SWB 911R...the beginning

[Porsche_monkey]

Haw are you planning to go about painting this car? Are you going to wait to finish the welding and then prime it all at once?

And I think you can safely buy two spools of wire, you might need them.

[SCWDP911]

Wow. You are the man... This reminds me of the 63 Impala basketcase I started to tackle before buying my 911. My wife grew very tired of "throwing money into that rust pit". And then I boughjt a 911 - what was I thinking!?

I cannot wait to see how this car finishes. I too am amazed at the speed at which you are progressing. Simply because I do not know you, I have to ask: are you retired?

Great project! What color are you thinking at this point?

[pieterk]

Originally posted by speedo
The corners do require some attention when lining up the 911 engine mounts. But they are pretty basic. Email me off thread and I will help you.

Thanks so much Speedo. Sorry for the late reply; I've not been online much lately--until today.

I'm a way off from attempting any such thing, but I will be tackling the spot-weld cutting in a few weeks, and hopefully, by then, I'll have a welder and will start diving headlong into this stuff. Your work is very inspiring!

I'll probably just pick up some of HF's cheap cutters and test my luck.

[speedo]

First answer...

As I clean metal to be repaired, I use a zinc weld -through primer. For cavities that will be closed up after welding, I might treat using the POR 15 process....anywhere that will not be welded. After welding cavities closed, I will clean up the welds and then use the primer...and depending on the seam, I will use a paintable seam sealer.

Second answer...I don't drywall and I don't paint. I use an "old school" guy out of Frederick Colorado who has been breathing paint fumes for 4 decades. He (unlike modern day paint shops)...will let me bring him all my disassembled pieces and he works each piece over. Most shops want to paint assembled car and mask off trim. I hate that. I like to assemble painted parts. I could paint the car if I wanted, but my painter is not that expensive and does excellent work.

No I am far from retired...I work a 50 hour week like the rest of the non-trust funders that walk the planet. I just have a rule of do a little bit every day...on my projects.

Today was spent sourcing the steel for the rotisserie that will come to life this weekend....I have some serious welding to do on that monster before I bolt the car up and flip it over. I am actually looking forward to disassembling the suspension from this car without wrenching from underneath. After I get the front suspension pan and the floor dealt with, I will probably undercoat the new pieces, clean up the rest of the bottom of the car and reinstall the newly powder coated parts with new suspension bushings ...easily accessed. It will also allow me to address fuel lines, pump, brake lines,sway bar mounts etc. As I said before, I like to weld down, not up.

Yeah, I am thinking color at this very early stage, but at the expense of pissing off the purists who can probably tell me the correct number of cars in sequence that were painted the "correct" white....I'll withhold my inclinations till I'm a little closer....white is not a choice in contention. It will be a Porsche color though, and probably period correct...just not R correct. Interior will be grey lightweight carpet set, no rear seats, probably a half cage and some of the GTS replica seats. and RS door panels. People that know the other cars I have built know how I feel about chrome too...so we'll see how that goes. I realize that the original R didn't have a headliner....but I like the looks of a fresh black headliner, so that too will be incorrect. As to the dash...I used the german trunk carpet to cover the dash in my 71 vintage race car and to me it looks great...another "we will see".

No sheet metal yet...I'm getting impatient with this two week shipping from Michigan thing (Restoration Design).
Lucky I have a few more welds to drill out.

I did buy two spools of wire today...great minds think alike!

[SCWDP911]

Dang, now I want to see your other past projects. Any pics on th board here?

[speedo]

yeah there are some pics scattered around...

Here's one that just found a new home

.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads9/tombob+0011160785167.jpg

and his going away party

Good ...and expensive company

Zotman72 may have some accessible pics of a few others....

I should be out welding up the rotisserie, but it is snowing outsideand a cold Molson is calling.
I sourced the last of the steel tube and angle iron I needed for the project as well as some hd bolts. I'll get the cutting torch and welder fired up over the long weekend and post.

I am looking for an SC gas tank close to Denver, 356 gas cap and neck...and 27mm tbars...SWB adjustable weltmeister spring plates

[randywebb]

How can you afford the square footage to work on cars in Boulder?? It must cost a fortune for even a small shop...

[Grady Clay]

Randy,

Its called a 4+ car garage with a kid's/guest house/parts storage above. Last winter I figured out how Lars could add a 4-car carport/garage under a deck expansion. This would let the entire gearge just be shop. There is a 2-3 car garage under the house for dailys. Once the swing sets go, there is room for big trailer parking. Guests have access to about 10-15 spaces along the drive before you have to park along the road.

As Lars said, he gets this "Porsche therapy" done by doing some every day. His kids are close to old enough to take up kart racing - as I have encouraged. If they do that seriously, the Porsche projects will slow - not stop. The wonderful parts of life.


* (#4%@7) somehow I can't post images in the past few days. The "post image" screen won't load.

Best,
Grady

[speedo]

Even if it is not "hands on" work...the process of organization and accumulation counts towards the project. I am huge on lists...and while it was snowing (two mamoth inches) last night, I created a couple long ones of the steps in order of priority that need to be taken to get the suspension pan resolved as well as the replacement/repair of the seat buckets

I raced down to Dart Auto today to pick up a carb rebuild kit for the webers, a pedal cluster rebuild kit (they got sandblasted with the car), and an opportunity with a sawzall for 15 minutes of fame to cut the rear seat buckets out of the same trashed F car that also donated the rear engine mounts . I guess the R will have some race heritage by virtue of the fact that it is being built with parts out of former race cars....thanks Bob...sorry about the race car.

I have all the parts to complete the rotisserie and maybe enough interested folks that may drop by to actually get it upside down on Saturday to start to remove the suspension for powder coating, and get the residual welds drilled out and sheet metal removed for the front suspension pan replacement to take place. I can't seem to get any response from Restoration Design on my sheet metal shipment.

Not sure I want to go the route of the SWB Weltmeister adjustable spring plates, and instead may try to modify a set of SC/carrera spring plates to work on a SWB car. Couldn't get anybody to respond to that thread.

More/lots of pics this weekend. Josh...you organizing a drive on Sunday morning to Estes Park?

[JohnKo]

Originally posted by speedo
... but at the expense of pissing off the purists who can probably tell me the correct number of cars in sequence that were painted the "correct" white....I'll withhold my inclinations till I'm a little closer....white is not a choice in contention. It will be a Porsche color though, and probably period correct...just not R correct...

I realize you're not especially looking for validation, but I can't resist a comment. While I'm a big fan of "correct" cars, it seems to me that no matter what you do, you'll never have a "correct" 911R. It's your canvas. If it's more or less an homage to the 911R, so much the better, but it also sounds like you have pretty good taste with respect to the 'deviations!' Have a ball!

[Doug&Julie]

Were there ever two 911Rs that were truly alike? I thought I'd heard that the factory did a little something different to each one, so it's hard to define exactly what an "R" is anyway?

..or maybe I'm thinking of "S/Ts"?

Point being...I agree, do it up "in spirit", but do it up as you like!

[bigchillcar]

keep up the good work, speedo...work like you as well and wish i could find more time for my own wrenching. kudos.

[mountain14er]

Let me know if you need an extra set of hands to get the tub onto the rotisserie.

[speedo]

Finished most of the rotisserie....a little more welding to do. Welding 1/4 inch steel is a pleasure compared to body panels.

I spent the morning completing the rear mount and stand, and the afternoon with a buddy Sam pushing forward with the assembly of the 2.2 race motors...short blocks and then some. Need to do the critical "interference" check on number one to make sure I have enough deck clearance with the cosworth pistons.

Tomorrow the final welding of the rotisserie mounts and I might need some "lifeguards" as I try to flip this thing upside down without killing myself and or trashing the car next to it in the shop. Maybe it will be a good way to shake the remaining media out of the car from the sandblasting.

When I am done with the rotisserie I will be looking for someone else that needs to use it for a while. I will rent it for cheap...for long periods. I just dont have a place to store it and need the room. So, if you are in the Denver area, and have a car that needs a foor pan/front suspension pan...you know who you are. This is what you will need to do the job right. First come first served. Let your conscience guide you.

Pictures very soon.

[rennch]

Hey Lars...drop me a line. I'm free this weekend to help. I'll be working on the 69 most of the weekend.

[speedo]

Hopefully nobody will take offense at the sarcasm. But what the heck. I can't wait to dive into the removal of all the suspension that normally I'd be wracking my back to remove at weird angles under the car.

I blew up my 25 year old welder yesterday...(machine , not person) finishing up the rotisserie front mounts. So tomorrow I need to get my new welder dialed in. I still have a lot of "bad metal" to remove before I dig in . And....ahem...Restoration Design...where the heck is my steel !@#$%&!

Anyways, thought you all would like to see how it ended up...or down as the case may be.

I rolled my Porsche this afternoon....nobody was hurt

[rennch]

No pic Lars...I'd like to see it!

[Brother]

Is the media blasting a mess? Do the media blasters primer the car for you afterwards or do you have to race the rust to get to the metal first?

I'm thinking about this for my 914, but I need to find someone local. Is it costly?

[speedo]

Sorry, pics now posted...it was late I was tired

I rolled my Porsche this afternoon....nobody was hurt

[luvndasun]

Hey Speedo -
When you drill out some of the spot welds could you take some pics of where the weld is. I wanted to see how you identify the place that you need to drill out before it is drilled. I always hear about drilling out spot welds, but havent seen it. Love the project and the write ups...Great Job!