With Part 1 of the build page getting too long, welcome to Part 2 of the Porsche 911 GBG Backdate

We left Part 1 with Olly having fitted the heater tubes and new sills and we pick up the project in part 2 with the biggest task to date, the removal of the roof!

With the roof off the guys set about removing the rust that was underneath the roof skin ready for the new skin.

We have also removed, cleaned up and welded in new metal to get rid of the old bits of corrosion that the previous company had just patched over without cutting out the rot first. You can see below from the photos how bad this was.

The new roof skin was then trial fitted with the rest of the panels to see how they all fit together. Big Al has spent a quite a bit of time making sure all the panel gaps are perfect before they all get welded spot welded on.

As we highlighted in part 1 the top of the drivers side door frame was hitting the roof of the car even when adjusted the door to its lowest position, so the roof had to come up slightly. Al has used a hydraulic Porta Power ram to adjust the roof gaps to allow the doors to now shut nicely. Al also has had to shave a bit off the bottom of the doors to get the gapping perfect.

Once we were happy with the gapping the panels were then spot welded on.

We weren’t happy with the way the wheel arch swages looked, with the new Turbo arches swage looking a bit on the thick side. So Al has reduced the thickness on the rear wings and has added a swage to the front wings so that they match the rears. I have to say it has definitely improved the whole look of the car.

We dropped the car back down on the deck and were not happy with the gapping between the edge of the extended front wheel arches and the wheels. The wheels just didn’t sit centrally in the arches, there was just too big of a gap on the one side of each arch, due to the extensions that had been fabricated prior to the car coming to us. There was no option but to cut up the front arches and extend them on one site so that the gapping around the wheel was equal all the way round.

With the wing extensions finished we set about getting the front bumper to sit nicely with them. The bumper had been supplied with the car and already had some pug work done to it. To get it to sit nicely with the wings, we had to cut the bumper in half and then adjust both pieces until we were happy with the lines. We also chopped off a huge chunk of the pug that was now jutting out.

The two bumper end have now been rejoined back together using fresh fibreglass.

The interior and underside have been rubbed back and any repair work done ready for raptor.

We have also added in some subtle body mods which we will keep under wraps for the time being and see if you guys can spot them.

With all 4 wings shaped to a level we are all happy with the shell was then wheeled into the booth for a coating of spray putty. This will allow us to give the car a rub down to get the shape right before it goes into primer for a final finesse.

With the spray putty rubbed down and shaped, the Porsche was wheeled back into the booth again for a coating of primer. Once this had dried the shell was masked up and the underside, interior, engine bay and under the bonnet were coated in Raptor, to give it a hard wearing protective coat. The primer was then rubbed down ready for paint.

The shell has been wheeled into the booth to coat the dash before the rest of the shell gets sprayed.

The Porsche has now been masked up and Kyle has coated it in Meissen Blue and i have to admit it is looking sweeeet. Very happy with the colour choice, it really allows the body mods to stand out.

The Porsche has been wheeled over to the garage where it is getting re assembled. The wiring loom, wiring and pipe work has been fitted.

The dials are in and the suspension parts have started to be fitted.

Craig from CW Trimming is in to do the Porsches headlining, which is going back to factory black.

The head and tail lights have started to be fitted, as has steering column and the RUF peddle set.

The flexible brake hoses have now been fitted along with the clutch and throttle cable.

Al has cut out the dodgy sunken patch that someone had previously welded into the door. He then fabricated and welded in a new patch making sure it sat flush.

Mick has restored and fitted the short throw gear shifter.

With the global lockdown now in place things have slowed down a little on the Porsche, but Olly has been steadily doing what he can to move the project along. In the interior he has fitted the steering wheel, handbrake and has also fitted the door rubbers.

The roll cage has also been sprayed by Kyle to match the body shop in the same body colour and Olly has fitted it into the car and it is looking sweet. The rear glass is also in.

Unfortunately because of Covid-19, i (Pete) have not been able to follow the progress of this project every day, but have managed to get shots once a week to keep you updated with any progress made on this build as Olly continues to move the project along.

This week the windscreen is now in after a bit of modification. We have decided to go for the window rubbers that don’t have chrome as they fit better with the look we are going for. However we discovered that the metal in the windscreen scuttle was just not wide enough for the new rubbers to fix to, so Olly has modified these by adding in a larger strip of metal to fix the rubbers to.

The drivers side door, handle and glass are now in,  as is the engine lid release cable and solenoid.

The engine, gearbox and exhaust have been trial fitted as we are going to be detailing the fan housing to match the body colour. We will bring you more info about the mods to the engine in future posts so watch this space.

The seats and runners have been trial fitted too. We like how narrow they are and suit the car very well. They are going to be re-upholstered in our chosen colour scheme that will match the colour of the wheels, more to follow on this.

Kyle over in the bodyshop has sprayed the wheels in our chosen custom colour to match the stitching we have chosen for the interior. We are all loving this colour and it works so well against the blue, and is definitely a step up from the bright orange you normally see with this blue. Can’t wait to see these on the car.

The engine and gear box have been detailed and Olly has now fitted them in and connected some of the pipework. He has also fabricated some custom exhaust brackets, fitted new heat exchanger pipes. He has also the oil cooler at the front of the car by fabricating bespoke brackets amongst a number of other jobs. I have to say it is looking epic from underneath.

The rocker covers have been polished up lacquered and fitted to the block.

The fan and housing have been taken off and are in the bodyshop getting prepped for paint. Watch this space for the chosen colour combo.

With Part 2 of the build page getting too long, head over to Part 3 of the Porsche 911 GBG Backdate