Another one saved and back on the road!

Hi everyone,

After almost two years my '65/66 polo red'912 passed Dutch MOT and is back on the road. She will sleep next to my cocoa brown '68 sunroof coupe.

I just want to share a few of the many hundred pictures I made during the project. I hope they will be an inspiration to all of you working on a similar project.

The first five photos represent the current state, ready to enjoy.











The project started with a body in poor condition. Rockers had to be replaced, floor panels where gone and new ones welded in position and many, many other "minor" body repaires had to be done. I didn't want to use any epoxy filler and therefore used the factory method to compensate imperfections - leading. I really like it, because you just warm it up to correct its shape.







The interior was completely stripped and a new coating has to protect it for the next decennia.



An example of how parts where treated before they where reassembled and mounted on the body - the heater valves:



Last but not least thanks to all fellow Pelicans for the direct and indirect help, inspiration and motivation during the project.

Apart from the maintanance of my both 912's I will pay most of my attention to the restoration of my '78 911 Targa - the same fun in an other dimension.

Otto

[C. Clark]

Nice job, congratulations.

[J2Hanson]

Otto, that is a beautiful car! Well done. It doesn't look like there was much room to spare in your shop.

[BAO B]

Otto,
Beautiful work from you. Two years of labor of love is well worth it. Congratulation on a beauty.
Bao

[MichaelB]

Great job Otto.

[WFBowen]

Beautiful car, Otto. I really like the large canister air cleaners. Congrats.

Bill

[Matt Monson]

Nice to see the finished product of your labors.

Thanks you all for your congrats and kind words.

#J2Hanson: My workshop is with its 300 sq. ft just big enough to do the work. I realize that many of us have less room to take care of their Porsches. So I'm a Lucky guy.

#WFBowen: Hi Bill, Apart from originality, I also like them. It gives the engine bay that typical early Porsche look. And last but not least, they do a very well job with the internal huge air filters.

Otto

[Jaems]

Otto,

Why did you cover the air vents with carpet?

Jaems

Hi Jaems,

Which air vents do you mean. The heater vents have their Original sliders - hard to see, but they are there. The cover above the shift coupler is a solid one in these early 912's. Mine is a '65 built model '66.. It should be covered with carpet and fixed with screws. Only the later ones have sleeves in the cover and are painted black.

Or did I overlook something?

Otto

[Jaems]

Otto,

My 66 has the vents. However, the 65 and very early 66's may not have had them. If the gas heater was not available at the time your 66 was built. It was part of the heater ventilation system. Which help to cycle the air in the cabin. It probably won't make much difference. Unless someone wants to protest it a car show or concurs.

I found that cracking the quarter panel windows helps with the ventilation in the winter. About the only time I close them now is when I am going to wash the car.

Jaems

Hi Jaems,

Sorry, but it's still not clear to me which vents you mean. The front defrost sleeves in the upper dash panel are there, see pic below. Also the two rear defroster pipes with the flat nozzle are restored and installed in the correct way. These, and the mentioned heater sleeves in the inner rocker panel, are all the Porsche 911/912 has for ventilation and heating. As you mentioned, the vent windows give the best ventilation.



The Webasto heater was available from the introduction of the 911. It was obviously a typical (Northern) European option. I do not know if it was offered as an option for the 912 from the beginning of the series. I think they did. Remember that the 912 had exactly the same body as the 911. So installation would have been the same.

As you know, I'm not a concours guy. My goal was to create a nice 912. with the looks and feel of a well maintained one or two year old car with something like 10k on the odo and of course fun to drive. Nevertheless, all parts should be original or good quality repro. Exceptions: Fuchs wheels - introduced after it was built and delivered - gold scripts on the engine lid, replaced single circuit by a dual circuit braking system, with the reservoir on its original position in the smugglers box, and an electronic 123-Ignition. Original door locks where replaced by the later type, according to a Porsche Service Bulletin (safety issue). Of course it could be that I overlooked something. Just let me know.

Otto

[Jaems]

Ott0,

This is the one I was referring to. Of course this one is for a 68.

Sorry Jaems,

I guess I was sleeping during my comment regarding the cover. The closed covers, so covered with carpet, were used during production until the end of '65. I don't know if some '66 models also were equiped with the closed one. But as with so many things with these Porsches, it's sometimes hard to prove that a specific part belongs to a car - specifically during change of model year. In my '68, from which I know that it is completely original, they used some parts/constructions for the '67 model. The real concours guys may judge if it could be correct or not.

In the Porsche parts catalog (PET CD) there are two types of the cover for cars up to '68. Starting in '69 it became a different part number. The first type is split in a type up to VIN #5100 and a later version. Although not mentioned in the catalog, I guess it will be the change to the version with the sleeves. This VIN returns with the carpet sets. That also could be an indication for the change to the open version of the cover. However, there is no indication for a difference between 911 and 912.

The Webasto heater was available from the first 911 in '65. Did they have problems with condensation in the tunnel and replaced the closed cover with the open one? Who knows?

Thanks for your input Jaems,

Otto

Jaems,

The cover is a really confusing part. I looked in a '65 brochure for the 911 and 912. There you can see that the cover is carpetted. They used 4 chrome plated screws for mounting - I used 4 black ones ...

The pic in the '65/'66 brochure and the enlarged detail with the cover:





From the layout of the pics, the left one is from a 911 and the both right ones are from a 912, one could conclude that the carpetted cover was a 912 only issue. An early specific 911 brochure - introducing the 911 - showed the open version of the cover, with the sleeves.

I realize that the photo's in the Porsche brochures and the drivers manuals are not for reference. However, they indicate the existance of the carpetted cover.

As I said, its confusing ...

Otto

[C. Clark]

My 69, 912 had no carpet on the cover, dated semi gloss black paint.....original who knows.

Thanks Chas! I think it's more important that our engines are running well and the 912 is running save. However, these concours-like steps aside gives an interesting extra dimension to our hobby.

Otto

[fbarrett]

I see that your car has the early air cleaners and the early rear motor mount, like my '65 (451326, delivered August '65 in Stuttgart). But you car does not have the painted dash. What's your chassis number?

@fbarrett

As far as I know, the car was produced in the end of '65 and delivered during the first month of '66. The VIN is 455611, so just a "few hundred" younger than yours. As far as I know, the painted dash was only applied to the first few hundred 912s. Therefore I doubt if your painted dash is factory then.

A similar detail to me was the four screw horn grill. One of the fenders had been replaced and the other one was an original one and had just two mounting tabs for the grill. So I decided to go for the two screw grills.

I try to get my cars as original as possible, but I'm not a concours quy. For me it means period correct. Take for example the Fuchs wheels. They where not available at that time, but more or less period correct, because they where avialable just a year later. An other example is the carpet on the shift linkage cover, as discussed in a previous post. I got the car with a cover without sleeves, checked if that could be correct and decided to carpet it. I'm not 100% sure about the exact date when the closed cover was replaced by a painted sleeved one.

As I've said before, details can be interesting, but we should drive these cars. That's where they are designed and build for!

Otto

[MrPim]

Otto, it looks great. Seeing this could lead me to make ruinous car buying decisions.

Did you use any rust inhibiting paint on the chassis? If so what brand?