September 2009 In this issue... • Featured Members Eric and Becky ...

Rice’s Ramblings
Story and photos by Lee Rice
Lee Rice showing his 911 at Breakfast Club
I made a decision to make what I hope to
be a final update to my 911 of 38 years.
As I have said before, the 911 begs
to be changed. With the overflowing
abundance of parts available from
Porsche and the recyclers, one can make
almost any model into any other 911
model or variant. Some shops have made
mid-engine cars out of 911s. Even put
V-8 Chevrolet mid-engines in them.
Then there are some who folks
fanatically enjoy keeping every single
original piece on their original 911.
And the same goes for every other
Porsche model out there. Our Orange
Coast Region has the concours winning
Porsches here to prove it!
In my situation I decided to update
the tired and a bit beat up body to a basic
930 Turbo with new Dansk® steel flairs
(with small torsion bar holes―a rare
find). However, I also updated to the
short hood and bought Getty Design “Ruf
CTR Wide/Body” front & rear bumpers.
I made reinforcements under the
glass–fiber bumpers, using ½″ plywood
cut out to match the top of the bumper
profiles and made steel box section
framing with two parallel tubes that slide
into two matching tubes welded to the
chassis tub, front & rear. The bumper &
support system is bonded to the bumper
and refinished. It is very strong. The
bumpers can easily be removed and slide
off their respective rails for access to the
rear exhausts & turbocharger. In front,
the 964 condenser or 993 Oil cooler are
easily accessed.
I also installed a 1972 oil door on the
right rear fender for a 993 oil tank/filter/
thermostat unit, with the oil fill access on
the outside.I wanted to stay with an 8-9
inch wide wheel in front and a 10-12 inch
wheel in back as I needed more rubber
for traction. The Turbo flair combination
offered the best solution and it looks are
fantastic. The Ruf CTR bumpers offer a
nice uncluttered look, free of those rubberbaby-buggy-bumper
looks of the factory
rubber infested design. (my opinion,
sorry). I love the new clean elegant look,
reminiscent of the sharp lines of the early
901-911‛long hood’ Porsches.
I ripped the entire interior out and
welded up some thin metal (rust) and
upgraded the structure for strength in
several areas. I also fabricated new seat
frame rails for the new four-way electric,
custom made from Recaro, sport seats.
[See last year’s Ramblings for story on
the details.]
I also installed Dyna Mat®, a ¼”selfsticking,
thick sound, & heat insulating
material with a thick aluminum top layer,
which I placed everywhere, including
under the head liner and inside the door
skins as well as the outer door sheet
metal, and complete inside the interior.
On top of the Dyna-Mat I installed
DynaLyner® a self-sticking dense dark
This is his car as prepared for painting in his own
garage! That is the preparation was done by him, not
the painting as you will see!
foam material that further deadens noise
and insulates. With the windows closed it
is really QUIET. Even with a performance
exhaust system!
Following the interior work the
body work was started but first I needed
to find a respectable paint shop. When I
say respectable, I mean a shop and owner
who understands what your car is, how
you will use it, and listens to you. I went
to so many shops; some with those highend
reputations and after preliminaries I
usually heard something like, “we can do
you, like we did (so and so) for around
$12,000.” That was all. They did not
listen.
I needed a finish that would stand
up to be driven daily―in rain, cold, and
wind. I would occasionally polish & clay
bar the finish, use a duster frequently,
and use detail spray at least once a week.
Once or twice a year I get my 911 up on
jack stands, remove wheels tires and with
Simple Green® wash & blast out the
road crud and grime. So I needed enamel
paint with hardener and wanted it to cure
for 2-3 weeks, and then be color sanded,
then machine buffed. NO clear coats! No
Custom colors. Nothing fancy. I also
wanted to finish my 911, in “Mexico
Blue,” a 1974 Carrera color.
I looked and called and finally right
under my nose, I made contact with
Danny and his crew at DND-AUTO
PAINT TOUCH. Danny has done custom
re-spraying for me before on one very
difficult to match 3.0 liter Turbo Carrera
which has no box section under the wing,
and got a 3.3L Turbo tail to fit over the
new C-2 intercooler I installed. It needed
a paint match to the original copper color
finish which was faded and had a clear
coat applied over it years ago. Danny got
it right and the customer is delighted.
I have had other fixes done there
too but when we got to talking about a
complete repaint on my own 911 it got
serious but without any hot air or “BS.”
Danny gave me a price like a third what
the ‘name’ shops were offering, and
Danny was interested in doing the unusual
things like installing the nose bulkhead
for the new short hood and installing the
oil door. Those were a tough jobs! Plus
there are always issues that come up. He
simply fixed them and went on and got it
done on schedule AND on price!
Continued on pg. 39)
Lee’s freshly painted Wing as reinstalled in his new/old
Turbo.
SEPTEMBER 2009 31