Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Bauhaus this house

[Klokwerk]

Wow....it has been a while since I checked in. I'm afraid to admit that the project has not been moving very fast lately.
We did complete the bedroom. Very happy with that. Got the floor in with the radiant electric heat under it.
We got a new pup named Umi. I was able to get more work done on the 2002. And the 911. We also got a few trips in to FL, NY, New Orleans and Seattle.
I've learned how to model in FreeCAD a little better and my toolset in the shop now includes a very quiet compressor as well as a bench top sand blasting cabinet.

The pup today. She's a handful at 30+ lbs. That's pretty big for a Shiba. Girls normally don't get bigger than 20lbs!

My Aunt was retiring so we planned to have a big party for her. I think nearly everyone in my family was in the state of Florida was there. And that's a lot.
We ended it with a cruise. We rented a pretty big boat and went out for the sunset. Always good seeing all of them in one place....not killing each other.

For Jo's birthday party last year I boiled up 50lbs of crawfish. Soooo good and spicy!
Don't eat the ones with straight tails...just don't.

Then we flew to NY to visit my daughter who lives in Manhattan. Side quest to Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the bonsai garden.

The traveling finished with a short trip over to Seattle to visit a new member of the family. New grand-niece.
Her parents were in town to attend a wedding and we couldn't resist. So, drove the 911 over from Spokane and had a great time!


All in between that stuff, we managed to get the bedroom done minus the walk in closet. Looks pretty good, but I think I could use help with the lighting design and some drapes.


You might know that I'm not shy when it comes to color....but we couldn't decide what to paint this room....we we just put on some off white and decided to revisit this later. Maybe once we get the bathroom remodel/walk in closet done. I've put a dead line for mid 2026 for this. So, fingers crossed.

The 2002 also got some more work done. Doing a full restore is way more work than just slapping it back together from the old busted and dirty parts.
So I got a new blasting cabinet from Vevor. Cheap and gets the job done. And a silent (or near to it) compressor from California Air Tools.
Very happy with this one. Not great for blasting, but I only need it for short runs so I think I'm good to go. Used it a bunch now and I'm happy.


Lots of details and other things I've skipped. I'll post more about those soon. For example, the work I've done on both the 911 and 2002. So many little things with that car that had caused me to go down some crazy rabbit holes. I think I'm making real progress again with the '02. I think I'll have that done this coming year too! Finally.

 

[kwyjibo]

Welcome back! Umi's a good looking pup. It's funny my wife was looking over my shoulder and said: "hey, he's like you. midcentury house, Porsche and BMW and a Japanese dog"

 

[Klokwerk]

After the trip to NY I had a hankering to fix the bad job I'd done on repainting my front bumper.

Searching many months ago for Linen Grey Porsche paint code 60M lead me to an online paint supplier that said they would match the color 100%. I bought what they had assuming the color would be correct (paint code right?) and that when I got around to actually painting I'd be using the right paint....boy was I wrong.

I had ordered a kit with enough paint to do my front and rear bumpers as well as the hood. My paint has some issues and me being an avid do-it- yourselfer.....screwed myself. LOL

The day came, I pulled out the paint and gave the cans a thorough shaking then did a test on some metal I had laying about. It came out looking darker than I was expecting. Did another from another can and yep I was sent something that was definitely not Linen Grey but something more like Fashion Grey. I thought 'Maybe it's just the light or it'll lighten up when it dries'....I went ahead and painted it....mistake. Turned out way darker and bluer than Linen.


Sorry, my shop floor is dirty....all the time.

It had been many months since I bought it so I figured I couldn't return the cans. Didn't try.
Instead of going back to the online shop I went to a local mixer called National Auto Body and Paint Supplies nearby on Market Street. I also had in hand the tow hook plug from the bumper. We spent a couple hours talking paint. He asked if it was single stage or not. Had the car been repainted (hadn't) and was it done with the right paint etc etc....he seemed to know his stuff.

He looked up the paint code I gave him and said he couldn't find it. It did not show up in any of the online paint catalogs he had. Not until he looked at some obscure libraries which he said was unusual. Must not be a very popular color. I said it wasn't.
According to Rennbow linen grey gets their highest ranking for rarity...5 paint cans, among the rarest of the rare. Go figure.

More time to research the color he said. I left the plug with him and went for lunch.

A few tacos later I came back and he had the code, the formula and had already mixed up a little bit to be sure. He took his sample and held it next to the plug...perfect match. Then we went about checking it's single stage or not.

See, Porsche in the early days used single stage paint for everything but started switching to base coat-clear coat (dual stage) for metallic paint around 1988 and for white, black and some other colors single stage hung on for a little longer well into the 2000's. Turns out for Linen Grey on a 1989 911 C4 Porsche still used single stage paint.

One way to test if it is or not, and others please chime in if there's an easier and safer way, is to buff it. If any of the color comes off from buffing, it's single stage. Here's where I learned that if you buff too much you'll put your eye out. Also you'll wear your paint down to metal or at least down to the primer.

The shop owner gave me some instructions on how to apply my new paint, how many coats, how long to wait to flash between coats, how to wet sand, to wait a couple days before buffing/waxing and so on. Oh, don't forget to wear a respirator!

Single stage paint is super easy to work with. Just prep, prime and shoot. No worrying about clear coating and all that jazz.

Can with the formula below

With renewed confidence I bought a couple 12oz cans (not too confident I guess) and rushed home. I had already taken the bumper off and carefully prepped the surface. Basically lightly sanded it down to the primer. Wasn't careful enough to not get down to plastic in a couple small spots apparently.



Light plastic prep and primer later I was ready to paint. About this time a set of brake ducts showed up. Thank you UPS....Prepped them as well and got to painting.




Don't mind the feet. I ran downstairs just to take this pic. I don't normally work barefooted. But when I do, it's Dos Equis.

A light wet sanding and a second coat. Then the final third coat.
That's more like it!

After letting it cure for a couple days I got my buffer and thought I F'd it up again...so much color on my pad. Stopped and finished by hand. I think my pad was way to aggressive even though it was the finest I had. Oh well. Maybe not enough days of curing?

picture below before buffing and with lots of dirty finger prints all over everything from installing it onto my dirty car...ugh

In the end it looked great. I was happy.
I went back to the shop and bought several more cans because I want to do my rear bumper and hood now. Likely next spring.

After a good washing.


In hind site I could have gone 4 or 5 coats. Maybe next time.
Thanks for reading.

 

[Klokwerk]

@kwyjibo Thanks! Jo thought it was funny too. Glad to find folks with similar likes, but what I really love about this forum are all the differences we all have!
And Umi is a great pup. She just turned two this month and still acts like she's a baby!
But she's got to have her adult morning pup cup.

 

[fouckhest]

Great to see you back checking in, looking forward to more updates! Great looking pup! Bedroom looks awesome, 911 is just too good, nice work on the paint, certainly presents well in photos!

 

[Klokwerk]

Never to late to say Happy New Year! So there we go....
I had planned to have the 2002 done by now...but life does what it does. Now I have a solid plan to finish the car this May. For several reasons. Mainly it's Jo's birthday in May AND I'm really tired of not seeing it progress to finished already.

To that end, I really got cracking on it around October/November. Then I took a couple weeks off at the end of the year. The results are here....


Not much to look at but it's taken about 6 years to get here!
The wheels are the OE wheels it had prior to the restoration starting and are temporary while I finish working on it.

Started here and not soon after this we blew the engine. While it was out we decided to do some work on it which scope creeped into a full restoration.


I had it blasted in my driveway, because why not.


Then off to paint



Then we bought the new house and work got busy...then family stuff, and on and on.
The paint shop doing the work was very patient and also were okay with taking their time. We had no place to put it until we settled in anyway.
After they delivered it it sat....and sat.



I did do little things here and there like rebuilding and restoring the gauges, the tail and head light assemblies. I rebuilt the heater core and the fan box.
It was the suspension with the front and rear sub-frames that took me a couple years to do. I don't have a good reason for why I took so long. Just lazy or too busy. Either way I didn't get it done.

Then late 2025 I found the enthusiasm to get at it again. I was working on it late nights and every weekend. The suspension is all done and on the car now. The wiring is nearly all done and I'm getting onto the interior. I've already repaired and flocked the dash.
It looks great!

Order of operations though....what has to happen first so I don't end up having to tear it out and redo it? That's what I'm thinking about right now.

The engine. It and the transmission need to get in next. I could have done that when I installed the front sub-frame. I might just drop it again and get the motor in that way. That is how I removed the engine to begin with.



Looking back at the earlier pictures, of this dirty and oily engine and seeing where it is now and where it's headed next, that gets me excited. May...my target is May.

 

[fouckhest]

Looking great! love that color

 

[RStewart]

Excellent journey here. The older I get the more I embrace the less is more mindset. At least in the house. Shop, well we’re working on it.

 

[Denwood]

@Klokwerk , congrats on making the front page featured. It reminded me to drop in and see how you were making out on the cars and home renos

Seeing your adventures with paint, I think you’d really enjoy getting a proper gun, sort a DIY booth etc and take things up a notch. That said, I completely get out-sourcing that work as it is a true rabbit hole if you want to get it right. The good news is that color sanding and buffing can make a pretty poor spray job look amazing as long as the paint is clean. That is my key to success in painting…

I posted back in 2022 on your Bolt. Still hanging in there?

 

[Nolift911]

Great updates - thanks for sharing. Love the 2002.

 

[Klokwerk]

Thanks all!
@Denwood Thanks and yeah, I'd played with making a paint booth for the 911's bumper but passed since it was such a small project. Too much stuff to move around at the time. Might go that route soon because I want to do the hood and rear bumper too...we'll see!

The Bolt is doing great...most dependable car I've ever had honestly. It does double duty as backup power for the house from time to time. So it's been a life saver too.

@Nolift911 your 911 is amazing...got caught up on your work. So clean.
I recently found what looks like a little corrosion under my windshield gasket on the drivers side. Haven't gone digging into it yet but I suspect I've got some rust growing there! Ugh

 

[Nolift911]

@Nolift911 your 911 is amazing...got caught up on your work. So clean.
I recently found what looks like a little corrosion under my windshield gasket on the drivers side. Haven't gone digging into it yet but I suspect I've got some rust growing there! Ugh

Thanks - if it is bottom of cowl that is not to bad to repair since you can just paint the cowl from the rest of the car - if it is around the edges or up high still not too bad since you can just paint the roof and a-pillars. Bottom line is it is not a full repaint proposition. My car does not see weather but those roped in seals for the windows are good for 5 years max if your car is outdoors. Cheap (not easy to replace seal prevents that down the road)

 

[Denwood]

Thanks all!
@Denwood Thanks and yeah, I'd played with making a paint booth for the 911's bumper but passed since it was such a small project. Too much stuff to move around at the time. Might go that route soon because I want to do the hood and rear bumper too...we'll see!

The Bolt is doing great...most dependable car I've ever had honestly. It does double duty as backup power for the house from time to time. So it's been a life saver too.

@Nolift911 your 911 is amazing...got caught up on your work. So clean.
I recently found what looks like a little corrosion under my windshield gasket on the drivers side. Haven't gone digging into it yet but I suspect I've got some rust growing there! Ugh

Nice to hear you're still happy with the Bolt! I've added a 2nd LEAF to the collection for my daughter, but mine (at around 150K Kms) has required ball joints and outer tie rod ends as well as a CV joint (boot had let in water via a loose clamp). It seems a lot of cars these days are needing lots of these front end bits not long after warranty expiration as well :-(

Honestly though, the 2002 and 911 would be very top of my list if had the time, patience (and ya, $$$) to take on these projects! I do regularly regret selling my autocross car (84 Scirocco) and restored 90 Westfalia :-( Have to get a few kids through university first...

 

[littlebean]

found this from Ryans link - looking forward to reading through it all, first few pics have me hooked

 

[littlebean]

ok, caught up now........
sorry to hear (read) about your dog and especially your dad - Alzheimer's is an awful illness, lost my dad to it as well

 

[Glemon]

Just found this as our benevolent overlord featured it on the front page. Love the house and what you are doing to it. Also the cars, had an Inka 2002 a few years back, just a useable driver, but I think these cars at the perfect spot between modern and vintage (but my perception of "modern" probably skews older than most). I used to drive mine too work sometimes and it was a perfectly practical commuter with a glorious panoramic view out that big greenhouse.

Anyway, enjoyed reading about the home car projects.

 

[the lab]

Really nice house, some seriously cool rides, and it’s great to see the steady progress you’re making. Always cool to follow a project where you can tell a lot of thought and effort is going into every step. Looking forward to seeing what’s next.

 

[Klokwerk]

@the lab Yeah, maybe too much thought and less progress! LOL.

Right now my projects are at a crossroads. One needs to be done to so another can progress and then the other can't start because the third one is in the way...and so on.
I've never been good at playing Tetris but I imagine that shuffling tasks around like I'm having to, is a lot like that.

 

[Steve V.]

I just saw this linked on the main page of the forum. This is a great thread. The BMW looks really nice.

 

[the lab]

@the lab Yeah, maybe too much thought and less progress! LOL.

Right now my projects are at a crossroads. One needs to be done to so another can progress and then the other can't start because the third one is in the way...and so on.
I've never been good at playing Tetris but I imagine that shuffling tasks around like I'm having to, is a lot like that.

I’ve paused all the car projects for now. I’m focusing on finishing the garage first and then I’ll get back to the cars. Otherwise everything just moves too slowly and it feels like none of the projects are really going anywhere. Sometimes you just have to pick one thing and push it to the finish line before the rest can move forward.

 

[Klokwerk]

I hear you. And it's something I'll have to do. Helps to hear it coming from someone else!