By being a member of the PCA region that had the best member retention last year, I received a discount coupon towards parts ordered from a Porsche dealer. I took this opportunity to order several "dealer only" parts that I need for my cars. It did not take long to reach the limit for the coupon. While I'm waiting for the parts I have several jobs to do catch up on, so here I'll bore you with some of those....
Here are the front struts for my 1980 924 turbo. This is after I took them all apart sand blasted, and painted them. Inside are new KONI inserts that are adjustable...
I have also been in serious need of some organization in my small garage and so I invested in a new tool box.
I had been waiting for this combination to go on sale and when it did I ordered it right away...Unfortunately, when it arrived (two weeks late) I found the chest to be so damaged that I couldn't get the drawers open(pictured far right)....I have since had the chest replaced and got some "free" drawer liner for my trouble...
Disassembly of the donor car continues...here I have removed the front fenders, rear quarters, inner and outer lock post area, targa bar, and the entire front clip.
I plan on keeping some of these parts for my current restoration and some for my future track car, that I'm planning after my restoration project is done...
Here's a shot of the rot that killed this car. The whole outer rocker was gone and most of the inner rocker is rusted straight through.
While I was working on this area of the car I decided to cut a couple of rust holes out and patch with new correct thickness panels. (I've learned prep work is where most of the time goes, and welding takes very little time)
The camera I'm using does seem to like getting too close to the object so this picture didn't turn out to well, but the end result of the patch is a smooth finish that will require very little finish prep work before painting...
Moving along I decided to strip the driver's door so that I could make sure the rocker panel gap and alignment was correct before final welding...
The rear gap is good with a approximate gap of 4mm all the way down...
Here we have a sign of more fitting being required. The leading edge of the door has to meet up with the indent on the leading edge of the rocker panel. Here you can see the panel will have to move back about a half inch. (This may result in the leading edge of the rocker panel requiring an addition of sheet metal to meet up with the fender mounting panel)
Here's the front clip inside the garage so that I can cut off the pieces that I require for my car. The condition of these donor panels will be accessed as they are cut from the front clip. The outer, lower longitudinal on the driver's side of my car needs to be replaced and the donor front clip is in better condition than the rusted out section on my car.
I included this shot of the front "cross section" on the donor car as I found it interesting. The construction of the unibody Porsche 911 can be clearly seen here. The strength of these cars comes from the formation of the "boxed sections" created when sheets of steel are formed and welded adding to the rigidity. This is essentially the same process Porsche has been using since 1948. Decades before other car manufacturers "invented" it...
Here I've cut off the outer/ lower longitudinal section below the driver's side battery box. After the undercoating is all stripped off I'll be able to better assess the condition. So far, it looks good, but will probably require a little patching. This is still cheaper than buying a new reproduction section as these typically go for around $500 US from an aftermarket supplier...
This is the area on my car that the previous part will be installed. This area is susceptible to road salt, battery acid, and any holes that might allow moisture into the inner cavities of the metal box sections. The passenger side is not rusted however there is previous collision damage that I will repair with the donor clip. As you can see I still have much work to do!! Hope you're patient!!
