917-037
December 22, 2003

Now that the chassis is painted, the tedious job of attaching the body is taking place. The tape marks where we are going to put the mat patches. The patches that you see on the right are cloth. Because the 917 (and all other plastic Porsches) are held together with square mat patches, it's a little weak. The patches hold strong until stressed by the weight of the driver's feet. We strengthen all these patches by applying an epoxy cabosil and cloth patch. The epoxy is way stronger than the polyester. Then, we sand these patches and cover them with the typical polyester mat patch. This gives it the original look but gives the body a greater attachment than original. It also takes twice the time.

You can see Andy laying all the patches in position.

The epoxy cabosil is then applied between the tube and the glass panels. Next, the area is brushed with epoxy resin and the 10 oz. German cloth is applied. Remember, this will all be covered up.

The tape not only establishes index, but it keeps the edge of the patch neat.

After the epoxy is dry, the areas are sanded and the polyester resin mat patches are applied.
This gives it the factory original look.

When the body is completely attached, all the gray you see in the picture will be repainted in dark gray. I am now applying epoxy cabosil to the nose hoop, which will be glued.

The cabosil is pretty thick so it stays upright before the nose is attached.

The inner structural panel is attached with cabosil and a 75mm mat patch.

After the nose is attached, the oil cooler air duct (compliments of Chuck Stoddard),
will be fit and glued in.

I made the doors Saturday and Sunday.
These pictures show the mold to the finished door before trimming.

The body parts you see in the picture on the right are all glued together.

The cooler is bolted in and the front cover fits perfectly. The naca duct you see on the right is primed before assembly because it's a MOTHER #@$%*! to get paint in the duct when it's on the car.

The firewall got its first round of patchwork and will be finalized when the roof goes on.
The picture on the right is a factory new 917 headlight cover.

Only Carl can come up with a pair of these N.O.S. beauties.
The part numbers 917.503.311.00 & 917.503.312.00 were still on these headlight covers.

Even the side windows are new. The wing showed up from David Piper last Friday. Stay tuned.

Don't forget to keep checking Carl's website at www.pbase.com/917carl

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