Body & Paint -

The Craftsman

One of my main motivations for jumping into this restoration project, other than stupidity, was to learn all about the process of bringing an old Porsche back to original glory. The real fun has been connecting with awesome people. I’m meeting Porsche experts, incredible craftsman, and other early turbo enthusiasts that have been generous with their time. High on that list is Danny Gherman of DG Vintage Coachworks. The first time I met Danny was at Scott’s shop, soon after the car landed in Seattle, and I knew immediately that I wanted to work with him.

Danny is fast talking, high energy and no bullshit. When it comes to body and paint work for Porsches, Danny has seen and done it all. He’s been true to his word from day one, he’s connected me with his broad network of Porsche experts, and he’s shown great patience working with me to achieve my goal…absolute perfection. I’ve asked Danny to spare no time or expense making sure that every panel and every line of this car are perfect.

Here’s a great episode of the Avants Podcast to learn more about the mad scientist behind this restoration – Episode 81: Danny Gherman

The Start

Here a a few photos that Danny shared as he rolled the car into his shop and started disassembly:

Early Progress

Danny has kept a steady stream of photos coming my way throughout the process, and I visit his shop regularly when I want to take a few of my own:

Primer Time

It took longer than either of us expected, with setbacks and surprises along the way, but Danny and his crew brought back every panel to perfection. Given the inconsistency that existed in the Porsche factory in the 70s, I wouldn’t be surprised if the car is now in better than new shape! It was exciting to stop by his shop recently and see the car in the first coat of primer:

A quick video I grabbed on one of my many visits to Danny’s shop:

Danny has now finished with the body work and the car has entered the final stages of prep. Primer, wet sanding, texture where it needs it, etc. My goal with this restoration has been to be as true as we can to the original process, which required some research. Thanks to Ryan’s book on these early Turbos, and access to similar original cars in the area, we have been able to piece together the plan:

Restoration Paint Process

Ice Green Metallic: Paint Code 250 – Porsche Factory – Lesonal paint manufacturer.
Three coats of body color paint and two to three coats of clear just like the factory did for metallic colors.
On later US Turbos with higher ride height, or on cars with the low profile tire option, the factory would paint black on the inside of the fenders to reduce the visibility of wheel/fender gap. Porsche didn’t bother masking and just sprayed it on with overspray and drips common. Since my car has the low profile tire option, black it is!
Black paint was strategically used inside the car, the dash, the tunnel, seat mounts and other areas where carpet seams could expose primer/body color.
The inside of the smugglers box was always painted black.
Black paint was applied on the outside door edge to fool the eye into thinking any poorly fitting door trim was even.
The engine compartment was always painted body color, not black like they did on earlier cars.
The interior of the car did not get a full spray of body color, just primer. Porsche didn’t bother masking off the interior when the exterior was painted, leaving the inside with a lot of overspray of body color. This process is something we will replicate.

Danny is such a master craftsman, and his cars typically look like they have been dipped in paint, but in this case we will be staying as close as possible to the original Porsche process, whether he likes it or not 🙂

Here are some recent photos from an afternoon at DG Vintage: