OB Details you may not be interested in

[tmpusfugit]

As a result of a cracked block, damaged head, badly messed up wiring with a lot of water into the relays (blower ducts full of leaves blocking water escape), very poor body paint and poor body repairs, trashed interior, minor wreck damage to drivers side chassis, and rust in the hatch as well as rust in both quarter panels under the windows, my '81 parts car (Dogbert) has been dispatched to the great salvage yard in the sky. His parts have already migrated to several other needy Sharks and more are certain to follow.

But to the point of OB details that may be of interest to some:

The raw chassis weighed in at 590 pounds
The wiring harness with connectors weighs 43 pounds
The car had just slightly over 200 pounds of sound deadners applied to the chassis
The leather power seats, without the lower motor and rail assembly weighs 43 pounds each
The interior panels weighed 127 pounds

Interestingly enough, the frame portions of the chassis had absolutely no rust whatsoever. For several reasons this chassis was cut into a number of pieces, the interior of the various parts looked brand new......after working on more than one complete rustbucket 356 and an early 911 or so, I am amazed at the total lack of rust any place, other than the rear windows....Porsche got it right on 928's. Also, the internal bracing in major chassis members was impressive to say the very least. I also see why several knowledgeable parties have strongly recommend not attempted "frame straightening". The structures are complex and much of the internal structure could not be "corrected" if the 928 was hit hard.....

And oh by the way, the chassis was offered free to a number of people before it was cut up. No takers around here.....it is gone...
__________________
1956 Intermeccanica 356 Speedster (sold)
1957 Intermeccanica 356 Speedster (sold)
1985.5 Porsche 944 (sold)
1955 Thunder Ranch 550 Spyder (sold)
1955 Outlaw 356 Speedster (currently in build out)
1984 Porsche 928S (DD)
1981 Porsche 928 (Dogbert, gone but not forgotten)

[MPDano]

RIP Dogbert

[Opelotus]

Now I understand why people who convert the OBs into racers strip them down to the bare bone and then mod them. 327 pounds of soundproofing and paneling is more than I expected!

[tmpusfugit]

Originally Posted by Opelotus

Now I understand why people who convert the OBs into racers strip them down to the bare bone and then mod them. 327 pounds of soundproofing and paneling is more than I expected!

Yeah, I was really surprised at the sound deadening materials, both the total weight as well as how much there is in places. I was planning on making Dogbert a track car when I started the stripping process. When I found the front end damage, as well as found the cracked block, reality set in. I could spend $10-12K to have a $2500-$3500 track car, if that much. Would heave required body work, paint, all new rubber, a new engine, and a new wiring harness. Not worth it....by the way, I would use something like a Watson Streetworks wiring harness, a fairly simple injection system such as Mega Squirt with Mega Joule ignition, and dump all the Porsche complications.

The weight of the AC/heater/hoses/blower/compressor/condenser etc is another 53#'s....a StreetWorks wiring harness and panel weighs more like 6 pounds instead of the 43 pounds of complicated wire from Porsche. Oh well, it was a learning process, and what I really learned was "don't do that again". And those who say there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche are oh so correct....

[trucker677]

thanks for the facts, that is pretty interesting. I would never have thought any of that stuff would weigh that much.

[m21sniper]

Great info, thanks!

[Danglerb]

Any chance you took some pictures of the cut up parts?

[tmpusfugit]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

Any chance you took some pictures of the cut up parts?

No, I didn't take any photos as I cut it up. I considered doing so, but many things I find interesting are not of interest to others......

My excuse:It was a lot of very hard work in the hot Tejas sun and I lost interest quickly. It only cost me $92 in abrasive disks (4), and 14" cut off saw rental, as well as a couple of hours of plasma torch time and $35 in those consumables, and nearly a full tank of acetylene and oxy at who knows what price? And I got almost $80 back in salvage! Whopee! Not to mention the several days worth of work....these cars are complex, robust, and resist easy solutions, be it repair work, or salvage work. But, I bet you already knew that.....

Much of the structure is 3 or 4 layers of steel with voids in between, In a couple of areas like the frame where the front control arms attach end up being 5 or 6 layers, depending on where you cut into it. Even the roof supports both front and rear, are phenomenally strong, being several formed lawyers bonded together. To weigh as little as it does, and to be as complex as it is, speaks very well of the design work done by the Porsche design team. It is a shame they didn't also seriously consider serviceablity.....in the master design....