Wiper mechanism, the finale!

After more than a month of waiting and swearing, ebay fraud included, I finally was able to re-install the wiper mechanism. The original one got disintegrated during dismanteling, the threaded domes collapsed both, as a result of heavy corrosion, they simply got "welded" to the nuts:

New vs. old mechanism:

After a good clean and re-grease of all moving parts of the mechanism, I carefully maneuvered everything back into place - which is a nightmare of a job.

 I got carried away and did the final assembly.

I was well chuffed, until my eyes caught this:



I was so keen to get everything back together - I forgot to install the blower motor! So, the blower housing cover went off again (12 screws), blower motor in, 12 screws back in - and a quick test of wiper and blower revealed no issues!



Now I can finally install the new apron - the only reason I removed all this stuff!

Unpleasant surprise!

Today I started to remove the belt covers and I found this:

The balance shaft belt was missing and the lower balancer shaft does not spin freely!
I guess it is a big time job to repair that! I have to think about shoving this thing back into another garage until a later date - currently I am fed up...

engine service parts

With a lot of little stuff done, the next step is the engine service. All belts, filters, distributor finger and cap, oil and spark plugs need a change for the better.

I chose the Gates belts in favor of the Conti belts, as they are prone to whining noises, as the tooth geometry is a little different (That's what the internet community says)
Let's hope it gets warmer soon!

Driver seat

As I mentioned in the very beginning, the driver seat had the typical cracks in the side bolsters:

So, this is nothing I could take care of myself. Some fellow Porsche owners gave me an advise for a specialist. In about 4 weeks time I can pick up the renovated seat. He will take care of the cracks, the too soft cushioning and also he will re-do the stitching in the "Porsche" areas, some threads were missing here.  Oh, and I found another coin in the seat, this time a "1Pfennig" - which equals 1/2 cent in € - unfortunately not enough to pay for the job!

Scuttle area

With the windshield apron and wiper mechanism out, it was the perfect time to take care of everything in this area.
Even though it will be covered by the new apron later, I removed, cleaned and repainted most of this area.
This is what I found when I removed the old apron:

Everything was filthy and covered with leaves of the last 30 years.

For a start, I removed the leaves and gave the area a once over with the vacuum cleaner:

I dismatelled the blower housing for a good scrub:

But the inside is much more important than the outside, look at the "Hamster wheels" before:

and after a good clean:

Then I cleaned, degreased and repainted the whole area, also the fuse box cover received a bit attention:

After a quick check, I found out that the new apron required some modification!

A cut-out for the windscreen locator was missing, This is the old part ontop of the new one:

So, a bit of marking, drilling, cutting and filling later:

The new part will fit:

Too bad, nobody will see all the shiny new paint and clean condition of everything!
Hopefully, the used (ebay-purchased) wiper mechanism will show up soon!

Corrosion - big time!

In an attempt to exchange the old, cracked windshield apron (Windlauf) I had to remove the 2 nuts which affix the windshield wiper mechanism. Unfortunately, this is made of Aluminium die cast and the nuts are zinc- plated steel. In 30 years those parts corroded into 1 solid chunk of white corrosion. Both threads sheared off as soon as I tried to loosen the nuts:

Here you can see the bronce bushings and part of the threaded dome + the nuts...
Now I have to find a new wiper mechanism..