My '74 Budget GT Tribute build, Undergoing repairs to the shell Options

[pencap914]

Hi all,

Picked up project car about 2 weeks ago. I'm very excited to get started on this build, I'll try to document and share my progress as I go. I originally created a profile here at 914World back in 2006 when I was in High school, and had bought a 74 914 as my first car for $1200. It was a great first car, I had a lot of fun fixing it up while using it as my daily. When I went off to college, I sold the car, but felt like I had unfinished business to do.

Recently I started lurking here again looking to get back into a project 914 to hopefully take the car where I wanted to, but didn't have the funds, skills, or space to do so.

I posted a WTB ad, and was contacted by a member here who had a good start to a project I plan on finishing (Thanks Montreal914!)

My plan is to build my dream 914 that I absolutely drooled over when I was in High School. I've always loved the GT look, so my plan is to basically create as close to a GT clone as my budget will allow. Steel GT flares, 5-lug Fuch's (or replicas...) and a tastefully somewhat period correct interior. The car I recently purchased did include a freshly rebuilt 2.0 4cyl engine, so I need to make a decision on if I would want to run that engine for a while, and save my pennies to slowly build a 2.2, 2.4 or 2.7 flat 6 then do a swap later down the road.

I'm happy to see the 914 community thriving. Back in 2004 when I first bought the 914, Porsche snobs seemed to turn their nose at them which made them affordable enough for a high-school kid to own one. It seems like the 914 is getting more recognition in the collector community, so I'm happy I picked one up before they become too out of my price range!

I'll post some progress photos tonight and general status of the car tonight after work, but here's a few shots of the day I unloaded it off the trailer.

Cheers,

pencap914

[pencap914]

Almost finished with the flat plate that I'll weld in between the two suspension pivot points to mount the oil cooler and perhaps add some rigidity.

Found someone in town that has a dimple die set. Wish I squeezed a few more holes to keep things light as possible...

[Luke M]

Almost finished with the flat plate that I'll weld in between the two suspension pivot points to mount the oil cooler and perhaps add some rigidity.

Found someone in town that has a dimple die set. Wish I squeezed a few more holes to keep things light as possible...

I like this approach to the front cooler mount/reinforcement.
Anymore pics you could add/share? What was the steel thickness used for this?
Keep up the the great work.

[pencap914]

[/quote]


I like this approach to the front cooler mount/reinforcement.
Anymore pics you could add/share? What was the steel thickness used for this?
Keep up the the great work.
[/quote]


The main plate with the dimples is 14 gauge steel, which I'll admit seems overkill for this application, but the price was right (free scrap!). I welded a few M6 nuts on the bottom of the plate for retaining clips for the oil cooler. Then welded a 3/4" -1/16" wall square tube between the two suspension plates set this 14 gauge steel plate on top.

Hopefully, will add some rigidity to the front suspension pickup points, but probably nothing really noticeable.

It took me a while to get the shape correct for the side walls of the duct, as you can see its a pretty complicated shape. A pin contour gage and using CAD (Cardboard Aided Design...) came in handy for this.

I removed the upper portion of the steel that was spot welded to the front of the car, just under where the hood latch mechanism lives, welded a few M6 nuts to the bottom of it to secure the top of the duct, which I plan on fabricating out of aluminum.

Seen here is the extra holes punched in the front for air intake:



Oil cooler, rubber 1/8" rubber pad and sidewalls to direct airflow:



And how it sits in the car:



Top left you can see a M6 all-thread to secure the top, and bottom center of the photo one of my clips to secure the bottom of the oil cooler.