My trip down the slippery slope

[bv911]

Hi there, 26-year PCA member, need some help so, in a classic case of using a sledgehammer to kill a mosquito, here I am spilling my Porsche guts to you all…

I’ll try to keep it quick.



Here’s my pride and joy, 1987 Carrera, owned it about two-and-a-half years now.

[bv911]

Not my first dalliance. Here’s the car that started it all.



Not its finest hour.

[bv911]

It was a ’66, #303566, or roughly the three-thousand, five-hundred and sixty-sixth 911 built. Got it by chance, and basically got a career out of it (“Now that you’re in the club, how would you like to be our newsletter editor?”). But it was ultimately too rough to deal with, and so…

Here’s my next affair, a ’68 that was a fellow club member’s track car.



I had some grandiose ideas for this. Okay, not as grandiose as most of the builds I’ve seen on these forums (how do you guys _do_ all this stuff?!), but think 911R “homage”, with an RS-spec 2.7. This was a super fun combination. For all of about twenty minutes.



Had this for about ten years, most of that time spent with it in pieces. Made a lot of mistakes. Live and learn, if you’re lucky… And note the title of this post.



Then guess what? Long-hood valuations went through the roof. And I was able to parlay the ’68 into the ’87.

[bv911]

And I was finally able to do some track events.

[bv911]

And guess what: the hook is in. Pretty deep.

So while I haven’t dropped 438 pounds in five days, I have managed to remove about a hundred in a few weeks. The AC compressor and rear condenser were already gone when I got the car. And the stock seats were swapped out for some lighter OMP’s with all the needed holes.

[bv911]

“Lighter is faster” as we all know, so I started looking for some low-hanging fruit. First thing I found was the rear bumper guards.



I found some LED license plate lights that replace the mounting screws. Thirteen bucks at the Auto Zone.





I plan on cleaning up the bumper, re-painting where the paint decided it liked the guard more than the bumper, and possibly making or jury-rigging up some plugs for the mounting holes.

[bv911]

Next came the rear seats.



You can see I had to get creative when removing those stubborn mounting screws:



Sorry the picture is pretty crappy, but yes, that’s a pair of Vise Grips clamped onto the screw, with a pair of Channellocks used for twisting. Oh, at this point I should mention, I’m not much in the way of a wrench. I’m pretty good at taking things apart, but have made some expensive mistakes along the way… This time, I was the windshield, not the bug:

[bv911]

Then things got a little more involved. I knew I wanted a roll bar, to mount some harnesses to, ‘cause at my last DE my instructor pointed out how much more I’d be able to concentrate on the road and what the car was doing if I didn’t have to worry about holding on or bracing myself.

First plan was to get one of those bars that bolt in to the seatbelt mounting points. No muss, no fuss; after all, with the value of these cars rising as they are, I’d rather not do any surgery on it, or at least, nothing major.



But plans change, and the roll bar I ended up with is basically an Autopower bar that bolts in to the floor and the rear side panels.

[bv911]

I didn’t want to cut into any of the upholstery. So, out came roughly thirty pounds of carpeting and insulation.



Here's the pile, about a hundred pounds worth so far:

[bv911]

The plan is to leave it all bare metal in the back. I’ve got some spray cans of diamond blue metallic at the ready.

Which brings me to the situation I need help with: how 29-year-old German glue is so godd*** stubborn. I’ve invested about nine hours of elbow grease and huffing lacquer thinner to get it to this point:



So, apologies for the roundabout route, but here I am asking if there’s an easier way to crack this nut. I’m thinking along the lines of “wire wheel on a drill”, but would rather not break through the original paint and primer. Anybody out there who’s done this already able to offer some alternate ideas?

Thanks for your time…

[BullStandsAlone]

This was my world for about 25 hours in July working on my 86. That glue is awful.

I got most of mine off with a combination of acetone and POR15 Degreaser. It still wasn't perfect, but I got 95% of it.

[bv911]

Originally Posted by BullStandsAlone

This was my world for about 25 hours in July working on my 86. That glue is awful.

I got most of mine off with a combination of acetone and POR15 Degreaser. It still wasn't perfect, but I got 95% of it.

July huh? Nothing like working in a tight space breathing toxic fumes in the hight of summer, right…?!

Acetone; dang, could have gotten some when I went to Home Depot earlier tonight. Had to get more lacquer thinner!

[bigel]

I recently saw a video of two yahoos demonstrating the use of dry ice to harden and remove undercoating (video link included below). Depending on the thickness of the glue you describe, it might be worth a shot.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wcuLPO36Rmo

[BullStandsAlone]

Originally Posted by bv911

July huh? Nothing like working in a tight space breathing toxic fumes in the hight of summer, right…?!

Yeah, not the best on warm summer nights! I wore a mask nearly the whole time. I'm working on the floor glue now, which comes right up with Degreaser and scotch pads.

[bv911]

Originally Posted by bigel

I recently saw a video of two yahoos demonstrating the use of dry ice to harden and remove undercoating (video link included below). Depending on the thickness of the glue you describe, it might be worth a shot.

Thanks for the link. Hmm, I think what I've got left is a bit thin for this approach to be effective…

BTW, I posted the wrong picture above for after I got the seats, carpeting, side panels, and insulation pads out, this is what I was faced with:



Dry ice might have helped at this initial point. Oh well, more living and learning!

PS: I can't tell you how many times I feel like a yahoo when attempting some of this stuff; case in point, the Vise Grips/Channellock combo above!

[bv911]

Originally Posted by BullStandsAlone

Yeah, not the best on warm summer nights! I wore a mask nearly the whole time. I'm working on the floor glue now, which comes right up with Degreaser and scotch pads.

I think I'll have to get a hold of some of that Degreaser stuff. I did at least get some Scotchbrite pads…