you’d get a response to your email every other day (they’re in Poland) - so let this be a warning to those reaching out, dont expect a super fast response or updates - the seats themselves probably took another 3-4 months? I cant remember the exact time - but I am super happy with the results and cant wait to get this all in.



lighting isnt fantastic here in these shots, but i loved how they turned out

Since getting the seats/dash
I have sent my door cap trim/lower dash pieces and a few other bits to get wrapped in leather to match along with a steering wheel I am hoping they can make soon too ( i am still waiting for all this )

[dgtlhybrd]

Ok well ****, what am i doing? ok well err uhh.. lets keep tearing this **** apart - with the dash and pieces out, it was real easy to get access to the glove box, gauges and all that so out ya’ go

Gauges
The gauges seemed fine, the odometer needed a new gear, and the glass/plastic were pretty scratched and had some paint sprinkles here and there.






took em apart, and got to cleaning - polished the glass and plastic to a nice pristine shine and got a new gear sorted for the odometer. That gear was so jacked up; it was wild how it was almost jelly like.. very delicate, it was almost hard to count the cogs (i had to make a lil graphic counting the cogs tell)



my quick and dirty way of creating a way to count the cogs - since my brain wasnt having it - just touching the wheel left a residue on your fingers

[dgtlhybrd]

the glass/plastic were pretty beat seen here


using a drill, polishing pad, and a few variations of buffing compounds for car paint, i was able to get a pretty good luster and most of the scratches were now gone.


almost done at this point, but i kept polishing after this photo was taken

[dgtlhybrd]

I had done my best to label the wires and connection points on the back of the gauges, as to not disturb anything to the best of my ability - id love to just plug n play when this is all done.




label maker came in clutch.

The bezels I had painted in black satin wurth trim paint, but I think I will cerakote these, since you gotta pry on em pretty good when accessing the insides (cerakote is fantastic)



Someone had snipped a few lines to the gauges, quite the bummer since i dont plan on getting a new wiring harness atm (kinda still want to..you know, since im in there) but hoping to not run into too many probs right now as it was working fine before, and didnt notice anything out of the ordinary (at least i think) - the lights will be replaced with vintage white leds and wires from car magic.


I was pretty stressed about getting into the gauges, but after a lot of youtube and browsing the web; it really felt more manageable - and they turned out decent

[dgtlhybrd]

Doors
For the doors, I always had issues with water drippin' inside from the doors - so I wanted to put an end to it and replace all the gaskets and seals.

Pulled the old stereo out with the speakers and got a newer continental head unit, and some JBL speakers to drop in when the time comes.

I once took a turn, and the speaker shot out at my leg - "PUH!" I dont think the car even want these anymore






Managed to get a tape out of the cassette player as well that had been stuck in there forever. That was pretty exciting


The doors were pretty straight forward, but the window regulators were shot and stripped and missing several teeth on the crank; cant wait to get the new ones in holy ****. I always hated when people got in and you got that anxiety or had to open the window for someone “in just the right way”




the passenger side glass was glued to the window lifter rail - clever but that took a few days to get out. I had to keep soaking it in thinners and tryin to get at it with razor blades, wire (threading it around the window tryin to go at like floss) not much worked - but it finally came out after a few days of trial and error and gentle prying.

The window frames themselves were dirty, but also are a lil crusty I started to prep them for paint, but changed it up and I plan on sending these to shaun over at tru6 after my fan/shroud - err woops, that comes later.




Carbone will be creating a new set of RS door panels as well to match everything else; however this will be black with chocolate stitching

[dgtlhybrd]

Glass

After removing all the windows - I polished all the glass out with 3M Glass polish, and a orbital buffer - this took forever, but the results were great. It doesnt get big pits out - i suppose it could but youd be there for an eternity.



Gotta keep it wet and just keep at it. I forget but I think I may have done 1 or 2 hours per window pending size, half on each side.





vent glass before and after




quarter glass before/during/after



rear glass before/after

Its really hard to tell from the photos - but they really shine and sparkle when its done, the glass is suppper smooth aside from deeper pits.

With all the glass out of the car and frames out - i plan on getting some ceramic tint, hoping to get a deal; considering its much easier to just have the glass on a table.

[dgtlhybrd]

Bolts
After going through the doors and other bits of the car, over time i noticed how mismatched things were - but more important to me: some of these bolts I dont know the quality and id prefer 8.8 when possible at least.

i set out to make it my goal, to start cataloging all the bolts that I am working with if they need to be replaced. This kinda resulted in me going wild with measuring most of the bolts I took out.


I also hit the internet and researched the most common porsche sizes etc and did my best to put together a kit of bolts in yellow zinc. I am a absolute sucker for yellow bolts


A big chunk of the bolts I got





I sourced everything thus far for the most part from belmetric - and ill do my best at some point to share my doc that i've put together with all the bolts and links associated. I am unsure how correct they are since in some cases random lengths were being used in some of my projects. These are all 8.8 if not harder

The yellow is fairly inconsistent but thats fine, i kinda figured it would be as such

[917_Langheck]

Hardware drool...

Please post up your list; I face similar issues and it bugs to have non-standard hardware installed.

Cheers

[dgtlhybrd]

I def will! I got a bit messy with it once belmetric updated their website as of recent and everything broke

[dgtlhybrd]

Wheels/Tires
I had a flat tire, and the tires were at beginning of the end so I needed to get some new rubber so i can drive/move it around when need be.



16" tires in our sizes are getting even hard than it was in years previously - it looks like theres just a handful of tires (performance based) that youd want to throw on - and none the less match for aesthetics. Its a bummer that Pirelli removed the Trofeo R sizes as those were fantastic tires and matched up with the cars handling characteristics pretty damn well.

After a long look around - i was thankful i could find R-888 / R-888R's in the correct sizes, and since they're the same family they look alike to a degree (thank god!) Im curious on how the R-888r's will be, i dont expect to be able to pin point any real differences since I am running two diff tires - but I recall the R-888's being slightly loud with road noise.

I am more than likely going to need to look into 17" wheels in the next 2-3 years so I wont bother with going wild on refinishing these fuchs as of yet. I will just clean the centers up since they're a bit dull - i wish i could get the wheels on something that spins so i could brush the lip back to a nice finish.


Scuffed these up the best i could - didnt want to go wild


there they is - Hanks Tire in woodland hills is always my spot to go for tire needs for sure, great people there.




I meant to do this first, but totally forgot about painting first before going to the new tires, but here we are. Masked them with frog tape - i can see why people just say **** it and paint em all black




Dupli-Color Automotive Filler Primer


Dupli-Color Black High Performance Wheel Paint

uhh.. i guess i didnt take a photo once i removed the paper wtf is wrong with me

[pkabush]

Love the direction of your build so far.. except the white faced gauges

“I wish i could get the wheels on something that spins so i could brush the lip back to a nice finish.“

Get the rear end up on jack stands. Chalk the fronts. Start the car. Select the appropriate gear for the desired speed and polish away.

[Chrisyoung808]

Originally Posted by pkabush

Love the direction of your build so far.. except the white faced gauges

“I wish i could get the wheels on something that spins so i could brush the lip back to a nice finish.“

Get the rear end up on jack stands. Chalk the fronts. Start the car. Select the appropriate gear for the desired speed and polish away.

Make sure to mind your fingers near the valve stem.

[dgtlhybrd]

Originally Posted by pkabush

Love the direction of your build so far.. except the white faced gauges

“I wish i could get the wheels on something that spins so i could brush the lip back to a nice finish.“

Get the rear end up on jack stands. Chalk the fronts. Start the car. Select the appropriate gear for the desired speed and polish away.

hahaha i hear ya about the white dials - actually tried to see if i could peel em off, since they look like they're glued over the older ones - its on there with some sort of epoxy - ill def get on this at some point

great idea, i didnt even think about it; since doing the wheels I got a quickjack, and this would work great for this thanks for this!

[dgtlhybrd]

Originally Posted by Chrisyoung808

Make sure to mind your fingers near the valve stem.

[GothingNC]

Great write up about your project !
Thanks for sharing !

[dgtlhybrd]

Shifter
I've taken this apart before to replace some of the bushings, but this time I will take'r apart to change the look completely and replace/fix anything else that might be worn.



what looks like dirt is actually.. dirt it seems, but its also a bunch of black overspray and red from the color respray of the car i am guessing. This has always driven me nuts, and never had the opp to do it





scrubbed with brillo and acetone worked pretty well to get this clean for the most part... i was gonna just leave it raw like this, but i really dont like the metal on the tops tone - i wish it were a different shade to go along with more stuff in the car.


got the shifter parts blasted, along with some pedalbox stuff that ill write up about soon


This will be my first time cerakoting - lots of prep goes into it, so i am hopin for the best!



this came out great! I love the yellow and black here

A future project will be a sandblasting booth/vapor blasting - ive been using the handheld cheapie and its an awful experience, with the handheld thing you gotta refill it quite frequently - and your back gets rocked pretty hard. Would just recommend taking these out to someone or using a booth with explaining to them what you're doing so they dont touch them with their fingers and whatnot

[dgtlhybrd]

Originally Posted by GothingNC

Great write up about your project !
Thanks for sharing !

thank you!

[dgtlhybrd]

better shots - a pinch dusty

[Steve F]

Yup, that works! Nice!!