TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1979 Porsche 911SC Build, lots of body work and photo heavy

Sun Sep 24, 2023 9:29 pm

Back at it again with another build, this time i am making a slight departure from my bus builds and will be tackling a 1979 911SC. This ride definitely will take a bunch of metal work to get it back in shape. So lets let the sparks fly and start building.

Sun Sep 24, 2023 9:30 pm

and some more starting place photos.

Sun Sep 24, 2023 9:39 pm

So for tonight i wanted to start by stripping the front end down to see how far the rust is running out of sight. I pulled the worst section off the PS fender and there is a lot of rot under the surface. Totally repairable but definitely going to take work to fix. In an effort to save time and money a new PS fender will be in the works. Once i get both fenders off i am going to tackle the lower sub frame assembly. This is by far the greatest challenge for this girl. In your experiences who do you all buy your repair body panels from??

I also found that water must have been leaking into the foot well.

Mon Sep 25, 2023 5:35 am

I know that i am keeping this build stock but i came across these pictures of someone else's build and i think they are so cool looking

Mon Sep 25, 2023 5:49 am

Were do you all purchase your body repair panels from for Porsche 911's?

Tue Sep 26, 2023 2:50 pm

I would start with stoddard porsche parts.
You might PM Sebastian Gaeta because he seems to know all the good places to buy quality parts for Porsche.

Wed Sep 27, 2023 4:12 pm

WOW that duct tape was a pretty good match but it probably trapped more moisture! Was that car near the sea? Galvanizing that started in 1976 didn't seem to help it much. Wow, that's a lot of work ahead. Anxious to follow progress. Is there a panel un-touched by rust?

Wed Sep 27, 2023 6:13 pm

I like a good challenge for sure. I think once the bad is cut out the rest of the panels are pretty solid. I will be stripping it down to bare metal to make sure no hidden concerns are under that paint. This will be a driver and not a Pebble Beach competitor so doing an acid dip and full comprehensive build wont be required. Im treating it like how you eat an elephant..... one bite at a time. Other than body panels, is there a good place you all like to get all the smaller bits like seals and gaskets and interiors??

Wolfgangdieter wrote: WOW that duct tape was a pretty good match but it probably trapped more moisture! Was that car near the sea? Galvanizing that started in 1976 didn't seem to help it much. Wow, that's a lot of work ahead. Anxious to follow progress. Is there a panel un-touched by rust?

Wed Sep 27, 2023 6:13 pm

Starbucket wrote: I would start with stoddard porsche parts.
You might PM Sebastian Gaeta because he seems to know all the good places to buy quality parts for Porsche.

Thank you Starbucket, i will reach out to him

Fri Sep 29, 2023 7:14 pm

So duct tape doesn’t actually fix everything! :shock:

Sweet project.

Hope the galvanized panels don’t give off poison gas when welded like other galvanized stuff such as pipe or structural steel..

Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:32 pm

I sure hope not. But now i cant help but look it up.

Clatter wrote: So duct tape doesn’t actually fix everything! :shock:

Sweet project.

Hope the galvanized panels don’t give off poison gas when welded like other galvanized stuff such as pipe or structural steel..

Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:38 pm

Thank you Sebastian for the tip about Restoration Design. I looked around and there are many people popping out repro parts out there. Restoration Design has a significantly higher fit and finish. You all know as i do that the difference on man power is huge when you have to futz with poorly fitting panels. Soooo, a huge order was placed and I cant wait to getting on this build

https://www.restoration-design.com

Wed Oct 18, 2023 10:17 am

wow that car sat in a lot of humidity! You are a hero to save it

Tue Oct 31, 2023 7:41 am

Thank you, its still got enough in it to save.
It had been previously painted and in stead of cutting out and repairing the rusty bits the shop simply filled in the holes with body filler and painted it. Had they had done the job correctly none of this would need to be done. All that being said this is going to be a fun build to do.

[email protected] wrote: wow that car sat in a lot of humidity! You are a hero to save it

Tue Oct 31, 2023 7:45 am

I made some good progress last night. I cut out the passenger side panel just below the windshield and mocked up new metal. Once i cut out the surface pieces i noticed that the rust went deeper into the A-pillar. This will also need repairing. For tonight though i wanted to get all the pieces cut to size and mocked up. All the metal will need to be treated with Phosphoric Acid to stop the rust growth. Then welded in and primed for epoxy.

Tue Oct 31, 2023 7:47 am

Have any of you seen these metal drain tubes for sale? I need all 4 for this ride

Sat Dec 16, 2023 9:38 am

I am so happy to be back on this build after a couple months off while I replaced my recently departed air compressor. In stead of buying a cheap version I opted to save up some more and get a 15.5 cfm monster. No air tool will be harmed in the use of this baby! Time to make some dust and sparks.

Mon Jan 01, 2024 8:24 pm

Made some really good progress this weekend on the 911, I was able to weld in a patch panel in the middle of the A pillar and put new metal just above it to support the base of the A pillar. I cut out the steel sunroof drain and replaced it with an aluminum one. Not sure why they used steel for a part that transfers water?? No matter what this was a good solution and wont rot out. After that I used a metal prep encapsulation paint to seal the entire area. This way it will stave off future cancer on the body. Tomorrow i will weld in the new exterior panel and re install the passenger side fender.

Mon Jan 01, 2024 8:28 pm

Time to follow the red dotted line. I have new spot weld cutters arriving this week. This tool will help me so i can replace most of the metal in this nose section. My plan is to replace each of these panels with new steel and get this thing back to code. Out of all the metal work being done this section is the most labor intensive so it might take a couple of weeks to complete.

Here are all the metal pieces Im putting in

Mon Jan 01, 2024 8:32 pm

Sometimes people in the body work industry do some wacky things. Check out what i dug out of the back glass corners. Looks like a shop just filled the hole rather than putting new metal in. Problem with this technique is it caused more rust underneath it. Well, it will be fixed correctly when i'm done.