Body/Paint Shop Reccos & Estimates, SoCal, CA & Out-of-State Options

[Tom_T]

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I have a good straight black R trunk lid on the donor shell with some rust issues on the underside (??), so I'm hunting for a better replacement one or may get the original clean/rust-free one from the "red racers" former owners if/when they go to FG lids (black lid is from the 71 shell into which they transplanted the red 74's 2L drivetrain & suspension as their "new" VARA racer) - I also have new taillight lenses & housings, restorable core chrome 71-73 R bumper & top pad from Mikey914 (BTW - I also have the F top pad from him & some almost NOS used L&R F tits/gaurds for the F bumper) -









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[Tom_T]

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What gets cut in from the donor shell on mine will depend upon how well the bench pulls stuff out & what the media blast reveals in rust & other sheetmetal damage, but I would thing that at least the top of the rear center panel/light-frames will need to be cut in & welded, if not the lower part of that section & rear of the trunk floor too (the donor shell has a clean/true/rust-free trunk floor & most of the rear section except some rust at the LR bumper mount area (see its pix later in this series) - BTW the white & wrinkly stuff on the R fender & lid in these & other pix is remnants of some thin plastic sheeting which I'd put on under my car cover to try to better protect the paint while stored, but it stuck to the paint in many places instead! :-( - point being that they're not the sheetmetal warped, bent or wrinkled there -







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[Tom_T]

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Next two show some surface rust & pitting at the R trunk crossbrace edges, which in the bottom pic I've wire-wheeled, treated with rust eater & primed over with Wurth high-zinc primer to hold-off further corrosion until the shell is ready to completely media blast & work on - I'll be doing so at many/all of the other surface rust areas as I can get to them, wherever it isn't already rusted through & needing full cut-n-replace - in order to preserve as much else on the 914 as I can -





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[Tom_T]

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Ooops .... forgot this inner bulkhead @ front trunk with perlon carpet off is clean -



1/4" - 3/8" Rustbubbles on L & R Lower Front Fenders forward of doors & above rocker & behind wheel wells -





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[Tom_T]

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Passenger side rust bubbling/rot behind door @ sail/fender/door jamb - sorry for the fuzzy cell-cam pix, but I have excellent hi-rez one to email or mail on CD if needed -







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[Tom_T]

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Driver side rust bubbling/rot behind door @ sail/fender/door jamb - BTW behind the sail & rollbar vinyl appears to be good & smooth, because the vinyl is smooth with no bumps on both sides & top -









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[Tom_T]

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Some Good Stuff - L & R outer & inner Longs & tops & bottoms of L & R sills are clean & rust-free with original L80E paint showing clean - there is only a little surface rust on the bottoms of the Sill Angle Brackets & at the bottom of & behind Jack Tune Supports (nothing goes through behind latter), that black stuff is dealer applied undercoating overspray behind rear of rockers & wiring on passenger side is from fuel pump relocation up behind steering rack/rack cover -







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[Tom_T]

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That is gunk/dirt at those black spots behind the vapor control eqpt. tubes beyond the drivers jack post in this pic - not rust & the screwdriver did not go through there -



This also shows the lower LF Fender Rust Bubble above the Longs -



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[Tom_T]

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BTW - I was told that the hollow paint blisters below & elsewhere on the L side of the body were due to someone on a car next to mine when painted last time getting rubbing/polishing compound over spray onto the surface underneath & the silicone in that crap soaking into the paint & causing adhesion to fail. Elsewhere esp. at rear end shots, you can see bits of a lightweight painters drop cloth which I had under to car cover for "extra protection" which adhered to the paint - so it's not other areas of paint failure per se.







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[Tom_T]

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... Now to Passenger side Long - Rust Bubble exposed at Lower RF Fender above Long - I don't know if the little tinge of rust at the forward long cover plate seam(s) below (the horizontal one is just a scratch on the surface & paint from something) - & in the pix above on the L long forward cover plate - are indicative of rust issues behind there, but it is probably worth the effort to pull them off & check IMHO -







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[Tom_T]

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[Tom_T]

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[Tom_T]

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Clean @ Driver & Passenger Sides' Floor Pans & @ Tunnel & Pedal Cluster (Floor Tar still in place though) - Behind Driver Seat -



Driver Floor Pan -



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[Tom_T]

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Pedal Cluster Area -





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[Tom_T]

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Behind Pass. Seat -



Pass. Floor Pan -



Area on L-mid side of Tunnel with earlier Repair to Clutch-tube & repair plate for tube at lower firewall (which apparently was the factory recco & parts provided for repairing it on an operating 914 back in the 70's-80's when this was done) - so I'll want repair this clutch tube properly while it's down to shell, including to weld-up these cuts, weld up a reinforced firewall/clutch tube & weld the front mid & rear points of the clutch tube itself to repair it properly & more permanently -



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[Tom_T]

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Back to Bad News - Hell Hole with Battery Tray Removed -



Also note rust through at Lower to Upper Firewall Seam Area in otp area of photo below -



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[Tom_T]

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[Tom_T]

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Rust at Lower to Upper Firewall Joint Area -







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[r_towle]

Hi,

Stop posting pics already.
No decent shop will give you an estimate without seeing the car in person.
What you need to find is a great restoration shop in your area that has a soft spot for old porsches...they are around.

Rich

[Tom_T]

All solvent based paints are not illegal in Ca. Some manufacturers have developed or modified their formula to be compliant. Sherwin-Williams, Nason, Valspar and Transstar have compliant solvent paints. All of the clearcoat is still solvent based.
We won't know how good the new formulas are for another 20 years or so.

Unfortunately none of those paint manufacturers are considered top quality for auto work, as Dupont, PPG, Glasurit, Sekkinds, etc. used by the top shops.

Also, I'm not sure that I'd go with a clearcoat on L80E, esp. since it wasn't used on it in 73 MY (IIRC it was only used on the metallics back then).

Even if they were, as you noted - they don't know what will happen in 10-20 years, & I prefer to NOT be an experiment! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Apparently Porsche & the other German &/or Euro-land auto mfgrs. have had to go to water-based as well due to EU restrictions, but likewise don't know fur sure how well they'll hold up over time, as compared to the old standards.

Thanx for the additional info on CA paints though! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)