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-   -   Time to dig in...softie conversion (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/557256-time-dig-softie-conversion.html)

onboost 10-16-2010 06:30 AM

Not you again Speedo! :-)

I know this will be good.. I'm in!

Paul

silverc4s 10-16-2010 07:01 AM

I want to see this car go back together! Subscribed.:cool:

Joeaksa 10-16-2010 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpnovak (Post 5492786)
Another great project gets started. let me know if you have any SWT conversion questions.

Jamie,

Sent you a msg on one of your threads but guess you did not get it. Am not far from moving forward on my soft window conversion. Any news on parts or is the gent in Montreal still the best source for spares?

Glad to see more people going the soft window route!

Thx,

Joe A

curtisaa 10-16-2010 11:52 AM

Inide door
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishcop (Post 5618206)
Hey Lars

This is the factory red interior from the 68/69 targa brochure...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1287210953.jpg

Chris is right - it's pretty "bright" ;)

It appears that the inner door of the Targa shown is painted black..Is that correct ??

Fishcop 10-16-2010 03:57 PM

Near the very top you can see a flash of blue, so I think it's a trick of the light...

speedo 10-16-2010 05:15 PM

been a while...yeah, that is red
 
Thanks for the heads up on the red interior info John...that is bright red. Surprisingly the car is still at the sandblasters...long story, but may be coming home next week. I have been immersed in career study for the last 2 1/2 months (with another 2 months to go) and kind of let the project slip to the side. Sandblaster's slow progress was an excuse not to stress, and focus on acquiring parts. I now have a nice set of soft window handles, and leads on the rest of the assembly. Found some decent later targa windows. The seats will get the "red" go ahead shortly as soon as I pick material. I sourced some stock 15x6s for the front, and will squeeze 15x7s in the rear. I also picked up a set of adjustable spring plates. And am looking for some 21-27 tbars. Kind of excited to see what the chassis looks like naked and full of sand.
Pics to follow...later this week.

Speedo

Fritter 10-16-2010 08:35 PM

Sub'd

speedo 12-07-2010 04:32 PM

Bout damn time... to update
 
My other obligations got in the way...for several months. I have a respite, so I am back at it. Dragged the car back from the sandblaster after 4 months...suffices to say that he has since stopped sandblasting...he figured he was not the best one in the business. So there is one less sandblaster in Longmont Colorado. He didn't do a bad job...it actually looks pretty good. His D- grade is a result of taking too damn long. So the car looking somewhat naked
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291767763.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291767822.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291767890.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291767938.jpg
Sand sand everywhere...felt like I was at the beach. Generally, the body is in great shape. Rear light pockets have no rust...no rust around the window lip on rear shelf, seat buckets are solid and the front suspension pan/gas tank support is good.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291768144.jpg
Floors are solid...no rust but for a small area on the rear passengers longitudinal, but they have other issues than rust. More on that later.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291768327.jpg

rennch 12-07-2010 04:40 PM

Good to see you back at it, Lars. Looks like everything survived the fire ok...

speedo 12-07-2010 04:51 PM

This is where I will be spending some time...
 
I knew the drivers rocker was perforated. Now I can see whether I can patch or replace.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291768512.jpg
From this angle a serious cut and patch would work...if the cancer has not weakened the steel more on the inside than the outside appears...all depends on what is behind this bondo
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291768724.jpg
I pulled out the grinder with the wire brush...eek
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291768848.jpg
I found this...2-3 lb chunk of bondo hiding in the hole. The shop that did this repair kept filling the hole with bondo until it "took hold".
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291768997.jpg
It gets better. The lock posts had some bondo as revealed by the sandblasting...lockposts don't need bondo...do they?
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291769101.jpg
I might not have given the shop that did the work on the sill enough credit. They did manage to cram several pounds of bondo into the drivers rocker. However, how they managed to seal up the lockpost was amazing! Several layers of fiberglass on the inside of the quarter panel behind the lockpost, created a nice base for the glob of bondo needed to seal this up
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291769314.jpg
I am sure the other lockpost is the same...I destroyed the wire wheel on my grinder de-bondo-ing this side, so the otherside will have to wait. I ordered drivers outer rocker and both lockposts.

speedo 12-07-2010 05:29 PM

Different meaning of "floor it"!
 
Somewhere in this car's previous life...it must have been airborne. Most of the early cars have dents/scrapes in the bottom of their gas tanks, and some have floor scrapes. I have seen the results of cars moved with fork lifts too. I have never seen a car with floor pans so deformed upwards before. There are two serious dents and two smaller dents that could only have occured if the car was dropped onto something...like large rocks. Hardto tell from the pics, but these are 1-1.5 inch vertical deformations.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291771555.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291771624.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291770600.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291771668.jpg

I put the floor jack underneath the car and used a variety of shape and sized boards to brace the floor so I could use my metal working hammers to massage the indentations back. Dented sheet metal is stretched sheet metal, so working it back took some time. But here we are back to factory...pre-flight .
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291770722.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1291770755.jpg

I have been able to source two sets of soft window latches, but no bows. The one set of bows I found, I considered them to be too rusty to use and they were on the east coast. Shipping rusty blanks did not make sense. I scoured the local shops hoping to find some bows forgotten on a shelf. No luck..till yesterday when I stumbled across a local guy who is restoring an early S softie. I begged and pleaded (there will be a debt of fine wine I sense) and he agreed to let me borrow his bows to reverse engineer a set or three. I will pick those up tomorrow, and source the steel tubing at the same time. Based on how difficult it was for me to source a set, I will be making extras. So if you are in need of bows, PM me and we'll work something out. I also have the extra pair of latches that may be available.
The timetable is tight for the welding work. I need to get the car ready for the painter by the end of the month. I will give him the car and two months. That will give me enough time to sort the mechanicals, finish the upholstery and rebuild the 2.2T engine into something...more. We're going black on the outside with red on the inside...maybe a red tartan for the seat inserts...or maybe not.

Speedo

preston_brown 12-08-2010 05:43 AM

The whole "fiberglass on the back and bondo on the front" was typical quickie repair procedure on 356s and 911s in the 1970s, from what I've seen. They just weren't worth enough to do it better, I guess, and people probably thought the repair would outlast the car.

kidrock 12-08-2010 09:25 AM

maybe the pan is bent upwards because somebody once tried to use it as a jack point?

Matt Monson 12-08-2010 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kidrock (Post 5715708)
maybe the pan is bent upwards because somebody once tried to use it as a jack point?

Yep. My suspicion is that jackstands were left under the pan at that location, possibly for an extended period of time during it's previous life.

Nice to see you progressing Lars.

jpnovak 12-08-2010 10:04 AM

Lars,

This project is now ready to begin. Glad to see a naked targa shell. I see latch panel replacement in your near future.

500_19B 12-08-2010 11:37 AM

Hello Lars,

I followed you great "911R" thread and am looking forward to this one.

Are you considering welding in additional reiforcement along the inner sills, especially around the area at the rear of the door to stiffen up the Targa shell?

felix83 12-08-2010 01:25 PM

Finally, a project that will help me through the long, cold swedish winter. And given your pace in the past, there will be no shortage of updates. Subscribed.

speedo 12-20-2010 05:33 PM

Lock post sheet metal arrived...
 
And I started on the passenger side...supposed to be the easier repair. Sandblaster revealed more bondo than was originally anticipated.I started at the top...not to late to save the new lockpost and patch it
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292894181.jpg
The more bondo I eliminated, the worse it got. Previous repair was a hack job at best and brazed steel in where old steel was rusted.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292894365.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292894431.jpg
Yuck...lockpost is outta here
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292894500.jpg
I will need to fabricate the last 6 inches of the quarter panel where it joins the outer rocker
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292894578.jpg
The shrapnel
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292894656.jpg
These repairs need to be made before the lockpost is sealed up
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292894719.jpg
Done and sealed...waiting for my new spot weld tips to proceed with the lockpost.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292895125.jpg

speedo 12-20-2010 05:51 PM

While waiting...I borrowed some soft window bows
 
A very nice local gentleman lent me his bows for his 67S. I had scanned the PP threads (thanks jpnovack) for the installation/conversion of their targas to soft top... and tried to source an reasonably priced pair. Bows are hard to come by, and my gut told me they could be reverse engineered if I could find a set to work with. Need some steel tube
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292895638.jpg
The hardest bow is going to be the rear bow as it follows the contour of the rear window base...is two pieces and has imbedded nuts to capture these $16 monsters (the eyebolt on the right...I will fabricate these using the bolts like the left)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292895764.jpg
Here we go...cut , bend and fit and repeat 25 times. Dialogue isn't needed here.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292895965.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896029.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896072.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896122.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896159.jpg
Then join the two haves with a sleeve
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896203.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896263.jpg

speedo 12-20-2010 06:02 PM

A bit more...
 
I said the back bow was more work...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896389.jpg
The halves
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896464.jpg
I now need to install the nuts to retain the eyebolts
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896546.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896621.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896674.jpg

Done.. smaller targa bar hoop is going to be easier
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896740.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896776.jpg
Embedding the nuts for the attachment brackets that the handles capture
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896890.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896930.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1292896961.jpg


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