Porsche 911 T Coupé restoration project

[jsoderbe]

Hi guys,

so, it is time to start the next project. I'm not finished with my 1973 T Targa yet, but a slot opened up for the body work, at a new shop that I want to try. So, I had to re-prioritize, and strip the 70 T coupé.

This thread won't be updated very often for now, more so after the summer when I hopefully can start to put the car back together.

The car was bought from Mike5876 here at Pelican, already in June. He was located just 15 minutes from our vacation home in Pompano Beach, FL, which was very convenient.

Mike had brought the car with him from New Mexico, to build a hot rod, but decided to go in another direction. It was a roller, and I had just bought a 2,2 T engine and 911 gearbox back home in Sweden, which would pair up nice with this car.

I have always had a soft spot for the Tangerine cars, it is a truly lovely color, which looks great in any garage.

This is how it looked when I bought it:









I know, to most of you guys this is a load of cr-p , but considering what we have to work with over here in northern Europe this is a great find! The rust is very, very limited, and the accident damages are repairable. Over here it is hard to find someone that want to take on a rust bucket, it is a lot easier to find someone to repair accident damage.

So, I really enjoy stripping a car, especially when all the nuts and bots are removable without the blow torch we need to use on our normal rust buckets.

The car has obviously been in an accident a long time ago, both rear-ended and front-damaged. From the sun-faded paint I would guess it has been parked in the desert for at least 15 years, but I have no idea. The engine was removed a long time ago, leaving the car leaning forward. Because of that there was som rust in the front part of the floor, from long-time standing water. The car was very honest, since Mike already had poked holes in anything looking like rust:






The rear seats and parcel shelf was very solid, only surface rust there:





To be continued!


Regards,

Johan

[jsoderbe]

Even the forward part of the rocker was solid, only surface rust here! I have never seen this part without holes in it, on the average northern european car.



Another pleasent surprice, when removing the windshield. The flange is a little thin in the corner from surface rust, but that is all:



There are some easily repairable rust in the driver side rocker:




Then, time for some excavation. The dash pad was shot, not even recoverable. I would guess it has never been taken out before! This paper bag was put under the speaker holes:



Strange thing is that I was expecting the "hidden" body number to match a number written with crayon under the dash:




No such luck. Shouldn't there be a number under the dash on a 1970 body?


To be continued!


Regards,

Johan

[jsoderbe]

And, here is a walk-through of the accident damage:

Front latch panel pushed back and down from front damage:



The new and "improved" shape better shown here:



Big dent in otherwise perfect front hood (NOS hood was inluded but that one is saved for my 1972 S Coupé):



Small dent on rear passenger quarter:



Tweaked engine lid:



This rear crossmember is the true challenge, since it is pretty rigid and even so quite damaged:



Also pushed inwards:



And then the right rear bumper was forced up in the accident and damaged the driver side quarter:



To be continued!


Regards,

Johan

[jsoderbe]

Oh, I forgot to add the pic showing the car with it's siblings....

My Viper Green 1972 RS Tribute and "the free Targa" (1973 T Targa) in the garage:



And, some good news:

Brightwork in good condition. Needs polish but straight and not damaged:



Nice durant mirror, needs new mirror glass but otherwise great:



14" Fuchs in very good original condition. Will be replaced with 15", though:



Complete instrumentation, gagues all there, recoverable steering wheel:




The plans for now are just to make a nice mildly hot-rodded original car, retaining it's tangerine original color, with a freshened 2,2 T engine mounted. But, things can still change! I have a 2.2 E MFI engine stored!

Well, that is all for now! Any questions or comments are very welcome....



Thanks,

Johan

[Wiese]

Johann:

Awesome. I always loved the tangerines! I have an aubergine 1973.5 911T. I am glad you will be saving this one, but boy, I have to say, you are brave!

Kay

[Flieger]

Cool!

[jsoderbe]

Time for an update; This was a great day, when I could go to the sheet metal guy and pick the car up. He is a great guy, the older type that really takes pride in his work. The result was way better than expected.

It looks like a 911 again:



No dent anymore:



Better decklid, the original one showed some structural dents on the inside, that wouldn't cover up by paint alone. I felt starting with bondo on the backside was over the top. And, rear bumper fitted:



He actually managed to save the right fender, and the formerly v-shaped front bumper. He figured it was worth to save it, since it was rust free:



Driver side fender had to be sourced as used, and received minor repair and media blasting:



No more rusty floors! Rear part on left side and front part on right side are new. All media blasted and are now solid:



Parcel shelf and rear seat area was media blasted, and no repairs needed:



It looks great! Tomorrow I will drive it by the local media blaster, to get an estimate on having the interior done, and painted semi-gloss black as original.

I do hope I will have this one off for paint within two weeks. Only challenge is to find some time to put it back together, since I still have my -73 Targa to finish....


regards,

Johan

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Sub'd
Cheers
JB

[FrenchToast]

Wow. Your body guy is really good! Those floors look fantastic!

Nice work. Looks like you've now got a great basis with which to start.

I like your door latch mechanism. Is that a factory part?

Lookin' good!

Take care!

[Flat Six]

Nice!

Johan -- how did the front latch panel turn out? Any more pictures?

Thanks much

Dale

[RWebb]

I would stiffen that chassis - TRE/Dave B. did that on the Framboise car he hotrodded for a customer and the results were apparently pretty phenomenal.

There are a couple of threads on it. He might have sheet metal parts for sale to do it with - ask him where he is at on this...

[Larry_Ratcliff]

wow nice starting point. subscribed.

[jsoderbe]

Thanks for the support guys!

Regarding the crossmember; I believe he cut parts of the backside out, straightened the forward part, used the cutouts to make new pieces and welded all back together again. the result is really nice:










Another pic of the floors and rear seat area. The only other rust except the floors was where the sills and door lock posts meet:



The engine bay looks sooooo dark in black. Please don't hate me for considering to paint it..... I just have a hard time to imagine painting it matte black again after media blasting. Any thoughts?



Same thing under the front hood; how can I media blast this to paint it black again? can a 1970 T really have too much Tangerine? I know about originality, but I just think it would be easier to paint black later than tangerine later.

And, the front lock plate is straightened. The hood is also ok, still rough after the body work, but rust free:



Tomorrow the painter is stopping by to have a look, and after that I will take it apart to send to the media blaster. I stopped by there today, and they could take it already next week! Things are really moving along here, I might have it painted already after the summer. That would be nice, and at the same time create some issues with priorities....


Regards,

Johan

[ant7]

hi Johan,
Great work, in this pick it almost looks like the car has a semi-smile.
look forward to seeing things progress.
Anthony.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads20/DSC098531337011811.jpg

[jimtweet]

hey man you did all that work and your going to have the car blasted i would color match the bay, it looks soooo good in my opinion, i just did this

[jsoderbe]

Time for another update! The car is now media blasted and all in black epoxy primer. Sorry I don't have any pics yet, but I was in a hurry to get it to the painter. It looks great, but there was a few places more that needed attention after the blasting. The painter will take care of that.

Anyway; I have been thinking long and hard on how to set the car up. That it is going to be a narrow-body hot rod is already decided. It will be mostly original, just a stiffer chassi setup, and maybe SC or Carrera brakes.

But, what engine does it really deserve? I have no matching engine for it, it is long lost in the NM desert. I have a correct 2,2 T engine and 911 transmission in storage, but wouldn't that be too small of an engine for a Tangerine Hot Rod?

I also have a complete 2,2 E MFI engine in storage. It is in unknown condition, but I have a recepit from a well-known restorer on a complete rebuild. The receipt just doesn't show the date or milage on it! So, that is another option.

Then, I did something I have wanted to do for a very long time. I purchased a complete 1985 Carrera for parts!

It is a real dog, rusty and full of poor repairs, but still has good bones.




And well, maybe I could take what is laying under here, and use that in my 1970 T Coupé?



If I could mate it to a 911 gearbox, of course. I have to read up on that. I want to retain as much as possible from that early feeling, including the shift pattern.

So, any opinions? Should I go with the T, E or 3,2 Carrera engine?


Regards,

Johan

[Canada Kev]

Wow, looks like a great project.

As an aside, if you're parting out that Carrera, I KNOW there are people over on this side of the pond that would be interested in buying that rear reflector panel with the integrated fog lights. Mine has it, and I really like having the extra light back there in the rain or fog.

And though my oopinion shouldn't really matter, I vote for colour rather than matte black in the not usually visible areas. I think you'd be happier with this, and it's a hot rod, after all, and not a full blown resto.

[GaryR]

Body color!

[al lkosmal]

Originally Posted by jsoderbe

So, any opinions? Should I go with the T, E or 3,2 Carrera engine?


Regards,

Johan

Johan,
I have a 3.2, mated to a 915 tranny w/7:31 R&P and Quaife LSD, in my 73..................this is a great combo in an early 911...........it brings a smile to my face every time I drive it.
regards,
al

PS: Prior to my 73 hot rod, I did have a beautiful 71E...............the E engine with MFI is great too, but i do like the 3.2 even more.

[jsoderbe]

Yes, body color it is! Both engine and bagage area. I actually decided to leave the sound pad out too, to get a clean engine bay.

I lean towards the 3.2, it is a RoW version, so with backdated heat and SW chip I believe I could get close to 260 hp from it. That must be nice in 2100 lbs of early 911.... :-)

One more thought; I love the sport seats in the Carrera. I was thinking about converting the to early look, kind of he Singer sport seats. Any thoughts? Would they add to much weight?


Thanks,

Johan