Gentlemen,
how do 1968 SWB coupe doors differ from earlier and later 911 doors?
Background: a mechanic mentioned that my doors are not correct for the year and I failed to inquire how he spotted this.
Furthermore, the doors and the front fenders do not line up good enough to produce as narrow a gap as seen on other well restored cars. Could this be an indication or is it just plainly bad alignment?
Thank you for educating me!
Keep up the speed!
Anatol
'68 911S coupe
'92 964 RS NGT
'09 987S Boxster
the door corpus changed every year(sometimes twice during the modelyear) but non of the changes effected the gaps.
f.
Some later doors have a bigger hole for the latch thingey that engages the receiver in the door jamb.
There are probably other differences, too.
Jim Alton
Torrance, CA
Early 911S Registry # 237
1965 Porsche 911 coupe
1958 Porsche 356A cabriolet
this change happened in 67...Originally Posted by NeunElf
and yes you would not belife how many different versions out there...
On my 68 911L I had a 69 door on the driver side as some one drilled the two oval holes to take the one year only top garnish rails. So I found a 67 door that ( I thought ) would work because it had the factory two holes for the rail there. Yes that worked BUT; the door actuator that opens the door from the inside is different and the anchor holes for the door panel are not the same as 68 doors. And there is tapped holes missing to hold on the arm rest on the 67 door that you will need if you want a arm rest So there was welding and drilling with threads put in the holes drilled involved. A 1968 car has almost as many changes as the 1969 car did. This is where a experienced body shop that knows how to deal with this stuff is gold. Chris
- Chris-Early S Registry#205
- '70 911S Tangerine
- '68 911L Euro Ossi Blue
it is a bit difficult to answer your questions in a way that all of the answers match, but i will try. a lot depends upon whether your car has been modified, accidently or deliberately.
as everyone agrees, there are several versions of 911 door out there, with lots of small changes. i note, however, that you are in europe, which means that european cars were different from US cars. one of the major US changes was the addition of a crash rail inside the door to increase crash safety. as i understand it, SWB US doors (65-68) do not have the internal crash rail. i am not certain, however, that euro versions had the crash rails.
despite any differences between US and euro doors, and the small changes made, it is my understanding that the doors had the same shape and size, which suggests that the version of the door might not be the cause of your panel mis-match.
the doors and body panels all adjust in all 3 dimensions. one of the big investments of body shop time is getting the panels aligned so that the reflection of a line on the floor looks like a straight line across the door and the front and rear fenders. door gaps and fender gaps have to be adjusted with shims and careful panel positioning. if your car was wrecked, or if the steel or frame was subjected to major alteration, you may have a big problem. for example, replacement of a rusted rear door lockpost could have been badly positioned; or the front hinge post could have been badly repaired, which would have affected the door.
i don't know your car or your situation, but it is pretty common for a shop to be unable to get the panels properly aligned. it takes a lot of patience, as well as skill. but it just seems to me (and i could be wrong) that, unless your car has been wrecked, welded, modified for racing, or subject to some other major bodywork changes, your body panels should be be adjustable to get a proper fit.
67 doors did not have the round stampings(marked green )
69 doors did not have the bushings for the lower door mechanism lever(marked blue)
so 68 doors are the ones that you can disdinguish very easy from earlier or later ones.(an other example for the oddball 68 modelyear)
my observation is that in the beginning( 67+partly 68)they made a difference for targa or coupe doors later .
all doors had the slot for the window stop--the red door is a late 68.
both pics are mirrored images--thats why you dont see inserts for the passenger door handle...i`m sure you noticet the absence
Last edited by moito; 07-25-2016 at 09:52 PM.
Thank you all, that was very helpful!
Regarding panel fit, I will have an expert body shop assess how to improve the gaps.
Keep up the speed!
Anatol
'68 911S coupe
'92 964 RS NGT
'09 987S Boxster
Moito,
your photo is very helpful in illustrating differences between doors, assuming that everyone understands that the many of the changes you cite were running changes within the '68 model year. it is an excellent and scholarly piece of information. thank you.
even so, i think the original request was more related to panel fit and gaps than to which door is technically correct.
"how do 1968 SWB coupe doors differ from earlier and later 911 doors?" was what the OP initially said.
Here's an answer from our departed Friend Roland Kunz, for whom English was not his first, nor probably second, language. Enjoy.
Are the doors from a 993 the exact same as from say a 3.2 Carrera?
No
Are they similar or are they exact part numbers?
? Canīt understand the sense of that question.
Do coupe doors differ from targa and cab doors?
Yes the Targa/Convertible have a sheetmetal welded into the window channelends to avoid a visible gap.
I heard through the '98 model year the 911 doors and hood are just about the only unchanged body panels. Is this down to the part number or do they mean visually identical?
The generaly shape ( the outher skin ) is the same from 65-98 but the innner structur changed several times.
The front hood canged in 74 massivly and also has some little chages in 89 ( trunk light ) and 94 ( Washer nozzles in trunklid ).
The inner door skin changed in this main spoting phases:
65-68 the rear from the door has a rised area where the door lock sits.
69-79 flat rear end and some holes with sliding flat nuts for the door pockets. one hole more for the wireloom ( Electric winder ).
The door stop area is changed.
71- the mounting screws for the rear lock changed from M5 to M6 needing a deeper recces
73- US only, reinforcement beam, big hole for the alarm lock
77- relocation from the mirror holes and one more hole for wireloom ( mirror ) again. The sliding nuts where removed, the door pocktes use plastic anchors for the screws.
80- reinforcement beam standard ROW, more holes for new winder system reinforced door stop area.
85-89 The two holes for the upper frame mount in the rear changed to a long cutout. The upper front end was changed the recesed area helps the mirrorswitch a support brace will hold the upper cover. The door will now carry a two way speaker system and the door pockets where slightly shortent on the front end so the front is screwed direct to the skin and not indirect via the little plastic cube. The backend has two little holes for the internal door mechanismen cover. The door locks are mountet with reinforcment washers. The rear door pocket anchor area is reinforced from the backside
89-94 (964) big hole on the frontend to run the new wireloom
94-98 (993) big hole on the underside for the windowframemounting. some holes more for internals.
Porsche always replaced the stocks with newer doors so you always had to modify the new doors to the old versions or just boltet it up as it is. The 993 door will fit into the 65 body and all the holes are in it or marked to be drilled up.
If you use a 89- door the interiour light switch will not work correct.
Fiting a 65 door into a 993 is big work.
***
For more information about doors over the years, here is a link to a compilation of every door photo I could find. Feel free to add your own referencing Roland's notes above.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...atibility.html
1966 911 #304065 Irischgruen
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