Happy New Year. I hope 2021 finds you and your family well and looking forward to the promise of a much better year. Although 2020 “sucked” in so many respects, for me it actually turned out to be a great year 968-wise and the reason for that is the significant progress I made on my Matador 968 project.
Like so many others, I found all my 2020 plans cancelled due to Covid which left me with time for projects and the Matador had been waiting patiently. For those of you that need a refresher on what exactly this project is let me bring you up to speed. Back in 2017 I was perusing eBay and found a rear-ended 968 that was for sale for either project or parts. Upon further investigation, I learned that this particular 1992 968 was indeed a very special car. Of the 4,242 North American 968s only two coupes were factory equipped with special Matador Red full leather interior and the car listed was one of them. Needless to say, the badly beaten machine became mine with the intention of restoring it.

Things started out great. After the car made the journey east from Colorado to Connecticut I went to work getting it running and with the replacement of a stuck fuel pump the Matador was up and going within a couple of months. Next up I had the hard hit rear end pulled so the car had four straight corners again and could move on its own. Finally, in 2017 I located a badly hit in the front 1994 968 in Massachusetts and was able to purchase the back half of the car and get it delivered here to Connecticut.

With everything needed to put the car back together things were really moving along well but then life shows up and changes things on you when someone you care about gets sick and eventually passes. With that, 2018 was lost and I really didn’t have time to look at the project again until 2019. I would start it and move it around and look at it but that was about it.
So, as we moved into 2019 I spent more time reviewing the project and realized I might be in trouble. I had bodywork experience from working at a shop in college and had worked on cars for the past 30 years. I had welded and replaced panels and painted before but as I looked at the Matador I realized that I might be in over my head. I wasn’t exactly sure how to tackle the job and there was nothing to be found on the internet to help. Surprisingly there have not been a lot of rear corner 968 body replacements done (detect sarcasm here) so it looked like I was going to be a pioneer here. And there were many grey areas. Should I cut the panel here, or there? I could make an educated guess but would I be right? I needed some help if I was going to move forward so I went looking for it.
Being a member of CVR brings one many benefits and I have been a member since 1994! One of those benefits is that all those crazy Porsche enthusiasts are great resources for when you need help as well as the many businesses the club is affiliated with. So I contacted my local indie Porsche shop (no names mentioned to protect the innocent ? ) and told them of my project and the help I needed and they gave me a name. I spoke to the guy. He was a club member and said he could look at the project but over the next six months I kept contacting him, scheduling a time for him to see the project, and then he would cancel out. After this happened a half dozen times I got the hint, he wasn’t interested. So, I moved on to a second indie Porsche shop who also gave me another name. This guy also listened to me about the project and what I was looking for and he said to send him some pictures so he could show his guy. I called a couple of times to see what they thought and finally got their answer. They weren’t interested. I was starting to get discouraged. Meanwhile a few people had contacted me about a need for 968 parts including an engine! Did I know where I could find one? I must resist.
So I contacted a third Porsche indie shop and was again given a name, Jim. Things started out the same as with the other two interactions. I described what I needed and Jim listened but then things took a more promising turn. Jim told me that although he was a body man he really didn’t care for body work and painting but loved doing the metal work. It just so happened that my project didn’t need body work or paint work, I would do that. I needed help with the metal work so we started out with a perfect match on the project scope. Then Jim agreed to come look at the project and he actually showed up!
Jim was a great guy. He had worked on tons of Porsches but had never done a transaxle car. I explained to him what I needed. I was looking to remove the damaged corner from my car, cut the needed section from my donor piece, and then graft the donor section on to my car. The job would be relatively defined with me doing all the cutting and getting everything cleaned up and ready prior to delivery to his shop where he would install it and make sure everything was straight. He agreed to take on the project and visit me periodically while I did the preparation part of the project and offer any insight as I had questions on direction.
With Jim committed I found the needed confidence to tackle the project. It was August 3rd, I put the car up on jack stands and prepared for surgery. The next few weeks were going to be quite a journey so I got out my spot weld drill and saw and went to work.
To be continued……
