1968 T/R - "Out Of Africa"

Hello Tim:

Visually, the fender extensions on the Hamilton car are really not too far different from those on your TR.

I can tell you for certain that the look of a fender extension can change very significantly depending on exactly how it is positioned on the quarter and how the welder and panel man execute the installation. A good panel beater can stretch or shrink metal like plastic so if yours are a bit wider it doesn't mean that they are not pukka.

All this is a long way of saying that your TR may just have the proper homologated TR fender extension, but given that they were installed in Nairobi, they just look a bit different from some others.

Given that the rear fender extensions are now being reconsidered, I think it is worth posting page 51 from the 1968 edition of the Sports Purposes manual so that we can consider the appropriate section in the middle of the page headed "Widening rear fenders" and which reads as follows:

"Widening rear fenders
(Homologated for 911 T, 911 L and 911 S)

When adding wider rims it is advisable to extend the wheel cutouts at the rear.

For this purpose there are shields under Part No. 901.325./326.00 which can be fitted in the right and left wheel arches."


So, the modification is homologated, it is recommended by the Race Department when fitting wider rear wheels and the Out of Africa was indeed fitted with wider rear wheels. I think this puts you on very firm ground indeed.

But, what to do about properly filling out the rear wheel wells?

Well, to have OoA's original deep six wheels convincingly fill out the wheel opening, consider mounting them on long studs using a 21mm spacer, exactly how 1968 Sports Purposes manual recommends using a 7R with the factory fender extension.

At Goodwood next year just bring along a copy of the Sports Purposes and Karim's homologation papers for the scrutineers.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bantam

Hugh – with regard to the info on the RHD T/R’s I believe the original engine for “TMD 7F” (chassis 118 2 0828) to be 4081110. I am not too sure where I got that number from however so please don’t take it as definitive. The owner (“RennTyp”) posted on the thread earlier so hopefully he can confirm.

---

I have 4081110 listed in my build # thread. I do not have a source listed in my files though, and have not found where I may have gotten the information. It certainly is near the correct engine I would think.

Edit: 4081110 confirmed.

Wow...what a story! Was the car actually sitting on some side street in Uganda for years? Did some local Ugandans "rescue" it, paint it purple, and drive it on the streets in Uganda? That would have been a sight to see.

Thanks for giving us some juicy details. :D

[attach]Attachment 67701

Attachment 67702

Attachment 67703

Attachment 67704[/attach]

When faced with a car like this it is so easy to miss things.....the previous owner had removed a number of items prior to shipping so going through the box of stuff I had found one sun visor with two plastic holders. The sun visor has cleaned up and although a little lacking in stuffing has no splits so will be going back in as is.

Having looked at the shell the point where the two holders were screwed into the roof through the carpet style headlinning are present. Just as interesting are the lack of holes on the passenger side that confirms this particular detail in the "Information Regarding PORSCHE Vehicles Used for Sports Purposes" namely as part of Kit No. 9553....

"The following are deleted:
Ashtray, cigarette lighter, interior light and sun visor for passenger".

I can also confirm that there is also only one interior light with the appropriate wiring on just the drivers side, no ashtray and no cigarette lighter.

Tim

Nothing significant happened over the summer other than cleaning up the door and q/light frames (photos to follow in the next day or two), fortunately after fully stripping down they have all cleaned up well and although not perfect they will meet the goal of the restoration; very time consuming and probably removed my fingerprints in the process!.

The more time I have spent with the car the more I have come to appreciate the importance of "preserving" wherever possible and not to lose the patina acquired over the 40 plus years. My long term ambition with the restoration is to arrive at a finish that would reflect a car that had been well looked after for 40 years rather than an "ex factory" finish. Having said that all mechanicals will be fully fefurbished but areas such as trim/interior etc will be cleaned and wherever possible left original.

One detail that I haven't posted yet is the leather door straps for the lightweight door interiors. These are made up of two pieces of leather sewn together rather than the thicker "one piece" that I have seen on later cars such as RSR's. I hope that with a good clean, restitching where necessary and some leather feed these will be fine.

Tim

Tim:

I really like your approach to this restoration...using the original bits where possible, and not putting replated, powder coated, or new parts in every nook and corner. Having it look like it has been 'well maintained over the last 40 years' is the most desirable restoration philosophy from my view. Part of this comes from my not being able to put in 'new everything' into a restoration ($), but I like seeing a car that has a patina that comes from age and use, and reflects how cars were built and maintained in the day.

The problem for most famous or highly collectible cars is that since they are expected to bring a high price, a collector normally expects the car to be perfect...all shiny, and every surface renewed like new...or better than new (like highly polished 2 stage paint jobs that have so much glare you can hardly see the paint color.)

When I do a re-creation or just a 'clone', I follow the same philosophy...for the same reasons. I want them to look more like a 'real car'.

Decided to have a play with the interior rear view mirror which is in a bit of a sorry state having spent 40 years with the African sun beating down on it, the rear has lost most of its black pigment (see first photo); I had already got hold of another reasonable condition '68 breakaway mirror so nothing lost in seeing what I could do with the original.

(At this point I need to stress that the mirror was removed by myself a couple of months ago to release the small sample of carpet type material used for the headlinning I posted a photo of that was trapped between the two parts, so I am about as sure as you can be that it is the original).

When I came to compare it to the other breakaway mirror I had I noticed they are different. The one I took off the T/R can be totally disassembled with the mirror and a seperate piece of protective glass sitting in a frame that clips onto the rear part (second and third photos).

The other breakaway mirror I have (which I presumed was a '68 because I thought it was a one year only part) is one complete molding that is attached to the arm (see fourth photo) so you are unable to dismantle it.

I have checked the '68 parts catalogue and have confirmed that my chassis number should have the breakaway mirror but I can only find reference to one breakaway mirror. I don't know the exact car the other breakaway mirror came off so could it be from sometihng else or were Porsche using more than one supplier of the "same" part? The anti dazzle lever on the bottom of the mirror off the T/R has "CIPA" on it?

Any info appreciated.

Tim

A few more close ups of the disassembled mirror off the T/R....

The ink stamp on the base of the arm in the fourth photo is also to be found on the base of the other breakaway mirror!

Tim

Hi Tim,

The replacement mirror you found looks original to me (black bouble surface on the back and not BMW elephant hide like look at the back). Furthermore the original Porsche 68 brake away mirror can't be disassembled itself.
There are some more little differences in between the Porsche, BMW and Mercedes break away mirrors which were posted by Michael (70satman) several years ago.

Concerning the mirror which was with the car the arm looks original, the attachment to the mirror looks custom made and the mirror face plate from a different type of car.

Best
Claudius