Yawn… Yet another 911R Clone build thread…

[R_Builder]

I was looking forward to this step because it involves a number of fun and simple jobs. I also took the time to make it a little better than originally planned. Here is how the to-do list went down:

1. Gas struts, even old ones, are too much for the fiberglass hood. How am I going to hold this thing up so I can work on it? Sherwood?

2. Install a headlight relay kit and test it (holy smokes, all the old relays and steering column stuff works!)



3. These rubber bushings in the strut tops have got to go. Monoballs please…

4. Simple strut bar in black is more like it. Chuck!

5. Fitting a carpet kit I bought 7 years ago. Wanted the snaps, so I marked it all and sent it to Bob and his crew at Appbiz and they installed the snaps for me gratis (MUCH appreciated Bob).



6. Really want a good light as I will be opening the hood to gas this baby up. I couldn’t resist a modern touch based on bang for the buck/lumens. Seriously bright (and lightweight) solution. It runs off a factory contact switch installed on the RHS hinge.





That is about 10 watts total. Kinda cool. Here are a couple shots of it all finished up:





Progress!

[RyanG]

Nice LED light strip! Did you get those from superbrightleds.com? Is it just mounted with adhesive tape?

When I got the Stratton duck tail, I lost the mounting point for the engine compartment light. This might be a great solution for both ends of the car.

[R_Builder]

Originally Posted by RyanG

Nice LED light strip! Did you get those from superbrightleds.com? Is it just mounted with adhesive tape?

When I got the Stratton duck tail, I lost the mounting point for the engine compartment light. This might be a great solution for both ends of the car.

LED's came from Amazon:

Amazon.com: LE Lampux 12V Flexible LED Strip Lights, LED Tape, Warm White, 300 Units 3528 LEDs, Non-waterproof, Light Strips, Pack of 16.4ft/5m: Home Improvement

Will be interesting to see how the supplied adhesive holds up. I am optimistic being it is in the frunk and touching fiberglass (and the car is white). Without more information I would not trust it in the engine bay yet due to the heat loading.

[R_Builder]

Wow, I thought I was over the hump on electrical work once the EFI was complete. WRONG! All 4 corners needed help, either due to age or custom needs. Here are the front corners all buttoned up:







I ran extra wires to power the city lights in the H4’s. Going to try that first and forego installing the R parking lights for a cleaner look up front.
All that work creates the following cool result (yes, the headlights are on):



That would be R turnsignals from TRE, 55/100 bulbs powered thru the JWest relay kit, and all the electrons flowing thru factory column stalks, a ’68 headlight switch, and a ’71 ignition switch. Phew!

The back end received the same treatment. Nice to FINALLY see these installed (will do more fitting once the rear bumper is on for good):



Here is a mess that needed to go away:



A few hours later you get this pile of trash…



… and something much more manageable:

[R_Builder]

Needed to rebuild the wiring for the interior lighting, too. Runs to the lights were good, but the door contact switches got the treatment and now work (simple pleasures):



Extra goodies in the cabin required new custom harnesses for both sides. Many hours of work later I now have nice working wires running up into the dash and front trunk areas (for ECU functions, future hidden stereo system, and yes… seat heaters ):



Even with all the add-ons this area still looks pretty good:



New wiring follows the factory stuff for the most part, so it doesn’t really stand out. Square relays are for the headlights, red relay is for the fuel pump (did that a long time ago) but is now signaled by the EFI ECU. All needed fuses are in except for the windshield wiper circuit (probably should check that ). Only electrical not hooked up will get completed when I build up the dash (final gauges and switches). Just one more easy harness to build for the license plate lights (once the decklid goes on). Dangerously close to starting the interior work...

[911 tweaks]

looks great doug...!!
carry on "dangerously" as you say as you are doing just fine...)))

[H-viken]

Nice build man!

Just a friendly heads-up; The gas cap you are using looks to be a ventilated cap. Not sure you want this in an "under the hood" application. BLAU makes a non-ventilated version as well.

Cheers!

Johan

[R_Builder]

Hmmm... that explains a few things. Thanks for that! I'll have to bug Dave B. about it next time we chat...

Originally Posted by H-viken

Nice build man!

Just a friendly heads-up; The gas cap you are using looks to be a ventilated cap. Not sure you want this in an "under the hood" application. BLAU makes a non-ventilated version as well.

Cheers!

Johan

[R_Builder]

I just love 15 step/20 hour jobs . I am pleased with the results and will get the other 3 to match this one:





Like usual, the final shot of matte clear (which turned out to be not so matte nor completely clear) darkened everything it touched. Up to that stage the primer gray was just what I was after, but the final result is growing on me. Tough to see, but the aluminum lip is top coated with clear gloss, so technically there are 3 different top coats.

[R_Builder]

I decided to tackle the headliner install myself. I will work it in parallel with fitting the H4’s to the fiberglass fenders… because the only thing more fun that doing 1 tedious job at a time is doing 2 at a time, right? Did all the right research (hopefully) and here we go:

1. Interior lights get their wool surrounds
2. Foam in the rear window top vent
3. Sound deadener panels on the roof
4. Fabric/foam headliner material on the roof
5. All the screw holes I will need have screws in them so they are easy to find later
6. Painted the bows with gloss paint before slipping them in the headliner
7. Pre-ran some wires for a third brake light inside the driver side C-pillar







Binder clips and glue are waiting in the wings. Wish me luck!

[vintagecarlover]

You're a brave and talented man. Great eye. What color is the headliner? I'll def be emulating some of your touches. Thx mark

[R_Builder]

Originally Posted by vintagecarlover

You're a brave and talented man. Great eye. What color is the headliner? I'll def be emulating some of your touches. Thx mark

Thanks Mark. The vinyl headliner its from Autos International and is ivory. excellent quality. I have had it out of the bag and hanging up for at least a couple of months now ahead of the install. if I end up with any wrinkles in the end they will only be my fault...

[R_Builder]

Originally Posted by xcgnhj

Can I ask you how high your ceiling is ? I plan to get the same lift for my other garage, but the ceiling is only 10 feet.

10'-11". A 911 can ride all the way up to the stops and not hit the ceiling and I can walk under it AOK. I am 6'-1" tall. I think a 10' ceiling would be cutting it close, but if you are shorter it could work. It is really nice to be able to comfortably stand up under the car. If you miss it by a couple inches it is awkward and I believe you would find yourself wanting to sit down more often than not. Certainly would still work, just not quite as accommodating. Hope that helps...

[R_Builder]

Translation... the headliner is in! Tough to take good pictures, but here are some:







I am very pleased with the results all things considered. Hats off to the pros that can do this job in 4-6 hours. I must give the bulk of the credit to my lovely wife. It was a fun project to work on together... I know what it is supposed to look like and she can make it happen. It only took about 1.5 hours to align and tension it and feel like we could start trimming and gluing. Then we bit off each tricky spot one at a time. Big help was to pre-tension the next work area prior to stopping for the day. Few days of sitting and the new area was all set for wrinkle free work. Great material to work with.

Been loading the doors with parts and sizing up the dash work. Once we wrap the A and B pillars it will bw time to go after some glass.

Thanks,

[Rich Lambert]

Nice job on the headliner!

[al lkosmal]

Originally Posted by Rich Lambert

Nice job on the headliner!

+1 on the headliner. Been there....it's tedious and time consuming, but worth the effort.

[ixxify]

subscribed

[R_Builder]

Originally Posted by al lkosmal

+1 on the headliner. Been there....it's tedious and time consuming, but worth the effort.

Al, I believe it was one of your threads that gave me that first little push to try doing it myself. I would not hesitate to do it again...

[R_Builder]

Well, with the headliner in the interior work can really take off. Started with the rear window:





Wow... finally put some glass back in the car .

Rear window in means I can put the decklid together. Restored grill and lights went on quick since I did all the real work before paint:





Hinges all fit fine, just need to finish the wire harness for the lights. Hopefully my next post will have a shot of it flipped over laying on the rear window.

After a looooooong wait, the day(s) finally arrived to get the dash put together:

[R_Builder]

Man it takes a long time to install these from scratch! Lots of parts and a strong desire to not mess up the new paint or the fresh headliner make for slow going (think 4-5 hours per side). Starting with the bright work and the black trim that covers up the headliner edges:







Then one more black piece of vinyl to hide the paint color on the B pillar:



After all that "fun" installing a new outer seal on the window frame, it gets fit loose/rough so the inside latch can go on:





I skipped some details here (spacers under the trim, terostat, getting to the fastener holes thru fresh upholstery, etc.) but I have a better set of pictures of the LHS window going in if anyone is interested...