hardtop5000
Well-known member
Kimo at the snow thinks "yep, heard about this stuff . . it's why we stopped being wolves"
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Denver MCM garage expansion
- Thread starter kwyjibo
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
nicholam77
Well-known member
Uggggg I love your house so much. And the work you've done on it. The whole front entry and landscaping look awesome. 
au contraire! Akitas generally love the snow. We don't have much history on Kimo, so we don't really know if he had much exposure to snow. But he seemed confused by it. We'll see how he does next winter (his first with us)
Thanks Nick! I've had to modify my original plans (to accommodate Kimo, among other things) but I'm happy with how its turning out.Uggggg I love your house so much. And the work you've done on it. The whole front entry and landscaping look awesome.
I made some progress in the fuel tank restoration - I'm down to the last small patch of schutz (the protective coating found on the bottom of old 911s and their gas tanks). I should get it done this week and get it out to my friend's shop for reapplication of schutz. I'll take photos once it's all bare metal
In the meantime, I test fit the rear seat delete unit.
It isn't the best fitting piece so I'm wondering if it isn't actually made for the coupe interior. It is good enough to make a template which is all that matters
I thought I posted an update on the tank last week but there's no sign of it. So... I did manage to finish stripping off the schutz from the fuel tank and get it over to my friend's shop to re-apply a fresh coat. Here's how it looked before a few final touchups
Hopefully I can post photos of his finished work much sooner than my updates have been coming lately
In other news, I've been busy correcting some landscaping errors on my part (like moving struggling shrubs out of the direct sun). I'm also still trying to decide what to do with the area around the Japanese maple by the front gate. The local nurseries are starting to close out their plant inventories so I should decide quick.
Hopefully I can post photos of his finished work much sooner than my updates have been coming lately
In other news, I've been busy correcting some landscaping errors on my part (like moving struggling shrubs out of the direct sun). I'm also still trying to decide what to do with the area around the Japanese maple by the front gate. The local nurseries are starting to close out their plant inventories so I should decide quick.
Well, I got the fuel tank back but it came with some bad news. My friend with the body shop is thinking of closing up because of severe health issues.
He did a great job blending the soldered plate on top that plugged the access hole from the cleaning and re-lining. You can see in this photo that the texture is inconsistent (and for the Porsche-philes, it's also a bit rough and should go up the filler-neck), so I think that I might spray another coat of undercoating to clean up the look.
I need to decide if I'll send the gauges out for restoration. A couple show some UV damage (faded needles and yellowed labels) and scratched bezels. Minimally the trip odometer reset needs to be repaired, but the question is do I restore them to look new or keep them original? The photo shows a faded gas needle compared to the bright one for the oil level.
In other car news, got a nice drive in the other morning with a few friends
landscaping update: finished the layout of the frontyard. What this really means is that the pallets and large, white bulk bags containing the beach pebbles are finally gone from the yard.
I decided that the narrow side yard should mirror the patch on the opposite side (serviceberry bush, blood grass, granite boulder etc). I designed the layout for the central planting area under the tree but the nurseries don't have the plants I need so that will have to wait until next spring.
Speaking of spring, the warm spring we had (or lack of late freeze) meant that we had our biggest fruit crop yet: a dozen apricots, a few peaches and, as of this week, a dozen donut peaches. Yes, not a great yield, but much better than the annual kill-off of all the flowers and fruit from a late spring freeze. And as a bonus, they all tasted so much better than anything we've picked up in a store. One other thing, for whatever reason, so far all the fruits have been smaller than expected. Here are some of the donut peaches with a dime for comparison
He did a great job blending the soldered plate on top that plugged the access hole from the cleaning and re-lining. You can see in this photo that the texture is inconsistent (and for the Porsche-philes, it's also a bit rough and should go up the filler-neck), so I think that I might spray another coat of undercoating to clean up the look.
I need to decide if I'll send the gauges out for restoration. A couple show some UV damage (faded needles and yellowed labels) and scratched bezels. Minimally the trip odometer reset needs to be repaired, but the question is do I restore them to look new or keep them original? The photo shows a faded gas needle compared to the bright one for the oil level.
In other car news, got a nice drive in the other morning with a few friends
landscaping update: finished the layout of the frontyard. What this really means is that the pallets and large, white bulk bags containing the beach pebbles are finally gone from the yard.
I decided that the narrow side yard should mirror the patch on the opposite side (serviceberry bush, blood grass, granite boulder etc). I designed the layout for the central planting area under the tree but the nurseries don't have the plants I need so that will have to wait until next spring.
Speaking of spring, the warm spring we had (or lack of late freeze) meant that we had our biggest fruit crop yet: a dozen apricots, a few peaches and, as of this week, a dozen donut peaches. Yes, not a great yield, but much better than the annual kill-off of all the flowers and fruit from a late spring freeze. And as a bonus, they all tasted so much better than anything we've picked up in a store. One other thing, for whatever reason, so far all the fruits have been smaller than expected. Here are some of the donut peaches with a dime for comparison
Trapps
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Perhaps just clean the gauge lenses (inside and out) and see how that might affect the appearance? Removing just a smidge of fogging might really be all you need to keep the patina of time intact but still make an improvement.
Thanks for the comments. The gauges cleaned up pretty nicely
Here's the gas/oil level gauge post-cleaning
With the exception of the tach and the clock, the faces and the glass look clean. So I think that all their original seals are ok. The tach has a small blob of grease on the inside face of the glass and the clock is plexiglass which has accumulated scratches in the last 50 years. The gauges are held together by crimping the circumference of the bezel and I don't know if I trust myself not to dent the piece trying to get it open
What I keep imagining are the cars that I've seen after a new paint job where the owner re-used old badges and/or trim and they look really out of place on the otherwise new-looking car. The gauges are in good condition but when you have them side-by-side you can see variations between the black backgrounds and the white labels.
Bottomline: I think that I'm going to hold off on sending them out. They are easy to remove and install (unlike some other gauges, they pull out into the interior, no need to get into the guts of the dash) and if I can defer spending $, then all the better
Here's the gas/oil level gauge post-cleaning
With the exception of the tach and the clock, the faces and the glass look clean. So I think that all their original seals are ok. The tach has a small blob of grease on the inside face of the glass and the clock is plexiglass which has accumulated scratches in the last 50 years. The gauges are held together by crimping the circumference of the bezel and I don't know if I trust myself not to dent the piece trying to get it open
What I keep imagining are the cars that I've seen after a new paint job where the owner re-used old badges and/or trim and they look really out of place on the otherwise new-looking car. The gauges are in good condition but when you have them side-by-side you can see variations between the black backgrounds and the white labels.
Bottomline: I think that I'm going to hold off on sending them out. They are easy to remove and install (unlike some other gauges, they pull out into the interior, no need to get into the guts of the dash) and if I can defer spending $, then all the better
hewey
Well-known member
Landscaping looks great, as does the lack of rust in the Porshe!
Thanks hewey! I thought I gave it a pretty good inspection for my friend who originally was thinking of buying it, but you never really know what's hiding until you're allowed to pull it apart. I think my friend regrets not taking my advice now because he ended up with a much bigger project for more $
Update
I got bored last evening so I polished my knob
then moved on to the shaft
In all seriousness, it turned out better than expected. Here's how it started
Luckily, this was the back side so less visible. I'm still working on it with some simichrome to get the last of the pitting off. This is the front - it started off much better with some rust near the top
Update
I got bored last evening so I polished my knob
then moved on to the shaft
In all seriousness, it turned out better than expected. Here's how it started
Luckily, this was the back side so less visible. I'm still working on it with some simichrome to get the last of the pitting off. This is the front - it started off much better with some rust near the top
Well, my friend is definitely shutting down his shop sooner than we had originally talked about. My plan to learn body and paint from him while working on the targa is definitely in jeopardy. I only recently started working on the car again after Kimo came along.
We started with the decklid a couple weeks ago because I already had it off and it seemed like it only needed a couple of straight forward repairs. Then his wife was struck by serious health issues. He was intermittently working in the shop to clear his head and, one day, got carried away and started painting... only problem is that he was jumping the gun because we hadn't discussed anything about the paint yet. Oops.
Here's a comparison of the 50 year old paint to a piece of masking tape with the current formulation of conda green
I will post a photo of the decklid later this week when I go back to his shop for a meeting to plan our next moves. He thinks that we can get it painted before he shuts his doors forever. I hope so.
Today was the annual car show in Vail. The Colorado Grand ended earlier this week and usually some of the owners show their cars on Sunday, but that was not the case this year. Luckily, a well-heeled local collector brought some of his cars out. They were displayed in chronological order - my favorites were the older ones. The next ones that aren't in this photo are the Carrera GT and 918 Spyder.
The 959 was nice, but these were the stand outs for me:
904
911 ST
We started with the decklid a couple weeks ago because I already had it off and it seemed like it only needed a couple of straight forward repairs. Then his wife was struck by serious health issues. He was intermittently working in the shop to clear his head and, one day, got carried away and started painting... only problem is that he was jumping the gun because we hadn't discussed anything about the paint yet. Oops.
Here's a comparison of the 50 year old paint to a piece of masking tape with the current formulation of conda green
I will post a photo of the decklid later this week when I go back to his shop for a meeting to plan our next moves. He thinks that we can get it painted before he shuts his doors forever. I hope so.
Today was the annual car show in Vail. The Colorado Grand ended earlier this week and usually some of the owners show their cars on Sunday, but that was not the case this year. Luckily, a well-heeled local collector brought some of his cars out. They were displayed in chronological order - my favorites were the older ones. The next ones that aren't in this photo are the Carrera GT and 918 Spyder.
The 959 was nice, but these were the stand outs for me:
904
911 ST
I had a quick meeting with my friend who runs the body and paint shop and we came up with a plan to get my work done (or as far along as possible) before he permanently shuts down. More on that later as we work out the details, but he wants me to bring in the trunk hood and doors so that work can get started asap
Also, I did pick up the painted decklid. Here it is staged with the grill and trim
It looks good, even without buffing. The biggest problem with it was a nasty hole drilled into the top edge for a cell phone antenna installation.
Here is the same area post repair
I'm working on a table of contents so that I (and you) can find individual projects easier. Hope to have it posted in the next couple days
Also, I did pick up the painted decklid. Here it is staged with the grill and trim
It looks good, even without buffing. The biggest problem with it was a nasty hole drilled into the top edge for a cell phone antenna installation.
Here is the same area post repair
I'm working on a table of contents so that I (and you) can find individual projects easier. Hope to have it posted in the next couple days
I finally went through the thread and took notes on when I started specific projects. Hopefully this means that I can more easily track down when and what I did. Most of the projects span several posts so the number indicates the post where that the project begins. I should probably paste something like this into the first post..
Gulf Racing tandem garage
90 start framing
116 windows
120 floor
127 comparison
133 cedar siding
153 house cedar siding
172 first look at completed
193 ceiling
330, 340, 351, 493 gulf door
Alpina single garage
617 wall rebuild
499 blue/green cabinets
Courtyard
364 pour in place pavers
396 courtyard
408, 414 cmu walls
417 Pergola framework
449 barn door
462 pergola slats
622, 657 entryway
Baltic birch plywood cabinets and benches
227 work bench/desk
228 laminate
233 quick explanation
245 first complete cabinet
268 hanging Acrobin drawer
501 Alpina
507 glove dispenser
510,514 T-track on wall
1971 Porsche 911 targa
308, 351, 354
652 home
Various projects
201, 292 VDO clock
265 jack stand cart
259 BMW shirt
522, 600 MCM stereo credenza
536 Werk1851 shirt
Gulf Racing tandem garage
90 start framing
116 windows
120 floor
127 comparison
133 cedar siding
153 house cedar siding
172 first look at completed
193 ceiling
330, 340, 351, 493 gulf door
Alpina single garage
617 wall rebuild
499 blue/green cabinets
Courtyard
364 pour in place pavers
396 courtyard
408, 414 cmu walls
417 Pergola framework
449 barn door
462 pergola slats
622, 657 entryway
Baltic birch plywood cabinets and benches
227 work bench/desk
228 laminate
233 quick explanation
245 first complete cabinet
268 hanging Acrobin drawer
501 Alpina
507 glove dispenser
510,514 T-track on wall
1971 Porsche 911 targa
308, 351, 354
652 home
Various projects
201, 292 VDO clock
265 jack stand cart
259 BMW shirt
522, 600 MCM stereo credenza
536 Werk1851 shirt
hewey
Well-known member
That looks like a fun group of cars to drive with.
I'm lucky to have a good group of friends here, but I suffer from a severe horsepower deficiency out on drives with them.
No updates - so I'll just post my view from this morning's breakfast
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I've been busy with the annual re-oiling of the cedar, so i don't have any project updates, just maintenance. I usually try to get the oiling done in the spring for the extra protection from the harsh summer uv here, but... Kimo. Also, what makes it even more painful than usual is the fact that the local Ace raised the price of Penofin to $65/gal. This isn't the clearest photo, but hopefully you can see the difference the re-oiling makes
Last weekend the Porsche dealership in Colorado Springs held an event at the Olympic and Paralympic Museum. I got my car out of storage earlier in the week so that I could start the one hour drive south just as the sun was rising
There were some interesting cars, including various stock and modified 356s and 911s. The rarest was a one-of-one Beutler Pursang.
Early911S Reg or R Gruppe members might recognize the ex-Grago hotrod
But the two that I kept going back to look at throughout the morning were the sky blue 356 SC
... and a hotrod guards red 930
And to close out the post, my car safely stowed away back in my friend's garage
Last weekend the Porsche dealership in Colorado Springs held an event at the Olympic and Paralympic Museum. I got my car out of storage earlier in the week so that I could start the one hour drive south just as the sun was rising
There were some interesting cars, including various stock and modified 356s and 911s. The rarest was a one-of-one Beutler Pursang.
Early911S Reg or R Gruppe members might recognize the ex-Grago hotrod
But the two that I kept going back to look at throughout the morning were the sky blue 356 SC
... and a hotrod guards red 930
And to close out the post, my car safely stowed away back in my friend's garage
hewey
Well-known member
That red 930 is a nice looking car! Beautiful and tough in equal proportions. 
Deck oiling looks good too.
Deck oiling looks good too.That red 930 is a nice looking car! Beautiful and tough in equal proportions.
Despite the fact that my Carrera is red, I'm usually not a fan of Guards Red. But this 930 was just very eye-catching - as you pointed out, it was beautifully menacing.
I'm oiling the cedar whenever it's not freezing (to me) or raining so there aren't any photos of updates. Bad pattern forming here. But I wanted to post a couple photos from an interesting Sunday morning cars n'coffee event in Boulder. There may have been some freezing drizzle around but it was worth the trip over. First up, a 904 made by Beck
I don't expect to ever have a chance to drive a 904 so in the past I've looked into the various 904 replicas. This one has some updates (carb'd 3.2L and flares for larger wheels among them) so I bet it's a ton of fun.
Next is a conda green targa 911S
obviously, I scrutinize the details and take mental notes every time I see this car.
I don't expect to ever have a chance to drive a 904 so in the past I've looked into the various 904 replicas. This one has some updates (carb'd 3.2L and flares for larger wheels among them) so I bet it's a ton of fun.
Next is a conda green targa 911S
obviously, I scrutinize the details and take mental notes every time I see this car.
TahitianGreen
Well-known member
Looks very good!!I finished oiling the pergola slats. I was delayed for a couple days as the storm that drenched the west coast moved through. Now working on the walls.
Kimo was not impressed
The e9 has run very rich since moving to Denver. I've never been able to correctly diagnose and correct the issue on my own. So earlier this summer when the clutch cylinder blew a seal and I found that it had galvanically fused itself to the bellhousing, I decided to use that as an excuse to send it off to our local BMW guru. My spot in line finally came up this past weekend so I had the car towed to his garage. It's strange to see your car going down the road, but even more so when it's on the back of a flatbed
I finished re-oiling the cedar (!) but I'm more excited that I picked up the E9 last Saturday, then early Sunday morning went on an extended test drive with a couple friends. Without any other adjustments, replacing the clutch cylinder resulted in a much smoother/linear pedal feel. I have a feeling that I'll find a scored cylinder wall and/or bent rod when I rebuild it. For reference the cast steel slave cylinder mounts in a small tunnel on the aluminum bellhousing and is held in place with circlips. Mine is possibly original (minimally, had not been replaced during my 15yr ownership) and was really stuck from galvanic corrosion. Here's a photo of the leaky cylinder
And a photo from the drive
And a photo from the drive
I haven't mentioned the targa project for a while because things stalled out. Our friend with the body and paint shop has decided to close his doors permanently. Effective immediately. I had a feeling that he was leaning in this direction so I've been delaying work on my end to see how things shake out. The good news is that I met with the shop that painted the conda green targa that I posted photos of a few weeks ago and am now on their waitlist. Best case scenario is that they can take it in by the NewYear. So with a lot of luck I hope to be assembling the car by late spring...
Happy Thanksgiving
A few friends and I went on a morning drive, thinking it would be a nice relaxing morning on a low traffic stretch of road. While the road wasn't very busy there was snow, sand and salt from last night (Denver was dry). Oh well. Here's a photo I took on the way down to the rendezvous point
The other thing worth celebrating today is the 5th anniversary of this thread. It hasn't been a full 5 years since the construction started but I thought I would take this opportunity to compare pre- and post-addition to the garage.
looking towards the rear wall of the old garage from the back corner of the house (where the deck off the master bedroom is currently). You can see that the addition's footprint is just smaller than the old concrete patio and that the wall between the house and garage has moved forward about 16' (and is glass)
This is the opposite view:looking from the front door towards the back yard
Here is the view from the far corner of the pergola looking at the back corner with the bedroom which now has a sliding glass door and large window
And back to the front door, looking across towards the garage addition
A few friends and I went on a morning drive, thinking it would be a nice relaxing morning on a low traffic stretch of road. While the road wasn't very busy there was snow, sand and salt from last night (Denver was dry). Oh well. Here's a photo I took on the way down to the rendezvous point
The other thing worth celebrating today is the 5th anniversary of this thread. It hasn't been a full 5 years since the construction started but I thought I would take this opportunity to compare pre- and post-addition to the garage.
looking towards the rear wall of the old garage from the back corner of the house (where the deck off the master bedroom is currently). You can see that the addition's footprint is just smaller than the old concrete patio and that the wall between the house and garage has moved forward about 16' (and is glass)
This is the opposite view:looking from the front door towards the back yard
Here is the view from the far corner of the pergola looking at the back corner with the bedroom which now has a sliding glass door and large window
And back to the front door, looking across towards the garage addition
paredown
Well-known member
I was kicking back a little for Thanksgiving--partly because we had our last build day on our Habitat house on Tuesday--and stumbled on your thread. It has been a real pleasure to read this slowly over the past couple of days and see someone else formulate great and well-thought-out solutions to tricky design details.
In the 'I can't believe it' department, when my wife and I were talking about places to move, we stumbled on your Denver nabe (online)--and liked the houses (and at that point, the prices!)--but we are still in the Hudson valley in our modern house (early '60s).
Like quite a few of us, I too was inspired by Gregor's work, and was delighted to see someone else dig into a MCM house. (I should probably start a thread...)
I'm almost ready to turn my attention to the landscaping--I did some rough work shortly after we moved in, but it needs to be finished--and I'm likely to be shamelessly gathering inspiration for everything from the privacy fences to the pergola. So thanks!
(And in the confirmation of bona fides/or running true to type, I'm also a Porsche lover, but it has been strictly theoretical for the last twenty years or so--but maybe I'll get a crack at another before I'm too old to turn a wrench.)
In the 'I can't believe it' department, when my wife and I were talking about places to move, we stumbled on your Denver nabe (online)--and liked the houses (and at that point, the prices!)--but we are still in the Hudson valley in our modern house (early '60s).
Like quite a few of us, I too was inspired by Gregor's work, and was delighted to see someone else dig into a MCM house. (I should probably start a thread...)
I'm almost ready to turn my attention to the landscaping--I did some rough work shortly after we moved in, but it needs to be finished--and I'm likely to be shamelessly gathering inspiration for everything from the privacy fences to the pergola. So thanks!
(And in the confirmation of bona fides/or running true to type, I'm also a Porsche lover, but it has been strictly theoretical for the last twenty years or so--but maybe I'll get a crack at another before I'm too old to turn a wrench.)
nicholam77
Well-known member
The before-and-after photos are awesome! I think that's the first time I've been able to orient myself with the general layout. They really show how much amazing work you've done!
Please do
The MiL has gone back to the PNW and things are returning to normal. I'm somewhat disappointed that we didn't go out to Tacoma for the holiday because the LeMay museum has an Alfa Romeo exhibit that I wanted to see. But then, I hate traveling.
btw, your location caught my eye because years ago I got lost in your town. Before GPS-based navigation became ubiquitous, I flew down to PHL, bought the Carrera, and drove back to NH. But somewhere along the way I made a wrong turn and ended up driving around your area before making a loop back to the Tappan Zee bridge. It's funny that I haven't thought about it since , but immediately remembered the lost-anxiety feeling when I saw "Pomona"
Thanks for taking the time to read my thread. Please reconsider moving here: we need more good neighbors!
btw, your location caught my eye because years ago I got lost in your town. Before GPS-based navigation became ubiquitous, I flew down to PHL, bought the Carrera, and drove back to NH. But somewhere along the way I made a wrong turn and ended up driving around your area before making a loop back to the Tappan Zee bridge. It's funny that I haven't thought about it since , but immediately remembered the lost-anxiety feeling when I saw "Pomona"
Thanks! Sometimes I focus on the details and forget the big picture. Friends and family get especially frustrated when they ask for updates and I send them a photo of something without taking a step back to give them some context. I'm sure that I'm guilty of that here
+1. I'm always interested in seeing other MCM homes, but also just generally interested in learning how people use and improve their spacesPlease do
I try to completely avoid these conditions but sometimes... So when I get home I'll give the car a good wash to remove as much of the salt as quickly as possible. My friend with the outlaw 356 went straight to the self-serve wash to spray the underside of his freshly painted (!) car. E9s have a reputation for rust so I try to be extra careful - but when that isn't enough, I go with a thorough wash and blow (and an extra prayer to the rust gods)
TahitianGreen
Well-known member
As others have said, those pictures give a lot more context for the setting. Great house and garage!
Denver's snowless streak officially came to an end this morning
Kimo was pretty excited. We discovered that he loves to chase and catch snowballs
I don't have any updates - I've only been in the garage for a few minutes in the last week and that was to work on a friend's car. I did get the E9 out to the Adam's Polishes cars and coffee in Lafayette, CO last weekend. This is probably the largest regularly held gathering in the area. I prefer to avoid crowds, so I haven't been to this one in at least a couple years. Here's the only photo I took to show my wife how crowded it was on a freezing Dec. morning:
Kimo was pretty excited. We discovered that he loves to chase and catch snowballs
I don't have any updates - I've only been in the garage for a few minutes in the last week and that was to work on a friend's car. I did get the E9 out to the Adam's Polishes cars and coffee in Lafayette, CO last weekend. This is probably the largest regularly held gathering in the area. I prefer to avoid crowds, so I haven't been to this one in at least a couple years. Here's the only photo I took to show my wife how crowded it was on a freezing Dec. morning:
I was finally able to get in some quality time in the garage, which is good because I have a soft deadline at the end of Jan. to get the targa ready for a trip to the paint shop. The body needs to be completely stripped of parts and mounted on the dolly.
Today's project: disassemble the passenger door. A couple bolts gave me some grief but most broke free pretty easily. Like most of the 50 year old car, all the metal parts looked to be in good condition but all the rubber was toast. The only problems being that the window glass and some chrome on the frame and trim have a few scratches
Here's the stripped door. It's funny how light it feels without the window, regulator and latching mechanism. You can see the sound-absorbing pad inside the large oval hole. btw, the sloppy black paint around the edges is factory applied and I'll be reapplying when the time comes
And lastly, this is a photo of the door bottom, looking down towards the floor from the lower, elongated access hole. It's not uncommon for the bottom to be rusted out - this door is completely rust free
Up next: I'll clean these parts and start on the driverside door
Today's project: disassemble the passenger door. A couple bolts gave me some grief but most broke free pretty easily. Like most of the 50 year old car, all the metal parts looked to be in good condition but all the rubber was toast. The only problems being that the window glass and some chrome on the frame and trim have a few scratches
Here's the stripped door. It's funny how light it feels without the window, regulator and latching mechanism. You can see the sound-absorbing pad inside the large oval hole. btw, the sloppy black paint around the edges is factory applied and I'll be reapplying when the time comes
And lastly, this is a photo of the door bottom, looking down towards the floor from the lower, elongated access hole. It's not uncommon for the bottom to be rusted out - this door is completely rust free
Up next: I'll clean these parts and start on the driverside door
Both doors are disassembled so I'm cleaning and inspecting the parts. I have a few things that I'll repair once the parts arrive. In addition to all the rubber seals, there are also a few things that I'll need to replace even though they're not actually broken. It's obvious that a few things have been changed in the last 50 years now that the left and right components can be compared side by side.
First up, the chrome trim that goes along the top of the door at the base of the side windows. The driver's side is anodized aluminum while the passenger side is chromed brass. I think the chromed brass is correct for the '71 targa so I'll be looking for the driver's side version
For some strange reason the slot for the drivers side lock is vertical but the passenger side is horizontal. '71 was the year that Porsche transitioned from horizontal to vertical. I've seen one other person on a forum ask why their '71 had this "mismatch". I may leave this as-is just to see if anyone ever notices
Lastly, it looks like the passenger side vent window was replaced. All the other glass on the car is tinted green, but the passenger vent window is clear. It wasn't uncommon for these windows to be broken during a break in so I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case here and for whatever reason clear glass was used.
First up, the chrome trim that goes along the top of the door at the base of the side windows. The driver's side is anodized aluminum while the passenger side is chromed brass. I think the chromed brass is correct for the '71 targa so I'll be looking for the driver's side version
For some strange reason the slot for the drivers side lock is vertical but the passenger side is horizontal. '71 was the year that Porsche transitioned from horizontal to vertical. I've seen one other person on a forum ask why their '71 had this "mismatch". I may leave this as-is just to see if anyone ever notices
Lastly, it looks like the passenger side vent window was replaced. All the other glass on the car is tinted green, but the passenger vent window is clear. It wasn't uncommon for these windows to be broken during a break in so I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case here and for whatever reason clear glass was used.
Happy New Year! I don't normally acknowledge such things, but like most of you, I'm happy to see 2021 end.
I had some time to work on the targa between holiday activities. Among the last shipment of parts were new window cranks that look really good considering that they're just under 1/5 the cost of "genuine Porsche". The old ones were black but I went with chrome to add some bling to the interior. The cranks themselves are almost exact replicas...
but as you can see in the next photo, the new black plastic covers are just ok. There are rectangular and circular indents showing on the narrow and wider outer surface, respectively, that are telegraphing inner structures. The replica handles are close enough to original that the plastic covers are interchangeable. But because the cost of the aftermarket set of handle, cover and mounting bolt are about half what Porsche charges for the covers alone, I would have to get really bothered by it before I decide to pick up OEM ones.
The last order also included a small part that brings big cost-savings. It's common for the anchor pin of the spring that helps the window regulator to break. New regulators are over $500 and both the passenger and driver side anchors had snapped. Luckily, a few places sell a replacement pin - for various reasons I went with the Rennline version. With the Rennline, you just grind off the tail holding the broken anchor in place and install the replacement which is held in by a washer and screw. No bucking of the new anchor is necessary. Here's a photo of an installed replacement anchor and a comparison of a new anchor to an original broken one
The photo was taken before I completely wound the spring (the outer hook needs to rest on the pressed post) and for some reason the light reflection at the center of the new anchors look like a glowing warp core
I had some time to work on the targa between holiday activities. Among the last shipment of parts were new window cranks that look really good considering that they're just under 1/5 the cost of "genuine Porsche". The old ones were black but I went with chrome to add some bling to the interior. The cranks themselves are almost exact replicas...
but as you can see in the next photo, the new black plastic covers are just ok. There are rectangular and circular indents showing on the narrow and wider outer surface, respectively, that are telegraphing inner structures. The replica handles are close enough to original that the plastic covers are interchangeable. But because the cost of the aftermarket set of handle, cover and mounting bolt are about half what Porsche charges for the covers alone, I would have to get really bothered by it before I decide to pick up OEM ones.
The last order also included a small part that brings big cost-savings. It's common for the anchor pin of the spring that helps the window regulator to break. New regulators are over $500 and both the passenger and driver side anchors had snapped. Luckily, a few places sell a replacement pin - for various reasons I went with the Rennline version. With the Rennline, you just grind off the tail holding the broken anchor in place and install the replacement which is held in by a washer and screw. No bucking of the new anchor is necessary. Here's a photo of an installed replacement anchor and a comparison of a new anchor to an original broken one
The photo was taken before I completely wound the spring (the outer hook needs to rest on the pressed post) and for some reason the light reflection at the center of the new anchors look like a glowing warp core
Targa update: the heads have been reconditioned! About a year ago, they were sent off to a well-known shop who said that they weren't usable. My friends at Eisenbud's, the local Porsche gurus, didn't agree with that assessment and sent them back out to another machine shop. It took a while for them to get around to them, but they had no problems replacing the valve seats. I hope to get to the shop next week and check them out.
Back in Aug '18 (post #241) I had a photo of a "high-tech 2x4 to temporarily support the center" of the large bench. Well, over three years later, I can now say that the 2x4 has been permanently replaced. My plans of making a steel support were scrapped when my friend closed his body shop. So... I picked up a few aluminum T-slot brackets and bolted together a support leg. Here's one of the supports
and installed behind the rolling doors
Back in Aug '18 (post #241) I had a photo of a "high-tech 2x4 to temporarily support the center" of the large bench. Well, over three years later, I can now say that the 2x4 has been permanently replaced. My plans of making a steel support were scrapped when my friend closed his body shop. So... I picked up a few aluminum T-slot brackets and bolted together a support leg. Here's one of the supports
and installed behind the rolling doors
Klokwerk
Well-known member
I hear you on the 'genuine Porsche parts' as the tax is real. But for non critical components, I'm okay with 'close enough' and 'looks good'.
And those do look pretty good.
And those do look pretty good.
Here's an update on the targa project. I haven't had much garage time in the last few weeks, but this will bring you up to yesterday.
A friend is restoring a '71 911 coupe that rolled off the assembly line in Oct. '70, a month before my targa. When I visited his garage, the car was at the paint shop and he had all the trim parts layed out. I remembered his build date and decided to put the door handle keyhole variation (see post from Dec 19) to the test:
As you can see, the driver's keyhole is vertical while the passenger side is horizontal. So our two cars appear to support the theory that the early 1971 cars are transition cars that have mismatched key slots because the factory was using up the earlier, horizontal handles
Back to my garage. I need to get the targa completely stripped before the paint and body guy gets it (at this point, planning for the end of the month). It took me a while to figure out a way to jack the car high enough for the dolly, that is 30" tall at the shortest height. Also making it more difficult is the fact that the engine is a common lift point and its already out. And, the body can't rest on any part that I need to remove, like the suspension.
The rear supports are holding the body via the torsion bar cover
And in the front, the body is resting on the front corner of the pan, just aft of the wheel wells
up next: get the front and rear suspension off
A friend is restoring a '71 911 coupe that rolled off the assembly line in Oct. '70, a month before my targa. When I visited his garage, the car was at the paint shop and he had all the trim parts layed out. I remembered his build date and decided to put the door handle keyhole variation (see post from Dec 19) to the test:
As you can see, the driver's keyhole is vertical while the passenger side is horizontal. So our two cars appear to support the theory that the early 1971 cars are transition cars that have mismatched key slots because the factory was using up the earlier, horizontal handles
Back to my garage. I need to get the targa completely stripped before the paint and body guy gets it (at this point, planning for the end of the month). It took me a while to figure out a way to jack the car high enough for the dolly, that is 30" tall at the shortest height. Also making it more difficult is the fact that the engine is a common lift point and its already out. And, the body can't rest on any part that I need to remove, like the suspension.
The rear supports are holding the body via the torsion bar cover
And in the front, the body is resting on the front corner of the pan, just aft of the wheel wells
up next: get the front and rear suspension off
slik560
Well-known member
I cannot believe I missed this thread until now, but definitely subscribed. Always looking for more Porsche content. Good luck with the restoration.