BUILD-OFF CHALLENGE: New 914 owner...what have I gone and done! Options

[Darren C]

Hi everyone,

I have been looking for a 914 on and off for a couple of years now and late one evening I bid on ebay for a car in Desert Hot Springs CA. A real leap of faith for me as I live in Chichester UK!
My first car was a VW Beetle and I’ve owned quite a few air cooled VWs and always wanted a 914, so now almost 25 years later I finally took the plunge and with sweat on my brow placed a last minute bid on ebay on a car I’d only seen in 4 small photo’s on line.
To my surprise I won the 914.
Problem was it lay 8000 miles away from me here in UK. I got hold of the sellers phone number and gave them a call. The car is a 1974 2.0L one owner from new sold in Palm Springs 914. The seller was the owners daughter. The gentleman passed away several years ago and she’d had it parked up on her driveway for 5 or 6 years. From the description in the listing it had a Salvage title due to sand storm damage on the paintwork. It looked reasonably solid in the few pictures I saw, but very sorry for itself with flat tires and bad paint. It was a gamble, but sometimes these things pay off.
I got the car picked up by a shipping agent and taken to Long Beach for shipping.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1419606931.1.jpg)

2 months later it arrived in Southampton UK

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Last week I went down to Southampton and collected my new project just in time for Christmas.
I was recommended this site from another 914 owner and it's a great relief to find such a large active community. 914's were never sold in the UK, so all are personal imports and a rare thing to see on our roads.
I’m pleased to now join you guy’s and post my restoration progress in getting this little car back on the road.

Regards
Darren

[Darren C]

Build off Challenge Month 4

Just to clarify, this is day 91, not only of the build, but day 91 of car ownership (since my car arrived in the UK)

Day 91

Today I had carried on working on the sill (rocker) covers taking out small stone and possibly an old seat belt dents. 3 hours on the passenger side sill cover and they're all gone. I spoke to my bead blaster at lunchtime and it looks like the parts (bumpers, valances & sills) are too big to fit in their small chamber, so I looked at alternatives.
I used another local company a while back for another restoration who sand blasted my old 944 body. They’ve agreed to do the parts for me.
I might get my own back by using sand to my advantage for once on the car!
I may throw in the engine lid as it’s the same as the rest of the body, badly resprayed and peeling. The intricate underside of the engine lid pressing is going to be a pain to clear all the bad paint off. I suspect that the intricacy of the underside was the reason they couldn’t be bothered to prepare it properly before it got resprayed in the past. I don’t want to make that same mistake so sand blasting it free of all paint is probably the best way to ensure a good respray now.

Day 92

This morning before work I did a bit of etch priming over the tin bashing I did last night on the passenger sill cover. Just to stop the bare metal going rusty while I work on the parts so they’ll be ready as a group to send in for sand blasting. Plus with a coat of primer you can see if you’ve missed any small dents much easier.
Tonight I started dent removal of the drivers side sill cover. Not as bad as the passenger one was, just the dishing around the incorrect pop rivet holes and two tiny dents in the side. All sorted now.
With the welcome light nights starting now I etch primed the second sill and started on the rear bumper. There was a very nasty scrape type dent between the number plate and the over rider. (Looking closely at the pictures the seller sent me when my car got loaded on the transporter - I asked her to take lots 360 degrees around the car before shipping - I can clearly say the rear bumper dent was caused somewhere in transit from California to Southampton). The bumper is much thicker steel than the sills so it did put up a lot of resistance. After an hour I have pretty much got it out.
Anyway I had to wrap up about 8pm, not so much a light issue, more a consideration for my neighbours. It’s not fair on them hammering and banging at 5:30am and 8pm. So the plan tomorrow is to finish the rear bumper defects.

Day 93

After breakfast I waited until 8am to continue hammering out the dents and damage on the bumpers, so to not upset the neighbours too early.
The front valance on passenger side was very badly dented and deformed as per the photo I posted before with it still on the car.

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When it was off the car on closer inspection it was pretty mangled on the passenger side

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After a couple of hours and some serious metal persuasion I got it reasonably sorted out.

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The drivers side of the valance when on the car was also pushed in and bent.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1453585008.4.jpg)

Same as the other side when taken off and flipped over

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A few more hours tin bashing and it’s back in shape

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I wrapped up that evening at 6pm. I do get bored after 10 hours gently tapping out dents, so need to stop for a change of job so that I don’t get complacent with the dents. It’s far easier to have a “that’ll do” attitude after a day with a hammer. I’ve found if I walk away and return another day I end up doing a better job in the long run. So the valance has been saved for another day and wont need any nasty filler in it

Day 94

Today I started at 6:30 am taking parts off the car in preparation for the repaint.

Starting at the front of the car I took off…..

Horns
Fog/Driving lights
Row of large rubber caps
Two small rubber stops that the valance rests on (same as the ones on the engine lid hinges)
1 x small grommet in boot floor
2 x small panels in front of pop up lights (then removed the securing grommets
2 x light motors, relays & bases
2 x pop up light covers (the painted tops)
2 x pop up light assemblies complete
2 x bonnet rubber rests
Bonnet seals
Bulkhead seal
Front carpet
Spare wheel, and cover
Little sticker for fuel (saved to put back on after paint)
Drilled out rivets and removed ali VIN plate
Drilled out rivets and removed small id plate in spare wheel well
Removed side markers and what was left of the perished rubber cable sheath under the wings.
2 x front light assemblies (indicator/sidelights)
Undid all the bent metal tab wiring loom retainers, straightened flat and took of plastic tube covers.
Removed numerous through bulkhead wire grommets
Pulled back whole front wiring loom and coiled up out of the way to allow painting inside whole bonnet.
2 x wiper arms, and spindle nuts washers and seal rings to scuttle.
2 x windscreen washer jets
Complete windscreen aluminium surround trim (uber carefully)
Radio aerial
Door mirror
2 x rear tail light assemblies
All wiring tabs and sleeves in boot
Pulled back whole rear wiring loom and coiled into engine bay
2 x white large cup plugs buy rear strut tops
2 x strut top large rubber covers
2 x targa roof white clips (had to drill out very large pop rivets)
2 x targa black clips over rear lights
1 x boot light.
Boot & bulkhead rubber edge seal
2 x polished ali trims (curved facing backwards) either side of rear window
2 x thin polished ali trims running at the base of the vinyl covered quarters
2 x ali trims and door seals up the rear of the door opening
1 x rubber trim up windscreen pillars and across targa top front. (Boy was that rock hard and shattered into 1000 bits)
2 x ali trims up back of windscreen pillars that the rubber sits in.
And finally with a very flat wallpaper scraper I took what was left of the vinyl off the sides of the rear quarter panels.

All in all not a bad days progress, everything labelled (especially wiring) and all parts and fixings bagged and labelled too.

Again my Nemesis SAND was found every where, under, behind, over and in any nook and cranny.

I took the bonnet seal out and threw sand everywhere!

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The recess in the aperture was full of Californian Desert sand

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I took the pop up lights out and found the deep funnel shaped body on both sides about 1 ½” deep and flush with sand and Californian pine needles. What a quality spray job they did in the past, even the top of the sand got oversprayed Alaska blue!

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Sand everywhere in the boot and bonnet, even the spare wheel was buried in the stuff.
When I took the seal off around the windscreen it was full up with sand.
Pulling the roof seal off across the top of the windscreen threw sand all over my multiple times hovered interior!
As I said before if you’d buried this car on the beach and dug it back up there’d be less sand in it.
Even the exterior has mini sand dunes forming in every corner!

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I cannot even begin to tell you how much sand this car has in and on it. One thing’s for certain….it’ll be half the weight when I’ve got the last bit off of it.

Day 95

Today I started early this morning making good use of a dry day. I took the targa top off to remove the rear aliuminium trim and knocked sand all into the car.
Over the last few weeks I kept cleaning the car and each time I returned to it it was covered inside with a light dusting of sand??
This morning I found the source when I lifted the targa top and accidentally knocked it.

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Half brushed down, half full of sand!
Once the roof was cleaned off I pulled the ali trim off cleanly.
After a good clean I set about taking the doors apart. Door cards, handles, quarterlights, main glass, runners, locks, window mechanism, door seals and weatherstrips. As with the rest of the car, all the fixings even the tiny Philips screws holding the outer weatherstrip came out easily. Just the slot head screw adjusters on the bottom of the window frame gave me a struggle, but after a quick squirt of WD40 they freed off. Looking inside the doors they are absolutely rust free. Full of sand, but not a spot of rust!
I did find a broken plastic roller for the drivers check strap mechanism, so I'll have to add that to my parts list. Hope they're still available.
The cars looking very sorry for itself now, but hopefully it’ll ensure a decent paint job without any nasty masking up edges on stuff left on the car.

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After the doors I put the tools away and got out the bucket for some serious sand removal cleaning from the bonnet.
Phew..3 hours later and it looked like this.

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I was very surprised to clean out the headlamp wells and the wheel well, and find zero rust. (The brown on the bulkhead is glue where I pulled off the carpet) Considering all the cr*p in there I expected the worst. Just a little flaky seam sealer in the passenger headlight bucket but underneath it was spotless grey primer.
I spent another hour and a half cleaning around the fuel tank area having thrown sand all in there yesterday when the bonnet seal came out before I finally called it a day.

Day 96

Today I got up at first light and cut some spare sheet steel up to make a hook tool. One of the jobs I wanted to do yesterday was take out the circular vents in the rear door shuts, I ended up making the hook tool. Inserted at 12 o’clock (tiny tug) and 6 o’clock, tiny tug and they both popped out followed by another egg cup full of sand into my lap.

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After cleaning up yet again I started on the bonnet seal channel. It looked like the PO must have had a new seal at some point or re-glued the old one as there was a mix of old impact adhesive, silicone and polyurethane bond in the channel. What a mess it was. Certainly couldn’t just paint over it or glue another seal on top, so I started the thankless task of scraping it out with an old blunt (slightly rounded to take the edge off it) wood chisel come scraper. Followed by miniature wire brushes (tooth brush size that fit nicely in the channel) then 180 grit followed by 240 grit. Not a nice job, but after 6 hours at it, it was time to give it a quick coat of encapsulating primer to stop any rust starting on the areas where it was bare.

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Fingers aching and locking up, it was time to move to another job.
Having taken the doors apart yesterday they were absolutely full of sand. 2” in the bottom and a good dusting on every surface inside them. The only way I could get it out was to cut the handle off a 3” paintbrush and get in side each door by hand with several buckets of water. Slowly working from the top down inside each door, into the ridges of the side impact bars, and back on myself onto the rear of the inside door pressing. Working with a big water soaked sponge and the brush I managed to get both doors clear of sand in about an hour and a half each.

Drivers door (taken through window slot looking down).

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Passenger door through the bottom opening.

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Afterwards I needed two buckets to swill the floor beneath the car to get rid of the sand that came out. (if you look at the floor you can see the strips of old broken window channel rubber mixed with heaps of sand)

The weather was kind today and I propped both doors open and the bonnet to allow things to dry nicely.
Not to be one for sitting around, I took off the sill kick plates (with the little plastic rivet clips) and the lower inner door seals and threshold plates while everything dried.
After which I packed up and put the car back under its cover.

Day 97

This morning before work I went through the PET catalogue and made a list of parts I need and then went on line and made another list of rubber seals from 914 rubber and also saw they did the check strap rollers so added that to an ever growing list and emailed it over to them. I spent ½ an hour searching ebay both UK & USA and found some parts so did a price comparison check with Auto Atlanta, Pelican and Mittel. I luckily came across a new windscreen surround and clip set on ebay.de for a good price so went for the buy now on that one. My old surround is fair condition but with a few scratches and tiny stone chips I just know that after my new paint job it will bug me if I don’t fit a new one. I then loaded the bumpers, valances and sill panels into my car and went up to the garage where my car is for 6:50am to drop the compound key off that I borrowed this weekend so that I could work on the car while my friend was on holiday. Popped in and picked up some bacon butties on route as a thankyou. Then it was off to work.
At lunch time I took the bumpers and parts into the sand blasters. All 6 items blasted and etch primed for about £10 each. Not a bad deal as it will be certain to eek out any rust to ensure no nasty paint bubbling for many years ahead. They reckon they’ll be ready for the end of the week. Next I spoke with Porsche Centre Portsmouth and rattled off my parts list I’d drawn up before breakfast. Surprisingly they tell me some parts that I thought “no chance” are still available and not bad prices either. These being the plastic rivets that hold on the sill plates and sill trim, the 3 metal clips that hold on the ali trim across the rear of the roll bar, the main rubber seal that runs up the windscreen pillars and across the roof and the small L shape seals that hold the quarterlights. One part though that I haven’t tracked down just yet is the padded trim that runs in front of the roll bar (has the two cut-outs in it for the targa clips) mines sun damaged like a bad dashboard and vertically split into about 7 pieces. I did think about recovering it but the splits are swollen up to mountains and valleys so you’ll see it under any over coat of vinyl.

This evening when I got home I began the mammoth “cleanathon” of all the parts I took off this weekend. Starting with the glass, I used a brand new Stanley blade as a scraper to get off all the old stickers (multiple visits to Yellowstone Park in the 1970’s & 80’s….wonder if they met Yogi Bear?) then scraped all the calcium lines off around where the windows sat in the rubbers. This is damn hard stuff to get off and is caused when you wash a car with tap water over the years it calcifies where it sits between glass and rubber. Finally I scrubbed the window runner brackets to remove yet more sand before I washed it all off with soapy water. I then moved onto some of the plastic parts, headlight surrounds, headlight motor covers and the rubber headlight linkage covers.
Looking at the small round vents that came out the door shuts, after much sand removal from the filter media on the back of them, there was again more calcium white deposits deep into the ever decreasing circles. Since it was made of plastic I opted for a soak in neat toilet limescale remover. (Be careful if you use it on anything plated or aluminium as it will eat into it ) Plastics are fine, and after a few minutes the calcium was gone and they look like new.

Day 98

Today I got an email back from 914 rubber and we agreed a good shipping rate etc on my large list of parts, so I went ahead and placed the order.(Unfortunately the order was placed at a time I was unable to qualify for any Build-Off Challenge discount, so I have had to pay full price)
I’ve heard mixed reviews on some of the parts so chose wisely (a mix of 914 rubber parts and others I got direct from Porsche) and I’ll update you on the quality and fit of what turns up.
At lunch today I sorted out some zintec sheet for blanking the side markers and went over to the car to see about access to the compound this evening.
Good to go, when I finished work I managed to get a couple of hours taking a few more parts off before I had to leave and lock up.
During the day I called a local windscreen company and asked how much they’d charge to run their cheese wire around my screen to pop it out (bearing in mind I’ve already taken out the chrome trim)…as soon as I said 914 they declined? I called two others and no one wants to know. What’s wrong with these people, it’s their sole business yet they are scared to touch a 914! Pathetic really. The last 3 or 4 cars I’ve restored I’ve had the same issue and ended up taking the glass in and out myself. It seems that if your car is older than 10 years old then the windscreen people don’t want to know. To be fair they are so poorly skilled these days they haven’t got a clue. I had a new screen in my Volvo V70 a couple of years ago on insurance, and they made a right bodge of it, broke all the clips that hold the wiper motor cover, drilled awful self tappers into it to hold it back on and got the black sealant all over the cream interior A pillar trims. I went ballistic at them, it cost more for all the new parts they damaged than the screen cost. Put me right off a certain mainstream “automobile…glass” company.
I’ll just have to do it myself, so cheese wire is on my shopping list for tomorrow.

When I got home this evening I spent another 1 ½ hours cleaning sand out of the window winder mechanism, cleaning up the securing bolts and the tracks the nylon rollers run in. I then started to clean the whole assembly with brass bristled detailing wire brushes to get that just oxidised coating off the whole assembly. The two pull rods from the interior door handles had started to go furry too, so they got a good going over.
When I stripped the doors down over the weekend I found part of a broken spring clip that holds the rod into the door lock mechanism in the bottom of the door. Part No 113.837.199. I’ve seen them many times before in my VW youth so just checked and found them from UK based VW Heritage for £2.50 so bought a pair. Although I only need one I thought for the sake of £2.50 I’ll just replace both clips that are inside the door. The ones behind the pull handle can be re-used as if they do ever break, they’re far easier to swap over than the ones on the lock itself.
I ran out of daylight again so called it a day.

Day 99

This morning before breakfast I started to sort boxes and bags of parts out in my shed into “clean”, “refurbish” or “replace”. One item that certainly needs replacing is the rubber sleeve that the wiring loom passes through from inside bonnet to the sidelights. Mine just crumbled into 1000 pieces when I took the lights out and pulled back the loom. It was a sod to find in the PET illustrations as the picture of it looks more like the boot on the side marker than the long tube with 90 deg boot one end and grommet the other. By shear chance this morning I googled the part number for what looked wrong in the PET and sure enough it came up as the part I needed.
The part number for them is 91463121710 I found a couple for sale on line and opted for a pair from Auto Atlanta, placing an order this morning before work.
As I was away over lunch I couldn’t get much done in the way of chasing parts which was pretty frustrating.
To make up for it tonight when I got home I finished off cleaning the window regulators by a giving the pinion, rack and pivots a good wash through with white spirit to clear out all the sandy grease. I worked it all in with a paintbrush until it operated nicely without any gritty noises. While they dried off I cleaned the same sandy grease out of the interior door pull handles too and left them to dry.
There is a small (about 8” long C channel that one of the legs of the regulator runs in (bolted to the door closest to the rear). These couldn’t have been galvanised like the rest of the regulator is as they were quite rusty. I gave them a good going over with emery paper and small wire brushes to clean them up before giving them a coat of Galv silver spray paint. (avoiding painting inside the runners as these will be eventually greased and any paint in there could jam them up).
After finishing the painting, the regulators were dry and I poured some waxoil straight from the tin into a spray can lid and with a small ¼ brush I gave the whole regulator assemblies a light coating inside and out to keep them from rusting and seizing in the British climate.
Running out of light again I moved inside and finished off by cleaning sand and dirt with an old toothbrush and Cif cream (magic stuff) off the 4 (2 each side) little rubber hoop guides that interior pull handle rod runs in to stop it rattling.
So that was today’s escapades.

Day 100

Wow has it really been 100 days since this little car arrived in the UK? The time has flown by!

Looking at the dismantled parts I need to replace all the fuzzies. The vertical track ones were rock solid, and shattered into several bits in the bottom of the doors! The ali strip horizontal internal and external were shot too, as was the very outer rubber weatherstrip, so all ordered and on their way.
Today was a manic day at work, typical Friday issues (why the hell do things go wrong on a Friday at 5 to 5) Suffice to say I have just got home at 10:15pm

Before the gloom and doom this afternoon I did manage to get out at lunch time and pick up the nicely sand blasted and etch primed bumpers, valances and sill sections. They came out really well. Trouble is now they have no heavy textured stone chip on them I’ve spotted a few more dents. More tin bashing required!
This morning the postman delivered the new windscreen surround from Germany…that was quick.
Also this evening on the door mat were the two lock rod clips turned up in a jiffy bag and some engine lid rubber trim.
I placed all the parts in my shed this evening and with everything else in there it’s getting a bit crowded now. Roll on when the car goes in for paint and I can think about starting to put it all back together.

Day 101

On the way home today I called in at a chandlers. I live a by the sea and we have multiple boat yards and Marina’s within spitting distance. They always have some interesting stainless fixings, braketry and general stainless nuts & bolts. This afternoon I was after some waterproof grease, the type the Yachties use on the winches and mechanicals at sea. I picked up a small tube and went home to work it into the joints and runners of my window regulator mechanisms. It’s great stuff, and perfect for this application.
I finished off painting the short runners with a coat of oil/grease resistant paint that I’d galv silvered yesterday and when they dried I put them all back together.

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I’m pleased how they came out.

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I then greased up the interior pull handle lever assemblies with some more waterproof grease before bagging everything up to keep them clean ready for putting back on the car after it’s painted.
The other week I turned down on my lathe a press for blanking the side markers. At the weekend I took further measurements and found a gentle curve in the wing (about 4mm off centre top and bottom) Having had a re-think for a week, I decided to reverse the infill plate. In other words instead of pressing the wing I will press the blank plate.
So this afternoon and into the evening I spent several hours making a new press tool and cutting discs out of the zintec sheet I picked up in the week. Pressing and testing until I got it right. Finally I made several and cleaned up two for welding after putting the wing curvature into them.

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The top right is a plain disc, far right was the old tool pressed first attempt, bottom right is the flat pressed reverse wing infill and finally the two on the left (top & bottom) are the finished ones with wing curvature. Running out of evening I finished off by down loading today’s photographs, writing an article about the visit for another club magazine and website and posting my update here.
Dependent on how I get on tomorrow I plan on welding the side marker holes up.

Day 102

Today was a dawn start, I had access to the unit so loaded Victor “the wonder bus” (my V70, so called because each time I go out, I wonder what’s not going to work today on it). Today it was the central locking, but to be fair the car has a special system that works on an algorithm shift rota. Today it was the rear door on the drivers side that wouldn’t unlock, last week it was the petrol flap. All random stuff that fixes itself the next time I drive it.

I cooked my speciality Panini’s first thing while loading up and delivered them at 7am to a hungry team at the unit (a 59 Chevy in need of clutch adjustment, a Seat Leon with leaking manifold and my friend who's unit it was) before starting work on the 914.
The weather was really kind again and I cleaned up back to bare metal around the side markers on BOTH sides of the wings. Scraping off some PO underseal first. With the sidelights removed I could get in easily and see what I was doing easily. Using a half round file and a rat tail I cleaned up the large hole and three smaller holes so all was clean and good to go for welding.
A dry run on the plates I made yesterday showed they needed a tiny tweek with pliers before the fitted perfectly.
Both discs were welded in and the three holes welded up, before finishing off with a flap disc to take the weld down flush.
Since it’ll be a week before the car goes into the paintshop I gave both sides a good coat of encapsulating primer, working the paint into the rear of the wing. After a few days to dry I plan to seam sealer it all up to protect the plate from corrosion from the inside.
While the paint dried I started to clean up inside the boot. Again like everything else it was full of sand. Unfortunately the PO sealed up the rear lights with caulking (a black tar like blu-tack) and mastic. Suffice to say it was a nightmare to get off with plenty of sand stuck in it.
There was a question about rear badges on the car, or lack of. During cleaning I found the rear of the badge holes (the ones to the right of the boot lock) had been filled and painted over ???. I quite like the car having the 914 and 2.0 badges so I dug out the filler and revealed the holes. Running a drill bit down them by hand to fully clean them out.
The parts I had collected from the sand blasters had revealed many more dents and scrapes now that all the textured stone chip was removed, so I set about them again with a planishing hammer.
I finished the two sill trims off and started again (stage 2) of the front valance. I’d had them etch primed so I could see a few new dents, that took an hour or so to get out before I moved on to a bucket of water with a squirt of washing up liquid. Dip in a cloth and wring out and wipe over the part (to apply a soapy water gloss) and lo and behold a whole new series of dents showed themselves. More hammering required and I called it a day at 8pm after hearing a few slamming doors from the neighbours!

Day 103

After yesterdays revealing of the rear badge holes, this morning I set about an availability and price comparison on-line for the rear 914 & 2.0 badge. While I was at it I checked out the P O R S C H E script for the engine lid grille. After an hour I’d found the best deals and snapped them up (including the securing nuts which annoyingly are extra) before leaving for work.
Today I was back in Central London, all went well until this afternoon with a signal failure at Clapham Junction most trains were cancelled or delayed. Instead of a straight through train I ended up changing 3 times and getting home 2 hours late!
I started again on the front valance with more tin bashing on the final dents. This was followed by draw filing to remove any high spots and after a few hours another coat of etch primer to finish off. I’m determined to get it back to shape without using any filler. In such a vulnerable position, at the slightest stone impact any filler would simply be dislodged and make a right mess. Since I have plenty of time while the cars away for painting it’s worth doing properly, even it it’s a real painstaking job.
Day 104

This morning before work I went through more parts that I’d taken off and added the chrome on plastic Fog/driving light surround grilles that fit into the front bumper to the replace pile. (The chrome is starting to fall off mine)
I googled the part number (from PET) and did a price comparison on-line and was at first shocked at the price new. In the end I found a good deal from a company in France and ordered a new pair before leaving for work.
During lunchtime I visited Porsche Centre Portsmouth and collected the front up & over seal, the quarterlight seals and a few clips. Curiously the little black plastic rivet clips that hold the sill threshold plates and sill covers on, turned up clear plastic?
I suppose I’ll paint the heads black if that’s how they come now.
I also called another windscreen company (recommended by Porsche Centre) and they said they’ll come take a look and let me know if they would be prepared to remove the screen which is more than any of the others have said so far.
On another note, today was the last day of my 14 days notice for Berlyn to change the Beetle discs for 914 ones. Total time now is 11 weeks since I placed the order and paid. Guess what….not a word, so off to small claims Court it will unfortunately have to go. Since now I am completely entitled to claim consequential losses too, I have ordered another set of discs now from another supplier. It’s really disappointing that it has come to this but I simply cannot rely upon Berlyn and my restoration moves on even if I have to pay twice for the right part.
Anyway, this evening I visited the car and worked until dusk. After welding the side markers up at the weekend and painting the metal inside & out, it had had 48 hours to dry so I sealed it all up on the reverse with 3M Drip-check sealer.
Next I finished off getting all the visible sealant off around the windscreen with a Stanley knife to make it a little easier for the windscreen chap tomorrow.
Moving on to the boot that I’d cleaned out on Sunday there was some strange stuff going on across the floor in the middle below the boot lock. The floor had been repainted at some point (presumably when they did the poor respray) There was a paint tape line just back from the first set of corrugations so only the first rear 12” of floor had been painted? The surface had skinned and drawn. A bit like crinkled cling film? It was soft to the touch and with pressure it left a fingerprint!
So out with my scraper and old wood chisel and it simply stripped off like butter to reveal a substance that can only be described as sticky tar? Anyway it all had to come off. After about two hours I’d scraped most of it off from the rear panel seam to the end of the first set of corrugations. It revealed the original blue painted floor, but showed signs of rubbing down. There was some small bits of surface pitting from old rust, but with 80 grit this came out. All I can imagine is the previous owner coated it when he saw the first signs of rust with the black tar substance. When it went in for paint I guess they just sprayed over it, but as it never really set the paint just dragged.
There’s more work to be done to get it all off but it dissolves in white spirit so with more scraping and a soaked rag it should eventually come off.
Before dark I worked on the area closest to the back of the car and the back panel seam getting it all clean before I put a nice bead of Drip check along the rear panel joint to re-seal it.

Day 105

Today I did this….
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It’s out in one piece

The work late into the evening last night cutting out as much sealant with Stanley blades paid off. The guy turned up this morning with his cutting wire and it was out in about 30 seconds. To be fair there was only about 15% of bonding left around the trim clips that I couldn’t get to with the knife, so it was a case of dot to dot with the wire and job done. In addition there was a good 30% that had come unstuck itself already over the years which helped no end.
Not to scare monger anyone who hasn’t checked theirs but I was very pleased to get the screen out as without a doubt it would have leaked like a sieve if I’d left it untouched.
Timed with an early lunch it was 30 seconds well spent.
Getting back to work earlier than anticipated I did a quick search for more parts but got very side-tracked by logging on 914World... Fatal…you simply can’t restrict yourself to only 5 minutes on here, so much good stuff and deeds to be done.
Anyway this evening I returned to the car and started to clean up the aperture
The majority of the surround was in perfect condition with zero rust (even in the corners) which was very welcome. With the glass out I could properly remove the surround trim clips. I have a new set with the new surround, but saved the old ones non the less. (just in case I break a new one)
Nearly all the trim clip holes were thankfully rust free too!

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With the exception of 4 trim clip holes in the centre of the bottom of the aperture that had some small evidence of bubbling around them.
Two hours later I’d stripped the bottom of the aperture down to bare metal and sanded down a tiny amount of rusting about the size of a little fingernail until it was all gone.
A final coat of encapsulating primer and it was getting dark. A quick deserved cuppa was had while the primer dried before the cover went back on.

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Yep I know.....the dash replacement is next on my list
Finally I loaded the windscreen carefully into my car and took it home for safe storage. Driving Miss Daisy all the way home with the precious cargo.

Day 106

Last night it was getting dark when I got home so when I unloaded the windscreen and a few bits and bobs I just placed them inside the front of the garage. This morning before work I sorted out some old underlay and made a nice nest in the rear of the garage to keep the screen safe while the car gets painted.
Over lunch I read up on how to remove the rear window and ordered some 3M Butyl 1/4" tape to put the glass back in with.
After work I went up to the car and started to dismantle the interior to get at the rear window. Everything came out as planned and the reverse of the glass was all revealed. While working on the engine bay repaint I knew it was rattling around but I wasn’t prepared for how lose it was.
Reaching in from outside I gently tried the window and it literally fell out into my hands!
I lifted it out and placed it to the side to take stock.
The old butyl tape was completely sand logged, it must of worked its way into the gap between glass and seal and stuck in there. Fortunately it just gently peeled out leaving a nice clean window aperture, no rust to be found.
Unfortunately everything was covered in sand behind the panel (no surprise) the seat belt reels were choked full of sand, so they had to come out for strip and clean. Most of the pieces of vinyl that were stuck here and there to cover gaps around the rear padded bulkhead had curled up and were extremely crispy, so they all came off too.
Thinking ahead and to really get the sand out I decided to take off both sill carpets. Drivers seat was still out from the glass removal so I took out the runners and handbrake to free the carpet. Passenger side was much easier, the seat stayed and just the seatbelt bolt and a screw in the front speaker cover held it in.
Lifting the carpets out poured more sand everywhere.
I then gently removed the last of the roll bar vinyl off the top centre section, loosening off the latches to free it from behind them.
After bagging up and labelling all the fixings I loaded them up to take home and returned to off load at home as it got dark.
I did manage to take a picture before the sun set of today’s escapades.

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Day 107

Today was a bit Groundhog day. This morning I sorted out the glass and interior bits out into safe storage that I brought home last night and at lunch I searched out a few more parts.
The clear cover is missing from the fuse box and I found one on-line for a few £’s so ordered it up.
The two buffer stops I’ve been searching for that fit inside the engine lid hinge were finally tracked down. Part number 914 559 253 10 is no longer available, but having searched a bit deeper it seems like the part number has changed to 901 423 528 00
These are still available, so I ordered some this lunchtime. I also called in at the letting agents and checked out what was happening with the garage that they are taking rent for that I can't use because the door is broken. The bad news is that they aren't allocating any funds to low priority defects but gave me numbers of two other garages in the block that are empty to see if they are serviceable. Call me old fashioned but shouldn't they be doing that, then contacting me? It just seems that with everything in life you cannot rely upon anyone these days, if you want something done you've got to do it yourself. I'll post an update on the garages when I've had time to check them out.
This evening after work I visited the car and made a fitted cover from some thick polythene sheet and some old U channel edge trim to cover the engine between rear window and boot to help stop dust/dirt ingress while the car is at the painters. I’d had some sheet over it for a while now, but cut it all to size tonight instead of the sticky duct tape it's had on for a few weeks.
I then spent another 2 hours sanding down the boot floor to feather the edges of the paint and scratches ready for spraying before running out of light again.

Day 108

I had a good day working on the car today. As its booked in on Monday at the paintshop I needed to get the brake system closed up, so ended up fitting the new callipers over the old discs. Not what I initially wanted to do, but since my second set are still in transit I had no option. Anyway I got it all buttoned up and bled. First time in many years that it’s held fluid.
During bleeding I noticed excessive pedal free play. The result of a pedal assembly rebuild and a new master cylinder. I adjusted the rod to give a nice 1mm as per the Haynes data and locked it off with the lock nut, job done.
Next I carried on sanding in the boot floor for a few hours before finally getting a coat of primer on it.
Afterwards I put a good amount of seam sealer over the rear of the side marker blank plates to fully seal them.
Out with the vacuum cleaner and the interior and bulkhead was cleared of more sand from when the rear window came out. I gave everything a good wipe down with a damp cloth and cleaned up the sound deadening pads.
Then on to the rear window surround. I’d peeled off what was left of the butyl tape the other day but on the outside an attempt had been made to seal the glass with silicone sealer, this took a while to pick and scrape off, but it was all removed in the end.
Under the roll bar outside there are 3 blank plugs each side. Mine had been sprayed over during the poor respray in the past, so I had to chip the paint off them to get them out. I certainly will be making sure it gets painted properly this time around and after getting the plugs out I dropped them in a small pot of cellulose thinners for 10 minutes until the paint had crinkled and fell off. Fortunately all 6 are salvageable and will go back in plain black plastic coloured.
Finally I cut up another piece of the polythene sheet and blanked off the fuel tank area under the windscreen held in place with some old off cuts of U trim. The paint around the fuel tank is excellent so I don’t intend to get this re-sprayed, just the boot itself, as far back as, and including the bulkhead. Apart from the engine bay, fuel tank area, underside and interior where it’s fine everything else is getting fresh paint.
Tomorrow I need to do a few more little jobs to do before its loaded up on the transporter.
Finally I returned home this evening to find my "Certificate of Authenticity" from Porsche arrived in the mail.

Day 109

Today was an early start to get all the final jobs sorted out before tomorrows trip to the Paintshop.
Whilst working on the car it was most practical to have all bonnet, boot and door latches on the car, but for paint they needed to be removed.
I started with the boot lock and catch, then the pin on the boot lid followed by the two rubber adjustment stops on each corner. Fortunately the boot stays down by itself so nothing needed there to hold it.
Next I moved on to the front Bonnet, removing the catch and nylon cable sheath. I coiled the wire up and cable tied it, then tucked it beside the petrol tank.
Then came my first hurdle today the latch on the bonnet itself. I took the left bolt out then noticed the right bolt was loose. I put a socket on it but it was solid, yet all the washers and catch were loose. It was as if the bolt was too long and bottomed out?
It was solid so I turned the ratchet and SNAP, the head sheared off. On closer inspection the PO had put a ¼ UNC bolt into an M6 hole and wrenched it as tight as it would go! Now I had to carefully drill out the sheared bolt. Working up in drill sizes I got to 4.5mm and the old UNC bolt (or what was left of it) freed off and came out. I tidied up the thread with an M6 tap but it was completely stripped.
The catch is safety critical so I had to re-tap it to M7 to get a good thread. Just need to order an M7 bolt for it to go back on. (didn’t want to go to M8 as it would look out of place and leave less meat in the backplate. The M7 head will be at a glance the same size as the M6 head, so it will look ok)
I then took off the check straps and interior light switches (taping up and pulling the cables back into the car).
After a trip to Halfords to buy a pack of two 450mm bungy straps, I took off the door lock mechanisms and striker plates. The bungy straps linked together hold the doors firmly shut when stretched behind the seats. Easy to take off for painting and a simple practical solution to aid the car moving around.
Next I started to strip down the targa roof to just a bare GRP panel. Not only did I remove the seals and trim, I stripped off the old headliner material too. It will be painted both sides for a good job.
Finally we loaded the car onto my friends transporter ready for a 6:30am set off to the paintshop tomorrow morning before work.

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Again this afternoon when I got home (first time in a while it was light) I put all the locks and stuff into my shed ready for refurbishment. Walking back past the side gate I noticed a parcel. Must have arrived yesterday but I’d not noticed in the winter darkness.
Opened it up and found my very nice NOS genuine Porsche Bumper Grilles.

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After a whole weekend of 914 work there was just enough time for me to get out another classic car and drive over for the last hour of a car show in Portsmouth this afternoon. All American cars (but no 914’s to be seen).
When I got back this evening I cleaned the other car and my Volvo, then put the 914 door locks into a white spirit soak to loosen all the sand and old grease off them

Day 110

A milestone day….car finally into Paintshop.

This morning I awoke to the dawn chorus of songbirds at 5:15am, today was the day the 914 takes a trip to the paintshop. 4 months of continuous preparation have lead to today.
Before breakfast I loaded up parts into my daily driver that I’d taken off that needed paint (including the engine lid etc) and drove down to the paintshop to await the transporter at 6:45 to help unload.
Like clockwork we got the car off in cold but glorious sunshine and the transporter left while I waited until 7am for the paintshop to open.
Stuart, the owner turned up on time and we spend a good 15 minutes going around the car discussing my requirements. He’d seen it a few weeks ago when it was still together so now had a good look at the detail. We checked his old original VW paint colour chits (that’s the beauty of going to a classic VW specialist, they have a passion for the car plus all the original VW paintshop information to hand). I unloaded the parts out of my boot, handed over the keys and left for work.
Stuart reckons 4 weeks, I bet him it would be 6!
There’s no real deadline I’d rather it took a little longer and was right, after all I’m a fussy bugger when it comes to detail.
Today at lunchtime I paid a customs charge on my Brake discs and they should be here tomorrow. Typical really, as I’d hoped to get them on at the weekend, but never mind, they’ll go on when the car gets back and it’ll give me plenty of time to paint up the hub and edges.
Over the weekend when taking the targa top to pieces I’d noticed lots of screw head cover plugs missing so spent the lunchbreak searching the PET and internet for the missing plugs.
Tonight when I got home, I spent a good couple of hours sorting out the door locks that were full of sand. Since the car arriving in the UK the handles were very, very stiff to operate, almost to the point that I was scared of breaking them. No wonder when found them jammed up with sand.

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Last night I put them in a white spirit soak to dissolve all the old grease and loosen the sand. After a couple of hours with an old tooth brush I’d got them back from the dead, no more gritty grinding movement here.

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Just before it started to get dark I brushed a very light coat of waxoil on the mechanism (avoiding the pivots which will be greased with waterproof marine grease) just to keep them looking like new in the British weather.
Next I put the check strap mechanism and the bonnet lock in soak, for déjà vu tomorrow night.
Retiring inside I opened another very large parcel that arrived this afternoon from 914rubber.
All my 914 rubber Christmas’s arrived at once; cant wait to start putting it all back together with all this nice supple new rubber.

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Day 111

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn again and changed a starter motor on one of my other cars before leaving for work. I’d been meaning to do it for a while now and with the 914 work, it had been placed on the back burner. This weekend I need to move it to get another car out so it had to be done.

Over lunchtime I searched down a few more bits and bobs.

Tonight when I got home I started on the door check straps that had been in soak overnight. As I’d mentioned earlier the drivers door creaked when opening and just didn’t feel smooth. All was revealed when I dismantled the door and found half a roller in the bottom.
The other half was still stuck in the sand logged mechanism. You can just see the half around the pin in the picture.

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The passenger door was much smoother (less use maybe) but not quite right either.

I always find that any man-machine interface needs to be a pleasurable one. As a creature we evolved to be tactile and any interaction with a car needs to give us the right signals. From flaky razor sharp chrome on door handles, rough sandpaper dry paint jobs where the gun couldn’t get in, to play in a steering rack they give off repulsive signals that completely destroy a pleasurable experience. It’s the little details that make a big difference when you restore a car.

In my quest to sort out the check straps I found a nice little kit while on the 914rubber website. “914 Door stay roller replacements Rollers Part No 914DSRR $19.99” Contains two nylon & two aluminium rollers.
They came yesterday in my big parcel, so I spent a couple of hours stripping down and cleaning the passenger check strap assembly this evening. The “didn’t feel right” ended up being a very big flat spot on the nylon roller. You can just see it in the photo below.

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New roller kit shown bottom right in picture above.

Again it got dark too quickly so I finished off with another light coat of waxoil on all the parts ready for assembly tomorrow when I’ve cleaned up the drivers side mechanism.
It’s a real simple fix and makes a big difference.

Day 112

This morning I assembled the passenger check strap with new rollers and waterproof grease before work. I did have to tweak the main frame that holds the nylon roller. The gap between the frame was tight and binding the roller so it needed opening up a mm so that the roller spun freely.
Today at work it was meeting after meeting so I didn’t get chance for lunch today.
Getting home tonight I had two parcels waiting.
Two new RHD H4 headlights that I ordered from David Manners Group.
Part No LUB328LUCAS H/Lamp no pilot H4 Bulbs £34.66 inc VAT the pair
When I took the lights out the car the other week the plug that fits on the back of the lamp (holding 3 spade connections) just crumbled. California heat damage. I got a new pair with the lamps, just need to relocate the spade terminals into them.
The second parcel from Auto-Atlanta contained the rubber grommet/tube assemblies that the wiring to the sidelights and indicators pass through between bonnet tub and front wing.
After checking all parts over, they arrived without damage/defects I placed them into my storage shed to await rebuild.
I then stripped down and cleaned up the drivers check strap assembly. Not only was the nylon roller in pieces, the Aluminium one had two very large wear flats on it at 90 degrees to each other. The strap itself is made of aluminium too which did surprise me. They have a knurl (serrated ridged edge) where they run in the rollers, presumably to encourage them to rotate. It seems that if the rollers seize up the check strap acts like a file and wears them flat until (as with mine) it wears right through the nylon roller cutting it in half. It them runs on the steel pin and wears the aluminium check strap down on the edge which burrs it over along the edge so that it then sticks/jams inside the aluminium roller as its too wide with burrs to run freely.
Most people just put grease on their check straps. On the bits you see when you open the door.
This it seems is not enough for the 914 design, you’ve got to take it out the door to lubricate these rollers and make sure they turn freely for a long serviceable life.
So after cleaning up all the parts of the drivers assembly and filing down and smoothing off the burrs I gave them a light coat of waxoil and left them to dry until tomorrow morning like I did with the passenger one.
There was still enough time this evening to clean up the bonnet lock assembly that was soaking overnight, dry it out and coat with waxoil.
With the waterproof grease still open from this mornings assembly I next turned my attention to the recently cleaned door locks. Taking my time I worked more grease deep into all the pivots, latches and catches to get a nice smooth operation before finally calling it a night.

Day 113

Today during my lunch break at work I collected my new front brake discs from the Parcel Force depo. I bought them and had them in my hands from the Pelican Parts in a little under 2 weeks. It’s been over 12 weeks now and Berlyn Services say they still can’t get any!! Absolute rubbish as I have quite clearly shown.
Next I dropped off the engine lid mesh and the two small mesh pieces off at the bead blasters for cleaning and coating satin black, before returning to work.
Tonight when I got home I assembled the last door check strap mechanism using the new rollers and cut two new stainless steel split pins to length for the locating pins and bagged them up in zip top bags until the grand rebuild. Afterwards I cleaned up the bonnet & boot catch (the parts that fit to the bonnet & boot, not the car) and the two door striker plates that had been in soak. I took the rear catch apart to get inside the spring and nylon bush and while the white spirit dried off I cleaned up all the cross head M6 bolts that hold the door locks and striker plates on with a brass wire brush so they shone like new without damaging the zinc plate.
Finally I coated all the lock parts with a thin waxoil as before and left them to dry for the morning and put more bits into the ice cream tub of white spirit for tomorrows clean fest.

Day 114

This morning I did a little more sorting out of parts, opened the front brake discs and checked them over and ordered a couple of bits on line before work. At lunchtime I called in at the paint shop to see how things were going.
Afterwards I called Porsche Centre Portsmouth and ordered a new pull cable for the bonnet. (Still available from Porsche) My original one had been bent double by the clamp screw and after a struggle drawing out the wire to get the lock off, I have little confidence in it’s strength. The best option is a new cable, and at £12 it’s a cheap item that would cost far more to rectify if it broke with the bonnet shut.
This evening I assembled the boot catch, sorted out and cleaned all the fixing bolts and washers before bagging them all up. My M7 bolts arrived from ebay(to replace the one I had to drill out the bonnet) so I cut one to length, drilled out the M6 washer to 7mm and made sure it fit through the hole in the bonnet catch. Perfect. The only difference is it has a 11mm head, not 10mm, so it will not look out of place and hold the catch firmly.
Next I cleaned up the parts in soak from last night before calling it a day.

Day 115

This morning I got up early to carry on prepping my pre-war car for a friends wedding this afternoon. I’d changed a starter motor on another car on Tuesday so that I could move it out to get at my old car. Having not been out since September last year I needed to give it a good going over. I ended up re-packing the open drive waterpump, lubricating the chassis, draining down the fuel tank and filling with a can relay from the local station, points, plugs etc etc getting scrubbed up, ironing a shirt and all before noon. The weather was kind and the sun shone for the duration of the wedding right until I’d got all the cars put away later this afternoon right on cue the heavens opened as I closed the garage door.
So on to the 914. This afternoon I continued by cleaning up the boot key lock and latch, then started on the bags of nuts and bolts that hold them on. Followed by cleaning up the interior light switches, contacts and connections. Then I individually cleaned up all the black rubber washers that hold on the engine lid grilles and Porsche script with cellulose thinners. Next the engine lid catches. There was a nasty step wear & burr on the lock striker pin which I had to dress out with a smooth file to ensure it doesn’t snag. Once clean I bagged everything up in order of “Doors, boot & engine lid”
Each nut bolt and screw carefully having had its thread & head cleaned out before a light coating of waxoil.
I then carefully drained off the top of the white spirit tub and disposed of the ½” deep layer of sand and dirt in the bottom before refilling and putting more bits in to soak for tomorrow.
In between everything I answered a Pelican Parts Survey, ordered some parts from VW heritage (New interior light, door light switch rubber boots and 4 more screwed rubber buffer stops for the bonnet & boot lids) The old ones had gone rock hard and wouldn’t cushion very well any longer and risked damaging new paint.

Day 116

Today I spent my time on the Targa roof. Having quickly taken it apart in a spare hour before the car got loaded up for the paintshop, now was the time to sort it all out.
Firstly I scraped off all the old sticky caulking (like industrial blu-tack). Messy job but needed to be done.

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Afterwards all surfaces where it had been got a good scrub with scotchbrite soaked in cellulose thinners to get every little bit off.
I then sorted out the underside of the roof where the headliner material is glued on.
It was covered in old impact glue residue. Not a good base to glue on top of so it had to be cleaned off. Rock hard baked old glue is not easy to remove and I found the best tool was my Stanley blade holding scraper.

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Working with the roof curvature (across the car, not front to back) I eventually got it all off after an hour or so.
Next I gave the whole fibreglass roof a damn good scrub wash with hard bristle scrubbing brush and detergent. This took another hour as I washed, dried and washed again until all the sand and grime was gone. Repeating on both sides to make sure it was spotless for repainting.
The top surface of the roof has a textured (splatter) type finish. Over the years this had been damaged and some sections were scraped & knocked so needed repair. With various grades of wet and dry I gently rubbed down and feathered the edges around the numerous patches of damage before re-adding the texture.

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Using a bumper texture paint with a “heavy” grade nozzle in short burst to almost “spit” the paint out to replicate the original finish. The paint is specially formulated to set hard and maintain texture so it’s ideal for the job.
The top is due to go down the painters for a final satin black paint from a gun, no rattle can stripy paint jobs here!
After preparing the top I then started on all the trims and catches.
First washing and cleaning the stainless trims at the rear of the roof that holds the fuzzy “U” shape seal on. Afterwards they were polished up with brasso.
Next I cleaned all the flaky rust off the front and rear catches. The rear catches that fit on the roll bar were quite messy so ended up being stripped down to bare metal and totally repainted. The fronts came partially apart and got a clean & paint too. Finally the rear blocks that fit onto the roof and have the hooks in them that the latches hold got the same treatment.
After a quick cuppa I scraped off the caulking and sanded down the two channels that hold the rubber over the door window glass. I had a small issue when I etch primed them. Not sure what the original black paint was, but the etch just pickled it. There was nothing I could do but get the paint stripper out and remove every bit of old black paint off the two channels. After a coating of stripper the residue was cleaned off in a bucket of water with scotchbrite before hanging up to dry.
Next I got every single bolt washer and screw that holds the targa top together and detail wire brushed each and everyone until they shone. With a modellers brush I gave them all a waxoil coat before bagging up a few hours later.
Last of all this evening I gave the locks and catches a second coat before calling it a day.

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Day 117

This morning I decided to sand down and put a coat of etch primer on the two targa roof seal window strips that I’d had in paint stripper yesterday. After half an hour rubbing down with wet & dry and a de grease they were ready for paint. I manage to get a coat of paint on them before breakfast.
Afterwards I loaded the bumpers, sills and valances in the car and left for work
At lunchtime I dropped them off at the paint shop and went through the finish I wanted with the foreman. I’ve opted for a subtle ripple texture stone guard on the valances and sills (for stone chip protection inside and out) and a smooth finish to the bumpers. All in Satin Black.
After preparing the Targa roof panel yesterday I dropped that off for painting too.
With what little lunchtime was left I managed to buy on line some small circlips to hold the levers on the rear targa catches. One was completely missing and the other wasn’t in good shape when I dismantled them at the weekend.
Tonight when I got home I gave the trim strips a first coat of Satin black. After an hour I flipped them over and painted the other side.
I then started cleaning up a collection of more nuts and bolts and the little plastic sleeves that go over the tabs holding the wiring loom in the car. Before painting I’d taken all the little sleeves off. A cloth soaked in cellulose thinners and a quick rub, the sleeves came up like new.

Day 118

This morning I put another coat of paint on the Targa roof catches and latches befor going off to work.
This evening when I eventually got home (after calling in to Halfords on the way to buy more paint then B & Q for more white spirit) I set about sorting more bits out. I drained off and topped up my ice cream tub with fresh white spirit and put my two sand & grease logged exterior door handles into soak. Next I put another coat of Satin black on the targa seal channels.
I had a phone call today to say the engine lid grilles were ready but didn’t get time to pick them up today. This should work out fine as tonight I found the two US license plate brackets and two chunky bumper brackets in a box in my shed which need blasting. I’ll drop them off tomorrow when I pick up the grilles. As for perfect timing there was a small box by my side gate from the postman. Opening it up it was the new chrome PORSCHE script for the engine lid, so ideal for tomorrow night when I get home with the freshly coated grilles.
I then started the brain numbingly boring task of cleaning up a bag of fixings I’d taken off labelled “door shuts” It had all the screws that hold the black threshold plates (the ones that clamp the door seal down to the carpet, plus the tiny screws that hold the door outer weatherstrip trim. Now you may think I’ve gone mad but I individually spent two hours wire brushing all the rust, gunk and glue out of the screws. Next I used a scriber to dig out the dirt in the cross heads before screwing them all in a row into a piece of softwood about an inch apart. Followed by satin black painting of the screws that hold the threshold plates in and silver painting the screws that hold the weatherstrips.

This was followed by a final spray of the roof seal strips that had had a couple of hours to dry and finally the last hour of the evening cleaning up an array of nuts and bolts from the doors, before a lick of waxoil to preserve them.
Just when I thought I’d had enough for tonight I spied a bag of plastic bits. Window winder handles, interior door pull cups, seat belt covers etc and brought them into the house for a good soapy tooth brushing in the morning.
Day 119

More progress today…..
This morning I cleaned up all the plastic door panel furniture with an old toothbrush and Cif cream, rinsed off and left for work.
At lunchtime I collected the engine lid grilles all nice and re coated Satin Black, I’ve got to say they look absolutely superb. I dropped off a box of brackets and stuff for blasting and called in at Porsche Centre on the way back to work. Collected my new bonnet release wire.
Tonight when I got home I had a parcel waiting that contained my new circlip assortment so set about re assembly of the rear targa roof catches. All went together nicely and I wrapped them up in kitchen towel before bagging up all the bits in zip top bags. The painted screws had dried well so I unscrewed them out of the wood block and bagged them up too. The Targa seal channels got a look over and I decided another coat of black was required so gave them another spray.
Next I took the exterior door handles out of soak and using an old toothbrush gave them a going over. Some bits are still baked on so back in soak they go until tomorrow.
I also had good news on the new 914 home; the garage with a new door has a new lock, so I get to finally draw the key in the morning and take possession. This hopefully will give me a couple of weeks to de-spider it and paint it all out inside just in time for the car returning from the paint shop.
I also had a call from my local paintshop regarding the bumpers and sills. They have done some paint swatches for various levels of satin finish (all in black) so I can choose the level of sheen and another set in various grades of ripple stone chip so I can choose that for the front and rear valances. Not strictly OEM, but certainly much improved chip and rust resistance over just paint. I’m hoping to get it a good match to 944 sill texture. In this was at least it has some genuine Porsche family lineage behind my choice of finish.

Day 120

Today I gave the Targa latches and trim strips a coat of satin lacquer (in my loft as the weather had got quite cold & damp again) and left them to dry before work.
At lunchtime I signed for my new garage and took possession of the keys.
First thing tonight I checked it out. It has a new door and frame but true to form it had been fitted by a pair of idiots. The door was twisted in the frame and the lock would not latch as a result on the top left side.
Fed up with the whole situation I went home and fetched my tool box. I took off the new door (which was a nightmare on my own) re drilled and installed it square in the frame. I had to straighten out a battered closing plate that they beat two bells of sh*t out off trying to get the twisted door they’d fitted to close!
I get so frustrated by the lack of basic ability and common sense of folk these days. What makes it worse is they are oblivious to their lack of skills yet still get paid. Anyway rant over, just simmering down now from having to wrestle with a 7ft garage door on my own.
But in the end it’s all worked out well as I now have a new garage for 914!

Lastly today I settled down by sorting out the 914 exterior door handles and came across a few issues and solutions that may help others out.
Despite being full of sand and frighteningly stiff to operate they cleaned up well with a 2 day soak in white spirit.
The drivers handle was obviously more worn than passenger. Once free of sand and rock hard old grease it still jammed half open. That’s to say the pull bit of the handle didn’t spring flat and the plastic fork that slides up and down seemed to be sticking and holding the handle out. I took out the screw in the end of the lock and removed the operating cam. (Beware if you do this the lock barrel and tumblers are free to come out the handle). Next with the cam off the end if you pull on the handle as if to open the door the fork travels off the end of the lock (now the cam is gone) and you can un latch it from the handle. The two pin lugs on the fork have a flat on them so that you can get it apart with ease.
Now I could see what the problem was. The handle itself where the fork slides up and down has two steps on it. The plastic fork has square cross-sectional ends, it gets stuck on the start of the step on the metal handle causing it to jam and the handle not to spring flat. The simple fix was to take a very small file and round off the two inside ends of the fork, so that it cannot lock itself into the corner of the step on the handle. ONLY by a very tiny amount as that’s all that’s needed for it to work smoothly with a tiny bit of grease to keep things happy in there.
Next I’d noticed that when putting the key in the lock it sprung returned when twisted one way but not the other?
I solved this too. Under the cam on the end of the lock barrel is a small coil spring that works in a rotary way not stretch. It has two bent out ends that locate in an open slot in the cam. One side of my slot had worn very slightly rounded, so as the cam turned the end of the spring got stuck under the cam and not rotated by the cam. Since it wasn’t being rotated it didn’t spring back. The solution was to file the rounded slot in the cam flat again with a needle file (or buy a new cam of course) but filing it worked a treat.
While I was in there I took out the lock barrel carefully holding the tumblers in (with key inserted) and cleaned it all out. There I found a crumbled rubber O seal, so found a new one of the right size in my assortment box before re assembling the lock back into the handle. Top tip is the put the spring carefully into the cam and seat both ends in the cam before fitting it. Fiddly but do-able with patience.
Once all back together I then ran an M6 tap down the front threaded fixing hole as the thread wasn’t too clever. I managed to cut 1 new turn of thread at the bottom which should improve the hold as the first two turns appear completely stripped. In total there’s about 4-5 turns in there, so even though it’s a 7mm deep threaded hole I still have a good 5mm of thread now.
Finally I checked over and repeated the fork improvement and greasing trick on the passenger lock and wrapped them up in kitchen towel before bagging them up for the grand assembly.



So this is Month 4’s progress. Despite having to go to work each day I’ve managed to fit quite a lot in and get the car stripped down for the paintshop. I’ll be helping them remove the old layers of paint next month for a complete bare metal respray.

Thank you again for taking time out to read my thread.