1973 2.0L Rustoration, Restoration turned OT garage build Options

[Superhawk996]

I purchased my first 914 back in 1987 (1973 1.7L) and had that car for nearly a decade and I personally put over 100,000 miles on it before it ultimately fell victim to a negligent driver that drove into the back end of it at about 40 mph while the vehicle was stopped at a red light. That rear end crash totaled the vehicle but what is amazing is how well it crumpled (early crush zones!) due to the kink in the frame where the halfshafts are. Everyone walked away unharmed.

I replaced it with a 1991 Miata. Great car in its own right but I've always missed my 914.

Purchased this "replacement" in May 2018 as a known poster child for a complete right side longitudinal rustoration.

This vehicle had been put into storage inside a pole barn around 2004 as far as I can tell.

Vehicle initially purchased in non-running condition:
Engine couldn't be started.
Transmission shift linkage was disconnected
Half shafts and CV's were in pieces, and the wheel stubs were not installed therefore the vehicle couldn't even be rolled without risking having the rear wheel separate from within the bearing.
Fiberglass laid into the floorpan . . . that can't be a good sign.

Vehicle looks great . . . until I got under it.

I spent the better part of the summer putting the items above back together and trying to confirm that it would:
1) Run under its own power
2) Drive though the neighborhood and shift though all gears.



Looks pretty nice eh?

Here is what is lurking underneath once the rockers came off.



and when I started cutting back the rust. Oh my . . . .

[Superhawk996]

The trailing arm mount on my car came with one of the three bolts pre-broken and better yet, there were remnants of a broken EZ-OUT in inside the bolt hole. The only real way to fix this is to either use and EDM machine to burn the hardened extractor out (not possible on vehicle) or to replace it.

This lead to me ordering a bobbin from Tangerine (Did I mention they are a great vendor (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif) ).

First I cleaned up the other two holes with a tap and Proof Torqued the fasteners to make sure they were sound and would hold torque. It would be really crappy to find out later after welding the console mount that one was weak and would strip.



Putting it in the new bobbin took a bit of time. However the one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that this was much easier to do on the bench. I wouldn't look forward to doing this under the vehicle

Started by removing the bad bobbin.



The new bobbin is on the left.

Since my outer console mount had some metal loss on the floor of the mount, I decided to put in some new metal as reinforcement. Had to do a little pattern development.





Welding in the reinforcement





I also ran into a little problem where the new bobbin wasn't at quite the same height as the other two. It was maybe about 3/32" too low. I used the old trailing arm outer pivot to serve as a datum. By tightening the other two bolts first the third can then be pulled up to the right height. At that point I began tacking and final welding.




I also predictably ran into some issues blowing holes into the thin pitted metal that was previously reinforced. Patience . . . and TIG welder really helps with this.




All in all things turnd out to may satisfaction.







Next step: Gotta get this located properly to the inner wheelhouse panel. In my case, since I didn't cut the outer quarter panel for access, it needs to be welded to the panel before I weld in the wheelhouse panel.