project update: 73 rsr

gestalt1 · 06-03-2006, 04:07 PM

so about a year ago i bought an rsr clone sight unseen that seemed like a good deal. normally i would never do this but i really liked the car and the seller at the time had a good reputation in the porsche community. since then he has basically disappeared from the porsche community. when i the car showed up i was happy with it but there were a few details that were a little questionable so i got the seller to return some money so i could get these issues repaired. after further investigation i found that the condition was less than good and it only got worse. i decided to make it right and re-build the whole car. i disassembled it to a bare shell and had it media blasted and found that the bondo sculpting was awesome. rust holes and dents were hammered in and bondo covered, filled and smoothed to create a nice finish - definitely the worst way to do bodywork. the rockers and door jambs had to be replaced. the rear seat bottom was rusted through. the flairs were only tack welded on and there was a deep "v" where the weld was that was filled in with about 1/2" of bondo. there were dents in the roof and hood that were bondoed over and numerous rust pin holes. i decided to strip off all under coating and replace the hood, doors and fenders with rennspeed fg parts. i found a body shop that does mostly muscle car restorations and they have had the shell for about a year. it should be painted next week and i spent a lot of time with them adding reinforcements. an oil cooler duct was added, the rear cross member reinforced, wevo sway mounts added, torsion tube braced to seat bottoms and i added mounting plates for future roll bar to rocker bars. overall i would say don't do what i did but at least i know how this car is put together and it is made the way i want it. I'll post more during re-assembly.

Fishcop · Fishcop's Garage

Wow that sucks...

But you are right "caveat emptor". It is a problem over here in Australia as there are so few early 911 that you have to really do your homework and at least visit the car (or have a fellow Pelican visit it for you). I reckon a magnet wrapped in a bit of felt would have let you know how little metal was beneath the pant job.

On the plus side, you'll have a beautiful 'new' car that you'll know has been restored right and is good to go for many years. Looking forward to see the paint pics

W Scott Shores · 06-03-2006, 05:15 PM

Sorry to hear about the ordeal -- but very happy to read that you are rescuing the car and doing a proper restoration. Keep the pics coming!

fly944 · 06-03-2006, 05:36 PM

Not to say that your car was correct , but to make any car flawlwess you must skim coat the entire car with filler. I dont know when " BODO " got its bad name but fillers are a must. Just watch any hot rod show.

AZNPLUMBER · 06-03-2006, 07:10 PM

How much?

gestalt1 · 06-03-2006, 07:41 PM

the picture of the rear quarter panel shows the proper use of bondo - a skim coat sanded down to the high parts of the panel. the quarter panel was as close as you can get to smooth metal - the bondo is to simply there to take out the minor dips. bondo is nessesary but not to be a sculptural recreation of a panel. thanks for all of your kind words. it upsets me less and less about buying a basket case when i see how it is coming together. don't ask me how much - i don't want to know. i think any of you will be able to do the math when i start posting assembly pictures.