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Posted by: IanS Mar 16 2014, 09:06 PM

I'm finally getting some forward progress on my '71 build project so I thought I'd start posting for real instead of lurking and reading for a couple years. My first 914 is a '72 that I thought was going to be my first running 914 but it had been in a right rear collision and it ended up having some extensive wrinkling in the longitudinals as a result. I put that on hold while I was looking for a suitable donor body, and I learned a lot while taking it apart. I still have the car sitting mostly disassembled.

I went to a local 911 indy repair shop to see if he knew any 914 people and there she was. It was love at first sight...a '71 in willow green. She had some rust in the usual places but had been sitting in a shop since '84 (that's when the window and license plate stickers stopped) and other than being dusty and in need of TLC you could tell she was in good shape. The engine and transmission were already out of the car too. I negotiated a deal for yet another non-running 914 and they even loaded her on a trailer and delivered to my shop!

Here she is after a quick cleaning with a sponge and bucket - some faded paint and chips but you can see massive potential for restoration to glory



Fast forward 2 years (getting finances in order, slowly disassembling on the weekends). Willow has been on jackstands and getting completely disassembled for restoration. The odometer read 91412 miles (no kidding 914xx miles) but since she sat so long inside a lot of the parts were in really good shape.
I just bought a super-fancy rotisserie that I hope to use many times on many cars and I should get her all bolted up and hauled off to a media blaster and shop to do the body work and paint parts in the next couple weeks. The rest I intend to do myself. This has been the most fun and has made me the most obsessive I've ever been. I appreciate this board and all of the knowledge on here so much.

Here are a couple of choice shots, mostly from initial disassembly.



Previous owner moved the battery to the front trunk, I'm moving it back here after the hell hole repair is done. At least they sprayed it down with the right stuff to try and prevent more rust.

Finally here's Willow this week with my John Deere green rotisserie and some of Chris Foley's chassis braces. I should be getting adapter brackets and mounting those up this coming week.

Posted by: boxsterfan Mar 16 2014, 09:15 PM

Nice ride. Your hell hole looks like mine.

Posted by: dangrouche Mar 16 2014, 09:20 PM

don't sell off those seats; unless, you don't fit them. They appear to have the makings of a Koenigs or Scheel seats beneath that yellow fabric

Posted by: speed metal army Mar 16 2014, 10:08 PM

Cool! Looks good! Green is the fastest color, despite what you may read on here..

Posted by: Ferg Mar 17 2014, 09:08 AM

Love Willow Green!

Posted by: rgalla9146 Mar 18 2014, 03:51 PM

QUOTE(IanS @ Mar 16 2014, 11:06 PM)

I'm finally getting some forward progress on my '71 build project so I thought I'd start posting for real instead of lurking and reading for a couple years. My first 914 is a '72 that I thought was going to be my first running 914 but it had been in a right rear collision and it ended up having some extensive wrinkling in the longitudinals as a result. I put that on hold while I was looking for a suitable donor body, and I learned a lot while taking it apart. I still have the car sitting mostly disassembled.

I went to a local 911 indy repair shop to see if he knew any 914 people and there she was. It was love at first sight...a '71 in willow green. She had some rust in the usual places but had been sitting in a shop since '84 (that's when the window and license plate stickers stopped) and other than being dusty and in need of TLC you could tell she was in good shape. The engine and transmission were already out of the car too. I negotiated a deal for yet another non-running 914 and they even loaded her on a trailer and delivered to my shop!

Here she is after a quick cleaning with a sponge and bucket - some faded paint and chips but you can see massive potential for restoration to glory




Fast forward 2 years (getting finances in order, slowly disassembling on the weekends). Willow has been on jackstands and getting completely disassembled for restoration. The odometer read 91412 miles (no kidding 914xx miles) but since she sat so long inside a lot of the parts were in really good shape.
I just bought a super-fancy rotisserie that I hope to use many times on many cars and I should get her all bolted up and hauled off to a media blaster and shop to do the body work and paint parts in the next couple weeks. The rest I intend to do myself. This has been the most fun and has made me the most obsessive I've ever been. I appreciate this board and all of the knowledge on here so much.

Here are a couple of choice shots, mostly from initial disassembly.



Previous owner moved the battery to the front trunk, I'm moving it back here after the hell hole repair is done. At least they sprayed it down with the right stuff to try and prevent more rust.

Finally here's Willow this week with my John Deere green rotisserie and some of Chris Foley's chassis braces. I should be getting adapter brackets and mounting those up this coming week.

Posted by: IanS Mar 20 2014, 08:53 PM

My car was built in 7/71.
I don't think it has the square rear bumper, here are some pics I took today - it doesn't look as square as the ones I've seen on here.

Posted by: Larmo63 Mar 21 2014, 12:03 AM

Yellow is faster than green. By a long shot.

Cars on jackstands (like mine) are all slow.

Posted by: lonewolfe Mar 21 2014, 04:07 AM

Very nice find! Willow Green is an awesome color. I have a '72 that's Irish Green that I'm working on. These are my two favorite greens for 914's.

Posted by: saigon71 Mar 21 2014, 06:38 AM

Looks like a pretty decent shell to start with. That rotisserie will be invaluable for your restoration - smart move.

Good luck and keep the pics rolling in!

Posted by: Cairo94507 Mar 21 2014, 06:47 AM

That is definitely the later rear bumper. My car is a late '71 build and has the same rear bumper.

Posted by: 76-914 Mar 21 2014, 07:53 PM

Any green is good with me and yours is sweet. However, you just reminded me how much I like JD green and they're building a Tractor Supply down the road from me.

Posted by: IanS Apr 20 2014, 02:27 PM

Got the car media blasted Friday, still cleaning it up. As has been said many times before - that media gets everywhere. But man does it look neat in steel color again!

before:

during:





after:

Posted by: jeeperjohn56 Apr 20 2014, 02:50 PM

Your car looks like in great shape, nice job of media blasting keeps the pictures coming will keep watching your progress. John

Posted by: lonewolfe Apr 20 2014, 03:06 PM

So awesome! I wish I could do this to mine!

Posted by: 914werke Apr 21 2014, 08:46 AM

be careful of what you wish for