Actually, the last thing I did was spend a half hour or more taking the old seals off the taillight buckets and cleaning old glue residue off. I received new seals today and will do a fairly quick cleanup of these. I had to buy new hardware to install them as the old stuff had seen better days.

Today's effort was to sand, prime and paint the satin black area of the door in preparation for the new door panels:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1479339984.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1479340009.jpg

While the paint was drying I installed the hardware and reset the spring ends on the window regulator:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1479340035.jpg

and shortened and reterminated the keyless entry wires (this system installation is now complete):

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1479340056.jpg

I am now waiting for some parts to finish the doors off. I can install the regulator on the passenger side. I need a new rubber boot for that door switch.

I am also cleaning and resealing the rear light boxes. I have new seals but they are grey-ish in color. I am getting some rubber restore before installing them.

The end of the door work is in sight! After this I will move to the front end of the car where I will be replacing the fenders, hood and bumper. I have the bumper in hand. I need to source all the rest of the bits.

Got the parts in and started by finishing off the passenger door. I like the RS A door cards. I spent a bit more time than I planned getting the plastic done and right. I used 3M Window Weld Butyl for the waterproof seal of the plastic.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1479958284.jpg

I got a day to myself and attacked the front end. It was very satisfying to removing the bumper/valance, the fenders and the rocker covers. This should be the final push.

Years of dirt to remove in some spots:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492362416.jpg

But it cleans up nice:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492362416.jpg

I need to treat the fender to chassis seams as I found some light surface rust in spots:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492362416.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492362416.jpg

How do I get down to the painted surface in the wheel wells without damaging the paint?

Cleaning painted surfaces:

1. Spray on degreaser (I used Formula 88 from Home Depot). Let set for 5-10 minutes.
2. Pressure wash, not too much pressure and keep wand at least 18-24 inches from surface.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 as needed.

Thanks, I will give it a try soon.

so, how's it going?

Slow right now. Guests in town visiting and fenders on order waiting for arrival. Thanks for checking in.

Subscribed! Would love to do this to my "74. I used non diluted simple green with a soft round brush and the garden hose. Worked great down to the original finish. Made a big catch basin with 10 mill plastic and washed it out the garage door when done.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1493868053.JPG

Subscribed

I am thinking of pushing the car out in the driveway and washing this all down into the gutter. This is suburbia So Cal, will there be a huge stain in my driveway afterwards?

I received notice that the new fenders and seam sealer have shipped!

Where did you source your fenders from?...I need to do the same and haven't found any good used ones.

I bought new Porsche fenders from Sunset Porsche in Beaverton Oregon. They came poorly packaged and I have to check for damage. Not sure which party was responsible for the damaged packaging just yet. Total cost delivered for the two fenders was $2800. Yikes. Hope they fit well.

Okay, got about 5 hours in today. First off I test fit the fenders and looked for interference. I found I first had to remove the horns. I will probably separate the horns and put one on each side of the chassis pointing towards the horn grills (makes sense).

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901148.jpg

I also had to remove the white bracket that held the horns to the chassis (arrow). I will probably come up with a "L" bracket off sorts from the chassis to support the headlight bucket area of the fender.

Then I found the bumper shock area needed to be notched (red rectangle). I cut in about 3/4" and down about half way. I may need to take more meat off to clear the horn grill or I will have to trim the horn grill. We will see after I buy those.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901148.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901148.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901148.jpg

Then there was a slight interference with the oil cooler. I moved the cooler all the way inboard that I could and notched the edge of it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494902048.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901148.jpg

Next I had to massage the body flanges and fender flanges where the blue tape is showing. I need tighter 90 degree bends to allow the metal to come together. I also had to hammer some sheetmetal on the chassis that seems to cause a high point in the curve near the front lid edge.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494902207.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494902207.jpg

My car has been in an accident so I am thinking this may have cause some wonkyness in places. The fender on the passenger's side sits slightly higher and still has a high spot, but after a few hours of massaging, things started getting close:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901869.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901869.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901869.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1494901869.jpg

More work to be done in the next day or two. I still have to decide on a hood/lid solution.

Making progress now. The passenger's side fender still has some crowning interference in the underlying chassis. I tried to take some of it out with a hammer to the tub. The most forward fender attach hole doesn't line up. This could be a result of the accident years ago. You can see an uneven gap between the chassis and the horn grill area inner edge...this difference is about 1/4". Anyway, we just make it fit the best we can. After all, I have never done this and it is not a show car:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495301201.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495301201.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495301201.jpg

So now I try to fit my bumper on. First I removed more of the bumper shock attach point (red vertical lines) while retaining the shock clamps bolt holes:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495301714.jpg

Then I have to locate and drill these slotted holes (picture borrowed from this site - disregard the arrow). Someone was nice enough to give me some guidance to get me started on another thread I posted:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495167597.jpg

I bought stock URO brand brackets that were really nice pieces ($29 each). Very stout. With the slots at the bumper attach end and slots and floating nuts in the chassis attach end there is a pretty good range of motion on locating these brackets. I did feel a little interference with the oil cooler sheetmetal against the valance:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495303408.jpg

The oil cooler sheetmetal is real thin there and easily bent out of place.

Here is where the bolts end up. I might make a strap to connect the two bolt heads and double up on the Driver's side and use larger fender washers where I can:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495301714.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495301714.jpg

The head of one bolt is real near the jack holder, but the head still turns. Worst case, I can get a standoff and longer bolt to bring the head out beyond the jack holder.

I still have to come up with a bracket to tie into the headlight bucket to support the fender, and into this flange of the bumper:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1495303731.jpg

I also think a clamp of some sort (not a C Clamp as shown) between the fender and bumper flanges in a couple of places will help prevent the issues I see with a lot of cars in this area - uneven bumper to fender gap. For some reason my eye always goes to those details - the horn grills slightly cocked, the turn signal lenses that are askew, the hood to fender gaps and the fender to bumper gaps. I will see how well I can do this.