It will indeed be a happy day when I can drive the shiny new Rat into the garage after a day at work!!

This afternoon I got a call from the painter to tell me that he had a spray out card for me to look at and that it looked strangley green. I went down to take a look and it was indeed grey green. Looks like the Dupont formula cross reference for slate gray is way off. The painter is going to explore a few other cross references. To make sure this ends up being exactly slate gray I ordered a paint card from Wilhoit as it seems that has worked well for others. Here is the link in case others need to do the same thing in the future. I think it was well worth the $35 to have an actual sample card to match the spray out card to.

Paint Samples

The card should get here by Friday!

Just checking in on the build ... Wow such progress - congratulations looks like it is coming along really well. I can't wait to see it after it's painted and put together!!

Good job, and keep up the good work.

Cheers,

Thanks for the encouragement! Things are coming along pretty well except that I just had a little bit of a panic attack. A UPS package just arrived from the electroplater and the only thing in the package was the hood and trunk latches:eek: I really hope that they did not lose all of my other parts. I will call them first thing in the morning and figure out where the rest of the nuts, bolts, and washers are.

Here are a few pictures that describe my current panic.

The parts that I sent to the plater
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1349230089.jpg

What I received in the mail today
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1349230121.jpg

I really hope that they did not lose my parts:rolleyes: That would be a major setback for the Rat. I am hoping that they have a bag of nice clean parts in their office that was accidentally not put in the package I received today. I am trying to stay positive about this but I am certainly less than excited.

Bunch of guys restoring a Porsche...Cool! Wish I was closer I would jump in...keep it up looks good.

Maybe that was all they had room for in one batch. Sure hope that is the case.

Hi Freddie! Thanks for the encouragement and if you were closer I certainly could use your expertise. You have helped this project in a huge way with the stickies in the paint and bodywork forum. I used your prescribed method for all of my prep and painting including using all PPG stuff from metal cleaner to the primer. Before this project I had never done any car painting or body work and your step by step instructions were an amazing teaching tool. You might just be a professor of Porsche paint and body work:p

My other parts are not lost!! What a relief:). I had a really difficult time sleeping last night and kept thinking that the parts were gone forever. What the hell is wrong with me? This should not have a been a big deal. After all it is just a bunch of nuts and bolts.

I called the electroplater this morning and they told me that my parts had shipped in seperate orders and that the nuts, bolts, and washers would arrive tomorrow. I also got a nice email from them

Email from the plater
"I tried to call you yesterday but your cell disconnected after your message and
I forgot to try again later that afternoon. The parts in question were left out of the box by accident and were sent out yesterday. You should get them probably tomorrow."

The quality of the zinc on the latches looks great and if the bolts and nuts are the same I will be quite pleased with their work minus this little hickup.

Wow! You had me panicked there for a minute too! I would feel really bad if a shop I recommended lost all of your fasteners. Hope the rest arrives today as expected. Your latches look great! I can hardly wait until I am at that point... but it will be a while. Going to update my thread soon with a hiccup that I might have run into.

Hi Jeremy,

Hiccups are good and build character;) At least you will learn a new skill of some sort. I hope it is not a big hiccup (aka throwup!)

If they/you didn't remove the retaining cup for the spring for your latches, they may not turn up, as they are alloy and get eaten in the process.

Ask me how I know

How do you know? Obi Wan warned me about this but I inspected the latches and thought everything was fine since it all seemed like metal. I have already started researching the fix and I think latches from 928s and 944s have a similar set up and can be had for a song. I think I can use the cup from those latches to replace the ones on mine that were eaten. How did you solve your "my latch spring cups were eaten by the plating monster" problem? Can you buy just the cups anywhere?

Just had a look at the 944 latches on eBay, and yes they should work.

I'd also put a WTB post in the for sale section, you might get lucky.

Day 62: Here are a few pictures of organizing all of the shiny yellow zinc fasteners. I have a few leads on getting new spring cups for the latches and will hopefully have that sorted out in the newxt few weeks. Any tips on taking the latches apart? I tried briefly the other night and it seems that I should put a screwdriver in the groove at the end of the pin and turn. I was not able to get it loose this way but maybe I need to use a vise. I am thinking about spraying with PB Blaster to loosen everything up. I will also count how many threads are showing at the back because I have a feeling this is important for alignment and latch functionality.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1349445319.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1349445334.jpg

Here is what I am looking for to get my latches functioning again.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-used-parts-sale-wanted/709755-wtb-latch-cups-springs-69-a.html

God do I hate making stupid mistakes like having allow spring cups eaten away by the electroplater:mad::mad: Should have listened to Obi Wan!!!!!!!!!!:o

It's like you found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow :D

Kristoph,
That big nut on your latches is a jam nut. You must loosen it before trying to unscrew the pin from the base. Also, unscrewing fasteners that have been plated as a unit is generally not a gratifying experience. I wish you luck.

I will look through the boxes this weekend. Logic would tell me I have some extra latches around, remnants of all those parts cars. But off the top of my head I have no idea where they would be. But maybe they will turn up.

DG

Thanks Obi Wan! I sure wish I would have taken the latches apart before plating. I will see if I can loosen the jam nut. I may have to go over and use Peter's vice. I was able to find a used latch from a 912 for $30 in Jacksonville that should take care of one of the cups. If you are able to find anything I would greatly appreciate it. Did you get the bumper endcaps yet?

Yes indeed! The problem with that statement is that I had to pay for the "gold" that went onto the hardware so really there was not much finding involved;)