Starting a 1973 restoration, Restoring a left for dead $500 914... Options

[FourBlades]

Hello 914 World Members!

I am starting on restoring a $500 914 that was left in a field for several years with no windshield. The car belonged to the POs older brother and thus has sentimental value. The sold it to me on the condition that I not part it out. I was looking for a project so this was fine with me. This is my first restoration project so I figured I would learn a lot (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

The car is a mixture of really good sections, appears to have suffered no major accidents, is straight, never been repainted--but it has totally rusted out floors and hell hole. All the suspension mounting points are not rusted. The door gaps are all even and good. If I can replace the floors, I think it will be a good straight car. Many small parts were stolen while it was "stored" and the wiring loom is a complete loss.

Thanks for any comments...John

[FourBlades]

Fixing the driver side footwell and long. It is missing the front of the inner fender
and most of the end of the long.



Made a hammer form to make a replacement for the curved part at the bottom
of the inner fender. I used the same form on the passenger side by routing a
curve into both sides of the form. The form is made from scrap hardwood that
was cut to match the shape of the curve of the fender. I screwed the metal piece
to the form in three places to hold it while hammering it into shape. I welded a
strip to the bottom to form the pinch weld with the bottom of the floor and with the
end of the long. It got a little toasted during the welding, but it kept the new
piece in the right shape until the welding cooled.



Hammer formed part welded to the inner fender.

Hammer form held up to the part it was used to make. The new metal piece
was hammered around the bottom lip of the form. The passenger side was
fixed using a piece hammered around the top of the form.