I started searching for Celettes many years ago and started to collect them. I quickly learned the key to the 911 is its chassis, it’s the most expensive and difficult aspect of any restoration or repair. Stunning paint and roaring engines get all of the attention, but you have to kneel down, look underneath and check the coachwork.
In my decades of experience with 911s, it’s the chassis that ultimately decides a car’s worthiness. That is why I ended up with a Celette collection. It’s really the only way to go when repairing a 911 Chassis. I repaired 911s on jack stands as a teenager, you can get by (I don’t want to deter DIY-ers), but there is no comparison to a Celette.
A Celette repair bench with dedicated Celette 911 Fixtures ensures a true chassis. The bench accompanied with a Celette Cobra Dozer allows collision damage to be persuaded back to its exact fixtured location. It takes a lot of finesse, tons of hydraulic force and experience to repair a tweaked chassis, but in most cases they can saved. They have to be severely mangled to be unrepairable. Most often I see front ends crushed in and rear ends pushed over to one side, no big deal to fix. Porsches are built to be pushed to the limit and drivers are meant to find that limit and become comfortable with that limit. Celettes have been around since the beginning of the 911, Porsche knew they would be needed and recommended their use in the factory manual.
When it comes to corrosion repair, Celettes are the best, fixture the chassis in and remove the corroded panels, no need to worry about it flexing around on you. Bolt the car down, bolt the repair panel down, everything will be perfectly aligned, one less thing to worry about while fitting and installing the replacement panel. That’s the case with the front pan and longitudinals anyway, some of the most critical mounting points on the chassis. When it comes to panel installation, I only butt weld when splicing into a panel. After metal finishing it makes the repair undetectable with a coat of primer. A Pro Spot
PR-10 resistance spot welder makes welding the seams the push of a button. Plug welding is still required in many cases, but the
PR-10 is a huge time saver and replicates the factory spot welds. One sided spot welding quickly replicates factory spots as well. It finishes repairs off nicely and looks factory correct.
If anyone is interested in getting their 911 on a Celette for any reason, please let me know. I often get requests to “check” a 911 chassis. It’s important to know a chassis is true before putting thousands of dollars and thousands of hours into a car. I am located in the Northeast, I usually try to lay low in the Porsche Community, so I am not a big picture poster, it’s just not my style as of now, but feel free to message me, post or get in touch with me, 845-605-9010, and I would be happy to share and discuss my experience. I have too many Celettes sitting around without 911s on them, I need help filling them up.
The posted pictures are what got me hooked on Celettes, hopefully it does the same for you.
