911 R with 1968 912 roots..

[Fixer]

I wonder how "rust resistant" the UPOL etching primer is. I sprayed some on my deck lid a year ago and it has some rust coming back after being exposed to the elements.
H

You're a smart cookie Harvey. It can't stand alone. It'll get a second coat of light grey 2k urethane primer.

Anyone know if those small clear (vinyl?) hole plugs are available for purchase?

[Ernie W]

Matt,
That's a cool tool the Ryobi inspection scope, wish I had one when I was looking at all the details inside the R oil tank. Nice Work...e

[Fixer]

Matt,
That's a cool tool the Ryobi inspection scope, wish I had one when I was looking at all the details inside the R oil tank. Nice Work...e

They are very helpful and thank you. This's a new cheap one and it doesn't work with your smart phone so I cannot download video. It has very good resolution though. I couldn't live without it.

Re tub;
I don't want added inspection holes all over the car but I'm thinking that since the cavity inside the door post is also so prone to rust I may drill one in each post for the camera. I'd really like to find a handful of extra Karmann hole plugs. I've also blasted in these post cavities already and primed with a cold galvanizing paint before i closed them up. I should have shared that but there's simply too much.

It's really important to have these cars in a heated garage once restored, the other day around Christmas Eve it was very warm and humid, 'El Nino' brought a serious case of the car sweats [condensation] into my garage. The bare metal tub was dripping wet [but only on the outside surfaces, I checked the cavities] At first I thought the roof may be leaking..I need to get this tub primed and asap but there is a lot to do yet.

Take care Ernie and thanks for the positive encouragement.

[Fixer]

I had a few with questions regarding the cavity painting.

This afternoon I applied more Kirker 2K primer surfacer but mixed in galvanizing primer [zinc] into the cavities. When dry it seems very durable where i tested the spray tip of the tubing on the fender joining panel.

I wanted to point out to keep the door post drains open [The door post drain drains through the first rocker drain, see pic] My door post drains were closed from tar undercoating. I cleaned them out which was tough b/c it's sticky, blasted, vacuumed, and used galvanizing primer in here.

Also mark the tubing with a sharpie so you know how far back the business end is. I wanted to be sure to get a good coat inside where I've done the welding. Once the driver's side rocker section is closed I'll have to reapply more primer in this area.

To get a nice heavy even spray pattern, rivet the end of the tubing. I looked again with the camera and found a nice even, heavy coat of primer on the heater baffles and cavity walls. But i can see areas that were missed and will reapply until everything has been made corrosion proof. [I hope]

[sithot]

That Ryobi is going to be tough to beat for the money. Believe me!

This thread gets better every day!

[Fixer]

Thanks sithot that's very nice of you to say. I felt like Jacques Cousteau with the camera when the spider walked by..

Jack Receiver Reinforcement:

I wanted to show the original jack receiver reinforcing for those it's new to. This area is not complicated once you take time to look at it.

As you can see there is the 20 gauge sheet that makes up the inner rocker cavity outer wall..

but there is also a piece of 18 gauge sheet used between to reinforce the outer 18 gauge reinforcing piece which i'll replace with a new 18 ga. reproduction from Restoration Design.

The outer jack receiver reinforcing piece is left open at the bottom [again to drain] but is scalloped on my '68 so the repro has been scalloped also with a shrinker hand tool used for gutter work.

Also note that there are 28 pinch or spot welds around this jack receiver reinforcing plate. I'll be sure to weld it as well. Once done a final blast of primer to seal up the welded areas.

I bought a sheet of 18 and 20 gauge mild sheet steel which I galvanizing primer'd this morning for this area and the rear wheel house. Hopefully I'll have this buttoned up tomorrow. The wheel house area [near spring plate] should be last here as it offers a nice point to spray primer inside one last time.

[Richard]

Kudos for all your metal work on this project. I'm not sure I've ever seen as much work as you've done. It's a PITA but keep it up. The end result will be worth it.

But to go back to your first posts...my opinion is to stay with a 4-cylinder engine for your 912. If you put a six in it you'll always be explaining that it was a 912...not a 911 to start with. Early 912 cars take no back seat to early 911's these days. They look the same but handle better.

I've raced and built 911's for many years. A few years ago I picked up a SWB 912 with a non-numbers matching type 616 engine. I was ready to put a 911-6 engine in it until I spent some time with the car
and the 912 Registry guys. Bottom line. Don't put a 911 engine in your car. The 911 guys won't appreciate it...and the 912 guys won't recognize it as a real 912. You'll be left with something in-between that no-one will recognize. Any four cylinder engine...including a type 4 is acceptable...but not a 911-6.

When I found my SWB 912 it had been neglected and left in storage for many years. My plan was to hot rod it a bit. I added LWB '69-73 fender flares but left it a SWB car. It turned out great. I did some minor suspension mods and the small flares that allowed me to run 7x15" wheels. The small flares gave it a little more muscle which I wanted. I really enjoy driving it and other than the 912 engine sound (which I've already modified with a home-built exhaust system...more work is underway on this problem) I'm really happy with the car.

So...keep up your work. If you do it your way you will enjoy it in the end. If you do it right the resale value will be good. But forget about resale value. Do it for yourself. That's what I did and I have no regrets.
R.

[Fixer]

Thank you Richard and I like Oslo blue very much, your car it's gorgeous. Your advice is very good, I agree.

3 hours and a very easy and satisfying repair. This sde was worse than the passengers in this area. This area is very important to the structure of the car and must be solid.

First layer of back galvanizing primed 20 gauge sheet enclosed the inner rocker with great fit. The pre prime'd second reinforcement layer of 18 ga. sheet helps distributes the jacking load through the layer below. The outer new jack receiver support bracket was also back primed with galvanizing primer [zinc]. This primer does seem to burn when welding which is great. The same corrosion proofing is needed though inside and I'll epoxy the exterior later.

Every layer is welded to the receiver.

Then drill through all 3 layers [being careful not to drill into the heater baffle] and spot weld nice and hot while clamping each area tight for a strong fit. The lower weld beads and scalloped drain area look identical to the original which was the goal and I'm pleased. I put the exact same amount of spot welds down the sides of the jack receiver bracket as the German did 48 years ago !

I don't like using new jack receivers b/c they look too new and are shaped different.
The old one was fine.

[Fixer]

I'm officially getting bored too with metal repairs but here goes..

2 more hours on this small repair to the driver's side rocker support. I cut out the perforated area well beyond to good steel. Little repairs still take time to fit. Be sure to create a gap of about 1 mm to fill with the MIG between the metal.

Edit: It's the 1 month mark after getting off my butt and starting this car's chassis metal work. Seems like months..

[Fixer]

Richard has me imagining ST flares on my narrow body now.

9 hours on this stint. 1.5 last night to prepare the metal and change the oil in the Gilbarco compressor. I'm trying multi grade 10-30 with part synthetic to help it kick into it's 2nd phase on start up. It worked well. Today was the last nice 45 F day.

You know, bead blasting, fitting, body sealing, priming, welding, priming etc. etc.. Note how the factory only got 3 spot welds right on the rocker, I welded the crap out of it [as i always do]. Panel gap is spot on. There should be a little room over the seam for lead.