She is indeed quite the keeper, which is why she is my wife!

Any great ideas on something nice I can do for her for putting up with the Rat aside from buying her a Porsche? I told her recently that we could buy a new couch and a carpet for the living room when the "Rat" is done. What type of things have worked for you guys in the past?

Great progress on the Rat! Last night I was able to Ospho all of the bead blasted parts and took them to the body shop this morning. The rear bumpers, both fenders, and the engine deck lid will be done by the end of the week or in the worst case early next week!! The total cost is around $1100 which I think is money well spent (this was "saint" approved of course!!). The job that the shop did on the doors and hood was excellent and I think that I could not replicate their work. Also, having them do this will give me the time to work on the body. I am hoping to do quite a bit of stripping and painting this weekend before classes get rolling at full speed. I got the sound deadening material from Eastwood last night and I think it is going to work out great. Starting to see light at the end of this "Rat" hole!!!

Flowers when there is no occasion (she may suspect you guilty of something so it helps to be innocent), a few hours at the local spa with a friend is appreciated (if there is a sister-in-law available as "friend" you get double credit), or just look up a good recipe on line and treat her to a husband cooked meal and dishes (the three words a woman most wants to hear, not "I love you"; "let's eat out"), simple stuff is good.

Kristoph,
The correct course of action for you, as a thoughtful and caring husband, would be to buy Anna a Porsche of her own. IMHO, a champagne yellow 356C cabriolet would be a perfect choice.
DG

talk to her gf's - they can answer the what to buy her question

Day 39: I put some fresh gas in the Rat today, charged up the batteries and took her for a spin around the neighborhood before it started raining this afternoon. Of course I was going rather slow as all I have to stop is the gears and the parking brake. Also there was plenty of sand hitting me in the face from previous blasting on the floor pan!! After my little joyride I picked up the fenders, rear bumpers, and decklid from the body shop. They look great and are ready for paint as they are already in epoxy primer and guide coat. They even coated the inside of the fenders with undercoating. I plan on adding more but it was a nice touch. They also got done in less time so it only cost me $998. Woohoo! See the picture of the guest bedroom at the end :cool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345221006.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345221025.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345221125.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345221141.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345221158.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345221212.jpg

I am getting really excited to strip the rest of the car. I keep telling my wife that I am planning a "stripper" party with my brother and Peter on a Thursday in the coming weeks. If there are any Pelicanites around Bonita Springs you are more than welcome to attend and expedite the Rats "stripper" party. I will make sure to have plenty of beer, wire wheels, stripping disks etc!!

Your removable panels look great! Are you going to do the top-coat? Sorry if you already told us but I don't remember seeing it.

Wish I could come help you out with the stripping... working M-F is for the birds :rolleyes: If you need help some other time, though... let me know.

Kristoph,

Those look great, looking forward to the stripping of the orange paint on the rest of the chassis. Will not be long before we work on the Fuchs!!!

Keep up the positive momentum!!!!:)

Flacht/Peter B.

I am not planning on doing the top coat. Once the car is stripped I am going to shoot the epoxy primer myself and address any minor body work that will appear as we remove the paint at the "stripper" party. I think there will be some based on how the rest of the car has turned out. For the final paint I am going to use the same body shop that has done all the panels. They specialize in restorations and have done quite a few show quality Porsches! I will let you know when I am getting ready to put the car back together (might be a weekend) as I am sure I will need help with lining up fenders, doors, decklid etc.

Day 40: After doing a ton of yard work today I was able to start the "stripper" party by myself. The party only lasted one hour but the results are promising. The metal on the passenger rear quarter looks great and I only found bondo in one small spot on the fender and along the wheel well.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345426377.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345426406.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345426487.jpg


The roof is looking pretty good.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345426509.jpg

The first official stripper party is scheduled for this coming Thursday at 12:00pm!! Based on the progress in 1 hour we might be able to get her all cleaned up, do some minor bondo work, and paint some epoxy primer!!

why did you choose stripping & some sandblasting over soda blasting?

I did have some of the removable panels bead blasted with fine garnet (fenders, decklid, and rear bumpers). Further back in the thread you can see that I stripped the hood, doors, and front bumper (still up for sale as I am going with a fiberglass one). The reason I am doing the remainder of the car with stripper are twofold. First, the air compressor and gun setup I have will not shoot soda to the point it will take off two layers of paint. The original paint is very stubborn to remove even using stripper. Second, I only used the sand (the only media my gun and compressor shoot successfully) on panels that will never be seen again in fear of warping things. This included the floor pans, around the pedal cluster, and the rear seats/package shelf area.

Kristoph,
For your chemical stripping, buy a couple rolls of cheap saran wrap. Brush on the stripper and cover with strips of the plastic wrap. It keeps the volatiles down in the paint where they belong, instead of up in the air where you have to breathe them. You can leave the stripper on a looooong time this way, without it drying out, and it will just work deeper and deeper into the paint. If you leave it on long enough, sometimes it debonds entirely from the metal, and adheres to the plastic wrap, so when you lift the plastic, it peels the paint with it. Good for that stubborn early Porsche primer.

Your blasted/primed panels look nice. Looks like they patched up that hole in the fender for you.
DG

Obi Wan, I whole heartedly agree with you. The problem is that a champagne yellow 356C cab would cost more than our house. The other problem is that Anna is way to practical for that. I will keep working on her and maybe someday I can follow your great suggestion!!

Obi Wan strikes again!! Thanks for the great advice. Really wish I would have thought of using Saran Wrap to keep the volatiles in the paint. Instead I did 3 or 4 applications of stripper on the doors, hood, and now right rear quarter. Oops:mad: I am going to try the Saran Wrap method for the rest of the car and post progress. I should be getting my dash cover today and will post some pictures of it soon. The body shop did a great job on the fenders and replaced the rusted portions along the doglegs with new shiny metal. Hoping to have the entire Rat in primer by the end of the month!!!

Yesterday I ordered the following for reassembly after paint from our host:

New smile for front bumper
Deco trim with endcaps for both rockers
Two rear bumper reflectors
Deco trim for both rear bumpers

I am looking to sell the originals, which will need to be restored if somebody wants to use them. Any idea how much the originals might be worth?

Day 41: Made some great progress using the Saran wrap and stripper as Obi Wan suggested. I almost have both rear quarters done. So far I have found no surprises such as rust and bondo on the passenger side! With a little luck Peter and I will be able to finish it all up on Thursday and shoot epoxy primer!!