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]

Update on the trailing arm mount madness:

Laser plumb bob only confirmed the trammel measurements and that although X/Y position is reasonable, Z is off.

My solution was to notch the wheelhouse frame rail section. The radius of the stamping doesn't match my OEM part exactly and is pushing the mount low in Z.

By notching the rail I was able to tighten up the radius to match my trailing arm mount and move it up to proper Z location while maintaining X and Y dimensions.





Once the part was correctly positioned I used a body hammer and dolly to return the flange to mate with the part and then welded the flange back where it belongs. In the photos below, I still need to add a doubler reinforcement on the inside to replace the material I removed.







put the panel back into the vehicle and reconfirmed my measurements. All in all I'm pretty happy. When everything is metal finished and painted, the modification won't be evident and will be as structurally sound as the unmodified panel.



I'm still off on the diagonal by a 3mm (~ 1/8") but that can be adjusted when I instill the inner section of the frame that resides in the engine bay.

Looking forward to moving on!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I know fitting the inner frame rail is going to be time consuming based on the rough fit work I had to do already.

Once that is done, I hope to make more rapid progress. February is here and it takes forever to heat up the garage in order to accomplish any work! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

Still have lots to do!