This month marks five years since 300061 surfaced in Missouri. Tempus fugit ! Back then we’d have predicted that 61 would be finished and taken to shows by now. That was not to be as God (or the Devil, depending on your perspective) is in the details. And the details are many……
Taking so much time is a mixed blessing as, on one hand of course we’d like to be done, on the other we have learned so much and this would have never happened had we rushed the metal work.
In the last five years we have been able to source rare parts, like the tall grill (thanks Henk at Carparc) and an authentic 901 tool kit bag, etc. But we have also missed out on parts, like the square boxed heat exchangers and no success yet in finding another nice set. We also had parts rebuilt and some of our sources really stepped up to help us.
We have met and worked with several wonderful people. Bob Fleming has been a great help; Franz Raab has a wealth of knowledge (that’s an understatement!) A special shout out to Dave DiMaria's Vintage Car Works which does outstanding work, not to mention that Dave D. is a great guy. Thanks Dave and team!
Details that have slowed us down are at both the front and the back end of the car. Below you will see a photo of the flat rear latch panel. The bottom of the three parts in the photos was made from scratch by our metal guy, the one in the middle is a take-off from an early car, the top part is the lower part of the latch panel, NOS, that must be modified slightly for SWB cars.
An interesting part at the front of the car is the tow hook. The tow hook is different, as is the cross bar is attaches to, on 1964 911s (see photos for details) We’d like to get INPUT from other early 911 owners. If you’re confident of that the tow hook (and cross bar) on your early 911, up to say Chassis 300250, is “correct” please post photos or at least add to this thread. Note, that the little tow hook assembly is shaped to match the raised “snake” detail on the cross bar. Thanks and stay tuned. We hope to be done with the metal work soon and, with luck, have the 901 finished in 2020.
BTW, as most of all you all know, the area around the tow hook, cross bar (torsion bar attach points), in early 911s is one of the first places to rust. We've seen much newer 911s rust in this area and it is the only rusty area on some cars. To the point, it is often replaced with a new front pan on SWB cars.
-Allen-
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Originally Posted by steve shea
