love the fab work. i need to learn this stuff so im watchin'/learnin' and appreciative of your skills. thanks for any updates.

Bryan,
You are developing mad skills.

Al

"PROs" would be charging $$$ for this...
 

Hey Bryan, It looks very ORIGINAL to me, "PROs" would be charging $$$ for this...

my 2c
-Youri.

Thanks Youri, et al!, I don't have big $$$'s so I am trading blood and sweat and lots and lots of time to attain my dreams. So far the journey has been part of the fun and really educational. I am impatient to drive this thing though! It seems like all I have been doing for the past 2 years is build the shop and now the car =) No track days, no motorcycle rides...just dust and fumes ha ha.

I will keep posting pix in the hopes it will help someone else out as much as I have been helped by this forum. I was just looking at emptygo's project 69'er for tips and tricks. There are some truly awe inspiring builds out there with results near the mark that I am after. I should post up all my inspiration links to hot rods, st's, r's and such.

time out
 

Bryan,
The DIY aspect of this is absolutely great. I am a hardcore DIY guy, but I know my limitations and bodywork, like you are doing is one of them. I respect what you are doing. Absolutely great work!!!

PS: When i did my 71E, I had many other projects going at the same time (Engine/EFI related, writing articles, misc crapola, etc.) and being somewhat driven, I almost literally dropped out for 3 years..........I'd come out of the garage, after a long stint and I'd be like a monk coming out of a vow of silence or something............one thing it eventually taught me is to attempt to balance this obsession....with the others........step away from the take a break.......... hit the track, get on the bike....seek the balance weed hopper................see you at the xxx.

PSS: is the 2.7 still in the donor car or on the stand?

Day 96 || Trunk Prep and some other deviation
12Oct2011
Longitudinal support is in and I decided to pull the fan/ductwork so I can paint and detail up by the firewall and behind the brake fluid reservoir. I wasn't going to monkey around with dismantling all of this...but maybe I won't have to touch it again for a long time.

Started stripping some of the interior floor pans and no suprise, they will have to be replaced. I might just do a patch job and seal then wait until I go to paint the car sometime in the future.


Driver side welded up. Primer coat just to keep the rust off until I finish grind the welds off.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2...-05-55_120.jpg

Longitudinal and A-arm reinforcement welded in.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f...-05-40_680.jpg

Suspension dropped
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-X...6-21-22_15.jpg

Trunk is almost stripped
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-X...-10-37_103.jpg

I couldn't get the universal joints loose from the splined shaft so I am soaking them in PB blaster. Any suggestions on getting this thing loose?
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-T...-13-19_350.jpg

The mice made this their home for a couple of years while the car sat outside waiting to be rescued..
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N...-51-09_561.jpg

more fun & rust
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...-05-56_277.jpg


Projects left in the trunk as of today-

Battery Relocate- I have decided to place a single Odyssey PC680 (15.4lbs) battery in the smugglers box after doing some poking around on Pelican. That battery seems to get some good reviews and have enough cranking power for my needs/climate.

Strut Brace- Weld in RSR strut bar

Lateral Tank Support- Weld in Lateral Tank Support after epoxy primer coating the lower support.

Prime/Paint- Epoxy primer the trunk, high fill primer, sand, seam seal, and paint black.

Very nice work. You should be patting yourself on the back for what you have accomplished so far.

Bryan, why would you only want to patch the floor? I think a much better alternative would be to replace the whole thing with a floor you've fabbed yourself. And then, post lots of photos of how you fab the floor. That'd be a brilliant idea. You think I just want to watch you make a floor? No!

Thanks MJHanna. Von, ther is no way I am going to fab a floor...but I think I have seen some threads where people fab'd their own tunnels.

I may have to seriously consider replacing the floor pans. I am planning on installing a roll bar with weld in supports and the floor needs to be structurally sound. So far all the rust is up in the foot wells...

put a 964 tunnel in there

Webb, are you talking about something like this?
http://www.911parts.com.au/ProjectIm.../Project79.jpg <--'964' google search result from a 911parts project car in Australia

What is the advantage over sheet metal? Does add rigidity? 911parts mentioned that the one benefit was that a short shifter on a 915 is more ergonomic for 1st gear reach when strapped in...

no, but one way Porsche stiffened the "chassis" (unit body) on the 964's was by use of tunnel mods

also, find the thread where Dave B. (TRE) discusses how stiff they were able to make an early car by using extra sheet metal pieces welded in - IIRC, they were on the outboard edge of the unit body

I may have linked to it on the Structural Reinforcement thread

If I needed to replace a tunnel I would totally do that! Getting to all that stuff in there (clutch cable adjust, shift linkage & coupler, throttle bushings and hand throttle fork, e-brake, etc!) with a standard tunnel is NO FUN! The access would be save countless headaches.

Mike

Bryan,
Nice work. Is the rust on the tunnel, just surface rust? If so, unless I was making an all out track car, I'd remove the rust, prep it, etc..............and move on. I agree with Mike that getting all that stuff in there is no fun (and he has recent experience), but its been done before and.....how often will you have to do it?
Dedicated race car...stiffen it up like crazy..............Street/Track car....not as much.....
how you plan to use your car and what you will enjoy the most will help you to focus on the details.

..that's just me, I could be wrong.

Regards,

Al

PS: potential garage fire ...soon.

Hi Bryan,
Your floors don't look so bad to me. Mine looked like that while I was removing all the horse hair and tar. You just keep whittling away at it, then power wire brush it and hopefully you'll see good metal. I too had bad rust near the floorboards that extended into the smuggler's box. I think that will be no problem for you to weld solid with patches and 90 degree bends. Looks great. You work fast!

Randy, you were talking about the Fraise (Strawberry) ST!? I didn't realize TRE & Co. built that up! ha ha. I walked all around that car a year ago at Treffen and but I didn't have my car yet so I didn't know what I was looking at or looking for!!! I knew it was an ST repop...but very cool & functional bracing!! My head is spinning now. What mods to make now without blowing up my all ready slipping timeline! ;)

So many details to account for!

Fraise ST built by TRE --> The Journey Begins- 911ST Fascinating build!! I just lost a couple of hours working my way through the whole thread... so beware if you click on the link :D
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1274577822.jpg

PS- now that I am thinking about it. I might consider adding a longitudinal bar (kind of like a 'door' bar) from the roll bar to the front. If braced correctly that might add a lot of stiffness....and add some safety. I have seen it done in Miata's but I have no idea regarding cost/benefit. I have to balance the aesthetics as well. I don't want it to be too 'modern' looking.

Mike, we will see what rust I find in the morning when I restart the project for the weekend.

I will be a dedicated road warrior/DE car. I tend to find moments of bliss using machinery as intended. Trailer queens get a hahrumph from me. That being said i have to fight my desire to make things perfect...:eek: Garage fire!!! sweet!!! keep me/us/everyone posted!!!!

Thanks! I think I can salvage what is there and hammer and dolly all the misplaced jack dents and what have you that have bent the floorpan. I would love to start fresh...but I need to stay focused! I can always come back and redo the floorpans.

I would definitely take the opportunity to reinforce the outer longs, regardless of the intended street or track usage. And the sway bar mounting area, for that matter.
It's obviously more of an issue with targas, but coupes are still relatively flexy, and any extra chassis stiffness you can get will make for a more comfortable ride as well as better handling.

Hey Grahm, yeah, I definitely want to tighten the car up...just how far do I take it is the question :D There is definitely some relatively low hanging fruit...while I am in there..as they say. The sway mounts definitely, especially if I end up going to 22/28 T-bars and sways to match. The chassis is going to be groaning/flexing when loaded up and that would suck to pop a sway bar mount.

If you replace the full tunnel and rear firewall with 964 or 993, you can fit a six speed G50 in there.