Discussion
Nothing done on my car as I’ve been away with work but my son has finished his Product Design A level engine table project mentioned earlier in the thread. I took some decent pictures of it today to use as part of his presentation:
1974 2.7 7R Magnesium case (with massive rod shaped hole!)
1972 Magnesium rocker covers
Steel frame
12mm glass top
LED RGB internal lighting
He’s rightly proud of it!
1974 2.7 7R Magnesium case (with massive rod shaped hole!)
1972 Magnesium rocker covers
Steel frame
12mm glass top
LED RGB internal lighting
He’s rightly proud of it!
Smokin Donut said:
Any update on the 911? Really enjoying the process and progress.
I’d love to say I’ve pushed on in lockdown and I’ve a nice green shell in the garage... unfortunately not mainly tidying the garage and that’s still a tip 
I’ve done a few bits, but it’s largely untouched. I’ll bring it up to date:
As part of ‘tidying’ I’ve fitted the new engine lid and it all lines up perfectly, which is nice!
As a little additional motivation I went to the design studio for a review and my most awesome design friend had a little gift for me.
Full custom hot wheels build, 3D printed wheels, hand made front spoiler, metal foiled chrome, custom box and card... maybe I owe him a pint!
He even rebuilt the interior to make it RHD. Only then did he remember my car is LHD
Super cool little gift.
Knowing of many issues with OE headlamp bucket fitment I trial fitted the headlamp to the new wing with its gasket. Went on first time, no issues at all! That’s one worry out of the way.
Then two small jobs I’ve been putting off as they are boring...
One of the rear light covers was damaged and rotted around the fixing screw so I made a little dented panel and let it in.
The dent doesn’t look complicated but it took three goes with various methods to get a dent approximately the right shape without splitting.
Then a super exciting repair to the 964 door I bought a while back. It had an ugly hole hacked in it so I cut it out and replaced with a little plate.
This next repair was supposed to be just welding up the rivet holes in my old wing. Didn’t quite work out that easy!
Two of the holes simply wouldn’t weld cleanly and kept spitting and burning as if it was contaminated. So I cut a bit off and found the remains of the paint and rust from when I had the wings dipped. Lesson learnt, don’t do it, just blast them kids!
With that cleaned up (and a wax/paint hole added) I made a little repair panel. Hemming the curved edge was a pain, so I had to make a little former, and my hem was a bit short, but it worked out in the end. A bit of sinkage on the A surface, but nothing too bad.
I’ve also added a bit to the bottom of the wing as for reasons I don’t understand it was missing the bottom 10mm!
I’ve stalled my place in Barry’s queue until we are out the other side of the mess we all find ourselves in, but should be before the summer Still no paint plan or budget though!
Jonny-Jimbo said:
I've only just found this thread, and I apologise, I have not read all 34 pages, only page 1 and the last few posts...
But an early 911 for 5k???
From what I have seen though, beautiful fabrication and repair work!
Cheers.But an early 911 for 5k???
From what I have seen though, beautiful fabrication and repair work!
It was £5k because:
A. It was 18 years ago
B. It was shagged
That may be, but you could drive it, even if it was shagged.
Plus, around 16 years ago I bought my first car, a Triumph Herald for £1620 in pretty good condition.
That Herald would now be worth around 6 or 7k in the same condition... Guessing one doesn't find an old 911 for the equivalent increase these days!
Still, the main point was lovely fabrication, well done.
Plus, around 16 years ago I bought my first car, a Triumph Herald for £1620 in pretty good condition.
That Herald would now be worth around 6 or 7k in the same condition... Guessing one doesn't find an old 911 for the equivalent increase these days!
Still, the main point was lovely fabrication, well done.
gary71 said:
Jonny-Jimbo said:
I've only just found this thread, and I apologise, I have not read all 34 pages, only page 1 and the last few posts...
But an early 911 for 5k???
From what I have seen though, beautiful fabrication and repair work!
Cheers.But an early 911 for 5k???
From what I have seen though, beautiful fabrication and repair work!
It was £5k because:
A. It was 18 years ago
B. It was shagged
Good to see you're still getting bits done. The model from your pal was a nice thing for him to do. Did raise a smile about his forgetting yours is LHD. I've always preferred LHD myself. I just never understood why people would convert things like E30 M3?
Anyway, stay safe. Mark
I’ve meant to make some number plate brackets ever since I had the car to replace the bits of bent strip that have been badly aligning the plate for 18 years... I mocked up this little thing today as an idea.
And if at first you don’t succeed... got there eventually with the shape and a little tool to knock it over.
I’ve now had some blanks laser cut and sold a few pairs to friends.
Much as I’m not doing a shiny rebuild some of the parts are just a mess so I’ve cleaned up this lot ready for powder coating.
I’ve also decided to do the backdate on the rear crossmember. I was going to leave this to Barry, then thought hey I’m bored, I’ll give it a go!
I spent two hours shaping a really thick bit of steel into a form tool then switched to the much better plan of cutting the end off the old one and letting it in!
Came out ok in the end, but it’s like welding tissue paper, and I don’t have the skills for that
The other side is a much smaller section, just the curve not the label indent. I made this part from scratch using the form tool I made before as the original part was too rusty. This made the welding much easier as I made it out of 1.2mm.
Overall pretty happy with that outcome fixing the most obvious backdate clue for the anoraks!
I’ve a few more metal work jobs to do, but I’ve timed my place in the queue for the drive south once Boris let’s us out in a couple of months. Then I can think about about paint.
And if at first you don’t succeed... got there eventually with the shape and a little tool to knock it over.
I’ve now had some blanks laser cut and sold a few pairs to friends.
Much as I’m not doing a shiny rebuild some of the parts are just a mess so I’ve cleaned up this lot ready for powder coating.
I’ve also decided to do the backdate on the rear crossmember. I was going to leave this to Barry, then thought hey I’m bored, I’ll give it a go!
I spent two hours shaping a really thick bit of steel into a form tool then switched to the much better plan of cutting the end off the old one and letting it in!
Came out ok in the end, but it’s like welding tissue paper, and I don’t have the skills for that
The other side is a much smaller section, just the curve not the label indent. I made this part from scratch using the form tool I made before as the original part was too rusty. This made the welding much easier as I made it out of 1.2mm.
Overall pretty happy with that outcome fixing the most obvious backdate clue for the anoraks!
I’ve a few more metal work jobs to do, but I’ve timed my place in the queue for the drive south once Boris let’s us out in a couple of months. Then I can think about about paint.
I’m progressing lots of little jobs I’ve been putting off, oh and wiring... so to bring this up to date:
I’ve finished the RH wing support by moving the fixings on the somewhat inaccurate Restoration Design panel. They taken the feedback and are changing their part!
I located a set of early hinges in darkest Germany and have now fitted them with my original bolts (no big washers!).
I just need to find the other 6 in a bag somewhere...
The door check pin holes are oval on both sides which means you get a lovely ‘crack-bang’ noise at each spring stop on the check arm.
So, how to fix? Welded up then drilled. Custom super long 5.5 and 6mm drill bits (long M8 bolt welded on the end!)
As the drill is still at a slight angle I started with a 5.5 as I didn’t want to over do it. But it did need the 6.
Original pin fits nicely now.
No more noise!
A quote of 290+vat for the powder coating of the pile in the previous image increased my motivation to DIY, especially as I’d already done the hard work cleaning them up.
So I’ve been decorating the garage with a steel hanging forest.
And some finished bits:
Finally the heater valves went back together with new bushes made by a friend. Perfect!
Next, heater mods. And wiring. Can’t wait
I’ve finished the RH wing support by moving the fixings on the somewhat inaccurate Restoration Design panel. They taken the feedback and are changing their part!
I located a set of early hinges in darkest Germany and have now fitted them with my original bolts (no big washers!).
I just need to find the other 6 in a bag somewhere...
The door check pin holes are oval on both sides which means you get a lovely ‘crack-bang’ noise at each spring stop on the check arm.
So, how to fix? Welded up then drilled. Custom super long 5.5 and 6mm drill bits (long M8 bolt welded on the end!)
As the drill is still at a slight angle I started with a 5.5 as I didn’t want to over do it. But it did need the 6.
Original pin fits nicely now.
No more noise! A quote of 290+vat for the powder coating of the pile in the previous image increased my motivation to DIY, especially as I’d already done the hard work cleaning them up.
So I’ve been decorating the garage with a steel hanging forest.
And some finished bits:
Finally the heater valves went back together with new bushes made by a friend. Perfect!
Next, heater mods. And wiring. Can’t wait
Next project (outside of metal bashing) was to try and improve the ventilation a bit. It's not going to be aircon by any stretch of the imagination, but even a 10% improvement in airflow would help those time when you are dying of heat exhaustion in the French countryside.
On the advice of our HVAC expert the suggestion was to use a small high performance intercooler fan within the original box.
24hrs later this little Spal fan turns up and it could have been made for the job! It sits beautifully in the hole left by the original fan with nothing more than some spacers to give a clearance to the backwall of the box.
I’ve obviously not tried it in the car yet, so it may sound like a jet at take off, but I haven’t modified the original box at all (other than three 6mm holes) so all else fails I can put it back.
The other thing I’d like to do is work out how to duct some air at face level as there is none. Vents didn’t make it to 911s until ‘74.
I had other ideas of using the speaker grille or radio aperture, but it’s the clock space or nothing from an appearance perspective.
I’ve added a Y piece under the dash and the pipe up to the dash should just about clear the wipers:
This eBay purchase looks like it will work. Lose the chrome accents and it also might even fit in the standard rubber ring, but that’s buried somewhere in a box!
Good old Alfa Romeo still using round vents
Whilst playing with the heater the miserable state of the lower connection from the RH valve to bulkhead finally tipped me over to do something about it.
It’s been in two parts with no fixings and held together with luck, tape and tie wraps for years. This meant the underdash vent was also held on with tape.
I had a plan to measure the other one, draw it up on CAD and get one 3D printed. But hey I don’t have the kit for that so made a steel one
The main tube of the rollover jig was exactly the right size to form the tube. Cutting it off at 30 degrees was fun, but the other part of the flange was easy enough using the shrinker/stretcher tool.
Probably a bit excessively strong now, but it’s steel and hence good
Coat of black paint and it will never be seen again.
And painted.
Oh yes. Wiring.
Can you tell I’m not looking forward to this bit?
There’s dodgy earths and connections everywhere, not surprising my indicators were a bit temperamental when it rained!
On the advice of our HVAC expert the suggestion was to use a small high performance intercooler fan within the original box.
24hrs later this little Spal fan turns up and it could have been made for the job! It sits beautifully in the hole left by the original fan with nothing more than some spacers to give a clearance to the backwall of the box.
I’ve obviously not tried it in the car yet, so it may sound like a jet at take off, but I haven’t modified the original box at all (other than three 6mm holes) so all else fails I can put it back.
The other thing I’d like to do is work out how to duct some air at face level as there is none. Vents didn’t make it to 911s until ‘74.
I had other ideas of using the speaker grille or radio aperture, but it’s the clock space or nothing from an appearance perspective.
I’ve added a Y piece under the dash and the pipe up to the dash should just about clear the wipers:
This eBay purchase looks like it will work. Lose the chrome accents and it also might even fit in the standard rubber ring, but that’s buried somewhere in a box!
Good old Alfa Romeo still using round vents
Whilst playing with the heater the miserable state of the lower connection from the RH valve to bulkhead finally tipped me over to do something about it.
It’s been in two parts with no fixings and held together with luck, tape and tie wraps for years. This meant the underdash vent was also held on with tape.
I had a plan to measure the other one, draw it up on CAD and get one 3D printed. But hey I don’t have the kit for that so made a steel one
The main tube of the rollover jig was exactly the right size to form the tube. Cutting it off at 30 degrees was fun, but the other part of the flange was easy enough using the shrinker/stretcher tool.
Probably a bit excessively strong now, but it’s steel and hence good
Coat of black paint and it will never be seen again.
And painted.
Oh yes. Wiring.
Can you tell I’m not looking forward to this bit?
There’s dodgy earths and connections everywhere, not surprising my indicators were a bit temperamental when it rained!
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