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So nearly all the welding is accomplished, will finish today hopefully. Taking our time making sure nothing warps as we go. Then sanding and filing the welds where the A and C pillars meet so no bondo will be necessary. It is amazing how strong the structure becomes and we haven't bent the rails back in place yet. Using copper under the welded area really makes for a solid weld and no splatter.
As far as paint, haven't quite decided. Unfortunately bending the rails back requires the underside of the rail to be painted. The car had some paintwork on the rear quarters from a prior owner so I am not concerned. So I was thinking of blending it down the quarter panels after taking the paint down. I have some small stone chips I want removed on the back arches. This will probably require replacing the carrera stripe as well. Maybe add some clear film like the turbos to prevent future chips. Also the RSA tail and original deck lid will be painted to match so I can go tailless if I chose and everything matches. The RSA tail and lid was painted years before I met Pino and was very close initially but darkened ever so slightly over time. Any little blemish will be addressed but the car was already Concours clean. I have some cult werks front fog light scoops I am having painted as well but not sure I will install them yet. The A pillar will be blended as the front cowl is in excellent condition so no need to go further there. All new seals, felts and rear glass for the removal of the wiper. On the fence about the rear bumper. I might have that painted as well. We will discuss any details needed as soon as the welding and rails are completed.
This and my Boxster GTS are my most driven cars so I am always concerned when I make things too perfect. Then you always worry about it. I have the turbo for that. When the paintwork is done Pino will be installing the headliner at my home while I hopefully tackle the carpeting. If not the carpeting will be a winter project.
Slowest project I have ever done. But Pino has his hands full with rearranging the shop and I have been helping him with other projects. So if we get a few hours work in every couple of days it is a lot but at the home stretch now.
The roof rails were welded as well and all welds cleaned. We will be crimping the roof rails today. The rails are not normally welded but we welded them along the inside about 6 welds along the roofline and a couple at the ends to keep it well secured. After cleaning the welds everything was sanded, cleaned and coated with primer. Now for the seam sealer and crimping. After the crimping is done the final welds will be finished so no bondo will be needed. Many hours of work and a bit overkill but the way we like to do things.
So this is what it looks like as of Monday. Welds along the rail ground down
Cleaned and primed for today's work.
Meanwhile I am so grateful to have so many friends here on rennlist. Without you I would not be able to feed my addiction. 🥴
I was lucky to have these delivered the other day. Now I need to find my next project car. Pino has the rear quarters all I need are WB front fenders and rockers. I have everything else.
Also another lister put me onto this for my son. I wasn't going to entertain it as it was way over budget but I am a value buyer and the value was unbeatable. 5k mile 2014 S with nearly every option one would want. He works at a local shop and has access to parts and upgrades he can do once he pays me back but couldn't say no to a deal like this one. A fair price for such a clean car and he is lucky to have found one like this after months of searching. These are in nearly the same demand as our beloved 964's and equally hard to find a nice one especially with manual trans.
I am excited for him and plan to have some seat time. I know the 987.2 is a more visceral car but I like the 981CS as well and is a modern classic IMO. No doubt a GT4 or Spyder would be great but the CS is a lot of car. With cobb tune can be quite fast. Nice compliment to the BGTS.
On the track car front finally got the collectors started. Still in the trial stage but look decent for starters. Now that these are done we can start building the headers.
Very laborious process to get it right. Many hours spent on crimping the rails back in place. After the seam sealer was applied we began to roll the rain gutter back over the roof. This is far more difficult than anyone would imagine. The metal has to be bent enough out of the way now it has to be bent back retaining that rolled edge and making it a tight flush fit. This takes hours of hammering and crimping and we still only have it 60% of the way. There will be a lot of time finessing the rest, checking it against the fixtures we made and cleaning it up. On top of that the factory was still using lead to fill in the seams where the pieces from the roof and B pillar meet. We are removing the lead and welding this area. It is wild when you hammer on the rail you can hear the difference in sound where the lead was applied.
Very hard to tell what is going on with these pictures but it is getting there slowly. Another day or two and we will be done. I did not expect this to take as long as it has. But being a perfectionist Pino is taking his time to make it perfect when done.
Setting parts of the rail starting the process. Making sure it is tight and rolled to the correct angles.
After many hours of work and just in the rough stages. Very hard to see but it is slowly taking shape. Lots of adjusting and filing smooth up next. We made a gage to check the rails distance from the roof and also will allow us to adjust the curvature of the rail top. As. you can see it needs more time. But that is for another post.
No wonder Porsche nearly went broke building these cars. If this was all done by hand as I have been told it must have been a lengthy process and I see why the tubs vary so much from car to car. Although using fresh parts is easier work than bending the old rail back into shape.
Is it just me, or is this fold-over a not-so-subtly nerve-wracking process for others to imagine going on, too?
It's great seeing it done, but it's also a little sphincter-tightening, as well. For me, at least.
By that, I mean, what's the fall back if there's somehow a fock up along the way in that fold over? (say, going past the fatigue point. It's not like the metal's going to give a heads-up: "guys...two more taps and I'll crack")
Most likely its an old hat, safe process with plenty of margin.
(But for me?... I worry over stuff that's unfamiliar. So many memories of paperclips bend-broken as a kid!)
Till it's finished, I'm sending nothing but 'positive waves' your car's way, Anthony!
Is it just me, or is this fold-over a not-so-subtly nerve-wracking process for others to imagine going on, too?
It's great seeing it done, but it's also a little sphincter-tightening, as well. For me, at least.
By that, I mean, what's the fall back if there's somehow a fock up along the way in that fold over? (say, going past the fatigue point. It's not like the metal's going to give a heads-up: "guys...two more taps and I'll crack")
Most likely its an old hat, safe process with plenty of margin.
(But for me?... I worry over stuff that's unfamiliar. So many memories of paperclips bend-broken as a kid!)
Till it's finished, I'm sending nothing but 'positive waves' your car's way, Anthony!
Believe you me I have been both intrigued and mortified by the process. I have years of experience straightening metals like aluminum and magnesium. Steel is relatively new to me but in many ways the same. You need to feel what the metal is doing just as you can feel a bolt as it begins to yield when tightening. We were very careful not to bend the metal too far back on itself. Most importantly taking our time to do it correctly. Once the lip was lifted we bent the lower portion down a bit to take the strain off the bent section to remove and install the panels. This makes for more work but added safety margin. The steel is quite strong, in fact compared to the G body cars he has in the shop the steel is considerably stronger for this application. These are valid concerns and not a job you do more than once. The metal most likely will not hold up a second time. Although if we have to do it again most likely with the added welds we would need to remove additional material if the need arises. Very interesting to see how many different pieces are used to make up the roof area and what we all think is one piece is made of many. It is amazing how many restored cars are out there with half their tubs using new panels, undertrays or clips. There is always a way to fix these assuming no extreme damage occurs. The biggest enemy is fire damage which destroys the materials strength, otherwise most anything can be cut and sectioned if needed. The factory manual spells out the proper procedure and how to section tubs but most shops don't follow it which is what you have to watch out for.
Nonetheless taking our time is worth it as the end result will show.
So it has been a while working on many projects. A GT4 blew up its engine so was messing with that and other things.
Getting very close and stupid number of hours getting everything perfect but still more to go. Burning out the lead was fun. We will be brazing the area instead of leading it and the rails still need some finessing but getting closer. A few more tacks here and there to fill some voids created by the bending. By now any other shop would be using filler and be done with it but these will be cleaner and more perfect than most any 911 out there when done. Hopefully be done by next week 🤞. Meanwhile both tails and rockers are getting prepped for paint and I am thinking the mirrors which are nearly blemish free but might as well redo them while at it. Also there are some minor blemishes on some of the trim pieces so they are getting fresh paint as well. All new seals etc.
On the track car front headers are finally in the works. Was difficult to make them without being more than 1" below the case line but we came darn close. I will be sanding the flanges down a little to make up for the added 1/4". The flanges are a bit hefty anyhow. A bracket will be made to mount the turbo to the engine. I am not using the engine tins being a track car and it will allow me to use the 8mm mounting holes in the cam tower used on the 993 engine vs the 964's 6mm to make a nice U clamp keeping the turbo header setup ridged. These will be ceramic coated when done.
Still in rough stages but getting there finally.
Off to the track. My son will be taking his new to him Cayman S for a test run. I have to admit it is a fun car and might like it more than the Boxster GTS.
That roof is coming along nicely. It will be perfect or near to it based on what I see and what you described. And while people may not casually notice it, you will definitely know the crazy precision and man hours to get it right. While it hides on a darker color car, those rain gutters show every bend or undulation on a lighter color.
I think track days are done now in Canada. Weather is not cooperating. Last track day was yesterday and I drove our new 718 Cayman Clubsport race car. An amazing piece of machinery on track and reminds me very much of my previous Cayman GTS. Same power to weight ratio as the street cayman but with all the right suspension and racing bits. Working my way down to No ABS and Traction control has been am unnerving and rewarding process - and very addictive. This platform could easily absorb another 75-100 HP and be the ultimate track car.
Congrats on that 981 Cayman. You and your sun will love it!
Congrats on the Clubsport. Just came back from NJMP lightning. They bumped my son up to blue he was the fastest car in his group and is moving along quite nicely.
A friend had his new to him Clubsport out there and it is an amazing track weapon, different than the GT3 RS he was driving previously. I was considering ditching the ABS on my track car and adding Tilton pedals or possibly motorsport ABS. That is it for us as well this year but I plan to have many family track days next year. Looks like we might need to bring 3 cars with us and my son and wife might have to drive together since she is still in white and they combine blue white. I might join them the first event since I will need to tame this beast and dropping down into white might allow me to focus on relearning how to drive an old trailing arm car on track. Such first world problems.
My son hates having his picture taken as do I and would probably kill me if he finds out but he is quite proud and happy.
Woohoo!! rails and welding nearly done. Now all that is left is the brazing of the B pillar where the lead was and some filling. Hopefully we will see some speedy progress soon although at this rate I might just bag this years hopes of driving it and continue down that slippery slope. We will see if I have lost my sanity after discussing it with Pino. 😜
...Hopefully we will see some speedy progress soon although at this rate I might just bag this years hopes of driving it and continue down that slippery slope. We will see if I have lost my sanity after discussing it with Pino. 😜
Just took on another project because I don't have enough. LOL Tearing down a converted 993 engine that was in an accident. This should be interesting. Amazing to see how a back end crunch can do such damage. It will need a full teardown to find out what happened when the distributor snapped internally. The dry chemical they sprayed really makes a mess of everything as well.
Owner is still on the fence if he wants to go ITB's or twin turbo assuming the case is salvageable. Already has RS cams and solid rockers vs 993 hydraulic lifters but need to pull those and see what specs they are vs what he was told.
I can't believe winter is quickly approaching and I have yet to finish any projects. I keep starting new ones but the others seem to be back burner work. The slick top is so close I can taste it but still needs some time. The track car is getting some much needed love but still far from complete. Other projects seem to take precedence. A GT4 4.5 liter build and a 993 3.8L needing to be reworked down to the case. The prior build was quite scary and amateurish. Another shop which should know better installed the oiling rings upside down. We also found a dual row IMS bearing failure on a 996 which I always thought had a less than 1% failure rating. It made no noise but was near the point of catastrophic failure.
Some pictures just to keep the thread alive.
It might look the same but this was another 5 hours of work. Once there is some primer it will be easier to see. The raw metal makes it look rough but it isn't. A little bit of brazing was done to replace the lead. But waiting on some new materials.
I don't want boost creep on the track build and the internal waste gates offered won't control the low boost. Adding external WG to the exhaust leaves us with limited space so modified some very nice and expensive stainless turbine housings with stainless pipe and mounts for separate WG's. When the exhaust is complete all these parts will go out for ceramic or Jet Hot coating. Cleaning up the welds so they look as though they came that way. I still haven't decided if I want the WG pipe to be separate or part of the exhaust. In either case it will be throwing flames.
I was lucky to be around to see this rare beast. After all the 964 cup car discussions this rare 951 turbo cup car showed up at Pinos shop yesterday. Far more rare than the 964's with only 11 examples made and raced back in the 80's. Tony H was very excited as he used to race one of these back in the day. He had a 3" thick book of vintage photos of the cars in the series which was equally as cool.
Can't wait to see that Amazon Green paint go on that slicktop!
Would love to see the process of how that color is put down and blended. Inquiring Amazon Green 964s want to know
09-11-2020, 08:18 AM
Nice compliment to the BGTS.
