Starting a 1973 restoration, Restoring a left for dead $500 914... Options

[sixnotfour]

Great Job !!


IMSAIMSAIMSA

[FourBlades]

I here ya man, I am anxious to get back to the IMSA car...

John

[netbanshee]

John,

Excellent job so far! I only happened upon this thread now, but have definitely given it a good once over. Many a man would have gotten frustrated with the amount of work you had ahead of you.

And that said, you're so close. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks / months.

I did a decent restore job with my pops that ended somewhat tragically, but in the end, I found myself with a fine 70 914. Good work, no matter what the circumstances, pays off in the end.

Flickr reference:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/netbanshee/sets/1076179/

Cheers,
Sean

[FourBlades]

Hey thanks Sean. I really enjoyed the welding and metal work. I am not so
fond of all the fiddling around with reassembling everything.

The fire you suffered totally sucks. You were making great progress.

That looks like a sweet 1970 914 though.

John

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[FourBlades]

I spent all day fixing my rear trunk hinges and installing a camp 914 shock
kit. The shock kit is excellent and a piece of cake to install. The trunk hinges
were a pain because one was broken off and the other had the shoulder bolt
broken off in it. I only had one replacement shoulder bolt so I found a 10.9
bolt from my stash that had the right amount of shoulder and threads.



Welded a thick washer to the replacement trunk hinge mounting thingee.
The bolt will get trimmed to length later. Here is how this is going to work.



Welded the lock nut to the back of the thingee so that I did not have to get
a wrench back there to hold it. Melted the nylon insert unfortunately. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)



Sanded off the paint in the weld area using a detail sander. This is slow but easy
to control and not as messy as a wire wheel.



I located the position for the new thingee by finding the old spot welds. I also
compared it by eye to the other side. This is not that hard and my trunk lid fit
and closes well.

[FourBlades]

Welded the replacement thingee on. I think my approach will be stronger than
the stock shoulder bolt, which necks down to an m8 or so, whereas I am using
an m12 through its whole length. Greased all the moving parts of both hinges
with white lithium grease.



Drilled out and retapped the other side hinge. I also sanded the paint off and
welded the edges of the hinge mount to prevent it from breaking off down the
road. Down the road, get it? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)



More pictures and incredibly bad humor tomorrow. Must be the effects of too
much welding smoke, phosgene gas, and zinc fumes.

John

[my928s4]

John

As always great progress, yours is much nearer being on the road than mine!

Like you my trunk hinge mounts were toast, any reason why you did not go with the JWest Pivots?

Cheers

[FourBlades]

Hey John, I did not know Jwest had pivots for the rear trunk. I bought the
replacement stock parts a long time ago. When I realized yesterday I was
short one shoulder bolt I just decided to improvise rather than stop working
and wait to order more parts. I am kind of in get it on the road ASAP mode
now... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

John

[FourBlades]

Opened up the transmission that came with the car so Dr. Evil can see if it looks
ok to rebuild at the Atlanta clinic. The box was covered in thick, nasty oil that had
to be chipped off, but inside it looks really good to me. Of course, I have only
the faintest idea what to look for.



Getting it apart and putting it back together was pretty simple following the
instructions on the doctor's web pages.







When you think of all the precisely machined and hardened parts and all the
little bearings and polished shafts in there it is a pretty amazing piece of
engineering. The tail cone looks like it will weigh 10 pounds but it is only
2 pounds or so, I guess it is magnesium. Not bad for a 40 year old design.
You can't help but be impressed with the quality of the parts.

John

[FourBlades]

More pictures of the transmission.









That is it for now.

John

[bcheney]

John,

You are doing a great job on that teener!!...I would love to stop by and see you. I hope to be in Melbourne soon. I"ll give you a call.

[FourBlades]

Brian,

Sounds good, pick a date and time and PM me. I should be home this
weekend.

Bring your teener if it is drivable...

John

[993inNC]

Got to say, being new both here and back into the 914 thing after 20 years of not having one...........and being new to the welding/resto thing, I do believe you may be my newest hero. Amazing undertaking no less in the oppressive heat of florida! I'm going to feel like a complete puss now for doing hopefully what turns out to be a fraction of what you had to do, but on a lift in a climate controlled garage.

So to you sir (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

[FourBlades]

Thanks man, I have learned from the masters on this board, nothing else like
it anywhere.

I've wanted to do this for so long I decided not to let any practical considerations
get in the way, and usually things have worked out. That and I jump in the pool
every 30 minutes or so when it is hot.

I dream of working in AC and considered converting my dining room into a
workshop. I have had my Raby/McMark 2270 engine sitting in my bedroom
for 6 months but taking over the dining room was the limit for my wife so
I've had to embrace the sweat...

John

[carr914]

Brian,

Bring your teener if it is drivable...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)


John, Looking good, hopefully it will road worthy soon, so your attention can go to the IMSA car

T.C.

[993inNC]

Thanks man, I have learned from the masters on this board, nothing else like
it anywhere.

I've wanted to do this for so long I decided not to let any practical considerations
get in the way, and usually things have worked out. That and I jump in the pool
every 30 minutes or so when it is hot.

I dream of working in AC and considered converting my dining room into a
workshop. I have had my Raby/McMark 2270 engine sitting in my bedroom
for 6 months but taking over the dining room was the limit for my wife so
I've had to embrace the sweat...

John

You've got nerve brother I'll give you that! My wife is pretty forgiving, but never would I get away with storing parts in the house, wow (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
I'm looking forward to jumping into mine. I don't think I'll get to my newly found rust until next year's summer season. I want to get mine back into a driveable condition first with everything working so I know everything works before I completely strip it down to bare bones.

[FourBlades]

Welded in reinforcements for shoulder harnesses. I placed these an inch below
shoulder level according to the directions from G-force. I also looked at Schroth's
excellent guide to installing harnesses (on their website).



Not totally sure about running the belts through the head rest supports. They
feel ok when belted up. I was worried they would pinch at the neck but they
feel like they sit in the right place when worn.



These seats came from Camp 914. They are very comfortable and well made
and were cheaper than listed on their website.



I am going to the Atlanta tranny clinic with Dr. Evil. You could really take that
statement the wrong way if you did not know the context. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

John

[FourBlades]

So I was wondering if my fuel tank really needed to be refurbed or if it was good
enough as is. It looks pretty much cherry on the outside (not the one that came
with my car, that one has rust through holes). Shaking it made sounds like rust
flakes rattling around. Dumping out and vacuuming up the rust
flakes yielded this pile:



Hmmm, maybe I do need to redo it. Liberally sprayed freeze off on both nipples
(yes this is 914 world and not THAT forum). Both nipple tubes were basically
packed solid with rust. Some PO also used steel washers on the nipples. The
filter sock was in place and not looking too bad.



Hard to see it but the tube is full of packed in rust flakes and dust. I would not
have gotten much fuel out or back into the tank through these.



One nut did not want to come off easily, and left aluminum bonded to the
steel threads. This ruined one of the nuts, but luckily I ordered new ones
from AA. I would not be surprised if you ruin both nuts trying to remove
them, so get new ones before you start.



Not having a die this size, I rinsed the tank out with warm soapy water and
then heated the offending threads with MAPP. I think the different expansion
rates of aluminum and steel did the trick because I was able to pick all the
aluminum out of the threads cleanly after that with an awl.

I used the Eastwood fuel tank kit to derust and recoat the tank. Pretty easy
but messy and involves lots of nasty chemicals. Pictures tomorrow once it dries.

So to recap, I twisted off both nuts, and broke one in the process, then sprayed
freeze off on both nipples, then burnt one nipple with a torch. And my wife
complains that 914 work is boring...

John

[McMark]

Nice save! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumb3d.gif)

[FourBlades]

Inside of gas tank after using Eastwood kit. The final coat is a thick, white
liquid that hardens to a rubbery consistency overnight.



Putting in the windshield I must not have cleaned it enough or did not get a good
suction on the glass with the gripper because the glass dropped off and broke.



I had another windshield on hand, so being more careful the second time I lined
it up using tape lines and stuck it into the butyl tape. Not too hard, but next time
I would put the butyl tape right up to the inside edge of the windshield lip.
Otherwise it squishes out around the edge of the windshield more than it
probably should.