Time to un-DAPO the "new" car, Bad things happened to a nice car Options

[BillC]

So, I bought a "new" 914 a few weeks ago (a '73 2.0). When I received it from the shipper, I noticed was the seller was quite artful about his pictures, with what was and what wasn't shown. And, now that I've had a chance to start taking things apart, I have uncovered quite a bit of DAPO-done-damage, and I'm sure there's more hiding somewhere (oh boy! something to look forward too....). Some of the damage appears to have been there for a loooong time.

I've already received a piece from a scrap car to fix this hole:


Once I took the rockers off, I discovered this:

Yes, they hole-sawed through FOUR layers of sheet metal, including the heat duct. Not sure what they were thinking, but there it is.

In the trunk, I found three hole-sawed holes. I think they might have been thinking about mounting the fuel pump in a 75/76 blister, but they never finished the work (and also picked the wrong location).

[BillC]

And, now for the moment you've all have been waiting for!

Okay, well, maybe not all of you. Errr, well, maybe not any of you.... But it's the moment I've been waiting for, for far too long -- time to reinstall the passenger door!

It took a while to clean up the rust and old primer on the sill. It was all sanded down, treated with Ospho, re-primed and repainted. Here's what it looked like, just waiting for the door:


One little trick I figured out a long time ago, on a project far far away, is using studs to help with bolting on the hinges. Put one stud in the body plate for each hinge (one top and one bottom). This makes it much easier to line up and install the first two bolts. Once they're in, unscrew the stud and install the last bolt. Here's the idea:

The doors mount with 8-1.25mm bolts, which are the same size as the exhaust studs. So, most of you probably already have a few lying around somewhere.

And, now the moment .... yeah, you know what's coming. The door installed!

This was a two-person job. I held the door in place, while my oldest son (who's home from grad school) installed the bolts. Then, he helped me adjust the door. It's lined up much better than when it arrived.

While I was at it, I also installed the passenger-side mirror. It's just a normal driver-side mirror, flipped over. Someday I may get a piece of convex mirror glass for it, but for now it'll work, and it just looks so much better than those aftermarket mirrors that were on my previous 914.