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

[Darren C]

Month 8


Day 211

Today I contacted Porsche Centre to chase up the new ignition key as it has been 2 months now since ordering the spare. “It came in today” was the reply. Hmmm, co-incidence? I also ordered up a set of screw covers for the trims around the roll bar and the windscreen pillars. Most of the originals were missing or chewed up. Still available (as they fit 924,44 & 68 also) in stock Porsche UK and £1.97 each. Hopefully have them on Friday ready for the weekend.

The plan is to fit the windsheild and rear window this weekend. I’d placed them in the back of one of the garages for safe keeping after taking them out the week before going to the paintshop.
Setting up my trestles with extra foam padding I got out the rear window and with a brand new Stanley blade in my scraper I removed the old window stickers for South California University and Yellowstone Park. There was a good coat of paint on the glass too. Seems the last paint shop didn’t even take care to mask the glass let alone remove it. This all needed scraping off with a perimeter line of water limescale before the glass was scrubbed with Cif and scotchbrite. (A cheap supermarket green scotchbrite that doesn’t scratch). Flipping it over I cleaned both sides before starting on the windsheild
The glass is a replacement, having been fitted some time ago it was stuck in with tons of silicone! There was plenty left on the glass after slicing it out the car which needed cleaning off.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670538.1.jpg)

Again as with the rear window there was plenty of dirt, limescale (from years of car washing) and general grunge on the glass, so it got a total Stanley blade scrape and scotchbrite Cif.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670539.2.jpg)

After a few hours I’d got it cleaned up ready for the weekends installation. I’m not happy about the rear view mirror mount, so may need to take a look at prying it off the glass. The PO has glued it back on but scuffed up the base with 40 grit to key it and it looks awful from the outside looking in. Partially black with random sandpaper silver scratches to bare metal showing. I tentatively tried to get it off the glass tonight but its rock solid. As I was running out of daylight again, rather than rush it, I can take a look tomorrow.

Day 212

This morning before work I had a go at getting the mirror of the windscreen. The PO had stuck in on with what looked like araldite epoxy glue and had made quite a mess around the base. It was on rock solid so I had to get serious with it to remove it.
Setting up a layer of left over underlay from some laminate flooring from my old house (that I’d kept as it comes in useful for kneeling on while working) I carefully angled the screen, like in the car, so a good proportion of the glass edge rested evenly across the underlay pads.
The next bit isn’t for the faint hearted.
I got a new Stanley blade (loose) and rested it across the corner of the foot of the mirror. Next I used a toffee hammer sliding along the glass, ensuring it pressed on the inside of the screen as it moved (as you used to do when you nailed in window panes in old houses before using window putty) so that it struck the top of the Stanley blade and slowly drifted it between Mirror foot and glass until it was released.
The Mirror eventually came free, and wiping sweat from my brow I put everything away and left for work.
At lunch today I called in at a local sign writers (I hate using that name as today its all vinyl stickers as no one paints signs anymore) and arranged for a 20mm wide black glass vinyl strip to be made. This is going along the bottom of the rear window. I believe Porsche used a form of insulation tape like you use on wires to cover the inside bottom of the glass to stop you looking in from outside and seeing the un-upholstered back of the bulkhead trim.
The sign vinyl strip will do the same job but stick far better and make hopefully a neater job. The guy said if he made one specially for me it would be £30, but if I could wait a day or two until he’s doing some black vinyl work, he’d cut me several for a £10 while the machine is set up.
When I got home this evening I found the two seat belt triangular plastic covers for the roll bar had arrived from VW Heritage. They’d been on back order for a few weeks and it was a nice surprise. I tried the fit and it was perfect. Bit of a punt as they are listed as early VW Golf on their website but after a lot of trawling on line the pictures of the Golf ones looked just like the 914 covers.
After playing with the belts, I got the trestles back out and marked the mirror position on the outside of the screen with masking tape. Flipped the screen over and set about carefully scraping the old glue off the screen with my Stanley scraper. A final Cif & green scotchbrite and you’d never know it’d been there.
Finally I gave the glass a final clean and put it back into the rear of the garage until the weekend.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll pick up the screw cover caps from Porsche Centre and the plan is to turn down a cutting tool tomorrow evening to remove the a small circle of vinyl on my re-trimmed interior parts. (I’ve had the windscreen pillar trims, roll bar side and top trims all recovered) There’s about 20 or so holes to neatly cut in the new vinyl so I can get the screws in and caps on. With the new caps in hand I can measure them accurately with my Vernier to determine what size vinyl hole cutter to make. The old ones I have left are miss-shaped so not reliable to measure and the old trim holes were a bit worn. With a bit of luck If I cut the vinyl holes accurately the caps should be a snug fit and not need anything on them to hold them in place.

Day 213

Today I called in at Porsche Centre and collected the screw caps and key blanks. I went to a franchise key cutters at lunch to get the blanks cut. They refused as I’d not bought the blanks from them! I went to a local independent locksmith and while he was cutting the keys he was obviously curious about the car they were for and we had a good chat. When he found out the franchise key cutters refused to cut the original Porsche blanks he laughed and said have them on me and refused to take any money!
This evening after work & food shop I measured up the blanks and turned down a simple tube cut tool and tested it in some spare vinyl for the cap fit before very carefully sitting down and cutting out the holes in the newly trimmed parts.
They’ve come out really good in comparison to the nasty split parts full of filler that I handed to the trimmers.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670539.3.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670539.4.jpg)

Again I ran out of daylight.

Day 214

Today I felt like murdering an old friend……

I got up early this morning and cleaned up around the rear window. I sorted out the small packing pieces form a bag of parts I’d previously made up and stuck them in place with a blob of caulking. I set up my padded trestles and gave the rear window a final clean up and degrease. Using the new 3m Butyl I carefully set a strip around the window aperture with the join spliced in at top centre.
Very carefully I lifted the glass into place and gently pressed it home, looking from the inside outwards to check an even stick and compression of the butyl.
Next I gently rested a piece of 4 x 2 against it while I went back to the house to sort out the roll bar trim. (Not that it was going to fall out, more for peace of mind)
I fitted the two plastic surrounds for the rear roof latches back into the trim and unpacked the latches bolts and washers.
The latches were fitted to the roll bar and nipped up then the recovered padded trim fitted over them. What a puzzle that was for a while trying to get it back on around the roof catches, but with a little patience it went on. I’d pre fitted the horizontal screws so that the points showed through as they were a real sod to get out the trim before recovering and don’t easily go straight back in without dropping into the deep hole in the foam of the trim and then you cant get them to line up with the inner metal frame. Pre-fitting them was the easy way to do it.
After a little manipulation the trim was pushed into place and the horizontal screws tightened up. The vertical screws go through a much thinner piece of foam in the trim and with a torch looking up its much easier to align the holes in the car body and with a magnetic screwdriver just put the screws straight in.
The new blanking caps got fitted next, much more supple than the old rock hard ones and the trim was complete.
I then fitted the two re-trimmed windscreen pillar trims. I’d asked the trimmers to leave a flap of vinyl on the top so I could feed it around the metal channel under the rubber. With the ends of the lower roof seal pulled out and the tiny screws and cup washers out, all that was needed was a tweak the fit was good.
Due to the dash cap being fitted and the trims being recovered they were a little tight at the bottom. A little soft soap (PH neutral) was put on the metal pillar, rear of the trim and end of the dash cap. The Pillar trims slipped in a treat. As with the roll bar trim the screws were pre fitted so the tips just poked through and with a little manipulation all holes lined up and the trims secured. The tiny upper screws and cup washers refitted along with the lower roof seal, with vinyl flap tucked under. Again all new screw caps were fitted to finish off.
After a bite to eat I started to fit the trim clips around the screen that hold the ali surround. I used a very, very small blob of caulking made into the tiniest of washers to surround the hole as they went in. This should hopefully prevent any water/rust starting around the clips. Next I fitted the two packing shims and set up my padded trestles.
Having lifted out the screen on my own, loaded it in my car on my own and brought it home where over the last few months I’d moved it numerous times I thought just to be safe I’d call and old friend over to help me lift it into place on the car. I lifted the screen out of the garage where its stored and carried it around to my lock up where the 914 is kept. Resting it on the trestles I gave it a final clean around the edge.
My friend arrived and I carefully explained what we needed to do. I went to sort out the new dash to screen rubber seal while he kept watch on the screen on the trestles.

Now this is where my day took a turn for the worst. My dear friend who is very enthusiastic, but is by no stretch of the imagination practical minded. While I was working on the car he went to lift the windsheild, but held it on the bottom corner and “thought” he could twist and lift it from just one corner while he swapped his hand over.

“KLICK”…..

I looked over from the car towards him at the trestles and in his left hand was a long razor crack right through the windsheild from top to bottom…….

I was simply lost for words. Nothing I could say would help the situation. He was with all good intention trying to help me, but had no idea of the consequences.
Next time I’ll just fit it on my own.

So tonight I am drowning my sorrows with a few beers.

I called a UK 914 specialist earlier to ask them about availability and got a Pilkington number for the screen. I phoned around a few local glass places but they all said that they wouldn’t know until Monday on UK stock as the suppliers were closed on a Saturday.

So if anyone is free tomorrow I may need a lift with a long heavy roll of carpet wrapped in bin bags that I’m burying in the woods!

Day 215
Today I sorted out a few long term electrical Gremlins. With most of the dash built up the majority of the loom was reconnected (apart from the centre console) so I decided to put the battery back on and test everything.
I started with the wipers. When I came to dismantle the dash I found the plug was already pulled off the wiper stalks and tucked up behind the dash? While the stalks were out I’d cleaned and tested all the contacts and cleaned the pins and spades in the plug. The wiper mechanism was unseized and cleaned and greased, all wires reconnected, battery on, ignition on, wipers on. NOTHING!
Here we go…..
So now was the time to find out what on earth was going on. I started at the fuse No8 and had power, so I gave the holder another clean and checked the fuse fit just in case. Still power but no wipers?
So I bit the bullet and took out the blower box again to check the wires on the wiper motor. I really wanted to do this before I put the blower box in, but I’d bench tested the wiper motor and it was ok, so never expected a loom issue (plus the dash was still out so I couldn’t test it in situ until today). Anyway, tested the wires and I was getting an intermittent low voltage on the red/white feed. It seemed to be ok with the cable pulled off the wiper motor but loose voltage when the wire was reconnected?
I went around in circles for a while and in checking the wiring diagram the same feed runs the fresh air blower. I’d bench tested the new motor, bench tested the rebuilt speed control and the slide fan controls in the dash and it all worked. Guess what, with the blower box out of position but loom plugged in it didn’t work either!
Looking at the wiring diagram the wipers share a power feed with the fresh air blower relay.
I dropped the fuse box and pulled out the fresh air blower relay and found a melted and burnt pin on the relay and in the holder. This must have happened to the PO when the blower fan broke up. There was some burning on the heater slide contacts I’d repaired earlier so it looks like the whole thing happened at the same time which would have probably smoked and smelt bad.
So now I kinda understand the PO unplugging the wiper plug now as I would imagine the melted relay would possibly smoke when the wipers were turned on (since the old fresh air blower motor had gone open circuit)
All was revealed. I set about repairing the relay holder and temporarily stuck my fuel pump relay in place (as it is brand new)
Put everything back together in the fuse box and battery on. Hey presto I had wipers!
Great I thought, moving the fresh air blower slide to try my new fan….Nothing!
With the air box still out I pulled the plug, switched on the fan and measured the voltages. 12V, plug back on, no fan? Eh?
After a bit of head scratching I decided to pry open the plug and take a look inside. There it was, a splayed open tube connector on the +12V (ironically all the –ve were fine). Cleaned up and back together, plug back on and eureka the fan worked.
I then spent a good hour wrestling the blower box back into position and compressing the top rubber seal. The lesson here is; check the wipers before fitting the blower box!
Next I tried all other switches. First to fail was the indicators, two blinks then nothing. Here we go again. Well to cut a long story short it was loose & dirty spade connectors on the relay base. Not wanting to be caught out again I removed all other relays and cleaned up their pins, female connectors and tightened everything up.
Trying everything else all was good except a gauge illumination bulb in the left gauge. Quickly popping out the gauge yet again I changed the bulb. All in all that’s 12 faulty dash bulbs the car had.
Before I knew it it was time to go pick my son up for another interesting white knuckle driving lesson in the Morris Traveller.
A welcome break in outing the Gremlins.

It’s an early night tonight, Got to be up a 3:30am tomorrow to get to the airport to fly over to Jersey with work, so I had to wrap up and get on line to order some new relays.

Day 216

Today was a long day. I flew out to the channel island of Jersey and was sat in a Waterfront Café in St Helier the capitol city eating breakfast before 8am. Following a very busy day of meetings I flew back and arrived home just after 7pm.
Not wanting to loose a chance to work on the 914 I went straight into my shed and started on the dash knee roll that the trimmers had, had an accident with.
The top edge of the roll which sits under the basket weave panel was torn quite badly in two places where they had pulled off the new vinyl after burning a hole stretching it into shape. I ended up having to cut all the loose original vinyl off until I came to a good bit that was still bonded to the foam. All in all I ended up with almost 10” x 2” missing off the knee roll. The foam then needed to be undercut to allow the new two part plastic resin to get a good hold on the old edge of vinyl. I mixed up a few batches one after another to build up the undercut edge and left it to dry while I grabbed a quick cuppa. The resin fortunately sets in minutes so next I keyed the surface of the resin and the old vinyl edge with 80 grit and applied a light skim of filler.
Before I knew it I’d spent over 2 hours this evening on the knee roll, so having been up for over 18 hours I was starting to feel a little tired, so left the filler to cure until the morning when I’ll start to sand it down.

Day 217

I was thwarted by the rain today. Hoping to rub down the flexible filler I put on the lower knee roll last night, I drew the curtains this morning to rain. Rubbing filler down inside is not a good idea as the dust makes a right old mess. A change of plan was in order so I sorted out the washer tubes between bottle, column and spare wheel.
I’d purchased all new rubber and had fitted between jets and column switch while the dash and blower box was out but not got around to the bottle.
I removed the tube & bulkhead grommet to the spare wheel and the washer bottle cap with short 5” tube and fittings.
New tube was cut to length and with some boiling water the tube was softened and all the ends & valves refitted.
I used some short ½” in length adhesive lined heat shrink and replicated the sleeves on all ends of the hoses.
The new hose was then fitted back into the car with a cleaned up bulkhead grommet and the cap refitted to the bottle. The car was finally free of all perished water hose.
At lunchtime I called in and picked up some black silicone sealant and some more masking tape.
I’d fitted the rear window with the correct butyl 3M ribbon at the weekend but I wasn’t too happy with the weather protection. Looking from inside out I could see I had a good 360 degree seal on the butyl to glass but there was a nice tiny channel between glass and body where the butyl holds the glass off by about 2-3mm.
Also when cleaning the glass the other day the vertical sides of the window where it meets the shell has a 2mm gap where the butyl is visible and is sticky causing fluff from the cleaning cloth to get stuck to it. This would drive me nuts, so I carefully taped the glass and shell as tight as possible into the corners and applied a tiny bead of black silicone sealant around the glass. With any excess cleaned off and the tape removed I had a very neat thin silicone coating over the butyl.
This should not only stop the sticky issue tight into the corner of the rear window but should stop the gap holding water, prevent leaks and help stop any future corrosion. Being silicone it can be easily removed if ever I need to remove the rear window.
Along the bottom edge its just lower than the steel lip so wont be seen when the decklid seal is fitted.
Next I sorted out two new fuel hoses for the fuel tank. I’d fitted new hoses before the car went off to paint, but they could do with being a little longer for ease of fitting/removal. I’d got plenty of spare new hose left so cut and fitted two more that were another 4” longer than the previous ones.
Finally I refitted the fuel tank retaining straps that I’d removed to get at the blower box before running out of torch light. With the washer hoses in and the blower & wiper motor sorted I plan to get the tank back in tomorrow.

Day 218

The weather was dry today so I got chance to rub down the flexible filler in the knee roll repair and start to reshape the damaged area. I applied another thin layer of filler and left for work.
This evening before getting too dusty with filler I decided to fit the rear window to deck lid seal as the window was well and truly stuck in and silicone cured. I wasn’t happy with the 914rubber seal so I’d bought a new genuine one. This went on a treat and sealed nicely along the glass just above the silicone and butyl.
Next I refitted the fuel tank and clamped it down. I was about to refit the filler and expansion tank but noticed the clamp ring was chipped around a few of the M5 bolt positions. I’d previously cleaned and repainted it so I was a little annoyed it had been chipped when I took the tank off again. A quick removal and strip off of all the paint to bare metal again, I gave it a new coat of fuel resistant black. This will need to dry overnight before I can fit the expansion tank tomorrow.
Main fuel tank in place I fitted the washer bottle and linked all the new pipes up that I’d made last night.
While the paint dried on the expansion tank ring I sanded down this mornings filler on the knee roll.
A third layer was required to sort out a few air/pin holes and shaping so I mixed up a new batch and applied it carefully before leaving it to dry overnight. Hopefully this will be the last sand and finish before I can give it to the trimmers again.

Day 219

This morning it was dry early on and I managed to rub down and refill the knee roll once more before the rain arrived at 7am.
We had some really heavy rain & thunder through the day, but as if by magic at 5pm the rain had stopped and by the time I got home it was dry again in time for more sanding and filling.
The accident at the trimmers had caused me a whole load of trouble chasing my tail across the knee roll to repair the torn off surface until I could make good.
After a lot of perseverance I finally sorted it out.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670539.5.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670540.6.jpg)

The plan is to drop it off at the trimmers again in the morning so that they can try again to recover it.
After dusting myself off I fitted the fuel expansion/breather tank with the newly painted securing ring and nice shiny M5 stainless bolts and washers before running out of light.

Day 220

This morning before breakfast I gave the dash knee roll a final sand and inspection before loading it up to take to the trimmers.
I dropped it off a lunch time and called in at the post office to collect a sign for packet. Two new round relays I’d ordered to replace the fuel pump one I’d put into the blower and a spare.
Hopefully the knee roll will be re covered in new vinyl by the end of next week so I can finally get the dash all back together. It’s starting to look good with the refurbished gauges and column back in.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670540.7.jpg)

The saga of the windsheild continues. I hope to get a replacement in the next two weeks. A brand new one so to be fair it will be much better in the long run than the old one which wasn’t original anyway. Until then the window frame is all prepared and waiting; just butyl to add once the screen is here.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670540.8.jpg)

On the way back from the post office at lunch I called in at the sign writers and picked up my laser cut black strip for the bottom of the rear window. I chose a satin black vinyl with a slight texture so it should blend in completely with the bulkhead trim.
I also had it made 25mm wide instead of the factory 20mm insulation tape so it covers right over the bottom of the glass edge.
After work it was food shop and weekly clothes wash so once the shopping was put away and the washing machine on I leaped into the garage.
The rear window was cleaned a 3rd time and I carefully applied the vinyl with a rubber scraper following the curvature exactly without any trapped air bubbles. It looked superb!
Next I carefully fitted the two pillar trims. They were a little tight due to re covering of the top roll bar trim and the fact both side trims were recovered too. After a little effort the screw holes lined up perfectly and the trims were fixed in place. The coat hooks were next and I had noticed that the rubber cover that goes over metal bracket has two lugs on the base that “clip” over the metal bracket. When I stripped the car down one rubber cover was missing, but I fortunately found it under the seat. The reason was now clear. The metal bracket had been overtightened in the past which had compressed the foam in the pillar trim. This meant that the two lugs on the bracket sat into the trim foam and the rubber cover couldn’t clip over them and just falls off. I made a small black rubber packing piece to hold the bracket off the crushed trim about 2mm. This raised the bracket back to the normal height and the cover went on with a dull click and was locked firm in place. Finally I fitted two new blanking plugs over the screws.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670540.9.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670541.10.jpg)

Plan for the weekend now is floor vinyl, seat belts, carpets and bulkhead trim.

Day 221

This morning I got out of storage all the old bits of vinyl that I took off the car when taking out the interior. They had been well and truly sun baked to a crisp, scratched, punctured and torn in places so the only solution was to remake them with fresh supple vinyl.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670541.11.jpg)

Using the old bits as a pattern I drew around them with chalk onto my roll of black vinyl. This wasn’t as easy as you’d expect as they were blistered curled up and generally hard to lay flat.
After drawing around them I added another ¼” as they had definitely shrunk.
Cutting them out neatly I had a fresh set to go in the car.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670541.12.jpg)

I spent the rest of this afternoon carefully gluing them in place with high temp/high grip impact adhesive working them into all the corners and around the curvatures. This took far longer than anticipated.
The first easy ones to go on were the two rectangles. These go just below the corners of the rear window to cover the metal panel where the seat belts exit.
Next the two “hockey sticks” that go along the rear of the door opening. Care was taken here to glue and cut them to roll over the spotweld flange that the door seal fits on, making sure they go from pillar trim to a good 5” along the top of the box sill.
The two sections that go over the crossmember were next. These get quite fiddly behind the hand break and around the switch. Also a little stretching was require near the centre tunnel to stretch it over the contours.
Once in it was the remaining centre tunnel sections that caused me the most difficulty. Getting them right into the corners at the rear of the tunnel and around the raised seat mounting was tricky. More so on the passenger side where I had to remove the seat relay and hold back the loom a little while I worked the vinyl into place.
After a quick trim with a Stanley knife all looked neat and tidy.
With a few hours of the day still left over I decided to fit the seatbelts and the handbrake switch.
Previously cleaned up and with new bolts and washers the seatbelts went in a treat.
Making good progress I took off the handbrake lever and fitted both sill carpets before refitting the handbrake, battery and testing the handbrake switch and buzzer.
All good!

Day 222

My son stayed over last night so we had a morning dedicated to driving lessons and highway code questions. Unfortunately when putting the cover over the Morris Traveller I noticed a drip from the rear n/s hub. Bloomin axle oil seal is leaking. Another job to do!
Anyway after taking my son for lunch, dropping him off, mowing the lawns and washing 3 cars; this afternoon I started on the 914. I started by fitting the newly recovered bulkhead trim. After strengthening the backboard and adding metal channels it was far stronger than before and kept its shape at the base and sides better. After wiring and testing the interior light (all ok) I fitted the bulkhead trim in place. After a bit of fiddling around I realised the small handbrake cable cover plate has to be off to get the trim in. With the plate off it sat nicely in the car with the 4 hook tabs located under the window, the screw holes lined right up.
Next I fitted the new door rubbers to the openings and carefully cut them to a perfect length for a neat fit.
The sill threshold trim that goes over the door seal and grips the carpet was split in a few places around the screw holes so I’d bought two new black coated metal ones from 914rubber. The screws I’d previously cleaned and repainted satin black ready to fit went back in and all holes lined up. The plates were carefully installed ensuring the carpet was tight up to the door trim and gripped tight so it wasn’t baggy.
To be honest these 914rubber metal sill trims are the best thing I’ve had so far from them!
Next I unpacked my previously fully refurbished seat runners that I’d done while the car was at the paintshop.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670541.13.jpg)

Theses were carefully fitted with the toothed bracket and after a little adjustment of the small M6 bolts (at the hinged bracket on the floor) the mechanism operated smoothly and the latch located fully to allow the seat runners to raise and lower.
The previously refurbished seat belt clips were the next to go on with nice new shiny bolts & washers and the new “Press” decals.
Slowly gaining space back in my house and shed I took the re trimmed and rebuilt armrest out of storage and test fitted it.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670542.14.jpg)

I took these photo’s, then realized I’d put the seat belt catches in back to front! I quickly swapped them over.

The engine lid pull knob that was originally on the car was split and pulled straight off the cable before opening the lid so it was another item I’d purchased from 914rubber in my bulk order. I went to fit it next and found that the internal thread wasn’t formed correctly and needed a M5 tap run down it. Afterwards it fitted snug. Considering the mess the rear bulkead trim had been in when I got the car, all the repairs and strengthening had paid off before it was recovered. The fit was now perfect into the corner of the car around the engine lid release. I was very pleased with the result.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670542.15.jpg)

Finally I tidied up the cables to the seatbelts and seats and fitted the small rear carpets.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670542.16.jpg)

After a well earned cup of tea I decided to give the car its first wash since getting home. The garage is quite clean but over the last 3 months the car had gotten dusty from having the garage door open a lot and wind blowing dust around combined with some left over from being at the paintshop. Before I knew it, it was getting dark again.

Day 223

Today was a busy day. This morning early doors I worked on the seat belt covers that fit over the metal guide on the roll bar pillars. I’d gone to fit them yesterday and they were a tight fit but jammed the webbing of the belt.
These were the early golf ones I’d got from VW Heritage on a punt. They looked identical to the Porsche ones, but on fitting; the part that clips just above the seat belt webbing was in fact too chunky and closed the gap in the belt guide.
With a bit of Stanley knife surgery and a rats tail file I cut out the back of the cover and filed the two circular openings slightly longer to allow the cover to sit higher over all. Next I carefully trimmed a little off the clip part that goes around the pillar bolt to allow that to clip in at a higher point. This all sounds far more complicated than it really was, but the net result was after an hours fiddling about, the covers fit perfectly and the belts slid in and out freely.
I left for work and during my lunch break continued with the replacement windshield search. Autoglass a UK national supplier can get me one in from Pilkington but its special order, £575 and 3 weeks lead time. On a whim I called Porsche Centre Portsmouth and ordered a new adhesive pad for the rear view mirror and just for a laugh asked them about availability of windscreens for 914 from Porsche direct. The answer was available Germany from Porsche 1 week lead time and £275 plus VAT.
No brainer that one. Genuine Windsheild ordered!
So with a few minutes of lunch break left I called in at the local motor factors and picked up some new Bosch windscreen wiper blades in anticipation.
It was a late finish at work today and straight home for a quick change and off out to another car club committee meeting, so only just got in the door at 10:30pm in time to update the thread this evening, but at least I got a couple of hours in on the 914 this morning.

Day 224

This morning I started on the pedal assembly cover plate. The fibre board was looking a little tired and worn. I unbolted the clutch pedal stop, sanded down the board and gave it a fresh coat of satin black paint.
During lunchtime I shopped around for Morris parts for my son’s car and continued with the 914 this evening.
I first cleaned up the removed pedal stop, nuts & washers and gave them a coat of waxoil. Rummaging around in my shed I found a bag of parts that I’d not gotten around to cleaning up so got stuck in with them. This contained the heater “on” light block from the centre console, the heater lever escutcheon and a selection of fixings for the console, dash knee roll and pedal cover plate.
Cleaning the parts up I found the 4 screws & cup washers for the centre armrest, so after a quick clean up I fitted them to the car and screwed the armrest in place.
There was also a bag of screws for the speaker grilles.
4 months ago I’d ordered a brand new set of speaker grilles from Auto Atlanta.
I should have known better, as 6 months ago I ordered a 914 rear badge that is STILL to arrive. They emailed me to say there was a problem with the fixing pins and it needed to be rectified before they would send the badge out.
So guess what. The two new speaker grilles I ordered and paid for are in a new email “on back order” with NO date by which to expect them.
Blo*dy frustrating. Why oh why don’t these so called specialist suppliers tell you the parts are out of stock before taking your hard earned cash. I certainly won’t be using Auto Atlanta again!
Anyway in my shed of parts that have arrived was a new accelerator cable from UK supplier Roger Bray. I hope to get the knee roll back this week from the trimmers so I thought I’d do a few little jobs under the dash while access was easy.
I removed the old accelerator cable and fitted the new one this evening. The old one was getting tight to operate and made the pedal heavy. Once the cable was out it was obvious why. The white nylon sheath had snapped inside the tunnel tube, right where the metal ferrule fits on under the car (where the black outer sheath starts). This effectively made the cable “hinge” at the ferrule and had bent/creased the inner wire. Moving the pedal the bend in the wire was getting tight as it passed in and out of the black sheath.
Anyway with the new cable in place the pedal was far lighter to operate.
Before I knew it I ran out of light again.

Day 225

What god awful weather today, more like November than summer.
I was rushing around this morning sorting stuff out on my son’s car so it wasn’t until this evening I got to carry on with the 914.
At lunch I did manage to call in and see the trimmers in anticipation of getting the knee roll back but they hadn’t started it yet.
This evening I removed the gear knob, leather gaiter and fitted the centre tunnel carpet first. Then re assembled the pedal board with its bump & travel stops.
The board was carefully fed over the pedals and laid to rest in position. I then fitted my two new genuine Porsche pedal rubbers for the clutch & brake.
Back to my shed and out with a brand new 914rubber accelerator pedal that I’d bought in my bulk order. All was going well until I bolted it to the floor and went to fit the accelerator pushrod into the socket.
The brand new straight out the packet 914rubber accelerator pedal was making a cracking noise when it hinged?
That didn’t sound at all right.
I unbolted it from the floor and in my hand flexed the hinged base.
“Crackle” and “Grind” with jamming as it moved.
This got my interest so with Stanley knife in hand I cut the rubber off the back of the hinge part to find the internal metal hinge snapped clean off the base!
The metal was absolute rubbish inside the rubber moulding. As thin as paper and looked like it’d been beaten from a baked bean can on the streets of Beijing.
The metal in the hinge is about a quarter the thickness of the genuine one and poor quality at that.

So combine this with the horizontal rain and the too dark to see by rain clouds I had a miserable evening.
I retired to my shed and cleaned up a few more bits including the semi circular pedal board retaining clamp that had the tiniest bit of paint flaked off. I stripped it completely and gave it an etch prime. Finally I cleaned up the leather gear lever gaiter and gave it a good coating of hide food to help soften and restore it before calling it a day.

Day 226

This morning before work I mixed up a little 2 pack clear lacquer and using my airbrush I gave the pedal cover retaining plate a clear coat. This was flashed off at 50 Deg C in my kitchen oven while I ate breakfast.
In my lunch break today I called in at Porsche centre and ordered a replacement genuine accelerator pedal and checked on progress of the screen.
This evening I had quite a good assembly.
With the clear lacquered retaining plate now dry I bolted down the pedal plate with all the cleaned up fixings.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670542.17.jpg)

Next after having a trial fit and good look at clearance; I decided to fit the centre console before the knee roll is re trimmed as I reckon it’ll fit with the console in place.
Unpacking all the cleaned up fixings and bracket I screwed the console in place.
The newly refurbished 3 gauges were fitted to the panel and carefully holding it clear of the gear lever (with knob missing, it was just asking to scratch something) I fitted all the cables to the gauges and took off the very last of my paper wire i.d. labels.
With the panel propped upright I started assembly of the base insert panel.
The leather gear gaiter was nice and supple now and a nice black lustre was returned after 24 hours soaking in hide food. This was buffed lightly and fitted back into the base panel.
Next the heater lever escutcheon was given a blast of my heat gun and left to cool. The two long sides had, in the Desert Heat, bowed inwards to narrow the slot and restrict the lever movement. This looked awful, so with a small timber insert in the slot to hold it back open, heat was applied and left to cool back into shape. Being extra careful of course not to melt it and only heat from the underside so any risk of visible damage was removed.
The escutcheon was then clipped into place and the panel carefully held over the gear lever while I fitted the Heater illuminated block and wired it up. I’d cleaned up the block yesterday and sure enough the bulb was blown so this evening I fitted a new bulb and tested it. Heater block on the panel was finally clipped down and the vertical gauge panel fitted and clipped last.
The heater lever knob had faded to a milky pink on one side so I’d already purchased another (in the 914rubber bulk order). I was expecting it to not screw on, but no problems here, screwed on easily and was a nice even rich red colour.
Finally I nipped back indoors as it started to get dark and retrieved the passenger foot mat before fitting it in place and making sure the floor posts sat fully through the rubber eyelets to locate it correctly.
It’s starting to look quite nice in the cabin now. I was going to take another picture but the camera ran out of charge. I’ll take some over the weekend (if I manage to get that knee roll back)

Day 227

Today was one of those 914 one step forward two steps back days.
This morning I fitted my nice new gear knob. The old one had the clear insert disc in the top all crazed and cracked like a shattered piece of safety glass. It was nice to see a new flawless gear knob on the car.
I left for work and had a phone call from the trimmers mid morning. What I thought was going to be “your knee rolls ready” ended up being “can you come and take a look, we have a problem”
I called in at the trimmers in my lunch break and unfortunately they’d had another accident trying to cover the old vinyl.
Unfortunately they’d made another tear in the old surface and pulled out some of the original foam and new filler trying to remove the new vinyl that they had glued on.
I know it wasn’t intended, but I was really annoyed that this was the second time they’d damaged the part trying to cover it.
I had no option but to bring it home again for the third repair.
Suffice to say, this evening after food shop, I ended up cleaning and starting to fill the new damaged area.
I managed to get a first fill and sand and a second fill (to dry over night) on the knee roll before it got dark. Fortunately it was a nice sunny evening so sanding filler down outside was possible.
Not quite what I had planned for this evening and into tomorrow, but I have no option but to fix the damage.

Day 228

This morning I awoke just after dawn and started work on a few more 914 parts. The filler was dry on the knee roll but before I got all dusty I thought I’d sort out the rear view mirror which had been bugging me.
Being a California Desert car the plastic of the mirror right against the screen had been well and truly baked to a crisp. The UV had started to degrade the surface which had gone white and started to crumble. The mirror glass itself was in fair condition so rather than try and buy a new assembly I thought I’d give it a go with refinishing it. The mirror glass was carefully masked and padded. The fixing foot was painstakingly draw filed with chalk to get all the PO random scratches out of it while keeping the surface perfectly flat. Finally I sanded it with various grades of wet and dry in a straight line to give it a perfect brushed finish. Next I gave it a good 3M red Scotchbrite to take off the UV damaged surface layer and key it ready for a coat of satin plastic paint. With such a hot day today I managed to give it several light coats over the day in between other jobs. The result was a brand new looking mirror ready to go on the new screen.
With the first coat of paint drying nicely (taken inside my conservatory to stop flies & dust) I started to sand and refinish the knee roll.
After a couple of hours the knee roll was all repaired again ready to take to the trimmers on Monday.
By now it was 10:30 and my son had arrived to work on his Morris. After a quick cup of tea we pulled the rear axle half shafts, drove out the rear bearings and replaced the oil seals and re packed the bearings in the N/S hub. Stripped and de greased the mess in the brakes and fitted new shoes and adjusted everything. Next we took off the O/S hub to change the shoes and found the start of an oil leak on that side that wasn’t leaking externally! Hey ho, should have bought two seals; but as a jobless student he could only afford one, however its a good lesson in false economy for him. So that was the end of that. We ordered a new seal kit and held back on fitting the new shoes on that side until the O/S seals are fitted. A few other jobs done on the traveller, it was 4pm and time to take my son for dinner and back home.
As soon as I got back I started on the 914 seats. The runners that fit to the underside of the seats needed cleaning up. I brass wire brushed them clean and stripped the paint off the adjustment hoop handles down to bare metal as it was all flaking and looking awful. The handles were rubbed down and painted with a durable gloss black and coated the runners with waxoil before being put alongside the rear view mirror to dry.
Next I started on my newly upholstered seats. Only the original basket weave was left, all other vinyl has been replaced with new. Unfortunately as good as the trimmers are at seats, they won’t spend time cleaning stuff, so the basket weave was still pretty dirty. I used a foaming trim/carpet cleaner and a toothbrush and spent about an hour on each seat cleaning into the weave pattern to get them somewhere like presentable before running out of light.

Day 229

This morning I had a well deserved lie in and started on the car at 7:30am. I’d charged my camera up last night so first thing this morning I took a picture of the recently restored rear view mirror before bagging it up for safe storage until the screens fitted.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670543.18.jpg)

I tried the recently refurbished seat runners (the ones that fit to the underside of the seats) onto the runners in the car. Hmmm, bit tight on the new powder coat so I spent the next hour fettling them until they slid with ease.
Just then about 9am the heavens opened and I had to quickly push the car back inside the garage.
I took the runners back into the house and fitted them to the bottom of the seats.
The pull handles and shiny metal runners looked good back in place.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670543.19.jpg)

The basket weave in the seats that I’d spent a good few hours yesterday had dried thoroughly but now there was still some greyness in the bottoms of some of the tiny square recess’s in the pattern. As it was throwing it down outside now, I spent another hour re-cleaning the seats again with a toothbrush working into the depths of the basket weave before placing them back into the conservatory to dry.
Still raining outside I decided to get my freshly restored and painted Targa top down from the loft. I gave it a wipe with a damp cloth as it was a little dusty before measuring it up for the new Perlon headliner. This is roughly 45” x 24” I carefully unrolled my new Perlon and marked a piece out to the size above, making sure all sides were true and 90 degrees to each other, then cut it out. Dry run fit and all was good.
Masking off the inside of the roof to leave only the area where it needed glue I then used a high temp, high strength spray glue from Woolies. Same on the reverse of the Perlon, waited 10 minutes until touch dry, then carefully fitted it.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670543.20.jpg)

I used an old fashioned beech wood wallpaper roller to go over every square mm to ensure it was well and truly stuck down. All that was then required was a tiny trim around the two rear catch mountings and the small webs along the front that are hidden under the padded trim. Looks very nice now. The old headliner was sand logged (see way back in this thread) and despite numerous vacuuming and brushing, it still dropped grains of sand and fibres of Perlon so with my new interior that simply wouldn’t do!
Just then there was a knock at the door and an old friend had decided to pay me a visit. Good time for a break, we popped out to the local Marina for a bite to eat and a catch up.
Perfect timing as after lunch, mid afternoon the sun had finally come out, so work could continue.
Car pushed out the garage once again I fitted the seats.
With camera in hand and the sun out I took a few more pictures starting with the re-assembled restored centre console, gauges, heater controls and gear knob.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670543.21.jpg)

Then of course the seats, which after that second scrub up looked like new again. New vinyl and soap & water, no nasty “wet look” greasy plastic cleaners in sight!

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670544.22.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670544.23.jpg)

Just need to get that dash knee roll re trimmed, get some new speaker covers and I can complete the dash.

Day 230

This morning I dropped off the knee roll at the trimmers and went into work. At lunchtime I called in at Porsche Centre and picked up the new accelerator pedal. It was obvious looking through the bag even before opening it, that it was far, far superior quality to the 914rubber one.
First thing this evening when I got home I fitted the pedal to the car. Installed the restored drivers mat (with remade heel pad) and clipped it to the floor properly using the two eyelets and connected the pushrod ball in the socket of the pedal.
With the drivers floor mat back in the car its amazing how it transforms from work in progress to looking almost finished.
Since it was still dry this evening I got the two door cards out of storage and started to clean them. Much like the seats, the dreaded basket weave material was holding no end of dirt, sand and grime. I spent a good hour on each panel with a foaming cleaner and toothbrush. Some of the staples along the bottom behind the panel have come away and the basket weave is loose. Once cleaned and dried out I plan on re-gluing and stapling it all back in place. Fortunately the only small tear is around a bolt that holds the armrest on so should be covered.
As it started to get dark I brought the panels inside to dry out. I expect they’ll need another going over tomorrow when I can see any dirt left over once dry.

Day 231
Today I had an early start at work. I’m organising another car club stand at a charity event for Children in Need called Carfest so need to get ahead of things at work so I can make time to organise for the show.
At lunchtime I called Woolies and ordered some more high temp glue, spray and tin. I’d used the last up on the headliner and I have more new Perlon to trim the bonnet area with.
This evening I spent another hour cleaning the door cards again to get the remaining dirt out of the basket weave. Leaving them to dry I started to re assemble the Targa roof, fitting the catches, trim and new rear fuzzy seal. The door window top seal runners had me perplexed for a short while. They are curved and you’d expect them to be convex from the outside, but they are in fact concave. The edge of the targa top is straight and the channel is curved. I hadn’t noticed it when I stripped them down, but it did confuse me for a short while.
In the end I took the roof over to the car and fitted it (minus the window top channels) to see for sure how they went.
The roof was a real tight fit onto the car with all the new seals and took some pushing and pulling to install it for the first time. I think I’m going to have to leave it on the car a good while for everything to settle in.
With that cleared up I took the roof back to the house to fit the runners and new 914rubber window top seals.
Channels fitted a treat but sliding the Tee of the window rubber into the runner was another matter. I tried all sorts. Talcum powder, soft soap, washing up liquid, Vaseline (not all at the same time) and after getting about 6” of rubber in the channel it was rock solid.
I spent the next TWO hours wrestling the seals. In the end I had to forget trying to slide the seal, but instead I had to squash it down its length so that the T curled in on itself enough to locate it into the channel. By the end I’d had enough and having got just one side in, I’ll leave the other side until tomorrow when I’ve had time to relax and regain my patience.

Day 232

Anyway this evening I got the last seal in. The seals were a good 2” too long (well one was the other was an inch too long). Even before fitting one was longer than the other. Once in – and considering I put them in by squeeze not slide – I needed to cut them to length at the windscreen end. I did this with a brand new Stanley blade and squared off the ends that had arrived wonky.
I was then ready to trial fit on the car again.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670544.24.jpg)

All fine in the end.
The square cut off end by the windscreen met the frame rubber perfectly and the 45degree end over the roll bar sat neatly on the vertical seal giving a tiny resistance as the rear latches were closed.

With the door windows wound up there’s a bit of adjustment to be made to the regulators to level the glass off against the roof seal. This was something I couldn’t do until the roof was finished which is why I’ve held off with fitting the door cards until now. Something for next week.

Day 233

Today I finally got to pick up the knee roll from the trimmers. It was about ¾ done and they decided that this was as far as they could go with it after all the shenanigans. So that left the final trimming, glueing of all the return edges and stapling to me!
My high temp high strength new pot of glue had arrived from Woolies so today I set about finishing of the vinyl covering myself. I had to stretch and glue the vinyl down the recesses for the fixing bolts and around both ends. Not an easy task and I can see why the trimmers didn’t want to go much further than the flat surfaces. They had however managed to heat stretch it around the face of the knee roll without a stitch join or crease, so that was appreciated.
Anyhow after a couple of hours I got it all stuck down, cut off the excess and put in a few staples (out of sight) to make sure it doesn’t retract the stretch in it and undo easily. Not factory to have staples but considering the state it was in originally its much improved. Just need to let it settle and the glue dry properly over the next few days before it goes back into the car. I’ve put it in my conservatory living in hope that the sun will come out over the week and with the heat, anything that’s going to move or come unstuck should reveal itself.
I also had a small packet arrive over the weekend with the oversize screw plugs that go in the ends of the dash and door panel. No longer available from Porsche I tracked some down in the US $5 all up including postage and got them within the week.
AASE Sales. (not sure how you pronounce that)
While the glue was out this evening I also stuck down the door panel basket weave edges that had come unstapled along the bottom.
My son arrived this evening and we finished off by replacing the O/S drive shaft seal on the rear axle of the Morris before it got too dark to see. Just cooking dinner as I write this in my daily diary then afterwards I’ve got to drive 30 miles to drop him off...I'll be so glad when he passes his test!

Day 234

This morning I finished off gluing a couple of rogue edges of vinyl down on the knee roll that had lifted overnight and using my Swedish punch set I cut the small circles out where the side screws and cap fit, before leaving for work.
During lunch today I chased the new windscreen from Porsche Centre Portsmouth and picked up some more 3M 3/8” Butyl window tape from the Motor Factors as I’d used more than anticipated on fitting the rear window.
This evening when I got home from work I got the 2 stainless trims out of storage that go across the knee roll and sit at the bottom of the basket weave dash insert. The trim was held in place with a double sided tape which seemed to have a cloth inner (a bit like a material sticking plaster) The residue was scraped off and old glue removed with a little cellulose thinners before a good Brasso metal polish ready to go back on the knee roll when I can find some similar double sided tape.
Earlier I’d fitted the targa roof and noticed the window glass wasn’t level/parallel to the roof. The glass was up into the rubber end cap at the top of the quarterlight front runner, but with the roof now on, it was about ¼” (6mm) low at the rear leaving a clear gap into the car?
I’d looked at multiple images on-line of the glass to roof alignment, some hard to make out, but generally they seemed to vary wildly. I’d also looked at other 914’s and had come to the conclusion that the panel and glass fit wasn’t that great originally, but certainly better than I had at the moment.
With the door panels off I thought I’d have a play around to see what could be done to make the car watertight
Before I’d fitted the roof, the glass was adjusted so it sat evenly on the vertical seals and the angles adjusted at the bolt adjusters on the base of the runners in the bottom of the door. I’d also adjusted the limit stop (B) so that the glass stopped when it reached the runner end cap at the top of the quarterlights, yet still the glass was low at the rear in comparison to the horizontal roof line. The glass needed to rotate ever so slightly in the door to raise the rear.
This had me flummoxed for a while because the short horizontal mechanism channel runner at the rear of the door held on with M6 hex bolts was as high as it could go, yet the glass was still low……….
After a bit of head scratching and trying different things, the penny dropped.
The mechanism is a sort of pincer, and if the distances between the two tops of the pincer are shorter/closer then the net result is the reach is higher. Since the rear part of the pincer is a roller in a runner (short horizontal mechanism channel in para above) and that was already adjusted as high as it could go, it couldn’t be that. However the front pincer top is a M8 bolt in a slotted block (A) which you can adjust.
Simply moving the M8 bolt to the rear (the block forward) allows the glass to lift further and change its angle/rotation within the door.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670544.25.jpg)

With the M8 bolt (A) slid to the rear, the end stop (B) needs to be adjusted again and another ¼” (6mm) can be gained at the rear of the glass before it hits the front quarterlight runner end cap.

RESULT…

Level glass on both sides that goes up to sit neatly on the Targa roof seals with no gaps for water or hopefully wind noise.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670545.26.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670545.27.jpg)

With everything adjusted I checked the windows wind up freely, doors open and close easy and then nipped up all the adjustment bolts to complete the job.
Day 235

Today I have continued to work on the knee roll. A little more fettling and gluing was required. I picked up some high strength doublesided tape at lunchtime from the Motor Factors and fitted the stainless trims to the rear of the roll, making sure to carefully measure the “gap” position where the steering column plugs go.
I got the two vents out of storage and fitted those into the knee roll so that I could check the 4 clips on each open properly to lock it in place.
The hardest part of re-trimming the knee roll was getting the vinyl to stretch and glue down the bolt hole recesses. In the end I had to apply gentle heat and draw them down with a long nut and bolt and the old penny washers. Leaving the glue to dry overnight I hope to finally get it back in the car tomorrow and complete the dash.
Finally this evening I gave the basket weave on the door panels another scrub; they seem to dry after a few days each time with grey muck at the bottom of some of the pattern which is quite frustrating, but I’m getting there.

Day 236

Today I finally finished fettling the re-trimmed knee roll. I’m quite pleased with how it came out in the end after all the grief it caused. The plan (like the roll bar trim) was to try and make it look as original as possible and as if it hadn’t been re covered at all. Considering all the splits and chunks missing from it and the 3 filler repairs, it didn't turn out too bad in the end with a good grain match to boot.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670545.28.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670545.29.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670546.30.jpg)

After work today and with nice new shiny bolts I managed to fit it back into the car today.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670546.31.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670546.32.jpg)

I hope this inspires others to have a go at fixing up their interior parts when they think all is lost through age and damage. Most things can be repaired & restored in some way.
Just need to get the steering wheel back from the trimmers now.

Day 237

Today was a mix of sunshine and showers. (typical British summer)

Anyway, late morning I started on the old front trunk carpet. The old Perlon was very dirty and torn so had to go.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670546.33.jpg)

The hardboard spare wheel cover has the Perlon stapled on, so I carefully picked all the staples out and cleaned up the board. The edges are painted black but several areas had worn and started to crumble. These were re painted with matt black paint; applying it heavily so it soaked right into the board on the edge, this sealed as well as coloured it. The underside face that sits against the wheel wasn’t too bad just a few chips which I touched in with a modellers brush. While that dried I got out the remains of the Perlon sheet I’d bought for the headliner and marked carefully around the old carpet with chalk.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670547.34.jpg)

These were carefully cut out with my shears and the hole for the washer tube punched out. I had a little delay looking for my Staple gun and in the end I remembered I’d lent it out but couldn’t get hold of the guy so had to nip and buy a new one from the hardware store. By the time I got back the black edge paint had dried so I carefully stapled the Perlon on; stapling alternate 90 degrees with the gun so that the staples had the best mechanical advantage to not pull out.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670547.35.jpg)

The front bulkhead and whole boot was then carefully masked off and high temp, high grip spray glue applied to it and the rear of the carpet. While the glue touch dried I took off all the masking tape and paper so that there was no chance of the Perlon getting stuck to the masking paper and tape while being lifted into place.
Once the bulkhead carpet was in place I fitted the new rubber seal across the top. This was a genuine Porsche seal and fitted perfectly to complete the trunk.
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670547.36.jpg)

Day 238

What a day today!
The UK 914 club convinced me to come along to meeting at a Castle today. A 300+ mile round trip but well worth it. Up at 5am I was at South Mimms for 8am and met up with a good group of 911’s & 912’s before leaving around 9am for the more driving in convoy to the show.
It was great to meet everyone today and to see so many nice 914 & 914-6’s together. Lots of great information gained from hanging around with 914 owners.
Weather was great and time flew.
As always I was keen to get at least an hour a day in on my 914, so rushed home to make a start.
I was asked today if my daily 914 Build Thread was genuinely real time….the answer is yes! Today was genuinely day 238 of ownership of my car.
Arriving home I started by getting my new sunvisors out of storage. The originals were in a shocking state all lumpy and mis-shaped so couldn’t go back in the car. The brand new ones were found on German Ebay and purchased a couple of months ago.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670548.37.jpg)

To show its realtime (to the UK guy’s) I’ve included my entry pass from Castle meet in the pictures!
The old screws were cleaned with a brass bristle wire brush before a brasso polish of the heads ready to fit.
They came in a single box so the passenger side visor needed sliding onto the centre rod. This was a bit of a fiddle as the vinyl was heat welded all around so the hole needed very carefully cutting in it to allow the rod to fit. The rest of the installation was fine once the distances were set for the brackets to match the windscreen frame screw holes.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670548.38.jpg)

They look pretty good in place. As it got dark I finished off and took a picture using the flash, they look slightly grey with the flash but in reality they are black honestly.

Day 239

This morning I gave the door cards another clean and got the door damp proof membranes (or what was left of them out of storage)
One was reasonably intact but the other was shredded and half missing. The only option was to make new ones.
At lunch today I hunted down some new plastic sheet to make the door membranes. One little tip I’ll share from having been down this route many times is that VW & Porsche membranes have a “flap” that is heat welded onto the membrane which allows the water/moisture to run into the door and not out between the bottom of the door card and door. The membrane is a particular type of plastic and my top tip is to use the plastic off a new mattress (that has the ends heat welded). At lunchtime I called in at the local Bed Store and asked the manager for some mattress plastic. When they deliver beds they usually take it away for the customers so to them it’s just waste back at the store and they’re glad to give it you!
This evening using the best remaining membrane I marked out two replacements and cut them out.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670548.39.jpg)

The holes for the window winder spindle were punched out and two strips about 8” wide cut from the spare plastic to make the flaps.
The trickiest bit next is to heat weld them onto the full size membrane. From the look of the originals this was done by passing it through two heated metal wheels. Now I could have made a jig/tool to fit on the end of my soldering iron, but having done this before the quickest and easiest way is to use the soldering iron bare.
Heating it up fully I used some scraps of new plastic to trial the pressure and speed of drawing the soldering iron over the plastic. Not too slow to melt clean through and not to fast to just melt one sheet and have no joint. A small allowance to slow as you draw is required as the iron cools with prolonged contact.
With a metal sheet laid flat on my bench and some trial scraps I perfected the plastic weld before moving onto the new door membrane.
The flaps were neatly welded on giving about a 40mm overhang along the bottom as per the original.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670548.40.jpg)

Finally I trimmed off the ends to finish the new membranes. (old is vertical to left, new are horizontal to right)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670549.41.jpg)

It’s also worth pointing out that the welded on flap sits against the door card and the full sheet sits into the door bottom so that any water doesn’t get trapped in the horizontal weld and run to the sides and wet the door card.

Day 240

Today before work I painted the rear of the door cards with the same wood hardener as I had done the rear bulkhead trim before it was recovered to add strength. With the door cards it not only adds some strength but also seals the hardboard which makes it far less prone to soaking up water, blowing and falling apart.
I placed the door cards to dry in the conservatory and left for work.
I had some good news today…my windscreen is in at Porsche Centre.
The plan is to go pick it up on Thursday with a suitable large van as it’s in a crate.
This evening after work I started on the interior door furniture. I’d put the parts into storage straight from stripping down and they are in a bit of a state.
I began by taking apart the drivers door pocket, lid, and frame. I took everything apart and gave it a good scrub with Cif and hot water. The pocket/cubby has a flock finish on the inside on top of the pressed cardboard base. This was absolutely shot, scratched and worn mostly off and covered with years of grime, sticky stuff and sand. The only solution was to strip off the remaining flock with a detail wire brush.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670549.42.jpg)

While the card base was slightly damp from washing I clamped the lower edge in the vice between 2 bits of timber to “press” it back into shape before leaving it to dry.
The top hinged armrest lid and frame were next to get a Cif scrub, followed by the passenger side armrest.
With everything left to dry I cleaned up all the screws, bolts and cup washers that hold it all together with a brass wire brush before running out of light.
Having a rummage in one of my sheds I found an old flocking kit that I’d got left over from another cars restoration, so tomorrow I’ll re do the inside of the drivers door cubby and hopefully get everything sorted for a door interior rebuild at the weekend.

Day 241

This morning I coated the inside of the cubby with the flock paint/adhesive and then sprayed on the static charged nylon fibres which stand upright in the adhesive to create a new flock coating.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670549.43.jpg)

With the camera flash you can see the flock fibres more clearly.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670549.44.jpg)

The process takes a good few hours to dry, which was ideal as I then left for work.

I’d had a card through the door yesterday evening to say I had a parcel with customs charge to pay at the Depot in Segensworth. Living near Chichester this is quite a way away (70 miles, that’s a long way in UK) and a real pain to collect so I raced over from work this evening to pick it up.
Good timing, it was a replacement Right hand door pull/armrest with a perfect plastic cover surround for the top mounting bolt. My original has the cover completely missing so you see the metal tab and bolt. Unfortunately you can’t buy just the oval plastic cover as it comes as part of the armrest! I’d tracked one down on US ebay which claimed to be in perfect condition and also managed to get a good price on a multiple purchase of an excellent RH speaker grille too. (Thanks Ron if you read this)
As always I had a hefty customs charge of £40 to pay which really does annoy me, but hey, no one likes the taxman.
Anyhow I was late getting back home tonight fighting the rush hour traffic for almost 20 miles to find yet another card on the doormat!
Same Parcel Force Depot, different parcel.
Why oh why didn’t they tell me there was another parcel waiting for me when I had just picked up the first one? I phoned and went through all the options and 30 minutes later they took me off hold. After paying the second customs charge I asked the guy if they put all parcels with the same postcode in the same place in their depot (I thought this would be logical considering they must load up the vans by route or area). “Yes” he said, so I asked then if I had two parcels waiting and came in with one card would there be a system to flag up I had two parcels when they processed the first one? “No” was the reply.
So the net result is I have to drive all the way back to Segensworth tomorrow to pick up the second parcel that was sat right next to the first one on the same shelf in a bay allocated to my Avenue! They won’t deliver it to my home as it’s a customs charge parcel and I’ll be at work and it needs a signature. They won’t re direct it to my work address as it’s a customs charge parcel that can only go to the address on the label. So as well as paying for postage and then £90 for customs I have to drive another 70 miles to collect the parcel! Oh well.

Rant over I took my frustration out by scrubbing the new parts within an inch of their lives with Cif and cleaning up the 3 metal fixing tabs on the armrest with a detail wire brush before painting them to prevent rusting in future.

Day 242

This morning the flock had dried completely so I re-assembled the door cubby before leaving for work.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670550.45.jpg)

At lunchtime the Windsheild arrived from Porsche Centre, hooray!
The plans to put it in next weekend.
This evening I raced over to the Parcelforce Depot again to collect the Auto Atlanta speaker grilles. Opening the box this evening I found the RH one broken and both were of really, really poor quality (absolute tat) so I’m not at all pleased with these reproductions and now I’m going to have to send them back for a refund.
This is the way of the 914 emotional rollercoaster!
To take my mind off it, I retired to the garage and fitted the door damp membranes I’d made earlier before running out of daylight.
Carefully checking everything inside the door was tight, I used caulking rolled into a thin strip to attach the plastic. In this way they can be removed numerous times and resealed if I ever need to get back inside the doors. The caulking is like a very sticky Blu-tack so is great for this purpose.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670550.46.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i265.photobucket.com-18255-1464670550.47.jpg)

Perfect fit with the doubled up heat welded flaps tucked neatly inside the door so any water runs into the door and not soaked up by the door card.



So that was Month 8

90% of the interior is restored and back in, and the car is starting to look real pretty.
Again it’s been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Things didn’t go to plan, my friend breaking the windshield, the trimmers continually having trouble with the knee roll and issues with parts. On the flip side with a little perseverance as a whole the car looks fantastic and much better than hoped for.
With just a handful of months left now in this 12 month build challenge I feel that the light at the end of the tunnel is near and I cant wait to finally get to drive it!

Thanks again for the kind comments posted earlier and for taking time out to read my thread.