First of the Texas Twins, First Build Options

[Puebloswatcop]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) So I finally got the first of the two Texas Twins down from Colorado down here to Texas and cant wait to get started on the build. I first obtained this 914 as a parts car back in 2010. After getting it home, I realized it was actually in better shape than the one I already owned. The first one is a 1973, 2.0. This one was a 1974 1.8 in Ravenna Green. Unfortunately I never was able to make allot of time to play with the car, so it sat in my overcrowded garage in Colorado.

Since I retired and moved to Texas, the wife said I had better find something to do and stay out from under her feet, so last week I made the treck to Colorado and brought the first of 3 914s back. (the 3rd really is a parts chassis).

The car was on a rolling frame so was easy to get onto the trailer, problem is it had to be lowered enough to fit inside a four foot cover to be added onto the trailer, so first we had to raise it high enough to get it off the rolling frame.



Then it had to be carefully lowered to where the car was sitting on 4 X 4 blocks so it would be lower than 4 feet high and secured to the trailer. It came in at around 3'8" when done.



Then the shipping crate was built over and around the car. The trip was long and went well till I got about 10 miles from home and disaster struck.



A catastrphic loss of one tire on the trailer. Thanks to a good samaritan who flagged me down, because I never heard or felt a thing. Also a testament to Top Hat Trailer Company, the trailer was slightly damaged but did not roll, in fact it rode so smooth that I never new the tire had gone away. Of course...no spare for the trailer, so I limped the last 10 miles at 15 miles per hour.



So 16 hours of driving and now one of my babies is here in Texas and the work shall begin.

[Puebloswatcop]

After completing the sub assemblies, I began assembling the main structures. To make the bearing installation easier I first put the steering shaft and both bearings in the freezer for a couple of hours. I also put the lower bearing carrier and the upper housing out in the Texas sun, to heat them up. I was hoping that this would aid in easier insertion of the bearings, and it did to a point.

I did the lower bearing first. I did get it about halfway into the carrier, but then had to gently tap it into place. The key here is to insure that you only tap the outer bearing race, so I used a matching sized socket and just tapped it in. It has to go in until it bottoms out and is past the groove for the circlip. Then I inserted the circlip that holds it in place.



I then did the same with the with the upper bearing in the housing. The new bearing came with a plastic insert, which I left in during installation.



Then it was time to install the steering shaft. It sat in the freezer for an additional 30 minutes so was really quite easy to slide in.

First I removed the plastic guard that was in the upper bearing and installed the crush sleeve on the shaft.

Now, if you do this quickly enough the shaft will slide into both bearings without any force. I installed the lower end first, since it is more of an interference fit, Then installed it into the upper housing since that part of the shaft has a crush collar. Then installed the lock rings on both ends. When I spun the shaft in the bearings it was a 100% improvement over the worn bearings.



Once everything was in place I reinstalled the bolt that holds the two sections together in the housing.