69s going under the wrench

[SIMI BOB]

Gentlemen,
First posted about this car in 2013. Finally getting started on it. My kids are urging me to get it done before I'm too old.
Aaron Burnham finished the engine for me several years ago. 20 years ago I added 2.2 pistons and cylinders and kept the 2.0 heads. The engine was never installed. Tore it down again and added 2.2S heads to try and get the compression back to where it should have been. So now it is a 2.2S spec motor, with the MFI pump being rebuilt to 2.2S specs with new mapping cam. It still retains the original motor look. In case anyone is wondering, the deep sixes are in the attic.
Some of you may remember that this car was originally owned by Johnny Rivers, and I was told he sold it to Anthony Quinn, but no proof of that.
If there is anyone out there who wants any pictures of a fairly unmolested car, let me know now. The trunk area, dash or engine controls (left side of engine bay) or anything under the car let me know now. This car has less than 70K miles on it and is in pretty good condition, but I parked it in '74 after t-boning a 90 year old man who was running a red light (low speed hit). The front end was dragged a bit to the right, so will need some time on a Celette. Original front bumper gone, but I got a perfect one from Harvey Weideman many years ago at the Anaheim swap meet.
So the work has started. Engine and trans removed years ago, and the first thing out were the seats. Even though the car has been in my garage for almost 50 years, the stitching on the seats would rip if you just leaned on it, and the leather on the seats was in pretty bad condition when i parked it. Asked a local shop if he could just re-stitch the seats, but he said that wouldn't work, and the insert on the cushion had rips in it and would have to be replaced anyway. He quoted me under 2K for both seats with good quality leather and new padding to get rid of the horse hair. So I will go with that.
So now my first question. Read years ago that it wasn't a good idea to remove the doors. Is that true? The car was originally Coffee Braun, but has been painted twice since then!! It was only four years old when i bought it, so someone must have hated the coffee color. So I am probably going to have to remove the doors eventually to paint everything, right?

Thanks so much for and replies or observations, Bob B

[edmayo]

Its okay to remove the doors, as long as its done by pulling the hinge pins,,,NOT unbolting the hinges, which loses the original door gaps. And there is a special factory tool to do that. Any body shop that does a lot of Porsche work is likely to have that tool.

[72targa]

One of my favorite threads…

https://www.early911sregistry.org/fo...000-721-290-20

[raspritz]

I finished my '69T build several years ago. There is no problem removing the doors or regapping. The main problem with a '69 is there are so many one-year-only parts that are NLA. A few have become available in just the past couple of years, but it still can be a real treasure-hunt. But I assume that, since the car was running when you parked it, you have all the parts you apparently took off. Good luck and have fun!

[SIMI BOB]

Guys, thanks for the input. Will order a hinge pin tool from Jimmy T.
edmayo, thanks so much for your reply. I have been following this forum for a long time and always enjoy and appreciate your input.
Bob B

[Tom F.]

You might think about finding an upholsterer to save those original seat covers or, at least, to get a second opinion. Did you ask Autobahn or Thomas Pocius? They both have lots of experience with this kind of project.

[SIMI BOB]

Tom F,
Good Point, but both of the perforated sections of the bolsters have some rips in them and would probably need to be replaced anyway. Also as you can see in the pics, the tan color is completely gone on the left side of the passenger seat and some on the driver seat. Also every seam would have to be taken apart and re-sown, something that would take a lot of time and not look good when done if it wasn't done perfectly. I will give Autobahn a call and see what they say. Thanks for the suggestion.
Bob B

[Scott A]

That will become a beautiful car, please keep the original coffee brown with repaint and the theme of the tan interior.

Also, Dupont, makes a vinyl/leather dye....(i get it mixed at my local automotive paint place). It can makes your seats a consistent color.
if they are leather, i would try all i could to save them...

and don't throw anything away as you remove things.

[beaker]

Bob --

I second Scott's note above. Please keep original color combination. I too had a 1969 911T in Cocoa Brown with tan interior. When I restored the car, I changed both the exterior and interior colors as I preferred bright colors. Looking back, it was a very poor decision.

David

[acolle]

I agree on the original color combo here. I personally think it is a great looking car / combo!