Silverado Project

This is a project done at Gideon Roux Panel Beaters by AirCooledWonders. It is a 911 Porsche born in 1967, but unfortunately lived a neglected life. This is a bare metal restoration done the right way with no shortcuts, only improvements. Our goal is to take Silverado back to it’s 1967 condition and  then make sure to look after him in his second life.

It all started two years ago when my dad, Ludwig Hartzenberg, a lifelong Porsche fanatic and walking encyclopedia on these iconic cars, discovered a 911 S in the US registry. It stated that the car was situated in South Africa and the owner’s name was listed. Now anyone that knows my dad also knows that he will not rest till he gets the answer to whatever is bothering his brain. He had recently purchased a 1967 911 S and wanted to know which other enthusiast was driving the same year and model car. The car was registered in California on the early “S” registry as R. Strydom, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Needless to say he started looking up all the R. Strydom’s in the National phone directory and eventually got hold of the guilty party. Mr. Renier Strydom told him that he was indeed an owner of a 911, but that he had mistakenly published it in the registry as an “S” and instead it was a 911. That wasn’t the only outdated information, as he broke the news that he was no longer the owner, but provided my old man with a number of the next owner, an architect in Aliwal North. Another phone call was made and yet again we learned that the car had swopped hands. Finally he reached the latest owner who told him that he was indeed the owner of a 1967 911, but that the car was currently at his brother’s Hyundai  dealership in Johannesburg and no longer in Durban where he lives.

Did I mention that my dad doesn’t rest till he accomplished what he sets out to do? So off we went to Johannesburg to see the car. Sure enough there it stood tucked away in a corner behind a building that is stocked with many modern Japanese vehicles. It was obvious that the car has been standing for a while, as the silver painted body putty had started to crack in certain places. The cracked body putty wasn’t the only clue that this was once a coastal car, as the engine cover plates also showed some surface rust. We christened the car Silverado after its colour, although it wasn’t ours yet. All in all, the car was good from far, but far from good.

After 2 years of occasionally visiting Silverado and countless phone calls we finally agreed on a reasonable price and one sunny afternoon moved Silverado out of his sad corner. I had recently moved back to South Africa after spending 10 years abroad and being a car enthusiast myself, my dad thought it wise to keep me busy with a meaningful project. This was to become my first restoration and a complete new direction in life. I had never even welded before, let alone take a flat six motor out of an iconic car.  This was going to be a ride of a lifetime.

I soon started to strip the car down in our garage. Those of you that have done this before will understand what I mean by saying that the more you strip, the more you see and that the more you see the more you strip. I soon found myself with a bare shell and a thousand loose parts. What we discovered was shocking to say the least. Poor Silverado had undergone more than one bad and careless restoration in his life. There were pop rivets everywhere covered by thick putty. Mix this with a little salt in the air and you’ll find the perfect formula for rust. Rust is the equivalent to cancer in the car restoration world and the only way to stop it is to cut the effected sections out.

We live in a neighbourhood on the east side of Pretoria, where the next house is no further than 5 meters from our garage, but lucky for me at the time was that our new neighbours had decided to enlarge their house before moving in. So there I was waiting for my cue to turn my grinder on as soon as the builders used theirs. This all changed when Werner Roux walked into the garage one day, looking for a Porsche project for himself. He kindly offered me the use his Panel beating shop as a new base. Awesome! No more waiting for the builders next door to turn on their grinders. I also met Chris de Weerdt (founder of Dastek) at the start of this project, who not only offered to do the wiring, but also supported me from the start when things didn’t look too bright. Then of course, my great friend Werner Alker who I can always count on and whose knowledge of these early German cars are priceless.

I’m not quite done yet, but the end is in sight and I would like to thank a few people.

First of all my dad for obvious reasons and my mom for putting up with the boys and their toys and occasionally losing her garage space.

Chris de Weerdt and Peet Joubert for their positive input.

Werner Roux and his staff who taught me most of what I know today.

Anton Dekker for always having an answer with my product related questions and enthusiasm on these old cars.

Werner Alker for being Werner Alker and a special friend.

My brother, Dieter from Noise Hosting, who is doing a superb job with running and hosting this website.

Body Putty

Sandblasting

Engine

Rear Speaker Panel

Door Pillars

Doors

Inner Rocker Panel

Rocker Panel

Floors

Jack Points

Floor Section Adjacent to Torsion Bar

Rear Fenders

Rear Windows

Nose

Bilstein shocks, Brake calipers and new turbo tie rods