2.4S restoration

[richyrich]

Hi, I am thinking of a total resto on my '72 2.4S. What sort of cost (guide) am I looking at for this? And who to do it? I presume using Porsche workshops would be prohibitively expensive. The car is pretty good as it is, but needs sorting around the edges, then if you are going to do this do you go for the full resto?
Any thoughts gratefully received.
Richard

 

[jamescharnley]

where in the country are you?

A good early 911 bodywork specialists are few & far between. Off the top of my head some of the known ones are:

Sportwagen
Early911

Barry Carter is a 'one man band' & does exceptional work ( Barry on DDK). Quite a few DDK cars have gone through his workshop. Up North we have another very talented body man who doesn't advertise.

Have a look at this thread as a similar question has been asked

http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16894

& follow my link to the 'restoration' threads. Lots of examples of resto work there.

It is best to speak to as many of the restorers as possible & speak to owners of restored cars to get a picture of who you would entrust your car to.

Cost ... how long is a piece of string []

 

[vic cohen]

I have a pal who started at the 'edges 'with a '72 S and spent £25k .............it turned out to be more than cosmetic and horrors from fomer owners were revealed ......................if u go to Bruce at Sportwagen , he ll go through the car with u and explain then u can decide ..................nice article in last months 9111 PW tells how he woeks ,yes i am biased he did mine and no it did nt cost £25k .........took a while though!!

 

[richyrich]

Would it also be a crime to have a colour change in the process?!

 

[Nick Moss]

Would it also be a crime to have a colour change in the process?!

Richard, it's your car to paint whatever colour you want, although it may affect the value when you come to sell. If I remember correctly your car is not the original colour anyway so a return to its original Light Yellow (?) may well enhance the value. A colour change involves an enormous amount of work to do correctly, virtually every part needs to be removed from the shell, and if you go that far you may as well do the complete restoration.

I presume using Porsche workshops would be prohibitively expensive.

If you mean OPCs, then very few would be experienced in anything like this apart from AFN. If you mean Porsche specialists, then only you can decide what is expensive, it all depends on the quality you want to achieve.

 

[911Smonster]

If you say the car is pretty good as it is and just needs tidying up around the edges, then why go for a full resto? Just get the edges tidied up. Personally I'd only go for a full restoration on something that REALLY needed it. What work do you think it actually needs?

 

[vic cohen]

Fair comment, but my point was people do get surprised when they look properly ....................then its false economy not to go the whole hog.

 

[richyrich]

Hi Nick, my car is Metallic blue with blue interior, pretty sure this is its original colour.
Workwise, the paint needs tidying in places, all window and light seals need replacing ( windscreen leaks in corners), footwell carpets need replacing where speakers have been added and now removed.
My idea on colour would be a change to dark grey with a black interior, and to change from standard seats to Recaros or replica ones.
Mechanically the car seems ok, and pulls very well. I didn't pay a huge amount (ie like current prices) for the car and thought about spending some money on it to get it up to scratch. I am not looking at entering into concourse, as I like to drive it regularly. My theory on a full resto was that if you are replacing seals etc you may as well repaint the car, then if you are doing this you may as well address other items etc etc...
Also, I think the body is pretty sound, so maybe improve it now rather than letting 'unseen' issues worsten.

Or, maybe I should just enjoy it as is until something falls off!

 

[bernard tester]

Hi (windscreen leaks in corners) I have repaird and restored quite a few early cars over the years and the area at the bottom corners often rust away! regards berny.

 

[Helen Goff]

i think you need to decide if your planning to keep and use this car for many years to come or just want to enjoy driving it now.

if your planning to keep it then a quick touch up of the paint work is not going to be anough as it could mask underlying problems that you would have otherwise been aware of and delt with.
and that could cost you much more in the long run to sort out.

be aware (and i say this from experience) once you start "light" restoration its hard to know when to stop as the new bit will make the old bits look worse and so it goes on untill you have done the complete car.

i have this problem with my 911t at the moment as the body work was completly (and beautifully)done in 2003 which (IMHO) has left the "tidy" interior of the car looking really quite shabby.

 

[bert gear]

ORIGINAL: bernard tester

Hi (windscreen leaks in corners) I have repaird and restored quite a few early cars over the years and the area at the bottom corners often rust away! regards berny.

Dansk do a repair section for this repair

 

[911Smonster]

Since it's a potentially valuable 2.4S, I'd personally respray it in the original colour and keep everything as original and genuine as possible. Genuine Recaros would make a nice upgrade, but they're not exactly cheap! Of course if you intend to keep the car forever, it doesn't really matter.