Porsche Classic Restoration | 1969 911E
Follow the journey: #project911ott
Certificate ID Number: 119220896
Model Year / Type: 1969 911E Karmann Coupe
Exterior Paint: Signal Yellow
Interior Material: Black Leatherette
Power: 140 horsepower at 6,500 rpm
Torque: 129 foot-pounds at 4,500 rpm
Fuel Type: Bosch mechanical fuel injection
Wheelbase: 89.4 inches
Weight: 2,250 lbs
The car has arrived at the body shop and is undergoing a lot of work. Andreas and Vincent have disassembled the car down to just the body.
They removed the wheels, axels and suspension, as well as all the interior pieces, like the dashboard, steering wheel and steering column.
They then removed all the exterior lighting and bumpers as well as the front fenders.
They removed everything right down to the shell of the car so they can begin assessing the actual condition of the body.
Under the front fenders, they discovered a lot of sealer and paint that needed to be removed in order to see what condition the actual sheet metal was in.
They painstakingly removed all of the excess sealer and got the front of the car down to the sheet metal.
They are looking for any places on which the car has had patch work done (whether due to rust or to small accidents) so that they can restore it back to factory Porsche standards.
Tough times won't stop us! Restoration to the front end of the 911E is proving to be a challenging task as spare parts are not readily available.
Nevertheless, replacement components are being custom made, in-house, to fit the required specifications.
Some of the sections of the Porsche have now been layered with an epoxy in preparation for a new coat of paint. Once the rest of the body work is completed, the entire car will be moved to our on-site painting facility.
While they say hard work should not go unnoticed, let's keep following to catch a glimpse of the progress before our final coat of Signal Yellow masks the epoxy workmanship!
Mid-summer and Mid-Project! The body is coming together as Vincent sands down all unwanted scraps allowing the iconic Porsche curves we all know and love to come to light.
No inch is spared in search for anomalies; a necessary assignment in the pursuit of perfection.
A time-consuming task, yet a mandatory step before the continuation of the project.
There is an extra focus this month on the interior as the exterior hardware will rely directly on it. After close examination, there were a few parts such as the suspension torque tubes that needed to be fully replaced. Andreas and Vincent worked hard to build the items in-house in order to match precise dimensions. New inter-frame rails were also ordered from Porsche and installed. The rear inter-panels have now been removed with intention to begin work in this area.
The vehicle currently holds a rugged look as rust and excess metal get removed its body – a step needed before it can return to its original Porsche beauty!
We remind ourselves of who Ferdinand Porsche was the type of person who would enthusiastically accept challenges and only allow them to intensify his resolve.
Restoring an engine for the Classic Restoration Challenge is an involved process. First the engine is physically removed from the vehicle and disconnected from the gearbox. Next, the engine is mounted to an engine stand and completely disassembled. Not only are all wear components inspected, measured and cleaned as standard in a typical rebuild, but finishes to the original components and hardware are also restored.
Over 50 years of exposure to the environment has left many exposed pieces of this engine corroded and tarnished. All parts and hardware have been catalogued and organized for refinishing and plating. Our goal with a fully restored engine is to not only to have it run and perform like new but to also have it look as if it just rolled off the assembly line in Zuffenhausen. So far, we have yet to encounter any major problems as our engine was operational before it was removed. One challenge has been producing an acceptable finish on the magnesium components of the engine and gearbox. We won't rest until the engine meets our high requirements.
- Hans Fracke - Gold Technician
Our Gold Techinician, Hans, takes on the challenging task of rebuilding the engine to its factory settings. Stay tuned!
The plan has come full circle and we are beginning to see our initial aspirations come to life! Taking some more time to look at all we have documented and captured along the course of the challenge, we stop for a moment to appreciate the professionals, tools and work that went into stripping the interior, removing all the wiring, taking out the engine gearbox and transmission, as well as removing the external panels, glass and headlights. We see the beauty in the shell of the 911 E and the authentic craftsmanship in every curve now exposed. Looking up from beneath we keep in mind where everything will fit back into place and how original and replacement parts will marry into one another to bring this timeliness classic back to life! While we got our hands dirty during each step, every task was a very calculated and allot of care went into handling every part and bolt!
We cannot wait for you to see what we see! That fresh paint has us completely oblivious to the rust and dents that once where there. Its lustrous smooth finish completely draws us in and exhilarates us to make it to the final stage! Although in a dream, we remember to check in on our engine and are absolutely thrilled when we get confirmation, we are all set to re-mount it.
Time to pick up the pace and get everything in place! We are far to anxious to fire it up and take it for a test drive!