:D This guy was definitely a skeptic. He took more of the car apart than I did. I will say that I have complete faith in you Carl... I was a bit skeptical at first, but after seeing the damage you had already done to your old chassis and how quickly you seem to work, I think your timeline is definitely doable. Just don't be surprised if it goes over!

WOW! When I grow up I want to be like you!!! I've seen and lusted over various project cars but never have had the guts to do it. You've got real sac, good luck with your car.

I second the Cu-Ni tubing. I tried SS for brake lines and it was a pain to flare! The Cu-Ni lines flared nice and bend easily.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Mark! Takes some patience but it's great therapy :). Cutting the sunroof took about an hour, but drilling the spot welds out along the edges without going through both panels will be a bit more involved. Found a spot drill bit at Eastwood.com so will see how it works out.

When I get back home I will have more pictures to post about the sunroof removal.

Carl, Seems that all are enjoying the ride you are taking them on. It's just plain fun to see a build from the start. Really looking forward to seeing your next step and beyond. Keep the pics & script flowing. T

Great information about the brake lines, and good to hear about your shopping experience with Classic Tube. Sounds like a good material to use. Found the link to the importer: http://www.fedhillusa.com/ if anyone else is looking for new lines.

Cheers!
Carl

Great Project, please keep us all posted on the project w pics!!!

As for Classic Tube. I had them rebuild 3 fuel lines for me on my 79. One of which (The line on from tank to accumulator) blew out and I had a MASSIVE fuel leak. (Luckily no fire!!) The line was about a year old. Called "customer service" or whoever was answering the phones at the time. (Same guy every time) The dude was a total jerk and gave me the impression that he could care less!! I decided to go with Roger's fuel line kit and was happy with it. I will NOT deal w Classic Tube again!!!

Sorry for the rant, but thought I'd give my 2cents worth. I think Inline Tube does the same exact thing as Classic. You can find them in most MucscleCar/Car restoration Magazines.

Car should be really cool when you get it done!!

Carl, I forgot to add that I drilled all the way through the new roof skin (when MIGing back up, just put it on a low setting and swirled from the circumference into the center) but just drilled deep enough through the spot welds to be able to remove the old skin. You don't want to drill all the way through the frame. I didn't use a spot weld drill bit (didn't know they existed at the time), but I'm sure that having one will make it a good bit easier. You will have to drill into the frame a decent amount, but try not to go through. The worst area is around where the hatch mounts and that rear flange. It is thin and the factory put a lot of spot welds there.

PS, I say go for wider rear fenders since you are starting from scratch. One day, you will want bigger tires, and it would be so easy now. You could do it easily with your setup--just put new outers on the rear Fikses (and possibly narrower inners if desired to keep the same widths). Thatcher Shultz (abt cup on Rlist) has a bunch of Fikse barrels.

I did this on my first 928 which was an '82 US car. In the end, I had something like 20K in a car that was worth something like 3K. But I suspect the math is a little bit better than that now. At the time (1987?) parts were very hard to come by and very expensive, and there was no rennlist. I did get the car together and drove it for 60K miles or so over a few decades, but at the end I really ran out of steam and never got things like the AC and the windshield washers working. I think the 20K broke down about like this:
-Totalled '82 -5K
-Replacement Chassis -3K
-Front clip (could not use) -1K
-Paint and body -5K
-Late Model complete interior -1.5K
-Misc used body parts 2K
-Repair of engine, trans, suspension off the 'core' car -3K.

A sunroof head liner can EASILY be made a NON sunroof headliner. The liner is a hard cardboard / pressed board material. Just fill the sunroof opening with same or close and recover with what you want. The roof metal is the hard part and you have that squared away.

Looking forward to the progress.

Great information and constructive input from so many, it is very appreciated. It is amazing what a great tool this list is for any 928 owner.

Since I am currently on the road, I won't have any new pictures to post until I get back home, but I thought a list of some web links to the resources I plan to use, might come in handy for anyone else in the modification spirit :)

Brake lines:
http://www.fedhillusa.com/

Sound insulation:
http://www.secondskinaudio.com/index.php
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-the...-material.html

Carputer software and components:
http://www.centrafuse.com/CentrafuseAuto.aspx
http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-nm10-a...therboard.html

Electrical: (Need more research on this)
http://www.isispower.com/products.ht...ctID=ISIS3BOXZ

Fan control:
http://www.dccontrol.com/fancontrol.htm#chc

Paint: Jet black with a fine purple/reddish pearl effect
http://www.houseofkolor.com/speedsha..._urethanes.jsp

Windshield removal:
http://www.harborfreight.com/windshi...ool-99892.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/profess...kit-96339.html

I am hoping to have more pictures of the sunroof delete posted next week, as soon as the windshield is removed.


Happy Holidays!
Carl

Thanks Dean!

Followed your paint progress with great interest. Awesome job.

The main reason for the sunroof delete is to gain headroom, and secondly eliminate possible leaks, and thirdly to lighten the car a little.

The non-sunroof headliner is more concave and follows the roof skin more closely. Using a sunroof headliner as a base leaves the same amount (or lack thereof) of headroom so for me it would not make sense. And I want some vanity mirrors too :P

Any reason why you want to put on house of color on your car House of color? House of color is made by Valspar now.

It is a division of Valspar now. After looking at many cars custom painted with it, and talking to several people that have used the paint system, I decided to go with it. The have been making custom auto paint for almost 50 years, and from what I have seen the colors and dyes used look great and much brighter than many other manufacturers. In my opinion it looks deeper than PPG or DuPont. Yes, it is more expensive but I think it will pay off in the long run.

Their paint system allows for many more mils of paint in order to achieve spectacular colors without peeling or cracking. I have also not been too impressed with the typical PPG or DuPont quality, having cars painted before with both systems. Of course, prep work is 80-90% of a good paint job and if the paint shop doesn't adhere to the proper flash times then it doesn't matter what system is used.

I did like the fact that their epoxy primer is a high-build primer that does not need a separate surfacer, but it can be sealed after sanded, and then followed by the color coats. They say their paint system can handle up to 15 mils (not that I am going to find out) before cracking, whereas the typical shop paint system will crack after 7 mils.

Hope that answers your question :)

Cheers!
Carl

I found House of Color Paints difficult to apply. There is a German line - Glas that is favored by many German body repair shops. Not used it my self.

For the best and deepest finish it is difficult to beat lacquer. For the beginner lacquer is far more forgiving.

The Onyx black used on Mercedes is the deepest black that I have seen.

I use a special spot weld drill to remove panels. It drills only through the top of the weld. The when the new panel is ready to be installer the welds can be made easily and look like the factory original welds. Eastwood sells a couple which can be sourced cheaper on the net. With a high speed air drill you can disassemble 928 panels efficiently and quickly.