Ten Fifty-nine

[LongRanger]

1) New channel from Stoddard . . .

2), 3) and 4) . . . . and fitted

[LongRanger]

One of the bits I absolutely wanted to get was an original aluminum lid. This is one of the features that's peculiar to these cars and wasn't often mentioned. Funny, 'cause original alu panels on 356s were a HUGE deal, back in my Roadster days, and I was surprised that there wasn't more mention (or interest) in the 911 crowd.

Anyway, 1059 didn't come with one, and, after the tear-down, John told me that license panel wasn't an original either so . . . I was on a mission.

As it turned out, John Forbes (my Mechanic in North Carolina) had an alu lid hanging on his wall, that had been waiting for a project to go into, a 'take-off' that had been damaged in a minor accident years ago. I asked for some opinions on this board about whether it was usable or not, and, after getting some positive feed-back, went ahead and bought it for $600.

Turned out that there would be a little more work to bring this 1st lid up to standard, so I went out and got a 2nd lid from Dave Merz. This 2nd lid is the one that's being fitted to 1059. The 1st lid will be rehabilitated --- just not now.

The 1st lid is also kinda fascinating, because it appears to have been outfitted with a rear-wiper motor (!) since new, whereas the 2nd lid has not. At some point, I'll get the 1st lid fixed, then . . . we'll see. (I haven't forgotten about you, Olin.)

1) and 2) Here's the 1st lid, ex-John Forbes, with tears and other minor damage. Signal yellow? And note the motor for the rear wiper. Most of the real damage is to the inner frame. Everything's fixable, but it'll probably require replacing the outer skin, leaving a half-original alu lid. This kind of work is worth doing now . . . but I wonder how many of these alu lids were damaged over the years, then tossed, back when these weren't worth repairing . . .

3), 4) and 5) The 2nd alu lid, ex-Dave Merz, as purchased. Badged 911E. John really loved this piece --- excellent shape and it fit right on 1059

[LongRanger]

Just had to show these . . . this'll be the last time all this alu sees the light of day for a long time. Once its primed and painted the only way to tell if its something special ---- is by opening it and feeling the (lack of) weight! Or a pocket magnet.

I'd thought about dressing this piece up, somehow . . . like polishing the lower edge of the outer panel (making the lid look like it has a little a trim piece, or something) or maybe leaving the inside plain alu, then clear-coating it. To me, this is such a 'trick' piece --- it seems a shame not to do something to identify it somehow.

But that would be showing off. And Porsche, well . . . they didn't show off. So. This lid gets painted. Inside and out. Invisible.

1), 2), and 3) Hhhh. Unlike the 1st lid, this 2nd piece was never fitted with the rear wiper. 1059 has the rear wiper, per CoA --- and the original steel lid will be painted at the same time, then hung up on the wall --- but this piece will not be altered.

4) and 5) Inner support is stamped '25,' just above the latch

[bxd]

I know you probably don't need any encouragement to keep posting, but I thought I should at least tell you how much I've been enjoying your tale. I've read MANY forum threads, and this is by-far one of the most captivating. This particular paragraph just "speaks" to me (I'm pasting the whole thing so everyone gets another chance to read it...it's that good):

"My ideas about a ‘perfect' car go back to this old beater Cobra that I saw in the pits, back in the late ‘70s, between one of the heats of an early ‘vintage car’ race, at Riverside Raceway. Car was this odd-ball bright blue --- not that deep, royal blue all these cars have now --- this was almost periwinkle, and metallic, almost metal-flake --- big white meat-balls, jumbo race tires, and so low, I swear, the door-tops were at my knees. Owner/driver/keeper was this old scrawny dried-out-looking dude, The Marlboro Man --- at 70 --- jeans, boots, t-shirt, rolled-up sleeves. Guy walks up, pops the gas fill, sticks in a sawed-off broom-handle, checks the level, drops the stick, hops in, fires it up ---- I’m standing 20-feet away and the exhaust pulses are flapping my pant legs! --- he bumps the throttle a couple of times, looks at the gauges, shuts it off, stands up in the seat, gets out, walks away. The car? It reminded me of one of those old WW2 fighters you see in the airplane books; sitting out on the tarmac, dusty, a little beat, just waiting to go out and blow something up. Paint on the car’s nose had been pretty much blasted off --- I could see the crunchy, pitted, alu peeking out everywhere. No safety-wire on battered knock-offs. Wheels and tires almost the same shade of brake dust. Paint on the door top and fender was rubbed-off, just about to metal. No passenger seat. ‘Cowboy tidy,’ and all business. My kinda pretty."

thanks.

[LongRanger]

. . . A big part of the reason I write this stuff is because it might help somebody with their car. I write about my reasons and opinions about things, but I also give names and prices, show pictures and dish the gory details, so that the next guy will have something to go on, and somebody to go to . . . when he wants to do something with his car. Its hard to put facts and numbers to what a project will take; I'm gonna try. You're all invited to look over my shoulder.

The other part is more personal. I tell about my adventures, with cars, the places I've been, the things I've done, the people I've met and trust, individuals who quietly do brilliant work in places nobody sees. I'm gonna share with you what people have shared with me.

1059 is a regular car, a runner, like most cars out there, nothing special (except to me). But I hope that showing people what I go through with my car will get them excited about theirs. 'Cause reading about other cars --- 'Gramps' and 'Patrick,' Flunder's ST replica, Macroni's 'S' (that started out on the back of a truck) plus some of the swap-meet finds --- is what got me going! . . .

Rick Kreiskott

[LongRanger]

With all the bodywork issues understood and under control . . . John got started on prepping 1059 for paint.

When we first discussed painting the car, I had three goals in mind:
1) re-spray the car in its original color --- ''green metallic/8383,' per the CoA . . .
2) . . . do it to a ‘driver’ standard . . .
3) . . . in a way that would last

1059’s color was a huge draw for me, ever since I first saw it in the pictures that NiceT took. These cars came in a wide variety of colors, some of them pretty vivid, but I’d never seen this shade of green on a stock car before. Yeah, yeah, Signal Yellow or Olive would have been bitchin’ but, honestly, an odd-ball green in a more subdued shade would probably suit me better, anyway --- little more low-key. If the car had been some big cluster, requiring extensive metalwork or panel replacement, I might have considered a color change, even a custom color. But once I saw all of the PPI photos, and how well the bodywork had come through . . . I just knew that I would be putting 1059 back to stock.

I’m pretty ambivalent about paint-jobs (and, honestly, most cosmetic stuff) in general. On the one hand, paint-jobs are expensive and don’t improve a car’s performance. Yeah, pretty paint is fun to look at . . . but only if I’m outside of the car. I drive my cars more than look at them, so I tend to only see the paint getting in and out. Or when I wash the car. Which brings up the other big draw-back --- taking care of a pretty paint-job. I’ve had cars that I spent just stupid amounts of time cleaning and polishing and waxing and worrying about. I’m soooo over that and don’t do much anymore. I clean ‘em and wax ‘em, and then . . . drive ‘em ---- on every dusty, dirty, gravel-strewn, freshly-re-asphalted highway, road, and goat-path I come across --- pretty much ‘till the metal shows through. And then, if I have the money and the time, I might paint ‘em again. Paint’s perishable, like me. But I can’t be restored. And waiting for a paint-job means I’m losing seat-time . . . .

On the other hand, 1059 needed something to be done about those crusty, foam-filled rockers, so, once I was into the bodywork . . . I did what needed to be done. I told John I wanted a 40-year fix. All the work being done here, I do not expect to do again in my lifetime.

And it will be nice to see a pretty car, again. Good thing its small --- washing won’t take long!

1059 had been elaborately re-painted once before, around 1994 or so. Mark, the PO, had included some pictures he’d taken --- glass out, trim off, etc. --- looked respectable. The paint job had held up well, too, a couple of chips and bungs, here and there, otherwise just normal wear and tear. But, as it turns out, it wasn’t exactly the correct shade --- a bit too bright; 8383 is deeper, browner, more olive, like my Step-dad’s old SSJ Grand Prix --- the one he made me wash every Sunday.

Anyway, there were lots of places where the original finish was still present --- the best one being the underside of the front hood, a big good clean sample of paint, still there and un-marked after 40 years. I’d been looking on our site, trying to find a picture of the color, finally found one --- a ’70 ‘S’ Targa, down in San Diego. Looked good.

During the tear-down, John had a chance to see that original color. And he liked it --- hadn’t done a green car like it. Plus, 1059 had a lot of original details still in place, like seals and gaskets and other bits – stuff that’s usually long gone by the time John gets the car. I know people do things for money, and John likes what he does, working on Porsches, but I like it if there’s something more, something about my particular car that he would like, as well, something entertaining, different. Always gratifying to hear John comment on it. I want him to like the car.

Anyway, here’s the list of body issues that John addressed:
1) re-repair the forward sections of both outer rockers by installing missing ‘tabs’
2) fabricate and metal finish the right front quarter’s lower section
3) fabricate/repair collision damage to the left battery box
4) replace the front apron seal channel
5) strip, straighten, and fit an alu engine lid
6) strip, repair and fit an alu rear license panel

There were some good surprises, too, so far. Both doors were un-hit and rust-free, although the right one had replacement glass and window motor. And both front and rear bumpers were untouched, spotless.

As the paint came off, two more items would come up, as you’ll see below.

As for stripping, I thought that that meant going to bare metal. But John said that the best method was to strip down to the original factory finish, then prime and paint up from there. The idea was that the factory finish would be the best foundation to start from --- it had been there 40-years already --- versus having to start all over. I agreed, especially because 1059 was going back to its original paint.

So John got started the next day, sanding his way down through the finish. First thing that came up was just how much paint was on the car --- 5 coats in some places! Lotta paint for a ‘no hit’ car. The next thing was the way the old paint was coming off. Instead of just powderizing as it was being sanded, there were places where the paint was coming off in sheets --- big ones, too. At first, John thought it might just be one section, just a small amount. But as he worked his way over the car, he found large areas where the old paint behaved poorly. This ‘sheeting’ behavior meant that, if anything penetrated the new paint . . . the damage wouldn’t be seen as just a little divot, but as a good-sized chunk. Or worse. John had never seen anything like it. Great.

We talked about what to do next, then decided to strip off all the paint, not to bare metal, but down to factory primer, or, at least something that wouldn’t ‘sheet’ off. ‘Stripping’ meant taking all the ‘sheety’ painted parts down by hand with a razor blade, then smoothing what was left with a rotary pad. Add a week. And $2000.


I'd said at the beginning of this thread that 1059's color was a big attractor for me. (I honestly can't remember ever seeing this color, on any Porsche, 'back-in-the-day') Found this thread with Porsche's breakdown of the colors that were used in 1970:

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...red-in-1970-by



And here’s a vehicle in what I believe is its original green metallic 8383 finish . . . giving some idea what this color's supposed to look like:

[Macroni]

How I envy your access to John Esposito craftmanship and TLG wisdom. It allows for a practical approach to a project.

[LongRanger]

Here we go!

Now we'll really find out what's what. PPIs and honest descriptions are one thing. Pulling off the paint is when all the monsters come out . . .

Look at this stuff! The paint chips were 6-inches deep on the floor --- and more than once. All that paint on this little itty-bitty car . . .

[LongRanger]

Getting close to the end . . . of the sheety-part. Keep in mind that all the stuff you see done up to now --- was done with a razor blade . . . by hand!

[LongRanger]

Now we're down to it . . .

That's Tito working with the hand sander, cutting down to the paint and primer that 'sticks.' Notice how the right-side door has green paint again --- even though it was showing 'primer' above -- lotta paint on not-a-lotta-car.

I mentioned earlier that two things showed-up.

The first was an old-school lead repair, on the left rear quarter, that John found was unwinding, probably done sometime in the early 70s. John said that this kind of repair was already being phased-out, back when he was first starting out doing body-work, so it was probably done back then. Well-done, too --- John was impressed. We talked a little about lead repairs. Lead is a effing deadly poison. If you've ever seen really old cars being taken down these days, the people doing the work are usually in full-on haz-mat suits because of the lead-based primers and fillers used 'back in the day.' Granpa's Buick is a Super-fund Site. I suppose lead repairs might make sense for some projects --- leading small seams or panel-edges --- but modern materials are not only safer, but better -- as in more stable. The lead in 1059 was beginning to bubble the paint, which was how John found it, in the first place. Plastic fillers don't effect paints. Or metals. Or chromosomes.

The second item that showed-up was a factory-primed replacement left front quarter. Remember that chunked after-market air-horn, busted bracket, and the braze-repaired battery box? Looks like 1059 took a hit of some kind after all. Like the lead-repair, the fender had been replaced a long time ago --- long enough to have the old-style olive factory primer on it. That's probably when the later 'S' front bumper-cum-spoiler was added, I'll betcha.

As the title search gets going, I'll try to find out more about all this stuff.

Anyway, the short version is that there were no big surprises revealed by the stripping. But I bet John and Tito will be tramping 1059's old green paint dust around for a while! . . .