A sort of barn find

[Matthew Barnes]

I didn't do the best job when I cut out the lower fender to expose the rotten kidney and outer sill. School fees....

Luckily the lhd side is more complete.



Lots of cardboard and tape....to get my head around the shapes and the process.







Going to attempt to do this in two pieces, joining the lower and upper patches along the same lines as the factory join, with an overlap to avoid welding along the edges. That's the theory....In the absence of a shrinker, the plan might have to change.











Getting there, slowly.

[petercoetzee]

this is so awesome man. Itching to get going on mine!!

[Matthew Barnes]

"Rather have a car that has original rust vs. aftermarket rust."

Took a break from the front line (sills) to inspect the rest of the car and get a bit of perspective....

This is what the front end looks like.





God. I don't remember being this bad. I feel for the poor sucker who paid for this work to be done in the 80s.



Seams will have to go. As will most of the lower portions of the inner wings. Guess I will have to try and figure a way to keep the geometry but remove the rust. Next year's problem....at this rate!

[Willem Fick]

Wow, it is worse than I thought when I saw your car last, and dare I say even worse than some of the crap I uncovered on mine! Do you have other areas on the car to focus on for a while so that I can sort us out with a jig?

[Sicklyscott]

Your future looks busy to say the least!

I am not far behind you on the welding front and always look to builds like this as inspiration. You have achieved more than you can ever document. You should be proud of yourself.

Keep the updates coming! I'm in love with your project!

[Willem Fick]

Sad to think that a couple of years ago this car would have been considered a parts car at best - I'm really happy that you are saving her Matthew!

[Matthew Barnes]

Originally Posted by Willem Fick

Wow, it is worse than I thought when I saw your car last, and dare I say even worse than some of the crap I uncovered on mine! Do you have other areas on the car to focus on for a while so that I can sort us out with a jig?

A bit of a low point.
But the more I look the less daunting it seems....a bit late for me to worry about being in over my head! "Dom mense moet swaar kry".

Jig would be brilliant. Read an interesting thread of a guy on here who built his own DIY Cellete. This weekend I will hopefully brace up the front in preparation of grinding out some of the rot. I have too much other stuff to focus on...closing up the sill, and the other side, window corners, floorpan etc etc etc.....

[Matthew Barnes]

Originally Posted by Willem Fick

Sad to think that a couple of years ago this car would have been considered a parts car at best - I'm really happy that you are saving her Matthew!

We have no choice. We are the afflicted.
There are more out there like this one....we must find them!

[Matthew Barnes]

Originally Posted by Sicklyscott

Your future looks busy to say the least!

I am not far behind you on the welding front and always look to builds like this as inspiration. You have achieved more than you can ever document. You should be proud of yourself.

Keep the updates coming! I'm in love with your project!

Thanks man.
This forum started the whole thing! Seeing Speedo / Fishcop / Jury / Chris etc doing so much work themselves made me take the leap.
Glad I did, but sometimes in-between kids, work and life admin, it feels like I'm making no progress. But then the sense of accomplishment when you manage to replace a rotten piece worth shiny steel is pretty awesome.
I have done a lot of woodwork since I was a kid, but welding and working steel is whole new wonderland. I'm hooked.
What are you building / restoring?

Thanks for the encouragement. Upwards and onwards.

[Willem Fick]

Originally Posted by Matthew Barnes

A bit of a low point.
But the more I look the less daunting it seems....a bit late for me to worry about being in over my head! "Dom mense moet swaar kry".

Jig would be brilliant. Read an interesting thread of a guy on here who built his own DIY Cellete. This weekend I will hopefully brace up the front in preparation of grinding out some of the rot. I have too much other stuff to focus on...closing up the sill, and the other side, window corners, floorpan etc etc etc.....

The home-brewed Cellette thread was inspirational to me too and is where I am trying to go to (if not engineered to THAT extent). Unfortunately finding readable drawings is rather difficult so first prize would be getting access to a stripped car with a solid front pan. If you know of one, or come across one for that matter please let me know!

[Matthew Barnes]

Originally Posted by Willem Fick

The home-brewed Cellette thread was inspirational to me too and is where I am trying to go to (if not engineered to THAT extent). Unfortunately finding readable drawings is rather difficult so first prize would be getting access to a stripped car with a solid front pan. If you know of one, or come across one for that matter please let me know!

Should have known you would have memorised that thread
There is a 912 being stripped as we speak. A 65. That might work. Same guy has a 65 911 awaiting stripping. He may well need the same jig we need, to finish his prototype S. I shall make some enquiries.

[Willem Fick]

That will be perfect as the front suspension mounting points are the same as on our cars! Please let me know!

[Matthew Barnes]

So the patch work continues.

Positioning the kidney.



Getting the step worked in was a bit tricky. Part one of the 3-part patch.





Rather than shape the flange, I welded on the curve as a lip and then cut off and ground down the excess. Less risk of burn-through on the corners. Seems to have turned out well.





Same idea with the middle part of the patch







And they come together like so...

[Matthew Barnes]

Getting closer to getting all the gaps correct.
But now I'm presented with a choice of doors.
The original doors have a perfect fit along the lock post but are rotten and were badly repaired along the bottom.
The 71 doors are solid but the lock post shut line isn't quite right.
Decisions decisions....

71 door:



67 door:





The pressings of the early doors are lovely...imho.
Seems a shame to cover them up with door cards.
Thinking of leaving them bare.

[Willem Fick]

I vote bare, though the caveat is that to get a near perfect paint job on the inside of the door (which your approach would leave visible) might be a problem, especially if you have to do patchwork which will leave welds to be dressed in a very tight space.

[Matthew Barnes]

Originally Posted by Willem Fick

I vote bare, though the caveat is that to get a near perfect paint job on the inside of the door (which your approach would leave visible) might be a problem, especially if you have to do patchwork which will leave welds to be dressed in a very tight space.

The inside face of the door is solid. Most of the welds will be on the outside and along the bottom....but the inside of the outside patch will be a bugger to dress. Hmmm.

[Willem Fick]

Originally Posted by Matthew Barnes

....but the inside of the outside patch will be a bugger to dress. Hmmm.

My thinking exactly! You might be able to get in there with a die grinder though?

[Matthew Barnes]

The door look like it had a HVO (high velocity opening).
And was badly repaired.



Same goes for the bottom. I think I am being optimistic with the size of the cut. Suspect most of the leading edge will have to come out, but I'll try and break it into small bits to try and keep the shape the door intact.



The front edge stands proud of the rocker by 10mm or so. Mostly as a result of the bad patch. The rest of the door gaps are pretty good and consistent.



Almost ready to weld in the outer rocker.
Everything primed, fitted (perhaps a thousand times) and top coated where it'll be hidden from sunlight.



Still amazed how rough welded steel cleans up when it has been ground down and primed. Looks mildly presentable!





Cleanliness next to godliness. Degreaser a virtual component of the surface prep routine. Use in a well-ventilated area.....just saying.



The inner sill with fresh kidney. Finally all welded up and ready.
Small crevice needs attention...welding along edges....

[Matthew Barnes]

Waiting for primer to dry I dropped the gauges in.
Goodness they are pretty little things.





And more patches. Porsche resto = 1000 little jobs, and a few big ones. It's the little ones that grind you down.



And sometime in the distant future I'll get to grips with this little monster.
Looks pretty good. Ramps, chains and sprockets look used but not abused. Only time will tell what beasts lie within. A beautiful piece of engineering though.

[Willem Fick]

I see you are using Duram NS5 as an etch primer. I have in the past used their NS4 product (non-etch version of NS5?) and found that it was incompatible with automotive paint. I put grey 2k with 5% thinners over it and this caused the NS4 to lose its integrity completely. Before you go much further please just check that NS5 does not have the same issues, as you really don't want to end up having to re-do your paint job!