I've seen lots of very impressive & expensive projects on this board... So to maintain balance, here's my $85 restoration, courtesy of Bryan Martin, that talented friend of mine! Yes, this is slightly tongue in cheek, it's not a super valuable car and the paint on it is not stock anyway..
My 69 912 had some weird blister in the rear fender above the brake light. Not your typical rust spot, so for years I wondered what on earth that was and suspected bondo from SUV contact or something...
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_001.jpg
Enter Bryan, the guy with the mad skills mentioned above...
After picking at the scab, this is what showed its ugly head:
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_003.jpg
In essence a nice dent that was filled instead of being pulled back in shape, and some rust under the filler that helped lift that whole area...
So off with the rust, the dent was pulled out properly and the pull holes welded shut:
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_7228.jpg
Check out the thickness of the bondo over the dent
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_7229.jpg
Some Filler, not so much this time :)
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_7230.jpg
Sanding, and lighter coat of filler on top...
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_7231.jpg
Bryan breaks out the airbrush and the white paint... Followed by 2 coats of pearl... my car has a weird Audi-like pearl to it - like I said not stock - and 3 coats of clearcoat also via airbrush...
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_7238.jpg
Ta-daa !!!
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_7240.jpg
Reassembled, and like new...
http://www.erikaslist.com/pictures/912_7246.jpg
Now the funny part.. All of the above (minus tail light reassembly and buffing the next morning) ? Under 2 hours ! I was there...
I'm speechless... Sure it's not as nice as most of this board's concours cars, but given the time and expenditure, I'm very happy !!!