Area51Werks starts another Autotopsy Resurrection of a Factory 6, Welding is Done! Fixtures are removed Onto the cleanup and paint work. Options

[rick 918-S]

I wanted to start another build thread for the 914-6 I purchased from Ethan. When we were able to put together a deal I could hardly wait to come out and collect it.

Last year our Titan was totaled. So Sandy and I took our little truck with trailer and headed out. We drove straight through to Vegas. We met up with John Peterson and stayed in the 914 room. Sandy was calling it our room. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

Half way to Vegas the brakes started grinding. There was no way we were going to make So Cal and all the hills with dead brakes. So while Sandy was at her meeting in Vegas JP and I rebuilt the front brakes on the mighty Ranger. Thanks again for all your help and hospitality John!

Our first stop on the way to pick up the 6 was at Ron's shop. Ron set me up with a 2.7S and goodies. Thanks to his generosity I have most everything to put the car back in running condition when the chassis work in done. And congratulations to Grandpa Ron and the new baby girl they just welcomed into the world.

When we arrived at Ethan's we were pleasantly surprised by the weather. Beautiful Sunny California makes it hard to leave and come back to the cold and snow. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) Yes, we were greeted by a nice light dusting of snow when we arrived home. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Anyway, it was great to spend the day with friends, eat brisket and tell stories.

Kent, Rod and Wayne came to help with the fun.

I received a project from Rod while I was there. More on that in another thread.

Rod was a wealth of knowledge about the history of this car. I really need to spend some time on the phone with him now that I am back and talk more about the cars origin and past.

Kent lead the way and got us back on the road heading out of So Cal to points east. It was a great day in the 914World. Thanks all!

Now on to the car. I have it home now. My son Aric and I spent some time doing forensics on the chassis. We dropped the suspension and started removing some of the bolt on stuff that will have to be cleared in order to repair the chassis.

I plan a full on documented chassis rebuild showing the process involved in determining how and where to pull, what to remove and the importance of proper technic when splitting panels welding things back together. To some this may be basic but I get a lot of questions about chassis repairs and felt it would be a good place to start a discussion.

For now, here's the car:



My favorite place to stop for a photo of my 914's. I have taken a photo here with every 914 I have.

[rick 918-S]

The car is set up on the Celette. There is a set of 4 clamps that are attached to the pinch flange on the bottom of the longitudinal members. They are tightened with an impact gun. During the pulling process I actually pulled the car out of the forward clamps several times. The pinch flange on the 914 is pretty small. Sometimes You have to weld an angle iron the chassis to get a good hold. I used a second set of chains running through the strut towers to help hold the car down during an upward pull.

Both inner wheel houses were kinked very deep. More on the right than the left Both the right and left wheelhouses where they arch over the rack had closed up and the pinch welds were split in several places. I have to say I am impressed the way the chassis took the impact and specially the way I was able to move the damaged metal back into place.





Some may say...Eeek! That looks like crap! Have no fear. Once I remove the front panel. the right and left fenders, the headlight buckets, the floor pan and the gas tank bulkhead I will be able to us an air powered planishing hammer on the damage and smooth it all out. Here's a link to some hand work I did before I got my hammer.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=132215