Chronicling the restoration and rebuild of Wilbur, the Pig
#331
Three Wheelin'
Seriously?
Is this the kitchen oven, or a car parts oven?
What was the smell like?
I still get grief for cleaning 356 gearbox internals in the dishwasher...
Love the crime scene look of the basement too.
Is this the kitchen oven, or a car parts oven?
What was the smell like?
I still get grief for cleaning 356 gearbox internals in the dishwasher...
Love the crime scene look of the basement too.
#333
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
The paint booth is the perfect crime scene to be sure, ha!
#335
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
All the cup car guys use these folks for Lexan windows. Maybe the rear screen?
https://www.plastics4performance.com...indow-kit.html
Best,
.
https://www.plastics4performance.com...indow-kit.html
Best,
.
#336
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Day two of the deconstruction. The sunroof cassette is out of the car along with 32.5 lbs. of dead weight! What we're replacing the roof with, however, has grown unclear...
I'm slowly stumbling through this project, and learning while I go. The goal was to minimize the harm to the roof skin, and try to keep the lip of the roof along the sunroof completely intact. Experimenting on a small portion of the roof, we soon learned that the sunroof cassette is actually welded to the lip of the roof skin that runs along the perimeter. Doh. So I drew a line along the perimeter of the welds and carefully cut the lip. The sunroof cassette dropped right out. Most threads describe the roof skin as being quite flimsy at this stage. But with a 1/4" of the lip still intact, and with the cross brace still in place (we cut around the cross brace), the roof remains quite sturdy
After sanding down the edges, we test-fitted the Fenn Lane panel. Many folks have had good results with the Fenn Lane panel. Unfortunately however the lip on the Fenn Lane panel is quite shallow, and it requires removal of the entire lip along the perimeter of the sunroof. Eliminating the lip and cross brace will only weaken the roof, so I'd prefer to find a panel with a deeper recess. That said, the Fenn Lane panel reportedly tightens it all up when secure. Helion has a carbon fiber sunroof panel that looks a bit deeper. I've reached out to Todd at Helion, and will explore that option. So the car remains totally gutted, with no firm plan in place for the replacement panel. Helio or Fenn Lane, something must fill the void.
Day Two. Cut out a small section of the sunroof cassette to see how it releases from the roof skin.
The test revealed that the cassette is actually welded to the lip along the roof
Drew a line along the welds and cut the perimeter with a dremel
Sanded and smoothed the edges
Sunroof cassette is out, but we retained the cross brace.
I'm slowly stumbling through this project, and learning while I go. The goal was to minimize the harm to the roof skin, and try to keep the lip of the roof along the sunroof completely intact. Experimenting on a small portion of the roof, we soon learned that the sunroof cassette is actually welded to the lip of the roof skin that runs along the perimeter. Doh. So I drew a line along the perimeter of the welds and carefully cut the lip. The sunroof cassette dropped right out. Most threads describe the roof skin as being quite flimsy at this stage. But with a 1/4" of the lip still intact, and with the cross brace still in place (we cut around the cross brace), the roof remains quite sturdy
After sanding down the edges, we test-fitted the Fenn Lane panel. Many folks have had good results with the Fenn Lane panel. Unfortunately however the lip on the Fenn Lane panel is quite shallow, and it requires removal of the entire lip along the perimeter of the sunroof. Eliminating the lip and cross brace will only weaken the roof, so I'd prefer to find a panel with a deeper recess. That said, the Fenn Lane panel reportedly tightens it all up when secure. Helion has a carbon fiber sunroof panel that looks a bit deeper. I've reached out to Todd at Helion, and will explore that option. So the car remains totally gutted, with no firm plan in place for the replacement panel. Helio or Fenn Lane, something must fill the void.
Day Two. Cut out a small section of the sunroof cassette to see how it releases from the roof skin.
The test revealed that the cassette is actually welded to the lip along the roof
Drew a line along the welds and cut the perimeter with a dremel
Sanded and smoothed the edges
Sunroof cassette is out, but we retained the cross brace.
#337
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Need to pop s few more welds
Overzealous with the drill. Doh!
Here's the view from the outside - Will patch that later. Thankfully it's out of sight under the rear window.
Ready for a test fit
32.5 lbs. of dead weight off the roof of the car.
#338
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Learning curve - slight bend in roof discovering the welds on the inseam.
Test fit of the Fenn Lane panel was disappointing as I was hoping to retain the lip. The edge of Fenn Lane panel has very little recess, and will require removal of the entire lip.
Perhaps it's because the cross brace is still intact, but this template appears to be of little help
What's next?
#339
Rennlist Member
Foxman, nice progress with the calipers. I am a few steps behind you to repaint mine. I noticed on my calipers there are a bunch of nics in the soft aluminum. How is the coverage/thickness of VHT paint? Does it fill the imperfections nicely or do you need to sand them out?
#340
Burning Brakes
For the roof...Cut the lip around the sunroof to the thickness of the roof sink then use the fenn lane panel,secure it and MIG weld it in completely top and bottom being mindful of the heat from welding (see Spyerx red 964 or Ilko's red 993RS RL threads/instagram posts). Then use the template and work the metal shouldn't need any filler if done right.(If you must use metal based filler i.e. upol-d max amount tea spoon if more than that your doing something wrong). This result will be just as strong as factory non-sunroof cars. Also factory non-sunroof cars had NO additional internal bracing or supports just a smooth roof on the inside. Some ppl want to add it or retain it fight the urge, wasted weight.
#341
Three Wheelin'
I just did a quickie touch up on my new 993 calipers with vht. The vht color and clear does have a decent thickness to smooth over issues. But sanding out rough spots will always help. I went for functional though, Foxman went full “Pebble Beach”
I did learn a few things using vht-
1. Make sure you’re within the temperature range they suggest, otherwise the paint mist comes out thick and the droplets don’t “melt” together as well.
2. Make sure to wait a full 10-15 minutes between coats, even the initial tack coats. Otherwise you can get “solvent pop” that looks like tiny bubbles and gives a non-smooth texture. My understanding is that the top coat traps solvent that is still flashing off the coat below.
Of course, extra coats and rubbing compound can go a long way toward fixing paint issues.
Also, a plug for Acromann for Porsche caliper decals. The 3” version was an (almost exact, 1.5mm longer) match for 993 calipers and easy to apply. Spendy though, for stickers...
http://www.acromann.com/product_info...oducts_id=2609
I did learn a few things using vht-
1. Make sure you’re within the temperature range they suggest, otherwise the paint mist comes out thick and the droplets don’t “melt” together as well.
2. Make sure to wait a full 10-15 minutes between coats, even the initial tack coats. Otherwise you can get “solvent pop” that looks like tiny bubbles and gives a non-smooth texture. My understanding is that the top coat traps solvent that is still flashing off the coat below.
Of course, extra coats and rubbing compound can go a long way toward fixing paint issues.
Also, a plug for Acromann for Porsche caliper decals. The 3” version was an (almost exact, 1.5mm longer) match for 993 calipers and easy to apply. Spendy though, for stickers...
http://www.acromann.com/product_info...oducts_id=2609
Last edited by -nick; 03-10-2019 at 01:51 PM.
#342
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Foxman, nice progress with the calipers. I am a few steps behind you to repaint mine. I noticed on my calipers there are a bunch of nics in the soft aluminum. How is the coverage/thickness of VHT paint? Does it fill the imperfections nicely or do you need to sand them out?
As Nick notes, the VHT provides very good coverage - but sanding always helps. I sanded everything down before hand. I waited ten minutes between coats working with just two calipers at a time.
Im anxiously awaiting the decals that I ordered and will post the final results.
#343
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
For the roof...Cut the lip around the sunroof to the thickness of the roof sink then use the fenn lane panel,secure it and MIG weld it in completely top and bottom being mindful of the heat from welding (see Spyerx red 964 or Ilko's red 993RS RL threads/instagram posts). Then use the template and work the metal shouldn't need any filler if done right.(If you must use metal based filler i.e. upol-d max amount tea spoon if more than that your doing something wrong). This result will be just as strong as factory non-sunroof cars. Also factory non-sunroof cars had NO additional internal bracing or supports just a smooth roof on the inside. Some ppl want to add it or retain it fight the urge, wasted weight.
The current plan is not to weld but glue the panel in. I know Chris recommends welding, and this apparently helps tighten things up a bit. But glueing seems so much easier, and glue has come a long way. Wilbur is fine being the guinea pig.
#344
Burning Brakes
Thanks for that. I did find a few posts including Cobalt’s that inspire confidence in the Fenn Lane panel. If you’re looking for the stock look inside, it makes sense to eliminate the lip. I’m wondering if eliminating the brace will chance the shape of the roof at all. The template seems ill fitted, but perhaps it’s the cross brace.
The current plan is not to weld but glue the panel in. I know Chris recommends welding, and this apparently helps tighten things up a bit. But glueing seems so much easier, and glue has come a long way. Wilbur is fine being the guinea pig.
#345
I too still hear about running my Harley’s engine cases thru the dish washer what’s up with that they are meant to clean things 😎👍