Bought a 68...

[sharkster]

hey Dan that's all well and good but when are you installing one of these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyVEcfdGWFI

[Dan@SharkWerks]

Another week down and a couple new additions to the 912. I'm driving it every day now, and the car's loosening up nicely. It's a lot of fun and gets plenty of stares (maybe because it -looks- so old with this paint being flat etc.)

The whole time, I've been driving it with the interior gutted to bare metal except the dash and driver's seat. Since all the rust scraping and brushing was now complete, I finally had the time to apply the Eastwood 2-part rust converter.

You take 4 parts of one solution (resembles slimy, thick kool-aid) and mix it with 1 part of the wetting solution (resembles alcohol) and stir. It looks like thick purple paint when you're done mixing. I used a spray can cap for the measuring tool.

I used a tiny foam roller and tray ($3 at Walmart) to apply. I went over every bit of rust and most of the painted stuff too just for good measure, applying a really thick, wet coat. After an hour or so I applied another. Within minutes, the rust begins to turn black.

I did about 1/4 of the interior at a time, and it took ~3 hours to do the whole interior.

Half-way done:


A couple hours later, the rust was now all completely black, as black as death. No rust dust comes off it, etc.


It's pretty neat stuff because it starts out gooey and sticky, then over time it dries up and it only affects the rust. The areas with some leftover factory paint don't change colors.

It's been days now and the interior finally has no more rust smell. The next step is the Eastwood rust encapsulator, which will coat everything in a rust-sealed paint with a heavy top-coat, then I'll worry about any leftover small holes or areas that need patching, such as the back seat cushion area before I start the carpet and interior repairs.

[butzip]

Good job Dan! It's nice to see some life and new projects in here. We can't let 912s die a lonely, rusty death.....

here's my shiny floor

[Dan@SharkWerks]

Looking good butzip!

Today I had a few hours at the shop, so I applied the Eastwood Rust Encapsulator (Eastwood Co. - Rust Encapsulator). It's basically paint, but really thick good paint that's meant to prevent/cover rust.

Lesson learned: cheap wal-mart foam rollers don't hold up well to this stuff! I used 6 rollers and 3 trays, and a whole quart of encapsulator on the interior only using two coats on the floor pans (and the rest was coated once).

I spent about an hour on each floor pan just rolling it in thickly, another hour or so on the top decklid area, and maybe an hour under the dash (repainted it all black), quarter panels, sides and pedals. I also re-coated the e-brake handle and shifter base.

It's still got a few hours before it's completely dry, but overall I'm very happy with the results.



Keep in mind there's still going to be carpet, floor mats, seats etc.

Driver quarter panel interior:


There's also a vinyl cover for this (and seat bottoms, carpet, etc).

Through the dirty back window you can see the deck area (it's covered in a large vinyl pad that I need to clean up still):


The pedals are a nice improvement, but the pic didn't come out so well...


I am going to have the seat adjuster rails sand blasted and powdercoated next. With it being a weekend and Monday a holiday, it looks like I'll have to install/remove the seat once again in a few days. I think I've done that about a dozen times already.

[Snowboarder54]

Danny Boy, you have been pretty quiet lately! Have you been busy helping James on the 904 project and put the 912 0n the back burner?

[Dan@SharkWerks]

I did have a few weekends away from the shop and was just out of the state this weekend, but I have some new updates and I'll be posting pictures of what's new here in a couple days... I won't give away the surprise but I'll say this -- Pete would approve

[Dan@SharkWerks]

I posted this thread up on a bunch of Porsche forums, and recently finally posted it on the big one (912bbs.org). The replies I got were all different than the other forums.. I don't know why I waited so long to post it there.

Anyway, one of the replies said,

Dan

Have you looked under your steering wheel cover? That sure looks like a wood wheel, correct me if I am wrong...

I had not thought too much about the steering wheel, but assumed since it was covered with this ugly $1 wheel wrap that it was probably worn out. I also assumed it was rubber like most of the 912s and older Porsches I see, and from glancing through the wrap when I first bought the car, it looked like the rubber had worn out and was down to the inner metal wire. I assumed it was much worse UNDER the wrap than the wrap itself.


Curiosity got the best of me, so I went outside and removed the wheel wrap. As I began untying the nylon, I felt like an archeologist unveiling some great artifact. I peeled back a little bit and I was shocked: it was indeed wood! As I carefully untied the rest over the next few minutes, I unveiled more and more of the wheel. By the time I removed the whole thing, it was clear that the wheel was not only wood as the guy had suggested, but nearly in perfect shape. The cover preserved it very well over the years! It even has cool grooves for your fingers that I couldn't feel before.


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I looked it up and sure enough, a wooden steering wheel was a factory option back in 1968.

This car is just full of surprises!


before:

[sharkster]

912 gives you wood.

[Snowboarder54]

Sweeeet!! I like it. reminds me of my 356A days.

[Autarky]

What a great and informing read this thread has been! It's wonderful to see the step by step process of how you and you're 912 are getting on. I love watching classics such as these develop; as well as learning a great deal! It's a goal of mine to eventually restore a 912 or 356 in the future. The satisfaction gained from completing such a project would be tremendous! Good luck with the restoration!

Keep posting regular updates because it's an utter thrill to read. Thanks alot.

Good luck!

Seb

[butzip]

Dan,

Again, I went throught the same process with the steering wheel. Mine in fact had the same stupid/ugly wrap as yours and once removed I uncovered a beautifully preserved original wood rimmed steering wheel. I guess back in the day fat wheels were all the rage and skinny wood wheels were common and undesirable. Our gain!

[Snowboarder54]

hey Danny boy weren't you one of the guys making fun of my skinny GT3 steering wheel the other day at lunch??

[Dan@SharkWerks]

Originally Posted by Autarky

What a great and informing read this thread has been! It's wonderful to see the step by step process of how you and you're 912 are getting on. I love watching classics such as these develop; as well as learning a great deal! It's a goal of mine to eventually restore a 912 or 356 in the future. The satisfaction gained from completing such a project would be tremendous! Good luck with the restoration!

Keep posting regular updates because it's an utter thrill to read. Thanks alot.

Good luck!

Seb

Thanks for the great feedback Seb -- I really enjoy sharing this type of project and I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Originally Posted by butzip

Dan,

Again, I went throught the same process with the steering wheel. Mine in fact had the same stupid/ugly wrap as yours and once removed I uncovered a beautifully preserved original wood rimmed steering wheel. I guess back in the day fat wheels were all the rage and skinny wood wheels were common and undesirable. Our gain!

That's too funny! Maybe it's pretty common then. It sure did feel thicker with the wrap, but I much prefer the wood.

Originally Posted by Snowboarder54

hey Danny boy weren't you one of the guys making fun of my skinny GT3 steering wheel the other day at lunch??

I think that was a certain co-worker here, who told me to offer you the old wheel wrap to make your GT3 wheel nice and thick like he prefers.

[Autarky]

Any updates Dan?

[Dan@SharkWerks]

It's been pretty hot here and we were very busy on our new Project Gallery, but I did manage to make a few changes over the last couple of weeks.

The most obvious problem when driving my 912 now was that its tires were very old and cracked. They were so hard, that I'm not sure they were made of rubber anymore. I think they were more like biscuits. I would lock them up driving into my driveway even. There was simply no traction.

I ordered five Good Year Eagle GT tires. I ordered the 5th for a spare. The tires were 195/60/15s, about the biggest you want to run on stock wheels from my understanding. I did a bit of research and read that these tires offer good performance for the price and I liked the tread pattern versus the other brands such as Michelin or Yokohama.

I also reached a point in the project where I would take a turn -- and I know some people won't like this. I looked at 911s and 912s for months to decide how I'd want mine to look, and something about the Fuchs wasn't doing it for me. Maybe it's because they're common, or maybe I just don't think they "fit" on the car, especially with this color. I am not a big fan of chrome/polish, so I couldn't do the hubcap. I took a slightly different direction.

I bought 5 steel wheels. I had no spare before, so I figured I may as well have a matching one. These are actually spares from the later 911s, so usually they're in pretty good shape. They're also cheap - the cost of these wheels plus tires is about what my Fuchs will sell for, so I'll basically trade my Fuchs without tires for steel wheels with brand new tires and gain a spare. They are quite a bit heavier (6.5 lbs per corner!), but since I intend to make this car a cruiser, I don't mind the extra rolling mass for now.


Most of them looked decent, but had OEM stickers on them:


I removed the sticker with Brake cleaner first, and cleaned and degreased all the wheels.


The roughest wheel had some surface rust:


The stack of the tiny wheels next to Cayenne TT tires (:lol:


After brake parts cleaner and wire brushing...


Here's the paint I opted to use. It's the Rustoleum "Hammered Finish" silver. This is the same durable paint I used on my homemade gaming seat.


I love this paint because of the finish it leaves, but it's also very strong for "cheap" spray paint.

It started raining minutes after my first ultra-light coat was applied to each wheel, so I had to wait 2-days to apply more paint.



Picking up where I left off, the final coats turned out exactly how I wanted them. I applied 2 very thin coats and 2 heavier coats.



The biggest problem was that they're now -too- clean and shiny, and the rest of the car isn't. As I am putting on some miles they are getting brake dust and road grime, completing the look I was going for.

Most recent pictures with the steelies, now with steel blackish lugnuts instead of chrome/aluminum caps. I still need to paint or clean up the centers though, which I'll do soon when I work on the brakes:



The car's running awesome. It seemed pretty fast on the way to work today with nice cool weather. Starts right up and idles fine, and now with these tires I've really been chucking it around some corners!