The start of a few repairs to ol' rusty...

[NorthernThrux]

Every time I feel bad about the work going into my S, I get cheered up when I see this 1959 Drauz S ( going back to Meisen Blau) that he is also restoring in the shop. Here you see the front half of the car on the Celette and the back half is up behind it. Not sure how you could put a car like this back together without a bench and the right jig pieces ! They have to rebuild the centre section from scratch.

[911scfanatic]

I just don't think this is possible to do with only a laser level. The FSM called for a bench as well after all.

If the car has not been hit, this method will be fine. If the car has been hit, that is an entirely different story. This is the reason I took my '72 to Damon to put the shell on his Celette. The laser level is to make sure the car is jacked up evenly and there is no body twist. FSM dimensions are used to make sure the front pick ups are placed properly relative to the front cross-member mounts. This can certainly be done within a millimeter or so. You can then take diagonal measurements to ensure everything is square.

I am sure guys like Ed Mayo or others could comment further. I can't imagine how many pans he and others have done with excellent results.

You car looks great, BTW, and I here Robert Gross is one of the best.

[Mark Morrissey]

Hey Bill, Congratulations on Ol Rusty's renovation... You're going to need a new name for when she's done.
How bout Ol Sturdy? Ha, never mind. I always love seeing fresh metal going into an old car.

Damon's terrific. Looking forward to more updates

[NorthernThrux]

Yes Bill, you are right. I neglected to note that Ol' Rusty is accident free. That really does make a difference when you don't have to stretch and squeeze the car. If there is a lot of rust and the car was driven hard, torsional bending might have occurred, but a laser level will catch that just fine. The FSM is quite amazing really in the extent to which they detail small patchwork and larger panel replacement. These cars were made to be repaired, not thrown away. Yours will be great some day. Like mine, all it needs is love.

Ravi

[911scfanatic]

Bill said,"Please feel free to share any tips you may have"

Pecan pie is good in NH. :>)

I miss the Josz B&B. If they served pecan pie, it would be even better than before.

[911scfanatic]

Right now, I'm waiting on the suspension pan. Not a lot of time during the holidays with four kids, parties, etc., but I couldn't resist sneaking out to the garage for a few hours to try my new Eastwood shrinker/stretch...it's awesome. (However, their small bending brake sucks, so I am making flanges the old fashioned way...bending them over the edge of my workbench).



Since the pan is out, I'm going to take the opportunity to replace all of the inner fender mounting flanges now (easier to stand inside the luggage compartment and move around). They are pretty rotted out. It's also good practice for me before I take to forming the more complicated flanges need to replace the rotten metal on the driver's front corner.

[911scfanatic]

I've been doing some work on this, but haven't posted any updates in a long time. With four boys, projects have an ebb and flow to them. Winter is perfect project time. Otherwise, I'm enjoying things like this:

[911scfanatic]

The left lateral gas tank support doesn't have the bump out for SWB cars, so I am fab'ing a patch piece to weld into the lateral support.
Hammer form. Shrink. Use the bad-ass rotary shear from Sykes Pickavant to trim flange. Rough fit.
I'll do some more massaging to get it to fit better. I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm having fun figuring it out.

[Cornpanzer]

Go Bill, Go!

[merbesfield]

Bill, looks good. Tip I would offer is don't weld anything in place until you have it all fitted. Get a box of self tapping sheet metal screws and screw everything together as you build it. Get it perfect then take it apart and put it back together again, slowly. Use liberal amounts of coatings on the inside and seam seal your way out. You will not have to worry about rust ever again. If I ever get time I am going to post pics of my work. There are pics out there showing good examples of what it should look like when done, just like the factory did it. Have fun. And that Trout is awesome!