Fred's Backyard LE Restoration Options

[930cabman]

Go Fred Go

Looks amazing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Cairo94507]

Very nice work; that car is going to be beautiful. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[friethmiller]

Thanks y'all! I appreciate the interest in my project. Keeps me motivated! Thanks! Sure hope she IS beautiful when I'm done (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Dion]

Absolutely fantastic! Just beautiful work. Going to be one great looking 914.

[watsonrx13]

Well done Fred. What tool are you using to knock down the inside welds on the pan?

[friethmiller]

Well done Fred. What tool are you using to knock down the inside welds on the pan?

@watsonrx13 - Thanks. I struggled at first on these. I couldn’t remember what I used on my other 914. There’s not a lot of room against the crossover support and sides. I tried a few different sized grinders including my finger sander. Nothing really worked until I remembered that a brand new 4 1/2 sand disk on my angle grinder can get in there and has the HP to knock the welds down. That left a few hard to reach ones for the finger sander. I typically go over all my welds with the finger sander at the end to “final it out” as they say. I hope this helps!

[friethmiller]

Passenger Side Front Floor Prep: Part 1 - Exposing the Damage (6/8/2024):

Well, after installing the rear floorpan last weekend, the logical next step would be the front floorpan. Not exactly! I have nothing to weld to up front and I couldn't delay this any longer! It's time to dive into the rusted out area up front and figure out how to fix it. My last 914 was bad, but this is way worse! I started by wire-wheeling the area under the gas tank. Everything melted away. Nothing but holes. Yikes!







After a lot of looking/thinking, I decided the best option would be to cut out the floor to gain access to other rusted out piece that attach to the floor. Once these components were fixed, I would at least have something to weld to - assuming I could somehow patch/fabricate the floor metal. You can see in the next few photos how I carefully marked cut lines and removed the floor. To keep a manageable repair area, I made the decision to only do the passenger side. Once the passenger side was complete [and strong again], I could then roll the car over and have the drivers side up top to perform the same fix.

[friethmiller]

Passenger Side Front Floor Prep: Part 2 - Fixing the Damage (6/8/2024):

I've got the construction paper and pens out again! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Here we go! Decided to tackle the largest, easiest piece first. I used paper and scissors to create the template I needed, transferred it to my 18-gauge sheet metal and then cut out the part. I also employed my bender (in the garage) to get the part in the right shape. I typically align the part with the existing metal in place to make sure I'm in the ballpark. If I am, I then cut the old metal and begin the forming/shaping process to get the metal in the right place with enough of a gap to get good penetration with the welder. The following photos show the process - note I used panel clamps to keep the metal straight while I welded and compressed air to keep any warpage under control.







This same part extends in front of the tunnel and has an oval hole for the grommet where the fuel lines pass through. Forming this metal piece was a bit more difficult and took a while to make sure the piece would make proper contact with the floor. Once satisfied with the part and it's placement, I began welding the patch into the car. My plan was to find my fuel line grommet thingy in the morning and make the necessary adjustments to get it to fit.





More to come with Part 3...

[friethmiller]

Passenger Side Front Floor Prep: Part 3 - Fixing More Damage (6/9/2024):

Started off Sunday morning by adjusting the size of the oval hole I created yesterday in my repair piece. I wanted to take the opportunity now to make sure the rubber plug fit snuggly. I used a 2" grinder and a sanding stone on my drill to get the job done.



Next up was the curved cavity that exists between the car's interior and the gas tank area. Starting with the existing piece, I made a rough template. After cutting and bending the metal, I gradually worked the part into the right shape. The tricky part of this piece is at the bottom where it connects to the other support that I replaced yesterday. This matches the contour of the floor section that I removed yesterday. I'm going to try and replicate the original shape here as much as possible.





After grinding down all the welds, I then proceeded to take on the other half of this repair. I wanted to replace the contour or the original part so I decided to reuse what I could. The problem was that some of the rust had worked into the indentation that I was trying to salvage. So, I began by cutting out the bad and welding in a piece of metal that I could lightly grind / hammer / bend to make it look as it did. Note: the part was flipped over between photos here.



The next few photos show the install. I figured it would be easier to form the next piece once this "reused" piece was welded in place.





With that piece in, I used the construction paper [yet again] to create a template for the bottom/final section of the repair. I used the shrinker/stretcher to help bend the part into the right shape. It was pretty close but it took a good bit of time before I was satisfied with the fitment. It was a little ugly welding to the original metal above but I was able to get things done. I'll be going back over all these welds again prior to painting.



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Final photos of what took me an entire weekend to accomplish. This stuff takes time and you cannot rush the process. I have to say, I loved every moment out there this weekend in the heat. Drank a ton of water and even a few beers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)

[Montreal914]

Amazing work! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

[friethmiller]

Amazing work! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

Thank you, sir!

[Literati914]

Bravo Fred !! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[bkrantz]

Yikes! That's some serious rust cancer.

Just think, someday we might have the technology to generate a complete 3D pattern for any given sheet metal part and then feed it into some magical metal press. But what fun would that be?

[Superhawk996]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) tricky area to deal with. I cheated by sourcing donor sheetmetal.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) for the fiddly fabrication work.

[Literati914]

.. I cheated by sourcing donor sheetmetal.

Yep finding someone with a car to part out and willing to make the cuts could save a ton of time and frustration! ..actually I may be able to help, as I'm thinking of just scrapping my 3rd project 914... hit me up if interested.

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[friethmiller]

.. I cheated by sourcing donor sheetmetal.

Yep finding someone with a car to part out and willing to make the cuts could save a ton of time and frustration! ..actually I may be able to help, as I'm thinking of just scrapping my 3rd project 914... hit me up if interested.

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Let me think on that. My concern is the missing area below the pedal cluster + the rusty, paper thin metal at the master cylinder. Shaping metal to match the original is one thing but forming the metal based on a picture or having to get the shape from the other car seems a little challenging.

[914werke]

I checked (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) dont have a piece that will help.

[friethmiller]

I checked (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) dont have a piece that will help.

Thanks for checking, Rich! And, thank you, @Literati914 , for the offer. I'd hate to ruin another restorable 914 . Let's see how I do with this section. If I need to take a little more time to get it back together, I will take the time to do so. Let's see what I can do with what I have. New sheet metal just arrived yesterday via Amazon. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

Plus,

[Eric_Shea]

Keep Rockin! looking good (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[friethmiller]

Passenger Side Front Floor Prep: Part 4 - Blasting the Bad (6/13/2024):

This is the first of four post from this past weekend. Actually this one is from Thursday evening. I didn't get any cool action shots of me sandblasting the metal around my repair area or the tricky underside of the dash but you will see iterative photos of my work. Even with my pre-cooler setup on my compressor, with 90+% humidity - I was still getting the occasional clog. Typically the clog was at the tip but I believe that had more to do with the CFM coming out of this 30 gal. unit. I found that by taking breaks, letting the compressor catch-up a bit, I encountered less issues. Regardless, I was able to get a lot of the area completely cleaned up and ready to go. There's still a few areas that need more attention and, YES, I have some repairs to do here there. Sigh (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) I will get them later prior to paint. Here are some photos of my compressor setup and the result of sandblasting.

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