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Over the past fifteen years I have collected a number of Porsche 962s. We have raced these and other Group C/GT1 bodies using the TSRF, ProTrack and most recently, the Scholer chassis. Various power plants were employed including Cheetah, Falcon 2, Falcon 7, Deathstar and more. Below is an image of my 962 collection as it existed in November of 2015 (the yellow unpainted car is actually a Porsche 956).
It is difficult to see from this image but, at least three of these 962 bodies sustained major damage over the years. The blue and orange Gulf car may be worst. The yellow and red Shell/Cannon car is not far behind. I recently acquired the white unpainted 962 from fellow slot head Ron. The car must have been used as a test body because it had several bad cracks propagating from the front and rear wheel openings. The others pictured in this image are fine for racing but they may be slated for a re-paint and repair of some minor damage. Stay tuned.
In general, the refurbishment process begins by stripping and/or sanding the paint and decals. I use a product called Purple Power (a commonly used de-greaser). The bodies are immersed in a Purple Power bath. Each day, I remove the body from the liquid and rub off excess paint and decals using a scotch brite pad. If the paint is relatively new, the process can be completed in a few days. For older paint it sometimes takes as long as a week. Some paints seem impervious to Purple Power and must be sanded. A word of caution is in order. Purple Power dissolves many types of glues so be prepared. In any case some final sanding may be in order to remove any remnants of paint.
After the paint is removed, the cracks are repaired. I use Devcon Plastic Welder because the bond is stronger than the plastic itself. I even use it on the exterior. It is difficult to sand but it will last. A word of caution is in order. I have purchased some defective Devcon Plastic Welder over the years. It is best to try to bond some junk plastic before using Devcon from a new tube. It should bond tightly and after an hour the pieces will not come apart. If the Devcon is defective, the pieces will not bond together at all. It will remain a gooey mess.
Although all three bodies were started concurrently, each had its own challenges. I have chosen to show progress on each individual body.
Project #1 Unpainted White Body
This was the easiest of the three bodies to deal with because it did not require stripping. Below is an image of the body before repairing the cracks (some cracks are highlighted with ovals).
Cracks were fixed and filled and then the body was primed. Below are a couple of images of the body primed and ready for paint.
I decided to paint this body orange and make the major sponsor Gulf Oil. Below are a couple of images of the painted body. I used Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Gloss Real Orange.
Pactra Trim Tape, some Ultracal racing numbers and some Gulf Oil and miscellaneous decals were used to finish the body. Below are a few images.
More images to come as progress continues
Project #2 Old Red and Yellow Body
This body has been in service since the early 2000s and sustained lots of body damage. In a recent contest, a very large crack opened in the front fender. Below are a few images of the car before the repairs were made.
This particular old paint seemed impervious to the Purple Power, so instead the body was repaired, sanded, primed and painted. I purchased a Camel decal set and selected a color that I thought matched the one to one color (Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X Marigold Gloss).
More images to come.
Project #3 Old blue and Orange Body
This body was in the worst condition. There were many cracks in the body and the front light lenses were badly cracked. The body was stripped and several hours were spent repairing and smoothing the cracks. Below are a few images of the body after stripping and in process of repairing cracks.
I decided to paint this body black and use some Texaco/Havoline decals. Below are a few images of the painted body and decals complete.
Below are a few images of the finished product
Edited by rvec, 04 January 2016 - 04:29 PM.
Finished Article
