1964 Bali Blue SC Coupe Restoration Project

[Red911]

Hello all,
I was warmly welcomed to the ABC GT board. Thank you.

I thought the car was Albert Blue, that is because I restored a 1967 SWB and painted it Albert Blue, see the old and new photos below.







I have attached the COA for the car that shows it to be an SC painted Bali Blue.





From the history in the glove box, and an Italian license plate, it was purchased by a US service person and went to Italy.

It has no floors, holes in the engine compartment from perhaps an oil cooler by a PA. It is a mess.

The motor is out and on an engine stand awaiting the car's metal work restoration. The gearbox is out and the rear rotisserie mount is attached. I have restored both the '67 and a '66 SWB 911 on that rotisserie. I did the SWB's as practice for the 356. What a difference in chassis.

The '66 was on the cover of Hemmings Sports and Exotics.


[attachment:4]Gentz_Red_911_Hemmings_Cover.pdf[/attachment]

There were holes in every body panel, including the roof. Looked like someone had buried a hatchet in it. Here are some before and after photos of the '67.

[attachment:5]scan0011.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment:6]scan0017.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment:7]scan0049.jpg[/attachment]

More photos of the '66 in the next post.

On the '64 356:

I have cut off the rear to get at the rust worm work on the inner engine. The patch panels are in progress for the rear.

The doors are off and have been dipped. There is a dipping place in Worcester, MA that is still open if anyone is interested. I figured the doors would be fine to dip as the rust would be relieved and I could redo the doors and paint them without fear of the dipping solution coming back during paint.

My plan is to march from the rear to the front, then do the floors last.

I will cut the nose off to get at the inner panels and battery box.

With all the metal work done, I will have the car dustless blasted, use POR-15 on the interior and bottom, then paint the entire car Albert Blue bottom, inside and outside. I have done that with both the SWB cars, and I like the outcome.

Tom

[Red911]

I am getting used to how to post photos.

Here is the Hemmings cover with the '66:





Here is the '64 COA:

[Red911]

'67 before and after:

[Red911]

Now to where I am today with the '64 356.

Driver's side rear quarter panel


I cut off the rear to get at the holes:

[Red911]

I have moved on to removing the rear trailing arms and only broke one of the eight bolts that hold the trailing arms on:





Now to try to remove the torsion bar covers without breaking off the stud. Stay tuned for my results:



Tom

[Red911]

Hello all,

I purchased a Bolt Buster from Amazon. It was delivered on Sunday.




My 356 is very rusty and I will need all the tools to be successful. None of this hardware could be moved before the Bolt Buster.

It uses induction to heat up iron and steel so it is perfect for stuck nuts. Per the directions, you encircle the nut and press the button until the nut is cherry red, not red hot. This is rear suspension bumper that has a captive nut inside.

The directions say leave 1/8" gap between the nut and coil.



I used an Easy Out to hold the captive bolt and the nut came out easily. Magic!



Next I worked om the 19MM nut and bolt are located on the rear trailing bar. I tried a breaker bar and it would not budge.





And the hardest to remove without breaking the bolt was the torsion bar cover. Both came off without breaking.



Tom

[JTR70]

Beautiful job on that 901 restoration Tom! You seem to be versed well enough with Porsche unibodies so I don't see your new project giving you any trouble.
I go for the oxy/Acetylene torch for crusty bolts but that bolt buster is a fantastic option. Never seen it before so thanks for the tip! Thanks for sharing your build with us. Will be watching with interest.

Justin

[Red911]

One small project per day, or eat the elephant one bite at a time.

Removed the six door jam bolts and plate with Bolt Buster. No problem.






I can remember removing (read this: breaking the phillips screws on the last restoration. With the Bolt Buster, heat up the inside captive nut one at a time, twist with a little squeaking, and all six are out.

Tom

[Red911]

Hello all,
I use EvapoRust to remove rust from items. Allow me to provide you some history on how I arrived at chosing EvapoRust.

I used POR-15 on the Red '66 911. The Metal Ready phosphoric acid part of the POR-15 is useful to remove rust, however it is caustic. I needed to use nitrite gloves and a respirator.

So I used Eastwood's Rust Remover Gel and Fast Etch to remove and maintain the part rust free. Boy, was that rough to use. It was much stronger than POR-15's Metal Ready. That was too aggressive for me.

I looked for less aggressive rust remover and found EvapoRust. I can put my hands in it without any reaction, and I don't need a respirator either. The label says you can even pour the solution down the drain or throw it on your lawn when it stops working after derusting 300 lbs. of ferris material.

I tried it out on a hand saw blade and it was great.

So, I made a trough for the door bottoms to soak in for overnight.

Now why did the door bottoms rust? I was excited about the restoration and purchased many parts from Restoration Design about three years ago. Then, I got lazy and they sat and got rusty. So I had to bring them back to rust free.



I should have taken a photo of the before bath, but these two were equally rusty. The rust free door bottom has been dipped for about 12 hours and scuffed. The other one is soaking as I write.



I had the doors dipped at NE Metal Rust Removal, Worcester, MA. At that time, they were rust free. Again, I left the restoration for years. And surface rust reappeared.

The procedure I used to remove rust that was on parts for my previous restorations when I cannot soak them overnight. I purchased an artificial chamois for about $4. Cut them up into 4" squares. Put them in a covered dish with POR-15 Metal Prep now EvapoRust so the product did not evaporate and they get totally saturated. Let them sit on the rust overnight and use a red 3M Scuff Pad cut into 2" square pieces to loosen the rust and reapply the chamois until the rust disappears. EvapoRust container says moisten paper towels and put plastic wrap over the top to avoid evaporation. The chamois does not allow the product to evaporate overnight and they stay moist.



In the next post, I will show photos of the doors prior to adding the door bottom and door skin.
Tom

[Red911]

Hello all,

The second door bottom came rust free quickly, about 5 hours in the trough.



When I get ready to weld the bottoms into the door, I will use POR-15 Metal Ready.

Now, I am derusting the door skin. I will use POR-15 Metal Ready with the chamois. Here is the first application. This is how the door skin starts:



Here are the cut up chamois in place. I drenched them in a covered dish to conserve the Metal Ready.



More tomorrow after a soak tonight, then a scrub tomorrow morning.

Tom

[JTR70]

What does that stuff run a gallon Tom? I've always used muriatic acid for the same job. Thanks for the tip and keep up the great progress!
Justin

[roy mawbey]

Tom,

Very interesting solutions you have established. Nice to see a 356 in such rusty condition just like so many over here were in the UK until suddenly so many people thought ' worthwhile restoring ' rather than scrapping.

You are doing some really nice work Tom !

Roy

[Red911]

Hi Roy,

It costs about $23 a gallon. I bought mine at Tractor Supply.

I have used muriatic acid to clean concrete prior to epoxy painting the garage floor. You will love EvapoRust and it takes it easy on you.

Tom

[Red911]

Hello all,

In the last post, I took a photo of the chamois with POR-15's Metal Ready. Here is the result after 12 hours. I used the red 3M scuff pad to remove loose rust and reapplied the chamois. I will do the same process tonight. I did not use the EvapoRust, as it takes longer, and I have had success with the Metal Ready. I buy a gallon at a time.

Before:



After one 12 hour "soak":



Tom

[Red911]

Hello all,

Six hours later, and more rust removed with POR-15 Metal Ready and a quick scuff.



Seems to be moving forward.

Tom