66 LHD 'Doctors Car' restoration begins

[MT]

A little update before Xmas

Followed my outline plan above - so the loom (which went in much easier than I expected), fuel pipe, brake pipe, battery cable, clutch and accelerator cables are in the central section. Then wired up the front end under the bonnet, installed the wiper motor, fitted the rain duct, removed the wiper motor and rain duct, fitted the 'fresh air vent' paddle and its control wire and lever that I had forgotten even existed until found in one of my boxes, reinstalled the wiper motor and rain duct. Installed a lot of the Webasto heater parts under the dash. I have left the instruments out for now - in part because I plan to install some 'authentic yellow' LED dash bulbs from a bloke on the US Pelican forum and they hadn't arrived. Will advise on them in due course.



After that it was the plastic dash top vents, my new speakers (got a modern iPod player that will hide under the dash, while the original US band Blauplunkt radio remains mainly for show.), the original dash top, wood front panels, glove box, ashtray, switches, lower dash kneepad



then the refurbished pedal box. I was unsure whether very early pedal boxes were fitted with a clutch spring because I had some vague memory of reading somewhere that they didn't. Anyway I decided that it was better to have one than not and have installed it anyway!



With the pedal box in I could then trial fit the original refurbished master cylinder, and fabricate and fit the front end brake pipes. I got a new brake switch to replace my broken one from e-bay (VW beetle) as advised elsewhere on this fine forum.



I removed the m/c again and with the help of Garry fitted up the refurbished front suspension and steering rack. Getting the front support bolts in when the front bushes are new is an interesting exercise - definitely a two man job! Garry's good idea of using longer bolts to get them located and then leaving them part tightened over night to allow the bush to deform in place a little worked really well. I took out the longer bolts and reinstalled the correct length easily this morning.

After that it was a relatively simple and quick job to get the front struts, mounts, hubs, discs and calipers in place. Calipers are the originals you can see in the back of one of the photos below refurbished by Classic Car Automotive in Cheshire - not bad eh!

So now we have a new front suspension for Xmas!





While I'm really quite chuffed how the front end/suspension rebuild has worked out bearing in mind I started out with the photos below, the main point of showing this lot is not just some chest-puffing (although I will do a bit of that from time to time to be honest) but so if any of the eagle-eyed experts on here can see any errors or omissions - so please look the photos over in detail and comment if you see anything that looks wrong.

(Oh, and I do know the brake reservoir doesn't go next to the fusebox!)




A very happy Xmas and New Year to all of you.

[MT]

Sorry it's been a while, but being retired and long in envy of the 'gap year' generation, me and herself decided it was belatedly our turn, so we went off to Australia (Victoria and Tasmania) and NZ (camper van) for 2 months. Bloody marvellous - avoided most of the pretty poor weather they've been having and played at being young and foolish.

Anyway back now and on with the car - I don't do deadlines anymore, but it would be nice to have it ready and 'shaken-down' in time for the trip to CLM that I've signed up for - either that or I'll have to beg to park the TR4A in the DDK camp area.

Rear suspension now all assembled and installed (all except the shocks that I'm going to wait until the engine is in to compress things a bit) 36 degrees of dangle on the radius arm per the manual. Easier to do than I thought.




Again if anyone spots anything the wrong way round, or something missing please say so. Easier to do it now!

Then the Webasto (patio heater) and all its gubbins has gone into the smuggler's box. Have to be honest I plan to install a shut off valve in the fuel supply line from the tank, and not even to try to commission it. I have tested all the bits per the section in the Workshop Manual, and it seems that everything should work, but it just seems an unnecessary risk with a nice car. I am rarely likely to use the car in severe cold weather, and I see no reason why the ordinary heater won't suffice. Nonetheless it was an original feature in restorable condition so despite the fact it means carrying around a lot of extra bits, I think it best to retain as much originality as possible.



A bit better than when we started out



All the loom is in and run to the four corners, with only a few 'I wonder what this is for'. So today I thought it was time to fit the instruments, refurbished by North Hollywood Speedometer back in the autumn. I had kept some detailed drawings and photos of the wiring so it was a relatively quick job. I also bought some LED dash/warning lights from someone on Pelican in the States. They are supposed to be the business - my only concern to date is that there were only 10 bulbs in the pack and my car has 14 in the dash. I had bought 2 sets as I plan to use the same in the 72E, so I had plenty, but I'll have to have a conversation with the guy who sells them to see why he only includes 10 bulbs.

Anyway it does look much improved from last May





Engine should be home by the end of the month.....

[964RS]

Looking great

[smallspeed]

i love restoration threads
looks fantastic, can't wait to see the finished article

[johnM]

Hi Mick

Looks truly fantastic, and all done by you. What a difference from where you started.

Kind Regards

[MT]

[quote="johnM"] ......and all done by you. /quote]

Well apart from the engine, which is quite a big 'apart from' - I just haven't got the experience and courage to get stuck into the innards of a flat 6 like you and some others - but thanks to you and the others who have posted for your words of encouragement. Few of us have all the skills, experience and tools to tackle everything in a full restoration, but I am prepared to tolerate a loss of perfection ( ... but only a little!) for the satisfaction of knowing 'I did that', and so I try to do as much as possible. My car will not be as perfect as if one of the 'pro's' had done it I know that, but it will have cost a lot less and be 'my 911' a lot more. To that end having this forum, and Garry Hall nearby, are invaluable in tackling new, obscure or complex aspects of a 911. Barry's threads and personal advice by pm for the metalwork are regularly mentioned, but in truth cannot possibly be overstated in their asset value to the DIY restorer like me.

Also the fact that there are several very similar cars going through the same DIY process in the Restoration Section is really useful, so thanks to the others posting their detailed successes and failures.

Mick

[Darren65]

Few of us have all the skills

Too true - and some of us don't have any!

The work you and John are producing is pretty exceptional and to an incredibly high standard by the look of things.

Alas I'll have to content myself with directing my resto and choosing colours although I am pretty good at polishing - oh, that and writing out cheques!

Great work Mick, looking forward to seeing the final push.

Cheers,
Darren

[MT]

Bit more progress - lots of 'bits' to do. For me one of the challenges is thinking through the sequence of things to try and avoid the 'in she goes, out she comes, in she goes again' that plagued my early restorations. With a car as technically complex as a 911 (well vs a Morris Minor ....) this I find is especially important. I am so much better at documenting how it came apart with photos, drawings and notes than when I started, but still sometimes ....

Anyway first a bit of electrics - I read on 911s Registry that it was a good idea to put a 3A fuse in the supply to the panel lights from the ignition switch so it there was a short in the back of the dash then the fuse would go before there was 'smoke getting in my eyes'. Easily done, so seemed a simple upgrade - you can see the fuse in the pic below in the black/blue wire to the dash lights.



Then in with my cleaned up and recoated (POR 15 rust encapsulator and then POR Chassis Black of course) oil tank. Bit of fiddling to get the rubber seals/grommets into the inner wing, and especially to get the two wires for the oil level sender into the 'J' tube that supports the outer wing and rear quarter bumper, but all fitted nicely in the end. You will note one of Grandma's old 'proddy mats' on the garage floor .... must be 50 years old at least and still going strong......anyway, I digress ....



on that subject I had the original sender (on the left in the photo below) and another that came out of a tank of a similar (66-69) vintage (on the right). Although the one on the right looks much more sophisticated and is clearly later as it had spade as opposed to ring connections, I found with my multimeter the LH one gave a much smoother change in resistance as you moved the float lever. Anyway I have always used the original fixture as long as it works, so the LH one is the one I used.



Another interesting original feature on this car was the two 'blanking plates' - well they're fibreboard really - that went around the heater tubes as they pass through the bulkhead inside near the A post. The originals were ok to use as templates, but one at least was not re-useable, so I have made some replacements. They are screwed to the bulkhead with two chrome pan head screws ands a dish washer, and the gap around the tube sealed with foam of some kind. If anyone has found a good replacement for the foam please let me know. I think the stuff that you get in cans from B&Q might be a bit ott!




Engine board next I think...

[MT]

Well today was interesting, with a few lessons learnt!

Lesson 1

Always check that you've tightened the schultz gun into the Dinitrol can before pressing the trigger



Lesson 2

For idle hands there is a use for everything - even a ropey old 924 seat. I have to say they are very comfortable .....



Lesson 3

It is much easier to get a stripped body shell onto a wheely cradle than it is to get one fitted with suspension, electrics, instruments, etc off it..... and of course a bit more nervy given the consequences of a sudden collapse.

Nonetheless, after fitting the original sound pad into the back of the engine bay, refitting the rear window tubes and my replacement orange tubes, and shoving a shultz gun tube into as many orifices as I could (and a few that I created) I felt it was time to touch down on mother earth again - so wheels on for the first time since last May, and two jack/four axle stand/8 blocks of wood juggling the 'eagle has landed'...... albeit it now has that head-down, arse-up poise shared by road race cyclists and de-engined 911's.






Also spent quite a lot of time preparing to fit the new headlining - I decided that trying to refit the original was pointless as there were a few small tears, but equally some rust stains I couldn't shift. After seeing JohnM's thread I decided a trip to Staples was called for, where to my amazement they have an offer where you can fill a bag with bulldog clips for £1.49 - now admitted there are a few odd colours, but £1.49 for over 100 clips......



Also I was going to replace the A and B post vinyl covering, so I made some templates (I will need them for the 72E where there is no interior so I made them out of fibreboard), but then concluded the originals were in such beautiful condition that I'd reuse them. The original vinyl used by Porsche was/is so supple and smooth it is almost like leather. Not sure I've seen any modern equivalent quite as nice to touch.




only problem is I have no idea where the smallest of the bits goes! I have tried all the obvious places where there is a bit of curvature, and searched through my photo record to no avail .... so if anyone has any idea please let me know.

Headlining, windows, doors and enough interior to put it in for an MoT is next. Gearbox is ready to go, just waiting on the engine .... hopefully finished within 2 weeks. Had a minor setback as I needed to replace 3 heads, but they are on their way now, so shouldn't be too long.

[Darren65]

Magic moment Mick, well done

Your car is looking great

Darren

[visualfx]

HI Mick,

If you mean the two sections in the right of the picture, these (I think) go inside the bottom of the rear side windows. I’m sure when the inside rear side window trim goes on they hide the gap between the window, outer chrome trim and inner.

I could be wrong though

Garry

[jury]

Looking great Mick! not long to go now

Can I ask where you got the new Brake Banjo fittings from?


Cheers
Chris

[MT]

Thanks Chris,

Like most of the car, they're the cleaned up originals, so I'm afraid I can't help with sourcing replacements.

Sorry,
Mick

[jury]

Thanks Chris,

Like most of the car, they're the cleaned up originals, so I'm afraid I can't help with sourcing replacements.

Sorry,
Mick

No problem, they cleaned up well

[210bhp]

Great work Mick. Coming along nicely.

Looks like your house is very near me. Those look like Turnberry red tiles on the roof.