1965 Porsche 911 - Paintwerks, LLC.

#300717

This car was purchased new in Salem, Oregon and has been in the area since. It has been off the road and in dry storage since 1981. It was then purchased in 2017 and brought to Wisconsin for restoration. This Porsche is highly original and in many ways it is in amazing condition. The original color is Signal Red; a lot of the original paint is still present such as inside the doors for example.

This 911 has never seen salt. The floor pans, back seat area and other areas that are often rusty are in remarkable condition.

The doors and deck lid are numbers matching and have 717 stamped into them. The rear bumpers have the number 720 stamped into them and have original signal red paint inside so I believe that the switch happened at the factory The seller learned that car #720 was and is blue. The front fenders and trunk lid have no numbers but appear to be original to the car. As of 3/1/2019 it has been determined that the front fenders are original. The numbers were found on the fenders and are shown in pictures below.

The interior vinyl is original and most of the carpet pieces are original. These will provide a good reference point in restoring the interior. The leather shift boot and emergency brake boots are original to this 911 and they are still nice as you will see in the pictures.

All of the glass is very nice and original. All of the pieces have the small sekurit (not sekurit-1) logos. The windshield is the original Sigla made in West Germany. I will attempt to polish the glass in an attempt to use all of it. We will see how the windshield turns out. Typically they are too far gone to be first rate. While all of the chrome trim is in remarkable condition, it will be redone to fit in with the rest of the restoration.

While the transmission is numbers matching, the engine is not. A ’65 motor did come with the car complete with Solex carbs and air cleaner.

This car also has the original spare wheel and tire, the original jack and a very nice original 1965 tool kit that is mostly complete.

The list of great details goes on. I will feature them in the pictures as this project continues.

: The first 11 pictures show the car as purchased.

: After going over every panel to check paint thickness, it proved to be a very original body.

: Only metal work had been done. There will need to be some cutting and reshaping done but no major rust repair.

: Everything will be completely stripped and worked from the ground up.

: The interior is in very good shape for its age.

: Everything was in great shape for reference during restoration.

: The wood dash appears to just need refinishing.

: If the body still had its original paint it would have been great to keep it as a survivor.

: This is an original aluminum rim wheel.

: The gauges will be completely restored.

: It is very hard to find a car like this.

: Rare original shift and parking brake boots. These will come back to life and have great patina. Look for these on every ’65 that is for sale.

: The original sound deadening/backing. So far there is no rust anywhere.

: The original engine grill.

: Very nice sun visors.

: Even the heater vents are in good shape.

: The original outside mirror.

: The fuel tank clamps look like they are ready to install. They just needed some cleaning.

: The VIN on the engine lid.

: The VIN on both doors.

: And of course the chassis.

: Currently the fuel tank will be used as is. The tar like area currently is not being reproduced. You can still see markings that have been transferred from the spare tire.

: The front “J” tubes are in great shape. They will be blasted before paint which will help detrermine just how solid they really are.

: While the horns look good, neither one worked. With just a little time they are both working perfect.

: There are some body fit issues. This was off by 5mm when I first saw the car. Someone put a door skin on without having the car to check the fit.

: Here is another replacement part problem. Replacements always have some sort of fit issue. The holes for the chrome trim strip are too far from the window. Once the holes are moved, the body line on the door is in the wrong place. That will all be fixed.

: With a little work, the door is lining up beautifully.

: The next 4 pictures show how the engine hood fits and after some hammer and dollie work..

: Here is after.

: The panels typically fit very nice but were never perfect from the factory.

: The hood fits very nice all the way around now.

: The floor pan usually sees some dents from trying to jack it up in the wrong place.

: The seam has been pulled down. There is still a little work to do on the sheetmetal itself.

: The fenders did not have rust in some of the usual places but did on the inside of the fender. This is an odd place to be so bad.

: It now needs a light skim coat to be perfectly smoothed out.

: After all the priming and sanding processes, it is perfect. Sadly, the picture does not quite show how nice it is.

: The fender mounting holes are a common area of rust. This area was cut out and replaced with metal from a donor fender.

: A previous repair on the trunk hood.

: After the metal was cut out and replaced.

: The beginning of fitting the whole front end.

: Besides the holes you can see the bodyline over the directional is bad.

: Once the bad section is removed, the light bucket needs to be moved to get the headlight to fit correctly.

: It sits tight on the other side.

: The fender is bent back down to meet the light.

: With quite a bit of effort, the headlight bucket has been moved forward and fits well.

: Another section of metal from a donor fender is used to repair the damaged area.

: Careful grinding and hammer work results in nice flat seams.

: Final bodywork will be done after the fenders come back from E-coating.

: The drivers side only had issues with the horn grill holes.

: The doors are very solid. It was a surprise to find these holes.

: With the new panel it will be good as new. The doors will also go out for dipping and E-coat.

: This is the drivers side door. This previous repair was not done well enough.

: You can see how far it needs to go in.

: The door is adjusted and fit with the original untouched sections of the body.

: The old welds are cut out. The top welds were not holding which made freeing it up nice and easy.

: Sadly this picture is a little blurry. After moving everything in, repair pieces were made and welded in place. After grinding the welds, it looked like new.

: There will need to be some filler used where the factory used lead on the seam.

: A few views of the final fit.

: The door is fitting very well.

: The seam was rewelded and hammered flat. A minimal amount of filler will be needed.

: It is great to have proper early fenders on this car. They fit pretty well.

: It is odd that they do not fit quite right. Here the door fit is pretty good, a little out at the bottom.

: Here are the mounting holes. There is no way these fit as is. These cars always need a lot of hand fitting.

: I could not believe these were numbers matching fenders with how they fit. But the numbers prove it.

: To see the numbers I had to take several pictures until the reflection was right. I could not see these at all before E-coating.

: After reshaping the rear bumper to fit, there was still a problem with the rubber trim fitting correctly. The tailight housing is pushed in by almost 1/2″. The vertical piece on top is supposed to be on the opposite side of the lower vertical section.

: Here is the evidence of some sort of repair and plenty of rust.

: The new housing being fitted. Both bumpers and the center panel will be fit before any final welding.

: The whole rear assembly is mounted to ensure that everything fits as it should.

: This area was typically finished in lead after it was assembled. I will be using a lead substitute.

: One new aftermarket rocker has been used but the drain holes are shaped wrong and need to be put in the correct place.

: The correct drain holes. After some finishing they will look great.

: Here is the passenger side rear quarter repair.

: With this being done, the major metal work is complete. There are some small areas that need to be addressed. Now the doors and fenders will go to E-coating.

: The small hole started as a 1/16″ diameter until I touched it. Lead typically has rust working its way underneath it.

: With the lead removed, you can see more metal rusting away as predicted. This is a common area for rust on these cars.

: Padding of some sort was pushed in this cavity from the inside for sound deadening I presume. The padding held moisture and that is the start of the rusting process.

: The lower area where the padding was sitting is also rusted away.

: Using two repair panels the repair is complete.

: The whole area is cleaned, chemically treated and undercoated before closing it up.

: A repair panel is formed to replace the damaged area.

: The repair panel is in place with the welds ground down. Surprisingly, the other side is very solid. The padding was removed and the area cleaned up just fine. Heavy prodding from the outside showed no weak areas.

: A few dents in the floor were under the tunnel and were not accessible. With a tab welded on, it can be pulled with the clamp. This technique was used in several positions to pull it all down correctly.

: While removing the few remaining pieces from the car I came across the accelerator rod and boot. Under 53 years of dirt and grease, revealed a virtually mint condition boot. I don’t believe you can buy them in this color.

: In prepping the dash for paint, these runs were discovered on the glove box door. This flaw will remain so it is exactly as it left the factory. Nothing is perfect.

: The floors were cleaned and chemically treat before refinishing them. This also holds any loose dust down while painting the dash.

: The dash is prepped and masked.

: Ready to go.

: This is the first of several rounds of black for all of the miscellaneous parts.

: A nice smooth semi-gloss black like the factory. E-coating is not typically done on restorations due to the fact that the gloss and surface finish cannot be controlled as well.

: While waiting for the doors and fenders to come back from E-coating, things like the steering rack are cleaned and prepped to go back in the car. New boots, rubber, paint and tie rod ends.

: This is the front A arm. Two holes were opened up under the sway bar mounts. No idea why.

: After welding, both the mount and ball joint arm are test fit. Ready for blasting and paint.

: The rear suspension swing arms get grooves in them when the rubber bushing is completely worn out.

: After welding and grinding they are good as new. Better high quality bushings will be put in to alleviate this problem.

: With the parts back from E-coating, the bodywork is complete and it is time for primer. Black epoxy is first.

: A high build poly primer is next. Each layer is in a contrasting color where possible to make it very easy to tell how far you have sanded later on. A guide coat in red is applied next.

: While the primer is drying, it’s time for one last detail on the trunk lid. The front trunk lid buffer mounts were damaged on both sides.

: The whole area is cut out and replaced.

: After drilling a new hole and shaping the opening, it is as good as new.

: After hours of block sanding, the body is ready for paint.

: This is my color match to an original surviving ’65. This sample also matched several 356’s I have done in Signal Red.

: Doors, lids and fenders in base coat waiting for clear.

: The body in color and clear.

: After the paint cures for a few days, the body was completely masked off for undercoating.

: The gloss of the undercoating was duplicated when it was all painted. Painting the undercoating makes it easier to maintain this clean look.

: The same process is done on the front fenders as well.

: Now it is in the process of block sanding the clear starting at 800 grit.

: The gauges are back from restoration.

: Everything is perfect.

: It looks at least as good as new.

: Notes were taken on each gauge.

: Each gauge is then stamped as it was originally.

: Pictures were taken of each gauge before they were sent out.

: With the trunk and drip rail masked off, final sanding and polishing can begin.

: The paint is beautiful.

: Reassembling begins with putting the ID tags back on.

: The wiring harness, wiper mechanism and related parts start going back together.

: An original windshield washer bag before being installed to never be seen again.

: Original tailights after just a little polishing.

: Almost brand new.

: The carburators fresh from restoration.

: Pre-run and absolutely like new.

: Front calipers freshened up and ready for assembly.

: Rear calipers ready for assembly.

: Ready for mounting.

: Someone painted the grill all black at one point. It will be fully cleaned, polished and repaired as needed. Eight new mounting studs are being made.

: Ready to be assembled.

: It came out beautiful.

: Nice and straight.

: The 3 VIN numbers stamped on the engine hood. It will be very hard to see with the grill in place.

: The grill mocked up with the emblems in place.

: Clean detail.

: It is hard to capture just how geat it looks.

: The front suspension, ready to go on.

: Ready for a final check and brake bleeding.

: The rear suspension ready to go.

: Everything replated and working like new.

: The parking brake and heater valves adjusted and ready for use.

: The original Webasto heater is almost completely done.

: The original wood dash pieces refinished and ready to go in with the interior.

: The dash top was beautifully redone by Auto’s Int’l. Once installed, I was able to put all of the gauges in. Every light was tested before going in.

: The earliest cars are known for their four hole dashes, but there are really five with the one on the passenger side top often being overlooked.

: The exhaust system for the Webasto heater.

: Now the heater is done. All of the clamps and hoses are in place.

: With the smugglers box door on, the trunk is done for now. The fuel tank will stay out until the end. It is so much easier to work in the trunk if you can stand inside of it.

: In preparation for the front fenders, the headlight buckets needed paint. This is the match from a very clean original section. The dot on the left is the final mix. It is perfect.

: The oil tank in place. Now the rear bumpers can go on.

: The back is ready to go.

: The front fenders are mounted, but the vertical area by the door will be adjusted after the doors go on for perfect panel alignment.

: The early cars used vinyl from the interior for the fender welting.

: Using an original as the sample, I made new welting. This picture shows the detail of how Porsche finished the edge of it even though it was not likely to be noticed.

: The front end is done. Electrical testing comes next. The lights and horns have all been tested before being installed.

: The original crest.

: With the interior almost done, the carpet is fit and the snaps installed. The rear seat skirts are being remade from the original ones that were removed. Once installed, pictures of the completed rear seats and parcel shelf will be included.

: The floor carpeting will then be removed to keep it clean until the car is completely done and ready for delivery.

: The 911 emblem is the original one with the longer pin spacing. The original Porsche emblem could not be used but we have it.

: The black detail behind the grill.

: This car still has the rare, taller 20mm grill.

: Finally, the wipers, mirrors and sun visors can go on to give it a finished look.

: The interior is shaping up nicely.

: The knee pad and the original wood dash. The picture does not do it justice.

: The finished door with hand painted black edging just like factory.

: The factory glued the vapor barrier to the door card originally. So the new panel was done the same. Later years the barrier was glued to the door itself.