Here's one of my distractions that's been taking up time that I should be using to finish my engine build. I picked up a set of front struts and brakes from a 1972 911T for a 5-lug conversion. Here's my progress up to this point..

Struts: Bead blasted, just primed one tonight... Will be painted satin black.

Hubs: bead blasted clean...

Brakes: New zinc plating, rebuilt.. I put the caliper back together and pushed the pistons out with compressed air. I took them apart first to let liquid wrench soak in with the aid of gravity..

Last one...

Hey thats cool ! Are they boge shocks? I have a 1971 T front end on my car too and am looking for new shocks as well. I want to get some Koni's for it. Looking good and those calipers are really well done too. Hope to see some pictures later on. Cheers

Thanks! Yes, these are Boges. I've got Bilstein inserts in my car now, and since these 911 struts are the later style, I believe my current inserts will fit these, which is nice, as it will save me about $300.

Nice job.

Who did your plating? I'm planning on having some stuff plated when I can afford it.

I checked around the Portland area for platers and couldn't find anyone that handled small hobby jobs. I'm sure there's someone out there, but it was far easier to send them to Eric Shea. He added them to a batch he was sending to his plater. It was a great deal. I sent dirty disassembled calipers and hardware to Eric via USPS and a couple weeks later, I received the beautifully plated caliper parts and black oxide coated hardware at my door, ready for assembly. Thanks Eric!

When I started plating stuff on my 928 project the Seattle area guys tried to find somewhere to do their stuff also but had no luck. Out here the owners of such shops (platers, powder coaters etc ..) tend to be hot rod guys and like to help out the hobbiest. Providing I give them clean parts I have rarely been over the min order charge which was $50. It has been a couple of years but I am getting to the point where I have 914 parts ready to go.

Bryan, is it OK to disassemble the caliper and then plate? I know on Eric's article he loosely bolts the halves together before plating.

Hopefully your snow will be melted in Spokane by August so you'll be able to get some driving time in this summer...

I'm going to defer your question to Eric.

Calling Eric Shea, are you out there Eric?

I have those same 911 struts but they are rust pitted way more than those. I guess I'll have to use my urethane filler primer to get mine that nice. I'm going to use a stainless steel two part epoxy paint on the suspension parts. It's used in industry where a really durable finish that can be painted on is needed. It's probably more expensive than powdercoating but it can be touched up and redone if I decide to go back and change something.

I bought a zink plating kit from caswell but I haven't tried it yet. The place I priced some small parts at wanted 100.00 minimum.

The bilsteins I have are for both the 911f and the 75 914 but the inside hole on the strut nut won't go over the insert shaft.

Did I write that? Gonna have to do some fancy edits.

I just disassemble everything and put it in three piles. Clear, Yellow and Black. Just drop them off and let the platers have at them.

Most medium size shops have a $35 - $50 minimum. The larger platers do bulk work and don't want dirty calipers.

In the last couple days, I finished priming the second strut and painted both with Rustoleum Satin #7777. It's the same stuff that the 911 guys on the PP board talk about for painting their Fuchs.

I sanded the primered surface with 1000 grit sandpaper just to smooth it out a little, making sure not to hit bare metal. There's a slight texture to the paint that I'd like to see a little smoother. Work is taking me away from home the next few days, so by the time I get home, the paint should be nice and dry. I'll decide at the point whether to color sand and polish the finish to smooth it out, or just let it be. I'm trying not to get too obsessed with the small stuff.

One more..

Purty.

Thanks!

We can tell.

(looks good B.)

Perfect for a Fuchs wheel, but not so much for a strut or 914 suspension components.


You're not doing so well at that.

Looks nice. You're doing good work.

I'm curious myself what paint to use to achieve a finish closer to the factory appearance for suspension pieces though. Eric, what do you use on your stuff?

Semi-Gloss Black Powder. Easy and it looks great and; no, I don't subscribe to the powder nay-sayers out there. If done properly by a professional shop you get GREAT results. As with life... preperation is key.

Check the 356 or the Early S Registry for accurate paint codes but; IMO, the factory used a toned down gloss black enamel that was baked on which gave it extra durability. Any professional painter can add a gloss agent to semi-gloss to get the desierd luster. I think Bryan's looks pretty close.

So tell me, should I be concerned with corrosion on my hubs? I know it doesn't look like much, but should I be concerned with my hub's integrity with this bit of corrosion? I know it may sound ridiculous, just want to see what the experts say. Thanks.

Sleep well...

Those pitted areas will be hard to see once the rotors are on. You can use a carbide cutter to clean the pits up and then use a sanding roll to smooth it out. Once it's level you can reblast it to give it a even texture so it will match the other areas.

I'm certainly not an expert, but I'd use that in a heartbeat.

That looks like intergranular corrosion. The only way to remove it is mechanical. You could blend it out and see how deep it goes. You might think about getting them treated after you blasted them. They will corrode more without it.

Personally, I'd run them after some cleanup. It's not around the lug holes where strength matters.