New to me 1981 Porsche 911 SC

[DRA911]

Well, it has been some time since I posted, having had a super busy month, so I thought it was time for an update!

You may recall I was waiting on number plate brackets.  Well, they arrived a couple of weeks ago, but getting the bumper in order was another job to tackle.  The lower valence was somewhat knocked in, so that all had to be straightened out.  I'm not sure how many of you have dismantled an old impact bumper, but they are nothing like anything on a modern car - completely and utterly over-engineered!  The bumper on my SS is held on by a handful of screws, but this one had nuts and bolts everywhere.

Anyway, after sometime getting everything in order (with major help from my father), we got the brackets fitted.  The bumper had clearly been "molested" sometime earlier in it's life.  I'll leave that as topic for another time.

So with the car finally ready, I took advantage of the good weather yesterday and took short trip up to Cardinia Reservoir with my father.

I really have to commend the efforts of Philip at Lakin plates (philip@lakinplates.com.au) as he worked with me for some time to get the exact fit - a patient man and knew to ask all the right questions.  The results, as you can see are really great!  Not bad looking for a ~35 year old vehicle

Unfortunately, the day didn't end well, as I ended up blowing the left rear tyre while cruising home on Wellington road.  The next image looks really, really nasty, but nothing drastic happened when it disintegrated, it just started to make the typical flat tyre sound.  At first we thought it was just the road surface... As you can see, it really wasn't:

I got home by inflating the spare in the front trunk.  I wasn't too sure if I could trust a 35 year old inflatable spare, but it worked and I drove home slowly.  Kudos to RACV (extended care!) for the prompt service.  I was only stranded for perhaps an hour.  I've seen a few threads elsewhere on Pelican Parts and Rennlist about what others are using for spare wheels, so I will probably revisit this question later and perhaps come up with something else a bit more trustworthy.  Suggestions/advice welcome!

So now, I really have my work cut out for me.  I was intending to start the rejuvenation of the brake system next, but looking at the state of this wheel (not just the tyre!) I'm thinking it's time to get them all blasted, anodised and the Fuchs "leaves" repainted.  Of course, new boots all round as I can hardly trust the remaining tyres anymore.

Combined with this, I'm still preparing my backyard/garage area for the Porsche (some more painting still to be done) and I'm currently doing a Vehicle Restoration and Panel Beating course for hobbyists down at Kangan Tafe at Docklands.

I like to stay busy

[Orion03]

was that like a re-thread tyre or something?

[AC78]

I've got mate with I believe a 7x15 Fuch spare in his frunk. I didn't think it would fit but it does, just. Would get one myself but strut brace is in the way. Good idea I reckon.

[LeeM]

  If it's not a retread, I'd say that tyre has delaminated in a big way due to age. Get rid of the others real quick

[DRA911]

Sorry for the late reply.  I really don't know if they are retreads or not.  I wouldn't have thought so being Bridgestone S02's.

But either way, I've lost trust in the tyres completely.

While I'm at it, I'm going to get the rims restored, they are filthy and who ever (re)painted them didn't do a very nice job.  I'm thinking of getting them sodablasted.

As far as a spare is concerned, the 7x15 Fuchs spare looks like a good option to me

[DRA911]

So I got the tyre off the rim, and cleaned it up a bit with some oven cleaner.

I'm getting some quotes now to see how much it will cost to have all four refurbished.

If the price is too frightening, I might try my hand at it myself (I've done it before, it's not that hard...)

I will get the old paint blasted off first either way.

[Orion03]

are they normally anodised?

[P-Kay]

It must be Fuchs season

I'm currently undergoing the same process, however have gone the DIY route

Good luck with the quotes - *gulp*

[PeterP]

Interested to hear what cost is to have the wheels refurbished........I know there is a place in Richmond called Wheel Solutions but haven't had a chance to get there yet.......

[Mike-S]

I've had these guys fix the alloys on the wife's XR5 a few times, great job every time. Probably not the cheapest but it's a proper job.

http://www.acealloys.com.au

[DRA911]

Thanks Mike, that's another one to add to the list!

The rims are normally anodized, but I'm exploring all options here.  The overall cost has to be "reasonable."

I did get a call back from one place in Dandenong that a close friend recommended to me.  I'm bringing the rim in to him to look at next week.

The only thing he told me over the phone was it would be "expensive."  I didn't push him for a figure.

I also need my daily driver's wheels redone too, as the paint is starting to fade.  I'm honestly not sure how much this all should set me back?

Gotta love cars, the money potentially flies out of the wallet much faster than I can put it in!

[Mike-S]

Ace were $200 a wheel, which included the damage repair and a complete strip down and repaint inside and out. The finish was better than factory, mainly because they've painted the inside of the rim the same. The last wheel they did for me was absolutely mullered, SWMBO had to avoid an errant taxi in Collingwood and properly smashed it against a bluestone kerb so it was deeply scratched right up to the hub centre, to be honest I was surprised it wasn't buckled. Dropped it off one afternoon it was ready 24hrs later. They were also doing a set of shadowed alloys on an E60 M5, again properly mullered when I dropped our wheel off, the following day they were all back on the car and looked factory. They really do know their stuff.

[Coastr]

If you're fixing daily driver wheels, and they are standard German silver stuff, have a go at it yourself if you have time.  Just buy the Wurth silver wheel paint and clear, sand back, spray on some primer then silver & clear.  Two cans of clear and two cans of silver for a set of 4.  I did this and it came up a treat and still looks pretty good a couple of years later.  If I did it again, it would come up even better as 'lessons learned'.

[hugh]

Whilst there are places that repair/restore wheels etc. you'll find very few know how to finish a set of Fuchs properly. I've previously been through the process and ended up having them done OS in the US of A. 

Ask if they have done them before and ask to see pictures. (My 2 cents)

[DRA911]

Thanks for the tips guys!

I've actually painted some track-day rims in the past and I didn't do a half-bad job, if I do say so myself

So I might take a crack at my daily driver rims down the track.

In other news, I got the 911 on car stands this weekend and took the wheels off.

In one of those moments that can only be described as "while I'm there..." I decided it was time to tackle the rust around the oil tank filter and filler in the engine bay.

So the oil tank is coming out now too... Of course, all the bolts on the lines are pretty nasty looking, so this is now giving me more ideas!  I will try to moderate myself

Additionally, the oil level sender is faulty so I will replace that while I'm at it.

Anyway, I can't help but feel the rust in this spot is a bit unusual.  It seems to weird to my mind, to have such a clean car around the rockers and front battery area, but rust around that area?!

I'll be making some additional calls this week to see if I can find a panel to graft in...

[DRA911]

So the wheels are off to be refurbished by Wheel Works in Dandenong.  I won't know the final price for another couple of weeks (no rush for me) but the worst case estimate was acceptable.  I'll post pictures when they're done.

In other news, this weekend I got the oil tank out of the car.  The oil lines are in overall "OK" condition, but will need a bit of TLC later on.  Getting the line disconnected between the tank and the thermostat takes a bit of work (and heat, courtesy of a propane torch.)

Once the tank was out, I gave it a bit of a clean with oven cleaner.  I still intend to clean the internals, soda blast the exterior and repaint for rust proofing.

Anyway, it turns out it was a good thing I went through all of this as it had a lot of sludge and even a small rock at the bottom of the tank!  Imagine those things making their way into the engine?

Once the tank was out, I was able to get a good look at the rust around the oil filler ... Be warned, this next picture is not pretty

I'm in the process of sourcing a replacement panel from a donor (I have a good lead already) and I will be welding it in myself (gulp!)

I was able to inspect the inner rear guard and it seems the rust is pretty much isolated to this spot, with a few other places having some minor surface rust (which I will clean-up and treat.)

I'd still love to know why this area is susceptible to this problem.  Perhaps it's because water splashes up from the road and gets caught in between the panel and the oil tank's rubber seal?

[DRA911]

So Saturday past was another productive day.

I picked up the refurbished oil tank, now looking quite smart with a fresh coat of Black Paint (no pics, sorry.)

The next task was to clean-up the work area around the rust in the engine bay, and then cut out the cancer.

I must have spent over an hour cleaning the wheel well, and several buckets of very dirty water - actually mud, was disposed of.  The car is perhaps 5kg lighter now! 

Anyway, the cuts were made... (Take note of how clean the fender is compared to before, what remains is black paint - I will soda blast that later.)

The other side still shows some signs of surface rust, so I will be going over that with a wire wheel this weekend.

The donor panel was then suitably trimmed back - there's still a lot of meat on it, much more than is needed.  This will make it a bit easier to position and tack in later on.

Curiously enough, the part was also suffering from a rust problem around the same area!

After doing a bit of research on how to remove it, I elected to use a vinegar bath.  The key here is patience ... This is the result after 3 days:

I will leave it another night, then on Thursday I will clean it up some more by more mechanical means.

If everything goes to plan, I will be tacking in this piece on the weekend!

[Spannerhead]

 Nice work, I'm impressed by your DIY attitude . I'm curious what method are you welding with ? Looks like it will be tight in spots. Good luck.

[DRA911]

Yes, it's certainly a very tight area.  Essentially I'll be using a MIG to tack it in, and then butt weld it - but not using a continuous bead.  Just tacking it along, moving around a lot to minimise the heat build-up in this thin metal.  Then I'll carefully grind it back, give it VERY thin coat of bodyfiller and after that, paint.

I'll take my time on this, there's no rush.

This method was recommended to me by a teacher at the Kangan Institute (automotive studies), opposite the Lindsey Fox museum at Docklands (Melbourne.)  It's a great facility and I learned a lot doing this course!

My DIY attitude is really a necessity to realise my ambitions with this car.  It's funny, to some people it's just a hunk of metal, but the dream means so much more to me...

[Zelrik911]

Yikes!!! - I had better check that spot in my 911. Was your replacement panel from an Aussie car?

Now that your wheels are off, you could also look inside the front wheel wells, right up at the top edge where the guards join. As this would be an equivalent spot at the front where the mud might collect. 

Another suggestion is to spay penetrating oil around the bolts for the rear bumper and make it easier for the bumper to come off for an engine out job - sometime in the future. That side is the hardest to get at in normal circumstances.

 

 

[DRA911]

Re:  The replacement panel.  I actually don't know where it's from - I got it from aPorschapart in Mordialloc.  I think they just cut it out of a dead car they had.

Thanks for the tip on the front wheel wells.  This is likely a job for next year, when I refurb the suspension.

It seems I'm going to be "resto-modding" this car from the outside-in.  Of course, when you're restoring how can you resist the temptation of improving a little bit while you're at it?

Anyway, tonight I'll be taking the panel into class.  I need to weld a small piece onto it, and I will see what I can do about the pitting marks left behind by the rust.  The vinegar cleared out the cancer incredibly well.  $1.10 per 2L bottle from Coles certainly beats paying $20 per 1/2L for the more potent commercial stuff!  The old school tip really came through.

The pits are concerning of course.  A lot of people just talk about using body-filler, but I'm unsure if it's wise for (what I assume is) a structural part of the chassis.  I found some good advice on this link:

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/Rust,_pitted

Of course I will run anything I do by the instructor first... Wish me luck!

[DRA911]

Ok, quick update.

Welding the additional tab on the piece worked well, but we ran out of the time for the night filling up the pitted area with new steel (Oxy torch.)  Greg (the instructor) kindly offered to finish the piece and send it to me!  Bonus

So this weekend will just be spent cleaning up the wheel wells, under/behind the rear bumper.  Perhaps I'll give the soda blaster a shot to remove the flaky black paint...

[DRA911]

Last weekend was spent cleaning up some more.  I removed the rear bumper and tried out the soda blaster.  It works ... sort of.  A bit slow going, as my compressor really isn't up to the task (only 120 l/pm FAD.)  I will have to resort to the good old fashioned manual method of cleaning it seems.

While I was at it, I thought I'd take a peek at why the heater system was kaput... Well, no great surprises, the heater flapper boxes were rusted away:

These were a bugger to get off.  My father grinded down a 10mm spanner a few times to help me access the retaining nuts.  I think he's starting to enjoy this "little" project as well (it took him a while to come around.)

You read a lot about people having trouble with the studs breaking where these things are mounted, but fortunately for me it all came cleanly off.

Anyway, I'm in two minds about what to do about the heater system.  Do I replace it all and get it working ... Or do I just eschew heat for the sake of a good set of headers down the track?  We'll see.

Afterwards, I spent some time trying to diagnose why my oil level gauges weren't working.  I hooked up them up to the power supply at home, and sure enough, they were functional (the previous owner gave me a spare.)  So then I took to the oil sender:

Another component that has seen better days!  Spot the break.  I'm not even going to try and repair that.  There's another break in the line on the face as well - it's heavily corroded.  Considering that a replacement is around $60 USD, I'm not going to muck about.

I really wish we had a Pelican Parts here in Oz, I think the shipping costs are going to kill me...

In other news, the replacement panel for the engine bay should be ready by Saturday afternoon, just in time for the long weekend.  Time to practice my welding again on some more thin sheet metal!

[Harvs11]

Shop around a bit,  Sierra Madre price for the oil level sender in $US 

Subtotal

 

$68.95

 

Shipping to  AU

 

$25.87

 

New Total:

 

$94.82

[DRA911]

So, it's been a while since I've done an update, but more progress has been made.

We got the patch welded in, primed and painted.  I don't think it looks too bad...

...But it does highlight how much the rest of the paint has faded!  Perhaps when I redo the suspension next year, I'll address that.

The rest of the parts arrived yesterday, so we'll hopefully have her back up and running by Saturday night, if all goes well.

To become mobile, I'm still waiting on Wheels, Tyres (a fresh set of Michelin's) and my refurbished speedo to be returned - I'm getting Howard's instruments to do that for me.