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

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1419606931.2.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1419606931.3.jpg)

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

[914forme]

All I can say is wow, keep it up!!!!

[gereed75]

All I can say is wow, keep it up!!!!

You sir are a restoration animal (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

The wood rot tip and the restoration of the tail light buckets are priceless. What solvent did you use on them??

Amazing. Best of luck with the rest of the work.

[Darren C]

All I can say is wow, keep it up!!!!

You sir are a restoration animal (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

The wood rot tip and the restoration of the tail light buckets are priceless. What solvent did you use on them??

Amazing. Best of luck with the rest of the work.

Thanks for the kind words!
The rear light housings are some kind of Thermosetting plastic. (Basically the plastic is very sensitive to heat and solvents)
I tried a few things initially as there was a lot of overspray paint on them from the poor repaint the car had.
White spirit seemed to be the least aggressive but Cellulose thinners is a definite NO, as it dissolves this plastic very quickly. I’d guess any Acetone based solvent would do the same, since most plastics that are sensitive to Cellulose won’t like Acetone.
The ”Brasso” metal polish seemed to be the best option. However it was hard and slow work.
There’s an old Uk saying…”You don’t get owt for nowt” which translates as meaning you have to put effort in, to get a good result out.