This is the first of several posts that will appear in this thread under this title of a new car taking shape, which in my opinion, is bound to establish new standards for "building" a Long-hood. I can't express what a privilege and a pleasure it is to be allowed to present a brief record of this effort on this forum.
All the parties involved in the creation of this exceptional effort are friends I've known for years. I have never met the actual owner of the car, but know who he is and that he is the current owner of a sizable private collection of other Porsches. I have been requested by everyone involved in this project to refrain from revealing the owner's identity and to respect his wish for privacy. Current plans call for the car to be debuted to the public in mid-2013, compete in several specifically chosen Concours d'Elegance in the remainder of the year, and then to resume life as a regular driver to meetings, club-runs and special weekends. I do not intend to respond to individual questions the answers to which might compromise my future access to this car / project. You can rely on me to bring this thread up-to-date with the latest in photos and details as they are completed & available, as the project enters the next phase.
The very sound, straight and rust-free no-sunroof '71 911T Coupe, purchased specifically to become the foundation for this newly-created car was completely disassembled and stripped to bare metal including all glue and coatings from all inside surfaces as well as every square millimeter of the exterior including the underside of the front lid and the entire underside, to be replaced by new materials, applied to replicate the thickness, appearance and textures of the original coatings. As you can see in the first set of five photos, the car has been assembled to the "roller" stage on Weidman refurbished Fuchs 7" front and 8" rear wheels, with sticky AVON CR6-ZZ tires in 185/70-R15s in the front & 215/60-R15s in the rear. You may want to study the consistency of all the gaps everywhere and the panel fit.........you should hear the "ping" when closing the doors. OEM steel RS flares were butt welded to the body to accommodate the wider rear wheels and tires. OEM steel RS rear bumpers with original RS bumper caps painted in the Tangerine body color, as well as unadorned, body-color painted bumperettes in the rear. 356 Carrera Speedster bumper trim ( raw material purchased from GT Werk ) on front and rear bumpers. Strict attention was paid in the sheet-metal working phase to assure straightness, smoothness and the fidelity of all lines and contours of the entire body to be able to absolutely minimize the necessity for application of plastic body-filler prior to painting. All-new OEM glass and new Porsche-only seals and rubber gaskets were installed throughout.
The engine is undergoing dyno-testing as I write this. In the meantime the car will be moved to the " mechanical guy's " garage for powertrain installation, final tuning, test driving and mechanical sorting, after which it will be returned to where these photos were taken last week.
To be continued.............thanks for looking,
JZG