Making Slag and Planning for the Future

Today was a good day. I did some MIG welding, first time, and have the "sunburn" to show for it. I knew that the ultraviolet light could cause a burn but didn't know it would happen quite so fast - after only about 60 minutes of welding. Being the first time this was really just to get a feel for the process and the tools. It was a good time and, other than the burn, I'm looking forward to doing some welding for the 1974 Porsche 911 project. I came across some great resources for first time welders and recommend TheFabricator.com and articles by Marty Rice.

Looking at some images of '74 Porsches I came across a great looking Gulf RSR with an interesting tail light and reflector treatment. I'm going to consider this approach for my 911 as the tail light assemblies are showing their age and the reflector is in poor condition. I think with some effort and a trip to the scrap yard I can find some round tail lights that will recess into panels that replace the stock units.

All you first time welders remember, long sleeves and gloves.

Porsche 911 Build on a Budget

Maybe I've been watching too much "Wheeler Dealer", "Auto Trader", "Rides" and "Monster Garage" but my motivation to get back into the Porsche project, despite budget restrictions, is increasing. My thinking on this project has definitely changed. I'm less interested in new parts and rebuilding the car with the latest and greatest technology and more interested in getting the car back on the road at the lowest incremental cost possible.

The fact is, when I took the Porsche apart it ran and drove pretty well. I took it apart because it needed body work. Now the car is a freshly painted rolling chassis with the engine and trans under cover and the rest in various boxes.

What I've learned is it's time to make a list. Start somewhere and start listing the next steps. Listing the things that have to happen to move the project forward and get the car back on the road. Not having budget to invest in the project has actually made this easier. No more time wasted on tracking down and buying new parts. The focus has to be on making what I have work and in cases where I don't have the parts, finding the low cost approach to getting a good result.

So here's a start at making a list:

• Pull the front fiberglass bumper out of the attic
• Fit the turn indicators and driving lights
• Fill the gaps and fix the scratches, dings and other imperfections on the bumper
• Attach the bumper securely to the car using the original mounting points
• Paint the bumper
• Mount the bumper on the car

NOP Blue’s new home

New Old Porsche (NOP) Blue has a new home. The 1974 Porsche 911 has been painted, everything but the front and rear bumper, and relocated to a spot out of the way from the busy activities at the shop. Warren found a patch of clear, mostly level ground and also arranged for a couple of five by twelve sheets of aluminum sheeting. Saturday we raked out some gravel to level things out and fill in some small holes, laid some plastic as a moisture barrier, followed that with some plywood, and then laid the aluminum on top. This will provide a good surface for working on NOP Blue, easily supporting jack stands, etc. and making rolling around on a creeper really easy.

I’ve ordered an enclosed canopy that will surround the Porsche and keep the moisture out in the coming winter months. This will be plenty big to work on the car. Other progress has been made: I’ve ordered a wiring harness from Painless Wiring. I’m sure this project will test the company’s name. Now I’ve got a list of “while you’re at its” including MSD Ignition modules and an optical replacement for the points.

Why NOP Blue?

If you look back in the archives you will see the inspiration for the Porsche’s paint scheme comes from Ducati’s “New Blue” project. Also, NOP is a computer science abbreviation for No Operation, which seems a perfect term for the car at this time.

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Slow going on the Porsche

It's been a long while since I've made a post and I apologize. The last 6 months have been very busy with my new job, family and other things in life that have taken priority over my project car. That said, the Porsche 911 as not been forgotten and in fact has been painted beautifully by my father-in-law Warren, and the guys at Ocean Paint and Body. I'll get some more pictures posted soon but wanted to throw one out there so you can all see the progress here. We've lots of plans for the Porsche and as anyone who's done a project car knows, it's just a matter of time and money; neither in surplus at this time.

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Test Fit for the Porsche 911

The 1974 Porsche 911 project is making progress with the recent test fitting of the major body panels. A few weeks earlier the inner compartments and jambs were painted and now the team at Ocean Paint and Body are getting the doors, lids and fenders placed to verify everything will go together as planned when the paint work is done.

You can see here that a test panel has been used to check the graphics scheme and colors. I like the look of the Porsche silver and blue and have decided to keep the looks simple with just the stripes. Once the car gets painted it will be a nice looking rolling chassis. After that, the real fun will start for me as I’ll have to try and remember 1) where all the pieces are and, 2) how to put them all back on the Porsche.

I also need to complete the work on the front and rear fiberglass bumpers. I’ve already fit the bumpers to the car but they require a fair amount of work to get to a finished state. The rear is not too far off but I need to have the engine back in the car to finalize the exhaust opening. The front bumper requires more work to get the openings for the turn signal and marker lights sorted.

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A True Boxer Engine

Today is Mickey’s first birthday ...

I thought it would be fun to pass along a few pictures of Mickey hanging out at the shop while the Porsche was being worked on, these are from June so he’s quite a bit bigger now. You can see that Mickey is a real shop dog and enjoys being around the cars, especially the Porsche 911.

For those of you wondering about the name, no, Mickey is not named after the mouse but after the Irish boxer in the excellent movie Snatch.

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Bose Active Suspension

Amazing video showing the capabilities of the Bose Active Suspension. The first part of the video shows an impressive ride but the last few seconds are truly amazing.