Just arrived in the garage: 1971 914-4 1.7 Options

[raynekat]

I've just bought these wheels....

They are Minilites at 6.5x15 size.
I'll put a good sticky, hi po street tire on it.

These cars give me inspiration.... for sure.

[raynekat]

Just lookin' to build a killer 4 cylinder 914 that is factory race look.

I'll show you what I've got in mind over the coming months.

BTW....this was my attempt with a 911.

[jmz]

I love it Doug!! We're on the same page here. I'm just further down the road in many respects but too far in others. ...I have to make mine a little more touring and a bit less racing.



JZ

[jmz]

I love this car....


How close I get to it remains to be seen.
It's pretty radical.
I'd like a nice fun street driver.

ME TOO! I kind of hope I can tone mine that I just bought down towards something close to this.

[mepstein]

My plans are to do these instruments....







Ala 356 style.

I've planned to do a green gauge car for a while. Great choice! Unfortunately, not cheap.

[mepstein]

The early cars are my favorites. I'd like to figure out a cable shift for the tail shifter.

[SKL1]

Gotta love '71's! Had mine since new... looks pretty "stock" but has had MANY mods over the years! Probably best is conversion to side shifter with a Rennshift and OEM 914-6 suspension and brake upgrade to 5 bolt and Fuchs. Luckily I did that back in the mid '70's when you find all the parts pretty easily.


BTW, love the Minilites!!

[jack20]

I guess I'm the only reader who noticed the Vespa against the wall in picture #1. 150, GS...?
I like the 356 instrument idea. Aren't they a bit smaller than the OEM for the 914?

[raynekat]

I guess I'm the only reader who noticed the Vespa against the wall in picture #1. 150, GS...?
I like the 356 instrument idea. Aren't they a bit smaller than the OEM for the 914?

It's actually a P125X (1982) that I restored a couple of years ago. Upgraded the engine to a 165cc with a 1969 Camaro color (Hugger Orange) and everything works. Yeah it needs some air in the back tire.

Fun ride but scary above 45mph with those really small wheels (10"). I've actually got a 1962 VNB to restore as well with 8" wheels....wow.

[raynekat]

So Cary picked up my chassis this past week, and he'll begin working on it after the 4th as he's still finishing up on Mark's car.

The car has been hit in the back so needs a new rear end and rear trunk floor. Also the back portions of the floor pans will need replacing....likely the rear window was leaking as the gasket was as hard as a brick back there.

Both jack plates need replacing but the "longs" look good as does the hell hole. Further digging by Cary will either confirm or refute this.

In addition, there is some corrosion in the cowl area where the windshield spacers were along the lower part....if that makes sense.

Otherwise, a pretty good chassis.

Cary will show some pics as he attacks this car with his usual fervor.

[raynekat]

[raynekat]

So I spent most of 2015....here and there....tearing the car completely apart.
I was out of the country from Jan-Apr 2016, so haven't had that much time to work on the car.

But I have been going through some of the different subsystems and refreshing or buying NOS or better used parts than I currently had.

For instance....

Had some of the hardware replated by Shaun of Tru6 from the Early 911 S Registry.
Artful work he does if that's what you want....and I did.

Before:


After:


I've got another big batch going to his soon.
He does both the yellow and clear zinc coating.
Perfection for sure...

[raynekat]

I sourced a 2.4 T MFI motor from Australia of all places.
The engine originally came from the US.
Supposedly low miles....yada yada.
Not so sure about that, but it had the 7R case and all the MFI components.
So I was in.
Real adventure shipping it from Australia to the US.
Took about 6 months by boat, tough to get all the paperwork done, customs, EPA, you name it.
A royal PITA...but it finally arrived by plane from LA into Portland.

[raynekat]

Of course, you'd have to have the mouse nest sitting on top of the cylinders to be complete.

And the dead mouse as well.

Guess he got free shipping and airfare around the globe a couple of times.
Air miles?

Good thing we didn't try to fire this engine up.
Would have ran hot for sure.

[raynekat]

MFI requires a CDI unit, so I sourced a used one that was unknown condition.

Out to Parts Klassic it went.
All the ancient electronics were removed and replaced by modern solid state electronics.
Bought their matching coil and wiring harness made for Pertronix ignition.

The hope is for better reliability and performance/starting manners.

Before:



After:

[raynekat]

NOS lens and reflectors off of Ebay Germany with some fresh paint and replating of hardware made the driving lights looks much better.

[cary]

The day has finally come to start on Doug's car. Best we can tell it's a pretty solid car. But we won't know the truth until all the paint comes off.

The parts that are here on site were unloaded and labeled.





Initial list :

1. Replace rear tail light panel with donor.
2. Replace rear half of trunk floor. With removable heat shield
3. Install 6 motor mount
4. Cut out holes for 6 oil tank
5. Replace back portion of floorboard
6. Make passenger seat adjustable like later cars
7. Install fiberglass wood framed GT hoods
8. Make minor seal channel rust repairs on both doors.
9. See if we can do some rust repairs on both valances

Plan is to have the car stripped here on site. History has it, the list will probably get a little longer after it's stripped.

So time to dive in the deep end. I take a few minutes to survey the donor tail light panel. The rusted off trunk panel is a little concerning at first glance.





Here's why we're changing out the tail light panel and the rear half of trunk.





The rusty old trunk came out/off without any issues.
Added 7/7/2106





So on to removing the qtr. panel corners. Once again I'm using Rick's grind down and pop off spot weld removal technique. I've given it my own twist. To eliminate as much damage as I can to the piece/panel we're going to reuse. I cut down the welds on the side that will be discarded with the 3" die grinder on a mandrel. Like so ...............



I did drill an 1/8" hole in each spot weld to make sure I didn't miss any spot welds. This section is 3 layers thick in places.

Once again, to eliminate potential damage I take things out in 2-3 inches sections. You can see the remaining section of the rusty old trunk floor next to the support.



At the end of the day it came out relatively easy. A couple nicks, cuts and tears to weld up. But it's in good shape.





Tomorrow I'll get out the steam cleaner and get all the grease cleaned off. Then maybe I'll blast the paint off. That will be followed by getting the torch out to remove the corner tail light brazing.

[cary]

Plan is to work on Doug's car thru the end of next week. I'm off for 2 weeks while my new boss takes a 2 week vacation in France. He'll be watching some of our engines and transmission perform at the Le mans Classic.

After that I'll work 2-3 days per week on one car. Then 2-3 days the next week on the other car. Basically working 20 hours per week at my shop and 24 at Rothsport.

[Frankvw]

that replated hardware pics...a spot-the-difference puzzle :-)
really cool pics and took some time to create, I guess that was your way of checking that all was there after the replating. Otherwise you have some disorder to do that :-) nice job !

[raynekat]

that replated hardware pics...a spot-the-difference puzzle :-)
really cool pics and took some time to create, I guess that was your way of checking that all was there after the replating. Otherwise you have some disorder to do that :-) nice job !

Actually the "plater project manager" did that.
I think it was his way of keeping track of all the parts so none were lost.
You're right tho....fun set of pics.