Early Engine Bay Electrical Panel Restoration

[Shaun @ Tru6]

What was supposed to be just a suspension refresh on my 69E turned into a full body paint job and now has turned into a detailed restoration I'm sorry to say. That said, this has been a very rewarding 6 hours.

here's the electrical panel in the motor bay before starting out:



here's what I used in restoring it:
blast cabinet with soda media, important for the soft metals all over this thing.
1500 grit sand paper and PB Blaster as a lubricant
Mother's Mag Polish
Xylene solvent
Dremel Tool with brush head, cotton buffer head, scrubber head and micro grinder
U-POL Satin Black paint I picked up at my local autobody store.





Panel and CD as pulled out of the car








Fuse block




the U-POL has a unique head and sprays beautifully and dries in 30 minutes. Even after a few coats, I found a few bubbles here and there and quickly took the surface down with some 500 grit paper. Just wanted to scuff it. then it got 2 more coats: 1 light, 1 heavy.




CD after soda blasting. I laid down electical tape under the back cover as a gasket and taped up the 3-prong plastic connecter.




Fuse block after a lot of work the Dremel and lots of Xylene. With the cottong buffer head on the plastic block, be sure to use the lowest speed setting. You can see where I burned into the plastic a little here. Burnishing the brass connectors and cleaning them out with the micro grinder was great fun.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Midway through the job




The fuse block cover was badly "clouded" and pitted on the top and outside sides. No idea why.




Using 1500 grit paper, both by hand and as a shaping surface, I carefully sanded it down somewhat smooth.




And then I rubbed it down vigorously with the Mother's Mag Polish. It's a little better.




From there it was all about assembly.

[BlueSideUp]

Nice work Shaun. This is on my list.

How did you clean up the voltage regulator so well?

What do the Dremel brush head, cotton, scrubber head and micro grinder Dremel bits look like?

[dtw]

Shaun, I kinda figured this was going to happen. It is ok though - you're not the first person to experience this and there ARE places to find help. The first step is to admit you have a problem.





Soon you'll be adding coatings or plating to parts that even the Factory left in plain vanilla:

[haycait911]

OMG Shaun! you have WAY too much time on your hands. that kind of thing is so far down my list I can't see it from here.
very nice.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by BlueSideUp
Nice work Shaun. This is on my list.

How did you clean up the voltage regulator so well?

What do the Dremel brush head, cotton, scrubber head and micro grinder Dremel bits look like?

Thanks Blue, it started off innocently enough, with my intention to just shoot the plate some satin black and be done. But you can really get into the details and that's the fun part. I could spend another hour on the fuse block cover and it would look like new, but in the end, my goal is a fully "refreshed" driver, not a numbers car. I can only imagine what judges would think of my Home Depot grommet.

VR: a lot of wrist and Mother's went into that.

Heads. The scrubber head was 90% worn down as you see it there. I started at 85%. It's sort of a mushroom cap scrub pad. the center is a sanding head, forgot that. can't wait until my new camera comes.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by dtw
Shaun, I kinda figured this was going to happen. It is ok though - you're not the first person to experience this and there ARE places to find help. The first step is to admit you have a problem.

Dave, I bow to your superior craftsmanship. Holy Cow! that is some seriously beautiful work. I'm not there yet. but yes, it's going to be hard to finish the car by mid-August.

[DelPico]

Nice work Shaun. keep us posted.

[ErVikingo]

WHen I thought I had time to get a new race car you guys come up with something else I should do to my car.....

Very nice.......

Oh wait, I am getting another race car

[berettafan]

Originally posted by haycait911
OMG Shaun! you have WAY too much time on your hands. that kind of thing is so far down my list I can't see it from here.
very nice.

now THAT is funny!

[sixbanger]

HEY, that looks great. I've been wondering what to clean my 69 911E engine area with and now I know. As soon as I get a few other projects done that I've already started I'll address the engine bay.
RT.

[gulf908]

Shaun

Help !!
In common with a large number of ancient 911s my 3 fuse block cover has gone AWOL at some past time.
Can you please give me a part number for this cover ?

TIA
Dennis.

[azasadny]

Beautiful work!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by gulf908

Shaun

Help !!
In common with a large number of ancient 911s my 3 fuse block cover has gone AWOL at some past time.
Can you please give me a part number for this cover ?

TIA
Dennis.

hi Dennis, I looked in the PET and it's not listed. I looked at my cover and it has the paper covering the inside, so if a part number is molded in underneath, I'll never know what it is. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. Try the Classifieds; I'm sure someone has one for you.



Thanks Art, and I'm very sorry to hear about Corky. We've had ferrets as well and thought the world of them as family members growing up. I'm sure he had a great life in your home.

[304065]

Shaun, is there any photo out there, from the factory shop manual perhaps, that shows where everything went on the panel in '69? For example, the intermediate unit, the cylindrical Bosch can, was actually mounted through the console at the rear. Later, the fuel filter console was mounted on its own studs to the side of the car, not on the console.

The '69 is so weird because it's one year-only from an electrical standpoint as the factory figured all this stuff out. That connecting block for B+ is right out of the SWB parts bin. A photo would be great but I can't find one in my collection at all.

Also, you might try a DIN font to stamp the "16" on the console with some white paint. Dabs of yellow paint were used to seal the screws on the fuse holder. And your CDI probably had a dab of plastic sealer over the adjustment screw in the middle that got removed by the blasting. Most have this-- you may want to consider some silicone to prevent moisture from entering that side. If you blasted dry I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

Anyway, looks great, I am a huge fan of correctly done electrical work so this is particularly pleasing to see you taking the time to do it right. Bravo.

[Evans, Marv]

Shaun,
I somehow think lots of us are the same types of people. I did what you did when I was only going to repaint the rear panel also. Happy I cleaned everything else up though. Yours looks great!

[T Bird]

Shaun
Nice job. However, you remounted the voltage regulator upside down. The D+61, DF and ground connections should be on top - not on the bottom. The "S.E.V. Motorola" logo is supposed to be upside down. Look at your "before" picture.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Thank you for the kind words and direction on details John. Once again, you prove to be a treasure trove of info on these early cars. I'm hoping to jump back on the car in September when business slows down a little.

here are 3 pages from 69MY PET and I can take any pics of my current set-up if needed. Love your idea on the DIN font. Found this one below while planning out a vintage RAF line of T's. Not exact, but will keep looking. might make a potato stamp from 2nd grade.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by T Bird

Shaun
Nice job. However, you remounted the voltage regulator upside down. The D+61, DF and ground connections should be on top - not on the bottom. The "S.E.V. Motorola" logo is supposed to be upside down. Look at your "before" picture.

Thanks John, I know, but something inside kept me from mounting it upside down. I struggled with it for 15 minutes.

I'll put it back to stock when the time comes.

[Bob Goding]

What happens if the electricity comes out upside down?==Might have to reverse all the switches and stuff,or maybe the engine will run backwards?--[just joking--you have to add this or the Cyber Snipers think its a target!]