The Right Way To Replace the Roof of a 964

We’re very familiar with Larry Kosilla’s 3.8L 964 Carrera 4. While an unusual choice for a track car, Larry’s 964 brings a lot of performance and a fair amount of all-weather capability to the table. Larry began a restoration of his 964 a few months ago, and first posted video of the process last week. Like many Northeast based cars, Larry’s 964 suffers from rust. Lots, and lots of rust. With rust creeping along the fender mounts and from under the windshield seal, something had to be done. The repairs to the fender rails were detailed last week, and this week Larry’s team at J&B Bodyworks tackled the roof.

On air-cooled 911s the drip rail is the visible part of the joint between the roof and the structure of the car. The craftsman tackling the project, a 50-year metalworking veteran, carefully separated the old roof from the car, and opened the channel in the rain gutter. The process is fascinating, and worth attention on its own (follow this link to the point in the video where this particular work begins). Larry’s new roof is not equipped with a cutout for a sunroof, and this will allow him to cut weight and add headroom, all while performing the much-needed rust repair.

This project is starting to make me think that the most impressive part of Magnus Walker’s 964 is not the 911R-style detent in the roof, but the shaved rain gutters. Seeing what goes in to retaining them makes me wonder even more what goes in to making them disappear.