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Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 03:32 PM

I decided to start a build thread like so many others in the hopes of motivation and some usefull advice. I bought the car back in febuary and tinkered with it since then but due to health problems and work i was unable to do much. I now have some time to put toward it and im excited to get to work. Last week i pulled the rocker covers off to check out the rust. It turned out not to be as bad as i had thought. The longs are rusted out near the jack post, worse on the drivers side, the battery tray is mostly gone. Friday i pulled out the interior and spend the weekend making new upholstery. This is the first time i've ever attempented to do this. It didnt come out perfect but its better then what was in there and it only cost around 120 bucks which is much cheaper then what local shops whated to do it. So far i have the area around the seats done and the material cut out for the seats but i needed to take a break from it and watch some football (drinking beer and doing upholstery dont mix, welding on the other hand).


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Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 04:14 PM

So i tried to replace the brakes but nobody sales rear brake calipers for 914's does anyone know anyone that sells them? Mine leak out the e-brake adjuster and the rebuild kits don't seem to have the parts to fix that. Not only that but i perfer not to cut corners on things like brakes being that peoples lives are on the line. Well i'm off to replace the suspension and the brake lines.

Posted by: kg6dxn Sep 19 2010, 04:20 PM

Eric Shea will restore your callipers to a better than new condition. His work is awesome!

Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 04:30 PM

these ones are pretty much screwed, very rusted cylinders, plus i prefer to have new or remanufactured ones. Like is said peoples lives are on the line so i don't play around with them. I've found on other restoration "people rebuild things" and the product turns out to be garbage and your out X amount of dollars. I would rather just get new ones.

Posted by: abayer1969 Sep 19 2010, 04:41 PM

QUOTE(kphimself @ Sep 19 2010, 02:30 PM)

Posted by: Valy Sep 19 2010, 04:51 PM

QUOTE(kphimself @ Sep 19 2010, 03:30 PM)

Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 04:52 PM

Thanks, one of my chief concerns is that they were rebuilt from the last owner becouse one side has a torq head and the other is a hex head bolt that seems to be crushed into the calipers. I really don't think these can be fixed. The tube for the bleed seems to be crushed becouse of the use of hex bolts. Is there any other calipers from other cars that will work on these? Ive been restoring cars since i was in high school and i never pick "normal" cars, i like the off brands, Internationals, Studebakers ect... so i'm no stranger to making other things work. I'm yet to find an interchange manuel for foreign cars however. Does one exhist?

Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 04:55 PM

QUOTE(Valy @ Sep 19 2010, 06:51 PM)

QUOTE(kphimself @ Sep 19 2010, 03:30 PM)

these ones are pretty much screwed, very rusted cylinders, plus i prefer to have new or remanufactured ones. Like is said peoples lives are on the line so i don't play around with them. I've found on other restoration "people rebuild things" and the product turns out to be garbage and your out X amount of dollars. I would rather just get new ones.

I was in the same situation as you 6 mo ago.
I started with the front ones and tried to buy rebuild calipers. The rebuilt ones were junk, even more then the ones I originally had (but returned them as core). I exchanged FIVE sets of calipers till I got a good set!!! Most of the calipers had weak bolts (DIN8.8 instead of 12.8) This means only 60% of retaining power between the two halves of the caliper. I could die using those!

For the rear ones, I decided to do them myself. Sorry but I can only trust myself after all I've been through. I ordered a brake set on eBay, one that has all the o-rings. The leak from the adjuster is just a small o-ring inside.
I also used a hone to clean the rust from inside the cylinder and polished the pistons with my drill and a rug.

Now I have brakes!

Posted by: rick 918-S Sep 19 2010, 05:03 PM

QUOTE(kphimself @ Sep 19 2010, 05:55 PM)

QUOTE(Valy @ Sep 19 2010, 06:51 PM)

QUOTE(kphimself @ Sep 19 2010, 03:30 PM)

these ones are pretty much screwed, very rusted cylinders, plus i prefer to have new or remanufactured ones. Like is said peoples lives are on the line so i don't play around with them. I've found on other restoration "people rebuild things" and the product turns out to be garbage and your out X amount of dollars. I would rather just get new ones.

I was in the same situation as you 6 mo ago.
I started with the front ones and tried to buy rebuild calipers. The rebuilt ones were junk, even more then the ones I originally had (but returned them as core). I exchanged FIVE sets of calipers till I got a good set!!! Most of the calipers had weak bolts (DIN8.8 instead of 12.8) This means only 60% of retaining power between the two halves of the caliper. I could die using those!

For the rear ones, I decided to do them myself. Sorry but I can only trust myself after all I've been through. I ordered a brake set on eBay, one that has all the o-rings. The leak from the adjuster is just a small o-ring inside.
I also used a hone to clean the rust from inside the cylinder and polished the pistons with my drill and a rug.

Now I have brakes!

the three kits i've bought don't have the o ring for the ebrake, i have the tools to do it. Just can't get the right parts, plus the one can't be fixed, it aslo has weak bolts in it.

Posted by: dlee6204 Sep 19 2010, 05:07 PM

Why don't you just buy a set of rebuildable cores if you don't think yours are rebuildable? I know a lot of us have spare calipers lying around that would good to rebuild.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 05:08 PM

Do you have his contact info?

Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 05:11 PM

QUOTE(dlee6204 @ Sep 19 2010, 07:07 PM)

Posted by: jetboy Sep 19 2010, 05:19 PM

Eric Shea's website for teener services - http://www.pmbperformance.com/teener.html

and for brake rebuilding- http://www.pmbperformance.com/calipers.html

Posted by: rick 918-S Sep 19 2010, 05:20 PM

QUOTE(kphimself @ Sep 19 2010, 06:11 PM)

QUOTE(dlee6204 @ Sep 19 2010, 07:07 PM)

Why don't you just buy a set of rebuildable cores if you don't think yours are rebuildable? I know a lot of us have spare calipers lying around that would good to rebuild.

I'm all about that, i've seen company's that do that and i wouldn't mind having some extra parts. If you know anyone that wants to sell a set let me know.

Posted by: scotty b Sep 19 2010, 05:26 PM

My shop is right up the road from you ( Cahrles City ) and I have a pile of old calipers you are welcome to peruse. I can also show you what to expect when you get into the rust repairs. I am currently repairing this one ofr a guy in Richmond.


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Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 05:33 PM

Thanks, and thanks for the advice. So my plan for this week is to remove the engine agian and get the car ready to go home (North Carolina) for rust repiar floor pan replacement and paint this week. I'm hoping to be able to take a few weeks of vacation since i have a few months worth on the books. Paint and body work is more my thing, i love doing mechanical work but i'm not as good at it as i am paint and body work. I've spent the last 9 months collecting parts for the car so i could do everything all at one time. I've found if you spend too long between projects you tend to forget alot of knowledge you've gained. It becomes easy to forget to tighten up bolts and replace clips and things that you have broken and forgot about. I really want to have the car finished before i go in for shoulder surgery next month.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 19 2010, 05:39 PM

QUOTE(scotty b @ Sep 19 2010, 07:26 PM)

Posted by: kphimself Sep 20 2010, 04:22 PM

Got the suspension, the ball joints changed out along with the pad behind the seats today. I was wanting to pull the engine today but due to a broked garage door i couldn't use the lift. Maybe tomorrow i'll be able to do that. I'm looking forward to making the rust repairs and doing the body work.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 21 2010, 02:29 PM

I pulled out the engine this afternoon. Got that down to just over an hour. The CV joints were another story. It looks like the PO tried to use an allen wrench making the bolts impossible to remove. Last time i ran into this issue, on the transmission, i was able to get them out using an bolt extractor but there isn't enough room to use an easy out. Does anyone have any ideas on a easy way to remove them? I really don't wanna drill them out.
On a good note i figured out why my shifter has a huge amout of play in it, the bushings that connect the tail shaft to the shaft that runs through the tunnel. They seemed in good shape the last time i had the engine out but somehow they turned to dust. I knew i should of replaced them last time i had the engine out but i couldn't figure out how to remove them, i guess leaving them sit for 8 months will take care of that for you.
Now the next thing i need to is finish the upholstery and kill time till vacation at which time i will attack the rust and lay down some paint.


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Posted by: kphimself Sep 21 2010, 05:47 PM

well had to brake out the cut off wheel to get the rails off the seats, the prongs are totally rusted off so i'm going to have to fab up some new ones. I think i'm going to call it a night and leave the seats for tomorrow.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 22 2010, 04:21 PM

I got the seats about 75% complete today. Between the garage work the last couple days and all the other upholstery work my fingers have had it. I have gained a new respect for auto upholstering. Plus I couldn't for the life of me find my philips head screw driver, i live in a 800 sq ft apartment and i somehow managed to loose my only screw driver here and didn't feel like going to the strore to get one. I miss my garage so much. My girlfriend is going out of town this week so i'll be able to get alot of work done. I will be very happy if i can have all the seats finished by this weekend when i tow the car home.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 22 2010, 07:59 PM

Does anyone know or have a picture of where the fog light switch would go? My car came without them but i found a set of fog light bazzels thanks to the PO but i don't see a place on the dash board for the switch. Thanks in advance.

Posted by: dlee6204 Sep 22 2010, 08:07 PM

Here is a picture for you. Its the yellow one. The hole should be in the dash frame, you just have to find it and poke through the basket-weave material.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 22 2010, 08:10 PM

Thanks, i found the switch as well just didn't know where it goes.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 23 2010, 06:00 PM

Well got one seat finished but i'm hung up on the lack of clips that the rails bolt into. I went to some of the local upholstery shops tring to find these clips with no luck. It looks like i'm going to have to make some. Tonight i'm going to take inventory of my parts, mainly the gaskets and seals to make sure i have everything before i go and paint it. I don't want to turn the car into a leaking rust bucket again.Well I need to order my primer and paints tonight as well. Sorry about the lack of pics but i didn't feel like uploading any tonight i'll do it tomorrow when i have more to show.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 23 2010, 06:04 PM

I was about to order paint and i just realized i don't know what color i want to paint the top, should i go with the origional finish or should i do a smooth high gloss black or do it silver like im going to paint the rest of the color, so many choices......

Posted by: kphimself Sep 23 2010, 08:18 PM

So my girlfriend just emailed me and it turns out she did some research and found out the 914 isn't an automatic and wants to know if i can make it one. I'm glad to see she is taking some intrest in my cars but on the other hand i think it may have been better off if she didn't. She now wants a sports car she can drive. I'm thinking about giving her my mustang. Im not a fan of it anyway, however she knows that and may think i'm just giving it to her becouse i don't want it, on the other hand i'm scared to see what she may want me to build for her. I need to get a dog so i won't have these problems. On a good note i finished the seats. I guess the next project to hold me off till i can do the rust repairs will be removing the gas tank and replacing the wires. I'm not sure if i'm going to use the fuse box or get an updated one. I like the stream line look of the one thats in there. Oh well i'm going to call it a night i got an early morining ahead of me and a very long day.

Posted by: bandjoey Sep 23 2010, 08:32 PM

Wow! You are doing great things for this car. Keep us posted and some pictures if you can.

Borrow a Ford Fiesta stick shift from someone not really a friend, and go teach your girlfriend to drive a stick.

You can really depend on people like Eric and Scotty and others for quality work and help. Go back about say 800 pages on this site and come forward. You'll see experts that have done and posted it all on 914's for a long time.

Check out the vendor section too. When looking for rubber seals, go to 914rubber (also in the vendor section) Better than original.

Hope to see you up and running soon. Bill

Posted by: kphimself Sep 23 2010, 08:38 PM

QUOTE(bandjoey @ Sep 23 2010, 10:32 PM)

Wow! You are doing great things for this car. Keep us posted and some pictures if you can.

Borrow a Ford Fiesta stick shift from someone not really a friend, and go teach your girlfriend to drive a stick.

You can really depend on people like Eric and Scotty and others for quality work and help. Go back about say 800 pages on this site and come forward. You'll see experts that have done and posted it all on 914's for a long time.

Check out the vendor section too. When looking for rubber seals, go to 914rubber (also in the vendor section) Better than original.

Hope to see you up and running soon. Bill

Posted by: kphimself Sep 23 2010, 08:53 PM

Well here is a pic before i go to bed.


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Posted by: kphimself Sep 23 2010, 08:55 PM

Its missing the clips so it will look alot better once i make them, its more of a test fit then anything.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 25 2010, 12:25 PM

I spent the morning finishing up the seats. I started by making up the brackets the rails bolt into, i'm happy with how they cam out. The seats just need alittle adjusting around the head rest area and they should be finished. I have some cracks in the trim i may attempt to repair them until i can find some replacement peices. As i was going over parts i've collected i noticed i didn't have the molding that goes on the bottom of the windshild and the bottom of the rear window. I don't know how i overlooked ordering them. I'm going to have to order them today if im gong to be painting it next week.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 25 2010, 02:45 PM

I have a windshield frame if anyone wants it. I took everything I needed off it and don't want to just toss it trash if someone could use it. You would have to pick it up, I live in norfolk va.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 29 2010, 11:32 AM

Well progress has come to a standstill due to poor weather. I'm not a fan of trailoring my car in the rain so I'm stuck here in va waiting for the weathere to clear up. Wanted to start my new wiring harnesses but my wires are on back order. Id like to clean up the engine compartment of useless wires from the old fuel injection system. They seem like a short waiting to happen not to mention the current wires break if you bend them so that must be taken care of. On a good note I was able to pick up my sheet metal and some pipe to make the braces today and I happened upon a transfer case for my old internation harvester. I'm sure the old truck isn't going to be happy getting kicked out of the garage while I work on the 914. Well I guess I should try to find something to do today to keep me out of trouble.

Posted by: kphimself Oct 6 2010, 06:20 PM

its been a busy few days. I had to wait till monday to get new stickers for my trailor so over the weekend i talked my brother into helping me clean the garage and polish a wheel (he pretty much just drank beer and used the die grinder for a few mins, but i got a pic of it) and repaired the busted rocker panels. Tuesday i brought the trailor up to va beach and picked up the car. Today i began digging into the rust, figured i would start and the back and go forward. The truck seemed to have developed an eco system of its own, some kind of 2 leafed clover things, dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing. Never the less there home is gone now and has been replaced with fresh metal. Well the UV rays from the welder kicked my butt today so i'm going to cut this short tonight.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 6 2010, 06:25 PM

oh almost forgot, somewhere along the north carolina state line my dad said "that car is growing on me." thought that was worth saying, he hates german cars. The man thinks the only sports car worth a damn is a corvette. I took a pic of that moment.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 7 2010, 12:28 PM

Well today I had a doctors appointment out of state so i didn't get crap done on the car today however my father (the porsche/vw hater) spent the day removing that tar crap off the floor pan for me and even media blasted the seat rails. I guess it must be pay back for all the repairs I made on his 78 monte carlo this weekend. The wiring on my car is all kinds of jacked up so I picked up some new wires for it figure ill run it while the floor pan is off. Perhaps if I repair his floor pan and paint his car I might get him to strip the paint off the car. Well I got a couple odds and ends left to do with the upholstery so I might do that this evening.

Posted by: Cupomeat Oct 7 2010, 01:14 PM

QUOTE(kphimself @ Oct 6 2010, 08:25 PM)

Posted by: Cupomeat Oct 7 2010, 01:22 PM

QUOTE(kphimself @ Sep 21 2010, 04:29 PM)

Posted by: kphimself Oct 7 2010, 08:46 PM

Ah, one step ahead of you, i picked up a set of used dual webbers, when i get finished with the body work and the car on the road and back to VA i plan on rebuilding them and putting them on the car. They seem like a good rainy day project that i can do in my apartment with out making my GF wanna leave me like when i did my upholstery. I want to get all the big stuff done before the weather gets bad. I also need to replace a floor pan and paint my fathers monte carlo before i get my shoulders reconstructed so i have lots of rust to deal with over the next few weeks. While i've been out of town my father took all the tar stuff off the floor and striped the paint off the front trunk lid and a fender, lots of work from a guy who hates porsches hahahaha, or perhaps he is wanting a show car finish on his car and he is kissing my butt. Im kidding he's awsome.

Posted by: kphimself Oct 8 2010, 07:01 PM

Today was a productive day. Found more rust as always. The hell hole had some work done in the past with some bad welding so i fabricated some new metal for that area however my welder is being a POS so i didn't even try to do any welding today. The weather should be good over the weekend so i should be able to get lots of work done. My primer, paint and clear coat came in along with my outer longs and jack points so that was a great surprise. However my stock pile of 18 gauge steel is running low and my supplier is closed on the weekend, its going to be a close one. I would hate to start cutting into the car and not have the materials to put it back together, i don't wanna leave it all hacked up for any length of time. I might just have to hold off on making a new battery tray and mount to conserve steel till monday. On a crappy note after removing the paint on my door it had a massive amount of work done on it with like 5 lbs of bondo on it so i'm going to have to take the skin off and fix that up properly. I really hate taking the skin off doors but i think its the only way im going to be able to get the dents out. To make matters worse just as i was getting into my groove and making progress i ran out of sanding discs for my die grinder so i had to stop and make a trip into town and donate to the red army for some more (harbor freight). I wish the Eastwood company had a store in my town that would be soo awsome. Well here are some progress pics from today.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 9 2010, 06:45 PM

I got that nasty rust taken care of in the engine compartment today just need to make a new shelf for in there. Took the door off and started cutting the 8 million spot welds in the sill. The guy that did that must of been getting paid by the weld or something. There seemed to be no rime or reason for where he put them too. Alot are an 1/8 of and inch apart and some area's go 3 inches without any. Finished up patching up the holes in the trunk as well. In the morning i plan on taking the passenger side door off and putting my braces in and cutting out a section of the quarter panel so i can get to my rust "issues". On a side note my dads super annoying neighbor stopped by to slow down progress. He asked what kind of car i was working on and i told them and he replied "i thought you were an american, you know we fought them in the 2 world war don't you" I reminded him he drives a nissan and "we" were at war with them too and by we i mean perhaps your father or maybe my grandfather since you weren't old enough to fight and i wasn't born yet. I can't stand that jerk. I have 4 garage doors and there is a reason i keep the 2 in the front shut.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 10 2010, 08:41 PM

Well the car is braced up and ready to be put up on stands. My shoulder was bugging the crap out of me so i wasn't very productive today. I did what felt like alot of work but it doesn't look like much. I got the heat shield off from under the trunk so i could clean that area up. The trunk has been sanded inside along with the under side of both trunk lids and ready for primer. I didn't want to jack the car up until i had a full day to make repairs due to lack of space i need the car half way out of the garage so i might do that in the morning. The weather report is calling for rain thursday so i want everything to be completed by then that way it isn't getting rained on. Im hoping to have the car ready for primer by next week. I have 19 days of vacation left and i think i'm going to be cutting it close considering i have to paint my dads monte carlo as well. My International's bed has become a great storage area, I think it has damn near two cars in it.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 12 2010, 01:57 PM

Rust, rust rust and more rust. I was too tired to update last night. I got the car up in the air and removed the outer long on the drives side. The inside was much worse then what i had expected. The car had been restored in the past and new metal was added but when they did that they never welded or sealed the top portion of the replacement metal allowing water in. It seems the last person that did work on it didn't want to remove any of the quarter panel so they just didn't do anything with the upper portion of the repairs (for lack of a better term). It has become very difficult to find good metal to weld too. I began fabricating new pieces for the inner long today and welded in some patch panels in the forward section of the inner long. I should have the drivers side finished up tomorrow i hope. I got all of the really bad metal out and treated the remaining area with pro-15. It was quickly becoming one of those days where nothing goes the way you want it and i found myself feeling like this wasn't a hobby anymore and began making dumb mistakes so i decided to call it a day. I knew this was going to be a huge project but sometimes when you start screwing up too much its best to walk away and cool down rather then make a mistake that could cause injury or completely ruin the project. So i'm off to take a shower and head over to my mothers and see if she'll make me a pie or something (mom's love doing that stuff). Perhaps this evening i will give it another go.

Posted by: arkitect Oct 12 2010, 10:12 PM

"...sometimes when you start screwing up too much its best to walk away and cool down rather then make a mistake that could cause injury or completely ruin the project."

I agree with you on this. I've been in this situation alot and you see more clearly with a new day and a fresh mind.

Making great progress, enjoy the picts, keep it going.

Dave

Posted by: kphimself Oct 13 2010, 12:56 PM

Thanks Dave,
Today started off great. Got alot of the rusted inner long removed, fabricated some new replacement steel and got most of it in. I'm so worried about warping the car from the heat of the welder i've been doing a couple tack welds far apart from each other then i go and make a new panel or prep the next area ill be attacking. I'm very happy with how everything is fitting and my equipment it running great. I new taking an afternoon off was a good idea. I was starting to think my old international truck was messing with my equipment since I haven't given it any TLC lately. If anyone knows where i can find a transfer case and drive shafts for a 57 international 3/4 ton long bed let me know (sorry i know that was a little off topic). Back to the 914. I only have one panel left to make then i'll be ready to put the outer long back on. Well since i slacked on pictures the last day or two here are a few.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 13 2010, 07:21 PM

The rest of the day i replaced some more rusted stuff as always. Not much to say about that. It seems to be the story of this car. My brother helped me prep the new outer long too. I hope to have the drivers side knocked out tomorrow and if i'm lucky i'll get to the passenger side, that might be a tall order considering i still have to weld up the section of the quarter panel i removed. I have exactly two weeks to have the car finished otherwise i will have to tow it home defeated. This is without a doubt the toughest restoration i have ever done. I have to give so much credit to all those that have gone before me. My dad called it last night, you've put so much work into this your going to be afraid to take it on the road. I highly doubt that. It will make a great addition to my collection however, i'll have my muscle car, my hotrod truck, my old 4x4 truck (still in progress), my sports car and if i'm really lucky i might be able to keep my girlfriend too so long as she is out of town when i'm working on these things. I might even have enough spare parts left to put together a rat rod???? Perhaps i'm getting ahead of myself. Well i need to wash the iron oxide off me.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 14 2010, 02:03 PM

Got all the work inside the long finished, had to make a new bracket for the seat belt to bold into. I started to put the outer back on. Just have a small section to make for the rear portion. I seem to be feeling a bit under the weather and with the off and on showers i didn't get all that i set out to do done but i'm on vacation no need to work too hard. Perhaps this evening i'll try to get some more done.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 14 2010, 08:09 PM

Well got a little motivated after dinner, im not going to let a cold slow me down too much. finished up the drivers side, just need to put the quarter panel back on. forgot to take a pic of the jack post and bracket installed. It seems like the welding takes forever since i dont wanna warp it i do a few welds, play around with something else, do a few more take care of something else ect... Its nice to be rust free on one side just one more to go. I will now have something to attach the new floor pan too. My jack stands are going to be so lonely next week.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 15 2010, 08:03 PM

Well the car is back on the ground again and everything is square and true. Now i just need to turn it around and do the other side. I did a ton of work but it looks like nothing was done today. I made a lot of preps for paint got the front bumper off and got the mounts in for the fog lights, thought it was cool the factory put the wires in for me. I found out my horn doesn't work, it give me a reason to put on of those locomotive horns in a car hahahaha. I have always wanted to do that, besides who needs a spare tire, just kidding, kinda. A neighbor stopped by tonight to ask about the car he said he saw it on my car hauler the other week. Turns out he is a mechanic and use to have a bug with a type 4 in it. He said he always wanted a 914, i asked him if he liked tetanus, thats all i'm going to get from this thing. I asked him if he know anyone around her that has one he said no, haven't seen one on the road since the 70's, i think drivable 914 are all a myth. Took my head lights out, was happy that they opened, and it was so full of crap, the mud bugs took the housing over. I spent an hour chipping away at there little mud and dead bug nest. I took some pics of my mustang's interior and the color i'm going to be painting the car. I really love this color its called platinum silver.


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Posted by: strawman Oct 16 2010, 05:35 PM

Keep up the good work! I know that it can sometimes become frustrating when you believe that you've made some BIG progress, only to find more rust in a place you thought was solid. But it helps to post the work you've done so that you can look back at it someday in the future and admire the work you've done. Kudos!
Geoff

Posted by: kphimself Oct 16 2010, 08:18 PM

Thanks Geoff,
Its starting to feel like a job so i really think i need to take a day off. My girlfriend called me and said she is in Jacksonville FL and will be there for a few days, i'm thinking about driving down in the morning and surprising her. I started putting the drivers side back together today but ran out of wire for my welder and nobody has any .023 in town so i might be screwed till monday. I knew i should of picked up a big spool last week when i was getting my gas bottle filled but i thought a small one would be good, opps. I used them clamps for sheet metal today and wow, they are great, i love when i find a new tool that works great. I also picked up a body saw, that thing is great, don't know how i lived without it. Well here are some Pics from today.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 17 2010, 05:33 PM

Whoever said "hell have no fury like a woman scorned" never had to take the rust off a 914. Today i feel like i am being punished for something i did in a past life. I finished up the drivers side, the one i thought was the worse and turned the car around. After cutting off the section of the quarter panel i found that the PO did some work and replaced the hell hole but never welded behind the quarter panel. I don't know how this thing didn't fall apart. I went over the car a measured everything its all still within specs and true. I spend more time un&%*#ing what the last guy did then fixing the current issues. At the rate i'm going it would of been much easier and cheaper to just buy corvette. Well i'm going to wash the bad juju off me and call it a night. Crap i spent so much time in the garage i missed the steelers play today. I really need to hook up cable to the TV out there.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 19 2010, 02:45 PM

Yesterday started off great, car bit me in the knee and god forbid the first aid kit have anything in it thanks to my brother. After making a bandage out of a shop rag and electrical tape i was back in business. Got the car back up in the air and ready to start on the other side. I got the really bad rust removed from the passenger side long and treated the inside with some (a lot) of pro-15. I then moved on to some body work. Got the drivers side quarter panel feathered out and the door jams looking pretty good. Some final touches will need to be made when i block sand it. I'm really trying to get the rust taken care of before i concern myself with the looks. Last night i thought the car might be mad at me so i bought it a present, something to remember its homeland. Today was more of the same, waiting for primer to dry and fixing some old bad repairs along with some more sanding. Got the drivers side fender stripped and reworked where the marker light was. The last owner just stuck a peice of aluminum behind it and filled it with a 1/4 inch of bondo. Now its welded up and damn near flush.


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Posted by: bembry Oct 19 2010, 02:55 PM

Jason--You're kickin' ass on this project!!!

very cool!

Posted by: Cupomeat Oct 19 2010, 02:55 PM

Great thread, great commentary and impressed you have made it this far.

Someday soon you'll be driving this car and incredibly proud that you pushed through the crap and made it your own.

Most people just use cars, you have made this your own.

Posted by: Jon Fernandes Oct 19 2010, 04:47 PM

Awesome progress!

Posted by: silver74insocal Oct 19 2010, 09:39 PM

go go go!! lol great progress and great thread keep it up and dont let those jackstands get comfortable!!

Posted by: kphimself Oct 20 2010, 05:36 PM

Today i got tricked, my dad told me it was going to be nice and cool out and we should put a new roof on his house today. It was cool and rained on an off all day. Roof is done so i can get back to work on the car in the morning. I can't wait for this vacation to end so i can go back to work and relax. Oh my dad asked if i got the sheet metal for his floor pan in his car, i pointed at the pile of scrap tin roofing. Told him i was going to pop rivet it down and call it a day. He didn't find any humor in that. I couldn't do that too him, i'll use a street sign.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Posted by: kphimself Oct 21 2010, 11:55 AM

It is one of those days where everything goes right. Got the passenger side just about finished about to weld on the new outer long, jack post and sill. I got lucky and didn't have to remove as much of the outer long on this side as it was in much better shape then the drivers side. If all goes well i may be putting in my new floor pan tomorrow and i will be rust free.

Posted by: arkitect Oct 21 2010, 07:25 PM

I like your Becks present to the german lineage car. Bought a 12 pack last weekend, good beer. Love seeing the progress.

Dave

Posted by: kphimself Oct 22 2010, 02:49 PM

16 days (without shaving), 32 beers, 20 plus pounds of rust removed, got a new roof on the house, the longs are complete, and i now have a beard Grizzly Adams would be proud of. One last major repair (the floor pan) and then i only have body work to do, wait, crap i hate body work!
At this point i think its safe to say i will never sell this car nor will i ever restore another 914 well perhaps not one with this much rust, maybe.
Well I'm off to the pub to have a victory beer.

Posted by: kphimself Oct 23 2010, 05:33 PM

Today was great, I found more rust, much like most day but i got the old floor pan out and test fitted the new one. There isn't much you can say about spending a day on your back eating rust and catching dirt in the eyes, i'm going to start wearing my SCBA goggles when i got to work on my back like this. That is the best idea I've had in a long time. Wish i would of thought about that this morning. I had a good talk with my father about back in his day when he restored a 37 Buick using only a set of wrenches, a 10 gallon sears air compressor and a Vise grip (this was the late 60's early 70's). I guess were lucky to have all these cool new tools. Maybe they were out but you just couldn't get them in BFE Pennsylvania at the time. It must of been a real challenge to restore a car back before the internet, he told me if you needed parts you just went to Hersey and walked around with a cardboard sign (looking for _____ ) that was only once a year back then. For perhaps the last 10 years every payday i buy a new tool so over the years its grown to a rather large collection but it always seems like there is always something i need (or want as my girlfriend puts it). Well i'm tired and going on and on about nothing so i'm going on and on, maybe the rust got to my brain, but i need to jump in the shower.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 24 2010, 10:29 AM

Today is a total loss. Last night while taking a shower i got something grit in my eye and on top of that i feel like crap today so i'm going to take it easy and watch my first Steelers game since i've been on vacation. On a side note i gave up the whole not shaving till i get the car done thing, i couldn't take it anymore.

Posted by: kphimself Oct 24 2010, 05:05 PM

Got back from the ER. That was a waist of time. Doctor asks whats wrong? i said " i got a piece of metal in my eye" doc says "no thats an eye cold" i said "are you going to look at least?" doc says "i can see from here, thats an eye cold" i said "I saw and felt the piece of metal go in my eye" Doc said "here is some drops for your eye cold"

Posted by: arkitect Oct 24 2010, 09:09 PM

Jason,
Sorry to hear about it, glad there wasn't metal in them. Be carefull and use eye protection, you only have one set of them.

Dave

Posted by: watsonrx13 Oct 25 2010, 05:02 AM

QUOTE(kphimself @ Oct 24 2010, 06:05 PM)

Got back from the ER. That was a waist of time. Doctor asks whats wrong? i said " i got a piece of metal in my eye" doc says "no thats an eye cold" i said "are you going to look at least?" doc says "i can see from here, thats an eye cold" i said "I saw and felt the piece of metal go in my eye" Doc said "here is some drops for your eye cold"

Posted by: strawman Oct 25 2010, 11:42 PM

QUOTE(watsonrx13 @ Oct 25 2010, 04:02 AM)

QUOTE(kphimself @ Oct 24 2010, 06:05 PM)

Got back from the ER. That was a waist of time. Doctor asks whats wrong? i said " i got a piece of metal in my eye" doc says "no thats an eye cold" i said "are you going to look at least?" doc says "i can see from here, thats an eye cold" i said "I saw and felt the piece of metal go in my eye" Doc said "here is some drops for your eye cold"

I too got some metal in my eye once and waited (3) days. When I couldn't take the pain any longer I went to the doctor. They said the metal had started to rust and it was very difficult to hold my eye open while they used a small drill to take all of the rusted metal out of my eye. If I would have waited any longer, they would have admitted me to the hospital for eye surgery.

Jason go to an Optometrist and get that eye looked at immediately.

--Rob

Posted by: nathansnathan Oct 26 2010, 03:05 AM

I had a bunch of stuff come off the angle grinder and into my eye. The thing was it was all so small, it was hard to get out. after three days, I did this thing, took a paper towel and rolled it into a pointy nub. I then kind of twisted it against my eye which sort of lifted my eye lids out of the way, to actually rest it against my eye. Then by sort of wiggling my eye, in combination with the capillary action of the eye fluids drawn into the absorbent towel, I got out all these small black specs.

I'm glad I didn't go to the doctor, as, since they can't feel the thing, and since their means are barbaric, involving scraping and drilling your eye... no fun

I hope your eye works it out. I'm doing much of what you've been doing, on my 72.

Posted by: Bleyseng Oct 26 2010, 04:13 AM

Yes, go to the ER of a different hospital. I had some fireproofing fall in my eye and wow impossible to clean out myself. Went to the ER and they clamped my face and eyeball in a jig so they could flush it out. Very weird experience but what a relief when it was all done. About a 1/4t of stuff had gotten behind the eyeball....no wonder it hurt like hell.

Posted by: kphimself Oct 26 2010, 08:19 PM

Thanks everyone,
The eye is getting better but still hurts in the light a bit, however my vacation ends tomorrow and i'm sorry to say the car defeated me. I go in for shoulder reconstruction in a couple weeks and will be on leave for another month but will not be able to much of anything on the car. On a good note i told my girlfriend that i was bummed not being able to finish the car and she wants to help when she gets back next month. I forgot that a year or so ago i showed her how to weld and she did some patch panels in my Studebaker and did a pretty good job. She also has an bachelors in art with a background in metal sculpturing, jewelry and she speaks German so the car will understand her when she curses at it. I have to say i am afraid to let someone work on my car and I'm even more afraid that she is going to one day wanna drive it. I'm not going to lie I was getting burnt out working on the car day and night and i never thought that would ever happen however this is by far the biggest car project i have ever done and i really didn't think i was gong to even get this much done. Now this doesn't mean i'm giving up. I will finish this car, its just going to take a lot longer then what i thought then again i thought a quick paint job and some engine work and i would turn this thing around and sell it. If i could go back to the day i got it i would still buy it. I can't get over how much i've learned. I grew up in a family that loved muscle cars and American antique cars. I was brought up to hate foreign cars. This car has not only changed my mind about German cars but also my fathers. He is always asking me about them now. Well someone once told me that the car always finds you and i feel that is very true. I really do love all my cars except my mustang, i never really bought that car i loaned my brother the money for it when he was 16 and he never paid me for it so i took the car and gave it to my dad to use. I'm getting off topic. I'm not going to give up on this i'm just going to be doing little things in the mean time.

Posted by: kphimself Mar 31 2011, 12:42 AM

It has been 5 long cold months since i last worked on the car. Since then i have bought a new garage with a house. I have decided to take next week off and weld up my floor so i can finally give my jack stands a rest and move the car to its new home. Its been so long since i have even looked at the car i think i may have forgot how to put it back together, it may end up with the engine in the front. I guess i'll just have lots of extra parts, perhaps i'll just play it off as weight reduction. I am so excited to bring the car back to virgina so i can start working on it when the weather gets better. I refuse to work on it when its cold. I hope getting back on here will help keep me motivated so i can get this thing on the road this summer. I should start reading eveyone's posts in the forum so my memory will come back to me, if only it was like riding a bike.

Posted by: trojanhorsepower Mar 31 2011, 07:08 PM

Hi Jason,

Glad to hear you are back and thinking about the car! I was wondering what had happened to you.

I have had to take an extended break from mine as well (what's 5 or 6 years hear or there). I can't wait to get a shop and get back to work.

Good luck and keep us posted.

-Pete

Posted by: netbanshee Mar 31 2011, 08:55 PM

Jason,

You took on a (helluva, but good) project. Looking forward to your progress. You've certainly dealt with the hard parts, so far.

Once you get to sit down in her and turn the motor over, you'll know why you got into it.

Sean

Posted by: PanelBilly Mar 31 2011, 09:40 PM

When you putting it back togeather be sure to ask lots of dumb questions. That way I can get some of the serials I need for assembling my car without it looking like I need help every step of the way

Posted by: kphimself Apr 2 2011, 02:18 AM

So i made it to my dads where the car is currently resting on its jack stands but i ran into one small problem, 5 months of it just sitting there has turned it into storage for my dad and my brother, i cant even see the car. I guess before i can even start working on the car i'm going to have to clean house. Since i'm alittle under the weather i'll use tomarrow to tow my mustang to my house, with that out of the way and its extra parts gone that should give me some room to work. I really can't wait to start painting the car, i know i'm far from that but i'm excited to see it all come together. I might be just a little ADD. Well i should get some rest since i have about 4 hours of towing more then my truck should ahead of me. Before anyone gives me crap about safety my truck is rated to tow more then what i intend on and i'm very careful. Its just an old POS but yet that by some act of god still runs.

Posted by: arkitect Apr 2 2011, 08:08 AM

Jason,
Glad to see your back attempting to work on your car. These little cars are an adiction and get under your skin. Can't wait to see new picts of the progress. Good luck.

Dave

Posted by: kphimself Apr 3 2011, 10:48 PM

My plans got fouled. My really awsome boss decided to not make a decision on me takeing vacation this week so i had to drive back to VA and put the car on hold for what will more then likely be a few more months I was looking forward to making some headway on it this week, i hate not being able to finish project and i need the jackstands so i can put a lift kit on my girlfriends jeep. On a good note i was able to dig the car out from the random things everyone stacked on it. I took some measurements and everything is where should be and the doors line up good. Its was still a productive weekend i guess, i was able to tow my mustang up to VA and i guess i can work on it this week since its going to be nice out. The more i look at that car the more i see i could of done some things alot better. If anything i have learned more about metal work then i ever would of thought. One of these days i may get good at working on old cars, or die from rust overdose.

Posted by: kphimself Jun 13 2011, 11:10 PM

Well its been a very long time coming but my jack stands are free, just in time to get the girlfriends jeep lifted and its rusted out frame repaired. I seriously feel I am cursed to be surrounded by rusted out vehicals. I guess I have plenty of practice with rust repair now. I got my floor pan and the section of quarter panel welded in this weekend. Now i just need to get the body work done and i can bring the car back home for paint and interior.
Oh I also saw my first real live 914 driving down the road last week. I thought about stalking it but traffic was bad and I was running late for an appointment.


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Posted by: FourBlades Jun 14 2011, 11:57 AM

Great progress man!

Getting it off jackstands is the first big step, then paint, then engine, then its back to jack stands again.

Glad to see you are working on it again.

John

Posted by: porsche_dreamer Jun 14 2011, 06:53 PM

Its lookin good. Was the plan for the original color?

Posted by: kphimself Jun 14 2011, 11:19 PM

QUOTE(porsche_dreamer @ Jun 14 2011, 08:53 PM)

Posted by: kphimself Aug 9 2011, 02:27 AM

I have not forgot about my car. I will soon be moving it back to Va to finish the bodywork and paint it. I had to put the project on hold for awhile due to work and another time sensitive project.

Posted by: kphimself Aug 10 2011, 02:18 AM

I decided on a color yesterday and got my primer and paint. I doubt I will be painting until september, I have to paint my GF's jeep before she gets back from deployment. It feels good to be getting back to work on the car, I've been missing it.

Posted by: kphimself Jun 22 2012, 04:23 PM

I finally got my car home the other night. Its been almost 2 years since I've gotten anything done. It seems like I have about a million things left to do so I figured i should pick somewhere to start. The engine bay seemed like a good place. I made up a new shelf to replace the one that rotted away and mounted the new battery tray support. Once I finished that up I soaked everything down with purple power and pressure washed it. I've decided to just paint the engine bay high gloss black so it will be easy to keep clean and will go with whatever color I decide to paint the car.


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Posted by: kphimself Jun 22 2012, 07:45 PM

Engine compartment complete. I would love to get the body work done this weekend but I used up all my sand paper on another project and forgot to resupply so i'm kinda limited as to what I can do. I still have a few rust spots to patch on the body and a bent trunk lid to repair so that should keep me busy.
I somehow forgot how much I like working on this car.


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Posted by: kphimself Jun 24 2012, 07:18 PM

I finished welding in the seat supports and kinda ran out of stuff to do Saturday so drove down to my dads and got the engine and some more parts. I was able to get the engine installed this morning however I'm missing a few things such as the bolts for the CV shafts. Thats what I get for being in a rush to get back on the road before a storm hit. With any luck my sand paper should come in tomorrow and I can start on the body work. I would like to have the car ready for paint by this weekend but I know I'm going to realize i'm missing stuff so most likely I'll end up having to drive back to his house which could delay me painting it.


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Posted by: rick 918-S Jun 24 2012, 08:56 PM

Keep going this time

Posted by: kphimself Jun 30 2012, 06:37 AM

I was able to finish up the floor this week and get some paint on it. I think as some point i'll end up bed lining it as well as the fire wall. The other night my sand paper arrived, only a week late. I was able to start the body work yesterday but couldn't get much done with all the heat.


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Posted by: kphimself Jun 30 2012, 08:51 PM

I wasn't near as productive as I would of liked to have been but it was way to hot outside. I was able to get most of the drivers side done. The drivers door took up most my time. It had a ton of bondo on it and about 2 dozen dents. I think someone got angry and beat it with a sledge hammer, perhaps a PO's ex or something. I was able to get most of them pounded out and used a shrinking hammer to get the metal back into shape. I did need to give it a skim coat of filler just to smooth everything out. I'll need to wet sand it in the morning and remove the scratches from the sand paper. With any luck I'll be able to wrap up the drivers side tomorrow and start working on the trunk lid that seems to be the second work body panel on the car.


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Posted by: kphimself Jul 1 2012, 02:57 PM

The heat sucked again. I put the drivers door back on and I was happy with how it came out. The lines seem pretty even and the door skin matches the curves of the fender and quarter panel. I took the trunk lids off and when it cools down this evening i'll finish taking the paint off them and give them a skim coat of filler and make them all pretty.


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Posted by: kphimself Jul 1 2012, 08:31 PM

I'm having such a hard time picking out a color for the car. I was going to paint it silver and I even got the paint but lately I've been getting sick of seeing silver cars. My girlfriend thinks cream and black would look good but I've been on an orange kick lately. I really need to make up my mind soon since the car may be ready for paint next weekend and if that's the case i'll need to get the paint by Friday. Perhaps I should just go visit some car dealerships for ideas or maybe just leave it primer and just put some big chrome rims on it.

Posted by: kphimself Sep 23 2012, 07:02 PM

I haven't updated much lately but I finally painted the car this weekend. I went with silver with a ton of metal flake in it. I still have to paint the bumpers, top, rocker panels and wheels. Now that its silver I think the tan interior will not look good in it so i'm trying to get a black interior for it.



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Posted by: jersey914 Sep 23 2012, 08:15 PM

QUOTE(kphimself @ Sep 23 2012, 09:02 PM)

Posted by: steuspeed Sep 23 2012, 08:58 PM

Silver with black is a good choice. Keep going, it's starting to look good!

Posted by: kphimself Sep 28 2012, 06:57 AM

Thanks. I figured its hard to go wrong with silver and black. I didn't realize how silver it was until I put it up against my mustang. It made its silver look gray. I got my wheels finished and new tires mounted. My rocker panels and a few other parts are on there way up from my Dads so i'll be getting all the black parts painted tonight. I have a few parts left on order that should be here early next week. I expect it to be completed by next weekend. I didn't get to sanding it and buffing it out so now the paints gonna be really hard and a major PIA. I thought I had the right paper at the house turns out I didn't so I had to order some.

Posted by: FourBlades Sep 28 2012, 08:45 AM

Looks good!

That is a great looking color combination on a 914.

John

Posted by: webrocket Sep 29 2012, 08:09 AM

Centric brake parts offer a complete caliper seal kit including adjuster seals and e brake

Posted by: kphimself Oct 1 2012, 07:41 PM

Thanks for the brake advice. I finally got around to wet sanding and polishing the car today. It always impresses me how much better the car looks after its been polished up. I took a break from sanding to plug the air injection ports on the heads. Once I got those plugged I started it back up to see if it sounded better and it still didn't sound right. Now i'm no expert on VW engines but I know something was off. I happened to notice my exhaust pipe from the number 4 cylinder was cold. Im hoping its something simple like a bad spark plug or wire. I had to pick my son up from school so I didn't have time to trouble shoot it any further. I hope to finish sanding and buffing tomorrow and with any luck i'll have time to tend to the engine. I have a new set of plugs and wires here for it so i'll just put them in and check the valve clearance, maybe that will solve my problem, if anything it won't hurt to give it a proper tune up. I enclosed a picture of the fender sanded and polished next to the hood which hasn't been. It was overcast today but you can still see the difference.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 5 2012, 05:34 PM

Made good progress the last couple days. Paint is polished, started putting the weather striping on and installed the lights. I was able to score a new set of calipers, well an old set thats in much better shape then my old ones. I got it running on all four cylinders again and it sounds real nice. I guess I'll be finishing up the interior this weekend and that should it. I thought it was gonna be done a long time ago, life seemed to have other plans. Its going to be so nice to get the garage cleaned up and move on to another project.


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Posted by: kphimself Oct 5 2012, 08:47 PM

Well I just put in my final parts order and not 2 mins later I find myself online looking at another 914 to build. I have a serious problem.... My girlfriend is going to kill me if she comes home to yet another car.

Posted by: kphimself Oct 6 2012, 06:29 PM

I got brakes now!! I was so excited that I can stop the car that I wanted to take it for a ride. I don't have the final shift linkage so I could only use one gear for this drive. I put it in first and got in the car and realized that my throttle cable seems to be jacked up. The current setup is pretty much crap held together with more crap so I ordered proper linkages and tomorrow i'll work on the pedal cluster. If its not one thing its another. Its kinda nice to be complaining about running issues rather then rust issues.

Posted by: jersey914 Oct 6 2012, 09:06 PM

[quote name='kphimself' date='Oct 6 2012, 08:29 PM' post='1749639']
I got brakes now!! I was so excited that I can stop the car that I wanted to take it for a ride. I don't have the final shift linkage so I could only use one gear for this drive. I put it in first and got in the car and realized that my throttle cable seems to be jacked up. The current setup is pretty much crap held together with more crap so I ordered proper linkages and tomorrow i'll work on the pedal cluster. If its not one thing its another. Its kinda nice to be complaining about running issues rather then rust issues.
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