LeeM Posted 10March, 2018 Report Share Posted 10March, 2018 Prompted by the recent 72 for sale, I thought I'd post this if anyone was thinking of buying a cheap 911 you don't have to worry about too much, or want to backdate a car without spending a fortune. Here's my costings for a DIY project. Now before that, I've never done anything like this before to any car, not even used bog, so my process will probably be frowned upon by those who are resto experts, or have OCD with having to have everything in concourse condition. I removed the rear bumper in about an hour, then had to cut off the rear reflector panel which is easy, though be careful to cut it straight so you don't have to dick around with a grinder (watch your fingers too, as I touched the grinder on a knuckle that didn't heal for ages. That stung a bit!) I then test fitted the new bumper, drilled coupla holes, used the Rivnut gun and bolted it on. It really is that simple, and now that I know what to do, it would take less than an hour. Front took much longer after I'd removed the bumper and bumper shocks, then planned how I was going to attach the glass signal bezels. Being as they're crap quality, I'd say the best way is to buy a pair of earlier RS guards, or lash out nearly a grand for some steel bezels from the US when available, but even they need to be messed with to fit, plus you have to weld them on, so that was out for me. I basically just winged it after some basic advice from a mate who had done it to his forward dated 72, yet if I can do it, anyone can if they applied themselves and just worked it out as they go like I did. I'd asked a couple of non Porsche shops what it would cost without paint but me supplying all the parts, and they were both around $6000-8000 ? Sure, you'd get a better job than mine, but that sorta coin is crazy to me. All up if I'd applied myself to get it all done in a certain time frame, I reckon it would have been 3 or 4 days in the shed total. The rear was completely removed, fitted, painted and finished within 3 hours. The front I'd say 2 days once you had the correct way of doing it in your head. Anyway, this is what it has cost me so far, not including the hood, as I swapped some race seats ($500 cost) and my stock SC hood for one. My car is a 20 footer (check members rides HK911) so don't expect to see it at the Amelia Island concourse show, yet it's a car that I can, and do, drive in any weather, on gravel roads and drive it like I stole it, yet I do plan to do some more bodywork to clean it up ready for a cheap paint job this year sometime Front RS bumper $500 second hand (have since changed it to an S bumper that cost $400) Rear glass RS bumper $600 Glass signal box bezels $300 (theyre pretty crap quality, but they work after some modifications) 2 front signal lenses $100 second hand 2 cans of colour matched spray cans and one clear $75 from Supercheap A Rivnut tool set from Bunnings $70 Plus using a few old bolts and brackets laying around at home. I used a drill, grinder and a multi tool to pie cut the bezels, but a coping saw or whatever would suffice if you have more patience than me. If you had to buy a glass hood, add anywhere from $800 to $1500 depending what you can find, or you can work out how to make a longhood from your SC like what mine is by adding material to the front. I'm not clever enough to tackle that, yet it wouldn't be that hard, or you can also buy a longhood skin that fits over your SC hood. I'll also add that mine is a factory RHD Hong Kong import, and all the parts I have removed were sold to cover the cost of the parts I bought over a period of time to do the backdate. Infact, It cost me less than what I sold all the bits for, so I kinda made money out of it. Best advice I can give from a numpty like me is have a go, as you might surprise yourself like I have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 10March, 2018 Report Share Posted 10March, 2018 You mean to say that those dirty import parts may have inadvertently ended up on an Aussie delivered car? Shameful act on your part Lee. Seriously, Lee's car is coming along nicely. The rear looks great. Fit and alignment is good. The front is taking shape. It seems like those fibreglass light bezels are a real ball ache to fit, but for this self proclaimed "numpty", he's had a real good crack, and done a good job of it. It's going to look awesome in new paint. Well done. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 10March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 10March, 2018 Cheers @Stew F As you know (and I'm about to tell everyone else) I don't have the budget to pay anyone to do it, so if I want most things done I have a go at doing it myself. Due to my impatience, I've taken shortcuts with the front that I shouldn't have, but I know what they are and how to rectify them, yet that can wait till I get a bit more motivation and the shed isn't like an oven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted 11March, 2018 Report Share Posted 11March, 2018 Sounds like you have done an awesome job. Do you have any photos? would love to see it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 11March, 2018 Report Share Posted 11March, 2018 I admire your willingness to take the task on yourself, good effort. Devil is in the detail though, pictures are a must! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 11March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 11March, 2018 22 minutes ago, blink said: Sounds like you have done an awesome job. Do you have any photos? would love to see it 9 minutes ago, hugh said: I admire your willingness to take the task on yourself, good effort. Devil is in the detail though, pictures are a must! Will upload some pics to Postimage today and post them here. If you're on Instagram, I'm @porscheshed, there's a few on there if you scroll down a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 11March, 2018 Report Share Posted 11March, 2018 On 10/03/2018 at 5:19 PM, LeeM said: Cheers @Stew F As you know (and I'm about to tell everyone else) I don't have the budget to pay anyone to do it, so if I want most things done I have a go at doing it myself. That's how I learned. Bicycles, mowers, toys. Then one day I pestered my dad enough to help him work on the boat. Downhill from thereon in. 45 years later, I just can't leave shit alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 12March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2018 Ok. Will try and do these in a bit of an order, but not holding my breath, as Postimage seems to not allow multiple pics to be shared at once These are the bezels from rennspd.com. They look right, but that's about where it ends, as you have to trim/cut/heat up/trim etc to get them close to being able to fit, and one is longer than the other for some reason As you can see, They're not exactly straight (I hadn't started to sort them out here After doing my head in to find a way to hold them in place to fit to the guards, AndrewW had the simple solution to use a hobby glue gun. The glue is pretty strong stuff too, so it does the job well After I lined them up by looking at pics online and basically winging it, I was happy enough to use some race tape to hold them in place with the glue gun, then use some fibreglass tape. A word if advice. Don't use the hairy mat glass stuff! It's messy and basically very annoying to work with, and make sure you measure out the correct amount of liquid to hardener, or you're going to have something that won't cure and just fall off (ask me how I know that!) You can kinda see where the bezel meets the guard, and there shouldn't be any sort of lip there, but due to the quality of them (or lack thereof), I had to use extra bog to fill up one side by 2 or 3mm. I'll add here that before I had started to attach them, I had the grille and lense attached with tape to ensure I was at least close to being in the right spot, yet in hindsight, I'm pretty sure you could fit the bezels then work out the grille and lense position later which is probably what I should have done. I also didn't have the correct hood when I was doing this, so I was just having a go with studying pics online with what goes where and how close. There are some 'How to's' on Pelican forum, but mainly just pics. The horn grille tabs on the glass bezels are there for comedy, as they're not even close to being in the right spot, so I cut them off and used the glue gun to eyeball and attach in a spot close to where they should be. They're still on there firmly, so at least the glue works! I've since removed the grilles for some mesh, as they didn't line up with the shape of the hood very well and it was annoying me. And this is how it should look.....kinda! I'll upload some more pics if needed, and advise where I can with removing the impact bumpers ir whatever else you need. Bumper removal is pretty easy when you look at an exploded view of how they're attached, then you just have to unbolt the impact shocks and coupla brackets to clear the new bumper. I'll also upload a pic of how I attached the bumper to the centre of the car to hold it in place as I lined everything up evenly bith sides and level Ensure you find the centre of the car before attempting to fit the bumper! Something I'd normally overlook in my haste to fit something, yet I measured 10 times to make sure it was right. I used some 3mm 25×25mm angle alloy as it's easy to drill, then set it up where I wanted it, mark on the body and drill the holes. Then ofcourse use the brilliant Rivnut tool (thanks again for that Jeff!) and some M6 or M8 bolts. I drilled some holes on the sides of the bumpers to bolt to the bezels which worked for a while, but I hadn't thought of the stresses from bumps in the road would cause it all to snap off! Basically, I took shortcuts I shouldn't have, and paid the price Oops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 12March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2018 I have only fitted a couple of dodgy brackets after repairing both sides that eventually happened, yet I had only used fibreglass tape to attach them, so they're now bogged on inside and out. I would really like to do it again with metal bezels, yet as mentioned, they're bloody expensive for me at the moment, so I'm going to get in the shed now that it's cooling down a bit and clean up the bezels as best as I can, as they do look a bit crap even for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFX Posted 12March, 2018 Report Share Posted 12March, 2018 I am totally behind giving it a crack. That's all I do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you learn more each time, and the results keep getting better and better. Keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troubleshooter Posted 12March, 2018 Report Share Posted 12March, 2018 28 minutes ago, MFX said: I am totally behind giving it a crack. That's all I do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you learn more each time, and the results keep getting better and better. Keep it up! Admire what you do Jeff and hugely your work ethic .. call me a dick but on your fence vid aren't the rails on the wrong side of the posts????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 12March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2018 20 minutes ago, MFX said: I am totally behind giving it a crack. That's all I do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you learn more each time, and the results keep getting better and better. Keep it up! Cheers mate Your videos were the driving force for me to have a go myself. As you say, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, so it's best to look at what you're doing and plan ahead as best as you can. Reckon I spent 2 or 3 hours just looking at the front end to see what the best plan of attack was, yet there's always a better way to do things. I'd also have some bandaids handy too, especially when grinders or little power saws are in use ☹ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFX Posted 12March, 2018 Report Share Posted 12March, 2018 16 minutes ago, Troubleshooter said: Admire what you do Jeff and hugely your work ethic .. call me a dick but on your fence vid aren't the rails on the wrong side of the posts????? Haha. No that is where they are supposed to be. If you want all of the pickets on the front, and to hide the posts, then yes. That is MUCH easier to do, but I wanted to feature the posts, so that is the way to do it 16 minutes ago, LeeM said: I'd also have some bandaids handy too, especially when grinders or little power saws are in use ☹ When it comes to safety, definitely look at my videos as what not to do. ALWAYS wear gloves when you use a grinder. With the amount of scars on my fingers from them you would think I would learn.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 12March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 12March, 2018 @MFX Grinders kick a bit! ?? I foolishly removed the grinder guard to cut the rear reflector metal off. Lucky I only trimmed my knuckle to the bone, yet it could have been much worse. Another tip from past stupidity, is to use jack stands at all times no matter what you're doing. I was changing a wheel on my Karmann Ghia, and as I was removing it, the jack failed wedging my hand between the tyre and guard. A frantic call to the missus indoors to help was met by 'I f.....g told you to use stands you dickhead!' (She did). I still get grief about that one, and my hand has never been the same since ? I suppose the best way to do things yourself is to just have a crack and see what happens. If you stuff it up, try and fix it or start again, it's only your time and a bit of frustration. You can save thousands by doing small jobs yourself, and I'm sure most shops you have a repoire with will offer advice if you get stuck. YouTube is my usual go to place to learn how to do something (I built a 7 × 4.8 metre pergola and decking myself with a YouTube how to!), or just Google how to do something and find a suitable forum thread. Doing this backdate has shown me that it's not hard, you just have to think outside the box, listen to those who have done it or ask someone, and buy quality materials. All up, I reckon I've saved at least $8000-10,000 by the time I've finished (painting the front end will only be around a grand or so as quoted). No, it won't be a perfect car, but it won't owe me much either, so if you want a longhood but can't afford one, do what I have done (or along these lines) and you'll be happy....ish ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted 13March, 2018 Report Share Posted 13March, 2018 You have done awesome mate and as Jeff said you give it a go and if it doesn’t work you keep going change it or try something else. plus the money you have spent you have such an amazing job. Keen to see more. Keep up the good work!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 13March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 13March, 2018 40 minutes ago, blink said: You have done awesome mate and as Jeff said you give it a go and if it doesn’t work you keep going change it or try something else. plus the money you have spent you have such an amazing job. Keen to see more. Keep up the good work!!!! Cheers mate, I appreciate it ? I reckon once I've redone the bodywork a bit better, paint, and cleaned it up a bit more (enthusiasm has waned a bit lately), I reckon it will owe me $3000-3500 tops. Funny how people think though, as some say I've ruined/devalued it, yet some say I've increased its value ? I should add that It wasn't a fantastic car to start with bodywise, and if someone wanted to do a resto on it (would have been a good basis for one), you would have needed $20-30k for paint and bodywork. If I had the coin, I'd do a full blow over paint job, but that ain't gunna happen, so I'll make it the best I can with my meagre budget. I've done the nice sympathetic resto (with friends doing the body and paint) on my 912 with bugger all money, but in all honesty, I was scared to even walk past it in the shed incase I scratched the black paint, so the 911 won't win any awards. I now have a huge respect for the people who do high end restorations, yet they are skills that can be learned, and I am looking at better ways to clean mine up without going too crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvs11 Posted 13March, 2018 Report Share Posted 13March, 2018 On 12/03/2018 at 7:36 PM, MFX said: Haha. No that is where they are supposed to be. If you want all of the pickets on the front, and to hide the posts, then yes. That is MUCH easier to do, but I wanted to feature the posts, so that is the way to do it When it comes to safety, definitely look at my videos as what not to do. ALWAYS wear gloves when you use a grinder. With the amount of scars on my fingers from them you would think I would learn.... Gloves are verboten when using rotating machinery at my workplace. They get caught and before you know it your hand is dragged into the tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevMcRev Posted 13March, 2018 Report Share Posted 13March, 2018 On 12/03/2018 at 12:08 PM, LeeM said: After I lined them up by looking at pics online and basically winging it, I was happy enough to use some race tape to hold them in place with the glue gun, then use some fibreglass tape. You had me at race tape... no need to get fancy with all the glue, fibreglass, filler and stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troubleshooter Posted 13March, 2018 Report Share Posted 13March, 2018 1 hour ago, Harvs11 said: Gloves are verboten when using rotating machinery at my workplace. They get caught and before you know it your hand is dragged into the tool. I second that ^^^ Hacked off the top of my finger, glove on, with a wood carving disc, making a rocking horse for the daughter,; she hardly ever rode it either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugh Posted 13March, 2018 Report Share Posted 13March, 2018 I glued my head to my shoulder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 13March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 13March, 2018 9 minutes ago, TrevMcRev said: You had me at race tape... no need to get fancy with all the glue, fibreglass, filler and stuff! Tape wouldn't hold it firm enough in place. And its well documented with my use of tape to do my racing stripes ? Shame when I removed the ones on the roof it took the old clear coat with it ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevMcRev Posted 13March, 2018 Report Share Posted 13March, 2018 2 minutes ago, LeeM said: Tape wouldn't hold it firm enough in place. And its well documented with my use of tape to do my racing stripes ? Shame when I removed the ones on the roof it took the old clear coat with it ?? Ahhhh bugger. It's holding my rear window in nicely. Just needs redoing every now and then to keep the rain out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
09ELF Posted 14March, 2018 Report Share Posted 14March, 2018 The air cooled 911s are one of the best platforms to tinker and do what you like with.... Liking what you are doing there... I dont know why there aren't any reasonably priced metal light housings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 14March, 2018 Report Share Posted 14March, 2018 By the way that light housing let go and cracked, is there a way to get them more firmly affixed? I’d be worried about that happening again on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 14March, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 14March, 2018 1 hour ago, Coastr said: By the way that light housing let go and cracked, is there a way to get them more firmly affixed? I’d be worried about that happening again on the road. I hadn't fitted any brackets from the bumper to body to take the weight, and when all that was holding the bezel to the guard was a thin layer of bog, it was always going to happen. I should have realised at first, but since I've fitted some brackets and repaired the cracks, they haven't moved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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