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Posted by: Darren C Dec 26 2014, 09:15 AM

Hi everyone,

I have been looking for a 914 on and off for a couple of years now and late one evening I bid on ebay for a car in Desert Hot Springs CA. A real leap of faith for me as I live in Chichester UK!
My first car was a VW Beetle and I’ve owned quite a few air cooled VWs and always wanted a 914, so now almost 25 years later I finally took the plunge and with sweat on my brow placed a last minute bid on ebay on a car I’d only seen in 4 small photo’s on line.
To my surprise I won the 914.
Problem was it lay 8000 miles away from me here in UK. I got hold of the sellers phone number and gave them a call. The car is a 1974 2.0L one owner from new sold in Palm Springs 914. The seller was the owners daughter. The gentleman passed away several years ago and she’d had it parked up on her driveway for 5 or 6 years. From the description in the listing it had a Salvage title due to sand storm damage on the paintwork. It looked reasonably solid in the few pictures I saw, but very sorry for itself with flat tires and bad paint. It was a gamble, but sometimes these things pay off.
I got the car picked up by a shipping agent and taken to Long Beach for shipping.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/IMGP2086_zps665e180c.jpg.html

2 months later it arrived in Southampton UK

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/Import_Containers_2014-12-08_142_zps401a70e1.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/Import_Containers_2014-12-08_164_zps4e73be77.jpg.html

Last week I went down to Southampton and collected my new project just in time for Christmas.
I was recommended this site from another 914 owner and it's a great relief to find such a large active community. 914's were never sold in the UK, so all are personal imports and a rare thing to see on our roads.
I’m pleased to now join you guy’s and post my restoration progress in getting this little car back on the road.

Regards
Darren

Posted by: pilothyer Dec 26 2014, 09:29 AM

Congratulations

Posted by: JStroud Dec 26 2014, 09:37 AM

Looks like a good start to a nice car. Glad it all worked out, have fun getting it going.

Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby Dec 26 2014, 10:04 AM

Looks like you scored a good one Darren, welcome to 914s. The funs begins!

Post more photos of the car when you get it cleaned up.

Posted by: green914 Dec 26 2014, 10:25 AM

Let the fun begin!

Posted by: shoguneagle Dec 26 2014, 10:28 AM

Congratulations. Looks like a good project and there are some members from UK here on the site. NOW, for the sickness - you will catch the 914 fever and there is not any cure for it. Congratulations.

Steve Hurt

Posted by: JawjaPorsche Dec 26 2014, 10:33 AM

Welcome to the Madness, Darren!

You have came to the right place!

I have received numerous help for needed repairs from members on 914World!

Terry

Posted by: RobW Dec 26 2014, 10:33 AM

:

Looks like a winner!

Posted by: Cuda911 Dec 26 2014, 10:45 AM

Great! And, Desert Hot Springs is a perfect place to score a 914 from. Lots of affluent retirees, very low humidity, very sparse rain.

Congrats!

Posted by: Gustl Dec 26 2014, 11:08 AM

... from far, far away

Posted by: 76-914 Dec 26 2014, 11:10 AM

You shouldn't be too long with it. It likely has very little rust and should be an easy turn around. Cheers Kent

Posted by: porbmw Dec 26 2014, 11:22 AM

Looks like a nice car!

They are rare to see on the road here in North America....so I can't imagine the odds of seeing one on the road in England....I was in London this summer for a couple of weeks, didn't see ANY vintage/classic cars of the road.

You will have fun with the car....be patient with the resto process, but not too patient, or your car will be sitting on stands or a hoist.

Don't know if you have driven one yet....you will have fun with it, but become accustomed to it. There are a fun car to drive, but very primitive in comparison to today/s products.

And

Posted by: Darren C Dec 26 2014, 12:09 PM

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I got a look over the car last weekend and hope to work on it tomorrow. From what I have seen it’s a very solid little car. Having not run for 6 years or so the car was laid up with the presence of mind to overfill the motor with fresh oil, so once drained and set to the correct level the internals should be free from rust. That said I haven’t found anything much at all on the car. The sound proofing pad had fallen off the bulkhead onto the engine so I carefully lifted it out and had a good look in what you guy’s call the “Hell Holes” in both bottom forward corners of the engine bay. They were full of desert sand (almost 2" deep) so I gave them a good vacuum out and the rest of the bay. The good news is ZERO rust in these area’s, only a tiny amount on the corner of the battery tray about the size of a UK penny or a US dime. The metal is really solid so after a good clean I plan to repaint it before the sound proofing pad gets put back in. The paint seems really thin and white primer is showing through on the raised surfaces, bends and edges, plus it looks like they never lacquer clear coated the engine bay when built as its very matt finish. Maybe someone with more knowledge than me can confirm this?

Having a look around the motor it looks like the previous owner removed the thermostat, cable, flaps and linkages from the fan housing (possibly an attempt to give more cooling in Palm Springs?)
In UK it’s much colder so I plan to strip out the Fuel injection, remove the tin ware and re fit the flap assembly back to stock. I started to take off some rubber breather and fuel hoses and they are very brittle and snap clean in two if you try and bend them so these will all need replacing. I suppose that’s the price you pay in return for no rust in a Desert car!
The shopping list gets bigger each day, but I was prepared for it and the car was real cheap in the scheme of things.
Apart from the paint which I knew from the start needed a full respray, the rubber trims running along the top of both front and rear bumpers are completely shot, as are all the window and roof seals. What’s puzzling is the seats, console, and dash are all in real good shape compared to some I looked at on ebay that all seemed to have splits and tears? They just need a good clean. I think I’m gonna have a fair few more vacuum cleaner bags full of Desert sand to come!
No; I've never driven a 914, plenty of air cooled VW's but nothing mid engined. I expect its going to be a well balanced little go-kart.

Posted by: SixerJ Dec 26 2014, 12:51 PM

QUOTE(Gustl @ Dec 26 2014, 05:08 PM)

... from far, far away

Posted by: bandjoey Dec 26 2014, 12:58 PM

Congratulation on a great looking car. Most everything you need can be found here from members and vendors. Enjoy your new Teener.

Posted by: Bleyseng Dec 26 2014, 01:08 PM

Nice car and change out all of the fuel lines including the ones at the injectors.

Posted by: oldschool Dec 26 2014, 01:16 PM

You'll have have a ton of fun with her.

Posted by: Mblizzard Dec 26 2014, 01:17 PM

You will be happier in the long run if you keep the FI.

Posted by: messix Dec 26 2014, 01:28 PM

most of what you will need you can order from here http://914rubber.com/

Posted by: JRust Dec 26 2014, 01:30 PM

& congrats on the new ride! Look forward to hearing about your progress getting it road worthy again. welcome to the madness

Posted by: Beeliner Dec 26 2014, 01:33 PM

If I had a choice, I'd take replacing all the rubber around and in the car over rust.

When you do the painting, protect everything against the moisture you have in the UK. I bought several of these new cars in the seventies and drove them in the NYC area. Rust comes fast and is the enemy. Defense is the best way to handle it. All kinds of advice on this site as to how to do it right.

The advice about the fuel lines, etc. has to do with fire. Fire degrades a car much faster than rust. Buy an extinguisher. Don't put it in the trunk, you may not be able to get it when/if you need it!!

All kinds of parts are available in and around this site.... Buy from the US east coast and ship by air... figure four days...

Most of all, stay off of the jack stands as much as possible. If you can drive the car for a couple of months before laying it up, do so. You will be so impatient to get back behind the wheel you will keep working on it steadily...

Also, post pictures as you go along!! There is a thread for that...

Posted by: Tom_T Dec 26 2014, 02:51 PM

Don't let the salvage title worry you, since the US insurance companies will total a car at as low as 25% of actual value & don't know how to value classic cars - or refuse to do so purposely. It just means that they felt the sandstorm damage was more than they wanted to pay full ticket for & tried to get the car from the owner on the cheap.

If it's a solid low/no rust mostly/all original 74 914-2L car, then the repaint (full or partial - depending on overall condition & whether the paint was original or a respray by the PO/OO) & addressing any issues may get it's values to the mid-to-upper levels of values shown at Hagerty (high-teens to mid-20's $'s or better & appreciating again).

http://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools/hvt/vehiclesearch

Cheers!
Tom
///////

Posted by: OllieG Dec 27 2014, 03:09 AM

Nice one Darren! Well done for taking the 914 plunge - especially without looking at the car in person. I've just done a similar thing myself, shipped to Southampton - collected last week, and it's worked out well for me too.

You've been over to DDK haven't you? We need more 914s in the UK!

Looking forward to seeing the progress..

Posted by: Ian Stott Dec 27 2014, 05:16 AM

You are gonna have a blast with this car! Great advice on this site, I think you will be taking your first test drive soon, and get used to people coming over to talk to you when fuelling or anything else! If you don't have the fog lights, I highly recommend you get the pilot lights from camp 914, there is a kit, you will appreciate the extra lighting and it makes you more visible as well, it is something I did and really feel better about being seen. Welcome to a great club.

Ian Stott
Moncton
Canada

Posted by: dw914six Dec 27 2014, 07:07 AM

QUOTE(Mblizzard @ Dec 26 2014, 11:17 AM)

Posted by: Hine62 Dec 27 2014, 07:32 AM

Posted by: saigon71 Dec 27 2014, 08:37 AM

from across the pond!

Great group of helpful folks here and a wealth of knowledge.

Nice car...you will love it!

One word of advice, take the time to sort out and keep the factory fuel injection - it really is a good system, especially in your climate. This web site is a great tool:

http://members.rennlist.com/pbanders/DJetParts.htm

Keep us posted on your progress.

Posted by: Darren C Dec 27 2014, 01:49 PM

Thanks for the advice guy's.

So much talk of keeping the FI system? Are carbs that bad? I'm a hardened VW aircooled man and I've had may cars with twin carbs (mostly type 1 & 3's but I did convert a type 4 years ago) granted they take a lot of setting up and maintenance, but run just fine when you know what you're doing.
Don't panic, I'm not jumping in just yet with carbs, but I have to say the FI does look in a real sorry state.

Today I spent another 12 hours in the engine bay. Finally got the top tinware off. The cooling flaps are completely missing as suspected.

I got the rear tin over the gearbox off and the two side tins over the cylinders off, but can't see how to get the front tin off. The motor is in the car still as I have no easy way of getting it out of the car where its currently stored.
Can the front tinware come off while the motor is in the car? I'd like to get them cleaned up and re-painted while I sort out the cooling flaps.

I also drilled out the spot welds on the battery tray this afternoon and took it out. It has a small hole in the corner so I plan on replacing it. The metal below was fine and I got yet another bucket of sand out of it when the tray was out!

When I was under the car for the first time; I took a good look around. There's plenty of dirt underneath but with a rub of the hand, blue factory paint is revealed. It's going to need a very good clean, possibly getting it on an outside ramp with a steam cleaner, but I need to get it running first.
Unfortunately I found another previous owner patch up job, on the starter motor. There's a second solenoid (non standard) screwed up under the trunk floor. Looks like the original failed and this was a cheap fix compared to replacing it properly.
Hey-ho, that parts wanted list gets a little longer.

Getting the tinware out was interesting. There are so many cables and stuff passing through it that caused me trouble. Particularly the reverse/back up light switch. It looks like the loom is fitted permanently into the switch with no plug, just a rubber boot? This cant be right can it?

Over to you guys.......

Posted by: messix Dec 27 2014, 01:56 PM

the F/I is a very good system for it's era and still provides very good economy and power in stock form.

there are some guys on here that can help you trouble shoot the system and there are sources for replacement parts for it too.

is the car a 2.0l or a 1.8l?

the 1.8 L-jet will be easier to get parts for and maintain.

this is for the 912E but is pretty much identical to the 914 l-jet http://www.bowlsby.net/914/Classic/zTN_Man08.pdf

Posted by: SirAndy Dec 27 2014, 02:00 PM

QUOTE(Darren C @ Dec 27 2014, 11:49 AM)

Posted by: Darren C Dec 27 2014, 02:33 PM

Thanks Andy, I'll take a closer look at the two wires and switch tomorrow.

No, the motor is still in the car. I'm keeping it in a friends yard (currently outside) and he needs access so I cant pull it easily. I have my name down on a waiting list for a council garage. They promised me one 3 months ago. many are sitting empty but they need to change the locks before they can rent it out. Trouble is they are so incredibly slow at getting things fixed its beyond a joke. I offered to do it for them but they said I dont have insurance to work on their properties so I have to sit tight and wait.

Posted by: Darren C Dec 27 2014, 03:45 PM

The car is a 2.0l Messix

One other job I've noticed is the rubber seal at the base of the rear window that runs along the top of the bulkhead is rock hard and cracked every 2" or 3" and shrunk.
Does the glass have to come out to replace it?

Posted by: SirAndy Dec 27 2014, 03:56 PM

QUOTE(Darren C @ Dec 27 2014, 01:45 PM)

Posted by: Darren C Dec 27 2014, 04:09 PM

QUOTE(SirAndy @ Dec 27 2014, 09:56 PM)

Posted by: Dave_Darling Dec 28 2014, 01:45 AM

Lower seal: Pressed into the channel along the bottom of the window on the engine bay side of the firewall.

Rear window: Held in by butyl tape.

--DD

Posted by: KELTY360 Dec 28 2014, 09:50 AM

QUOTE(Darren C @ Dec 27 2014, 11:49 AM)

Posted by: Darren C Dec 28 2014, 03:35 PM

Thanks Dave & Marc I'll check out the "Hot Start" modification. On first look I thought I might need a new starter solenoid, it's possible when I get hold of a battery it may work ok for now then. I will probably take the second solenoid off anyway as its very crudely fitted and the cabling looks poor.

Today I spent another 10 hours in the engine bay. Welded in a new battery tray and cleaned up some surface rust in the "hell holes" fortunately there are no holes, just some minor pitting in the steel. My fingers are raw from sanding down!
I then gave it all a good rust encapsulator paint coat.
The original battery tray had a small metal tab on the corner to hold the cabling, but my new pressed replacement didn't, so I made a new tab and spot welded it on to the side of the new tray for that perfect stock look.

Posted by: VG-914 Dec 28 2014, 05:24 PM

QUOTE(Darren C @ Dec 26 2014, 08:15 AM)

Posted by: boxsterfan Dec 28 2014, 06:16 PM

QUOTE(VG-914 @ Dec 28 2014, 03:24 PM)

Posted by: Darren C Oct 25 2015, 03:10 PM

START OF BUILD-OFF CHALLENGE

I decided last month to enter the Build off Challenge. I’ve had a rollercoaster of a year with my little 914, my health and thought I’d share the story with you.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floorpan%20007_zpsujinnuvi.jpg.html

My names Darren Collins and I live in Chichester UK.
I spent 18 years in the Armed Forces as an engineer and lived and worked in the US for a good proportion of my time on various Services exchange programs. I worked with the US Coastguard out of Port Everglades & Patrick USAF base with the search and recovery operation of the Challenger Shuttle wreckage, had a tour at Gitmo and served in the first Gulf War, “Operation Desert Storm” helping provide air cover for the USS Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf.
Unfortunately I was invalided out of the services due to injuries sustained in the conflict.
Throughout my life I have always been interested in cars, and in particular VW’s. It was natural progression to move over to Porsche and after going through the range fixing them up, I decided the time was right to go back to grass roots and buy my first little 914.
Like most participants in the Build off, I have started before October, but I have genuinely tried to complete the restoration within 12 months. I’ve been working on the car pretty much everyday apart from a period in Hospital, which turned my life upside down last month.
Like most UK tv shown in the US and visa-versa I thought it would be cool to post in real time (but slightly back dated) by month number. In this way it should play out over the Build off in time with everyone else.
The only exception is the photo of me above which was taken today and jumps ahead with the condition of the car as I have it up to now.
So if you guy’s are ready, I suggest you buckle up and get ready for the ride!

Month 1

The car arrived in UK looking very sorry for itself.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/Import_Containers_2014-12-08_144_zpsnvzphqsw.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/Import_Containers_2014-12-08_152_zpsfhi8vud8.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/Photo%202014-09-30%2011.55.51%20AM_zpsqvzausii.jpg.html

My first task was to try and turn it over. Having not run for 6 years the seller had over filled right to the top, yep until level with the filler spout, with about 15 litres of oil to put the car into hibernation!!!!
This stopped all the seals and internals drying out but it had got everywhere, I took the plugs out and yes, oil came out the plug holes.
I then noticed all the crusty bone dry hoses and wires. A bit like the Skittles advert where everything the guy touches turns to Skittles; that was the state of all the rubber hoses. One touch and you had a 1000 little fragments. Totally sun baked.
There was nothing for it but to strip it all down.
My next nemesis was SAND….buckets and BUCKETS of the damn stuff. The relay board cover was cracked and when I lifted it off, a perfect sand castle the shape of the cover buried the relays entirely! I got 3 x Hoovers FULL of Desert sand just out the engine bay alone. The “hell holes” in the forward corners were 6 inches deep in sand alone. Surfice to say it took all of a Saturday and a Sunday just cleaning it out of the engine bay.
I could then see that the cooling flap link bar from 1&2 to 3&4 cooling flaps was missing???? Obviously removed in some foolish attempt to get more cooling when the Thermostat had failed.
Hey ho, that meant the engine had to come out.
This gave me a chance to drop all the tinware off for bead blasting and powder coating. Whilst I tracked down a new Flap assembly and thermostat. This was found at Mega Bug (a UK breakers), who sold me all the parts, flaps, rods, spring, pulley wheel & shouldered bolt, plus brand new thermostat, wire and bracket.
While working in that area I dropped all the oil, fitted a new filter, and dropped and cleaned the strainer and plate. Next a new fan belt went on. The old one simply snapped in two when I pressed on it so was very easy to get off. Especially with the tinware out of the way. Again when under the car I found some interesting wiring and a second starter solenoid self tapping screwed up under the boot floor. Twisted nasty extra wires just had to go. A new starter sourced from VW heritage and the wiring left to tidy up should hopefully make it reliable.
Poking around underneath my list gets bigger of stupid stuff required. Handrake cable boots, rubber boot on starter main feed etc etc.

Next the Battery tray. The only real rust I found and to be fair was told about buy the seller was the battery tray. The two funnel rain water ducts from the boot lid had long lost there tubes having gone brittle as you like, and the battery side one was missing completely so any rain in the desert, plus battery leakage had eaten the corner out of the battery tray. I roughly sanded the tray to reveal the spot welds and drilled them out.
Old battery tray
http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914stuff008_zps8fddc138.jpg.html

Tinware

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914stuff001_zps6e48bf69.jpg.html

A new tray was found on ebay.de for about £40, and duly arrived in the post. During the 3 days it took to arrive I got another hoover full of sand out from under the tray and started to clean up everything ready for welding back in.
A very small job that quickly turned into a MONSTER TASK.

The original soundproofing pad had fallen off the bulkhead onto the engine where it had draped in the intense desert heat until it was transformed into a rock solid shape the profile of the engine (never to be fitted again). This was stripped out and some new material obtained. Cut to shape with a combination of Stanley knife, tin snips, my best scissors and a gasket punch set; I made a new one. 10mm thick I sealed the fibrous back and edges with black engine paint, followed by Tiger PU bond (squeezed into an old margarine tub & applied with a filler spreader) to replicate the tar type finish on the edges of the original. This took a few evenings to make, was very messy, but well worth it I think.
Next I stripped out the wiring loom so it was hung vertical over the rear window onto the roof and cleaned ALL wires with cellulose thinners to remove years of grime.
Followed by taking off all the cable clip protective vinyl sleeves and cleaning them too, followed by all grommets and clips.
I stripped the engine bay bare while the motor was out, and then set about sanding it all down. The paint was very thin and white primmer showed through from old scratches and battle scars. The Hell holes had surface rust as did the battery tray frame support, so all had to be cleaned off with rotary wire brush, sand paper and scotchbrite.
4 days work solid, back breaking. I took the boot lid off too, and spent two days sitting in the boot leaning over sanding and cleaning up until my fingers bled.
Once clean to bare metal I spot welded in the new battery tray and painted everything with rust encapsulating primer. Next I got some Alaska Blue base coat mixed up and sprayed the entire bay. Two coats over two days followed by a light clear (fuel resistant) lacquer.
Only then could I start the nice grand assembly, starting with lifting the motor back in.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914stuff006_zps7e3af7b8.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914stuff003_zps98aac048.jpg.html

High heat resistant adhesive and new retaining plugs (still available from Porsche) hold the soundproofing on, along with freshly painted tabs (rock hard rear window seal removed to aid painting properly). New grommets from Porsche & VW Heritage. Freshly powder coated tinware with stainless slotted screws.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914stuff005_zps4b659db9.jpg.html

Engine lid lock was removed, soaked to removed sand jamming it up, cleaned and replaced with a new grommet where the wire pokes through the tube. Boot light, stripped, cleaned and replaced as are the two bowl cups each side. New engine seal around the tinware (the old one was torn and perished badly on the drivers side)
The list goes on & on.

But this is not even the first month of the cars new ownership and I’m only just beginning the long journey ahead to right the wrongs and I hope to share it with you in this thread.

The following weekend I managed to get a few more jobs done.
I repaired the cabling to the starter and got a new rubber boot from Porsche Centre Portsmouth to go over the main starter feed.
Next I replaced the feed cable to the fuel pump as it had been cut out and badly joined by the PO. All the spade connections I cleaned up on the engine loom (top tip, I use a spray can lid with “Wonder Wheels” alloy wheel cleaner in it. Dip in any spades or bare wire and after 5 mins it’s as clean as new) Ready to take solder, new crimps or just connect up!
The last bit of tinware was fitted (rear hoop) what a fiddly job trying to line up the lower tinware threaded holes. Tries the patience of a saint…
Next I fitted a new fuel pump and new hoses up to the engine bay with some nice proper fuel hose clamps (found some stainless ones on ebay) not jubilees. All with new genuine Porsche grommets into the engine bay and new rubber feet on the pump.
I cleaned up the area under the car before fitting the pump & a new filter, then gave it a nice clear waxoil so you can just see the Alaska Blue beneath.
Took the dizzy out (had a good clean up under it) and fitted new points, condenser rotor and cap.
After the one step forward I had two back…my nice new leads from VW Heritage for a type 4 were too SHORT… what a pain. I’ll have to get them changed over next week.
Also had a new original ATE brake master cylinder turn up. It’s hanging on a wire over my radiator in the kitchen, after a nice coat of paint. Hopefully this’ll keep it looking good in comparison to bare cast iron when its fitted.
My relay box in the engine bay had a smashed up cover.(or should I say "what was left of it") I managed to get a brand new replica one (quality a bit suspect) and the knurled retaining nut plus the two horse shoe cable retaining clips from Auto Atlanta, but I'm missing the post that screws into the relay board, passes through the cover and the knurled nut attaches to.
I turned one down from some stainless bar on my lathe, since I cant find one for sale anywhere I kinda invented what I thought it looked like. I made two soft rubber washers to go under and over the cover where the knurled nut fits to hopefully stop the new cover cracking.
Next I managed to google a good Beru part number x-ref for the ignition leads and called in at my local Motor Factors during my lunch break and ordered a set. 2 hours later a phone call to say they were in so picked them up after work.
I also had a nice stainless coil clamp arrive in the post along with a “battery mat” from Frosts. (£9.14 made me smile at the apt price) Ready to slip under my new 063 Battery to protect that new tray. Cut it to size and added 4 slots about 2” long on each side towards the centre. The battery tray has a lower pressed section in the middle with a drain hole, should the mat not have slots any level of rain water couldn’t get to that drain hole, so sit ¼” deep in the tray.
The blower fan in the engine bay, like most of the car, was full of sand when I took it off. After emptying it out, it made a god awful grinding noise and was hard to turn. I stripped it down tonight and found that after taking the 3 nuts off that hold the motor and fan into the housing, it was obvious the impellor was rubbing the motor base. When I pulled on the impellor it came away about 3mm, so it looked like an end float issue. Once the impellor was off, I could see that there was a small wire circlip that limits the taper fan fit to the shaft and a worn thrust washer that the circlip runs against, plus yes more sand!
The only solution I could think of was to make a new thrust washer about 2mm thick to “shim” the impellor away from the motor mount. This I did on my lathe to the exact sizes (very fiddly making a washer 2mm thick with a 1.5mm difference between id and od) Anyhow, I cleaned out the motor casing (washed it through with electrical cleaner to remove yet more sand) and re assembled it with a smear of grease in the bearings. Hey presto spins silently. Next I cleaned up the terminals and bench tested it on my new battery. It surprised me as its more powerful than you’d think; but it ran well.
I treated the motor to a buff polish with a brass wire wheel, and T cut the dull black fan casing. The whole blower motor came up like new and still retains the white printed 914 part number!
I took off what was left of the paper/ali air hose a few weeks back when I removed the fan for the engine bay paint. It was a hard task trying to find a new bit of hose, but last week half a metre came in the post that was a perfect fit. I’m still not 100% happy as I couldn’t find it with a paper outer finish, only ali/paper/ali sandwich rather than visa versa. (its an odd size id to find also) Anyhow it’s a bit shiny ali-bling bling looking but will be functional at last. I finished off tonight cleaning up the original hose clips and under the gunk, found they are engraved with VW badges that made me smile. They’ll certainly be going back on in all their new found clean glory.
Heres a picture of turning down some stainless bar on my lathe to make the missing relay board cover post. Not having one to copy, I just used Imagineering, and made a support collar (threaded and locked onto the shaft) at the height of the cover. From an old car inner tube I used my punch set to make a rubber cushion (water seal) washer to go on the collar (shown on top of the regulator)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914relayboard001_zpse9a6d55e.jpg.html

As I said earlier in this thread, the new Auto Atlanta relay board cover quality is not good. The originals weren’t that clever anyway. However the problem I have with the new one is that in places its wafer thin. If you hold it up to the light you can see clean through the crucifix crossed top part. If you pressed more than very lightly in this area you’d push a hole in it. It’s almost as if someone poured the resin into a mould, swished it around a little and let it set. All the resin flowed into the low parts and the raised parts got barely coated more than the thickness of a coat of paint!
Anyway, to resolve this I have spread a layer of Tiger PU bond on the inside to strengthen it all up. Hopefully this will do the trick.
Outwardly though it does look far better than the old broken one that came with the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914relayboard002_zps058c0bfe.jpg.html

While I was waiting for the PU bond to cure I fitted my new water drain hose to the new funnels I got from Porsche Centre. The hose I found is quite a good visual match to the no longer available original and has a spiral re-enforcement and yet is smooth on the inside so wont hold water.
The clips I got are a perfect match, if a little tough to fit. ( I used mole grips to pinch and lock them open, screwed the tube into them then pushed in the funnel ends before letting go) Also I have the clip ends facing outwards, since there is little room in the engine bay I didn’t want them to scratch or cut the back of my hands when working in there.
My second set of HT leads (the 1st were too short) were a perfect length but the rubber grommets on the plug end were moulded on to the leads in a set position. This gave me a right old struggle. In the end I had to turn them inside out and very, very carefully (with a scalpel type craft knife) cut the grommet free from the lead without damaging the plug sheath. 2 hours later I had the leads finally fitted to the car with the grommets seated correctly in the tinware. It’s important to take time to get a good seal as it allows better cooling over the barrels without leakage around the plugs.
The three clips for the leads neatly were clipped in. I had one original and two missing so these were sourced from VW heritage.
I then fitted the new coil and connected the wiring loom to it and the head temp sensor and Oil switch. Not happy that the loom just laid across the engine I fitted some nice stainless steel rubber lined P clips to various original bolt & tinware screws along the route. I’d had the distributor (undid the nut to block NOT the clamp so that I could lift it out and put it back without messing up the timing) to replace the points and condenser. Its much easier to work on and get at the condenser plug clamp screw where it goes through the dizzy body.
One point of note is that the new set of Bosch points was difficult to fit. The vertical pin that the points hinge on extends down by about 1mm and locates in the vacuum advance plate. I tried twice to fit them before I realised (only because I had the dizzy out and it was easy to see) that the base of the new points was about 2mm wider than the old one. The vacuum advance diaphragm has two screws holding it onto the dizzy. The tip of the righthand screw extended about 1.5mm into the dizzy when tight. Because the replacement points were marginally wider on its base than the old set, the vertical hinge pin of the points wouldn’t locate properly in the hole. They were being pushed into the centre by the screw end. This if I hadn’t of noticed would have also stopped the vacuum advance working! The solution was to remove the diaphragm screw and put a second washer on it (or file it down so it was shorter) I opted for the latter. With this done I could locate the new points correctly and set them up before refitting the distributor.
I also fitted back
The Blower Fan and hose.
New Oil Breather pipes (with stainless hose clips)
The New Battery
And the relay board.
I cleaned up every pin/connection and the fuse holder on the board and used a loose Stanley blade to gently push down in the cross slots in each and every pin on the relay board connections just to carefully “open” up the pin diameter to make it a tight fit in the wiring loom plugs.
I then found out why my old relay board cover was all smashed at the front end….you cant get the bloomin thing on and off very easily. It hits the bulkhead before you can get it over the regulator….great design eh!
For fear of breaking the new cover I had to take off the regulator (two screws) fit the cover then put the regulator back on afterwards.
Having finished working in the engine bay now, I decided to take the fuel tank out. Several people had recommended replacing the fuel hoses on the bottom of it. Boy were they right.
I took the cover plate off under the car and reaching through the hole underneath “snap” the hose broke clean in two. Baked rock hard. No need to struggle with the pipe clamps I could simply lift the tank out, no pipes attached!
Once out I took this picture…Both hoses snapped into about 4 pieces each, these weren’t cut.
http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914tank_zps1f5c89fe.jpg.html
I then noticed that the “T” shaped drain tubes from the vent box were shattered and lying in pieces beneath the tank, all brittle again. Good job I found both these issues as come the first time out in the rain, the water would have just filled up the boot.
Adding this to my list of things to do, I began to vacuum up even more sand from inside the boot that had built up 2” deep under the fuel tank. Plus a whole load of California Spider nests.

Once out it was clear that there was zero rust under there so I was very pleased. Next I turned my attention to the Master Cylinder. The reservoir was empty! So obviously there’s a leak somewhere from the car standing. Everything looked dry under the car, so at the moment it’s a bit of a mystery.

I took off the old Master Cylinder and cleaned the bulkhead before fitting my nice new shiny ATE one. I purchased some new blue hose to go on the bottom of the reservoir. It is very important to get the right hose here as brake fluid will dissolve normal hose.

I refitted all the brake pipes with new copper washers on the banjo pipe, and had a right old run around with the two tubes that push in from the reservoir. Jeez they don’t half make it tight to get in there!

After putting it all back together I cleaned out the air inlet box drains. What is it with California cars and pine needles? The bloomin thing was full up with needles and sand. (It’s my second Californian car and my first was full of pine needles too)
Anyhow, once cleaned up I fitted my new drain hose and fed it correctly through the hole in the very bottom of the car. Fortunately it was the same hose and wire hose clips as used on the engine bay funnels so I had over 2m left spare and a bag of clips to use.
Next I gave it all a good second clean then turned my attention to the Fuel tank.

I fitted new hose to the pipes in the car with stainless hose clips and even managed to find some new unused fuel hose in my shed at 9.5mm that was just long enough to fit.

I took off the fuel vapour expansion tank and gave everything a good clean up. Again all the vent/breather 4mm hoses just snapped off when you touched them, so I’ll have to buy another metre of that. The metal plate around the filler cap with the 8 x M5 bolts was a bit scabby, so I stripped and sanded it down, painted it and its hanging on a wire currently over my hall radiator!
Next I shone a flash light inside the tank and saw bits of an old level sender gasket down in there, so after a bit of a large cocktail shaking exercise I managed to get all the bits out. (Must have been changed by PO at some time as the sender has a new one on it)
Another shine with the flash light and….hold on a minute, that doesn’t look good.
The Fuel pump suction pipe copper mesh suction strainer looked like someone had reached inside the tank and painted it with underseal???
I quickly whipped it out for a look and found this.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914tankfilter002_zps51dfdf3a.jpg.html

Completely blocked!

This was bizarre as the tank inside looked very clean, just the strainer seemed to be covered. Presumably since it’s the pump suction it just drew 40 years of muck onto it.
Any how, it needed a good soak in cellulose thinners to soften it, followed by a very soft paint brush to lightly agitate it to clean it all off. Finally a wash through from inside out to clean it all off.
I wonder how it ever managed to suck fuel in that condition?
I then refitted it to the tank and finished cleaning off all the spiders webs and sand with a damp cloth.
When I lifted the tank out a couple of the felt pads fell out, so these were cleaned and glued back in with the remains of the glue I got for the rear bulkhead soundproofing.
The tank had a rub mark on it, above the passengers feet, on the vertical plane, and another rub mark on the car, so I got some new felt pad and glued a bit there too.
Finally I cleaned up the clamps and blocks, gave it all a damn good WD40 under there (since there was no rust I didn’t want any starting) and dropped the tank back in place.

So that was month 1 of my build…….

Posted by: Darren C Nov 28 2015, 03:08 PM

Build off month 2

I managed to put a second coat of paint on the fuel expansion tank securing ring, and a final coat of fuel resistant lacquer (for those few occasions at the petrol station when the fuel pump doesn’t cut out soon enough or the angle causes flood back in the filler neck). I used an engine enamel black paint which should be fuel resistant, the lacquer is belt & braces.
Then in my bloomin cold shed I did a bit of tin bashing on the cover plate that I took off to access the master cylinder. There were a few scrapes and dents in it from contact with road debris over the years. I got it reasonably presentable and hope to drop it off at the powder coaters for a bead blast and re paint. Just need to source some new lip seal to go on it afterwards.
I called the local Porsche Centre and ordered a new cap to replace the hairline cracked one on the brake reservoir. Still available and only a shade over £6! I also ordered a new seal as I’m not sure if it comes with the cap or not. The guy was ok about it and said if the cap has a seal then he’ll hang onto the extra one.
As always I’m building up a series of parts for a weekend assembly (in daylight) and traced some small fuel breather pipe for the fuel expansion tank too.
The first tube I got over the counter and some stuff I had from old in my shed turned out to be the correct id but too large od. The problem is that where the pipe connects to the filler neck (just under the cap) it has to pass through the moulded plastic tank and the hole is only about 8mm. Most standard vacuum or fuel hose this size is just over 9mm so it wont fit through. I tracked a supplier on line tonight and ordered a metre with correct id and an od at 7.5mm so it should fit and pretty much be the same as the Porsche original. £2.59p another result and a bargain too.
Next I tracked down some new seal for the cover plate under the car that conceals the steering rack and master cylinder. I actually had 2 metres in one of my other sheds, left over from a previous restoration. It came from Woolies and is called "mudflap seal" It's within 5mm or so the same width overall as the original (a bit wider on the flappy bit) but is a nice match. I cut it to length using my original sun baked seal as a guide.
I also ordered new brake discs with new front wheel bearing kits from Berlyn Services.
I already have the new brake hoses to fit, to go with the new Master Cylinder.
The fuel expansion tank was refitted and took my two gas cans down the local station and put £15 of fuel in the car. No leaks so far!
I then decided to change all 4 rubber brake hoses. The rear ones are great fun trying to get at the top union, and just pulling off the retaining clip was a struggle. Theres not enough room to swing a spanner under there. Anyway with a little time and patience I got both hoses off. I gave it a good clean and waxoiled all around the area before fitting nice new hoses with new retaining clips.
The fronts got the same treatment. On opening the box and taking out the new front hoses I saw they had two short sleeves around them about an inch in from each end to stop them rubbing. I’m not a fan of this design as the fronts have to sit in an “S” shape and the sleeves make the bends tighter. We’ll have to see how they go.
Next I took off all 4 brake callipers. Since the cars been sitting many years and there was no fluid left in the system I don’t want to mess around or compromise on the brakes. There going off for a complete refurb. However during removal, there was a right mixed bag of pad retaining pins and clips. One pin and one spring clip completely missing on different callipers. The PO must have just fitted what he could find rather than going for a complete set. I’ll have to track these items down with some nice new pads too before they go back on.
The discs to are looking a little sorry for themselves, but I knew that before I bought the car so no surprises there. I hope to get them changed soon.

After a productive time I released whole load of Gremlins

For the first time in many years I put the battery on the car……
I’d tested a few odd items off the car with jump leads and meters but never put the terminals onto the battery until now
So this is what I now have to contend with:

1. Constant VERY loud buzzing/tick from the time clock in the centre console (so loud I thought the fan was on high)
2. As soon as the battery is on the Hazard relay ticks and centre top red light in gauge flashes (not the direction arrows). NO lights flash front or rear of the car and the Hazard switch is pushed in OFF. Pull the switch out and the ticking relay stops, no lights then either???
3. Ignition on, turn indicator to right (arm up) Oil and generator light flash. Relay ticks and no lights on outside of car?
4. Turn indicator left (arm down) and nothing at all.
5. NO power to relay board in engine bay with ignition on or off?
6. Brake lights stuck on permanently

Checked all fuses ok.

One consolation is that the horn works and the headlights pop up and down, and I have only one side light on RH front.

To be fair since I started work on this little car, it’s fought me all along. With the battery connected for the first time all I could do was laugh and laugh some more at the blessed thing.

I took the old brake pads down to the local motor factors and tracked a new front and rear set. ( I think the guy said the rears cross ref to a Talbot Samba)
When I picked up the brake pads. They look a perfect match (albeit I need to file open one hole on the rear pads).

Made by TRW (a quality pad with anti squeak backing at reasonable cost) they cross-ref as 356 & 912, Saab 900 and NSU RO80!
Fronts Part No GDB101 £7.17 ex vat
Rears Part No GDB102 £12.24 ex vat

Full set for the car only £23.29 all in. Result!
Will try and match the pins and spring clips next.

Mid Month & one step forward, two steps back.

I started by taking out the pedal board to investigate the brake light switch.
Lo and behold a broken switch was found, brittle as anything, one side of it was completely missing!
So I now need to source a new one.
While rummaging around in there I notice a lot of free play in the pedal spindles. Yep you guessed it, the bushes were completely shot.
I wrestled with the assembly but just couldn’t get the clutch cable out enough to free the clevis.
Under the car I went and found the clutch cable pivot wheel seized solid and packed tightly with grease impregnated sand. I had to unscrew the adjusting nuts and take the cable off the release arm. Then the nut off the pivot pulley wheel and struggle to get the pulley and cable off. It was so jam packed with rock hard sand mix, it would have been easier if it had been mortared in place. After a good few curses I managed to get it off.
This then revealed that the very fine sand mix had gone down the cable and sheath and seized the cable solid in the car.
I had never pressed the clutch pedal since buying the car, but it must have been solid. There was no way I could budge the cable so slightly defeated I got back under the dash and after a good two hours faffing around with the help of a good friend I managed to get the clutch clevis pin and clip off working blind inside the tunnel. Not an easy task.
I could then lift out the whole pedal assembly.
There was practically NO BUSHINGS left in it at all. Totally crumbled and fell out or turned to granules inside the tubes.
Again, more parts to add to the list.
I looked on line and see a few vendors have Bronze bush kits instead of the plastic.
While working in the footwell I took off the accelerator pedal. That was seized too! The bloomin hinge part at the floor was solid. I had to carryout surgery with a Stanley knife from the back of it to reveal the hinge as its encased in rubber. Working it back and forth in the vice with penetrating oil I managed to free it off. Left it to soak for a few hours and “blew” it out with the tube nozzle of WD40 and spray grease.
It’s nice and free now so at least I feel I achieved something.

Next I plan on taking off the clutch cable clevis and lock nut (while still up inside the tunnel) and then trying to pull it backwards out the car. I reckon its only jammed for a short length by the pulley wheel under the car. Enough to stop it pulling forwards, but if I tug it rearwards I think it may come out. Well that’s the plan anyway.

The following day
I wrestled the clutch cable out the car. The inner wire was seized solid in the sheath, but once unclipped under the car it pulled cleanly out complete. On closer inspection it looks like the PO sprayed it with some sort of underseal/waxoil that got all the desert sand stuck into it then set like rock.
It took me a good two hours to clean up the pulley and shroud, but all done now, nice and clean ready for a new cable. As the clutch and speedo cable run side by side under the car I had a good look at that. Guess what….I need a new one of them too.
The sheath is split and damaged (possible grounding on some road obstacle) and the spiral spring is bare and full of dirt.
Two more parts to order!
Next I took a meter to the electrics and ended up under the passenger seat. Seat removed I tested the safety belt relay and plugs. I opted to make a 6mm yellow cable link wire between pins 50 and C.
The relay was actually working but the solenoid was not happy. I suspect that the contacts inside the relay are burnt/dirty with age or the pull from the coil inside is weak causing a bad current flow & voltage to the starter solenoid.
Ignition on (I took the brake light switch off and taped the wires to stop the brake lights being on constantly until I get a new switch, and isolated the brake pressure warning to stop the constant light and sound effects) Eureka the engine spun over freely, no more “rurr…..rurr…..click…..rurr”. Result!
I then checked power on the relay board in the engine. Very strange? I kept getting some dodgy readings a few volts then 13V then nothing? Trying again I found that if I put pressure on the meter probes while testing the fuse pins the voltage varied.
I popped the fuse out and the end cap fell off!
When it was in the holder the wire looked fine, but in reality there was a break. (So Battery off yet again)
New fuse fitted, battery back on and I tried the ignition again.

Just by chance I heard the blower fan in the engine bay run. (I must have knocked the heating lever when I was working on the pedals or under the seat).
But no fuel pump?
Ok I figured that if the heater fan ran then the power relay was good, and the blower relay was good. I’d tested the relays earlier, but maybe I had a dodgy relay? I swapped the blower relay with the fuel pump and turned the ignition on.

Fuel EVERYWHERE in the engine bay, half an injection system missing!!!!

I wasn’t bothered, as I’d finally solved the problem that had given me the run around for a couple of weeks.
Fuel mopped up (I’d put £8 from a can in the tank to check for hose leakage last week) and a celebratory cup of Tea was had.

Next I put the brake pad pins in my lathe and spun them with a strip of emery paper to clean them up followed by a silver zinc spray. I managed to match up new spring clips but the aftermarket pins were no where close. To be fair now the pins are cleaned up they look good as new. Afterwards I carefully opened up the size of one pin hole in the replacement rear pads with a file. Cleaned it up and painted the filed area with some heat resistant black paint to give a nice OEM look.

The following day I picked up the undertray/cover for the mastercylinder & steering rack from the Powder Coaters. Looks lovely after a blast and coat in satin black. I fitted the new lip seals to each side of it and put it safe in my shed ready to go back on when the braking system is re-filled with fluid and leak checked.
I also called in at my local motor factors and tracked down the spring clips for the front brake pads.
The original design has a rivet in the centre of the cross that can fail, the clip falls apart and if you’re unlucky is lost forever. The modern design is stamped/pressed out of a single piece of metal so has no rivet.

Here’s what I found:

The rear clips x-ref to:

Quick Brake Part No 109-0905
VW Part 311-698-151 & 01D-07L08L (available from VW Heritage) for Beetle 1302
Saab 99 & 900 all models
BMW 500 series 1973-81

Front clips x-ref to:

Mintex MBA949 & MBA980 (MBA949 are made a bit better from thicker steel, but both the correct size)

Non of the above have matching pins, but they are a good source of the clips at £3.50 a pair, you can throw away the pins they come with.

When I arrived home I had a nice new set of Original Porsche pedal rubbers waiting (ebay purchase) ready for the pedal assembly rebuild. Having thought about the pedal assembly I opted to go for a bronze bush set to replace the missing/failed ones in my car.
While waiting for them to turn up, I spent a couple of hours rubbing down the pedal mounting bracket and gave it a coat of primer. Hanging on a wire hook over my hall radiator it was good to topcoat the following evening. I also cleaned up the front brake pad pins in the lathe again like I did the rears and gave them a zinc spray. I was hoping to x-ref new ones but they seem to be too long to match all those at my local motor factors. The rear pins are particularly unique to the 914 caliper with the two diameters and the shouldered sections.
To be fair my originals have cleaned up really well, so it was just the spring clips that were urgent since some were completely missing.
I also spoke to Lee at the Caliper refurbishers. All going well, he hopes to get them ready to send back to me next month.

Still waiting for my new discs to arrive, its been a week and a half. I contacted Berlyn Services and have found out that they don’t hold stock….they order them in from Germany when you buy them. I’m a bit disappointed as the website does not tell you this and makes you think they’re in stock. I’d rather they had been honest from the start. Had I known I’d have bought them direct from Mittelmotor myself and got them quicker as they’d be sent direct to me, not them, then me.
Hey ho, these things are sent to try us.
After the pedal mounting bracket primer was dry I gave it a wet & dry key and a coat of black satin engine enamel. (engine enamel resists oil so any greasing of the pedal assembly wont attack my nice new paint job).
After hanging the bracket back in front of the radiator again (too cold in my shed for paint) I started sanding down the pedals and shafts themselves. As my original bushes were non-existent the pedals had “fallen” over to the sides and rubbed on the wooden floor cover plate. So much so that there was a whole load of sawdust under it on the floor and the slots in the wood had a nice worn bow in them.
Anyhow I sanded them all down and gave them a coat of primer in my shed and brought them into the warm to dry once they’d gone tacky to stop them stinking the house out.
I also tracked down a nice new Dansk rear exhaust box on ebay. While under the car at the 1st weekend of the month working on getting the clutch cable out I found a hole in the backbox opposite the RH heat exchanger connection point at the bottom of the box. Most probably where the hot gasses enter and any water from combustion would collect.
I also found that the rear exchanger gaskets to back box are no longer available from Porsche, but the exchanger to cylinder head are!
Managed to track some down from Roger Bray who still has stock of both gaskets, but no exhausts.
Hopefully it’ll all arrive for next month and I'll take some photos of progress
Next I put a clear coat on the pedal assembly bracket, rubbing down the primer on the pedals themselves and giving them a coat of black. Wire hooks over the hall radiator and it was a bit whiffy again in the house!
I also sorted out some nice new split pins for the accelerator & brake pedal shafts and put another zinc coat on the brake calliper pins.
A parcel arrived with my new clutch and accelerator cable and exhaust gaskets from Roger Bray. I’d also called into Porsche Centre Portsmouth and picked up the two handbrake cables (for info, they were cheaper than anywhere else I tried and the longer cable was the same price as the short cable, everyone else wanted more for it?) I also got some new round relays as I had to play musical relays on the relay board at the beginning of the month. A new flasher relay (I think that’s what’s wrong with the hazards and indicators and at £12 it’s worth a punt, plus changing it after so long sitting is a good idea)
Looking through Porsche PET parts catalogue before I ordered anything I worked out that the handbrake cables come with the concertina gator where the cable goes into the car (in front of engine) but not the gator/bellows at the calliper? Why this is I don’t know? But anyway I got a pair of these from Porsche centre £3 each. Well worth it as my old ones are completely shot and they stop all the dirt getting into the cable, so a no brainer to change them.
Next I have given the pedals a coat of clear lacquer and hung them back over the radiator. I also cleaned up the pedal springs and fittings. The coils were full of 40 years of grit from the soles of shoes so needed a good sorting out before they went back on.
The floor where the pedal bracket was removed was very dirty full of sawdust, sand, grit and general gunk. I gave it all a good clean with the intention of painting it before the pedals went back, but once I vacuumed it and wiped it with a damp cloth, blue paint was revealed. No rust at all, just the original factory primer with a dusting of blue exactly as it left the factory. I’m a sucker for keeping stuff original so instead of painting over the floor I gave it a coat of clear waxoil just under the area where the wood panel covers. I was careful not to apply too much and keep it off where the carpet goes as it never really dries. It was just basically applied where the bulkhead meets the floor and under the pedal bracket itself.
As promised I took a few photos, so you can see how rust free this little car is. I was in two minds whether to post them or not as I haven't had chance to clean up underneath yet. This is pretty much how it came off the boat.
Floor with pedal box removed

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914details001_zpsd58ebf28.jpg.html

The other side showing new Master Cylinder

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914details007_zps03132481.jpg.html

The rear of the hell hole from underneath

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914details003_zps457880e9.jpg.html

The Floor pan

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914details011_zps23a258bb.jpg.html

Behind bumper

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914details006_zpse1902c00.jpg.html

With a few parts turned up I fitted the new clutch cable. I need to get some new nuts for the end of it. The thread is an odd size M7, so I clean the old ones up for now.
I also fitted the two new hand brake cables, and the new gators on the end. Boy were they a fiddle to feed the clevis through. The hole in the end is about 4mm, the clevis is about 8mm square (square peg round hole syndrome) After a grease up they stretched over neatly.
I also took out the drivers seat and after cleaning up all the usual stuff, coins, straws, packets of sugar, business cards and general debris I took a look at the handbrake lever. As suspected once the seat was out you could see it was bent and slightly twisted. So much so the part that presses the handbrake switch missed it completely! The handle was rubbing on the carpet of the sill, so much so you couldn’t get your hand around it. It had to come out. After another fiddly 10 minutes it was in the vice and I straightened it out, cleaned under it and after greasing the hinge pins it was put back. Next the new cables were attached to the balance arm and the cover plate refitted. No rust was found underneath it so I was well pleased too.
After a cuppa (cup of tea) I then fitted the new relays to the engine bay relay board so I have all new relays now.
I then dropped the fuse box to fit my new hazard/indicator relay. But guess what…I’d been sold the wrong one! Hey ho, I’ll have to sort it. The old one has 4 pins, the new had 3. I’ve taken the part number directly off the old one so should be able to sort it without too much fuss.
Finally before I ran out of daylight that day I changed the square cork gasket under the oil filler breather.
This next day I started by very, very carefully removing the sleeves on the front brake hoses. The new ones came with large “rub” sleeves (basically two bits of rubber tube over each hose). As I’d noticed before this stops the hose bending smoothly in an S shape and really looks uncomfortable left on. With a very steady hand and a Stanley knife I cut them along their length. I locked the blade so only the tip protruded out the knife and was less than the wall thickness of the rub tube. In this way I removed the risk of accidentally nicking the brake hose beneath. A small screwdriver levered the rest off and the tube tore the last amount to come off neatly.

The underside of the engine required a damn good clean, so dressed up with goggles on and 5 litres of brake cleaner/degreaser, an array of wire brushes and elastic bands on my sleeves I started the messy task.
I got a bit carried away and in the end spent 5 hours on it. Boy was it messy, I had a right old job getting the baked on oil off, even the detailing wire brushes wouldn’t touch it! With the heat exchangers removed I could get in just about everywhere, almost as easy as it would have been taking the engine out. I then progressed to the sides of the engine bay and around the trailing arm suspension mounts and the engine cross member mount.
After a well deserved cuppa, I set about waxoiling the areas of body work and suspension mounts I’d cleaned up.
My plan is to carryout a thorough restoration/recommission and preserve the car along the way and protect it as best I can from the British weather without going mad with a million hour, concours, see your face in the paintwork under the car resto. Having been down that road before, as nice as it is to look at, you just can’t use, enjoy the car and relax with it. Space is also an issue, its amazing how much room it all takes up when you start taking things apart. At the moment I have the car in the corner of a friends Industrial Unit and he runs a business from there so I have to push it outside into the gated compound every evening after working on it and back in each morning. Not ideal but with 9 cars at home currently, the plan is to get the 914 running and stopping, then bring it home. In that way its much easier for me to move cars around to get others in & out.
Next while there was “plenty” of access I took off the rocker covers and set the tappets. They weren’t too bad, the exhausts had closed up a little and the inlets were only a tad out. It was obvious the covers hadn’t been off in ages as the gaskets were like baked rock. I had a bit of a struggle prying them off. I have new supple cork gaskets to go back on, but since I’m taking the heat exchangers down to be bead blasted tomorrow I thought I’d stick the rocker covers in with them and get them painted up nicely. I also took off the large wire retaining clips, to clean and paint them too. With new gaskets I hope they’ll be leak free.
Next I took off the two heater flap boxes (the bits that open and close when you pull the console lever). In my shed as it got dark I gave them a good degrease.. Too delicate to bead blast I’ll refurbish them by hand.
Late the other night I was online searching and managed to find a supplier of the red silicone canvas wire bound heater hose in the right size. Ordered some up so when everything goes back I can replace the hose, particularly as one side has collapsed and the wire reinforcement looks like a birds nest inside it.
I also tracked down some new manifold nuts (shouldered copper) and some special header paint.
Week 3 of Month 2 was a very early start. Before sunrise I was up and at my friends Unit to do a bit on the car and then push it out into the compound so he could start work at 7am. It was reining heavily the day before so I decided to leave it until this morning to avoid getting too wet.
The NOS rear exhaust box arrived from SVP Porsche that I saw on ebay. Very well packed and in perfect condition. Weighs an absolute ton, they don’t make them like that anymore!
I dropped off the heat exchangers and some other odd bits at the bead blasters and also ordered some heat resistant paint. The manifolds will get too hot for powdercoat so paint is my best option.

Next after work I started to clean up the heater flap boxes. One was coated in oil so barely rusted at all, the other was bone dry, so a lot of surface rust. I spent a good 3 hours cleaning them with a combination of emery, sand paper and various wire brushes before soaking them in phosphoric acid to get the bits other methods can’t reach. After a good wash off, they are currently in my oven at 100C to dry out completely. I hope to paint them black, to match the remaining original colour.

The RH Heater flap box has the dome "mushroom" cap missing and had some open ended hose connected to it? We seems to think it was a California Modification to take heat away from the fuel pump possibly. But here in UK it shouldn't be needed.

I posted on a UK forum for an old knackered heater flap box that I can rob the mushroom cap off to replace mine.

While they were soaking I set about stripping all grime, rust and paint off the spring wires that hold the rocker covers on. Rubbed down to bare metal I degreased and gave them a coat of primer.
I’m going to have to get things put back on the car soon as parts are now in 3 rooms at home, my summer house, the car mats are on the garage floor and slowly but surely the 914 is taking over.

I got home the following evening to find 6 tins of VHT grey paint, some new M7 nuts, and another packet of slotted stainless cheese head M6’s (I’d ran out when putting the engine tinware back on and thought I’d order more for the plates and ducting around the heat exchangers).
After checking all my deliveries I started to clean up more parts. I started with the “Hoop” shaped clamps that hold the ducts onto the fan housing under the car. I gave them all a good degrease, sand and wire brush up before coating with a silver zinc paint. (to match the original finish on these parts) I was also very careful to retain the cork gaskets that sit in these brackets as they were in good condition.
Next I cleaned up the clamps that hold the heater lever operating wire onto the Flap Boxes. I spun them in my lathe to clean, re tapped and then a coat of zinc silver. I got some new M5 bolts, cut them to length and faced the ends off neatly with a chamfer in the lathe.
The heater flap boxes were bone dry after last nights baking exercise after washing off the acid. I gave them a prime with some VHT primer. Apart from the missing “mushroom” cap that I fellow owner is mailing over, they came up great. I’ll let them dry overnight and paint them black tomorrow.
While still in the mood for painting I gave the spring wires (for the rocker covers) a nice coat of engine enamel black over the primer. Hanging over the radiator (yet again with other stuff) they’ve come out like new.
I’ve left the 4 x legs that hold the mushroom cap bare metal for now and cleaned them all up. Hopefully as soon as the cap arrives I can weld it on and finish the paint job on it.
The following day I was up early and put a coat of black paint on the heater boxes, then cleaned up and went to wait outside the Post Office Depo before they opened at 7am. Time was tight as I have to be at work for 7:30, but I just made it in the nick of time.
The sign for delivery was my 8 x M8 copper Heat Exchanger nuts!

Next I picked up the indicator relay (looks good) and I plan to fit it this weekend to see if it works. I also took a call from the calliper refurbishers and they are ready to dispatch. It’ll be good to see how they turned out.
Finally on the way home that day I called in and picked up my blasted heat exchangers and a few bits and bobs. They were absolutely soaked in oil, tar and sand when I took them off, so to see them blasted clean was nice. They look absolutely great.
When I got home that evening I spotted a small box in the dark left by my shed. It was the secondhand Heater box. Arrived already!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20exhaust%20001_zpsqxj0qh8b.jpg.html

After a combination of emery and sand paper it was obvious the rust pits had really gotten hold of it, so I ended up turning it down in my lathe to get as clean a surface as I could without going too thin.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20exhaust%20002_zpsktawxbuz.jpg.html

My original cap (judging by the one that’s left and the mess that is my other one) has the 4 tabs that pass through it with two spot welded. Since the PO removed it and clamped on some hose, he must have ground the spot welds and the other 2 tabs completely off! My only option was to very carefully file the tabs back onto the remaining legs. This meant that the cap sits closer to the flap housing by about 3mm, but it shouldn’t make any difference. Once fitted I bent over the 4 new tabs and spot welded two to match my un-molested one. I then used a small blob of seam sealer over the spot weld so that when its painted it’ll be a perfect match to the other. (That’s OCD for you)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20exhaust%20004_zps0rld8xqq.jpg.html

Afterwards I gave it a coat of heat resistant primer and hope to paint it black in the morning.
With a whole box of heat resistant primer in my shed (in grey) I decided to get some on my blasted parts before rust could set in. I gave them two light coats and again plan to flip them over in the morning and paint the other side before I go off to work. I also gave my NOS rear box a coat to cover a range of storage handling marks and also to make sure everything looks fresh and colour matched ready to fit at the weekend.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20exhaust%20003_zpszwtiiqyt.jpg.html

The following morning I got another coat of heat resistant grey paint on the exhaust parts and a coat of black over the primer on the heater flap box cap.
Here’s how they look. Came out well.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20004_zpsouncdi0t.jpg.html

When I got home that evening there was a small parcel waiting. It was the bronze bush kit for the pedal assembly.
First though, I turned over all the exhaust parts and gave them another coat of grey paint. Whilst they dried the new bushes were fitted to complete the pedal box.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20002_zpswsvg5bbt.jpg.html

I gave the exhaust parts a final coat of VHT satin lacquer to seal in the grey and left them to dry during the day.

I cut and shortened some M6 bolts for the short rear heater tubes and matched the washers. (Fortunately I have a few draws of stainless bits and bobs collected over the years which include M6 washers in all sizes from 10mm od to 30mm od, plus the same for M4, 5, 8, 10 & 12.) Where ever possible I try to match the washer overall size, both for OEM look and also because it was designed that way usually for a reason.
The majority of the old slot cheese headed M6 sets that hold all the tin ware together were particularly chewed up and simply looked awful, so for a couple of quid off ebay its always worth changing them.

The following day I thought I was going to get the exhaust back on……

I started first thing cleaning the gearbox. I figured while the exhaust was off it would give me better access.
10 hours later I was shattered and my hands are rough as sandpaper from being in white spirit all day.
The PO decided to spray what can only be described as black tar all over the gearbox. What a nightmare it was to get off, scrapers, old wood chisels, miniature wire brushes, hard nylon brushes and cloths soaked in white spirit hardly touched it. Pretty soul destroying I can tell you.
Plenty of tea got me through it. Only a small amount is left to do over the top of the gearbox and is very hard to get at.
Its jet black and seems to run into every nook and cranny, not good when there are so many webs in the gearbox casting. I know each and every one very well now!
While cleaning up I noticed the speedo angle drive seems a bit wobbly into the gearbox. Need to look at that now!

Posted by: Andyrew Nov 28 2015, 03:27 PM

Thats a solid looking chassis you got there! Its every bit as solid as my rust free California car! Great looking progress!

Posted by: FourBlades Nov 28 2015, 03:42 PM

Great build and great story.

John

Posted by: jacquot Nov 28 2015, 06:28 PM

Darren, Enjoyed reading every word. Can hardly wait for more. Cheers!

Posted by: 914forme Nov 28 2015, 07:26 PM

Nice build, your making some great progress.

Posted by: Darren C Dec 30 2015, 03:49 PM

Build off Challenge Month 3,
Day 60 of build.

I finally got the heat exchangers on today. What a bloomin fiddle. I got 4 new copper washer seals and 2 rear box gaskets. The copper washers wouldn’t stay in the heads as gravity was not my friend (I’m sure they must have built them upside down at the factory!) I ended up putting a couple of small blobs of exhaust paste on them to hold them in the head recess.
The next issue was getting exchanger “hoops” around the studs. Something was out of line and they both fought me, but in the end after a struggle then went on. I’d previously cleaned up the threads and put a smear of copper grease on them. Then I could only get 3 out of the 4 copper nuts on. The 4th one on both heads (would be the hardest one to get to) wouldn’t go on?
After a bit of head scratching I needed to lower the exchangers until the other 3 nuts were only just on by a couple of threads to get the 4th nut on, then pull them all up together. It was the bend in the pipe that was stopping the last nuts going on (due to the integral moulded washers) when the stud is poking fully down and the exchanger is fully up.
Next I shone a flash light up around the copper washer gaskets to check the heat exchangers had located properly in the small counterbore (where the copper washer sits). I then fitted the rear box with new gaskets, stainless nuts & bolts and left them finger tight to avoid pull on the exchangers. Once everything was in place I tightened the exchangers to head and finally the 6 rear box bolts.
Again it was one of those jobs that took 3 times longer than anticipated. Looks good though with its nice shiny paint finish!

Day 61

Today I have mostly been sewing.

I got up at 5am this morning and washed and scrubbed the 4 car mats I took out yesterday.
I used 1001 carpet cleaner. After years of cleaning cars and having kids, I haven’t found anything that works as well.
I did away with the spray and just poured it onto the mats and worked it in with a soft brush and let them soak about ½ an hour (only because the mats were out and it didn’t matter how wet I got them.)
I used about 6 buckets of water on each mat, submerging them while scrubbing until the water was clear. They were absolutely minging, 4 buckets in and the water was still jet black. 40+ years of dirt!
Anyway I hung them on the radiators in the house (held with clothes pegs) to dry them out before going to work.

In my lunch break I called Roger Bray a UK Porsche specialist and chased up my new speedo cable which is on a 10 day lead time (hopefully in tomorrow and out to me for the end of the week). Then I spoke to Ash the parts man at Porsche Centre Portsmouth to see if Stuttgart had gotten back to him on the indicator relay. Not yet, so I decided to order a few more bits and bobs including the 3 seals for my very wobbly angle drive and also two rollers for my boot spring wires. I noticed in several pictures on-line that there are white looking roller wheels on the hinges on either side of the engine bay, and my car has none? (You can just see in my photos early in this thread)

When I got home this evening with carpets dry I got my needle and thread (strong upholsterers thread, not cotton) and started to re-attach the edging and do a little darning repairs. I repaired around the heel mat and one of the hold down eyelets. With my pedal bushes worn the clutch pedal had rubbed the wooden board slot oval and split the plastic mounded edge of the slot in the carpet in several places. I carefully super glued the cracks and melted it carefully back together with a soldering iron. Just one tiny triangle about 4mm wide is missing, but the rest was split and curled up so still there to work with. All back into shape now.
Unfortunately the passenger mat has one circular ferrule/eyelet missing.
Interestingly all the edging and eyelets are dark grey, yet the stitching on my drivers mats (front and behind seat) is in black thread from the factory, yet my passenger (front and behind seat) is stitched in dark grey thread?
Both sets of mats look as old as each other and you could possibly say that maybe the drivers mat was replaced at some time, but the one under the seat wouldn’t get any wear or sunlight, so why replace that? Maybe it left the factory this way then, if so I wonder if this is common.
Anyway, I’m seeing double now as I write this from 4 hours of close up sewing by hand!

Day 62

Today was a real disappointment.

Since buying my car way back in September I’ve been looking for a secure place to keep it when it arrived a week before Christmas in UK. I have garaging and a big carport at home where I can keep 8 cars securely, one on the drive and space on the drive for visitors. Nearby is a block of ex council garages now privately managed, of which I have 2. I applied for a 3rd to keep the 914 in and was told there was one available back in September but needed the lock changed as the previous tenant had vacated with the keys. No problem you would think…..
Well, week after week I called by to ask if it was ready until November when I called by fortnightly (so not to pester) to the “management (not my choice of description) company”. Each time they palmed me off with how busy they were and it would be done next week. Anyhow, when my car arrived the urgency increased and I offered to supply and fit a new lock myself; surely they’d agree? After all they were losing income on it being empty.
Nope “you're not insured to work on our properties” was the reply!
Anyway this has gone on and on until yesterday I saw a new handle on the door of my new 914 home when I went over to fetch some stuff out of one of my other cars.
Today in my lunch break I rushed over to the management company, drew the key, signed a contract and paid a few months in advance.
The first thing I did tonight was call in at the new garage and unlock it to see what was inside…a bit like that US show “Storage Hunters”. Unfortunately as I tried to open the door I suddenly found it was very heavy and not lifting easily at all.
Then I saw why…

The bottom 3 ft of door frame had completely rotted away and the door spring mechanism just coiled and wrapped itself up in free air.
http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/no12_zpscitt0ofu.jpg.html

(apologies for photo quality, it was off my work phone)

What complete bunch of morons would fit a new door lock, return to their office, hand over the keys and say “there you go, ready to rent out”
I’ll have to wait until they open tomorrow now to see what they say. The door barely opens, wont stay open and even if you lock the nice new lock, the rods that latch the door shut have nothing to latch against so you can simply open the door with it “locked”
This weeks Darwin Award for hindering my 914 restoration goes to the anonymous maintenance man that took 6 months to fit a new lock to a useless door!

Anyhow rant over, I retired to my shed to look through a big plastic storage tub of stuff I’d previously taken off the engine.

It then occurred to me that I’d not taken any pictures of the engine bay to show how it arrived. I wish I’d done so because people I’ve spoken to so far can’t quite grasp how much sand and dirt was in there. So here’s a picture of the throttle body as it came off.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits2%20002_zpsyybkdgbd.jpg.html

This was slightly shielded by the air filter and carbon filter, so hopefully you’ll get the idea.
I spent two hours tonight carefully taking it apart and starting the big clean up. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have a better day.

Day 63

Today at Lunchtime I went back to the garage agents and I have 3 options.
1. Give 4 weeks notice to cancel the contract I signed and walk away £65 lighter for the experience and no hope of finding a short term local home for the 914.
2. Fill in a defect form and wait 28 days for an acknowledgement and be put on a waiting list for repair, while paying for a garage I can’t use, with no idea how long it will take to get fixed. “The garages are low priority” so I kept getting told. (I felt like saying, “paying the rent is low priority for me then”)
3. Break their rules and fix it myself at my cost, without refund, while paying a rental agreement that covers cost of repairs but forbids me from carrying them out!

To say I’m not very pleased is an understatement. I put my name down again on a waiting list for an exchange garage while I decide what to do.

Anyway after getting nowhere with them I went to the local motor factors and picked up some more PU adhesive, before going back to work.

This evening when I got home a small parcel was waiting. New heater hose (brownish red 60mm id heat resistant rubberised canvas with internal wire spring) Looks a perfect match to the old stuff!

After cleaning last night and 10 hours at the weekend my hands are as rough as sandpaper so I thought I’d give them a rest and go back to the floor mats. After sewing the damaged edge trims back on the other night and melt/welding the plastic bits around the pedals I needed to sort out the heel mat.
The pile on the carpets came up like new. I was really surprised and pleased as they had 40 years of muck, oil, road tar, chewing gum and desert sand on them. All the colour is back as is the grey fleck that was'nt at all visible before!
The PU adhesive was “injected” under the lifted heel mat and used to glue it back down. The area at the base of the accelerator pedal was all split and a section missing. It had a hole worn completely through the mat. The heel pad is a particular texture size with heat mounded ridges. I could simple sew in a new pad but it wouldn’t be the same, so I thought I’d try a low cost repair first.
I used the PU adhesive to mould the tiny missing triangle back in the mat around the pedals and then I masked up the hole in the mat from the underside.
Rested on a flat surface (bit of 4” x ¾” timber) I filled in the hole with some plasterers scrim tape and more PU adhesive. A second flat surface on top (wrapped in cling film for easy release) was clamped on.
When the PU adhesive is dry tomorrow morning I should have a strong flexible hard-wearing hole repair under the original broken vinyl heel mat. This should give it some support for repairing the damaged surface vinyl tomorrow.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20mat_zpsp8ryj3r2.jpg.html

Day 64

This morning I released the clamp of the heel mat and had a good luck at the hole repair in the mat. All looked good. I put a final layer of PU adhesive on the rear of the mat just to tidy all the frayed ends and left for work while it dried.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20mat%20repair%20009_zpstx97buoq.jpg.html

During lunch I visited the car in storage and picked up a few bits and bobs I had taken off and put in the boot, plus arranged times to work on it at the weekend.

This evening when I got home I started on the heel mat part of the hole repair that will be seen. The mat has a very specific texture/moulding finish to it which I needed to replicate if the hole repair was going to be invisible. I decided to take a cast of the heel mat in a position where it was in good condition.
I made a small contained area about 2” x 3” (just bigger than the hole repair) using masking tape and then coated the heel mat in the middle with a little liquid soap using a modellers paint brush working it into the pattern. Next I cut some more small squares of scrim tape and lit a large candle. Carefully dripping candle wax into the contained area and adding scrim tape in layers I made a cast of the heel mat textured surface.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20mat%20repair%20008_zpsglonjq4t.jpg.html

Once cool it easily lifted out. I put it in the fridge to set solid while I had dinner.
Next I mixed up some light grey and black PU adhesive to as close a match as I could to the original dark grey. More liquid soap was brushed into the wax cast and the PU carefully applied to the top part of the hole repair.
Pressing in the wax casting as I went along creating the exact pattern in to my repair area. I was careful to line up the pattern for a matching repair.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20mat%20repairs%20002_zpswup8tzyq.jpg.html

The PU adhesive dries to a tough flexible rubber so should be long lasting. I intend to get some aftermarket tailored overmats for the car and the originals will be protected. I just feel better that whenever the new overmats will be lifted out for cleaning I’m not met with a gaping hole

Day 65

The PU on the mats had set solid this morning and the gloss had faded to a satin matt sheen which made it blend in even more to the original.

Today was a typical manic Friday at work and I had to work through lunch and stay back a couple of hours this evening. I did manage to call Porsche Centre to check if my angle drive seals were in and left a message with the reception but no one got back to me? I’ll try them again in the morning.

This evening I started to strip down the FI throttle body. There is quite a bit of wear in the butterfly spindle so I need to see if just a new shaft will sort it or whether I need a new shaft and sleeve the body. Looks like it’s 40+ years of fine desert sand again getting into the gap between body and shaft and grinding it away. All made worse by grease or oil put on by the PO helping stick the sand in place to make what can only be described as grinding paste.

Day 66

Today was a wonderful sunny day, blue skies not a cloud in sight so I just had to get some of my cars out and blow off the winter cobwebs.
I called Porsche Centre just as they opened and was told all the parts I had ordered were in.
I juggled a few cars around and took one out to pick up the parts. After clearing out the building into the car park I had a good chat with everyone and discussed my passion for cars and Porsche and 914’s in general. Ash the parts chap knew I had a Delorean back home but NO-ONE at Portsmouth Porsche Centre knew that Porsche actually built the first "Delorean design" prototype on a 914/6 platform, so I just had to tell them the whole story!

Back in the late 1960’s Giorgetto Giugiaro had designed a sports car for the future. Following talks with Porsche & BMW, Porsche built the first incarnation of Giugiaro’s design on a 914/6 platform. This was in 1970 and was part of a plan to replace the 912. It wasn’t until 1976 that John Z Delorean signed up to the design and it was reworked to be built on a Lotus chassis (modified prototype Esprit) and became the Delorean DMC 12. Ironically Giugiaro was then employed to design the Esprit body too.
I think the history is truly amazing and the connection to the 914 should not be forgotten. Porsche kept a lot of Giugiaro’s style cues and they evolved into the 928. Just look at a 928 in side profile and compare it to a Delorean.
Giugiaro’s Porsche version was called the Porsche Tapiro.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/Porsche_Tapiro_Silver_zps4zp3iurh.jpg.html

And John Delorean with the prototype DMC 12 (with even the same tan interior as the Tapiro).

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/DMC_publicity_photo_zpslqbfyghp.jpg.html

I thought I’d share that with you too.

Anyway, after picking up the parts this morning I got home and started moving a few cars around and took another one out to Machine Mart and bought some car skates, got back home and spent an hour putting them together before lunch so that I could spin yet another car around.
A van then pulled up and delivered these…..

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20calipers%20001_zps08y82vex.jpg.html

Ooooooo they do look nice, absolutely fantastic refurbishment can’t wait to get them back on the car. Problem is that Berlyn Services STILL haven’t got my new discs and wheel bearings yet. I did call them last week, but was told they are on transit from Germany. I can only presume they are being delivered by tortoises not hares.
I found a set of NOS front calliper piston retaining plates (the ones that sit behind the pads) calliper bolts and new lock tabs on US ebay in a kit for £6 a few evenings back so hopefully they’ll arrive next week. New pads and refurbished pins waiting, new handbrake cables fitted, it’s just the discs now that’s holding me up.
This evening I loaded my V70 up with tools and parts ready for a full day under the 914 tomorrow.

Day 67
Today I have mostly been underneath the car.
With the callipers done, pads and pins done, I thought they look so good that I simply couldn’t leave the disc backing stone covers looking their age. So the first job this morning was to take off all 4 original discs and remove the backing plates (and tie bar from the rears). I’ll drop them off tomorrow with the bead blasters and get them cleaned up and powder coated ready for when my new discs arrive.
I had to put the old discs back on again afterwards so that the car is still mobile.
Next I finished off putting on the tinware under the engine and replacing all the slot head screws with stainless steel.
I then took off the old damaged heater hoses, cleaned up around where they attach to the car and cut my nice new hose to length. These were then fitted with new stainless steel jubilee clips.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20underside%20007_zpswuqj0bvi.jpg.html

Next I sorted out the heater flap box cables and fitted them to the operating levers. After a bit of a fiddle, I managed to adjust them correctly so that the lever in the car opens and closes smoothly and fully.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20underside%20001_zps6hxvgqdb.jpg.html

I’m still waiting for my new speedo cable from Roger Bray, 10 days lead time has turned into 3 weeks and still no sign of it. The old one is still in the car and shown in the photo’s but will be changed as the sheath is very badly damaged.

Next the gearbox oil was drained out. (Top tip…always make sure you can get the fill plug out before you take the drain plug out). The oil was a little dirty but nothing to worry about. There was a small amount of sludge on the drain plug, but nothing metallic so hopefully the gear change won’t give me any issues just yet.
While the oil was out I decided to change the angle drive seals. Since cleaning the gearbox off the other weekend I could now see that it was the source of a leak as expected. I got the “O” seal, aluminium washer and lip seal from Porsche all for a tenner so set about changing them.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20underside%20008_zpsxnzhabmq.jpg.html

(don’t panic, the vice is lightly holding the drive while I hooked the old lip seal out, not squashing it)

Once cleaned up I rebuilt the angle drive a fitted it back into the car. The retaining bolt was inserted by hand so that I could feel it locate correctly before a spanner was used. Nipped up and as said before “the wobble is standard” but at least it’s not leaking now and wobbles far less. All in all it looks a lot cleaner under there now (compared to even the picture on page 6 of this thread when I had already cleaned for several weekends)
Finally I topped up the gearbox with nice new oil before I called it a day

Day 68

This morning before work I did a little tin bashing in my shed on the removed brake backing plates. They were a little out of shape and the edges were battered flat in places. I had a rummage around in one of my sheds and found some old discs off one of my other cars that were a perfect diameter (just a little larger than the 914 ones). I clamped one in the vice and used it as a former to get the backing plates back into shape using a range of panel beating hammers (so as not to get half crowns in them).
I then went to my friends unit and moved the car out into the compound so that he could start work at 7am.
During lunch I went over to the powder coaters and dropped off the backing plates for blasting.
Tonight when I got home (after mentioning it yesterday) there was a packet waiting…New Speedo cable….if it had only arrived on Saturday I could have fitted it yesterday! Hey ho, that’s how it goes sometimes.
Anyway; tonight I needed to do a bit of work on one of my other projects so I ended up siphoning very nasty old fuel out of a fuel tank. Boy did the fumes burn and inevitably I ended up with a mouth full a couple of times. I’d tried to run the car on Saturday and it wasn’t happy on 2 year + old fuel, so it had to go.
Back on track with the 914 after a cup of tea (for mouthwash) I went online and ordered a few bits ready for next weekend. I really hope the Discs turn up this week as I’m itching to get them on so that I can fit the callipers and finally get some long awaited fluid back in the system.

Day 69

Today I have mostly been collecting more shiny parts

I had a card in the post yesterday when I got home (another parcel that required a signature). I was waiting at the sorting office door again this morning to collect when they opened.
It was my Front Calliper service kits from US ebay.
During lunch I called in at the nut & bolt specialist and got some new M8 x 10mm bolts to hold the disc backing plates on when they are back from the powdercoaters.
Tonight I started on fitting out the callipers with my nice new bits.

Here’s the old refurbished Pins and the new clips I sourced earlier.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20brake%20bits%20002_zpsfhlb1fn8.jpg.html

Following the superb refurbishment of my Calipers I still needed to find new calliper piston locking plates for the front (the ones that stop the pistons turning and sit behind the pads) and the long locking tab washers for the calliper mounting bolts.
Both parts no longer available I eventually found them on US ebay using a Porsche Part number search.
As said before they were NOS and contained all seals, clips and rubber gaiters to rebuild the front callipers. Having just had mine done I only needed the missing parts below.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20brake%20bits%20001_zps7ngln8pl.jpg.html

The rest of the parts (calliper piston seals, dust gaiters & clips) I’ll keep for the future. Not a bad kit for just over £7 a side, even comes with new High Tensile mounting bolts!
Tonight I assembled them into the front callipers using a light smear of Mintex Cera Tec special brake anti corrosion grease.
Still no sign of the new discs and bearings…..can’t understand how I can get parts “no longer available from Porsche” from a chap in Indiana, USA within a week and after 3 weeks still can’t get "in stock" parts from Germany via Berlyn Services in UK?

Day 70

Today I have mostly been….cleaning up stuff.
Despite a manic day at work in my lunch break I managed to pick up a new pair of Track rod ends from my local Motor factor, some more replacement nuts & bolts and speak to Berlyn Services about my brake disc order. It transpires that after FIVE weeks the discs are “lost in transit” from Germany? All I can do now is sit and wait while they are either located or another set is sourced. So I don’t think with all the will in the world I’ll get them in time to fit this weekend.
Resigned to this fact, I decided to look at what other stuff I can get done, hence getting the track rod ends.
This evening I started cleaning up more FI bits. Still have a major problem with the FI wiring loom and throttle body, I priced up replacement parts (hoses, injectors etc) and tonight I have to admit I got my Weber Carbs out of storage and had a good look at them.
In between all this I had to put a few hours in on other car club stuff. I’m event organiser on one club and on the committee of another, so have plenty of tasks needing completing, plus I’m also involved in the BBC Children in Need Carfest events. I try to organise all my outings for the various clubs in a way that supports one charity or another and between them all I average £5-10K per year in money donated.
My next event is a private workshop visit to Spellbound Cars of Farnham. Again the majority of the event fee, once food is covered, will go to charity.
The remainder of this evening I sorted out some spare cardboard boxes and loaded up all parts refurbished & newly acquired into “everything needed to change specific parts” on the car that I’ve started to date. Since I’m limited to working on the car at weekends only, I’m trying to be organised to make best use of that time. This involves counting out bolts, washers, nuts, split pins etc and bagging them up so everything is there. I created brake backing plate sets tonight with everything needed to fit them, minus the plates which should be ready tomorrow.

Day 71

More running around today tracking down a few more bits and bobs.
I’m looking for a single air deflector plate? So far I’ve had no joy finding one. Part No 914.559.163.10. It’s one of the little black plastic flaps that hang down under the car at the base of the rear bulkhead (in front of the engine).
Today I picked up some new spring washers for the rear calliper bolts and spent this evening painting the new track rod ends.
They arrive in bare metal and would corrode in time so I mixed up some black & silver in an old spray can lid to match the cast steel colour and gave them a coat of paint. You’d never know they were painted to look at them but hopefully it’ll slow down the rusting process.

Day 72

This morning before work I gave the Track rod ends a coat of clear lacquer over yesterdays paint.
During lunch I picked up the disc backing plates. Tonight is food shop night so after getting home later than normal and filing up the cupboards I went off to the shed.
As soon as stuff comes back from the powder coaters I tap out any threaded holes. With all the will in the world masking stuff up, the powder coat process is electrostatic so it creeps into the smallest gap.
Threads cleaned out and a little copper grease applied, they’re good to go for assembly over the weekend. Considering what the backing plates looked like beforehand(rusty dented and bent out of shape) they are flawless and BETTER than new now.
The discs still haven’t turned up, so I may have to take the old ones off and back on yet again just to fit the backing plates.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20brake%20bits2%20002_zpsqstqmwum.jpg.html

Day 73

This Morning I checked the new Gemo speedo cable against the old one before fitting to make sure it was the correct length.
Only then did I notice the two grommets on the new cable were on backwards!
I had to do a double take; but yes they were fitted backwards. What a bloomin struggle it was to get them off the cable. I opted for sliding them down to the gauge end where the securing nut was smaller. Even so it was a real battle stretching the large grommet with a 6mm hole over a 20mm nut!
Once off it was another battle in reverse to fit them back on the right way around.
It was also another Desert Sand nightmare day. Getting the old speedo cable out meant getting under the centre console. I took the seats out for more space and after finding where the console securing screws were I lifted out the two insert panels and found the whole inside of the console had about ¼” of fine sand inside it.
Another ½ hour hovering and I could lift the carpet to reveal the cable and the bent over securing tabs.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20speedo%20cable%20001_zpsyl8y5nkh.jpg.html

Seats out there was more sand in all the creases and gaps around the centre tunnel. The ridges in the vinyl were ½” deep in sand! More hovering up.
Anyways, after getting the cable out I could see the age related damage more clearly.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20speedo%20cable%20002_zpshsharsrx.jpg.html

It really did need changing.
What a pig it is trying to hook the cable end out of the tunnel void and into the car on your own. I ended up bending a coat hanger in a U shape to fish it out. I also noted the route it takes over the steering UJ and found metal bend over tabs to hold it clear of the steering. Not obvious first of all but there for a good reason.
Next I set up the new clutch cable. After reading the Haynes manual I was concerned about the instruction to extend the cable 10mm into the clevis as I thought it would foul the lever. I’d been advised to cut it down before fitting as new cables are too long. So after cutting 10mm off the end I fitted it with 5mm into the Clevis. Adjusting the cable under the car I found to get the required ½-3/4” free play I pretty much used up all the cable adjustment; even with it cut down.
I reckon you need to cut at least 15mm off the pedal end of the cable to give you some adjustment over the years as the cable stretches.
With still time left this afternoon I fitted the two nylon rollers to the boot hinge. Again this was another wrestle with the spring bars to hold them down enough to slip on the Roller. I used a deep 10mm socket with a 8” extension bar, slipped over the end and levered down while holding the boot up. Scary at times but I just managed to get them on.
After a cuppa I then took all the wheels and discs off again to fit the disc backing plates.
Lastly I replaced the two new track rod ends.
All I need now is those blessed discs and bearings to turn up, so that I can get the callipers back on!

Day 74

Sunday was a quiet day. I’d not got access to the car as my friend had to be with his mum for some reason.
Anyhow I still got up at the crack of dawn and started cleaning a few more bits up before breakfast. Afterwards I spend 6 hours polishing the coachwork of one of my other cars, but started to get a little bored so will do the other half of the car over some of the evenings next week, and maybe the brightwork the week after. 40 hours cleaning on average for 1 hours use…that’s vintage cars for you!
Anyway after cleanathon part 1 of 2015 , I started part “whatever it is now 2015”on more 914 parts from my removed FI parts tub of doom. I only managed 3 hours before I’d had enough for the day, so retired to my PC to convert some ideas/sketches I have on a new door hinge design (for yet another car) into CAD so I can do a feasibility study on manufacture (long story for another time).

Day 75

I sorted out some materials in my shed to make up some brackets I’ve come up with and as expected I’m short on some 3mm stainless plate so made a note of sizes before leaving for work so that I could sort it out over lunch.
I contacted Roger Bray about the incorrectly assembled Gemo Speedo cables they sell, and got a “not really interested” response as it’s a low volume sale. So if your thinking of buying one Caveat Emptor.
I also chased Berlyn Services again on my Brake discs. We’re in week 6 now since taking my money and still NO news on where they are or when to expect them.
At least I managed to pick up some clear plastic 6mm hose before the end of lunch. I plan to cut it into 2ft lengths and connect to all the bleed nipples on the callipers and into an array of jam jars for when I eventually fill the brake system with fluid. I found in the past that gravity is your best friend when first filling a completely empty braking system. Open all bleeds slightly and fill reservoir. When you see fluid in the clear tubes close off in turn until all callipers are full with fluid. Only then pump and bleed the system in the order recommended. Makes it a far less messy job when you can see and capture the fluid. Well that’s my plan anyway, if the discs ever turn up of course.
Tonight was a little busy. Just got back from a car club committee meeting at 11pm, that started at 6pm (we have managed to secure the Battle of Britain Spitfire & Hurricane to do a flypast over one of our events which is a good result!), so it was a long one tonight, and apart from taking time out to update this thread I’d didn’t get chance to do anything on the car tonight. Bit frustrating but that’s how it goes some days.

Day 76

Today I had some good news…I got an email from Berlyn Services who say I should see my new brake discs tomorrow. We’ll have to see what happens.
During lunch today I visited the paintshop. My tame painter came over a few weekends ago to look at the 914, and we have agreed a glass out, panels & doors off bare metal two-pack job. It’s booked in for next month so I need to start prepping & stripping the car once the brakes are done.
I think I’ve pretty much decided to weld up the front side marker lights for a Euro look (plus I think they look hideous) The jury’s out on the overriders but as they are rubber and like everything else rubber on the car they are very badly perished, it would be simpler to weld up the holes (as the bumpers black not chrome) before they are repainted.
I picked up a few more stainless fixings on the way back to work from the painters and tonight I did some more on the engine lid.
I stripped it down to its component parts including taking out the spring wires and hinge rubber stops ready for painting. I notice a bit of deformation in the black plastic water tray, so tomorrow I plan on getting a heat gun on it to straighten it out. There’s also a crack in it that I’ll need to “plastic weld” too. I took out a few bends in the engine lid frame above the hinges. It looks like the PO bent the steel up with pliers when the rubber limit stops had worn down, instead of replacing the stops? To be fair what’s left of the bump stops are perished, so I need to track some down.
I used a fork trim clip tool to get all the mesh securing rubber washers off (so they can be re-used) and the mesh lifted off cleanly.
There were a few dents in the mesh, and half the Porsche script letters were missing or broken, so I took the rest off and gently got all the dents out ready for repainting.
Tonight I’ve been on-line and ordered some new infill trim, and after, plan on going through the Parts catalogue to get some part numbers ready for a visit to Porsche Centre tomorrow lunchtime.

Day 77

So on to todays escapades…..

Guess what?………

NO DISCS to be seen despite Berlyn’s assurances yesterday.
I phoned them today and things had gotten out of hand yet again. I was told that they had the rear discs (and had sent them out) but had NO fronts! After a long discussion with David at Berlyn it was revealed that they had, had no joy from their supplier, and had tried Roger Bray who had told them he had a pair then sent only ONE and that was rusty! David tried German & Swedish, and they only had the early front version so had come to a blank.
Now, as you can imagine I was not best pleased, but here’s why it pays to keep calm and carry on communicating. I just happened to discuss the difference between the early & late discs when I happened to mention my fronts had a boss on them so you can mount the wheel and spin it to align the bolts rather than try and lift and hold the weight of the wheel to line up the bolt holes like you do on the rears. David paused and then said he thought I wanted front discs without the boss? “No?” then he sent me an email photo of new discs he has in stock with the boss on them.
DOH!
He had the right ones all along, but never communicated that? So he assures me they will be with me tomorrow. (Hmmm, I’ll have to wait and see again, particularly as the rears seem to be lost in transit now)

Last night after updating my 914 Diary I sorted out some part numbers and spoke to Porsche Centre at lunchtime.
Only 1 part in 4 was still available (the rubber bump stops that fit under the engine lid hinges, so I ordered a pair. Mine are worn off at 45 degrees and broke off when I tried to remove them yesterday. The other parts were piping and seals that fit around the mesh grille inserts. Not too big a deal as I know 914rubber do them. That said I have sourced the U trim off ebay, and I think I might have found a suitable T piping. Having owned and restored a few 911’s, the impact bumpers have a small T trim between them and the rear quarters. You can buy it by the foot from Porscheshop in Birmingham for a few quid. It’s probably good for the scuttle to front wing too. I’ll order some up and let you know how I get on.
This morning before work I did a couple of hours on one of my other cars, and tonight I started on the engine lid parts.
First I cleaned up everything; more SAND, I’m getting a Herbert Lom twitch now at the sight of the damn stuff!
Next I cleaned up the spring rods which were caked in sand and surface rust. Rubbed them down with wet & dry and gave them a zinc prime.
After washing out the water trough earlier it was now dry so I got my heat gun and started to straighten out the bow and distortion in it.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20lid%20tray%20001_zpsscjus8kr.jpg.html

And straightened out.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20lid%20tray2%20002_zpswcpcherl.jpg.html

Finally I melt/welded the two cracks up on it.
It’s very sun bleached, so tomorrow morning I plan on trying a little rubbing compound on it to see if it takes off the milky surface back to black. Last resort is to paint it with some satin black bumper paint, but I’d prefer not too.

Day 78

This morning started off well, I got a coat of silver onto the spring rods for the engine lid and started on the drain trough with some rubbing paste before going to work.
I was away from my desk this morning looking at a few projects and when I got back my colleague had a message from Kay at Berlyn Services.
No Discs turned up yesterday (as I had been told by David three times, both verbally and by email, would) because Kay’s message was to say NOTHING had been sent!
To say I was astonished is an understatement!
I immediately emailed a reply on to end of David’s “sincere” email from 2 days ago assuring me he’d sent the rear discs and that the fronts would follow, simply asking if Kay’s message was correct. Since it was mid morning I couldn’t phone at work until lunchtime.
The answer came back a couple of hours later in a long protracted email from Kay, that went on and on but really didn’t answer my question as why no discs at all had been sent out as David had said. Finding it hard to keep calm, I thanked Kay and asked again why am I being mislead and when can I expect to see my discs as now we are at the end of week 6 from ordering “in stock” parts.
So folks, guess what. The reply is they will be with me tomorrow……déjà vu anyone?
As you can imagine I was quite grumpy this lunchtime. No fear, I thought. Lets phone Porscheshop and see about the small T piping they’re advertising on their website that might just do for the engine lid.
“Err, let me check it out and get back to you straight away” said the chap at Porscheshop.
Guess what at 10 to 5 they still hadn’t called me back, so I called them.
“Oh yeah, I was going to call you back….it’s out of stock and no longer available”
Here we go again!
“So why is it on your shop website as in stock with a price by it per foot, and why when I phoned you earlier wouldn’t it have been easier to tell me there and then, rather than keeping me hanging?”
The response was another “not really interested” “yeah we’ll have to change that”

So all in all a very disappointing and frustrating day on the parts front delaying progress on the car.

This evening I got home and spent a couple of hours rubbing pasting then T cutting the engine lid trough back to nice shiny black plastic from the grey dry thing it was.
I then got the two small grill sections that go either side of the engine lid out of a storage tub (took them off at the start of the restoration) and gave them a once over. The edges were bent badly and one side was dented. I can only presume that when the car was re-sprayed badly (that’s the surface that’s now peeling off all over) they must have wrenched the small grilles off with a screwdriver as a lever instead of removing the rubber grip washers! They obviously mangled the drivers one first, then were careful with the passenger side, but gave up and left the engine lid one on. (The evidence being the black piping I’m trying to find having a masking tape line with blue paint on it, on the engine lid but not the two side grilles which have no blue paint on)
Anyhow, last of all this evening, it took a little tin bashing with my planishing hammers and I managed to straighten them both out

Day 79

This morning started off well, I got another coat of silver on the engine lid rods and left for work. After the anti climatic eclipse we had a parcel delivery.
To my surprise it was the discs and bearings. Halleluiah !
At lunchtime I called in at Porsche Centre to collect the engine lid hinge rubber stops.
“no longer available” here we go again! So to make a mends I thought I’d try them for the 911 wing beading that Porsche shop said they could no longer get. It transpires its all still available, but unfortunately cut to the correct length by Porsche. So to use it on the 914 engine cover I’d have to have 3 sections instead of one continuous length. After a bit of thought I remembered the sill trim on a 968 had a full length tiny T trim, maybe that will do as a substitute? So I’ve ordered one and I’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
It’s Friday again which is food shop evening so I got home an hour later than normal, but after putting food away in the cupboards, I opened my mail. The new U trim was here, perfect match. Great!
Next I opened the box from Berlyn services and checked the discs, all looked good.
Now I am able to fit them to the car tomorrow and finally get the callipers on I decided to fit the bearing races into the front discs this evening to save time.
On opening the first bearing box, The races were in torn open bags with dirty grease fingerprints all over them?????
They looked new but obviously someone had opened them before me with dirty hands presumably about to fit them to their car….
After double checking them for any damage and cleaning them off, I offered the outer race up first.
Then my heart sank..
It was TOO BIG , they’d sent me bearings in a box marked Mercedes!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/wrong%20bearings%20001_zpseatnitxb.jpg.html

To say I’m having a bad day again with Berlyn Services is an understatement.

All I can do now to recover the situation is try and cross ref the numbers at my local Motor Factors to stand a chance of getting them on the car this weekend.

Desperate to make some progress today I have spent the last 2 hours de-greasing and painting the new disc hubs and outer edges. If one thing annoys me its taking off wheels to see flaky rusty disc hubs.

Day 80

This morning I was waiting outside the local Motor Factors for them to open at 7:30, hoping to resolve the bearing issue.
Unfortunately they only had the outer bearings and could get the inners, but not until Monday. They were very good and phoned around but only found one supplier about 30 miles away who had a single bearing, but one would not be good as I’d prefer two of the same make.
I called all the usual factors. German & Swedish (out of stock), Pro parts, (don’t keep)
Euro car parts (on the shelf in stock). Great I thought, I asked the chap if he could just check physically they were there rather than relying on the computer. After about 10 seconds he said “yep” in stock.
Fantastic, I thought and drove 12 miles to pick them up. However when I got to the counter the chap said “sorry, not in stock, we can get them for Wednesday!”
When I explained that I’d phoned and spoke to someone there only ½ hour ago before I set off, they denied all knowledge!
So again to recover what was left of the morning I decided to go up to the unit and get the rear discs fitted.

I managed to get both sides on, fit the callipers & pads and connect and adjust the handbrake.
The pad clearance adjusting screws vexed me for a short while, then the penny dropped. The outer adjusters are LH thread. I’d adjusted the inners to get a pad clearance of 0.2mm easily as they are RH thread. I’d gone to do the outers and they just turned and turned with nothing happening (clockwise) so initially I was stumped
Anyways I managed to get the rear all assembled and adjusted, even if I didn’t get the fronts done. I’ve ordered a set of bearings for Monday and I’ve emailed Berlyn Services some pictures so will have to see what resolution they come up with on Monday too.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20rear%20discs%20003_zpsu1qbkdbt.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20rear%20discs%20001_zpssftgssbe.jpg.html

This evening when I got home I put a second coat of very high temp grey on the front discs and clear lacquer over the silver on the engine lid spring rods.

Day 81

Today I spent the majority of the day attending a charity car show, but this afternoon Kev the UK Porsche club GB 914 registrar (who was in the area) called in to visit.
We chatted all things 914 and he took a look at the parts I have off the car and we identified a few discrepancies and problems that I need to address.
All in all it was an afternoon & evening well spent. Many thanks Kev, I hope you enjoyed looking at my other projects too.
So tomorrow I will hopefully pick up the correct front bearings and move things forward again.

Day 82

Last week I emailed Berlyn Services pictures of the incorrect bearings and this afternoon I’d not had a reply so I phoned them and got the ansa machine. Left a message but no-one phoned me back today?
Hey ho, lets hope they respond tomorrow, I just want to get my money back that’s all.

Well, at least my trustworth local Motor factors came up trumps today and at lunchtime I picked up two correct bearing sets. Should have gone there first really, they were half the price of the wrong Berlyn ones!
So tonight I finally got to fit them to my new front discs.
Because the old discs and bearings are still on my car which is a few miles away from home I couldn’t use the old outer races to drift in the new bearings as I would have normally done. Not wanting to do this on Saturday (as it would waste weekend valuable assembly time) I decided to see what I had to hand to make new bearing drifts. The inner race sits quite deep into the back of the disc so using an old outer race here to drift it in could end up with it getting stuck.
I had a rummage in my metal bar off-cut storage and the nearest bar I had would need a good 20mm turning down off the diameter which to be fair is a waste of the bar. I then looked in my big socket drawer and found two that were just about 1mm too big. I stuck them in my lathe and took a skim off them to get a perfect size and used them to nicely drift the new bearings home.
Inner drift

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bearing%20fit%20002_zpsmjw2ikad.jpg.html

Outer drift

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bearing%20fit%20001_zpstg6dksv0.jpg.html

For info the bearing set is made by:
Premier Bearing Components
Part ref BRT333
Comes with inner & outer bearing and the oil seal for £7.47 +Vat

Day 83

This morning I emailed Berlyn Services again and they called me this afternoon. I’m posting the wrong bearings back tomorrow and getting a refund, so that’s the end of the saga as far as I’m concerned.
Today at lunchtime I picked up a bit of steel bar from the local engineering supplies and tonight I’ve been turning on my lathe for a couple of hours. I’m part way through making a little 914 gadget that if it works out ok, I’ll share it with you all.
Kev emailed the Porsche Authenticity Certificate application form today so I’ll get that filled in and sent off to aid registering the car here in UK with DVLA and getting the tax fee status (pre 1975 manufacture).

Day 84

This morning I started off by sanding smooth the plastic weld repair of the split in the engine lid water tray and boxed up those wrong bearings to post back to Berlyn, then left for work.
During lunch I filled in and emailed off the form Kev sent me for the Certificate of Authenticity. About 20 minutes later I got a call from a lady at Porsche. She asked if I needed the certificate to register my car (as I had put “not registered yet in UK” in the box for registration). I said yes, it was part of the paperwork I intend to submit to DVLA. Mainly because of the date of manufacture to qualify for tax free status. She said that the Certificate of Authenticity is NOT VALID for DVLA, it needs to be a “Certificate of Origin” for DVLA.
Apart from the header on the top of the piece of paper they are basically one and the same. The only problem is Porsche want £65 for the “Origin” and as a PCGB member the “Authenticity” is free.
So what to do?
I said send the free “Authenticity” document and I’ll submit it and take a chance. DVLA are a strange lot, they won’t accept a VIN plate on a car as its chassis ID or date of manufacture (since they can be tampered with) and a US Title (their V5) just has a year of manufacture, not date. I had this with my Delorean. The VIN said car No 4532 and August 81. They rejected that and registered it as Jan 1st 1981, I argued that the factory didn’t start making cars until March/April 81 and mine is the 4532nd, so it can’t be 1st January. They wouldn’t budge without a letter from The Delorean Motor Company (but that wrapped up in 1983) so even a club historian letter wouldn’t do. I gave up in the end as it was just plain red tape and no-one I spoke to at DVLA could use basic common sense.
Hopefully this time around I might get an easier ride when I come to register the car. It’s all rubbish really as a friend of mine registered his kit car with a frame chassis and BMW engine as a Lamborghini Replica and the logbook came back as Manufacturer Lamborghini, no mention of replica…how does that work then when they are so pedantic over a less important day & date?

Anyway I posted the bearings back during what was left of my lunch break and when I got home tonight I spent an hour on my lathe and another in the attic rubbing down the engine lid water tray. Despite several hours trying to rubbing paste it to bring back the colour its returned to a sort of milky grey. I’m resigned to the fact if I want it black I’ll have to paint it with a flexible plastic bumper paint.

Day 85

Today I’ve been doing a bit more turning on the lathe and also put a light coat of plastic paint on the engine lid water tray and to be fair it looks much better than I was expecting.
During lunch I picked up a litre of brake fluid from the Motor Factors ready for the weekend rebuilding and this evening after an hour on the lathe I gave the new high tensile front calliper bolt heads a coat of satin black paint to prolong that “new” look when they’re fitted.
Tomorrow hopefully Porsche Centre will have the 968 sill piping in so I can see if it’s a good substitute for the no longer available engine lid mesh T trim

Day 86

Today I finished off turning my proto-type press tool (that I didn't want to mention until I knew it worked) and picked up a nice M16 bolt for the centre this lunchtime. No news on the trim part from Porsche so hopefully Monday it’ll be in?

I have been thinking on a good way of blanking the front wing marker lights. To do this well would require swageing a recess in the wing and welding in a disc of steel to blank it off. The idea is to dress off the weld and hopefully little or no filler will be required.
Last weekend I removed a light and took a set of measurements. The main issue is not only the large hole but the smaller fixing holes around it. To do this right I need to include the small fixing holes behind the new covering disc. The panel looked to be completely flat in the local area of the light, but tomorrow I will take along my new press tool and just check if there is any contour in the wing.

After work & Tescos tonight I got a piece of 1mm scrap steel and cut two test holes in it, the same size as those in the front wings. Next I located the press tool and simply tightened the nut and bolt to press a trial recess.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20ind%20press%20001_zps2c3xwlu8.jpg.html

I repeated this in the second test hole and they both came out perfect with no distortion in the surrounding sheet.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20ind%20press%20003_zpsmrk4f8yo.jpg.html

The plan tomorrow is to get the front discs, callipers, pads etc and fluid into the car, afterwards I can tinker with checking the tool and wing contours before I jump in and press them.

Day 87

Today shall be known as BLACK Saturday!

Question: When is a 914 front brake disc not a 914 front brake disc?

Answer: When you buy it from Porsche Specialists Berlyn Services and wait 6 weeks for it to turn up

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20001_zps0gdsaylv.jpg.html

What on earth have Berlyn Services sent me?

It certainly IS NOT 914, its VW Beetle!

Day 88

After a wasted day yesterday and a sleepless night I can’t wait for the phone call tomorrow to Berlyn Services.

Today I needed to move forward regardless of the disc issue. The car is booked in the paintshop on the 20th of next month so today I started to strip stuff off ready for painting.
First I removed the front and rear bumpers. Both have a tiny bit of surface rust which isn’t an issue. They have dents and scrapes which is more of a problem. A bit of gentle tin bashing is required. It was nice to take them off and flip them over and find no rust at all, plus all the nuts bolts and washers were still shiny gold zinc plate.
Next the rear and front valances were taken off.
The rear is reasonably dent & rust free, the front however is pretty sorry for itself.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20008_zpsomrfmxoz.jpg.html

And the other side

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20009_zps8u5f6v8v.jpg.html

Both pressings around the suspension mounts are dented, torn and generally in a mess. I’ll have to do some serious tin bashing here to revive them.

Again I was pleasantly surprised to find very, very little rust behind both bumpers (just a tiny spot where the valances are attached) and considering the damage to the front valance, the body behind didn’t have a scratch on it! Both bumpers were absolutely full of sand as expected, so after a hoover up and brush and pan, this is how the car behind looks.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20018_zpsxxhyxtfa.jpg.html

And the rear

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20017_zpsts2r9wtl.jpg.html

Just a few tiny bits of rust where the valances were screwed on and that’s it!

So, now came the moment of truth, taking the sill covers off…
Everyone I’d spoken to when saying that I had found no rust (apart from the battery tray) on my car, just smiled and said “wait until you take off the sill covers and reveal the jacking points”
To say they were full of sand was an understatement. I got almost half a bucket full out of each side, plus more Californian spiders nests and webs.
Again I used a soft handbrush (from my brush and pan) then a damp cloth to wipe the final dusty sand residue off and found them like this…

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20014_zpsbax32ujf.jpg.html

The jack points are a little dirty and I will have to give them a T-cut just to make them factory new again. (The door bottoms are rust free, that's just dirt & water stains showing in the camera flash)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20015_zpsmtorat1j.jpg.html

There’s a bit of scratching down the jack tube, but most of the blue paints still in there. As per the rest of the car, I couldn’t find any rust to write about.
The lower vertical spot weld seam on the base of the sill has a few bits of chipped paint on it so I’ll touch them in with a small brush.
Apart from a T-cut I think I’ll get the paint shop just to mask them up and not paint them. I quite like the idea of keeping the original paint on them. Maybe a coat of clear Waxoil would be enough to preserve the surface for UK weather.
At least today was a result and redeemed some of yesterday’s frustration with the brake disc saga!
The thing is, now I have a summerhouse full of Bumpers, Sills & Valances to work on. Hey ho, it’ll give me something to do while the cars away at the painters.

Day 89

So here is where I am at with Berlyn Services and my 914 front brake discs ordered 7 weeks ago.
Their website is still live showing the discs for sale with the correct part number.
Now on the telephone this afternoon Mr David Barker of Berlyn Services said that he can get me the discs from a supplier that isn’t his normal source and I can have them hopefully for the weekend.
So all I need to do is pay him a further £140 on top of the price shown on his website for the discs that I have already paid for 7 weeks ago!
Alternatively I can wait (indefinitely) until his normal source of discs become available again.
Now call me old fashioned but I think that under the sale of goods act Berlyn Services and I have a “contract” at the price advertised and after 7 weeks I feel a bit miffed off to say the least that they now want another £140 from me, whilst they continue to advertise a fixed price on their website, which I paid in good faith.
This is basically holding me to ransom, issues with their supplier is NOT my problem, if they had supply issues way before I placed my order 7 weeks ago, why still advertise 914 discs for sale?
I have been lead a merry dance with them, multiple false hopes, and now being told I can have the discs by the weekend if I pay a further £140 is really the last straw. I am a patient man, but also have principles. Unfortunately I am so wound up by them now that walking away is not going to benefit anyone else in future.
They simply cannot run a reputable business like this and need to sort themselves out. If I let it go they'll just be more inclined to do it again and again to other people and bring more misery on unsuspecting UK customers.
The correct thing for them to do is just send me the discs that I know they can get within 48hrs and take it on the chin. I'm sure they make enough profit to cover any loss in this instance. Then take off sale 914 discs until they have stock and relist them at any revised price as necessary.

I'm sorry if I come across a bit blo*dy minded, but if it's one thing I cannot stand, it's an injustice.
People are truly judged on their actions when things are going wrong, not when they are going right.

Day 90

Moving on from what could become an all consuming legal action…..

Tonight for a couple of hours I took my frustrations out with a bit of tin bashing. The passenger side sill cover had damage around the jacking hole. Not certain how this came about but it’s possible the car slipped off the jack at some point in its history and the tip of the jack caught the hole in the sill cover and folded the top of the aperture in under itself. The metal was rolled up and under so it took a bit of straightening out. Then with a range of hammers and dollies I beat out all the deformation. Draw filing the surface and a little more hammering, finished with 80 grit on a block got it flat and true without the need for any filler. Next I flattened out all the fixing holes which had been dished down by using pop rivets rather than the original fixings. Again a little more straightening out of the sill cover return edges (that were a bit wavy) and its as good as new. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll cast an eye over the drivers side and deal with all the niggles in that one

Month 3

What a roller coaster month this has been!

Thanks for reading.

Posted by: stevegm Dec 30 2015, 04:02 PM

Wow. Great job documenting the build.

Posted by: Andyrew Dec 30 2015, 07:14 PM

Longs look great! Lots of detail in your posts, looks like your able to make some decent progress, sorry to hear about your parts fiasco!!

Posted by: Darren C Jan 23 2016, 03:36 PM

Build off Challenge Month 4

Just to clarify, this is day 91, not only of the build, but day 91 of car ownership (since my car arrived in the UK)

Day 91

Today I had carried on working on the sill (rocker) covers taking out small stone and possibly an old seat belt dents. 3 hours on the passenger side sill cover and they're all gone. I spoke to my bead blaster at lunchtime and it looks like the parts (bumpers, valances & sills) are too big to fit in their small chamber, so I looked at alternatives.
I used another local company a while back for another restoration who sand blasted my old 944 body. They’ve agreed to do the parts for me.
I might get my own back by using sand to my advantage for once on the car!
I may throw in the engine lid as it’s the same as the rest of the body, badly resprayed and peeling. The intricate underside of the engine lid pressing is going to be a pain to clear all the bad paint off. I suspect that the intricacy of the underside was the reason they couldn’t be bothered to prepare it properly before it got resprayed in the past. I don’t want to make that same mistake so sand blasting it free of all paint is probably the best way to ensure a good respray now.

Day 92

This morning before work I did a bit of etch priming over the tin bashing I did last night on the passenger sill cover. Just to stop the bare metal going rusty while I work on the parts so they’ll be ready as a group to send in for sand blasting. Plus with a coat of primer you can see if you’ve missed any small dents much easier.
Tonight I started dent removal of the drivers side sill cover. Not as bad as the passenger one was, just the dishing around the incorrect pop rivet holes and two tiny dents in the side. All sorted now.
With the welcome light nights starting now I etch primed the second sill and started on the rear bumper. There was a very nasty scrape type dent between the number plate and the over rider. (Looking closely at the pictures the seller sent me when my car got loaded on the transporter - I asked her to take lots 360 degrees around the car before shipping - I can clearly say the rear bumper dent was caused somewhere in transit from California to Southampton). The bumper is much thicker steel than the sills so it did put up a lot of resistance. After an hour I have pretty much got it out.
Anyway I had to wrap up about 8pm, not so much a light issue, more a consideration for my neighbours. It’s not fair on them hammering and banging at 5:30am and 8pm. So the plan tomorrow is to finish the rear bumper defects.

Day 93

After breakfast I waited until 8am to continue hammering out the dents and damage on the bumpers, so to not upset the neighbours too early.
The front valance on passenger side was very badly dented and deformed as per the photo I posted before with it still on the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20008_zpsomrfmxoz.jpg.html

When it was off the car on closer inspection it was pretty mangled on the passenger side

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20valance%20002_zpskhogvz4z.jpg.html

After a couple of hours and some serious metal persuasion I got it reasonably sorted out.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20valance%20006_zpskebi9geb.jpg.html

The drivers side of the valance when on the car was also pushed in and bent.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20009_zps8u5f6v8v.jpg.html

Same as the other side when taken off and flipped over

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20valance%20001_zps1rclqdoy.jpg.html

A few more hours tin bashing and it’s back in shape

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20valance%20004_zpsqpdj3ymq.jpg.html

I wrapped up that evening at 6pm. I do get bored after 10 hours gently tapping out dents, so need to stop for a change of job so that I don’t get complacent with the dents. It’s far easier to have a “that’ll do” attitude after a day with a hammer. I’ve found if I walk away and return another day I end up doing a better job in the long run. So the valance has been saved for another day and wont need any nasty filler in it

Day 94

Today I started at 6:30 am taking parts off the car in preparation for the repaint.

Starting at the front of the car I took off…..

Horns
Fog/Driving lights
Row of large rubber caps
Two small rubber stops that the valance rests on (same as the ones on the engine lid hinges)
1 x small grommet in boot floor
2 x small panels in front of pop up lights (then removed the securing grommets
2 x light motors, relays & bases
2 x pop up light covers (the painted tops)
2 x pop up light assemblies complete
2 x bonnet rubber rests
Bonnet seals
Bulkhead seal
Front carpet
Spare wheel, and cover
Little sticker for fuel (saved to put back on after paint)
Drilled out rivets and removed ali VIN plate
Drilled out rivets and removed small id plate in spare wheel well
Removed side markers and what was left of the perished rubber cable sheath under the wings.
2 x front light assemblies (indicator/sidelights)
Undid all the bent metal tab wiring loom retainers, straightened flat and took of plastic tube covers.
Removed numerous through bulkhead wire grommets
Pulled back whole front wiring loom and coiled up out of the way to allow painting inside whole bonnet.
2 x wiper arms, and spindle nuts washers and seal rings to scuttle.
2 x windscreen washer jets
Complete windscreen aluminium surround trim (uber carefully)
Radio aerial
Door mirror
2 x rear tail light assemblies
All wiring tabs and sleeves in boot
Pulled back whole rear wiring loom and coiled into engine bay
2 x white large cup plugs buy rear strut tops
2 x strut top large rubber covers
2 x targa roof white clips (had to drill out very large pop rivets)
2 x targa black clips over rear lights
1 x boot light.
Boot & bulkhead rubber edge seal
2 x polished ali trims (curved facing backwards) either side of rear window
2 x thin polished ali trims running at the base of the vinyl covered quarters
2 x ali trims and door seals up the rear of the door opening
1 x rubber trim up windscreen pillars and across targa top front. (Boy was that rock hard and shattered into 1000 bits)
2 x ali trims up back of windscreen pillars that the rubber sits in.
And finally with a very flat wallpaper scraper I took what was left of the vinyl off the sides of the rear quarter panels.

All in all not a bad days progress, everything labelled (especially wiring) and all parts and fixings bagged and labelled too.

Again my Nemesis SAND was found every where, under, behind, over and in any nook and cranny.

I took the bonnet seal out and threw sand everywhere!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle%20001_zpsxdjy7ook.jpg.html

The recess in the aperture was full of Californian Desert sand

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle%20003_zpsryoel3fd.jpg.html

I took the pop up lights out and found the deep funnel shaped body on both sides about 1 ½” deep and flush with sand and Californian pine needles. What a quality spray job they did in the past, even the top of the sand got oversprayed Alaska blue!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle%20007_zpsjoz6vuoa.jpg.html

Sand everywhere in the boot and bonnet, even the spare wheel was buried in the stuff.
When I took the seal off around the windscreen it was full up with sand.
Pulling the roof seal off across the top of the windscreen threw sand all over my multiple times hovered interior!
As I said before if you’d buried this car on the beach and dug it back up there’d be less sand in it.
Even the exterior has mini sand dunes forming in every corner!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle%20002_zpspq1fw3ro.jpg.html

I cannot even begin to tell you how much sand this car has in and on it. One thing’s for certain….it’ll be half the weight when I’ve got the last bit off of it.

Day 95

Today I started early this morning making good use of a dry day. I took the targa top off to remove the rear aliuminium trim and knocked sand all into the car.
Over the last few weeks I kept cleaning the car and each time I returned to it it was covered inside with a light dusting of sand??
This morning I found the source when I lifted the targa top and accidentally knocked it.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle1%20001_zpsig9ladru.jpg.html
Half brushed down, half full of sand!
Once the roof was cleaned off I pulled the ali trim off cleanly.
After a good clean I set about taking the doors apart. Door cards, handles, quarterlights, main glass, runners, locks, window mechanism, door seals and weatherstrips. As with the rest of the car, all the fixings even the tiny Philips screws holding the outer weatherstrip came out easily. Just the slot head screw adjusters on the bottom of the window frame gave me a struggle, but after a quick squirt of WD40 they freed off. Looking inside the doors they are absolutely rust free. Full of sand, but not a spot of rust!
I did find a broken plastic roller for the drivers check strap mechanism, so I'll have to add that to my parts list. Hope they're still available.
The cars looking very sorry for itself now, but hopefully it’ll ensure a decent paint job without any nasty masking up edges on stuff left on the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle1%20002_zpsja053dqd.jpg.html

After the doors I put the tools away and got out the bucket for some serious sand removal cleaning from the bonnet.
Phew..3 hours later and it looked like this.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle1%20005_zps6g6cvutf.jpg.html

I was very surprised to clean out the headlamp wells and the wheel well, and find zero rust. (The brown on the bulkhead is glue where I pulled off the carpet) Considering all the cr*p in there I expected the worst. Just a little flaky seam sealer in the passenger headlight bucket but underneath it was spotless grey primer.
I spent another hour and a half cleaning around the fuel tank area having thrown sand all in there yesterday when the bonnet seal came out before I finally called it a day.

Day 96

Today I got up at first light and cut some spare sheet steel up to make a hook tool. One of the jobs I wanted to do yesterday was take out the circular vents in the rear door shuts, I ended up making the hook tool. Inserted at 12 o’clock (tiny tug) and 6 o’clock, tiny tug and they both popped out followed by another egg cup full of sand into my lap.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle2%20001_zpsopn9jvox.jpg.html

After cleaning up yet again I started on the bonnet seal channel. It looked like the PO must have had a new seal at some point or re-glued the old one as there was a mix of old impact adhesive, silicone and polyurethane bond in the channel. What a mess it was. Certainly couldn’t just paint over it or glue another seal on top, so I started the thankless task of scraping it out with an old blunt (slightly rounded to take the edge off it) wood chisel come scraper. Followed by miniature wire brushes (tooth brush size that fit nicely in the channel) then 180 grit followed by 240 grit. Not a nice job, but after 6 hours at it, it was time to give it a quick coat of encapsulating primer to stop any rust starting on the areas where it was bare.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle2%20007_zpswbg4pjao.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle2%20009_zps7vg9pigf.jpg.html

Fingers aching and locking up, it was time to move to another job.
Having taken the doors apart yesterday they were absolutely full of sand. 2” in the bottom and a good dusting on every surface inside them. The only way I could get it out was to cut the handle off a 3” paintbrush and get in side each door by hand with several buckets of water. Slowly working from the top down inside each door, into the ridges of the side impact bars, and back on myself onto the rear of the inside door pressing. Working with a big water soaked sponge and the brush I managed to get both doors clear of sand in about an hour and a half each.

Drivers door (taken through window slot looking down).

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle2%20003_zpsurggmffs.jpg.html

Passenger door through the bottom opening.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle2%20005_zpspvqnhtib.jpg.html

Afterwards I needed two buckets to swill the floor beneath the car to get rid of the sand that came out. (if you look at the floor you can see the strips of old broken window channel rubber mixed with heaps of sand)

The weather was kind today and I propped both doors open and the bonnet to allow things to dry nicely.
Not to be one for sitting around, I took off the sill kick plates (with the little plastic rivet clips) and the lower inner door seals and threshold plates while everything dried.
After which I packed up and put the car back under its cover.

Day 97

This morning before work I went through the PET catalogue and made a list of parts I need and then went on line and made another list of rubber seals from 914 rubber and also saw they did the check strap rollers so added that to an ever growing list and emailed it over to them. I spent ½ an hour searching ebay both UK & USA and found some parts so did a price comparison check with Auto Atlanta, Pelican and Mittel. I luckily came across a new windscreen surround and clip set on ebay.de for a good price so went for the buy now on that one. My old surround is fair condition but with a few scratches and tiny stone chips I just know that after my new paint job it will bug me if I don’t fit a new one. I then loaded the bumpers, valances and sill panels into my car and went up to the garage where my car is for 6:50am to drop the compound key off that I borrowed this weekend so that I could work on the car while my friend was on holiday. Popped in and picked up some bacon butties on route as a thankyou. Then it was off to work.
At lunch time I took the bumpers and parts into the sand blasters. All 6 items blasted and etch primed for about £10 each. Not a bad deal as it will be certain to eek out any rust to ensure no nasty paint bubbling for many years ahead. They reckon they’ll be ready for the end of the week. Next I spoke with Porsche Centre Portsmouth and rattled off my parts list I’d drawn up before breakfast. Surprisingly they tell me some parts that I thought “no chance” are still available and not bad prices either. These being the plastic rivets that hold on the sill plates and sill trim, the 3 metal clips that hold on the ali trim across the rear of the roll bar, the main rubber seal that runs up the windscreen pillars and across the roof and the small L shape seals that hold the quarterlights. One part though that I haven’t tracked down just yet is the padded trim that runs in front of the roll bar (has the two cut-outs in it for the targa clips) mines sun damaged like a bad dashboard and vertically split into about 7 pieces. I did think about recovering it but the splits are swollen up to mountains and valleys so you’ll see it under any over coat of vinyl.

This evening when I got home I began the mammoth “cleanathon” of all the parts I took off this weekend. Starting with the glass, I used a brand new Stanley blade as a scraper to get off all the old stickers (multiple visits to Yellowstone Park in the 1970’s & 80’s….wonder if they met Yogi Bear?) then scraped all the calcium lines off around where the windows sat in the rubbers. This is damn hard stuff to get off and is caused when you wash a car with tap water over the years it calcifies where it sits between glass and rubber. Finally I scrubbed the window runner brackets to remove yet more sand before I washed it all off with soapy water. I then moved onto some of the plastic parts, headlight surrounds, headlight motor covers and the rubber headlight linkage covers.
Looking at the small round vents that came out the door shuts, after much sand removal from the filter media on the back of them, there was again more calcium white deposits deep into the ever decreasing circles. Since it was made of plastic I opted for a soak in neat toilet limescale remover. (Be careful if you use it on anything plated or aluminium as it will eat into it ) Plastics are fine, and after a few minutes the calcium was gone and they look like new.

Day 98

Today I got an email back from 914 rubber and we agreed a good shipping rate etc on my large list of parts, so I went ahead and placed the order.(Unfortunately the order was placed at a time I was unable to qualify for any Build-Off Challenge discount, so I have had to pay full price)
I’ve heard mixed reviews on some of the parts so chose wisely (a mix of 914 rubber parts and others I got direct from Porsche) and I’ll update you on the quality and fit of what turns up.
At lunch today I sorted out some zintec sheet for blanking the side markers and went over to the car to see about access to the compound this evening.
Good to go, when I finished work I managed to get a couple of hours taking a few more parts off before I had to leave and lock up.
During the day I called a local windscreen company and asked how much they’d charge to run their cheese wire around my screen to pop it out (bearing in mind I’ve already taken out the chrome trim)…as soon as I said 914 they declined? I called two others and no one wants to know. What’s wrong with these people, it’s their sole business yet they are scared to touch a 914! Pathetic really. The last 3 or 4 cars I’ve restored I’ve had the same issue and ended up taking the glass in and out myself. It seems that if your car is older than 10 years old then the windscreen people don’t want to know. To be fair they are so poorly skilled these days they haven’t got a clue. I had a new screen in my Volvo V70 a couple of years ago on insurance, and they made a right bodge of it, broke all the clips that hold the wiper motor cover, drilled awful self tappers into it to hold it back on and got the black sealant all over the cream interior A pillar trims. I went ballistic at them, it cost more for all the new parts they damaged than the screen cost. Put me right off a certain mainstream “automobile…glass” company.
I’ll just have to do it myself, so cheese wire is on my shopping list for tomorrow.

When I got home this evening I spent another 1 ½ hours cleaning sand out of the window winder mechanism, cleaning up the securing bolts and the tracks the nylon rollers run in. I then started to clean the whole assembly with brass bristled detailing wire brushes to get that just oxidised coating off the whole assembly. The two pull rods from the interior door handles had started to go furry too, so they got a good going over.
When I stripped the doors down over the weekend I found part of a broken spring clip that holds the rod into the door lock mechanism in the bottom of the door. Part No 113.837.199. I’ve seen them many times before in my VW youth so just checked and found them from UK based VW Heritage for £2.50 so bought a pair. Although I only need one I thought for the sake of £2.50 I’ll just replace both clips that are inside the door. The ones behind the pull handle can be re-used as if they do ever break, they’re far easier to swap over than the ones on the lock itself.
I ran out of daylight again so called it a day.

Day 99

This morning before breakfast I started to sort boxes and bags of parts out in my shed into “clean”, “refurbish” or “replace”. One item that certainly needs replacing is the rubber sleeve that the wiring loom passes through from inside bonnet to the sidelights. Mine just crumbled into 1000 pieces when I took the lights out and pulled back the loom. It was a sod to find in the PET illustrations as the picture of it looks more like the boot on the side marker than the long tube with 90 deg boot one end and grommet the other. By shear chance this morning I googled the part number for what looked wrong in the PET and sure enough it came up as the part I needed.
The part number for them is 91463121710 I found a couple for sale on line and opted for a pair from Auto Atlanta, placing an order this morning before work.
As I was away over lunch I couldn’t get much done in the way of chasing parts which was pretty frustrating.
To make up for it tonight when I got home I finished off cleaning the window regulators by a giving the pinion, rack and pivots a good wash through with white spirit to clear out all the sandy grease. I worked it all in with a paintbrush until it operated nicely without any gritty noises. While they dried off I cleaned the same sandy grease out of the interior door pull handles too and left them to dry.
There is a small (about 8” long C channel that one of the legs of the regulator runs in (bolted to the door closest to the rear). These couldn’t have been galvanised like the rest of the regulator is as they were quite rusty. I gave them a good going over with emery paper and small wire brushes to clean them up before giving them a coat of Galv silver spray paint. (avoiding painting inside the runners as these will be eventually greased and any paint in there could jam them up).
After finishing the painting, the regulators were dry and I poured some waxoil straight from the tin into a spray can lid and with a small ¼ brush I gave the whole regulator assemblies a light coating inside and out to keep them from rusting and seizing in the British climate.
Running out of light again I moved inside and finished off by cleaning sand and dirt with an old toothbrush and Cif cream (magic stuff) off the 4 (2 each side) little rubber hoop guides that interior pull handle rod runs in to stop it rattling.
So that was today’s escapades.

Day 100

Wow has it really been 100 days since this little car arrived in the UK? The time has flown by!

Looking at the dismantled parts I need to replace all the fuzzies. The vertical track ones were rock solid, and shattered into several bits in the bottom of the doors! The ali strip horizontal internal and external were shot too, as was the very outer rubber weatherstrip, so all ordered and on their way.
Today was a manic day at work, typical Friday issues (why the hell do things go wrong on a Friday at 5 to 5) Suffice to say I have just got home at 10:15pm

Before the gloom and doom this afternoon I did manage to get out at lunch time and pick up the nicely sand blasted and etch primed bumpers, valances and sill sections. They came out really well. Trouble is now they have no heavy textured stone chip on them I’ve spotted a few more dents. More tin bashing required!
This morning the postman delivered the new windscreen surround from Germany…that was quick.
Also this evening on the door mat were the two lock rod clips turned up in a jiffy bag and some engine lid rubber trim.
I placed all the parts in my shed this evening and with everything else in there it’s getting a bit crowded now. Roll on when the car goes in for paint and I can think about starting to put it all back together.

Day 101

On the way home today I called in at a chandlers. I live a by the sea and we have multiple boat yards and Marina’s within spitting distance. They always have some interesting stainless fixings, braketry and general stainless nuts & bolts. This afternoon I was after some waterproof grease, the type the Yachties use on the winches and mechanicals at sea. I picked up a small tube and went home to work it into the joints and runners of my window regulator mechanisms. It’s great stuff, and perfect for this application.
I finished off painting the short runners with a coat of oil/grease resistant paint that I’d galv silvered yesterday and when they dried I put them all back together.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/window%20regs%20003_zpshzauccjw.jpg.html

I’m pleased how they came out.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/window%20regs%20005_zpsqybdmqnb.jpg.html

I then greased up the interior pull handle lever assemblies with some more waterproof grease before bagging everything up to keep them clean ready for putting back on the car after it’s painted.
The other week I turned down on my lathe a press for blanking the side markers. At the weekend I took further measurements and found a gentle curve in the wing (about 4mm off centre top and bottom) Having had a re-think for a week, I decided to reverse the infill plate. In other words instead of pressing the wing I will press the blank plate.
So this afternoon and into the evening I spent several hours making a new press tool and cutting discs out of the zintec sheet I picked up in the week. Pressing and testing until I got it right. Finally I made several and cleaned up two for welding after putting the wing curvature into them.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/window%20regs%20002_zpsrbye1bxe.jpg.html

The top right is a plain disc, far right was the old tool pressed first attempt, bottom right is the flat pressed reverse wing infill and finally the two on the left (top & bottom) are the finished ones with wing curvature. Running out of evening I finished off by down loading today’s photographs, writing an article about the visit for another club magazine and website and posting my update here.
Dependent on how I get on tomorrow I plan on welding the side marker holes up.

Day 102

Today was a dawn start, I had access to the unit so loaded Victor “the wonder bus” (my V70, so called because each time I go out, I wonder what’s not going to work today on it). Today it was the central locking, but to be fair the car has a special system that works on an algorithm shift rota. Today it was the rear door on the drivers side that wouldn’t unlock, last week it was the petrol flap. All random stuff that fixes itself the next time I drive it.

I cooked my speciality Panini’s first thing while loading up and delivered them at 7am to a hungry team at the unit (a 59 Chevy in need of clutch adjustment, a Seat Leon with leaking manifold and my friend who's unit it was) before starting work on the 914.
The weather was really kind again and I cleaned up back to bare metal around the side markers on BOTH sides of the wings. Scraping off some PO underseal first. With the sidelights removed I could get in easily and see what I was doing easily. Using a half round file and a rat tail I cleaned up the large hole and three smaller holes so all was clean and good to go for welding.
A dry run on the plates I made yesterday showed they needed a tiny tweek with pliers before the fitted perfectly.
Both discs were welded in and the three holes welded up, before finishing off with a flap disc to take the weld down flush.
Since it’ll be a week before the car goes into the paintshop I gave both sides a good coat of encapsulating primer, working the paint into the rear of the wing. After a few days to dry I plan to seam sealer it all up to protect the plate from corrosion from the inside.
While the paint dried I started to clean up inside the boot. Again like everything else it was full of sand. Unfortunately the PO sealed up the rear lights with caulking (a black tar like blu-tack) and mastic. Suffice to say it was a nightmare to get off with plenty of sand stuck in it.
There was a question about rear badges on the car, or lack of. During cleaning I found the rear of the badge holes (the ones to the right of the boot lock) had been filled and painted over ???. I quite like the car having the 914 and 2.0 badges so I dug out the filler and revealed the holes. Running a drill bit down them by hand to fully clean them out.
The parts I had collected from the sand blasters had revealed many more dents and scrapes now that all the textured stone chip was removed, so I set about them again with a planishing hammer.
I finished the two sill trims off and started again (stage 2) of the front valance. I’d had them etch primed so I could see a few new dents, that took an hour or so to get out before I moved on to a bucket of water with a squirt of washing up liquid. Dip in a cloth and wring out and wipe over the part (to apply a soapy water gloss) and lo and behold a whole new series of dents showed themselves. More hammering required and I called it a day at 8pm after hearing a few slamming doors from the neighbours!

Day 103

After yesterdays revealing of the rear badge holes, this morning I set about an availability and price comparison on-line for the rear 914 & 2.0 badge. While I was at it I checked out the P O R S C H E script for the engine lid grille. After an hour I’d found the best deals and snapped them up (including the securing nuts which annoyingly are extra) before leaving for work.
Today I was back in Central London, all went well until this afternoon with a signal failure at Clapham Junction most trains were cancelled or delayed. Instead of a straight through train I ended up changing 3 times and getting home 2 hours late!
I started again on the front valance with more tin bashing on the final dents. This was followed by draw filing to remove any high spots and after a few hours another coat of etch primer to finish off. I’m determined to get it back to shape without using any filler. In such a vulnerable position, at the slightest stone impact any filler would simply be dislodged and make a right mess. Since I have plenty of time while the cars away for painting it’s worth doing properly, even it it’s a real painstaking job.
Day 104

This morning before work I went through more parts that I’d taken off and added the chrome on plastic Fog/driving light surround grilles that fit into the front bumper to the replace pile. (The chrome is starting to fall off mine)
I googled the part number (from PET) and did a price comparison on-line and was at first shocked at the price new. In the end I found a good deal from a company in France and ordered a new pair before leaving for work.
During lunchtime I visited Porsche Centre Portsmouth and collected the front up & over seal, the quarterlight seals and a few clips. Curiously the little black plastic rivet clips that hold the sill threshold plates and sill covers on, turned up clear plastic?
I suppose I’ll paint the heads black if that’s how they come now.
I also called another windscreen company (recommended by Porsche Centre) and they said they’ll come take a look and let me know if they would be prepared to remove the screen which is more than any of the others have said so far.
On another note, today was the last day of my 14 days notice for Berlyn to change the Beetle discs for 914 ones. Total time now is 11 weeks since I placed the order and paid. Guess what….not a word, so off to small claims Court it will unfortunately have to go. Since now I am completely entitled to claim consequential losses too, I have ordered another set of discs now from another supplier. It’s really disappointing that it has come to this but I simply cannot rely upon Berlyn and my restoration moves on even if I have to pay twice for the right part.
Anyway, this evening I visited the car and worked until dusk. After welding the side markers up at the weekend and painting the metal inside & out, it had had 48 hours to dry so I sealed it all up on the reverse with 3M Drip-check sealer.
Next I finished off getting all the visible sealant off around the windscreen with a Stanley knife to make it a little easier for the windscreen chap tomorrow.
Moving on to the boot that I’d cleaned out on Sunday there was some strange stuff going on across the floor in the middle below the boot lock. The floor had been repainted at some point (presumably when they did the poor respray) There was a paint tape line just back from the first set of corrugations so only the first rear 12” of floor had been painted? The surface had skinned and drawn. A bit like crinkled cling film? It was soft to the touch and with pressure it left a fingerprint!
So out with my scraper and old wood chisel and it simply stripped off like butter to reveal a substance that can only be described as sticky tar? Anyway it all had to come off. After about two hours I’d scraped most of it off from the rear panel seam to the end of the first set of corrugations. It revealed the original blue painted floor, but showed signs of rubbing down. There was some small bits of surface pitting from old rust, but with 80 grit this came out. All I can imagine is the previous owner coated it when he saw the first signs of rust with the black tar substance. When it went in for paint I guess they just sprayed over it, but as it never really set the paint just dragged.
There’s more work to be done to get it all off but it dissolves in white spirit so with more scraping and a soaked rag it should eventually come off.
Before dark I worked on the area closest to the back of the car and the back panel seam getting it all clean before I put a nice bead of Drip check along the rear panel joint to re-seal it.

Day 105

Today I did this….
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It’s out in one piece

The work late into the evening last night cutting out as much sealant with Stanley blades paid off. The guy turned up this morning with his cutting wire and it was out in about 30 seconds. To be fair there was only about 15% of bonding left around the trim clips that I couldn’t get to with the knife, so it was a case of dot to dot with the wire and job done. In addition there was a good 30% that had come unstuck itself already over the years which helped no end.
Not to scare monger anyone who hasn’t checked theirs but I was very pleased to get the screen out as without a doubt it would have leaked like a sieve if I’d left it untouched.
Timed with an early lunch it was 30 seconds well spent.
Getting back to work earlier than anticipated I did a quick search for more parts but got very side-tracked by logging on 914World... Fatal…you simply can’t restrict yourself to only 5 minutes on here, so much good stuff and deeds to be done.
Anyway this evening I returned to the car and started to clean up the aperture
The majority of the surround was in perfect condition with zero rust (even in the corners) which was very welcome. With the glass out I could properly remove the surround trim clips. I have a new set with the new surround, but saved the old ones non the less. (just in case I break a new one)
Nearly all the trim clip holes were thankfully rust free too!

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With the exception of 4 trim clip holes in the centre of the bottom of the aperture that had some small evidence of bubbling around them.
Two hours later I’d stripped the bottom of the aperture down to bare metal and sanded down a tiny amount of rusting about the size of a little fingernail until it was all gone.
A final coat of encapsulating primer and it was getting dark. A quick deserved cuppa was had while the primer dried before the cover went back on.

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Yep I know.....the dash replacement is next on my list
Finally I loaded the windscreen carefully into my car and took it home for safe storage. Driving Miss Daisy all the way home with the precious cargo.

Day 106

Last night it was getting dark when I got home so when I unloaded the windscreen and a few bits and bobs I just placed them inside the front of the garage. This morning before work I sorted out some old underlay and made a nice nest in the rear of the garage to keep the screen safe while the car gets painted.
Over lunch I read up on how to remove the rear window and ordered some 3M Butyl 1/4" tape to put the glass back in with.
After work I went up to the car and started to dismantle the interior to get at the rear window. Everything came out as planned and the reverse of the glass was all revealed. While working on the engine bay repaint I knew it was rattling around but I wasn’t prepared for how lose it was.
Reaching in from outside I gently tried the window and it literally fell out into my hands!
I lifted it out and placed it to the side to take stock.
The old butyl tape was completely sand logged, it must of worked its way into the gap between glass and seal and stuck in there. Fortunately it just gently peeled out leaving a nice clean window aperture, no rust to be found.
Unfortunately everything was covered in sand behind the panel (no surprise) the seat belt reels were choked full of sand, so they had to come out for strip and clean. Most of the pieces of vinyl that were stuck here and there to cover gaps around the rear padded bulkhead had curled up and were extremely crispy, so they all came off too.
Thinking ahead and to really get the sand out I decided to take off both sill carpets. Drivers seat was still out from the glass removal so I took out the runners and handbrake to free the carpet. Passenger side was much easier, the seat stayed and just the seatbelt bolt and a screw in the front speaker cover held it in.
Lifting the carpets out poured more sand everywhere.
I then gently removed the last of the roll bar vinyl off the top centre section, loosening off the latches to free it from behind them.
After bagging up and labelling all the fixings I loaded them up to take home and returned to off load at home as it got dark.
I did manage to take a picture before the sun set of today’s escapades.

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Day 107

Today was a bit Groundhog day. This morning I sorted out the glass and interior bits out into safe storage that I brought home last night and at lunch I searched out a few more parts.
The clear cover is missing from the fuse box and I found one on-line for a few £’s so ordered it up.
The two buffer stops I’ve been searching for that fit inside the engine lid hinge were finally tracked down. Part number 914 559 253 10 is no longer available, but having searched a bit deeper it seems like the part number has changed to 901 423 528 00
These are still available, so I ordered some this lunchtime. I also called in at the letting agents and checked out what was happening with the garage that they are taking rent for that I can't use because the door is broken. The bad news is that they aren't allocating any funds to low priority defects but gave me numbers of two other garages in the block that are empty to see if they are serviceable. Call me old fashioned but shouldn't they be doing that, then contacting me? It just seems that with everything in life you cannot rely upon anyone these days, if you want something done you've got to do it yourself. I'll post an update on the garages when I've had time to check them out.
This evening after work I visited the car and made a fitted cover from some thick polythene sheet and some old U channel edge trim to cover the engine between rear window and boot to help stop dust/dirt ingress while the car is at the painters. I’d had some sheet over it for a while now, but cut it all to size tonight instead of the sticky duct tape it's had on for a few weeks.
I then spent another 2 hours sanding down the boot floor to feather the edges of the paint and scratches ready for spraying before running out of light again.

Day 108

I had a good day working on the car today. As its booked in on Monday at the paintshop I needed to get the brake system closed up, so ended up fitting the new callipers over the old discs. Not what I initially wanted to do, but since my second set are still in transit I had no option. Anyway I got it all buttoned up and bled. First time in many years that it’s held fluid.
During bleeding I noticed excessive pedal free play. The result of a pedal assembly rebuild and a new master cylinder. I adjusted the rod to give a nice 1mm as per the Haynes data and locked it off with the lock nut, job done.
Next I carried on sanding in the boot floor for a few hours before finally getting a coat of primer on it.
Afterwards I put a good amount of seam sealer over the rear of the side marker blank plates to fully seal them.
Out with the vacuum cleaner and the interior and bulkhead was cleared of more sand from when the rear window came out. I gave everything a good wipe down with a damp cloth and cleaned up the sound deadening pads.
Then on to the rear window surround. I’d peeled off what was left of the butyl tape the other day but on the outside an attempt had been made to seal the glass with silicone sealer, this took a while to pick and scrape off, but it was all removed in the end.
Under the roll bar outside there are 3 blank plugs each side. Mine had been sprayed over during the poor respray in the past, so I had to chip the paint off them to get them out. I certainly will be making sure it gets painted properly this time around and after getting the plugs out I dropped them in a small pot of cellulose thinners for 10 minutes until the paint had crinkled and fell off. Fortunately all 6 are salvageable and will go back in plain black plastic coloured.
Finally I cut up another piece of the polythene sheet and blanked off the fuel tank area under the windscreen held in place with some old off cuts of U trim. The paint around the fuel tank is excellent so I don’t intend to get this re-sprayed, just the boot itself, as far back as, and including the bulkhead. Apart from the engine bay, fuel tank area, underside and interior where it’s fine everything else is getting fresh paint.
Tomorrow I need to do a few more little jobs to do before its loaded up on the transporter.
Finally I returned home this evening to find my "Certificate of Authenticity" from Porsche arrived in the mail.

Day 109

Today was an early start to get all the final jobs sorted out before tomorrows trip to the Paintshop.
Whilst working on the car it was most practical to have all bonnet, boot and door latches on the car, but for paint they needed to be removed.
I started with the boot lock and catch, then the pin on the boot lid followed by the two rubber adjustment stops on each corner. Fortunately the boot stays down by itself so nothing needed there to hold it.
Next I moved on to the front Bonnet, removing the catch and nylon cable sheath. I coiled the wire up and cable tied it, then tucked it beside the petrol tank.
Then came my first hurdle today the latch on the bonnet itself. I took the left bolt out then noticed the right bolt was loose. I put a socket on it but it was solid, yet all the washers and catch were loose. It was as if the bolt was too long and bottomed out?
It was solid so I turned the ratchet and SNAP, the head sheared off. On closer inspection the PO had put a ¼ UNC bolt into an M6 hole and wrenched it as tight as it would go! Now I had to carefully drill out the sheared bolt. Working up in drill sizes I got to 4.5mm and the old UNC bolt (or what was left of it) freed off and came out. I tidied up the thread with an M6 tap but it was completely stripped.
The catch is safety critical so I had to re-tap it to M7 to get a good thread. Just need to order an M7 bolt for it to go back on. (didn’t want to go to M8 as it would look out of place and leave less meat in the backplate. The M7 head will be at a glance the same size as the M6 head, so it will look ok)
I then took off the check straps and interior light switches (taping up and pulling the cables back into the car).
After a trip to Halfords to buy a pack of two 450mm bungy straps, I took off the door lock mechanisms and striker plates. The bungy straps linked together hold the doors firmly shut when stretched behind the seats. Easy to take off for painting and a simple practical solution to aid the car moving around.
Next I started to strip down the targa roof to just a bare GRP panel. Not only did I remove the seals and trim, I stripped off the old headliner material too. It will be painted both sides for a good job.
Finally we loaded the car onto my friends transporter ready for a 6:30am set off to the paintshop tomorrow morning before work.

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Again this afternoon when I got home (first time in a while it was light) I put all the locks and stuff into my shed ready for refurbishment. Walking back past the side gate I noticed a parcel. Must have arrived yesterday but I’d not noticed in the winter darkness.
Opened it up and found my very nice NOS genuine Porsche Bumper Grilles.

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After a whole weekend of 914 work there was just enough time for me to get out another classic car and drive over for the last hour of a car show in Portsmouth this afternoon. All American cars (but no 914’s to be seen).
When I got back this evening I cleaned the other car and my Volvo, then put the 914 door locks into a white spirit soak to loosen all the sand and old grease off them

Day 110

A milestone day….car finally into Paintshop.

This morning I awoke to the dawn chorus of songbirds at 5:15am, today was the day the 914 takes a trip to the paintshop. 4 months of continuous preparation have lead to today.
Before breakfast I loaded up parts into my daily driver that I’d taken off that needed paint (including the engine lid etc) and drove down to the paintshop to await the transporter at 6:45 to help unload.
Like clockwork we got the car off in cold but glorious sunshine and the transporter left while I waited until 7am for the paintshop to open.
Stuart, the owner turned up on time and we spend a good 15 minutes going around the car discussing my requirements. He’d seen it a few weeks ago when it was still together so now had a good look at the detail. We checked his old original VW paint colour chits (that’s the beauty of going to a classic VW specialist, they have a passion for the car plus all the original VW paintshop information to hand). I unloaded the parts out of my boot, handed over the keys and left for work.
Stuart reckons 4 weeks, I bet him it would be 6!
There’s no real deadline I’d rather it took a little longer and was right, after all I’m a fussy bugger when it comes to detail.
Today at lunchtime I paid a customs charge on my Brake discs and they should be here tomorrow. Typical really, as I’d hoped to get them on at the weekend, but never mind, they’ll go on when the car gets back and it’ll give me plenty of time to paint up the hub and edges.
Over the weekend when taking the targa top to pieces I’d noticed lots of screw head cover plugs missing so spent the lunchbreak searching the PET and internet for the missing plugs.
Tonight when I got home, I spent a good couple of hours sorting out the door locks that were full of sand. Since the car arriving in the UK the handles were very, very stiff to operate, almost to the point that I was scared of breaking them. No wonder when found them jammed up with sand.

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Last night I put them in a white spirit soak to dissolve all the old grease and loosen the sand. After a couple of hours with an old tooth brush I’d got them back from the dead, no more gritty grinding movement here.

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Just before it started to get dark I brushed a very light coat of waxoil on the mechanism (avoiding the pivots which will be greased with waterproof marine grease) just to keep them looking like new in the British weather.
Next I put the check strap mechanism and the bonnet lock in soak, for déjà vu tomorrow night.
Retiring inside I opened another very large parcel that arrived this afternoon from 914rubber.
All my 914 rubber Christmas’s arrived at once; cant wait to start putting it all back together with all this nice supple new rubber.

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Day 111

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn again and changed a starter motor on one of my other cars before leaving for work. I’d been meaning to do it for a while now and with the 914 work, it had been placed on the back burner. This weekend I need to move it to get another car out so it had to be done.

Over lunchtime I searched down a few more bits and bobs.

Tonight when I got home I started on the door check straps that had been in soak overnight. As I’d mentioned earlier the drivers door creaked when opening and just didn’t feel smooth. All was revealed when I dismantled the door and found half a roller in the bottom.
The other half was still stuck in the sand logged mechanism. You can just see the half around the pin in the picture.

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The passenger door was much smoother (less use maybe) but not quite right either.

I always find that any man-machine interface needs to be a pleasurable one. As a creature we evolved to be tactile and any interaction with a car needs to give us the right signals. From flaky razor sharp chrome on door handles, rough sandpaper dry paint jobs where the gun couldn’t get in, to play in a steering rack they give off repulsive signals that completely destroy a pleasurable experience. It’s the little details that make a big difference when you restore a car.

In my quest to sort out the check straps I found a nice little kit while on the 914rubber website. “914 Door stay roller replacements Rollers Part No 914DSRR $19.99” Contains two nylon & two aluminium rollers.
They came yesterday in my big parcel, so I spent a couple of hours stripping down and cleaning the passenger check strap assembly this evening. The “didn’t feel right” ended up being a very big flat spot on the nylon roller. You can just see it in the photo below.

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New roller kit shown bottom right in picture above.

Again it got dark too quickly so I finished off with another light coat of waxoil on all the parts ready for assembly tomorrow when I’ve cleaned up the drivers side mechanism.
It’s a real simple fix and makes a big difference.

Day 112

This morning I assembled the passenger check strap with new rollers and waterproof grease before work. I did have to tweak the main frame that holds the nylon roller. The gap between the frame was tight and binding the roller so it needed opening up a mm so that the roller spun freely.
Today at work it was meeting after meeting so I didn’t get chance for lunch today.
Getting home tonight I had two parcels waiting.
Two new RHD H4 headlights that I ordered from David Manners Group.
Part No LUB328LUCAS H/Lamp no pilot H4 Bulbs £34.66 inc VAT the pair
When I took the lights out the car the other week the plug that fits on the back of the lamp (holding 3 spade connections) just crumbled. California heat damage. I got a new pair with the lamps, just need to relocate the spade terminals into them.
The second parcel from Auto-Atlanta contained the rubber grommet/tube assemblies that the wiring to the sidelights and indicators pass through between bonnet tub and front wing.
After checking all parts over, they arrived without damage/defects I placed them into my storage shed to await rebuild.
I then stripped down and cleaned up the drivers check strap assembly. Not only was the nylon roller in pieces, the Aluminium one had two very large wear flats on it at 90 degrees to each other. The strap itself is made of aluminium too which did surprise me. They have a knurl (serrated ridged edge) where they run in the rollers, presumably to encourage them to rotate. It seems that if the rollers seize up the check strap acts like a file and wears them flat until (as with mine) it wears right through the nylon roller cutting it in half. It them runs on the steel pin and wears the aluminium check strap down on the edge which burrs it over along the edge so that it then sticks/jams inside the aluminium roller as its too wide with burrs to run freely.
Most people just put grease on their check straps. On the bits you see when you open the door.
This it seems is not enough for the 914 design, you’ve got to take it out the door to lubricate these rollers and make sure they turn freely for a long serviceable life.
So after cleaning up all the parts of the drivers assembly and filing down and smoothing off the burrs I gave them a light coat of waxoil and left them to dry until tomorrow morning like I did with the passenger one.
There was still enough time this evening to clean up the bonnet lock assembly that was soaking overnight, dry it out and coat with waxoil.
With the waterproof grease still open from this mornings assembly I next turned my attention to the recently cleaned door locks. Taking my time I worked more grease deep into all the pivots, latches and catches to get a nice smooth operation before finally calling it a night.

Day 113

Today during my lunch break at work I collected my new front brake discs from the Parcel Force depo. I bought them and had them in my hands from the Pelican Parts in a little under 2 weeks. It’s been over 12 weeks now and Berlyn Services say they still can’t get any!! Absolute rubbish as I have quite clearly shown.
Next I dropped off the engine lid mesh and the two small mesh pieces off at the bead blasters for cleaning and coating satin black, before returning to work.
Tonight when I got home I assembled the last door check strap mechanism using the new rollers and cut two new stainless steel split pins to length for the locating pins and bagged them up in zip top bags until the grand rebuild. Afterwards I cleaned up the bonnet & boot catch (the parts that fit to the bonnet & boot, not the car) and the two door striker plates that had been in soak. I took the rear catch apart to get inside the spring and nylon bush and while the white spirit dried off I cleaned up all the cross head M6 bolts that hold the door locks and striker plates on with a brass wire brush so they shone like new without damaging the zinc plate.
Finally I coated all the lock parts with a thin waxoil as before and left them to dry for the morning and put more bits into the ice cream tub of white spirit for tomorrows clean fest.

Day 114

This morning I did a little more sorting out of parts, opened the front brake discs and checked them over and ordered a couple of bits on line before work. At lunchtime I called in at the paint shop to see how things were going.
Afterwards I called Porsche Centre Portsmouth and ordered a new pull cable for the bonnet. (Still available from Porsche) My original one had been bent double by the clamp screw and after a struggle drawing out the wire to get the lock off, I have little confidence in it’s strength. The best option is a new cable, and at £12 it’s a cheap item that would cost far more to rectify if it broke with the bonnet shut.
This evening I assembled the boot catch, sorted out and cleaned all the fixing bolts and washers before bagging them all up. My M7 bolts arrived from ebay(to replace the one I had to drill out the bonnet) so I cut one to length, drilled out the M6 washer to 7mm and made sure it fit through the hole in the bonnet catch. Perfect. The only difference is it has a 11mm head, not 10mm, so it will not look out of place and hold the catch firmly.
Next I cleaned up the parts in soak from last night before calling it a day.

Day 115

This morning I got up early to carry on prepping my pre-war car for a friends wedding this afternoon. I’d changed a starter motor on another car on Tuesday so that I could move it out to get at my old car. Having not been out since September last year I needed to give it a good going over. I ended up re-packing the open drive waterpump, lubricating the chassis, draining down the fuel tank and filling with a can relay from the local station, points, plugs etc etc getting scrubbed up, ironing a shirt and all before noon. The weather was kind and the sun shone for the duration of the wedding right until I’d got all the cars put away later this afternoon right on cue the heavens opened as I closed the garage door.
So on to the 914. This afternoon I continued by cleaning up the boot key lock and latch, then started on the bags of nuts and bolts that hold them on. Followed by cleaning up the interior light switches, contacts and connections. Then I individually cleaned up all the black rubber washers that hold on the engine lid grilles and Porsche script with cellulose thinners. Next the engine lid catches. There was a nasty step wear & burr on the lock striker pin which I had to dress out with a smooth file to ensure it doesn’t snag. Once clean I bagged everything up in order of “Doors, boot & engine lid”
Each nut bolt and screw carefully having had its thread & head cleaned out before a light coating of waxoil.
I then carefully drained off the top of the white spirit tub and disposed of the ½” deep layer of sand and dirt in the bottom before refilling and putting more bits in to soak for tomorrow.
In between everything I answered a Pelican Parts Survey, ordered some parts from VW heritage (New interior light, door light switch rubber boots and 4 more screwed rubber buffer stops for the bonnet & boot lids) The old ones had gone rock hard and wouldn’t cushion very well any longer and risked damaging new paint.

Day 116

Today I spent my time on the Targa roof. Having quickly taken it apart in a spare hour before the car got loaded up for the paintshop, now was the time to sort it all out.
Firstly I scraped off all the old sticky caulking (like industrial blu-tack). Messy job but needed to be done.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20targa%20roof%20bits%20002_zps8nj1glg6.jpg.html

Afterwards all surfaces where it had been got a good scrub with scotchbrite soaked in cellulose thinners to get every little bit off.
I then sorted out the underside of the roof where the headliner material is glued on.
It was covered in old impact glue residue. Not a good base to glue on top of so it had to be cleaned off. Rock hard baked old glue is not easy to remove and I found the best tool was my Stanley blade holding scraper.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20targa%20roof%20bits%20003_zpsshmhyybh.jpg.html
Working with the roof curvature (across the car, not front to back) I eventually got it all off after an hour or so.
Next I gave the whole fibreglass roof a damn good scrub wash with hard bristle scrubbing brush and detergent. This took another hour as I washed, dried and washed again until all the sand and grime was gone. Repeating on both sides to make sure it was spotless for repainting.
The top surface of the roof has a textured (splatter) type finish. Over the years this had been damaged and some sections were scraped & knocked so needed repair. With various grades of wet and dry I gently rubbed down and feathered the edges around the numerous patches of damage before re-adding the texture.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20targa%20roof%20bits%20004_zpsu1zue4iy.jpg.html

Using a bumper texture paint with a “heavy” grade nozzle in short burst to almost “spit” the paint out to replicate the original finish. The paint is specially formulated to set hard and maintain texture so it’s ideal for the job.
The top is due to go down the painters for a final satin black paint from a gun, no rattle can stripy paint jobs here!
After preparing the top I then started on all the trims and catches.
First washing and cleaning the stainless trims at the rear of the roof that holds the fuzzy “U” shape seal on. Afterwards they were polished up with brasso.
Next I cleaned all the flaky rust off the front and rear catches. The rear catches that fit on the roll bar were quite messy so ended up being stripped down to bare metal and totally repainted. The fronts came partially apart and got a clean & paint too. Finally the rear blocks that fit onto the roof and have the hooks in them that the latches hold got the same treatment.
After a quick cuppa I scraped off the caulking and sanded down the two channels that hold the rubber over the door window glass. I had a small issue when I etch primed them. Not sure what the original black paint was, but the etch just pickled it. There was nothing I could do but get the paint stripper out and remove every bit of old black paint off the two channels. After a coating of stripper the residue was cleaned off in a bucket of water with scotchbrite before hanging up to dry.
Next I got every single bolt washer and screw that holds the targa top together and detail wire brushed each and everyone until they shone. With a modellers brush I gave them all a waxoil coat before bagging up a few hours later.
Last of all this evening I gave the locks and catches a second coat before calling it a day.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20targa%20roof%20bits%20005_zpsld43xpva.jpg.html

Day 117

This morning I decided to sand down and put a coat of etch primer on the two targa roof seal window strips that I’d had in paint stripper yesterday. After half an hour rubbing down with wet & dry and a de grease they were ready for paint. I manage to get a coat of paint on them before breakfast.
Afterwards I loaded the bumpers, sills and valances in the car and left for work
At lunchtime I dropped them off at the paint shop and went through the finish I wanted with the foreman. I’ve opted for a subtle ripple texture stone guard on the valances and sills (for stone chip protection inside and out) and a smooth finish to the bumpers. All in Satin Black.
After preparing the Targa roof panel yesterday I dropped that off for painting too.
With what little lunchtime was left I managed to buy on line some small circlips to hold the levers on the rear targa catches. One was completely missing and the other wasn’t in good shape when I dismantled them at the weekend.
Tonight when I got home I gave the trim strips a first coat of Satin black. After an hour I flipped them over and painted the other side.
I then started cleaning up a collection of more nuts and bolts and the little plastic sleeves that go over the tabs holding the wiring loom in the car. Before painting I’d taken all the little sleeves off. A cloth soaked in cellulose thinners and a quick rub, the sleeves came up like new.

Day 118

This morning I put another coat of paint on the Targa roof catches and latches befor going off to work.
This evening when I eventually got home (after calling in to Halfords on the way to buy more paint then B & Q for more white spirit) I set about sorting more bits out. I drained off and topped up my ice cream tub with fresh white spirit and put my two sand & grease logged exterior door handles into soak. Next I put another coat of Satin black on the targa seal channels.
I had a phone call today to say the engine lid grilles were ready but didn’t get time to pick them up today. This should work out fine as tonight I found the two US license plate brackets and two chunky bumper brackets in a box in my shed which need blasting. I’ll drop them off tomorrow when I pick up the grilles. As for perfect timing there was a small box by my side gate from the postman. Opening it up it was the new chrome PORSCHE script for the engine lid, so ideal for tomorrow night when I get home with the freshly coated grilles.
I then started the brain numbingly boring task of cleaning up a bag of fixings I’d taken off labelled “door shuts” It had all the screws that hold the black threshold plates (the ones that clamp the door seal down to the carpet, plus the tiny screws that hold the door outer weatherstrip trim. Now you may think I’ve gone mad but I individually spent two hours wire brushing all the rust, gunk and glue out of the screws. Next I used a scriber to dig out the dirt in the cross heads before screwing them all in a row into a piece of softwood about an inch apart. Followed by satin black painting of the screws that hold the threshold plates in and silver painting the screws that hold the weatherstrips.

This was followed by a final spray of the roof seal strips that had had a couple of hours to dry and finally the last hour of the evening cleaning up an array of nuts and bolts from the doors, before a lick of waxoil to preserve them.
Just when I thought I’d had enough for tonight I spied a bag of plastic bits. Window winder handles, interior door pull cups, seat belt covers etc and brought them into the house for a good soapy tooth brushing in the morning.
Day 119

More progress today…..
This morning I cleaned up all the plastic door panel furniture with an old toothbrush and Cif cream, rinsed off and left for work.
At lunchtime I collected the engine lid grilles all nice and re coated Satin Black, I’ve got to say they look absolutely superb. I dropped off a box of brackets and stuff for blasting and called in at Porsche Centre on the way back to work. Collected my new bonnet release wire.
Tonight when I got home I had a parcel waiting that contained my new circlip assortment so set about re assembly of the rear targa roof catches. All went together nicely and I wrapped them up in kitchen towel before bagging up all the bits in zip top bags. The painted screws had dried well so I unscrewed them out of the wood block and bagged them up too. The Targa seal channels got a look over and I decided another coat of black was required so gave them another spray.
Next I took the exterior door handles out of soak and using an old toothbrush gave them a going over. Some bits are still baked on so back in soak they go until tomorrow.
I also had good news on the new 914 home; the garage with a new door has a new lock, so I get to finally draw the key in the morning and take possession. This hopefully will give me a couple of weeks to de-spider it and paint it all out inside just in time for the car returning from the paint shop.
I also had a call from my local paintshop regarding the bumpers and sills. They have done some paint swatches for various levels of satin finish (all in black) so I can choose the level of sheen and another set in various grades of ripple stone chip so I can choose that for the front and rear valances. Not strictly OEM, but certainly much improved chip and rust resistance over just paint. I’m hoping to get it a good match to 944 sill texture. In this was at least it has some genuine Porsche family lineage behind my choice of finish.

Day 120

Today I gave the Targa latches and trim strips a coat of satin lacquer (in my loft as the weather had got quite cold & damp again) and left them to dry before work.
At lunchtime I signed for my new garage and took possession of the keys.
First thing tonight I checked it out. It has a new door and frame but true to form it had been fitted by a pair of idiots. The door was twisted in the frame and the lock would not latch as a result on the top left side.
Fed up with the whole situation I went home and fetched my tool box. I took off the new door (which was a nightmare on my own) re drilled and installed it square in the frame. I had to straighten out a battered closing plate that they beat two bells of sh*t out off trying to get the twisted door they’d fitted to close!
I get so frustrated by the lack of basic ability and common sense of folk these days. What makes it worse is they are oblivious to their lack of skills yet still get paid. Anyway rant over, just simmering down now from having to wrestle with a 7ft garage door on my own.
But in the end it’s all worked out well as I now have a new garage for 914!

Lastly today I settled down by sorting out the 914 exterior door handles and came across a few issues and solutions that may help others out.
Despite being full of sand and frighteningly stiff to operate they cleaned up well with a 2 day soak in white spirit.
The drivers handle was obviously more worn than passenger. Once free of sand and rock hard old grease it still jammed half open. That’s to say the pull bit of the handle didn’t spring flat and the plastic fork that slides up and down seemed to be sticking and holding the handle out. I took out the screw in the end of the lock and removed the operating cam. (Beware if you do this the lock barrel and tumblers are free to come out the handle). Next with the cam off the end if you pull on the handle as if to open the door the fork travels off the end of the lock (now the cam is gone) and you can un latch it from the handle. The two pin lugs on the fork have a flat on them so that you can get it apart with ease.
Now I could see what the problem was. The handle itself where the fork slides up and down has two steps on it. The plastic fork has square cross-sectional ends, it gets stuck on the start of the step on the metal handle causing it to jam and the handle not to spring flat. The simple fix was to take a very small file and round off the two inside ends of the fork, so that it cannot lock itself into the corner of the step on the handle. ONLY by a very tiny amount as that’s all that’s needed for it to work smoothly with a tiny bit of grease to keep things happy in there.
Next I’d noticed that when putting the key in the lock it sprung returned when twisted one way but not the other?
I solved this too. Under the cam on the end of the lock barrel is a small coil spring that works in a rotary way not stretch. It has two bent out ends that locate in an open slot in the cam. One side of my slot had worn very slightly rounded, so as the cam turned the end of the spring got stuck under the cam and not rotated by the cam. Since it wasn’t being rotated it didn’t spring back. The solution was to file the rounded slot in the cam flat again with a needle file (or buy a new cam of course) but filing it worked a treat.
While I was in there I took out the lock barrel carefully holding the tumblers in (with key inserted) and cleaned it all out. There I found a crumbled rubber O seal, so found a new one of the right size in my assortment box before re assembling the lock back into the handle. Top tip is the put the spring carefully into the cam and seat both ends in the cam before fitting it. Fiddly but do-able with patience.
Once all back together I then ran an M6 tap down the front threaded fixing hole as the thread wasn’t too clever. I managed to cut 1 new turn of thread at the bottom which should improve the hold as the first two turns appear completely stripped. In total there’s about 4-5 turns in there, so even though it’s a 7mm deep threaded hole I still have a good 5mm of thread now.
Finally I checked over and repeated the fork improvement and greasing trick on the passenger lock and wrapped them up in kitchen towel before bagging them up for the grand assembly.



So this is Month 4’s progress. Despite having to go to work each day I’ve managed to fit quite a lot in and get the car stripped down for the paintshop. I’ll be helping them remove the old layers of paint next month for a complete bare metal respray.

Thank you again for taking time out to read my thread.

Posted by: Andyrew Jan 23 2016, 05:03 PM

Your posts amaze me!

I must say your daily log is really great, I hope you put it in a short book when your done to go with your car in shows.

Someday, someday ill read all of it

Posted by: Garland Jan 23 2016, 05:36 PM

i have been reading your posts, looks great.

Posted by: 914forme Jan 23 2016, 06:20 PM

And I thought I documented my work, all I can say is my head is spinning.

Posted by: Dave_Darling Jan 23 2016, 07:06 PM

To say that I am impressed is a major understatement.

BTW, the problem with the front brakes might be as simple as early versus late. The offset of the brake disk changed partway through the 72 model year. You may have goetten one early and one late from the shop.

--DD

Posted by: RickS Jan 23 2016, 07:47 PM

have really enjoyed reading your saga. I applaud your skills and dedication to keeping us posted. When you are done you should have, as Ed China says, "a crackin good motor". Well done sir!

Posted by: altitude411 Jan 23 2016, 07:58 PM

Super well done documentation. Nice thread you've got going. Keep it going and thanks for posting. You've got my vote.

Posted by: Coondog Jan 23 2016, 09:27 PM

Like reading a good book, I could not put it down. I even leaned a few things....

Posted by: Hank914 Jan 23 2016, 10:53 PM

You'll have to write up a post script that details your other cars. What are they?

Posted by: Darren C Jan 24 2016, 01:23 AM

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement guy’s.

Hank, I do currently have 10 other classic cars (some restorations already finished, some waiting to go and some stalling) but that’s all for another thread some time. My job; which bizarrely isn’t restoring cars, has me away from home on average 60 hours a week, so I have to find time to work on my cars, mainly a couple of hours each day before 7am, leave for work - run around for an hour at lunchtime in my break chasing parts - then work a few hours in the evening when I get home.
Weekends are the time I really make progress. It helps being divorced but I have a house to run and chores to do, plus spend time with my teenage son. It’s a very fine balance.
My friends think I’m nuts, but the cars actually keep me sane!

Posted by: Darren C Feb 24 2016, 03:51 PM

Build- Off Month 5

Day 121

Today early doors I wrapped up and placed in safe storage the recently painted parts and requested the measurements for fitting the Porsche engine mesh script. Auto Atlanta said the purchase came with a template, but the box only had the letters, no template?
At lunchtime I visited a local hardware store and purchased some white masonry paint and some grey garage floor paint ready to spruce up my new 914 home. On the way back to work I picked up a few M6 socket head bolts for the door interior handles as my car had a right old mix of fixings that weren’t right.
After work this evening it was unfortunately food shop & washing night so I got home a little later than normal.
I still managed to get an hour and a half in the new rented garage, dragging out old lino and carpet, bits of wood, bricks, old curtain rails and general junk that had been left in there by the previous tenant. The floor had at least two bags of builders sand spread over it to presumably soak up a massive oil leak from a car. Really nice of them to leave it in such an awful state and then let it out like that telling me it was all ready to move in. I had to take my wheel barrow around with a shovel to clear it out and now I have a wheel barrow full of oily sand that’s my responsibility to have to take down the tip.
“Sand why did it have to be sand?” (He says in an Indiana Jones snake homage kinda way)
Finally I gave the ceiling a brush down to clear some monster spiders and webs away before it got too dark to see.
The plan this weekend is to thoroughly clean it out and paint it. This will give a good month for the floor paint to harden before the car comes home and make a nice environment to re assemble everything in.

Day 122

Today I have mostly been…..

Working on the new 914 rented garage.

Sanding down the roof steels from yesterdays wire brush, they got a nice fresh coat of red oxide. They were really very rusty and flaky and I certainly wouldn’t of wanted a car sat under them like that.
After more spider eviction and brushing down I mixed up some sand & cement and went around the base of all the walls, filled and pointed all the gaps flush to the floor.
After getting the oily sand up yesterday I cleaned the floor with cellulose thinners and wire brushes to work it out and mopping it up with rags. I did this about 3 times during the day until most of it was gone.
Next I started cutting in all around the walls and crevices with the white masonry paint. If any of you have tried painting the inside of a concrete slab garage you’ll know its like trying to paint a very absorbent Swiss cheese. Bloomin hard going trying to work the paint into all the nooks and crannies; seems to go no where.
Anyways after 12 hours in there today I’ll be ready to get the paint roller out in the morning and paint the bulk of the flat area of the walls.
This evening I received an email reply from Auto Atlanta with the measurements for the engine lid PORSCHE script, hopefully tomorrow while the garage paint dries I’ll get a look at them.

Day 123

Today I got up at dawn and walked over to the 914 rented garage in the rain. The good news is that it was at least dry inside. This was the first day of rain since drawing the key so I had no idea what I’d find.
I continued to paint the inside walls with a roller today having used a brush yesterday to get into all the fiddly bits and edges. As predicted the wall soaked it up straight away. It will need a second coat tomorrow but it’s getting there now.
The garage internally is just over 15 feet long and 7 feet 6” wide but has no power or lighting. Beggars can’t be choosers and it’s a dry home for the 914 if a little small to carryout a full rebuild in!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%205%20005_zpsh3dryiz5.jpg.html

After finishing with the roller & tray I took it home and washed it out and made breakfast.
The rain stopped by 8:30 so I finished my breakfast cuppa and went back to sort out some roof gardening.

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Full maintenance rental agreement??? It must have taken a couple of years to grow a jungle like this on the roof. I started by hacking off what I could reach but soon realised that with a non-load bearing roof this was going to be a nightmare to sort out. In the end all I could do was gaffa tape a rake on to a broom handle to get twice the reach and drag and push the growth from over my garage. They’ve let it get so bad that only with a powered cherry picker will you get at it properly now. Anyhow I took a load of photo’s so I’ll be raising a maintenance request on Tuesday. In the meantime I spent all morning trying to hack it out the way.
While I was up there on my ladder I saw that the very deep wide gutters were absolutely chocked with mud and weeds. I spent another two hours digging out the gutter over the front of my garage and half over the garages each side. What a nightmare job, ¾ of the gutter is under the roof sheet so you can only reach in part way. You can just get your hand in, but make a fist holding dirt and you can’t get your hand out. It was 5” deep so I doubt it had ever been cleaned in the life of the garages. Anyway I got my bit clear and revealed for the first time in many years the top of two down pipes either side of me.

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It was mid afternoon now and walking back home with my ladder I went to put it in my shed and the painted render on the side of my house caught my eye. For a while now I’ve been meaning to strip off the flaky bits for a repaint but have never gotten around to it, so with a ladder in my hand and a scraper from cleaning the gutters in another it was silly not too. So I found myself up a ladder another couple of hours scraping the house. But it didn’t end there…..I saw some moss on my conservatory while on the ladder so I ended up cleaning the conservatory roof until I could barely walk. Trainers and ladder rungs are not a good combination and I only stopped doing more from the aches and pains.
Clothes into the washing machine and a quick bath, I then started on the engine lid PORSCHE script. Auto Atlanta sent an installation guide with measurements on it but to be fair it was pretty useless. Very vague and without a clue of where to take measurements from. End of letter? Start of letter? Middle of letter? It just didn’t show you anything worth while. I’d done a google search and looked through several forums late last night and found a much better guide.
With these measurements in hand I set about laying out and marking up. I used some masking tape (as its easy to write on) and set a strip parallel to the front of the grille at 81mm down. The mesh is formed evenly in line with the front edge so a good check was to make sure the tape cut the diamond holes in the same place all the way across.
Next I used the measurements found on line and marked them out from left side to right. Starting as follows. P 53mm O 222mm R 391mm S 560mm C 729mm H 898mm E 1067mm.
This is the distance from the left side of the grille to the start of the letter. The 81mm is the distance from the front of the grille to the top of the letter.
Now that’s all fine and dandy in theory but the letters have pins on the back that have to fit through the mesh and you just cant get it exact as the pins throw you off course.
That said I did a dry run and got them all within about 4mm which is not bad considering. Some were spot on and the others you just have to get as close as possible. I found that if you got the distance right the letters sat high or low off the tape and looked awful. It was better to get them spot on the 81mm tape line and accept a couple of mm out on the spacing.
The letters came with mastic filled genuine Porsche trim nuts. Now…the letters are plastic so I used an 8mm socket and extension bar, but NO RATCHET. I just tightened them VERY gently until the letter stopped wobbling by hand. In this way none of the plastic pins sheared off. Result!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%205%20006_zpslaorpcyn.jpg.html

Day 124

Another very busy day. Up at dawn to give another coat of white paint to the garage walls with roller and cut in all edges a second coat with brush.
Late breakfast at 9am followed by visit to the hardware store to get some timber. Mid morning until late afternoon stripping down garden fence to replace rotten post that had broken in the tail end of a storm coming across the Atlantic from the USA. (thanks guy’s) It’s a proper made fence with feather board and arris rails, so every board had to be gently pried off and all the nails knocked out, old post out, new arris rails cut in and jointed new post in and all back together. I had to replace 9m of rotten arris rails so it was a bit of a task to do in a single day but by working like a madman and missing lunch I got it sorted with just one featherboard casualty.
Just need to paint it all again now, so if the weather stays dry I can do it this week in a few mornings before work.
I then went back to the 914 garage (walls now dry) and put a second red oxide coat on the roof steels and neatened up the edges where it meets the white walls. (A bit of paint therapy to chill out with after the fence)
Next I swept and swept and swept the floor ready for floor paint.
Cutting in all around the edges first with a brush to get a neat line, then finishing off with a roller. Floor all painted it was just starting to get dark, so back home to clean up.
Dinner in the oven I decided to strip the beds and do a couple of washes, sheets then working clothes. As I made my pack up lunch for tomorrow it started to rain (yet again!!) and I heard a drip, drip, drip from the conservatory!
Hey ho, ladder out again and stripped the UPVC trim from the underside of the roof frame to see where it was getting in. Looks to be on the apex somewhere, so all I could do was put a bucket under it tonight as it was too dark and wet this evening to do any more. Besides it’ll be light about 5:20 tomorrow so I’ll take a look before work. I ve now got an interesting evening ahead sorting out paperwork for my tax return (a task I really hate) so another late night to come.
But at least this weekends efforts have made a nice home for the 914.

Day 125

This morning I got up before dawn with the intention of looking at the conservatory roof, but unfortunately it was very wet & windy so I delayed the investigation. Strangely it had stopped leaking and the rain was far worse??? Don’t you hate it when things like that happen!
Anyway so as not to waste the morning I decided to put another coat of paint on the garage floor before work. Looks quite good now with two coats on everything (I even washed the inside of the door down) and a much nicer place for the 914 straight out of the paintshop in 4 weeks time.

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Lunchtime was written off today as I had to go see my accountant to drop off last nights homework for the dreaded tax return, so this afternoon I was itching to get home and start on more 914 car parts.
First job tonight was to put all the internal trims back on the inside of the conservatory roof. Bucket was bone dry despite raining until noon.
I then started on the door glass runners (the metal bits) The front was carefully cleaned as its anodised ali and anything abrasive would damage the anodised protection. Soap & water on a sponge and a bit of Cif cream on the stubborn bits, plus tooth brushes to scrub out the window channels once the old brittle trim was pulled out. Next a brass bristle brush of the bracket at the bottom and the one half way up to remove sand and grime. Quick rinse off and left to dry out side on a very windy evening. I then did the same on the rear steel channels which are BZP coated gold colour. Fortunately most of the gold finish is still there and with a good clean they came up really well. Looking only a few years old not 41 years old. Finally I used a little white spirit to clear a bit of impact glue residue from all the channels.
Next I used my tap & die set to clean up the threads on the bottom adjuster (the one with the slotted head & collar). The 4 cross head M6 bolts that hold the rear channel in from underneath also got a good brass wire brushing as did all the washers before a final coat of all fixings and adjusters in waxoil.
I’ll coat the rear steel runners and the 2 brackets on each front runner tomorrow when they’ve had a good 24 hrs to dry having been submerged in a bucket of hot water.

Day 126

This morning I got up a ladder and sorted out the leaky conservatory roof before work. Bloomin moss that I’d scraped off last week had found its way into a narrow channel in the aluminium extrusion and caused water to back up. Well that’s what it did with a watering can so a quick poke with a screwdriver and it was clear.

This lunchtime at work I ordered a spray can and a tin of brush on high temp impact adhesive from Woolies a UK car restorers Aladins Cave type store.. Hopefully be with me tomorrow ahead of the grand assembly.
I’d been meaning to call into the paint shop to catch up with the prep work and helped them strip off yet more paint.

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Between us we’ve got about 80% of the paint off the car now. Too many previous dodgy peeling paint jobs to just paint on top of it yet again. It had to be done properly. I spent a good while looking it over and to be fair it was nice to see absolutely no rust. Just a few old knocks and scrapes from general carpark damage (doors opened onto it and all that) They’d started to fill a few tiny dents in the rear quarters and despite my best efforts on welding in the front side marker blanks there was a tiny bit of distortion that required the smallest amount of filler there. Inevitable really unless you could get the wing off and roll it properly. But all in all I’m very happy with how it looks and amazed at the condition for a 41 year old car, its very straight under all that nasty paint.
There’s a bit more paint to get off the valances, in the nooks & crannies and A pillar (where the door hinges go) but after that it’s pretty much ready for primer. Besides you can't leave it too long in bare metal before oxidisation begins.
For this reason Stuart primed the bonnet, boot, engine lid, doors and pop up headlight covers yesterday afternoon. These were all stripped down to bare metal on both sides before primer went on. They’ve taken photos for me and I’ll get copies at the end of the job.
I went into the booth and checked out the removed and freshly painted panels.

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Once the main outer body of the car is primed and no ticking clock on it going rusty they tell me they can concentrate on prepping the inside of the bonnet and boot. I’d maybe have done that first but they assure me that it will be top coated and lacquered in the bonnet and boot first, allowed to dry, masked up then the outside done in colour. In this way they say no unwanted, unavoidable dry overspray when painting the car as a whole would build in the bonnet and boot. This should give a much glossier better finish in the bonnet and boot than the factory finish where the shell was painted whole. They can also concentrate more on the internal area’s which normally people wouldn’t take notice or care with. Sounds like a good plan to me!

So after work tonight I was spurred on to work on a few more parts. I finished the door glass runners. Steel BZP ones got a coat of waxoil (externally only, not where the rubber channel goes as I plan to glue that in) and the Aluminium ones got the steel brackets waxoiled too. Next I bagged up the fixings for them and moved them to a safe place to dry.
I then started on the body shell aluminium trim strips that hold the weather seals for the door glass. A pillar & Roll bar located. They had that bloomin awful caulking all over them so I had to scrape it off first. I used half a cloths peg (the one with a metal spring that you can take apart easily) Since the trim is Aluminium and anodised I didn’t want to scratch it. The half a wooden peg worked a treat. Again another wash in white spirit with an old toothbrush and they came up spotless. The rubber seals slide into them with a T shape moulding, it looks like at the factory some one bashed the T slot closed in the trim with a glorified screwdriver or similar to “clamp” the seal. Not sure if this is factory or over enthusiastic PO, but one things for sure, it’ll all need opening back up to slide a new seal in easily. Fortunately its only bashed in on the edge of the T slot facing into the car so it won’t be seen behind the seal. Running out of light and needing dinner I called it a night.
Something to sleep on and in the morning I’ll have devised a method of getting the crushed trim back to shape.

Day 127

Today I cut up some steel plate before breakfast to fit inside the aluminium trims (about the same size as the rubber T).
When I got home this evening with the aid of pliers, cold chisel, mole grips, hammer and the metal insert I set about getting the cripped sections of the trim straight again to accept the new rubber.
What a job that was, they had really stretched and cut the metal by crushing it. I got all the crimps out and plan to “lightly” crimp the new seals in so that hopefully in another 40 years they won’t cause too much grief.
Finally I cleaned up all 4 pieces with a light brasso. Not too aggressive as it would risk cutting through the anodised coating, but just enough to clear the water stains and limescale off them.
Placing them carefully back into my storage shed I next took out the set of trims that go over and around the Roll bar vinyl. The two small top pieces have old double sided tape underneath that seemed very stubborn to remove, so as not to risk damage I dropped them in the faithful white spirit ice cream tub to dissolve the glue over night.
I then took a look at the very thin trims that fit along the bottom of the sail vinyl and noticed one side had 4 clips the other had 3 and out of those 3 were damaged. I tracked down the part number tonight and it looks like they are widely available at the usual US vendors and some refer to source as Porsche, so armed with the clip part number (which also refers to early 911 door trim clips) I’ll check Porsche Centre Portsmouth tomorrow.

Day 128

This morning I took the two roll bar ali trim strips out of soak and scraped off the old double sided tape. The adhesive was still stubborn, but the thin foam of the tape came off, so back into soak.
Today at lunch I contacted Porsche Centre and the clips for the lower sail trim were still available and they said they could get some in for tomorrow morning.
I also had a card in the post for a parcel to collect yesterday so on the way home tonight I had a 25 mile trip to the Post Office depo to pick it up. It was my fuse box cover and the 4 “obsolete” rubber stops that cross referenced to a new number 2 for limiting the engine lid hinges when opening and 2 that cushion the front valance. Result!
I also called in to the blasters and powder coaters and picked up the license plate mounting brackets and the two brackets that fit behind the bumper. All looking like new.
Friday again (where did that week go) and food shop night, so after running around picking stuff up, it was quite late when I got home tonight. Determined to get some thing done I washed and cleaned up the rear roll bar trim that goes over the top of the rear window facing rearwards. It was full of sand inside as are all the ali trim pieces. After a final light polish I noticed that the roof must have rubbed/vibrated on it over the years and its worn a nice line through the anodising finish. Not certain anything can be done now, but with a polish it shines the bare aluminium to match the anodising so it’s lost to the eye. However I do know that now I know its marked I may have to change it as it’ll be sure to bug me.
Finally tonight I’m trying to track down a supplier of Perlon by the metre on line, but drawn a blank so far. Perlon is the trade name of the bonnet/boot carpet and targa headliner material, it comes in charcoal (what Porsche use) platinum, cinder & black.

Day 129

Today I got up early and sorted out the two trims in soak, got the glue off the back and polished them up. They have rubbing damage like the rear trim from the Targa top, but only visible under scrutiny so for now they are wish list replacement, not essentials.
After breakfast I started on the other Sail roll bar surround ali trims. The two wide curved rear trims have a square plate with M5 stud at the base. This was held in with a big glob of caulking which I picked at until it was out so that the two fixings could be removed, along with the now compulsory filling of sand. These then had a Cif cream neat soak while I cleaned up and headed for Porsche Centre to pick up the trim clips.
They had just opened when I arrived and were preparing for an open day. I collected the trim clips and got an invite to return later this afternoon.
Returned home and checked the clips, perfect.
Phoned Southbound Trimmers and they can supply the Perlon by the metre. The roll is 1.5m so a metre gives you 1.5 x 1 for £16. Result. That’s the new headliner sorted.
Afterwards I gave the Cif soaked parts from earlier a toothbrushing inside and out before a light brasso to remove old calcium water stains. They came up well, a few old light scratches, but nothing bad.
Next I had dropped the square plate M5 fixings in the white spirit before going to Porsche Centre, so took them out brushed them clean and a quick coat of waxoil to finish. They were still nice shiny gold BZP not a spot of galvanic corrosion which was very surprising considering them sitting against aluminium all these years.
The lower small trims along the bottom of the vinyl were next to be cleaned up. Same process as above but I was annoyed to find a layer of paint on the underside. Real lazy nasty respray the car must have had! Suffice to say that I had to clear it all off.
I was about to continue when I heard the unmistakeable sound of a flat six arriving. My friend Charles had popped over with his son in their very, very nice early 911. After a short chat we went off to the open day for a couple of hours. I have to say the 911 sounds awesome and rides superb. What a treat that was. Thanks Charles.
So back to the grind. The two inner door top weather strips were next. I pulled out the rotten “fuzzy” seal and started to clean up the aluminium strips. These again were absolutely thick in paint where the car had been resprayed. It took me a good hour on each as I ended up using paint stripper on them in the end. Came up ok after all the effort and a finished polish with brasso again brought them back from the dead.
With the brasso still out I gave the two plastic covers from the headlight motor linkages a good polish. They were dirty, faded, dry looking and brasso did the trick in reviving them to a very glossy black.
Putting them back into storage I took out the black plastic surrounds from the headlight pods (that fit around the light itself). These too had plenty of paint overspray on them so had to be very, very carefully cleaned with cellulose thinners as and stripper would damage the plastic. The sides are smooth so it came of relatively easy, the front face however is textured which was a real pain to scrub old paint off. Again perseverance prevailed and after another hour on them the paint was gone.

Day 130

This morning I finished off the ali trims that hold the door window weatherseal and the fuzzy strip that goes along the top of the door.
New fuzzy strips from 914 rubber to replace the original rotten ones. Slide straight in the slot and then gently pinched the metal to hold it in place.
The strips are held on with 3 cross head screws so I predrilled the fuzzy from the back through the original holes. Since the fuzzy has a metal insert and the screws are countersunk I didn’t want the heads to scratch the glass so using a 2mm shim plate in the fixing channel to stop me crushing it, I used a large centre punch to “stamp” a nice countersink for the screw heads in the new strip.
Next I sorted out the new runner fuzzies. The front large ones that sit in the polished ali quarterlight runner had to neatly seat against the top rubber end cap (cut squarely). I’d taken all this apart previously to clean it so un packed the end caps and temporarily refitted them to allow me to get the fuzzy in the right place. The new ones from 914 rubber are lovely and soft unlike my brittle baked old ones. For this reason I decided to use a little high temp impact glue along the base of the channel to stop them moving when the windows are wound up and down.
I also did the same with the rear BZP runner Fuzzies

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Using a small ¼” brush I applied the glue, let it cure then carefully inserted the fuzzies. Top tip was to locate the seals at the top of the runners (without glue first) then glue from the first 2” downwards.

Finally the other ends were trimmed to length in situ when the glue was dry.

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Again I was really pleased how good the original zinc plate is on the runners. Usually because they sit inside the door they rot out until the ends fall off and the windows get dislocated or jam. I’m amazed at the condition of these sort of pieces.
Hopefully with everything refurbished the windows should open and close effortlessly.

That’s about it for today as I had my son all day, first driving lesson (white knuckle ride for me, but he did very well for a first attempt), cinema, Mcdonalds, shopping in town but still found a couple of hours for the 914!

Day 131

Today I ordered some more of the trim clips I picked up on Saturday from Porsche.
Each trim has 4 clips and I had planned on re-using some of the old un-broken ones. However when cleaning them they just fell apart with age so I needed a few more. All new is the way to go in this case.
I visited the paint factors at lunchtime and ordered in some new caulking ready to put things back on the car. I was quite surprised when the old boy in there told me that I was the first to ask in 10 years for caulking! Apparently with the advent of cartridge sealants no one uses it any more in the trade. Unfortunately nothing comes close to it so as a traditionalist I’ll stick with what I know and is period for the car. He was quite pleased to have the opportunity to order it in for me.
On the way home this evening I called in at the paintshop to select the satin finish from the test cards for the bumpers. I also measured up the Targa roof for the Perlon headliner while I was there.
Tonight I started on a bags of fixings I’d taken off the car for the bumpers and sill trims, carefully inspecting all threads, clips & nuts, then splitting them into clean or replace piles. The “replace” I first went through my shed to match up what fixings I already have and reduced it to a very small list of 4 items. I then turned my attention to the cleaning up the remaining fixings. Some are quite specific to the car and so I took great care in cleaning and preserving.
After a few hours I was ready to waxoil or paint. Even the tiny speed nuts that hold the chrome grille surrounds for the fog lights got a sand, wire brush and paint satin black.

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Finally I sorted out the rear bumper tow eye plug. It had been painted into the bumper (lazy or what?) and was thick in ripple stoneguard. This got cleaned off to discover sanding marks in the plastic. Can you believe the monkey’s who painted the rear bumper, instead of popping the plug out, just sanded over it and painted it in situ!
Anyhow to recover the situation I used various grades of wet and dry getting progressively finer with brasso to lubricate until the surface was polished free of all scratches and shiny, shiny like new.

Day 132

The Cleanathon continues!

This evening I started on the rubber dog bones, the buffers (two taper slabs that sit behind the front bumper) and some remaining lower body fixings that I kept when taking the bumpers and sill panels off.
The dog bones have metal tube sleeves through them which I pushed out (they are quite loose) so that they could be wire brushed, sanded and cleaned up before a light coating of waterproof grease to stop them going rusty. The rubber parts got a good scrub with Cif & hot water to clear off the sand and dirt. Left to dry and then finished off with a cellulose thinners wipe (constantly moving to a clean bit of rag each wipe) to bring them up nice and black like new. Finally the cleaned and greased tube sleeves were put back in before bagging up into storage.
The taper blocks had the same treatment to get them looking good too.
Next I concentrated on the two rear numberplate lights. Again full of sand and dirt I took them out of the rubber boots, removed the bulbs and gave them a good Cif toothbrush scrub and soak. The clear lens was filthy and again it all came up sparkling with a hot water rinse. I needed a modellers brush to get into all the detail and corners but with a little patience all the dirt and sand was gone. The rubber boots had the same treatment and finished off with cellulose thinners wipe the parts were left to dry. The bulbs got a 5 minute soak in “Wonder Wheels” and came up like new. Much easier than trying to clean off the verdi gris than wet and dry!
I’m letting the bulb holder part dry overnight and will wonder wheel dip it tomorrow when its bone dry as it works best this way.
In the post today I got my brand new Genuine interior light from VW Heritage (the original lens is broke clean in two). There was also another small parcel from 914rubber. The door window external weatherstrips and a boot lock surround (parts that were to follow from my original order)
Last night in the box of removed sill cover bits were the two jack hole covers. I’d started to clean them but the top edge had a few chunks missing. I’d started to file the edge down a little to hide the missing pieces but it was obvious the whole plastic covers were far too brittle to survive. Sun baked and fragile the just crumbled.
This morning before work I spent a couple of hours on line finding and ordering more bits and bobs. The jack hole covers I found new for under 4 Euros each so it was an easy choice to order new ones. I also tracked down speed clips and Acme bolt/screws (that fit on each end of the sill cover at the wheel arches) 20 assemblies in a pack that included speed nuts large washers and the correct hex head screws all in gold BZP to match originals for less than a fiver, so they got a instant buy-it-now too!
I’d had trouble last night finding the part number in the PET for the square bumper insert speed nuts that hold the number plates on (they fit in the square holes in the bumpers) but was helped by a UK owner with the part number.
Number in hand I found them on the same website as the jack hole covers and cheap too. While on their website I had a look through stuff on my wishlist and found the two short ali trims that run front to back on the roll bar at the top of the sail fins. Mine have some nasty vibration rub marks on them. Again the price was reasonable so those got ordered with everything else. The site is called Rosepassion Porsche in France. I got the two chrome bumper fog light surrounds from them previously and service was good so was happy to be a repeat customer.
Finally before leaving for work this morning I sourced a few general nuts, bolts and washers so everything holding the freshly restored and painted bumpers, sills and valances together will be shiny and new.

Day 133

This morning I finished off the number plate lights using a small modellers paint brush to coat the metal frame and bulb holder with WD40. The frame is riveted on to the clear plastic lens around the screw holes. You can see part of the frame through the lens around the screws and I couldn't get in to protect it against corrosion. The answer was to use a very small brush dipped in WD40 to apply it and let capillary action draw it in between the lens and bracket. The light spade connections were cleaned up, bulb put back in and reassembled in the rubber housing. Using a multimeter to check continuity across the spade connections I knew all was good before bagging it up and going to work.
I called in at the paintshop in my lunchbreak to check progress, lend a hand with more sanding down and took a few more pictures. Not really much visible change to report despite a lot of hard work. The doors, bonnet, boot, engine lid and headlight covers had been flatted and they were working on prepping the inside of the front and rear boots. We had a discussion about how to best retain the tamperproof chassis number sticker and painting above the rear window (under the roll bar). When removing the sun baked vinyl off the top of the roll bar I’d found a tiny dent (pea size) so I got them to agree to fill and finish it too, even though it’s going to be hidden under new vinyl. I know, I know, its an OCD thing!
Tonight when I got home some of the new nuts and bolts had arrived in the post from Mondays order. I sorted them out and bagged up, taking away the rusty old ones in sequence to make way for the new ones. (Making sure I have new before throwing out the old)
I then started to clean up the over-riders.
Again I gave them a neat Cif scrub with a toothbrush, let it stand for 10 minutes and repeat before they saw water. This removed all the ingrained dirt so a final rinse in clean water left them looking good. The evening was lovely and sunny so I left them on the garden table to dry while I sorted out more bags of old nuts bolts and fixings, this set from the seatbelts. I brass wire brushed everything up and a very thin waxoil coat was applied to keep them all looking shiny gold BZP.
In the same bag was the two coat hooks. I polished the black rubber hook covers with Brasso to a shiny new finish and brass wire brushed the metal brackets and screws before a little waxoil.
The broken Interior light was stripped down and the bulb cleaned and tested before fitting it into my new replacement Hella light fitting
In the same bag was all the little black plastic trim panel screw caps I’d taken off. These got a toothbrush wash as the rear and face had a sand dirt and dust coating. Fortunately all the trim screws that were under the caps were clean and gold BZP intact, so a quick wipe (from being in a bag with dirty stuff) and they got bagged up again in a new clean zip top bag. Last of all I’d carefully kept the rear window shim strips so these got a good cellulose thinners wipe to remove the sand and dirt.
An hour later the over-riders were dry so I ran an M8 die down the threads and sorted out some new nuts and washers. All but one over-rider on the reverse around the threaded stud has the metal plate insert visible that’s cast into it when it was made. Unfortunately these had just started to go rusty so had a good miniature wire brushing. I rinsed them off again as they had rusty dust on them and brought them inside to dry overnight so that I can paint the visible plate inserts tomorrow.

Day 134

This morning the over-riders had dried thoroughly so I painted the bits of the steel inserts around the M8 studs that were visible and let them dry while I ate breakfast. I gave the studs a coat of copper grease, fitted the new washers and nuts then left for work.
During the day the Perlon delivery arrived. Looks a perfect match.
Porsche Centre called to say my latest parts were in. I’d ordered two new windscreen washer jets but the hose number was showing as obsolete, so I thought I’d give early 911 hose a try. It came in and fit the jets perfectly but was clear not black, so the search continues as my original hose is all perished.
Tonight after work I started on the pop up light assemblies. The car had been poorly resprayed with pretty much no parts taken off, so the pop up light frames had blue paint on either end. So much so that it completely coated the two pivot brackets, bushes and part of the headlight holder. I started to strip it all apart and dropped the pivot brackets, socket head bolts, and backing plates in a jam jar of cellulose thinners to soften the blue paint.
While they were soaking I picked off the paint from the 4 nylon bushes by hand and cleaned them up. Didn’t want to risk thinners on them in case it damaged them.
Fishing the parts out the jar I wiped off the lifted paint and detail brass wire brushed everything up clean. This took the best part of 2 hours then I gave them a trade mark light waxoil coating and refitted the clean bushes (dry no oil/grease) back on the ends of the pivot brackets. In the morning the waxoil on the bolts, washers and backing plates should be dry so I’ll loosely put them together to prevent loosing any bits and bag up.
A few more fixings had arrived in the post today (replacement self tappers and some 15mm od M5 washers, so as darkness fell I sorted out the rusty/worn fittings and substituted the new in my now numerous labelled zip top bags.

Day 135

This morning before breakfast I sorted out the fixings I’d cleaned and waxoiled last night, loosely assembling the pivot parts and bagging up.
During lunchbreak I called in at Porsche Centre and picked up my windscreen washer jets and remaining trim clips. I left the clear 911 hose which was a gamble that didn’t pay off.
Last night during an online search I found the genuine black high pressure washer hose on sale at VW Heritage (Beetle 1303) so ordered a few metres to replace all the hose in the car.
This evening when I got home a few more fixings had arrived (speed nuts and Acme bolt/screws) for the sill trim ends. I swapped over the old ones and placed the new in the sill rebuild fixings zip top bag and then started on the pop up headlight assembly.
I carefully stripped it down to the component parts ready for blasting. Mostly grey in colour the frame has a lot of blue overspray on it and painted in dirt & sand, so they’re going to need a good sorting out. While tinkering with the small removed parts I found that the pivot bushes on the assembly that connect to the motor arms are badly worn and crumbling from UV exposure. A quick search on line tonight seems to show they are obsolete! The 4 pivot ones seem to be still available (but I don’t need them) it’s the motor arm ones I’m having trouble finding. May resort to turning 2 down on my lathe in phozy-bronze if I can’t find nylon ones.
Anyway as night drew in (late start this evening from having to do the weekly food shop) I was rummaging in one of my sheds for some new speed nuts of the right size and colour when I found a bag of 10 black plastic rivets.
Now, I recall buying these in 1989 for a VW restoration, they were left over dash pad rivets I’ve had in the drawer for over 25 years!
Guess what……they look identical to the 914 sill trim and threshold kick plate black rivets!
Now these in black from all Porsche vendors and under a Porsche part number are ONLY available now in clear plastic as I found when buying some last month.
Having been resigned to thinking I’d have to paint the heads (which I was not happy about long term as the paint was bound to chip off) it was a glum prospect.
So tonight’s “find” was very welcome.
The best bit is they are in a genuine VW Audi bag with part number. Part number that’s different to the Porsche number.
A quick google of the VW number and hey presto multiple VW aftermarket suppliers with stock of black rivets to choose from. R-E-S-U-L-T !
Ordered enough to add to what I found to complete the re-assembly tonight before posting this.
The part number for all 14-ers wanting the correct rivets is 113857117B
Averagely the various websites have them at £1.14 each.

No excuses now for anyone having metal pop rivets in your sill trims ;-)

Day 136

This morning I carried on cleaning up all the pop up headlight parts. Running die nuts M5 & M4 down the adjuster & bezel bolts to clear out the threads. Cleaning up the brass lever pin and nuts and finally all the speed nuts. A quick waxoil coat and I had to leave for work this morning.
I’m working on a production line bodyshell trolley at work and today we had a Hi-ab lorry take it over to our workshops so I had to take delivery and sort a few things out.
On the way home this afternoon I called into Halfords (a UK motor factors) and picked up a bubble pack of speed nuts to replace two on the headlights (metal plate split by screw).
I also called in at the local scrap yard and had a look around for a few things.
When I took the seat belts out last month the bolts that go into the sills had started to rust on the heads and after cleaning them up the other night I wasn’t too happy with the lost gold BZP. A search late into the evening for the Repa special bolts cross referenced to early Golf, Jetta & Derby, still available from VW but a bit pricy at £8 + Vat each for a shouldered 7/16 UNF bolt! So I had a good walk around but no early VW’s to be found, however I didn’t give up and searched 40 or so cars, unscrewing multiple bolts to see what they were like. After persevering I found a match in the strangest place. Berlingo Van/people carrier, rear seat belt floor bolts. There were two Berlingos in the yard so I got 4 bolts. The heads are under plastic caps so when I flipped them off the BZP was perfect shiny gold colour. The shoulder length was also perfect match. Some may think I’m being fussy but it’s the one seat belt bolt head in the 914 you can see easily and a rusty one would drive me nuts.
Anyhow walked to the gate and showed the chap the 4 bolts and he said “go on you can have em” so all in all it was an hour and a half well spent.
When I got home the post had arrived and my new minature “U” trim that fits on the engine lid mesh had arrived along with the new black windscreen washer hose.
I went into my workshop and sorted out all the seatbelt bolts but there was one large rusted washer that I couldn’t match or find a replacement so I put it in the lathe and faced off both sides and the edge before hanging on a welding rod and spraying with Eastwoods BZP gold effect paint. It’s not seen so this seemed to be the most cost effective solution.
As it was a baking hot day today I decided to get the bucket out and some 1001 carpet cleaner and sort out the seat belts. They were absolutely full of sand so the whole thing got a good scrub and submersion. I pulled the belts out all the way and gently nipped them with mole grips so the spring spindle couldn’t wind them back in, then scrubbed and scrubbed them with 1001 and a nail brush gently on both sides, left to soak then scrubbed again. All the clips and fittings got a good scrub too.
I have a hook outside my sons bedroom window that we had a bird feeder on when he was younger, which worked out ideal to hang them on to dry in the first afternoon sun this year.

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Both Belts still retained the “Porsche” sewn in label and as the webbing dried they came up looking like new, no tears, scuffs or loose threads. The plastic sides of the Mechanism has blue overspray on them (god knows how the previous painters managed to get paint on it, when its behind the bulkhead trim?) So tomorrow when its fully dry a bit of cellulose thinners should get it off.
While the sun was out I decided to clean up the sill carpets. So more 1001 with a little washing up liquid and multiple scrubbing repeated for about an hour (1/2 on each) followed by several buckets of fresh water to rinse. After 5 or 6 buckets the water was still running dirty so fed up with fetching buckets of water I decided to fill the bath tub. (Its great being single)

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With a good soak and scrub they were finally clean. Mind you I did need to give the tub a good clean afterwards, perks of living alone!
Hanging the carpets over my shed roof to drip dry I moved on to the rear lights.
The US lenses were all red and I picked up some genuine amber Hella Euro lenses last year while the car was in transit from the US. Problem is the whole rear light assemblies they aren’t too clever.
I started by prying off the broken red lenses. They were siliconed on! Plus Caulk mastic-ed into the car and covered in blue overspray all over the rears with sand painted into them. (Really awful)
With the lenses off I emptied more sand out of them, peeled off the old seals, mastic and caulking and took the bulbs out. The PO had mixed a twin element bulb and single element bulb around in the RH assembly which had overheated and melted the reflector part. The housing was also warped so I may need a heat gun on it to straighten it out tomorrow so that the new lens seats properly. Next I took the two screws out that hold the reflectors and bulb holders into the housing and tipped out more sand. Inside the LH assembly I found a broken off wire that’ll need soldering back on.
To make the most of the sunny afternoon I filled another bucket and with a toothbrush and Cif cream I cleaned them both free of sand and dirt then left them to dry.
Finally I cleaned all the bulbs up, they were so dirty it was a wonder any light shone through.
With everything drying nicely I decided to take one of my other classics out for a run to make use of the lovely evening. I’d done a few carb adjustments on the car (mixture & idle) the last time I put it away but hadn’t gotten around to seeing how it performed on a run. The car has a mechanical pump and after a long time in storage it takes an age to crank over to get fuel up from the tank, so with this in mind I took the top of the air filter and squirted a few ml of petrol from a small syringe into each barrel of the carbs and turned the key. Fired straight away and ran for a few seconds. This was just enough to draw fuel so second turn of the key and it ran up perfectly. Top back on the air filter I went out for a 10 mile drive. Perfect, there’s nothing like a classic car on a summer evening.
As I put the car away I noticed the garage floor paint flaking where I’d painted over a previous tenants oil leak. So back out with the car, wire brush, brush and pan and floor paint. I stripped and repainted the 2 ft patch which was fortunately in the centre of the garage, so I was able to put the car away over the top of it before it dried. Job done.

Day 137


I had a well deserved lie in this morning and got up at 7:30. I started on the seat belts and now they were dry I cleaned off the blue overspray and polished the hoop guide that fits behind the mechanism and also the eye that fastens to the roll bar sail. One seat belt sill anchor had started to go white and furry so that got a brass wire brush before a very thin coat of waxoil to preserve.
Next I started on the rear lights. Having stripped them down I was left with a very dull grey box with old impact glue all around the frame and blue overspray all over the rear. I tried a small bit of cellulose thinners on the inside of the housing and got a reaction. Not what I wanted, but always wise to check an unseen area first. This meant I would have a real nightmare trying to clean off the blue overspray. In the end I opted for Brasso. This removed the paint and actually brought back the housing to a very, very high gloss black finish. Mind you it was very slow and monotonous work. It took me about 3 hours in all to do the Left hand lamp assembly, but the results were stunning in comparison to the un touched Right hand assembly.

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Taking a break from Brasso-ing I decided to give my aching fingers a rest and began repairs on the now shiny LH housing of the broken cable I found yesterday. The earth cable had snapped clean off inside the housing at some point in the past so I cleaned up the terminal, stripped back the wire and soldered it back on.
I then spent another fiddly hour cleaning up the lamp holders free of white furry oxide. The chrome/silver reflectors had lost most of their silvering leaving a patchy black surface in places. This wouldn’t give the best light so I used some Aluminium silver high temp paint to paint the dull areas. The bulbs also got a miniature wire brushing before a light WD40 and assembly. I used my multimeter on continuity to check each bulb was good before inserting in the holders. Finally with the holder assembled I did a quick continuity test on the spade connections (that I’d previously cleaned) and came up with another snag. No continuity? Hey? I took the reflector bulb holder out again and checked continuity at my solder. Perfect.
Back to the spade on the outside….nothing.
I was astounded, the spade on the outside is riveted to the cable crimp on the inside but the rivet must have corroded and there was no continuity from the rivet to the spade. The spade was solid in the holder so it wasn’t loose, the only thing I could do was solder the rivet to the spade on the outside of the housing. Fiddly clean up with a swiss file and a successful blob of solder did the trick.
With everything tested I glued the small reflector plate back into the outer end of the housing and opened my box of bits from 914rubber. Inside was a new outer lamp to body seal and a new O seal string to fit in my new Euro amber lens. Very carefully I assembled the unit.
A rummage in my box of bits and I found the 3 knurled knobs the hold the lens on, unfortunately they were covered in more blue paint! A quick cellulose thinners test and no reaction, so into a jam jar they went for an overspray softening soak.
The garage that did the poor paint job had also painted the boot floor with that tar stuff I scraped off last month in preparation to go down the bodyshop. The lazy sods had sprayed the boot floor blue on top of the tar stuff without bothering to take the rear lights out which is the reason they were covered in paint.
Anyway a quick tooth brush scrub in cellulose thinners and the knurl nuts came up like new.

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A protective covering of bubble wrap and into storage it goes.

Things were going fine and dandy until I started on the Right hand housing. I knew it was badly bent from an overheated lamp, but when I started to dismantle it I discovered the moulded tube that the single lens stud passes through was broken off and missing. It got worse, when I started to look closer I found that the frame where the lens seals and the body to housing seal rests was split about 4 inches long across the bottom and the top. Now I started to think…when I took the lights out the car it confused me a little as the white knurled nuts on the RH lamp were holding the housing in the car and M6 nuts held the lens on. This was back to front! Someone had mixed them up and since the lens studs had very little thread protruding they had crushed the housings in to fit M6 nuts and washers (easy when the stub tube is broken off! Makes me think they may have purposely broke the stud tube off so they could get the nuts to fit)
What mupperty!
The knurled nuts have a taper end that reaches in the housing and you would think it was obvious. Mind you they had forced a twin element bulb with different height bayonet pins into a single element equal height pin holder. With both elements lit the heat had melted the holder & housing. The M6 nuts in the wrong place had been over tightened and split the housing across the top and bottom.
What a nightmare, all caused by some idiot in the past. I guess it was a garage rather than the PO as I imagine the PO having had the car from new would have known how to change a rear bulb?

Day 138

This morning I started on the sill kick plates before breakfast. As with most body fittings they had blue overspray on them and badly masked thick blue paint on the ends. I cleaned this off with a little cellulose thinners on a cloth before giving them a good scrubbing with Cif cream before leaving for work.
Today at lunchtime I took the pop up light frames and bezels down to the blasters to clean up.
When I got home this evening there was a parcel from Rosepassion Porsche. It was the two jack hole plug/caps, the captive square spring nuts for the number plates and the two new roll bar top short ali trims.
The sill plates had dried over the day but they had numerous scuffs and marks on them (that I knew were there) and were a little grey and faded. This was compounded with some limescale from years of washing the car and the water left sitting on the plates.
The two front ends closest the door hinges had curled up and when I got the car were sitting about 1/4" high? I gently heated them on the rear with my heat gun and clamped them flat while they cooled to get them flat.
I then set about polishing them up. About 1 ½ hours on each and they came up really well to a very high gloss shine.
Before and after

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I managed to get both done before nightfall, ready for the grand assembly when the car finally comes home in a couple of weeks time

Day 139

This morning the polish on the sill kick plates had dried and with all best intentions to buff it off yesterday there was still some slight white residue in the tiny groves of the plates. An old toothbrush dry scrub fetched it out and I put them into my shed for safe storage before leaving for work.
During lunch I called Porsche Centre and rattled off a few numbers I’d tracked down last night from PET.
Tonight when I arrived home there was a parcel from Just Kampers, it was the little sill rivets. It made me laugh when I opened the parcel and found each of the 26 rivets packed individually. It took me half an hour to unpack them all and put them into one small bag!
I then took out another collection of parts in a small box that I’d marked up rear boot.
This contained all the black plastic sleeves from the wiring loom retaining tabs. Mostly painted blue and covered in dirt. I spent a good while cleaning them all up with cellulose thinners.
Next was the rear rubber clips that hold the Targa roof in storage. Again blue paint and dirt so they got the same treatment.
The two white nylon front roof clips were next. They were rivet on so I’d carefully drilled out and removed them before going in to the paintshop. One of the eyelets was split from presumably the force of an enormous pop rivet. I searched out a few dome headed stainless socket head bolts, ones with a security pin in the hex hole at a glance they look just like a large pop rivet. The plan is to refit the clips with a nylock nut and gently nip them up to hold them securely without splitting the eyelet in two. Hopefully they’ll pass for rivets and if ever I need to change the clips I wont need to get the drill out again.
Next out of the box was two opaque plastic plugs that had been painted blue. A thinners soak and toothbrush got them looking good again. They’re the ones with the knurl edge which got all the ridges brushed clean to look like new.
The two jack straps were next. The rubber was split and perished but I’d already ordered new straps from 914rubber that arrived a couple of weeks ago. All that was required was to brass wire brush then furry white oxidation off the wire hoops and fixing plate and a light waxoil to dry overnight. Hope to assemble the hoops onto the new rubber straps in the morning.
Finally there was a few nuts, screws, bolts and washers that needed a clean and waxoil and the box of bits for the boot was completed.

Day 140

This morning before work I assembled the jack straps and pinched the hoops in my vice so they were nice and square before bagging them up for storage with the other dry waxoiled bits.
During lunch I phoned the paintshop for an update and they asked if I could call in and see them.
I visited after work and all it was, was a request to take the seats out the car. The whole car is now in primer and flatted. It goes in for colour tomorrow. They had difficulty spraying the primer under the roll bar over the rear window so asked if I could take the seats out so that they can climb easily in the car and get the spray gun at a better angle for the colour and lacquer. Not such an issue with primer when it gets flatted but the colour needs to be applied smoothly.
Seats obviously come out in seconds and it was quite a joke amongst the workshop guy’s there who took the micky out of the chap who asked me to come in and take them out when they saw me remove them in 5 seconds. Anyhow no bother to me as I’d rather they’d ask than force them if they didn’t know how to take them out.
Besides this kinda geed me on to getting them off to the trimmers. The basket weave is perfect but the vinyl on the headrests is sunbaked and cracked so the plan is to retain the basket weave inserts and replace all the plain vinyl.
Tonight when I got home I decided to prep the rear bulkhead trim panel for re-upholstery. It’s the same sun baked brittle as the headrests, so I hope to get the whole thing redone.
When I took it out I noticed the bottom of the panel was a little soft, weak and out of shape. Especially around the engine lid pull.
Flipping it over I could see that the hardboard type backboard must have gotten damp at some point (water stain marks on it) and it’s obviously been in and out in the past but looks like the sides had been pulled rather than taking out the 4 screws and lifting it vertically. The hardboard fibre material was delaminated and fractured. To simply re trim over it would not give a solid base and be all floppy.
The solution is an old car restorers trick I learnt 30 years ago that I’ll share.
All you need is a tin of wood rot hardener and a brush. It’s a clear liquid made for applying on rotten wood that soaks into it and sets rock hard to form a solid base to fill and paint. When brushed on old hardboard it soaks in and sets rock hard putting the strength back in. Ideal for back panels, door panels and headliner back panels that are soft and crumbly.
I painted the first 8-10 inches of the backing panel (after carefully stripping off the vinyl wrap around to gain access). 10 minutes later it was solid.

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Next I concentrated on the area around the engine lid pull. It looks like someone in the past must have pulled the panel off without taking off the pull knob (un screws easily) and the escutcheon/sleeve which comes off the same way. The muppets had broken a large chunk out of the hardboard backing around the pull cable hole and bent and weakened the board in the area.
Despite the soak in wood hardener the backing board was not really in good shape to simply trim over.
The panel has a factory “U”channel down the sides to strengthen the back board so I replicated it in some Zintec steel sheet I had in my workshop, made a”U” and because it was steel I could easily pinch it to nip up the metal over the hardboard to hold it on firmly. Finally there is a slight curvature in this edge so I carefully bent the new metal to the right shape.

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Tomorrow I plan to drop it off with the seats at my local trimmers, and when its recovered it should be nice and strong and the correct shape.

Day 141

This morning I loaded up the interior parts (bulkhead trim all nice and dried solid as a rock) and called in at the trimmers before work.
They had a good look over the seats and other parts and seem happy to do the things I asked (which is basically replace all vinyl except the basket weave which is still very good)
At lunchtime I had to nip out and pick some materials up for work from a supplier on the same estate as the paintshop so I stopped off for a good chat and helped them finish flatting the primer. Next we degreased and used a tack cloth over every surface before I watch them start to put the colour on the car from inside the booth while I was dressed up in a chemical attack suit!.
This is the bit I really like with a restoration; it’s like reaching the summit of the whole job and gives a real feel good factor for the start of the grand assembly.
Stuart the painter put the very first base coat colour on and managed to take a couple of pictures from the end of the booth without contaminating the finish. This is the first of 3 planned coats and then a final lacquer top coat (all traditional metallic paint practice) I especially requested 2-pack paint which was specially ordered in. No namby-pamby water based rubbish here.

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The plan tomorrow is to leave it in the booth all weekend to dry, so it’ll get an extra day.
This also gives me time to sort the remaining removed parts out before it comes home next Friday. I plan to call in at the other bodyshop who are doing the bumpers, sills, valances and roof tomorrow morning to see how they’re getting on too. I hope to time it that they’ll be ready next Friday as well. In that way I can put them straight on the car (except roof) without them hanging around too long and risking getting marked.
Tonight when I got home I started on another bag of parts marked bonnet. This contained fixings for the headlight assemblies, chassis plates, cable clamp sleeves, various rubber bungs and screws. As per usual I spent a couple of hours cleaning it all up and substituting any parts for new that didn’t make the grade.
Finally I sorted out a few new little parts from the large 914rubber box and placed them in the right labelled bag for the area they fit.
Can’t resist wanting to call in the paintshop at some point tomorrow and check on the car with the lacquer on it before the weekend!!!

Day 142

Today was a typical black Friday at work, suffice to say I started at 7am and got home at 21:30, only because I made a conscious decision to get up and leave. We’re back in at 5am tomorrow so what wasn’t done after 9pm tonight will simply have to wait.
Besides there’s 914 bits to work on!

I did however manage to rush over to the blasters & powder coaters and picked up the pop up headlight frames, bowls and bezels during lunch. They look superb! The plan is tomorrow after work, to reassemble the parts and fit the new H4 headlights.

When I got home about half an hour ago there was a couple of parcels waiting by my shed.
The light adapters to fit side and indicator (white/amber lens euro conversion) bulb holders & housing/divider and in the second parcel was my rivet mimicking stainless bolts for the targa roof holding clamps in the boot.
I sorted a few parts out, into the correct Bonnet, Boot, bags while my dinner was cooking including some new bump stops and star washers. Half an hour today, but at least I found some time in my manic day today to do a little preparation.

Day 143

Today was a very early start at work, but I was out by early afternoon. I drove up to Guildford to look at an interesting potential new project for after the 914’s done for my son’s first car.
Back home late afternoon I started to assemble the pop up headlight parts. Tapping out all the threads and cleaning the holes for the bushes before assembly.
Copper grease on the fixed bolts and waterproof grease on the headlight adjusters I put them back together.

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Next the new UK version RHD H4 headlights were added to complete the refurb.

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A wrap up in bubble wrap and boxed up into storage awaiting the car coming home next week.
I had a rummage in my shed and there’s enough bits left to keep me busy until next Friday so if it all works out then I just need to bolt everything that I’ve refurbished back on!

Day 144

Today was an unusual day. This morning I got up early and cleaned one of my other classic cars and went across the village where I live to a grand opening of a automobilia distribution business and spent most of the day with UK TV celebrity Mike Brewer from Wheeler Dealers. I’d worked with him a couple of years ago on one of the shows and at a few PR events since, so it was nice to catch up on the gossip about the next series of shows planned and the cars they hope to feature. There’s a few nice pictures on Mike's Twitter page/website thingy and my car took pride of place behind Mike for his public address. (This was more by luck that planning)
I left mid afternoon and got a few hours in on the Front Fog lamps. The glass lenses are almost sand blasted to a frosted glass appearance by thousands of micro chips, I searched on line but have still to find a good new source of just the glass. I tried some jewellers rouge on them which seems to have started working, but after about 3 hours on one lens I’ve managed to clear only 10% of the chips. I suppose its 27 hours to go at this rate to clean up the first lens, or hopefully salvation if I can find a new supplier!
An old Armed Forces friend came around this evening with his new Audi S4, so work stopped while we went out for a rather nice test drive.
Funny old day, but at least somewhere in there I found 4 hours for the 914.

Day 145

This morning I started getting “horny”

With the horns of course……..

Like everything else they were covered in sand and to make matters worse it looks like the garage that sprayed the bumpers with black stone guard just took off the grilles masked the spot light lens and sprayed away. The result was the front of the horns were covered in thick black stonechip paint overspray.
Suffice to say it took me ages to get it off with a combination of cellulose thinners and a plastic filler spreader as a scraper (so as not to scratch the horn face). Fortunately this was a blessing in disguise and the galvanised steel beneath was quite good. A brass bristle brush cleaned it up nicely.
The same process was repeated on the rear of the horns and care given to the spade terminals and mounting bracket to get them back to a presentable condition.

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Next I started on the fog/spot lamps. I’d started to take them apart yesterday and got side tracked trying to polish the glass free of stone chips.
The lamps themselves are a steel bowl with a single black epoxy spray coat. Even though my car is virtually rust free the lamps with no real decent primer or paint coat from new suffered worse. The bowls were very rusty on the rear.
The only thing for it was to strip them completely. I started on the Mazak mounting with a wire brush burnish and then on to the bowl to remove the paint and reveal the rust.

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Once clear of paint I spent a good hour with various grades of sandpaper to remove the rust. Finishing off with a 240 grit to key the surface for paint.
Before & after

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Repeating on the other lamp until they were both cleaned up, inside and out.
Lastly the bezels got the same treatment, but these are brass underneath so no rust. They did have flaky paint and like the bowls no primer, so the best way was just to strip them back to bare metal.

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Once all the parts were cleaned up I very carefully masked the Mazak mounting bracket inside and out and used my Swedish Punch set to cut perfect little circular bits of masking tape for the 4 rivet heads that hold the bracket to the bowl (as these aren’t supposed to be painted). OCD I know, you’ll never see them as they are tight against the car and behind a grille but the devil is in the detail and I know they’re right.
Lastly this evening I gave them a nice coat of etch primer all round and placed them in the oven at 50 Deg C for an hour.

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I’ve just taken them out and they will spend 24hrs in my conservatory until tomorrow evening when I get home from work and I can apply the satin black top coat.

Day 146

This morning before work I called in at the paint shop. The excitement of knowing the extra coats of Alaska Blue and Lacquer were dry and the car was coming out of the booth was too much for me to ignore.
After all the “wow, wow and more wow” I took a few pictures…

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Inside the front and rear boots and spare wheel well are like glass! I am really blown away with how good a finish they have made, the photos don’t do it justice. (The paper in the wheel well is just protecting it from the headlamp covers sitting in there for safe keeping.)
The colour match is superb, that’s why it always pays to buy quality OEM paint. The soft edge mask that was put around part of the door shut panel to protect the chassis anti tamper sticker is completely invisible where old paint meets new.
Really itching to get it home safely now. They are working on the insides of the removed panels this week and it should be all ready on Friday.

At lunchtime I rang dozens of specialist in “glass” to see if anyone would buff out the two front fog light glasses to no avail, looks like more hours with jewellers rouge.

Tonight when I got home I prepped the etch primer on the fog lamp housings and sprayed them satin black over the course of 3 hours. In between flip over times I started to clean up the lamp mounting brackets, bolts and washers plus the bezel clips and screws. All got a good detail brass wire brushing back to shiny BZP and a coat of waxoil. I even brushed and cleaned all the spring wires that hold the glass & reflector into the bezel. Fiddly little so and so’s.
Finally I use some old car inner tube (from one of my old pre-war cars) with my punch set to make two new rubber washers that go between the lamp brackets and the car body.
Last night I searched for new gaskets for the fog lamp glass edge (where it fits into the bezel) but even armed with the PET part number everywhere seemed to show “no longer available” so as a solution I gambled £3 on ebay for some very thin rubber “U” channel that may do the trick. Will keep you all informed.

Day 147

Today I called in at the second paintshop I’m using before work. I had a look at the bumpers, valances, roof and sills. They had painted the rear of all panels and I asked for the stone guard on the rear of the sills and valances. The satin black was then applied and I was asked to check the sheen/colour one last time before they paint the fronts of all pieces. The sand blasting and hours tin bashing paid off, if the rear of the panels is anything to go by the fronts will do justice to the rest of the cars paint job. They look great.
At lunch today I called in at the motor factors and picked up my new box of 3M Caulking strips to fit behind the various ali trims. I also called in at my friends garage with the flatbed transporter. There’s a small glitch in the plan to pick up the car. It will be ready Friday afternoon but the Transporter is booked out. Saturday he can pick the car up but the paintshop won’t open up. Bloomin frustrating. Looks like it’s going to have to be Monday at 7am and be an hour late in to work.
Hopefully the bumpers, sills, roof and valances will be ready Friday (I can pick these up in my Volvo estate) so with the roof to assemble & trim, plus the bumpers and a few little bits left over in my shed, they’ll still be plenty to do over the weekend.
Tonight when I got home I continued with the front fog lamps, giving them a coat of fuel resistant satin lacquer. Not that I plan to spill fuel on them; just that these modern rattle can paints are namby-pamby tree hugging rubbish these days and the Eastwood range of US rattle can paints are far tougher and durable, so a satin lacquer coat is all that’s needed.
Next I got the two oval side/indicator front lamp units out and started cleaning them up. Again a laborious task due to the supplying Porsche Dealership having the underside and arches sprayed with a Shultz type stone guard underseal. This had to be picked and scraped off the holders bit by bit before I could brass wire brush them to a reasonable finish.
The insides (under the lens) were full of sand. Just when I thought I’d seen the last of it! They got a good clean out and a Cif cream clean to brighten up the reflective surfaces before a rinse off and left to dry.
Finally I cleaned up the “U” shape mounting brackets and finished with a light waxoil coat before running an M6 die down the mounting studs to clean up the threads.
I carried out a dry run on my Euro lamp adapters and a small tweak will be required to get them to fit correctly, but that’s for tomorrow night.

Day 148

This morning before work I unmasked the Front fog lights and using a new Stanley blade very carefully picked off any tiny masking tape ridges on the rivets.
One lamp had a loose paper sticker in it when I took them apart. It was a Hella sticker with the bulb type. I could see where it was fitted and took a photo of the old sticky mark and the angle it was at before cleaning up the lamps. After cleaning the sticker I re-glued it back in place where it went. Finally before leaving for work I fitted the cleaned up mounting brackets.

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Today was manic at work so I had to miss lunch all together but when I got home tonight I started work on the front side/indicator lamps that I’d cleaned up yesterday.
In US format they have a twin filament bulb that is side & indicator through the fully amber lens. I want to convert mine to Euro spec with a clear sidelight at the bottom of the amber lens. To do this requires fitting another lamp holder in the housing and new lenses to mimic the true Euro spec. I’d bought the lenses last year before the car arrived in UK knowing that they’d be needed
Next I re-engineered some lamp holders to convert the front lights.

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And fitted

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Fortunately the original top lamp holder has two nice clear holes already in it so I simply fed the new power and earth out through them. The plan is to keep the twin filament bulb at the top, use only the indicator filament spade connection and fit the other filament cable straight to the new lamp holder for a clear sidelight. No modification of the original wiring loom required.

For peace of mind I was a little concerned of the closeness of the rear lamp wire to the housing, so I cut a small piece of old car inner tube rubber to make an insulation pad. In this way if any over enthusiastic bulb changing occurs it wont short out and blow a fuse.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20lamps%20006_zpstv8tsknk.jpg.html

Hopefully this will help anyone else out who wants to change to Euro style and they’ll know what to do.

Day 149

This morning I loaded up parts and tools ready for a lunchtime visit to the paintshop.
The car was due home today but the transporter was booked, the earliest the paintshop and transporter are both available is 7am on Monday morning. So as they are not open tomorrow I needed to fit the door, bonnet & boot locks to hold everything shut for transporting home.

I called in at noon and they had quickly hung the doors, so a few tweaks from me to get them sitting right and I fitted the cleaned up locks and striker plates. The bonnet & boot were on tressels still so I fitted the catches to them and the car. I also took along all the new rubber bump stops and screwed them in slightly high so that the closed bonnet & boot wont rattle and mark the paint because the seals aren’t on yet on the way home.
I was pushed for time but managed to load up the engine lid and pop up light covers to take home today before going back to work.
On the way home before food shop, I called in and picked up the targa roof and the front bumper from the second paintshop. Plenty to keep me busy this weekend!

After getting home and unloading the parts I had to stop and admire them while I had a well deserved cup of tea.
I decided to finish off the second front sidelight this evening so more scraping and scrubbing required to clean up the housing.
Before & after

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After last night shenanigans I repeated the same modifications to the second euro side light conversion plate and fitted it in the holder.
All that was left to do was insert bulbs and with the aid of a wiring diagram and spare car battery I tested all the connections.
I opted for a Hermaphrodite spade connector on the new earth lead and a male spade on the new side lamp positive lead. Both were crimped soldered and heat shrinked.
After a bulb test the original pins on the lamp were easily identified.
Pin 31 earth (with dual spade so original car loom can be connected)
Pin BL (remains un modified and is Positive to indicator filament - the brightest- of the twin filament bulb)
Pin 57 side light feed (original pin covered with grey heat shrink to prevent connection. This is where the new positive feed goes to new clear sidelight, so basically what was originally pin 57 is now the new flying lead)
All should be contained within the new rubber cable sheath to the lamps and no modification of the car wiring loom required

Finished lamps

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Day 150

Today I got up early with the intension of painting the engine lid satin black under the Grille.
The new paint on the top surface of the engine lid is flawless but on closer inspection I was not happy with the underside. It looks like during painting a load of sand from somewhere became dislodged and fell all into the wet paint along the forward edge eitherside of the hinges.
I very carefully masked up the top surface with two layers of kitchen roll, bubble wrap and finally a cardboard cover. All carefully cut to shape and only masking taped around the sides to avoid marking the fresh paint. With this in place I taped a double cardboard top onto my Black & Decker workmate and flipped the engine lid over to work on the underside. After a bit of poking around I discovered that the diagonal brace was full of sand behind it where you couldn’t see. I spent a good two hours with a toothbrush size brass bristle wire detail brush with the handle sawn off fiddling around to scrub all the braces on the lid that you cant see between top skin and brace. I then used scotchbrite to feed into all the nooks and crannies dragging back & forth to clean every last grain of sand out. I must have got half a tea cup out, totally shocking! It must have blown in there layer upon layer and set with moisture, completely out of sight.
I then spent another 3 hours sanding down the new paint on the underside of the engine lid with 600 & 800 grit to remove all the bits of sand & dirt that had blown into the new paint.
Finishing off with more scotchbrite to key every ridge & valley. Whilst I was being messy I sanded and keyed the top surface of the engine lid to take the satin black that I’d planned just to do today.
It took an age to clean out all the dust & dirt, with vacuum cleaner, dry brushes, tack rags and degrease wipe, then tack rag once more.
Fortunately I have a litre of mixed Alaska Blue from when I did the engine bay a few months ago, so I set about re-spraying the whole enginelid underside in my part finished loft conversion. Still considering whether I should make it a bedroom or a spray booth?
After a good few hours drying in the blistering heat of the loft I mixed up some 2 pack lacquer and gave it a good coat.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20enginelid%20reverse_zpsx5arckyh.jpg.html

I spent a good long time making sure the hinges and braces were absolutely perfect and I’m reasonably pleased how it came out.
While it was still tacky I very carefully took off the masking tape and cardboard protection from the top surface as masking tape left too long on fresh paint marks the finish. Finally hanging it carefully to cure for a few days with minimal surface contact.
In between the paint coats while waiting for it to dry I started to strip and clean the replacement rear lamp assembly I’d got from Stuart at UK 914 owner (many thanks).
With Stuart’s old housing and my old lamp holders I reckon I can make up a decent righthand lamp to match my Left one.
A good Cif cream scrub was had of all parts and washed off. While they dried on the garden table I cleaned up a few more parts that I’d taken off the car previously. These included, the adjuster/stop nuts and bolts for the pop up lamps, the wiper collars, nuts, the pop up lamp arms and a few odd bits for here & there.
With things drying all over the house & garden I quickly popped out to buy two new bulbs for the euro modified front side lamps and grab a bite to eat.
Metal parts dried I gave them a light waxoil coat and fitted the bulbs, and the new rubber seals to the side lights before bagging up and putting into storage.

The plan for tomorrow is to brasso polish up the rear light housing firstly. The satin blacking of the engine lid will have to wait for a few days now for the paint on the underside to harden, but to be fair there’s plenty other stuff to do.

Day 151

This morning I starting to clean up the light lens Stuart sent me. The lamp holder was carefully removed by cutting out the resin around the spade connections and sliding the block out. The mounting studs were quite rusty so they got a good clean up with a M6 die, and a paint with aluminium silver. The first thing I did was check the plastic to make sure it wasn’t too UV degraded. This was a quick check by polishing one end to see if it was feasible to restore the unit.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20RH%20rear%20light%20004_zpsrjm33oth.jpg.html

The housing was reasonably good except for the frame across the top of the indicator that was broken and a few chunks missing. This was ok in my old unit that has a melted hole in the top, so I cut a section out and bonded it into Stuart’s housing to repair the corner. Next I grafted in a new tube to the single lens stud hole from my old housing. I discovered a couple of weeks ago that the housings were melted by cellulose thinners. I used this to my advantage and semi dissolved the joined in section and with a cellulose soaked rag, wiped over it. This levelled off the frame edge and made an invisible join. Several small area’s were treated the same with a little cellulose thinners to melt and 800 grit wet & dry to flat off. Following the repairs I spend a good few hours polishing the housing up with Brasso.
Finally my old cleaned up lamp holder was bonded into the replacement housing and the bulbs refitted. A quick check with my multimeter, the seal was fitted to the new Euro lens and the lens fitted to the housing with the cleaned up knurl nuts.
Last of all after cleaning all old impact glue from the housing surround the new seal to body was stuck on.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20RH%20rear%20light%20001_zpshsetzysm.jpg.html

All wrapped in bubble wrap with the LH lamp and put in to my shed awaiting assembly.
Next I turned my attention to the pop up lamp motors. They got a thorough clean with a modellers brush in white spirit to get all the sand, grease and dirt out the worm drive casing webs. The whole assemblies were then brass wire brush burnish/cleaned to an as new finish. The electrical leads were individually cleaned carefully with a small rag soaked in cellulose thinners, followed by the relay holder. The relays were removed and the cross in each pin slightly opened with a Stanley blade, cleaned up and refitted. Finally the earth eyelets were cleaned before the whole assembly was coated with WD40 and wiped dry to a nice as new lustre, zip top bagged and back into my shed.
With the Brasso still out this evening I cleaned the door mirror within an inch of its life. I must have polished it a dozen times until I was happy it was good enough. I brass wire brushed the cross head fixing screws to a bright shine and spent a good while brushing out the cross head screwdriver slots in them too.
The mirror glass is held in with a black plastic surround which I cleaned with a combination of more brasso and a final wipe with a clean rag in cellulose thinners to bring it back to a jet black shiny appearance. I sorted out the new Mirror to Door gasket from my large 914rubber delivery and bagged it with the screws and mirror before placing in the shed.
Looking for a break from polishing and change of scenery, I went to the garage, swept it out free of any dust/leaves and cut two bits of 4 x 2 to act as wheel stops for pushing the car in tomorrow morning. There’s a slight ramp up to the garage door so don’t wont to push eagerly tomorrow and bump the garage wall!!
Before calling it a day, I fetched my trowel and dug up a load of weeds that had sprung up across the front of the garage door since I cleared it up a couple of weeks ago.

Fingers crossed the car will be home in the morning!



Month 5…..PHEW what a month this was!
The ugly and unloved little 914 is starting to change into a beautiful butterfly.

With the prospect of a very shiny fresh paint car coming home next month I can’t wait to step up a gear and start getting it all back together.

Thank you for taking time to read my Build-off daily diary.

Posted by: Andyrew Feb 27 2016, 06:43 PM

Sheesh! Talk about progress! Your paint looks fantastic! That sure is an interesting looking garage you landed. Completely different from what we see in the states.

Cant wait to see the reassembly

Posted by: Mike Bellis Feb 28 2016, 02:53 PM

This one might be the winner due to the quality of work and spectacular documentation. Great job!

Posted by: 914forme Feb 28 2016, 07:18 PM

All I can say is wow, keep it up!!!!

Posted by: gereed75 Feb 29 2016, 08:56 AM

QUOTE(914forme @ Feb 28 2016, 08:18 PM)

Posted by: Darren C Feb 29 2016, 09:23 AM

QUOTE(gereed75 @ Feb 29 2016, 02:56 PM)

QUOTE(914forme @ Feb 28 2016, 08:18 PM)

All I can say is wow, keep it up!!!!

You sir are a restoration animal

The wood rot tip and the restoration of the tail light buckets are priceless. What solvent did you use on them??

Amazing. Best of luck with the rest of the work.

Posted by: Darren C Mar 24 2016, 12:58 PM

Month 6

Day 152

She’s home!!!!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20boot%20home%20001_zpsxbokzu8a.jpg.html

This morning I picked up the car from the paintshop. The weather was kind and the sun shone as we carried it home. Quickly unloaded and tucked away in the garage I left for work.

During lunch I drop off the two large discs that go on the end of the pop up headlight motors to be blasted and coated black. I called Porsche Centre and ordered up a few odds and ends. The collar/covers for the wiper spindles and retaining nuts for the wiper arms.
I spent the day at work eager to get home and start on the car.
First job tonight was to start cleaning. Yes more cleaning. This time it was dust from the paintshop, it’s bloomin everywhere in the interior, engine bay and a light dusting over the new paintwork. Bringing it home on the transporter the wind whipped it up and covered everything.
I very carefully washed the car and wiped over as much surface in the interior as I could with a damp cloth. This will need repeating over the next few days/months to get rid of it all.
Anyway after an hour cleaning I was itching to start re-assembly. The first job was to align the rear boot lid. It was loosely bolted on for transport so I carefully got all the gaps right and nipped up the bolts. Next I adjusted the rubber stops to get it sitting flush with the rear quarters by the lights. Only then did I refit and adjust the latch and striker pin.
Once aligned and free to open and close easily I fitted the push button rear lock.
I’d bought a new 914 rubber seal to go around the lock.
The new seal was so soft that the slightest tightening of the nut on the push button barrel compressed and deformed the new lock seal. It simply curled up and away from the body. The silicone rubber based seal was no good at all :-(
Not impressed I cleaned up, polished and refitted my old lock seal which is far sturdier than the 914rubber seal.
Not a good start for 914rubber, fell at the first hurdle.
Anyway with my old seal cleaned and fitted I un-bagged the rolled up wiring loom that was in a carrier bag in the engine bay. Working to the deadline of getting the car ready for paint, I’d simply bagged it up out of the way without inspecting it.
Suffice to say the section of wiring loom running along the rear of the car between the lights had been painted blue! No surprise really as the back of the lights had blue overspray on them when the Muppets painted the boot floor long ago.
The only way to sort out the loom was to take off all the spiral binding tape and clean each strand by hand with a cellulose thinners soaked rag.
So there goes 3 hours this evening….Anyhow I got it all off before re-binding the whole rear loom with new black insulation tape being careful to replicate the helix binding pattern so the wires show through as if it was brand new.
With no electricity in the garage (contemplating a 100m extension lead) I had to call it a night when I couldn’t see anymore. Besides if I did get a light in there, I’d probably not bother going to bed at all!

Day 153

Today I got to the second paintshop about quarter to 7 and waited for them to open up so that I could collect my rear bumper before work. Rushed it home and unloaded; currently have the front bumper and roof in my sons bedroom, the rear bumper, engine lid grille, new windscreen surround trim and mats in my living room, the big box of rubber trims in my conservatory and the engine lid in the half finished loft conversion. Living alone has its advantages…..
Anyway at lunch today I called in and picked up my 3M butyl for the windscreen and rear window. Expiry date 2018 so good to go. I bought two boxes just in case. Like the caulking, the old boy in there had a trip down memory lane when he sold it to me, the younger guys just looked blank as he reminisced.
Tonight when I got home from work I continued on the rear wiring loom. The spade connections for the lamps were missing most of the black rubber sheaths and looked very dirty. I cut off what sheathing was left and in an upturned spray can lid gave the bundle of spade connections a good 15 minute soak in “Wonder Wheels”. While soaking I carried on cleaning dust from the engine bay with a damp cloth, sponge, brush and minimal water. It’s going to need a few goings over, but an hour a night for a few days (so I don’t get completely bored with it) and it should be as good as when I handed it over to the paintshop.
Taking the spade connectors out of soak they were miraculously returned to bright shiny copper, so a quick rinse and they were good as new. Magic stuff that Wonder Wheels is!
Next I cut ¾” sections of black heat shrink and re made the sheaths on all the terminals.
The numberplate light spades looked sorry too, so I did the same with them.
While they were soaking I fitted a few bits from my bag marked “rear boot”. The roof clamps went in with my security head bolts…perfect, look just like rivets but easily undo able if a clip breaks in future. The jack straps, boot floor plugs, two large caps in front of the shock mounts and the rubber shock mount top covers all got fitted.
I do have one question that someone might be kind enough to answer….

The rear roof rubber holders that fix by the lights, do the bolts get nipped up to pinch the rubber holder when its vertical or tightened just enough for them to fold down forwards when not in use

Finally this evening before I ran out of daylight, I fitted all the cleaned up rubber sheaths to the wiring loom clamp tabs and neatly laid the rear loom in place and rolled the tabs over gently to secure it. All I need to do to complete it is grab a couple of new rubber grommets tomorrow for where the numberplate light wires pass out through the rear panel.

Day 154

Today I picked up a box of 140 assorted grommets and some other odds & sods that I thought might come in useful from the Motor Factors.
It was a manic day at work so it was a nice unwind to start refitting bits on the car this evening.
First of all tonight I fitted the new refurbished rear light assemblies (been itching to get them on the car). I slowly pulled the 4 nuts up on each a little at a time with a good 10 minutes between each turn to evenly compress the light to body seal and not break the bonded repair on the RH lamp edge. In between I fitted other bits to the car until after a couple of hours the rear lights sat perfectly. Boy do they look nice!
Rear wiring loom all in place and new grommets fitted for the number plate wires finished off the rear boot.
The in between bits included un masking the fuel tank area and carrying out a first clean (of many to come) to get the paintshop dust out.
I also cleaned out the front bonnet area, the pop up light & wheel well free of dust.
I then fitted all the black sheaths in the front boot for the loom clamp tabs. Next I pop riveted the aluminium VIN plate back in place and the repainted black id plate in the wheel well. The fuel sticker was carefully cleaned of old adhesive on the back and with ultra thin high impact double-sided tape was fitted back on the RH wheel arch.
Small bits like the original grommets were fitted in the wheel well floor, the two rubber buffer stops under the front that the valance rests on and the spring nuts for the headlight motor covers. I then cleaned up the two earth threads for the pop up lights earth points before it got too dark to see in the rear of the garage.
I’d tried earlier this evening to fit the “2.0” badge on the rear panel (the “914” badge was purchased weeks ago from AA with the 2.0 badge but they emailed to tell me it was on back order so still waiting) Unfortunately there’s something fishy with the 2.0 badge. The black paint was already falling off it in the bag it came in and the badge was shiny brass beneath. Not sure if this was because it was NOS or a repro, but in came in a genuine Porsche box? On closer inspection the brass casting still had flashing on one pin which stopped it fitting in the hole on the car so I had to file it off. In the end pretty much all the black paint fell off, so I had to clean it all up with 800 grit to remove the rest and key the shiny polished surface. The black paint it came with didn’t stand a chance of hanging on to polished brass!
I gave it a coat of acid etch primer in my shed about 15 minutes ago, so shall leave it 24hrs until tomorrow night when I can satin black it.

Day 155

Today I have mostly been cleaning up the front wiring loom.
I started this morning by undoing all the cable ties and laying out the front loom in the wheel well on top of bubble wrap. A lot of the insulation tape spiral binding was damaged and hanging off so I removed all the loose sections and untapped all the spade connectors I’d covered while the car was away just in case the paintshop tried a battery on the car. Then I left for work.
During lunch I found a new aerial and purchased it to replace the original broken one.
Tonight I continued to clean every strand in the front loom with a cellulose thinners soaked rag, which took an age.
Afterwards I re bound it with insulation helix winding as I did last night on the rear loom before carefully feeding it around the boot back into place. Carefully replacing the grommets and rolling around all the tabs to hold it in place. With the earth eyelets connected back up everything is back in place, just the spade connections to clean tomorrow and it’ll be ready for the lights, motors and horns to be installed. I called the powdercoaters at lunchtime but the small headlight motor mounting discs weren’t ready today, but hopefully tomorrow so that I can rebuild the pop up lights over the weekend.
I unpacked the new 3 spade holder plastic blocks for the rear of the headlight bulbs (mine have UV crumbled) and noticed they are end entry for the wires on the spades, the car has side entry cables on the spades so I need to modify them to fit, so running out of daylight it’ll have to wait until the morning.
Finally this evening I sprayed the 2.0 badge black over the etch primer in my loft.
On another note 914rubber emailed me back about the soft boot lock seal and offered a refund if I send it back. To be fair the cost of postage is greater than the seal, so I will wait until my whole box of seals are fitted so that if there are any other issues it can all be dealt with in one postage. Fingers crossed everything else will be ok.

Day 156

Today I finished off the front wiring loom.
Starting early this morning I sorted out cleaning the remaining spade terminals before work.
A phone around at lunchtime was quite disappointing. The powder coaters hadn’t found time all week to do the two small headlight motor discs and the second paintshop’s painter had gone on holiday so no one was able to paint the valances and sills (rocker panels) until next week. (How does a paintshop business run like that?) Not on really as they’ve had them now for over a month and I handed them over all sand blasted and in etch primer so there was little labour required. Same old, same old. The older I get the less reliable the world is.
All annoying really as I wanted to fit the headlight motors and bumpers this weekend but can do neither now until I get the parts back.
Anyway, after another manic Friday at work and evening food shop I was determined to finish the front wiring loom. Working until I ran out of light this evening I managed to put new heat shrink on all the spade terminals, modify the loom to deal with the removed side markers and identify all cable colours and draw a quick chart for lamp connection tomorrow.
I then gave the 2.0 badge a coat of satin lacquer and cleaned out the paint from the rear panel mounting holes with a swiss rats tail being careful not to go through to the metal so the badge fitted fine.
Hopefully tomorrow will go better than today.

Day 157

Today on “914 The Big Build”

I have mostly been putting stuff back on the car….

The rear boot is finished apart from the seal that I need to identify in my big box of bits and it looks lovely. I fitted the 2.0 badge with a tiny O ring of caulking around the pins on both the outside and inside (you can just see the grey caulking in the picture) of the car before fitting the new rubber encased star washers on the rear. No water or rust will get in here!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20electrics%20install%20002_zpsfiz4mfc5.jpg.html

With the lights in, it’s starting to look more like a car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20electrics%20install%20005_zpsxdukxace.jpg.html

Working in the bonnet (trunk) area I fitted the pop up lights (less motors) and the new bonnet seal. Glued in with high temp impact adhesive. It needs to settle a few days from where it was folded up in the bag it came in which creased and deformed it a bit. Should be back to shape tomorrow as this evening it was far, far better than when it came out the bag in the morning. What a fiddle it was to fit, but went well in the end.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20electrics%20install%20010_zpsudeqrnhf.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20electrics%20install%20011_zpsrfjzngj6.jpg.html

Finally tonight I took off the bonnet release lever from under the dash and dismantled it and sanded it down for a re-paint. It was all chipped and manky so with a new cable to fit it couldn’t go back on as it was. Hopefully then with the cable in place I can fit and adjust the bonnet which will give me the datum for the pop up headlight covers.

Day 158


Last night after updating my daily diary it was still reasonably early so I decided to waxoil the rear of the pop up light & infill panels and gave the bonnet release lever a second coat so that they’d all be dry in the morning.
This morning I started by fitting the release lever and found a small issue. The plastic speaker surround was pushing the wiring loom up and when the bonnet lever was pulled the slot headed guide screw on the underside was rubbing over the loom. I’d not noticed it before when the lock was attached and it had over the years cut through some of the loom insulation. I ended up taking the speaker cover out and having to repair the loom. With the speaker cover back in it was the same issue? The solution is going to be a “P” clip or similar to hold the loom towards the centre of the car. I need to dwell on it for a while so I have left the speaker grill out for now so that I can get the car built up and deal with the loom when I move onto the interior.
So, the boot lock was fitted and adjusted so the bonnet sat down level with the wings. I adjusted the bump stops and fitted some protective discs of 3M stone guard. (A clear sticky back plastic that normally wraps the front paintwork of a car to protect it from stone chips) I cut some small discs out with my Swedish punch set, peeled off the backing, stuck them centrally on my bump stops with a tiny blob of caulking (adhesive side up) and closed the bonnet so they stuck on the bonnet underside. Opening up the bonnet again to remove the blob of caulking and fixing the disc firmly. This will stop the bump stops rubbing through the new paint. I repeated this on the rear boot too to protect the paint there.
Next I fitted the pop up light front infill panels with 6 new rubber plug/grommets and checked the bonnet height and alignment again.
I then moved onto the rear of the car and the two sections eitherside the engine bay where the small grilles fit. Not wanting to mark the new paintwork I masked the area around them before sanding the bodywork down with 400 grit. Then cleaned and etch primed ready for satin black under the grilles.
With the rear of the car masked up still, I decided to remove all the old glue from the roll bar top and sails with a cloth soaked in white spirit. Turning the rag repeatedly I removed all the glue residue. Next I sanded out the paint line where the paintshop had painted the rear quarter and up on to the base of the sails each side. There was only the tiniest of paint steps but I didn’t want it to show through the vinyl. All surfaces were then keyed very lightly with 240 grit, and wiped off multiple times with a tack rag.
I then fitted the new sail & roll bar vinyl kit I’d bought from 914rubber using spray high temp impact adhesive from Woolies. The kit is mostly cut to size so it is critical to get it lined up before any glue is applied. I did this dry by taping the vinyl in the exact position, top, bottom and sides with 2” masking tape, drawing a pen line through the centre of the tape and cutting it free along the vinyl edge with a Stanley blade. This left 4 bits of tape on the car and 4 on the vinyl. When lined up with the pen marks they would be in the perfect position. I masked off all around the car with several broadsheet newspapers and applied the spray glue in 3 section. Roll bar top first.
After the glue was touch dry I fitted the top vinyl. No mean feat when your lone working. I had to very carefully stick one side on the very edge, hold it up high and walk it through the car (easy with seats out) and then standing on the opposite side of the car still holding it up high, align it front to rear, keeping it tight I then lowered it progressively in place for a perfect fit. The edges were then worked into the contours before trimming the sides off. Finally I then cut the ends with a knife and steel rule exactly halfway down the centreline of where the two aluminium trims fit.
After a well deserved cuppa I stuck both sail vinyls on. Again this was precarious starting at the top and working down, careful to make sure the vinyl finished half way over all the trim hold along the bottom.
Again after working it around all the corners and into place It all looked good.
Fortunately I’d carefully marked and trimmed the vinyl before fitting as I didn’t want too many cuts with a blade when it was on the car which break the paint surface.
The short aluminium strips were then fixed to the roof and the 3 new clips fitted along the rear edge (I took me a while to figure they went on the car first then the longest aluminium trim clips on afterwards)
Finally I fitted the two thin aluminium trims at the base of each fin with the 8 new spring clips I bought a while back.
The two curved ali trims will need to wait until tomorrow as I want to fit the two black grilles eitherside the engine bay before they go on, but need 24hrs for the satin black to dry.
Last of all I satin blacked over the etch and after half an hour unmasked the rear of the car with all glue/paint overspray contained on the newspaper, had a final cuppa and just sat a while looking at the car
Day 159

A lunch today I visited the iron mongers and picked up some stainless ½” screws to fit the aliuminium trims on the rear of the “A” pillars and front of the sails (that hold the upper door seals).
This evening after work I fitted the two grilles either side of the engine bay opening. The new seal was cut to the odd shape of the old seals. All was clear when I fitted them that it has to follow the contours of the steel pressing below the grille, hence the odd shape.
The little rubber encased star washers that I’d carefully removed a few months ago were cleaned in cellulose thinners and a small blob of new caulking applied before pressing home. I found that an 8mm socket was ideal to push them firmly home while holding the grilles down from above.
Next I fitted the two curved aluminium trims on the rear edge of the sails. Again I used the caulking to seal around the stud holes to prevent water ingress and hopefully stop corrosion. I opted on using stainless nylocks on the underside to secure the trim again to stop corrosion and working loose.
It was a bit of a fiddle and faff to get the nuts and washers on in a narrow garage but patience paid off and the trims were fitted nicely.
Next this evening I fitted new speed nuts to the front panel that hold the valance on and checked all was good by winding in some new Acme screws before removing them to leave the speed nuts lined up. A quick brush with waxoil and I’d run out of light yet again.

Day 160

This morning early doors I started cleaning up the pop up light motor linkage plastic covers with Brasso and making sure the screws and bolts were all cleaned up before work.
At lunch I visited the powdercoaters and picked up the small black discs, all shiny and new. On the way back to the office I called in at Porsche Centre and picked up the two wiper spindle covers and new wiper arm retaining nuts.
Tonight when I got home I thought I’d take a couple of shots of the roll bar vinyl and trims that I’d fitted the last couple of days.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20pop%20ups%20and%20vinyl%20006_zpswizxwrvj.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20pop%20ups%20and%20vinyl%20008_zpspg3g0ak4.jpg.html

With the motor mounting discs in hand I was ready to fit the pop up light motors.
I fitted them with the 3 allen socket head bolts just nipped up and connected all the wires, relay and earth cable. With the actuating arms DISCONNECTED I put the battery lead on and switched the lights on with the ignition on. The motors spun to the light up position. Next without turning anything off I disconnected the battery.
Doing this allows you to connect the actuating arms in the maximum extended position (short pivot end and long arm absolutely straight and in line). With the arms on and the nuts nipped up (while holding the arm so as the motor wouldn’t turn when the nut was nipped) the lights were in the up position.
Now; with many 924’s, 944’s and 928’s under my belt in previous restorations the alignment is straight forward as follows….

1. Loosen off the end stop bolt and wind forward.
2. Fit the top painted covers and the black plastic cowls.
3. Loosen the 3 allen head bolt slightly that hold the motor in place.
4. Wind the motor manual knob ANTI clockwise (its got a lefthand thread, if you go clockwise it’ll unscrew and fall off) until both lamps are fully down with the actuator arms folded one under the other over the top of the furthest allen bolt.

Its ONLY now that you can align the pop up unit.

5. The first thing to do is line up the front edge of the lamp pod (effectively how far the light closes) This is done by moving the motor forwards or backwards on its 3 bolts NOT by turning it. Once to front edge is level with the infill panel and wing the motor can be nipped up on the 2 bolts you can get to as one is behind the arm and can be tightened at the very end.
6. Next loosen the light pivot bolts, two under the wing and 3 in the bonnet.
7. With bonnet closed you can align and tighten the two bolts under the wing and make a note of were to move the bracket on the inner pivots in the bonnet. I use a bit of masking tape in line with the bracket so you can see how much you’ve moved it and in which direction.
8. The pivot bolts in 6 & 7 above set the height on the rear of the lamp pod and move forward and back to set the pod squarely in the car.
9. Once level, square and at the right height tighten all bolts.
10. Before any power is applied turn the manual lamp knobs anticlockwise to open and close the light to check all is good.
11. Finally turn the knob one last time to the fully open position (tighten up that last motor bolt you could’nt get to) and set the travel stop limit bolt. This is done by carefully slipping a 13mm open ended spanner down the rear of the light pod, hold the nut and with a screwdriver turn the bolt anticlockwise until it just touches the bracket on the pivot then lock off the 13mm nut carefully in that position.

Afterwards I put the battery back on and powered them up and down a few times to make sure all was good.
Light beam alignment will be set crudely shining at the rear of the garage with the bowl adjusting screws and done properly at the MOT (Ministry of Transport) test station with the light box.

Assembled left Pop up light

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20pop%20ups%20and%20vinyl%20003_zpsaphjoadc.jpg.html

Right Pop up light

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20pop%20ups%20and%20vinyl%20001_zpsnia3kcg9.jpg.html

The finished alignment, pretty much as good as it gets

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20pop%20ups%20and%20vinyl%20010_zpsngtwsoco.jpg.html

Day 161

Today started good with a little more cleaning before work, a run around at lunchtime to get some more thinners and white spirit and home after work to start on the car.
I fitted the two ali trims on the front edge of the sails that hold the door glass rubber seals with my nice new stainless steel screws. A small amount of caulking was placed behind them, rolled into a long sausage string in my palms before sticking down the centre of the trims prior to screwing on. This should not only stop water ingress but also aid sealing the sail vinyl edge that’s behind the ali trim and just crying out for water to be held in there by capillary attraction if left unattended.
Next I repeated the process and fitted the forward ali trims that hold the seals on the windscreen pillars for the quarterlight glass.
All was going well until I decided to fit the rear boot seals from 914rubber. They sat too high and the lid wouldn’t close?? I emailed Mark who’s agreed to take them back.
So on to an internet search yet again to buy parts twice over….
I found what claims to be OEM pattern seals on sale at Rosepassion Porsche, in France, about 3 times the price of the 914rubber ones so begrudgingly I ordered a set and will keep you informed how they work out.
After the hiccup with the boot seals I thought I’d fit the lower front roof seal to the windscreen frame. (It’s the one that sits directly by the trim panel and sunvisors). This time it looked like the one that came off, so good start. There is a notch cut out in the centre to clear a block that lines up the targa roof when fitting it. The seal had a token gesture notch cut out that required completely re cutting with a new Stanley blade so that the seal fitted properly. After a few minutes I’d whittled a perfect notch and the seal slipped straight on. While I was in there I noticed the centring block was wobbly, and found two philips screws on the underside loose so gave them a tightening up. It was then apparent that the seal was over length. No problem, I’d rather it that way than too short. To cut it correctly requires the full up and over seal to be fitted so that I can see where exactly to cut. Running out of daylight, this is going to be a job for tomorrow. At least that large seal I purchased directly from Porsche, so hopefully no messing about required.

Day 162

Today’s 914 escapades…..
I called in this morning before work and picked up the front and rear valances from the paintshop. Looking gooooooood!
Unfortunately they hadn’t painted the edge of the sills properly where the rivets hold it on so I’ve asked them to do it again. Classic case of “what thought did”. The painter said “I thought you didn’t see that edge”
Hey ho. That’s the way it goes. Suffice to say I’ve asked them to sort it but at least I can now fit the valances over the weekend and finally fit the bumpers.
At lunch time I tracked down another OEM seal and spoke to Porsche Centre about a new master key.
So tonight when I got home I spent a good while wrestling the large windscreen frame to roof seal into place and managed to fit both small screws in the corners. The sides I coated with some PH neutral soap (used for cleaning leather) to aid them sliding into the two ali channels. In this way if any residue remained it wouldn’t harm anything. The hardest bit was working out where to cut the lower rubber so it sits neatly against the inner corners of the up and over seal. Cutting a little off at a time and repeatedly fitting it to check, I managed to get a good joint on either end.
Since the rubber was slid in, the given practice is to squash/pinch it in place with the ali trim on the hidden inner edge. I plan on leaving it a few days before doing this. It can then “settle” in the car and hopefully when I pinch it in place it will not be stretched or compressed anywhere which could lead to the corners parting in future.
Finally this evening I fitted the front Euro modified side/indicator lights. Again this was a real fiddle under the wing trying to connect the spades on the back when you have new rubber sleeves over the loom that are quite rigid. Again trying to stretch the cover sleeve over the end of the lamp holder was also a real task, but with patience I managed to get them both on.
Starting to get dark I removed both sun visors and pivots. I plan on taking them down to the trimmers tomorrow. They look all lumpy so just won’t do. I’ll have a chat and see if the padding can be replaced without showing, but fear as they are heat welded vinyl wrapped they may need remaking with stitching. Whatever I opt for its going to be an improvement on how they currently look.
As the sun dropped over the horizon I quickly connected the battery and tested the lights.
All good.

Day 163

Today was an early start at work (typical Friday madness) so I didn’t get to do any 914 stuff until lunch. I picked up some more satin black paint for the engine lid (under grill) which I plan on spraying this weekend and called in at the paintshop to check on the sill progress. They are going to be ready hopefully on Tuesday. I also checked the tracking website for the seals from Rose Passion and fingers crossed I may get them tomorrow.
This evening after food shop I got home and unpacked the remaining parts I had on order from Porsche, before walking over to the garage.
I started cleaning up the trim under the windscreen frame above the sunvisors and down the pillars. There are a few tiny heat cracks in the trim which need sorting out. Again I think I’ll look at them over the weekend when I can push the car outside a bit. It was spitting with rain this evening so not a good idea.
With the sky looking dark I decided to come back into the house and start on the bumpers.
I first used an M8 tap to clean out the mounting hole threads and a small modellers paintbrush to paint through the fog lamp hole onto the rear of the mounting brackets where the spray gun hadn’t quite got in. Apart from that the finish is good. Don’t want any unprotected metal behind there! Should all be dry for assembly in the morning.

Day 164

This morning I got up early and fitted the speed nuts to the front valance and sorted out some BZP Acme screws for both valances.
I used my Swedish punch set to make a set of rubber washers for the front screws, just a shade bigger than the captive washers. With all new fixings I fitted the rear valance first.

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I’d opted for a stone guard finish on them both (to kinda match the Targa top and Porsche 944 sill (rocker) style) and had them painted on both sides after they were sand blasted and etch primed. Hopefully they’ll last well.
Next I fitted the front fog lamps and horns. New grommets in the lamp bases, but still waiting for the new Fog lamp glass lenses to arrive so left the bezels & reflectors out for now. With the cables neatly connected and clamped in place I put the battery on and tested the horns. All good.
The car was now ready for the front valance. After all the tin bashing and patience with a coat of primer and stone guard (inside and out) it came up pretty damn good.

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All screwed in with rubber washered Acme BZP screws and new speed nuts; all that was left to do was give them a lick of Waxoil with a modellers brush to keep them looking good.
The ends of the valances at the wheel arches were bolted together with stainless M5 bolts, nylocks, 12mm OD penny washers and some new rubber spacer sleeves.

With the waxoil tin still open I poured a bit into a jam jar and with a ¾” brush I set about painting the inside of both doors. This took a couple of hours as I made sure I’d worked it into every corner and crevice. The doors are so good a condition with zero rust that I want to keep them that way. Looking through the top of the door I waxoiled the rear of the inner panel (the one the door card attaches too) and then up and under the top of the door skin behind where the weather strip and mirror fits across the top of the door. I think I pretty much got every internal surface.
After a well earned cuppa I started to assemble the bumpers. I’d left the nuts and washers on the bottom of the old long rubber trims for safe keeping, but in doing so I’d forgotten to clean/replace them. Some of the BZP washers were looking a bit furry so I had a rummage in my shed and found some stainless bar. An hour on my lathe and I’d made 10 new ones to the exact outside diameter and thickness. (These are not a standard size to just match exactly, so making them was a good solution)
All was going well today until I opened the 914rubber “box of doom”. I got out the two uber expensive new bumper top mouldings and decided to fit them first.
To my amazement they were both TOO SHORT.
With the captive stud fitted in the middle of the bumper both ends were about ½” too short????
I tried putting the studs in at one end first and the second bolt was 1/4” out then the middle ½” and the third ¾” and the final one was a whole inch out!

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The only thing I could try and do was bolt it in the centre then have a bloomin tug o war stretch it to get the next stud in and a blue in your face white knuckle tug in fear of breaking it to get the last stud in place.
I was not amused at this high value item.
Quickly trying to fit the washers and nuts before it all popped out.
Problem now is that because its so stretched, the two ends after the end studs are curling out and away from the wheel arches and look awful!
I’m going to leave in overnight and see if the tension in the rubber eases and settles ( I can live in hope). It’s almost as if after it was moulded it shrunk in all directions?
The rear one was the same as the front but as there is no centre fixing in the bumper I was very worried that I’d tear/snap it when trying to get the 2 studs to locate at either end.
I also noticed the holes for the numberplate lights hadn’t been made so went to pilot drill them, but just thought I’d check the light fitment first. Good job I did as the indents/dimples guides in the new rubber were nowhere near right. The indent fixing guide was far too wide for my lights.

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The cut out for the light holder was so wide I only just managed to get holes into the rubber.
Yet again I am very disappointed in these remanufactured parts from 914rubber. Lets hope they stretch over night as my old ones are far too gone to put back on the car.
All in all its been another rollercoaster of a day.

Day 165

After updating my dairy last night I took another look and decided that the only way I could get them into shape at the ends would be with a mechanical fixing.
I took the plunge and drilled a small 4mm hole in each bumper end and painted the cut metal to stop it rusting before leaving it overnight to dry.
The problem is that with stretching the trims so much to fit the studs into the metal bumpers, the ends curl out of alignment with the wheel arch ends.

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When viewed looking upwards they are miles out and look awful.

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With the holes drilled in the bumper I wrestled and forced the end into shape and marked the rear of the rubber. Due to the shape of the metal bumper there was no way that I could get a drill in, so reluctantly I took them off the metal and very carefully pilot drilled the rubber.
After 16 hours bolted stretched on the bumper they still hadn’t got any longer and I had to force them back on.
Wrestling the ends into shape I drove a ¾” stainless steel screw in from the underside.

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I did this on all 4 corners using 1” screws in the front as the force was much greater to hold the ends in.
With it now looking better I built up the rest of the bumper parts using all stainless fixings.

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Finally I could fit the bumpers to the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bumpers%20011_zpsnopygojh.jpg.html

The numberplate lights were fitted and tested all good, so I moved on to the front.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bumpers%20010_zpsr3ycu7bl.jpg.html

Not the easiest thing to fit but after another day of agro the result is better than my old perished trims.

Day 166

I emailed Mark at 914rubber some photo’s of the problems over the weekend and he replied today with acknowledgement and suggestions of cutting out the backs of the rubber bumper parts with a sharp knife to make them fit better. I’ve asked him to send some pictures of what bits to cut off them, but he is obviously aware that there is a common fitting issue with the product.

Anyway, today was going to be a long day. I left home at 7am for work and have only just got in the door at 11:15pm following a long day at work and straight on to a car club committee meeting.
I knew it was going to be a long one, so made sure I was up at 4:30 am this morning to get at least 2 hours in on the 914 today.
Before sunrise I decided today I’d fit the door handles that I’d cleaned up previously. The drivers side had a partially stripped thread down the blind hole in the Mazak. Probably due to finding a cross threaded hex head bolt in it when I took the car apart instead of a socket allen screw. I ground a spare M6 plug tap square off at the end and re-tapped the hole including about 3mm at the base of the hole that the factory didn’t tap out. It was easy to get to the very bottom of the hole with a ground off plug tap.
Next I got a new socket allen head bolt and cut it down so that it was 3mm longer than standard so that I could make use of the extended thread in the handle. All in all there was about 4mm of damaged thread at the start of the hole 5mm of old thread remaining and my new 3mm which allowed the longer bolt 8mm of good thread. More than enough to hold it firmly.
Next I opened pandora’s box of 914rubber parts and took out the new door handle seals I’d bought.
Hmmm, they were all silicone squidgy like the no good boot lock seal, not at all like the nylon of the original seal. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and cleaned the back of the chrome handle and applied a small amount impact glue to handle and seal (just like factory) and waited for the glue to go touch dry before attaching the seals in the right place.
They promptly fell off????? Eh???? The impact glue on the seal stuck to the glue on the handle but the silicone of the new seal was like some glue rejecting Teflon device and it simply didn’t stick at all. Back to the drawing board……Suffice to say I then wasted half an hour cleaning the glue off the back of the handles.
The only thing that I could find that would hold onto the seal was superglue. Not my first choice; but with 3 tiny blobs, both ends and middle, it held the seals firmly in line.
By this time the sun had risen and the birds were singing. I walked over to the garage and carefully fitted both door handles. A small coating of waterproof grease on the mechanism and they opened with the lightest touch……perfect.
The seals also stayed in place for now (not sure if it's the compression of handle to door or superglue, but time will tell).
Finally I put a blob of waxoil over and around the head of the socket allen head of the bolts to protect them from corrosion before sitting down to breakfast and then leaving for work.

Day 167

I got an email back today from Mark at 914rubber with a series of pictures of what “chunks” to cut out of the back of the rubber bumper tops to aid a better fit.
Basically he suggests cutting out two large triangular webs from each end of the rubber strip so it sits flat at each end. The webs are on the originals (from which I suspect they took a mould) and are there to reinforce the corners and kinda hook onto the metal bumper ends. They were designed that way for a reason.
The fact of the matter is that the 914rubber bumper tops DO NOT have a long metal strip inside to locate the mounting studs. They have local “penny washers” on the ends of the studs moulded inside the rubber. I suspect that they are the fibre glass stud type where the washer is drilled with a series of holes (a bit like an old movie film reel) this is moulded in place and the rubber or fibre glass fill the holes in the washer end which locks it from spinning when you put a nut on it. Here lies the problem, because the studs are not on one long plate the rubber can “shrink” and then the stud spacing shortens. The triangular webs that Mark suggest we cut off, do not hook over the end of the metal bumper as they are supposed to. Instead they fall short which stops the part sitting flush and makes the ends curl out.
The solution is NOT to cut out the web as Mark at 914rubber suggests; the answer is to scrap all the defective bumper tops and make new with a long curved metal insert with the studs fixed in.
Since they are a high value item I’m sure 914rubber had quite a few made at great expense and my ideal solution will not be an easy pill to swallow. As there is currently no alternative source for these high value items so we’re a little stuck and will have to make do and mend. Mark is aware of the issues with these parts and I suggested to him that he at least provide the purchaser with a detailed instruction on how to make them fit or better still he trial fits and adjusts each and everyone before they are shipped out. Anyone without some degree of engineering skill is simply not going to be able to fit these parts which in all honesty at the price should simply bolt on like the originals.
As for the 914rubber door handle seals on close inspection they have been injection moulded in a C&C milled die from all I can describe to you is bathroom silicone sealer. No where near as resilient as the originals. Trust me, if I had any originals then I’d be cleaning mine up and replacing. As for the impact glue holding them in place, I only replicated what I found on the back of my old handles.
Hopefully my observations and recommendations to Mark at 914rubber will move things up a gear which if implemented will only benefit the 914 community in future. After all his intentions are well meant and I’m sure these are just early development snags.

Today I got up at dawn and cleaned the rear boot carpet with 1001 carpet cleaner and gave it a good scrub before washing off in the bath. I hung it up to dry and then spent another half hour cleaning the bath tub which looked pretty dirty afterwards!
I left for work with the spare wheel in the back to take to my tame specialist metal polishers for a discussion.
Today at lunchtime I took the wheel to get the tyre off and then called in at the polishers. The Fuchs wheels are anodised and ONLY the sails/petals and outer edge of the rim is polished. I am investigating the processes required to replicate the original finish. I’ve found an anodiser that will electro-chemically strip the wheel, then the polishers can do their bit and then back to the anodisers for a fresh anodise clear plating. At the polishers today we discussed the finer details on where the polishing stops and how to achieve that. Watch this space as they say.
Anyway when I got home this evening the genuine seals had arrived from Rose Passion Porsche, so I started off by fitting the rear boot seals. Perfect!
Next I fitted the door check straps and the interior light switches. Following with the US licence plate brackets. I retained these as they stand off the front bumper to mount a plate squarely and flat on the curved & angled bumper. I’ve seen them in the PET so presume they are a genuine Porsche part so didn’t want to discard them.
I then fitted the outer door top weatherstrip ali trims (that hold the fuzzy and rubber seal strip). These need to go in first as with the glass in situ you cant get at the small screws that hold them on.
Finally (as the sill covers should be ready at the painters tomorrow) I waxoiled all of the sill panels on the car and the ends up a little way into the wheel arches, so that everything that sits behind the sill covers is well protected.

Day 168

Today I made reasonable progress on the grand assembly.
Firstly I fitted the two rear window channels that go inside the doors, next to the lock mechanism. I had two new rubber end stops that go on the top of the door clamped by the channel and fitted with a tiny screw from the rear which seemed to go on okay. I’d got some uber small stainless screws left over from a previous car restoration that did the trick. Nice and shiny when you open the door and see them!
Seems to be the best fitting bit of 914rubber yet.
The next thing to go on was the interior door handles and operating rods. Nice new spring clips on each end and cleaned up handles and rubber hoop guides completed the installation. After a little fiddling around with adjustment the doors opened, closed locked and unlocked nice and smoothly. Nothing like the sand filled mechanisms that I was frightened of snapping off the door handle when trying to open the doors when I bought the car.
After some fun and games taking the door apart the Rubic’s challenge of how to get the door glass out was easily solved and assembly was reverse of removal.
Basically the window mechanism needs winding so its about 4” short of fully lowered window position and fed into the door through the large bottom opening. The mechanism then needs to be sat neatly in the door bottom leaning inwards so that there is free space inside the door by the door skin. (you could cable tie it there if needed). The exterior ali weather strip needs to be fitted (as I did last night) and nothing else (apart from the rear channel/runner, door lock and handle)
The glass slips into the door in literally 2 seconds.
To do this you need to open the door fully so the windscreen pillar is out of your way, hold the door glass above the door (in the correct orientation as it would be if you could simply of lifted it vertically out) Move it slightly forward over where the quarterlight fits then TIP the REAR end down (about 30 degrees) and slide the bottom rear edge of the glass into the slot in the door. When you get to the metal runner that’s clamped on the glass you’ll see its wider than the slot in the door (particularly as the ali trim is fitted) so you feed this in through the bit where the quarterlight and front window runner goes, tipping the glass a little steeper about 45 degrees. Once the whole of the runner is in through the wider quarterlight gap you can then reduce the angle progressively as you feed the glass rearwards into the door until horizontal again (window wound up position) and then it can be lowered down into the door between the door skin and the mechanism that was strategically placed previously.
Simply let the glass sit on the bottom of the door while you raise the winder mechanism into place and bolt it in. All that’s needed then is to lift the glass inside the door onto the runners of the mechanism. If you did as I said firstly and set the mechanism to about 3 to 4 inches wound up before putting it into the door; then the runners and securing bolt for the front arm will be smack bang in the middle of the large opening and you’ll be able to see what your doing while fitting the front securing bolt through the nylon block into the glass metal bracket. Removal is obviously reverse of this. It did take me a little while when I stripped the car down to figure this out but knew there had to be a knack to it on a mass produced car, so hopefully this post will save time and potential damage for others wrestling with their door glass.
So that was today’s progress, right hand door glass in, run out of daylight yet again. Hopefully left door glass for tomorrow.

Day 169

Today was another long day at work, 6am start and 6pm finish so unfortunately I didn’t get a look in on the 914 this morning. This evening I carried on with the door assembly after fitting the rear boot carpet (all of 10 seconds) after its scrub and bubble bath earlier in the week.
The drivers door glass was fitted first this evening, same procedure as last night. I then fitted the two outer 914rubber weather strips followed by the long ali front window runner and quarterlight frame. I loosely fitted the top cap (without quarterlight glass) to set the adjustment bolt at the bottom of the door to ensure it fitted snug into the windscreen pillar seal. With a quick double check of all the bolts and a repeat of the same on the passenger door I was ready to test rolling the windows up and down.
Guess what…. the damn things just rolled in against the glass jammed up and came dislocated.
The 914rubber parts are really starting to get my goat. They are an “enjoyment vacuum” during this otherwise pleasurable restoration.
Not one to be defeated I thought maybe it was because the top inner door fuzzy weather strip was not fitted yet? Maybe if that pushes against the glass from the inside then it might stop the outer rubber rolling in? Back into the house to grab my new inner fuzzy seal, opened the bag went to fit and Oh Dear its supplied cut 2” too short!
The outer seals were 3-4” too long which is great because you can trim it to your exact size, the inner ones on the otherhand are only fit for the bin.
I’m getting quite fed up with sounding like a broken record in multiple emails to Mark at 914rubber, but his stuff (in my short experience) isn’t good. Trouble is I still have half a box of it yet to fit, so my returns parcel is still growing.
Not wanting to even trial fit the too short inner fuzzies for fear of it affecting my chances of a refund, I put them back in the bag.
At least the quarterlight rubber seals I bought were from Porsche Centre so I left the wind up windows (immobilised by 914rubber) and decided to fit the two quarterlight glasses and seals. Again with a little playing around I found that the easiest way to fit them was slide in the vertical part of the rubber down the post but don’t locate the bottom horizontal bit (if you do, the slot closes up and you cant get the glass in).
Next side in the glass down the vertical seal to locate and manipulate the horizontal seal onto the glass while holding it into the vertical slot with a little pressure. Next compress the forward end of the horizontal rubber slightly to “shorten” it and push the whole lot downwards. It should go straight into the door slot with the front end locating nicely. Tuck the front flappy tab under the outer door seal metal channel and then gently push in the thin bit at the rear of the horizontal between door skin and ali post. Perfect!
Put the two top caps on with the two cross head screws and job done.
VERY slowly close the door and check the quarterlight glass against the pillar seal. Having previously set this up with the ali post and glass out, all should be well.
I had a small adjustment to make on the windscreen pillar up and over seal at the very bottom as it was sticking down past the ali trim a few mm which caught on the quarterlight seal, but I’d not clamped it by bending the ali rail closed yet as I was waiting for it to all settle and for the test with the door built up. All reference parts in place now so I’ll let the two doors settle while closed until tomorrow and clamp the pillar seals in then.

Day 170

This morning before work I spent an hour playing around with the winder mechanism, window runner channels and glass track alignment. Hindered by the window scraper rubbers I ended up having to wipe the glass with soapy water just to allow me to roll them up and down.
I emailed Mark at 914rubber the other evening about the issue and he is aware of the binding and has a solution. He sells a better seal for the job that I understand is sold as a direct “genuine” part under licence or similar. Mark’s agreed to send me out the better seal in return for me sending the binding weatherstrips back, plus he’s sending out longer inner door seals to replace the ones that I found were too short yesterday.
He can’t be any fairer than that. I’d advise anyone who’s got an issue with the window seal to get in contact with him.
So at lunch today I picked up the two painted sill trims and dropped them off at home for safekeeping before returning back to work.
As I stepped in the door there was a card from Parcel Force with another customs charge. After work this evening before food shop I called in at the Depo and collected the rear “914” script badge (after having to pay a £17 ($26) customs charge on a $40 part!)
Once home I fitted the badge to finish off the rear of the car.
To continue with the door & glass alignment from this morning I needed the rear upright window seal fitting to the roll bar. With a little PH neutral soap and water they slid in nicely from the top and once certain they were in correctly I trimmed a tiny bit off the bottom to the correct length. Another 914rubber part but this time all went well.
I was just about to adjust the rear window runner inside the doors when Nathan from here called by. Suffice to say I spent the next 2 hours walking him through my car collection and talking all things Porsche! Before I knew it, it was 10:30pm and time to call it a day.

Day 171

Today I continued with the door, window glass, runners and frame alignment. No mean feat chasing your self in circles but I got there in the end.
Starting with holding a plastic 12” rule down the front edge of the door to front wing I adjusted the hinges and lock striker plates to get the fit right. Next the front ali window posts and quarterlights were pulled in at the top using the adjuster at their base so that the quarterlight glass met the up and over windscreen pillar seal evenly.
Next with soapy water on the glass to lubricate the scraper seal I wound the window up and down to get the best position for the M8 bolt in the nylon block on the bottom of the glass that holds it into the winder arm.
Then I adjusted the rear vertical channels again to get the glass (when wound up) to close evenly against the rear roll bar seal. I then looked at the glass side on where it meets the roll bar seal and noticed it was a tiny bit out of parallel, so undid the M6 bolt on the top of the front ali window post and gave it a tiny nudge rearwards before nipping up. After which I went back around all pivot points to double check everything. Last of all I then adjusted the travel stops on the winder mechanism to set the maximum glass height without over shooting the ali post rubber tops, then completed by tapping over the ali channels to clamp the up & over and roll bar window seals in place.
A few hours went by but the jobs done now.
After a cuppa I fitted the recently painted sill covers using all new plastic rivets, stainless bolts and Acme screws. They took a little adjusting and persuasion but went on well and look lovely!
The little VW plastic rivets were a bit of a pain to knock the pins down, but after working out that if you pull the pin from the rivet and put the tiniest bit of oil on the pin; they knock in far easier.
I then fitted the two polished up threshold plates but found that although the rivets fit through the plastic plate the holes in the car are ever so slightly (by about 0.3mm too small) I’d not had the problem on the sill covers as presumably the PO had drilled them out when the fitted metal pop rivets in the past. After running a 3.4mm drill down all the holes, followed by paint on a modellers brush I had a quick cuppa while it dried. Just in case any rust was going to get in there I waxoiled all the holes for good measure and fitted the threshold plates and remaining plastic rivets.
Next to go on was a new stainless steel radio aerial. A new grommet was fitted under the wheel arch and the cable fed along its original route before plugging into the back of the radio.
With the car pushed out of the garage for most of today it was the first time I had been able to stand back and view it. I’d noticed the front valance where it met the bottom of the bumper was a little out of alignment. One side I could see ¼” blue through the gap, the other virtually none. As that wouldn’t do… I set about un-screwing and manipulating to a perfect fit. Not bad really considering the mess it was in when I bought the car. After an hour it was all back on and perfectly aligned.
Last of all this evening I fitted the rear tow eye plug in the bumper to complete the lower section of the car.
With lawns to mow and a need for food I called it a day.

Day 172

Today I fitted the outer door seals that sit in the channel on the doors.
Using a modellers brush I put a tiny bit of impact glue in the base of the channel and on the corresponding part of the seals. Being very careful not to get it on the sides of the channel or seal.
With a small jam jar of soapy water and another modellers brush I coated the sides of the seal and the sides of the door channel; again being careful not to get the glue wet.
The seals then very simply slipped neatly in to place and sat fully home held in with their ridged sides and secured with the impact glue on the base.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20doors%20amp%20sills%20001_zpsiyk0ifzg.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20doors%20amp%20sills%20004_zps9jpqlbnv.jpg.html

I then started to clean up the floor inside the car as the seats should be back soon from the trimmers.
This was one of those tasks that you intended to do within an hour that’s turned into a mini mammoth job. I took out the armrest centre console as the top needs a retrim due to going sun baked and splitting. Suffice to say there was another dustpan full of sand under it!
Cleaning it up by hand was a real pain. (no electric in the garage so no vacuum cleaner and I don’t have a battery one either). The more I scrubbed and cleaned the more stuff I needed to sort out. I removed all the vinyl coverings in front of the seat runners and around the centre tunnel only to find the glue that was under them was all goooo like an old boiled sweet. So with a white spirit soaked cloth I had a very sticky sandy mess to clean up. To get at it properly I took the seat runners, seatbelt clips, seatbelt relay and loom out of the way. Now with seat runners out I turned them over and found the black paint flaking, so they’re off for a blast and powdercoat tomorrow now along with the little cover plate in the centre tunnel! I stripped the runners down in my shed this evening, driving out the roll pins and removing all moving parts and bushes for a proper job. I think I’ll call in at the trimmers tomorrow too and drop off the centre armrest cubby lid and maybe while the other part of the seat runners are off the seat bases take a good look at them to see if they need a refurbish aswell.
Anyway with all the bits out of the way I managed to clean up all the floor under where the seats go as far as the cross member. With tooth picks, pens, coins, safetypins, business cards and sand there was plenty of cr*p under there! However I was rewarded by finding 3, yes 3 of the black plugs that cover the screws in the interior trim.
What was going to take me an hour this morning ended up taking all day, but before I pushed the car back into the garage this evening I took a couple of pictures of the assembly so far.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20doors%20amp%20sills%20007_zpsurxer0bw.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20doors%20amp%20sills%20008_zpssuj6aoef.jpg.html

The garage is so narrow I can barely squeeze down each side of the car, so opening the doors means pushing it outside!

Day 173

Today before work I started to brass wire brush the parts from the seat runners to get the white furry stuff of the BZP. I got an hour in before my son got up (he stayed over last night) and after breakfast we left about 6am to drop him off at his mums before going to work.
At lunchtime I called in at the trimmers and dropped off the padded centre tunnel arm rest lid and took a look at my seats. One was just about finished and the other not far behind. They hope to have them done next week (rear bulkhead included) so I need to get a move on with the interior ready for them to go back in.
Tonight when I got home I continued with “project floor clean” and spent a further 3 hours scrubbing the old glue and dirt off the floor under the seats and pretty much got it all clean now from the cross member rearwards. The plan is maybe tomorrow to start cleaning forward of the cross member (if my aching fingers are up to it).
I want to get it spotless under the carpets and free from the very last grain of Californian Desert Sand.

Day 174

This morning I got up early and masked off and painted the rear section of the floor that I’d spent several days cleaning up. I had a litre of basecoat paint left over so I thought I’d put it to good use while the floor was exposed. As per the rest of the car there was zero rust in the floorpan, just a lot of dirt & sand.
Having cleaned it up meticulously it was apparent that the factory barely put enough paint on the floor in the car to cover the white primer. It was very light and opaque in places. Giving it a good second coat would certainly help protect it for the future.
With the paint drying I left for work.
During lunch I called in at the powder coaters and dropped off the seat runners and the centre tunnel cover plate. I also spoke with Porsche Centre to see where the progress in a replacement key was. After no joy on the chassis number I emailed a close up photo as they suggested. “still with Germany” was the update.
Tonight when I got home the floor was nice and dry, so I cleaned up and rebound the visible wiring loom, replaced the cleaned up black sleeves on the loom clamps and reassembled the seatbelt relay block.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floor%20003_zpsmm0km2un.jpg.html

All this will be covered up when the car goes back together but I know what’s under there. Just got to do the front half next.

Day 175

Yesterday I had a Fedex card through my door so today at Lunchtime I went and collect my parcel.
It was the Fog light glasses, and the replacement “non-grab” weatherstrips for the doors from 914rubber.
I opened the box and the seals are a slightly different design. Mark had also sent a replacement set of inner fuzzy seals (that were originally too short) FREE OF CHARGE. Thanks Mark!!!
Having waited so long for the Fog light glass the first thing I did tonight when I got home was assemble them with my home made seals in my shed. The weatherstrips will wait for the morning.
With the lamps bases on the car it’s not easy to get the power cable, bezel clip and screw in through the opening in the bumper. Again with a little patience, lying upside down and a torch held in my teeth I got them both on.
The next thing was to offer up (without screws) the nice shiny new chrome grilles and adjust the lamp allen bolt so that the lamp sits central in the grill hole, then nip up the bolt.
I put the battery on and turned the fogs on to check all was well before aligning the height of the beam and clamping off the hex head through bolt. Again this is tricky through the bumper opening with the horns in the way. A ¼” drive 13mm socket straight onto a UJ was the only way I could get at it.
Just as it was getting dark I fitted the nice chrome grilles with new stainless screws to finally finish off the front bumper.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20finished%20bumper%20003_zpslmvoannn.jpg.html

Day 176

This morning I got up early and removed the handbrake lever and took it into my shed. Since painting the floor the other morning, it’s made things surrounding it look bad.
I rubbed down and primed the handbrake before breakfast being extra careful to mask up the nice 914 part number printed on the side in white lettering.
At lunchtime I picked up some stainless raised countersunk Phillips M6 for the door mirror and when I got home this evening I spent half an hour polishing up the heads so they shone like chrome.
The replacement seals that turned up yesterday got fitted next.
The reason the seals grab and jam is they seem too wide/tall. It’s obvious when you hold Marks replacements and the first one I bought side by side.
The seal on the left is the 914 replacement seal, the right is a 911 type seal.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20weatherstrips%20001_zpswwl5k9ta.jpg.html

As you can see the left hand one is shallower & shorter and has an extra part that reaches down by the “bulb” locating strip to stop it “rolling” into the glass.

I fitted the correct left hand seal tonight and the windows wind up and down with ease, just as Porsche intended.
The answer isn’t talcum powder, its fitting the correct seal.
The confusion is that 914rubber and other vendors sell/promote the 911 type seal first
With the original genuine Porsche quarterlight seal fitted last week I was a little disappointed that the thin insert piece that goes in between the Ali window post and outer door skin was too short. My old one was like this so it must be a common fault. Not to be defeated, and since the new window scraper seals were over length, I very carefully cut the ends to make up a tab and close the tiny gaps. (post fitting the new mirror screws)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20weatherstrips%20003_zpsv9pqxng2.jpg.html

Finally I fitted the replacement correct length inner fuzzy door seals that Mark at 914rubber kindly sent to complete the door seal installation.

Day 177

I got up at 4am today and got a couple of hours in on the 914 before work.
While working on the doors and windows I’d noticed that the passenger door had up inside it, the plate with two threaded holes to take a passenger door mirror, but the door skin had no holes.
Porsche must have done this to allow passenger mirrors to be retro fitted or fitted by special order at build.
Now; with a LHD car in UK a passenger door mirror is quite helpful. So after a search on line I found some NOS for sale in Germany for £80 including the gasket.

All that was required was to locate the exact position of the threaded holes and drill the door from the outside….not as easy as you’d think.
After a few days pondering I decided to reach from inside the door, put my centre punch in the threaded hole from underneath and tap gently to make a raised pimple on the door skin that I could see from the outside.
Very carefully I centre punched the pimple and then drilled a 2mm hole. Looking from the inside of the door with a mirror on a stick I could see that I was almost central but not quite.
A 3mm drill was used next followed by a 3.5mm. In this way I removed the risk of cutting into the thread in the door and damaging it. The hole was then enlarged with my swiss rat tail file until it matched perfectly the threaded M6 core diameter. I then carefully ran a 5mm drill down it to ensure it was circular before using my sheet metalworkers step drill to take the door skin nicely out to 6mm without damaging the threads.
I repeated this on the other hole and had two perfect 6mm holes in line exactly with the factory threads.
Finally I cleaned up the burrs with a tiny countersink and painted around the holes with two pack paint.
Roughly an hour a hole but it was worth spending the time to get it right. Doing it wrong is only going to hurt the pocket!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20weatherstrips%20002_zpsafx2l8v6.jpg.html

Day 178

Today was another very busy at work, but I did manage to squeeze in a little time on the 914 at the start and end of a long day.
As the paint around the holes had dried I fitted the new Passenger Mirror with a good coating of waxoil down and around the mounting holes before it went on.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20strip%20mirror%20002_zps9b4wa63g.jpg.html

It looks so nice that I may need to get another new one to replace the drivers side which has some tiny/miniature stone marks in it. Passenger door mirrors I know are controversial, but in UK with driving on the left, all you see in the drivers door mirror is the sidewalk, so definitely a good modification.

After a busy day at work, I got back into the garage at 6pm tonight and began “Operation Dash Stripdown”
The top roll has a few sundried cracks in it, the bottom roll has a single crack under the glovebox, the top padded vinyl has shrunk and come unstuck, as has the basket weave insert. All in all the closer I looked the more issues I found with it.
So the only way to sort it out is to redo it all. Taking the dash top roll off I was greeted with another load of fine Desert sand beneath it.
I also plan on cleaning up and repainting the front half of the floor so I stripped out the centre console and all the remaining bits of carpet ready for a good scrub up and bubble bath.
Who on earth thought it was a good idea at Porsche to have the steering column pass through the carpet?????
To get the passenger foot rest carpet out I had to remove the steering column!
Not a bad thing really as I found all the windscreen washer hoses perished and split behind there plus a few wires that had come unclipped from things.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20strip%20mirror%20001_zpsbvqg3mhg.jpg.html

Again I worked until it started to get dark and hard to see, but I made good progress.
Trouble is, just as my shed and summer house were gaining some space again Ive gone and filled them up and given myself another load of work to do.

Day 179

Today has been very busy.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been viewing cars for my 17 year old son and today we found a little gem. He wanted a Morris Minor Traveller (not my choice, but I’m happy he wanted a classic car over a modern soul-less tin box) We got up at dawn and drove up to High Wycombe (north of London) to view a one family ownership car with ONLY 54000 miles from new.
It was absolutely fantastic condition, and the history was amazing (little hand written notebook, browning edged pages in lovely handwriting listing every oil and parts change on the car). We just had to buy it. Both my son & I had great beaming smiles as we drove it home 100 miles without missing a beat this morning.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20stripout%20001_zpsvlgnizr4.jpg.html

(Wood sheet only placed under the car as a test for a couple of days to see if it drops any fluids)
Anyway moving on, I have many classics and one I took out last week had a failed otterstat (something that most aircooled owners need not worry about) I’d shorted the switch to get home and a new one arrived in the post yesterday so after getting the Traveller home I drained and fitted the switch to the other car.

Determined to work on the 914 everyday I then continued with operation dash stripdown. The top vinyl directly by the windscreen had shrunk and the glue failed. Its folded around the dash frame and glued on so unfortunately the only way to really recover it properly is to take the dash frame out.
After a couple of hours which involved figuring out where all the fixings were and how on earth I was going to reach them I managed to get it out.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20stripout%20004_zps6g8rszcb.jpg.html

When I first got my car I’d mentioned to the UK club registrar the dash was green when looking up and underneath it. He’d said that the dashes were painted with each car, but when they came back from trimming the factory simply put them in the first car they came too.
On the reverse of my green dash is MY Karmann body number!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20stripout%20002_zpso9aghqrv.jpg.html

Once the frame was out I relocated everything back to my sheds for storage and working on this week.

Day 180

Today’s escapades.
I got up before sunrise and pushed the car out of the garage much to the surprise of a Fox that shot across the rear of the car as it rolled out. Scared the living daylights out of me!
I managed to get a good two hours cleaning the floor before breakfast this morning. Again with no power I had to do it all by hand with wire brushes, scrapers and a brush and dustpan. But I got it pretty clean. I started by the windscreen and worked down, brushing all the dust, fluff and grime out the wiring and on to the floor before cleaning that.
At lunchtime I called in at the powdercoaters and picked up the seat runners and rear tunnel cover plate. They look like new!
Spurred on by them when I got home this evening I had another final clean up and decided to put the first coat of paint on the front half of the floor.
Just managed to finish before it got dark again.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floor%201_zpse3uczexf.jpg.html

If only I had power & lights in this garage…..I wouldn’t need to sleep when it got dark.

Day 181

Today I have been mostly cleaning stuff.

This morning I started cleaning up the wiring loom across the front half of the floor. Individually cleaning the cables with a rag soaked in cellulose thinners. I cleaned all the plugs and connectors that feed the gauges and heater indication in the centre console. Finally I cleaned the black plastic sleeves that go over the loom clamps on the centre tunnel before refitting them and putting the loom back in place before going to work.
During lunch I called in at the trimmers and collected the first completed seat and the centre console arm rest. They look superb!

Hopefully the second seat (half done) will be ready by the end of the week. Everything except the face of the basket weave has been renewed due to sun bake damage. Even the sides of the squabs (side of basket weave panels that’s smooth) has been replaced along with bolsters, headrests and backs.
Even though you can buy basket weave by the metre its not heat pressed with the parallel lines like the original and very hard to replicate. Fortunately as it’s a different type of plastic/vinyl to the smooth grained sides it seemed to retain its suppleness and not be as brittle as the rest of the trim. Must have better UV properties?
I also called Southbound trimmers (a UK Porsche interior specialist) and after taking measurements of the various basket weave panels that make up the dash this morning, I ordered enough new material to re-trim it. (The existing had some cuts and marks in it so had to go).

Anyway, after work this evening I continued the cleaning and sorted out the windscreen vents.
They were full of sand and had sun bleached to a nasty faded patchy white/grey. Against the planned new black vinyl on the dash top they would look awful. I decided to clean them up, degrease them and spray them matt black. They seem to be made of some sort of bakerlite/fibre/plastic, and the original colour is unique. Matt black seemed to be the least conspicuous and offensive colour choice and certainly looks a million times better than the patchy white.
Following the vents I noticed that the extended lip around the windscreen was originally painted black where the dash to screen rubber seal fitted, plus a narrow line of black around the rest of the frame. I carefully followed the existing line with fine line masking tape and repainted it black. This is probably to ensure you don’t see body colour when looking in through the screen between interior trim and the side of the ali windscreen surround.
Finally this evening as it started to get dark I washed a few bits of interior trim for around the rear window and gave them a good Cif cream scrub.




So that ends Month 6…..

I’m so pleased to have the car home, even if the garage is small, it’s only a short walk around the block to go work on it. With Spring in the air, the weather is improving daily and progress is steady. The cars starting to look real nice with all the cleaned up and new parts going back on!!

Thanks for taking time out to read my update, I hope you enjoyed the story so far.

Posted by: Andyrew Mar 24 2016, 01:33 PM

Really a shame about those bumper tops. The work you did to them really makes them look much better.

Only got about halfway through this on my lunch, your ability to do work on the project every single day just astounds me!

Your attention to detail is fantastic

Posted by: Olympic 1.7 Mar 24 2016, 05:57 PM

Looks really good, paint turned out great.

Fantastic job.

Are your bumpers and valences finished in the same satin? other than the texture under the paint of the valence.

I am considering doing my bumpers and valence similar to yours.

Posted by: Darren C Mar 25 2016, 02:29 AM

Hey Tom,

Thanks for the kind words, good paint really makes a car and I just love the Alaska Blue colour. There's a few small areas that I need to flat and polish just to clear some faint gun finish "orange peel", but apart from that I'm very, very pleased with the job.

You're correct on the bumpers and valances. It's the same satin black top finish with textured stone guard underneath on the valances and sill (rocker) panels only. All the parts were bead blasted inside and out before etch primer then main 2K primer, and flatted down before colour or texture was applied. The finish on the inside of the bumper is as good as what you see on the outside. In the close up photos, the particles you can see are dust that settled on them while at the paint shop (when the paint was dry thankfully). Looking back at my pictures, the rear/insides were painted first then allowed to cure before they were flipped over for the outside to be painted. You can see dust on the insides of the rear bumper and even the shape of the two bits of masking tape that covered the holes for the license plate fixings in the dust! I did clean them off before fitting, just forgot with all the excitement to dust them down for the photos :-)
I also did the targa roof at the same time so that all the satin black matches. I think you can see the roof stood against my sons wardrobe in the picture of the two assembled bumpers.

Regards
Darren

Posted by: 914forme Mar 25 2016, 11:16 AM

Keep up the great work

Posted by: Ferg Mar 25 2016, 11:33 AM

Really really well done. Keep it up!

Posted by: matthepcat Mar 25 2016, 11:40 AM

Wow. Just wow.

Posted by: Darren C Apr 24 2016, 05:22 AM

Month 7

Day 182

Today I have continued cleaning up interior parts.

The dash frame was stripped of foam & glue on the top and the basket weave panels.
The double sided tape residue from the panels was also scraped off and the whole thing washed and scrubbed within an inch of its life.
The basket weave material was then stripped off the metal backings and all glue and double sided tape cleaned off.
I then took the whole centre console apart, all screws, staples and clips removed so its in a dozen flat pack pieces along with the armrest cubby that’s in another half dozen parts.
I started to clean up all the angle bracketry that holds the console together and also the short piano hinge for the armrest.
After which I washed and scrubbed all the vinyl parts with Cif and a toothbrush to remove 40 years of grime, sticky gooo, hairs and spilt coffee & sugar that had got into all the joints…..nice
Before laying them all out in the heat to dry.
While the bucket was out I also cleaned the cover plate for the pedal assembly and the trims that go around the rear window.
In between all the cleaning I visited the trimmers today and dropped off the padded trim that goes on the front of the roll bar around the roof clips. It’s in about 6 pieces (split in half down all the fixing holes by the heat & Desert sun)
They asked me to put it in the trash when I left! But after a little calming down I got them to try and do something with it.

Day 183

This morning before work I carried on cleaning up parts of the now “flat-pack” centre console and general interior parts before laying them out to dry in my kitchen.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20strip%20001_zps0zgzs8ou.jpg.html

Over lunchbreak I tracked down a pair of new speaker grilles to replace mine that have cracks right through the screw holes and have corners missing. I also found a really nice original Blaupunkt radio for sale on ebay and after some deliberation I ended up placing a best offer for it.

This evening when I got home from work I carried on cleaning up the dash that’s now stripped bare in my garden as there’s no room in the tiny garage.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20strip%20003_zpsxcncippj.jpg.html

In the left hand corner under the dash top foam that I removed because it had gone all powdery a little of the black paint had rubbed off when I was cleaning the glue residue off.
It was then I noticed some hand writing on the dash top. Written on it when it was all green and sprayed over black and buried under the foam and vinyl never to see the light of day again.

Over the years restoring cars I have found many signatures, doodles and writing hidden away in old cars so I was keen to find out what it said.
I spent a good hour tonight with white spirit very carefully cleaning off the black paint to reveal the whole word.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20strip%20004_zpsrpguq31z.jpg.html

Only when I figured it out did the penny drop and it certainly made me smile.

“Sambesigrun”

Day 184

Today I collected the second seat from the trimmers and picked up a piece of vinyl and thin foam material to redo the dash top over the weekend.
The seats look great but I need to give them a damn good clean. Although they’ve replaced all the smooth vinyl, the basket weave is still original and they haven’t cleaned it. Its still full of sanding dust from the paintshop, Desert Sand deep in the basket weave pattern and against the new vinyl it looks filthy (which it is) so tomorrow I need to give both seat inserts a good scrub.
After searching now for almost 6 months I came to a blank on finding a good or NOS dash top so I did a bit of reading up on which dash cap is best.
Well I ordered one off German ebay that was from a company called Motorform. Their ad and description made a big deal about it being made in Germany to match the existing texture and a high quality product.
It arrived today in a big box with Motorform printed all over it.
3 pages of instructions in German and one in English.
Reading down the page it said that Palco Industries Inc warranty this dash top?
Reading on it said for any defects or warranty please contact manufacturer Palco in Nevada.
So much for a dashtop made in Germany!
Being lied too and mislead by businesses really gets my goat. Why do they have to deceive you? There is nothing wrong with the product and I intend to fit it, but the good feeling has gone from the purchase now.
Anyway rant over.
This evening when I got home from work after food shop, I finished off cleaning the dash before respraying the satin black facia.
I also cleaned up the glovebox door and resprayed that. While the paint was out I sprayed the previously cleaned piano hinge for the armrest lid.
Leaving them to dry in the evening sun I moved on to cleaning up all the screws that hold the centre console pieces together. Most of the heads were showing marks and some rust staining so after screwing them all into a block of softwood I wire brushed all the heads and painted them satin black with a modellers brush.
The silver angle and brace brackets were then cleaned up and waxoiled followed by the hinge screws and all the speed nuts off the dash.
Before I knew it it was getting dark again.

Day 185

Today the morning was consumed by preparing one of my other classic cars for MOT and taking it down to the garage in the village. After which I just managed to make it to the motor factors to pick up some scotchbrite before they closed at noon.
When I got home the post had been and my roll of basket weave vinyl material had turned up from Southbound trimmers.
I started work on the 914 today by assembling the centre console with the nice shiny cleaned up parts.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20build%20003_zpselx8wplq.jpg.html

I’m really pleased how it came out considering how tired and dirty it was.
The dash cap was the next job on the list. After dry fitting it a few times it was obvious that the dash top needed to be on the dash to give it some rigidity for fitting the cap.
As well as the cracks across my dash, the top of the binnacle/brow that covers the gauges had drooped down in the centre by a good ¾”. It was heat baked in that shape so the dash cap wasn’t fitting well and didn’t have enough strength the pull it back level. The only way to cure it was to cut several fan shaped cuts into the dash about half way through it so that it would bend easily back upwards.
Not for the faint hearted this!
I view the dash cap as a looks presentable “stop gap”until I find a good NOS dash top and to be fair the original dash top has had it, so cutting into it was an easy choice to make.
The dash cap is only thin vacuum formed plastic so even though I’d cut the dash to allow it to move back to shape it still had little strength.
I had some aluminium U section in my metal rack about 12mm square. I cut off a length to match the horizontal brow of the dash and cut out and inset it into the edge of the brow held in with lots of tiger bond sealant.
With this in place I shaved off a few bits of the dash surface to get the cap to fit as best it could before bonding it on over the top of the aluminium extrusion.
The dash cap itself is not the best made thing I have seen, but with a bit of fettling it fits in a just ok kind of way.
Preparing several clamps and bits of timber cut to length, and scotchbrite-ing the dash top and underside of the cap prior to bonding, I had everything to hand to clamp it down as soon as the adhesive was applied.
Once on I left it for the rest of the day outside to cure.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20build%20002_zpsl9hwwnxt.jpg.html
While it was drying I carried on cleaning up parts from the seat runners, detail wire brushing and waxoiling all nuts, bolts, washers, brackets, springs and levers. I found the centre console to underside of dash bracket in a parts bag too, and the black paint on it was a bit bubbly and flaky so that was all sanded off and etch primed before calling it a day.
The dash was carefully carried indoors, clamps and all. They’ll stay on over night so hopefully everything will be good in the morning.

Day 186

This Sunday morning I planned to have a lie in until 7am, but I was woken by the telephone just before 6am. It was work. A critical production machine had broken down at 3am, and the guy’s had waited until just before 6am to call me as they knew I’m normally up by then.
Unfortunately they couldn’t fix it so I had to go into work this morning to sort it out.
I didn’t get home until noon but started on the 914 straight away.
The dash top was taken off again and flipped over so that I could inject bonding agent into all the gaps I couldn’t get at when it was the right way up. Afterwards I carefully rested it upside down in my conservatory to dry.
The seat runners I picked up last week from the powdercoaters needed assembling, so I did those next. The height adjustment coil spring tension is held with the roll pin that goes through the lever & catch. What a fiddle it was to get them back in!
In the end I used a tiny deep socket and fed the pin inside it. With the extension bar on the end I had some leverage to hook the spring, feed the roll pin in and under tension, lift the extension bar to locate the nose of the roll pin in the hole and tap it in.
The runners then went into the shed to await fitting to the car after the back window and trim go in. With them out, its much easier to sit, kneel or stand in the car. Better left out to make life a bit easier.
With the dash top still drying I decided to put back the new padded vinyl panel on the dash nearest the screen.
The old foam padding under the old vinyl came off in a thousand bits so I had to make a template for the new foam.
Using the old vinyl sheet that came off the dash I drew around it onto the new vinyl I’d purchased. I allowed a little more material around the edges and cut it out.
Once I was happy with the new vinyl sheet top, I used the old vinyl to make the template for the foam. You could clearly see the shape of the foam in the old vinyl so I carefully cut off the perimeter and checked it against the dash top. A little trim here and there and it was a good shape.
This was drawn around onto the new foam sheet before cutting out.
Next I masked off the dash with newspaper and spray glued the top and the foam with high temp impact glue before carefully fixing it in place.
The top vinyl was next. It glues on only onto the metal, no glue on the foam. To achieve this I used brush on impact glue and carefully trimmed all the material to allow a good inch to fold over and glue under the dash by the windscreen.
Finally I bolted the dash top back on (bonding agent dry) to clamp down the glued vinyl between the dash top and metal dash, before bringing it back into the house.
Looking for more to do, I took the vents out of the previously removed knee roll.
They were pretty manky so I carefully took them all apart and after a soak in a bucket with a sprinkle of washing powder I set about them with a toothbrush to get 40+ years of grime off before calling it a day.
Day 187

Today I have mostly been continuing to work on the dash cap.

I called in at the trimmers today and matched some vinyl material to the grain cast on the dash cap.
The fit of the cap only wraps around the first ¾” of the brow on the original dash top. As the cap is about 2.5mm thick, it ends up with a step along the edge under the brow in front of the gauges. This looks worse at the bottom of the brow, just above the basket weave panel so I wasn’t happy with it.
To get the brow back into shape before fitting the cap (it had bowed down over the gauges) I had to make cuts in it. When looking up above the gauges under the brow you could not only see the step on the cap edge but also the cuts.
The answer was to trim it with a layer of new vinyl that meets neatly with the cap edge, so as to make up the 2.5mm thickness.
I carefully selotaped two sheets of A3 paper together end on end and used them to make a template of the underside of the brow. Rubbing over the paper held in place made and impression of the cap edge which I cut out with scissors to make a template.
After trial fitting and trimming the paper to a perfect fit I was ready to cut out the vinyl.
Masking taping the vinyl on dry to get it on square and tight to the dash cap edge, I then undid half the tape folded it back and applied impact glue to both surfaces. Once tacky I carefully rolled it into place guided by the other half being taped securely. I then repeated the process for the other half to get it stuck down neatly without risk of getting it out of line.
At the bottom of the brow above the basket weave I cut a few bits of vinyl packing and built the old dash up to be just one vinyl thickness shy of the dash cap.
A final full templated sheet of vinyl was then glued over all other pieces to make the finished surface flush with the dash cap.
After a cuppa I then rubbed the whole dash cap down with scotchbrite. The plastic surface the cap comes with looks waxy/glossy and a bit cheap. The grain is ever so slightly more prominent than the original but the “cheap” plastic finish was not to my liking.
After keying and degreasing the surfaces I gave the whole thing a coat of VHT Vinyl Dye in a satin black finish. This looked the business as it took the nasty gloss look off the dash cap and toned it down a little. It also dyed my vinyl insert under the brow to match the cap perfectly.
I let it go touch dry for ½ hour while I cleaned up and then brought it indoors to dry overnight.

Day 188

Today was an early start at work with two long meetings. Getting up extra early I bolted the dash top to the dash now the dye had dried so that it kept its shape. Even with the new dash cap in place its quite floppy and I was concerned that it may “set” in an odd way if left off too long. The bonding agent cures after 24 hours but can take over a week to fully set.
At work I managed to find 20 minutes in between meetings to pop over to the trimmers and collect the rear bulkhead panel that goes under the window behind the seats. All the messing about with the back boards, repairs and adding strength have paid off. The recovering looks far better than the old beat up lumpy appearance.
When I got home this evening I put them back together with new screws (the panel is in 3 sections) and cut the hole for the interior light.
I’d promised my son we’d go out in the Morris Traveller this evening for more driving lessons, so I picked him up and spent the next 3 hours, kangarooing around the local industrial estate. To be fair he did very well as the old Morris has a manual choke, low biting point and very weak brakes, indicator lever that doesn’t auto cancel and obviously no power steering. It’s the best way to learn. If you can master that, then you can drive anything modern.
Retuning home safely we covered the Traveller up and I took him back to his mums house in my Delorean as it hadn’t had a run in a couple of weeks.
Returning home and putting all cars away I sat down to open my mail. There was a card in between the envelopes from DPD, “parcel left……….” I looked where it said and found a small box.
It was my new 914 gear knob. The original disk in the top with the gear selection has all cracked & crazed (a bit like shattered safety glass) so I found a new one on German ebay for a few quid. Hopefully with all these little things sorted it will look nice when I put it all back together.

Day 189

I started this morning on the steering wheel. I’d taken it off the car complete with column so that I could take the dash out. The first job was to remove the wheel from the column to start cleaning everything up.
The rim of the wheel is moulded sponge rubber that looks like the factory took a cast of a leather-bound wheel and just mass produced cheap sponge copies. Due to UV damage my wheel was quite perished and starting to crumble.
I decided a few months back to get it trimmed in leather (to copy the original moulded design). I’d spoken to Southbound trimmers a while ago about them covering it and was quoted £417.00 ($600) and they couldn’t fit it in until April 2017!
Suffice to say I started to look for alternative trimmers. The guy’s who’ve done my seats said that they could do it but reckon on 10 hours so the cost is not far short of Southbound.
Sometimes things just fall in to place if you wait awhile. I had a call from a friend who works at a high class restoration business wanting me to do his brothers wedding car, so a no monies deal was struck and I dropped off the wheel with him at lunchtime today.
On the way into work this morning I dropped off the dash panel with 3 holes that hold the main gauges at the powder coaters. The panel is chipped and peeling around the screws with a few scratches where the PO or garage must have slipped with a screwdriver in years past. This will be gently blasted and recoated satin black. They tell me it will be ready for the weekend which hopefully (if my new radio turns up) allow me to refit the refurbished dash back in the car.
Afterwards I visited the first trimmer (who did my seats) and picked up the windscreen pillar trims that were all split by UV, nicely trimmed with fresh vinyl.
Returning to the office after lunch there was a parcel from German ebay waiting.
Two brand new NOS genuine Porsche sunvisors. They look superb, unlike my old bags of spanners sunvisors that the trimmer pretty much didn’t want to touch with a barge pole.
After spending the afternoon at work distracted by looking at the sunvisors every 5 minutes, I returned home to carry on working on the car.
This evening I scrubbed and washed the remaining pieces of carpet that I took out under the dash & console. Again after several soaks, scrubs and rinse in the bath I hung them up to dry outside.
Next I began cleaning up the short seat belt clips that bolt to the tunnel. I got some new “Press” stickers off ebay so needed to get the assemblies spotless before fitting them. The bolts and washers that hold them to the car had black spots on the gold BZP so I wasn’t happy to re-use them. Fortunately over the last few evenings I’ve been rummaging in my sheds and found some new BZP bolts and washers in and old seat belt kit I had so all I needed to do was shorten the bolts on my lathe, machine a chamfer to match the originals and job done!
The plastic parts of the clips got a good scrub and the 4 tiny screws were removed one at a time and the heads wire brushed to a bright shine, the hole they came out off cleaned of gunk and refitted. I used cellulose thinners to clean the warning wires and white plug on the end before a brass wire brushing of the BZP eyelet on the ends.
They’ll look good as new when they go back in now.
As always, before I knew it the night started to draw in and I called it a day.

Day 190

This morning I continued cleaning parts before work and at lunchtime today I visited the laser/waterjet cutters (after a bit of CAD designing) to collect a polishing template they cut out to my drawing. This is something I’m working on to ensure the Fuch wheels can be polished factory accurate. All top secret stuff, if it works out I’ll be sure to post pictures on here.

With just a few minutes of lunchtime left I telephoned the classic radio company up that I’d bought the radio from last week (yet to arrive) and chased them up. Hopefully I’ll see it on Saturday.
When I got home this evening I carried on cleaning and sorting dash parts out. One problematic area was the ashtray. The tray was badly cracked and in danger of the front falling off. Searching on line this seems to be a common issue when people have over the years tugged on the ashtray to open it.
Mine was still salvageable having caught it just in time. I decided to make up a stainless steel reinforcing plate this evening from some off-cut sheet I had in one of my sheds.
I carefully made a paper template then cut out and formed the stainless to fit the ashtray perfectly. The end was rolled to match the finger recess, so that anytime in future when the ashtray is pulled open, you're pulling the stainless plate not the weak plastic bracket that’s cracked.
After carefully measuring and drilling rivet holes in a position to be obscured from view above by the chrome surround in the tray, I keyed the stainless and plastic with 180 grit before applying tiger bond adhesive. The plate was riveted in place and all excess polyurethane tiger bond that squeezed out was cleaned off with a cellulose thinners soaked rag.

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It’s a solid as a rock now and when the adhesive sealant sets in 24 hrs it should be perfect for the future.
Yet again before I knew it, it started getting dark which is my cue to wrap up and get some dinner!

Day 191

I carried on cleaning the knee roll this morning to take it into work. I had contacted a specialist dash repairer (a lead given by the trimmer who did my seats) so a meeting was arranged in the car park this morning.
Unfortunately the chap said he could do nothing with it. He also said the trimmer who has my padded trim for the front of the roll bar had called him in to repair that for them (they tried maybe to sub it out) and he’d declined.
Suffice to say at lunchtime I went to collect it. Beforehand I called in at the motor factors and picked up some two part plastic bumper repair resin and some plastic flexible filler. I spoke with the trimmers and we’ve agreed for me to channel out all the splits, fill and level both parts. Return them to the trimmers and they’ll recover them with vinyl providing I make a good crack free base for them.
So….guess what I’ve got to do this weekend now.
Anyway after Friday food shop and getting home tonight to face the weekly clothes wash I did manage to find a couple of hours to carry on cleaning various dash parts.
I finished off the short seat belt catches, fitted the new “Press” stickers and bagged them up with the new bolts and washers.
I cleaned up the heater slide controls and notice that a lot of the coloured inserts for indication had fallen out over the years. I need to find a good close up picture now of what colour insert goes where (red/blue indication bars) That’ll be another late night on line searching google images and trying to source some thin coloured plastic to make new ones!
I also scrubbed up the ashtray I’d repaired last night, plus its runner and bracket that holds it in the dash. Since the dash cap sits over the dash I plan to shim out the ashtray bracket with 3 washers to push it forwards in the closed position so its in line with the dash cap face.
Finally tonight I cleaned a few more nuts and bolts up before calling it a day.

Day 192

Today I fitted the ashtray and put the dashtop back on (you cant fit the ashtray bracket easily with the dash top on). I packed the bracket out with a washer behind each of the 3 studs and with the dashtop tightened down I fitted the ashtray and aligned it before nipping up the nuts.
With the dashcap on, not only does it mean the ashtray has to sit further forward, the opening isn’t as wide! After a lot of deliberation I decided to file a couple of mm of each end of the ashtray to allow it to close properly into the dashcap.
I then rubbed down the stainless reinforcing plate I’d added and etch primed it. While the etch primer was out I moved into the loft, masked and etch primed the engine lid ready for the blacking out under the grille.
An hour later I scotchbrited the ashtray front and then to conceal the filing down I wet & dried the ends smooth before vinyl dying them to match the cap and painting the reinforcing plate black so it wont catch the eye..
After a few hours it was a perfect fit and colour to match the dashcap. If I hadn’t of posted what I’d done here, no-one would have known. Hopefully it’ll help someone considering a dashcap repair and let you know things aren’t always as easy as it says on the box!
Next I cleaned up and greased the lock barrel for the glove box and fitted it to the dash.
While the sun was out I decided to sort out the knee roll and the roll bar padded trim.
The spilts were right through the foam to the metal backing plate inside the trim linking every screw hole.

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The surface of the old vinyl was raised up along the split so I had to cut out the slots to about ¾” wide (not for the faint hearted) and open up a large dovetail shaped cavity below each crack.
The foam underneath was then sealed and filled with flexible plastic filler.
I spent the rest of today building it up layer by layer to just below surface level.
To make matters worse a section of foam had been pulled off the metal backing plate in the centre as the old vinyl had shrunk. This then made a 6” long raised “lump” where it sits against the roll bar. Smack bang dead centre, so looked awful. The vinyl was so tight that it wouldn’t glue back down without tearing the foam again. The only thing I could do to get a good base for the trimmers was to cut out a semi circle from the top of the trim 8” long!
I spent another few hours casting a new infill piece.
As it started to get dark I cut out the internal corners of the knee roll (at both ends of the removed stainless trim strip) Again the original vinyl trim on the knee roll had shrunk and lifted in the corners looking like two large blisters. These got cut out carefully so as not to damage the foam underneath by only cutting the vinyl covering.
All exposed foam was then coated with the same ronseal dry rot hardener I'd used on the bulkhead trim card to provide a solid surface for the flexible filler tomorrow when it all dries.

Day 193

I spent most of the day filling cracks in the trim pieces. The weather was poor all day with constant rain & drizzle forcing me to work in my small 6’ x 8’ shed.
Eventually I finished the parts ready to drop off with the trimmers tomorrow morning, hopefully they’ll have a good base now to recover them with new vinyl without any of the damage showing through.

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After yesterdays dying of the ashtray it had 24 hrs to dry so I fitted it into the dash to check the final colour match and fit. Seems pretty good.

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Needing a break from sanding and filing I nipped out to buy some fluorescent tubes and starters for my main garage before the 4pm end of trading then replaced a few in my garage that have been playing up for a while now.
After a quick cuppa I started on the 5 gauges from the dash and console. The bezels were a bit flakey the glass foggy and scratched and some dust/sand trapped inside on the faces.
I removed all the large rubber grommets that hold them in the dash and scrubbed them with soapy water to remove grime and more sand. Next I carefully opened up the bezels about 60% around each gauge and carefully took them off.
All 5 gauge glasses were removed and cleaned up. Only the volt meter and temp gauge are actually glass, the other 4 are plastic. These I cleaned and polished for several hours with Brasso to remove all the scratches and fogging. The faces were gently cleaned with a sable bristle brush to get all dust & fluff off. The inner cone bezels were removed and cleaned and the silicone rubber seals pried out the rear of all the bezels.
I then carefully placed all the glasses back into the gauge bodies to stop dust/dirt getting in and carefully placed them in my summer house while I work on the bezels themselves.
I ran out of daylight again so plan to strip all the bezels of the flaky dull paint tomorrow.

Day 194

This morning I did a little work on my son’s Morris Traveller, it had an exhaust blow from the manifold to down pipe so I took off the exhaust, cleaned it up, pasted and re assembled. I ran it up to set the paste and while I was at it, adjusted the idle speed which was a tiny bit low to the point it almost cut out when the clutch was depressed. Not ideal to learn to drive in so needed a tweak. I also adjusted and tightened up the wing mirrors before going to work.
At lunchtime I dropped off the filled trim pieces at the trimmers and hopefully should have them back for the end of the week.
The Blaupunkt Frankfurt radio turned up today and looks superb. It’s got a modification to plug in an MP3 player/ipod or something in the back (whatever that is) I’ll run the lead into the glovebox for the future but for now radio is just fine.
When I got home this evening the first thing I did was check the radio in the metal dash panel that I’ve previously stripped of basket weave. The radio panel was an old piece of zintec so has been changed at some point in time to fit the aftermarket radio the car came with. May have even been done by the main dealer as it’s a one owner car?
Anyhow, I tried the Blaupunkt but unfortunately it wouldn't fit. The two holes for the spindles fit but the rectangular hole for the radio tuner and push buttons was too small.
I carefully measured it all up, marked it out and filed the opening larger until the radio was a nice clearance fit. I’m going to trim it all with new basket weave so it will be fine now.
Next I carried on with the engine lid that I’d etch primed over the weekend. It had 48 hours to dry so I lightly scotchbrited the etch primer and sprayed it satin black tonight.
While it was drying I used paint stripper on the bezels and removed all the damaged flaky black paint.
Like the glass & plastic faces the bezels were another mix of brass and steel?

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No sooner had I stripped the paint off the steel one began to rust! I quickly cleaned them up, baked them dry in my oven and coated them with etch primer before running out of daylight.

Day 195

Fitting the dash cap is not as simple as the instructions would have you believe. I had to hack away quite a bit of my original dash top to get the cap to sit down neatly.
The cap finishes shy of the underside of the dash and around the brow (where the clocks sit) looks poor. As explained a days back, I had to build the old dash up with vinyl to disguise the "step" between cap and dash. Plus shaving off a good 2-3mm off each end of the ashtray.
Here's a close up so it may better explain.

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Today I got up quite tired, my brain had been working overtime through the night designing a device to roll the bezel edges over neatly on the gauges, so I'd gotten little sleep.
I got up at dawn and started to sketch out my thoughts before doing a little research on how it was done at VDO. I have a cunning plan using my lathe and a modified knurl tool. Following a good rummage in my shed for materials to make it with I had breakfast and left for work.
At lunchtime I visited my friendly iron mongers and picked up some off cuts of bar and rod to make the bezel tool with.
On the way home from work tonight I had a 15 mile detour to pick up my son followed by 3 hours of driving lessons in the Traveller. Dropping him off afterwards I returned home to give the bezels a coat of black paint before nightfall.

Day 196

Today I continued working on the bezel replacement tool and at lunchtime I picked up some new star washers for the seat runner brackets.
This evening after work I spent a couple of hours continuing on my lathe before taking one of my other classic cars out to a pub meet.
Busy day but still got 4 hours in on the 914.
Day 197

This morning I put another coat of black on the gauge bezels and left for work.
At lunchtime I called in at the powder coaters but the dash gauge surround won’t be ready until tomorrow so I’ll pick it up then.
This evening I started by cleaning the rubber grommets that hold the gauges in the dash & console. I’d washed them in soap & water to get the sand and grime off, but they were still brown/grey and needed a good clean with a cellulose soaked rag to get them back to black
Next I ended up filing the interior light to get it to fit in the bulkhead trim snugly. A week ago I’d cut the vinyl and glued it around the opening to allow the light to fit, but I hadn’t fully tried it as the glue was still tacky. My original light was in half and melted so I got a generic T1 genuine Beetle one (I now know they’re slightly different) The difference is the T1 is made to locate in a thin metal hole, the 914 is a thick hardboard padded hole with metal tabs behind it. Overall the clips on the T1 light need filing open/back by a good 3-4mm and the metal clip re bending. After that all fits snugly. (note to self….next time buy a Porsche light and spend the extra £10 over the T1 light and it should fit!)
I then bonded the 4 aluminium ferrules at the base of the bulkhead trim from the rear with tiger bond and made a nice fillet around them to add strength. I’d fitted them dry last week but when messing with the light tonight, a couple looked wobbly.
With the tiger bond still out I fitted a new carpet eyelet from 914rubber to the cleaned up passenger mat that had been missing.

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I plan on doing just the one. They look slightly different to the original ones having ridges around the eyelet, but much better than a hole with threads of carpet coming loose! Besides, keeping the other 3 (when they are fine) is being much kinder to the originality of the car (what’s left of it).
After cleaning up I did a trial fit on my fuch wheel polishing template. The idea is that I give it to the polishers with 4 nuts and bolts, they swap it from wheel to wheel and when they polish them there is no chance that they can slip or get it wrong. No matter how rough they are, only the factory polished areas of the wheel can be got at.
Sounds like a plan, but we’ll see how it works in reality.
After the trial fit in needs a tweak to put a slight curve/dish in it and maybe bead roll the circumference back up.

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Yet again I ran out of daylight.

Day 198

Today was definitely Friday. Mad panic last minute dot com day at work. Suffice to say I had a real headache by the time I got home!
In the middle of the madness I did manage to call in at the powdercoaters and pick up the gauge dash panel and the centre console bracket. Then moved on to the trimmers to collect the last parts I’d dropped off on Monday. Unfortunately they hadn’t done them yet, but I managed to pick up a metre of vinyl off the roll to make all the sections that fit over the cross members under the seats and console this weekend.
After work, food shop and calling in at the hardware store to get some more white spirit tonight I got home and mowed the lawns (which had missed a week because of rain) before starting on the 914.
I tapped out the holes in the powdercoated bracket, then cleaned up a few more parts including the odometer trip reset cable that I found behind the dash disconnected?
When I took the dash apart the panel that I’ve just had powdercoated for the gauges had a real mix of screws holding it in the car (presumably lost over the years) and replaced with whatever came to hand. I sorted through them and worked out what was original and managed to find some similar headed screws in my shed but the two I needed were supposed to be countersunk, so had to put them into my lathe and turn a countersink on the rear of the heads to make a matching set. Finally I cleaned up the old and new screws before screwing them into a piece of softwood and repainting them satin black.
A few other dash fixing bolts, nuts & washer got cleaned up and waxoiled before I called it a day.

Day 199

Today was one step forwards two steps back!

I got up bright and early to fit the new washer jets and hose while the dash was out as mine are all perished and split. I also planned to fit the new plastic grid and surrounding seal to the top of the fresh air box under the scuttle slotted opening.
To do this the air box has to come out and to get it out you have to take the fuel tank out.
Having done this before I was well versed in getting the wedge blocks and hoses off and the tank was out in about 10 minutes.
This revealed a whole load of paintshop dust over the area that I’d previously cleaned. No problem I thought, when the air box is out I’ll give it all a good wash and polish in there.
Anyway, when lifting the blower box out I saw something jamming one of the butterfly flaps up inside the tube where the hoses fit.
I took the box outside and gave it a good shake……rattle, rattle, rattle
Time to unbolt the fan off the bottom and take a look.
OH DEAR

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So full of California Desert sand it had locked solid the fan impellor and when the PO had tried to turn it on the whole thing had shattered and the motor brushes had got so hot the holders had melted and run into the windings. What a god awful mess.
The only thing I could do was split the housing and take all the debris and sand out then order a new fan assembly.
After that set back I thought I’d at least get the rest of the car cleaned up behind the fuel tank and removed airbox. More sand and paintshop dust, but after a couple of painstaking hours I got it looking nice and clean.
Unfortunately as I was cleaning I noticed the wiper motor wobble?
Hmmm, what’s going on here then?
On closer inspection the motor was loose in the housing and the 3 bolts that hold it in place were partially unscrewed?
So out it had to come to allow free access to tighten the bolts up as you cant really get a swing on them in situ.
Once out I had to give it a good clean up which took another couple of hours after which I cleaned and lubricated the joints and spindles, working them too and fro with the motor off while being cleaned.
To be honest I should have done it earlier but it had just fallen off the radar. Anyways with the wiper motor out I gave the rear of the bulkhead a good clean behind it before refitting the wiper assembly back into place with the new 914rubber grommets on both sides of the scuttle.
The time was now 6pm and I’d been at it for 12 hours and finally got to fit the washer jets and new hoses, carefully cutting them to factory length, placing them in the original fold over securing tabs and installing the check valves. The hose was then fed through the bulkhead grommet and labelled ready for when the steering column goes back in.
Finally I cut to length (and at a matching angle to the body panels) the two rubber trim infill strips that go between the scuttle and wings at the base of the windscreen pillars. This was a 5 minute job I’d been meaning to do for a couple of weeks, having had them sat on the dining table far too long!
Finally I filled a bucket and dropped in the blower fan housing for an overnight sand soak just as it started to rain.
Some days don’t always go to plan, but I’m glad I found the fan & wiper problem before putting the dash back in and limiting access to that wiper frame retaining nut.

Day 200

Today I made up time from yesterdays woes.
Starting early I prepared and trimmed the dash panels with new basket weave that I got from Southbound Trimmers the other week. Very carefully I covered the main steel panel either side the steering column and left spare material by the radio plate. Enough to be able to cut the material with a Stanley knife from the rear and trim the radio panel with the “off cut” so that the basket weave pattern was an exact match along the join.
Next the radio panel and glovebox panel were covered, replicating the fold over at the end of the radio plate where it meets the glovebox. The glovebox panel folds over on each end and a flap along the bottom glues around and onto the back of the door.
The new basket weave material was white on the reverse so at every cut on the edges you could see a white dotted line. The only thing I could do was with a modellers brush, paint the edge of every cut, hole, opening and end of the material with matt black paint.
While all the glue & paint was drying I made a card template for the chrome Blaupunkt face plate. This took me a good while until I was happy with the fit.
This was then transferred to the material and painstakingly cut out so that the weave pattern was all in line, straight and true to the panel. Very carefully I masked up the chrome surrounds on the radio face plate and applied impact glue to it and the rear of the material.
Taking great care I fitted the basket weave into the face plate.
Now some of you may wonder what I’m doing here with the radio?
Well, most people who care, fit the radio like they would in an early 911, by just having the square tuner and the knobs poking through the basket weave. I’m sure some Porsche dealers did this, and fitted Blaupunkt radios.
However I wanted to be a little different.
In the Porsche 914 hand book on the page showing the dash with all the switches and gauges labelled there is a picture of the radio. It has a face plate on it!
After speaking to a few old radio Guru’s it looks like the radio in the Porsche handbook is a VW branded radio. I’m also told the face plate is black plastic with a silver painted rim to mimic chrome. I can see why they chose that; it matches the chrome surround on the heater/fan controls.
I wanted a quality radio, so opted for a Blaupunkt Frankfurt, but in wanting to create a look to match the handbook, I thought I’d do it in a much better quality way. I had offers of buying a black plastic silver rim painted face plate but opted for a metal chromed version to fit the Frankfurt that matched the plastic face plate exactly (including nice radiused corners) that was deep enough for a material insert.
I also managed to combine this with the large rubber knobs to fit the Blaupunkt, but look like the VW ones in the handbook.
It’s taken me a good few weeks to sort all the radio parts out, but the end result should hopefully be worth it.

So after a dry run to check and adjust the radio fit with the dash out of the car, I set about glove box assembly. Cleaning all parts so that it all looks like new, the hard to get at bits and bobs got fitted while the dash was out.

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So, with dash built up I fitted it back into the car this evening.

It was a bit of a fiddle doing it single handed, but with the blower box and tank out it was far easier to get the 4 x M6 nuts on under the scuttle. Next I put back all the heater/blower hoses in each corner under the scuttle (removed to access the M6 nuts) and the wiring loom was all laid back into place and the securing tabs folded over.

The 3 light switches to the left of the column were put back in and the cigarette lighter wired up before I called it a day.

Day 201

Today I carried on cleaning the blower air box up ready for the new fan that’s currently in transit to me.
The casing of the blower motor box is made of the same thermosetting plastic as the rear light housings, so I couldn’t resist the Brasso tin coming out after I’d washed the plastic and spending a good few hours polishing it up to a high gloss shine.

I took out the blower fan speed control resistor/thermal link block first and found the 2.5 Ohm coil resister (looks like a spring) completely missing?
It wasn’t in the bottom of the housing with all the debris so it must have been long gone. So after cleaning up the cables and thermal links, heat shrink shrouding the female spade; I tested the resistance on the medium speed resistor. It should be 0.75 Ohms but it tested out at about 0.9 Ohms so close enough for medium fan speed. The 2.5 Ohm one is for slow speed.
Next I cleaned up the link rod, removed, cleaned and greased the Bowden cable and took the butterfly valve flaps apart. The foam seals had crumbled in each butterfly so I cleaned up and repainted the metal parts and cut some new circular seals from some foam rubber sheet I had in my shed.
While all that was drying I started cleaning up the light switch knobs (taking out the lenses/icon discs and checking the tiny lamps inside before reassembly. Finally I polished up the cigarette lighter end and cleaned the knob and icon disc.
After nearly 24 hrs not seeing the car, I had withdrawal symptoms and instead of calling it a night; I went out to the garage in the dark, torch held in my teeth and fitted the 3 light switch knobs (minus the icon discs) and the cigarette lighter. Carefully screwing in the switch knobs until they came to a stop. Only then did I fit the icon discs so that they are all upright level and true.
OCD at its best, but wonky icons on the switches would give me a Herbert Lom twitch.
Just need to sort out that slow speed fan resistor now.

Day 202

Today I carried on cleaning and preparing the fresh air blower box.
At work today I had a delivery from Euro Car Parts. The new blower fan motor and impellor that I ordered on line on Sunday night arrived. Looking at the box it seems to be OEM supplier too (There is the standard Porsche sticker with bar code and part number on it, right next to the Euro Carparts sticker with their code number on it)
The fan is part No 911 571 320 32 and Euro list it as Porsche 911 1969 to 89. They were on offer at £130 inc free shipping. A lot of money for a small fan, but although you can buy just the motor, I had no choice in the matter as I needed an impellor too, so had to bite the bullet.
I’d searched earlier for the speed control spring resistor block but hadn’t been able to find it just on its own, but a fellow UK owner contacted me to say he had a spare!
This evening after work I started to assemble the butterfly flaps (now the paint on them is dry) with the new rubber seals. I can’t fit the new fan motor and close up the casing just yet as the resistor block has to be fitted to one half of the casing first.
In the meantime I took apart the top section of the fresh air blower box which is the induction side of the fan (under the scuttle grill). It’s held together with Omega clips which need circlip pliers to remove.
Looking in the top of the box where the mesh fits, I could see plenty of blue paint. Not from the recent job as it was masked off, but from the PO poor respray. Taking the box apart revealed far more blue paint than I’d expected. This needed cleaning out (along with yet more sand) as with a new black plastic mesh fitted all you’d see is blue overspray through the colour contrast of the black mesh.
Unfortunately the plastic the box is made from is dissolved with cellulose thinners, so using it to clean off the blue paint is not a good idea. On closer inspection the paint had part dissolved the plastic surface of the inside of the box, so the only way to sort it out was to sand it down with 180 grit, 240 and finish with 600 and scotchbrite.
As you can imagine: this has taken most of this evening to complete. After the scotchbrite I masked up the outside of the brasso polished box halves and using the plastic satin black spray I re coloured the inside of the blower box.
During the clean up, I found two hairline cracks in the short drain tube stubs on the reverse. Not visible when the box is fitted in the car, I’d not noticed them before. Left alone they could propagate and the stubs fall off completely leaving nothing for the hose to connect to.
After some thought and a rummage in my shed I found two 15mm end feed copper water pipe sockets which were about 17mm OD and fit snugly inside the drain tubes.
I roughed up the outside of the fittings with a small file and the inside of the drain tubes with rolled up 80 grit then used the polyurethane sealant to bond them into place to line the cracked tube.
Hopefully now when the drain hoses get refitted the clips will have a solid tube to clamp and the plastic will be re-inforced so it shouldn’t fracture.
Finally tonight I cleaned up the 6 x Omega clips that hold the top of the blower box together and repainted them black before calling it a night.

Day 203

Today I got up early and started refurbishing the dash fan controls. The panel with the levers was looking very tired. I mentioned earlier in the thread that the coloured inserts had fallen out over the years and only one tiny blue bar above the fan speed lever remained. The front of the controls had faded to grey and where the levers had slid over the years the slot was worn down to bare metal. The lever ends were very dirty and the Red end was dark brown with dirt & UV damage. The chrome surround was all gummed up with sticky goo, maybe spilt coffee and suchlike over the years.
I stripped it down to its component parts and cleaned up all the electrical contacts and tested it all with my meter to make sure it all worked before starting to restore the appearance.
After removing the lever ends, the rectangular lever sleeves and chrome surround I pushed out the light lens with “Fan” and the fan icon from behind. The two lower lenses were stuck well so rather than risking breaking them I masked them up with low tack and a scalpel.
The long script is a foil sticker so trying to take it out would also be risky, so again I masked it carefully. The face of the unit was then de-greased. (I’d actually washed and scrubbed it a few nights before) and this is basically what state it was in (minus the one and only remaining blue insert bar)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20fan%20controls%20001_zps0ijhtq7z.jpg.html

I carefully applied a few light coats of satin black spray before and after breakfast and left it to dry when I went to work.
This evening I cleaned up the chrome surround with Brasso and then started on the lever ends.
Again using Brasso I polished up the two black lever ends first. The red one which was brown and looking awful I had a little trick I’d used on previous 911’s.
The plastic its made of seems to develop a UV skin that discolours and holds grime. Using just my finger nail I gently scratched the whole surface skin to reveal red plastic beneath before finishing it off with a Brasso polish to look like new. With Brasso still in hand I polished the lever sleeves.
Over the day I’d had a think about what I was going to do to replace the blue inserts. Porsche make these out of a thin coloured plastic. It was just a case of finding some thin plastic of the right shade of blue.
Thinking all day I remembered a box that Hacksaw blades come in was about the right blue. I sort it out and sure enough it was a good colour match, so I cut the side off it.
Next I sanded one side of the plastic to key the surface for glue before it was cut to size because it was easier to do it when the plastic was 2” x 3” rather than tiny bits. With the end of a sheet of A4 paper laid on top of the now dry lever face I rubbed it to mark the paper and cut out the tiny pieces as templates.
The paper was tried in the recesses to check before being transferred to the plastic and cut out with a scalpel. Finally a few spare were made and a dry run fit carried out. Bloomin fiddly I can tell you, so only by using tweezers could I fit them.
I then cleaned out the bottom of the recesses to remove any paint so I could glue them in place. Using tiger bond and a pin to apply it to the inserts on their reverse while holding them in tweezers I stuck each and every new insert in place.
The “fan” script and icon were then glued in with tiger bond from a pin only around the frame as light shines through the rear of them and any glue over the back would stop the illumination.
The white paint on these icons and the two lower script lamp panels was a little worn so I made a simple paint pad. Using a clothes peg and a small (about 4mm x 8mm) pad of old inner tube rubber glued on the end of the peg I carefully painted the rubber with a little satin white paint from a modellers brush so as to put a thin wet layer of paint on the rubber. Simply hold it square to the icons and “stamp” the top and the icon is neatly refreshed with new white paint.
After a well earned cuppa I carefully put the lever sleeves and ends back on and the chrome surround having carefully tweaked the tabs inwards a little so that it grips better.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20fan%20controls2%20005_zpsvjbio4na.jpg.html

All restored it should look neat when it goes back into the retrimmed dash next to the super Blaupunkt radio I’ve put together.

Day 204

The Used speed resistor block turned up today. The spring resistor missing from my assembly was on the replacement but one end was broken at the securing crimp. This wasn’t a problem as losing 6mm ¼” off the resistor wire would make very little difference.
I’m not sure what state the car was that it came from, but how the heck did it end up getting red spray paint on it buried deep in the fan housing? Fortunately the resistor was free from paint. The hardest bit was opening up the factory crimps without damaging the wire. I ended up resting it over my vice with the jaws open about 3mm and with a tiny needle punch, opening up the crimp from the inside to free the resistor spring.
Since they get so hot when in normal use, they have a heat shield, sit in the air flow and a thermal bi metal switch to short them out and speed the fan up if they overheat. Consequently you cant solder them in place as it would just melt. They can only be crimped.
Once the resistor spring was out of the used holder I very carefully cleaned up mine and opened up the crimps, removed the two tiny remaining broken strands and opened up the broken end coil of Stuarts donor to make a new “leg” and fitted it in my holder. Using long nose mole grips I re-crimped it tightly into the terminal block and tested it with my meter. 2.5 Ohms. Perfect.
With everything ready to go I rebuilt the lower half of the fan housing with the new fan. Re using the fan seal to casing (still life left in it)
Here’s the finished fan assembly with donor terminal block resting on top with removed resistor spring, cleaned up cabling, spades and new yellow heat shrink.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20blowerbox%20001_zpsjho0bzyh.jpg.html

Next I assembled my Uber Brasso polished shiny, shiny Intake box that sits above the fan with my cleaned and painted Omega clips.
With a strip of Isoline foam tape cut down to ½” wide I made a new gasket for the fan to intake box which had just turned to powder.
Finally fitting them together to complete the refurbished blower assembly, ready to go back in to the car over the weekend. You can see the tail ends of the tube reinforcements I added in the photo. These will be concealed inside the hoses when they go back on.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20blowerbox%20002_zps5gyfucun.jpg.html

Day 205

Today’s progress was short and sweet as it was Friday which true to form was a bit of a nightmare at work. No time for lunch break today and even when I left from work on my way home in the supermarket tonight my work called me at 6:30pm and basically told me to abandon my shopping trolley half way around the store and rush in to fix a production critical machine. I got back to work at 7pm to find the so called “engineers” had repeatedly reset the low oil level cut out and bodged the machine to run on with no oil in it since yesterday and now it had completely self destructed so there was nothing I could do but say you’ll have to wait until Monday when the supplier in Europe reopens (and if the transport strikes are over) I might be able to locate a new one. They’re going to have some explaining to do I’m sure.
I didn’t get home until 9pm and jumped straight on to the gauges. Using my device and a few other medieval implements I’d sorted out I rolled the bezels back onto all the gauges. They went back on a treat and with only one small casualty; a tiny paint chip that I touched in on the rear of the bezel that won’t be seen anyway.
I’m pleased with how they look now, far, far better than they were and with all the other sprucing up of the dashboard in general they shouldn’t lower the tone at all.

Day 206

Today I made reasonable progress only delayed by 914rubber yet again!
With the blower box out I fitted the dash controls and connected the two cables back onto the levers on the drivers side then checked and adjusted the clamps so that the levers moved all the way across the control unit from left to right and the butterfly flaps opened and closed correctly in proportion.
Before the blower box went back in I gave it one last clean behind.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20blower%20install%20003_zpszkmbwcgp.jpg.html

All was going well until I unpacked the new 914rubber mesh and seal for the top of the blower box. The mesh plate is angled down around its perimeter and the slot in the rubber seal is horizontal, so when you fit the mesh inside it (which is a fiddle) the rubber rolls over to match the angle of the perimeter of the mesh and wont easily fit or stay in place on the lip of the blower box.
It drove me to despair this afternoon, the bloomin thing wouldn’t stay in place for more than 10 seconds with the blower box off the car, let alone trying to fit it.
In the end I had to file the whole edge of the 914rubber mesh plate square (taking off the angled perimeter slightly and the underside part of the angle so that it sat in the rubber seal better without rolling the seal over.
Only then would it stay in place on the blower box.
Thinking I’d resolved the issue I then tried to fit the blower box back in the car. The damn 914rubber seal was far too hard and chunky for it to slide between the two metal securing plates welded on the underside of the scuttle without dragging it off the blower box.
Off again and back to the shed, I put a little superglue on the seal to hold it to the blower box and a light smear of grease on the sides to ease it between the two metal brackets.
Back to the garage and carefully slid it into place. Great, I thought. Then the next nightmare showed itself.
The 914rubber seal is quite chunky and the rubber isn’t forgiving so guess what….I couldn’t get the bolts in from either side as the seal wouldn’t compress enough on the underside of the scuttle to allow the blower box to lift upwards and align the bolt holes. We’re not talking a little here, with a piece of 3 x 2 wood as a lever under the blower box forcing it upwards with more pressure than I liked the holes in the box were still no where near, the box needed to go up a further 4mm. No chance.
I wrestled and wrestled with it for over an hour but the rubber seal was too hard and too big.
There was nothing I could do but have to take it out yet again. I was so frustrated with the 914rubber part that I had to go indoors have a cup of tea and calm down.
The only thing I could think of to do was physically cut 4mm of the top rim of the blower box to allow the seal to sit lower and the box to fit higher in the car. Again this was another 2 hours wasted trying to make stuff fit.
Anyway with it cut down, superglued back on and greased on the outside it eventually fit back in the car and the holes lined up (still needed a lever with the 3 x 2) but with points filed on the bolts I got them to go in eventually. Finally I fitted the air duct hoses and the drain tubes to complete it.
What a nightmare such a simple seal can cause.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20blower%20install%20007_zpsyiotec61.jpg.html

I carried on by testing all the tiny indication & gauge illumination lamps in the loom with my multi meter and found 11 blown yes ELEVEN. How can you let a car get into this state of disrepair?! Fortunately a rummage in my shed resulted in finding 7 and I popped out and bought the remaining 4.
Fitting the lamps into the back of the blower controls was another fiddly job, they have a tiny flat on the holder and it needs to be aligned to fit it in all the way home.
The “fasten seat belts” lamp went in next and the rest of the wires on the heater control were reconnected.
Lastly this evening I dropped the fuse box and disconnected the power lead for the radio. Over the years the PO must have had a couple of radio replacements and the power lead had been cut and crimped 3 times between the fuse box spade and the radio so I plan on putting a new wire in without joins along with new speaker cables.
Just about to make up a new lead and my son arrived so we went out this evening for 2 hours driving lessons.

Day 207

Progress was reasonable today with the new cabling made up and installed for the radio including new speaker wires. While the fuse box was dropped I sorted out a few potential problems in there and replaced a few cables that had been cut and re joined some time in the past.
I then installed the Blaupunkt radio in the dash, made a bracket for the rear and wired it up.
Looks superb!
Next I started on the steering column that I’d removed previously. Stripping it all down I cleaned off the flaky paint from the universal joints, cleaned them all up and repainted them satin black.
The intermediate shaft got a good clean and all the gunk & sand cleaned from the splines and a finish with waxoil.
The wiper & indicator stalks were removed dismantled and cleaned. The washer jet valve had the pipe tails snapped clean off it. Strange as the perished old rubber hoses were stuffed up behind the dash but didn’t contain the missing pipe tails off the valve?
Anyway this afternoon I tracked one down from VW Heritage so ordered a replacement.
Finally I cleaned all the column housing and fixings ready to go back in tomorrow after the paint dries.

Day 208

Today I continued with the dashboard installation.
I glued in the 3 pieces of carpet under the dash this morning before work. The right hand one has the hole for the steering column to pass through so needs to be installed first.
It was a manic day at work with the start of some big projects so I never got a chance for lunch today or chasing 914 parts.
After work I cleaned up the socket headed bolts that hold the steering column in and lightly greased the Universal joints and splines.
The paint had dried overnight so I fitted the steering column. I found it was easier to fit the Top UJ and shaft to the column and slide the lower UJ onto the rack, feed the assembly through the dash hole and locate the shaft into the lower UJ before fitting the 4 socket head screws.
I used two small fox wedges to very slightly open the clamp on the lower UJ and the shaft slid in easily. Once the column was bolted under the dash I slid the lower UJ to align the recess for the cross bolts, fitted both bolts and removed the fox wedge and nipped up the bolts. Job done.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20steering%20column%20005_zpsmiecjobi.jpg.html

Finally I fitted the wiring plug to the rear of the ignition lock and made sure the loom sat comfortably without tension. Once the new washer jet valve arrives I can assemble the stalks and refit them.

Day 209

This morning I finished working on the gauges. All lamp holes/tubes were internally cleaned and the protruding lamp holders re covered with heat shrink as some of the old covers were very loose and fallen off.
During lunchtime I called in at the trimmers and picked up the roll bar trim that I’d had to use filler on to sort out the multiple splits. I was pleasantly surprised how well its come out. They used a very thin pliable vinyl and heat gun to form it around the old part and unless you look really, really hard you’d be hard pushed to see its been recovered. With this part in full view with the roof off it needs to look good!
This evening when I got home I fitted the 3 large gauges and new powdercoated panel (with home made screws) into the dash.
Starting with the Speedo I carefully fitted all the lamps and connections including the Speedo cable and the odometer trip cable that I found disconnected? Fortunately once located back into the speedo and underside of the dash it worked a treat so I was happy that another fault was resolved.
The Tacho was next using the gauge hole to the left to work through. It was a puzzle getting it into the dash, but after figuring out you cant do it with the rubber grommet fitted to the gauge, it went in much easier.
Finally the combination gauge went in. Along the way I had to un-plat and de knot the loom so it sat nicely, which had mysteriously got itself tangled when the dash was out?
It took me a couple of hours as I was extra careful not to rest or knock the freshly painted gauge bezels during sorting out the wires and connecting up.
Next I moved into the shed and continued to clean up the indicator & wiper stalks cleaning all the contacts I could get at. Finishing off with my multi meter and with the Haynes wiring diagram I tested all the terminals where the plugs fit in each stalk position to make sure I’d got good continuity. The wiper connection in the haynes showed 5 cables, the plug on the car loom has 5 female spades but the wiper stalk connection has locating holes for 5 male spades but only 4 fitted? This confused me a little as when I took the column out the PO had disconnected the wiper plug and tucked it back up under the dash to stop it hanging down? No idea why? Certainly the wipers wouldn’t have worked, but I don’t yet know why. The mechanism was very tight before I removed all the sand and clean it up, so maybe that’s it. In Desert Hot Spring where the car came from google says it barely rains so maybe it seized with lack of use and got disconnected as the wipers were rarely needed. Who knows? I’ll be sure to find out once the battery goes back on.
For now I’m waiting for the new washer valve to turn up (due tomorrow) before I can refit the stalks and give it a try.

Day 210

Picked up the lower dash roll at lunchtime from the trimmers at lunch. They called me to say they’d had a problem and could I come and take a look. During trimming they’d burnt the vinyl while trying to stretch it so had to take it all off to start again. Unfortunately the glue had stuck well and they’d accidentally torn off several section of the old vinyl & foam in a few places so I need to refill it all again for them to have another go.
When I got home this evening the washer valve had arrived, so I unpacked it and found it wasn’t made that well with lots of sharp plastic flashing on the hose tails that would potentially split the rubber tubes, so spent the next half an hour with a swiss file dressing it. Finally this evening I fitted the valve and stalks back into the column and sorted out the lay of the tubes and cable neatly behind the dash. What a game it was trying to fit the new rubber tubes, even after soaking in boiling water I could only get them on an inch, they were so tight. To be safe I put a couple of miniature cable ties around them to stop them blowing off. (But I’d be very surprised if they move at all as they were so, so tight on there).



So that was Month 7….

Dashboard refurbished and back in with good progress made on the retrimming the remain interior parts (with a few issues to sort out). The wiring loom and steering column is back in & connected up and the blower, wipers and ducting is all refurbished under the hood.

With the weather slowly improving I’ll be able to push the car outside next month so I can have room to open the doors and really get stuck in on the interior assembly.

Thanks again for taking time out to read my ramblings.

Posted by: Darren C May 8 2016, 03:01 PM

Ok, Lets call this post a bonus!

There’s been a lot of posts and threads asking for advice on Carb Conversion throttle linkages and cable positioning. I’ve been kinda sitting on some information from my experience of restoring my 914 that will hopefully be helpful to other owners.
So I’ve decided to break cover in the middle of my thread to add this little post.
Enjoy

Regards
Darren

This is how to make the ultimate smooth running, easy returning and very accurate balance adjustment twin carb 914 linkage.


First sorting out some thick 316 stainless plate I spent several hours hacksawing by hand, this.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket_zpske4crytj.jpg.html

I continued to file, drill and fettle that piece of Stainless plate until it was a reasonable match for my cornflakes box imagineering template.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket2%20002_zps1cmjlc3e.jpg.html

I spent a couple of hours in my shed and started to turn down a piece of 316 Stainless bar.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bolts%20finished%20001_zpsmdapd7zg.jpg.html

I machined out two counterbores to an interference fit for two ball bearing races I’d bought. I selected high temp bearings with steel dust covers to keep the grease in while exposed to engine heat. Next the flange was drilled and the bracket tapped M5 to hold it in place.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket3_zps8boy5zcj.jpg.html

The following afternoon I turned down another Stainless bar to make a spindle. I incorporated a boss to sit between the bearings and run freely with 0.25mm clearance, so that if ever a bearing failed it would run on the boss rather than collapse.
To finish the ends were threaded M8 and two opposing flats filed accurately to accept the levers (yet to be made).

I continued in my shed and made a top link arm with an off-cut of the stainless sheet. Very carefully filing out the slotted hole until it was a nice fit on the spindle I made yesterday.
Afterwards I carried out a dry run with a few parts borrowed off the worn FI throttle body (un-modified).
With the re-used spindle return spring it should give a “stock feel” to the pedal. I just need to make an anchor for the spring near the base and a cable fixing arm during the week and it should be good to go.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket4%20001_zpsrdp5snki.jpg.html

The following evening I returned to my shed and made a spring anchor from more stainless to tie in the linkage return spring. While lying in the MRI scanner that afternoon in Hospital (long story) I had the idea to use one of the threaded bolt holes in the bearing housing as a fixing point (which fell just in the right place for spring tension) instead of welding a tab on. Much neater idea, I thought, and also variable if required, unlike a permanent weld if I’d taken that route. I also made a stainless spacer/bush to go between to factory recycled throttle arm and my new dual arm (to replace the packing washers I'd used to help set the positioning up during design)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket5%20004_zpsjcnbqbdz.jpg.html

The next evening I spent a few hours fettling the top arm, drilled and tapped it and fitted the ball joints for the throttle rods. I also used another bit of Cornflakes box to inamgineer a nice looking bracket to attach to the assembly to anchor the throttle cable. Just need to pick up an off cut of 3mm stainless plate tomorrow to make it with.
The parts I removed from the old throttle body (arms, washers, bushes etc) I bagged up ready to drop off at the zinc platers . I plan on getting the whole lot done in gold zinc (including the bits I’ve recycled on my new linkage plus those I haven’t) in this way at a later date when I invest in putting back the FI system, they’ll be all shinny & new looking.

The following day in the shed I spent 3 hours cutting out and filed into shape the throttle cable mounting bracket.

After getting home late from work the next day I manage to mark and drill out the throttle cable bracket I made last night with several holes and fettle some 5mm stainless bar to make the linkage arms with. I also made two angle gauges to enable me to bend the 3mm stainless plates tomorrow at work to the exact angle.
I also had an M5 left hand thread die turn up in the post so fingers crossed I have the tools required now to make the adjustable linkage rods at the weekend.

I took the brackets into work the next day and used the bending press to shape them. I also called in at the platers at lunch and picked up the gold BZP replated original throttle arms, bushes, nuts and washers all looking fantastic shiny and new. A final call into the tool shop before going back to work and I picked up a small 13/16” die wrench for the LH thread M5 die I purchased earlier in the week to make the linkage rods. (My other wrenches are too large to hold the tiny die)
This evening I started to clean up the brackets to get some of the press marks out ready for assembly the weekend.

Finally I assembled the parts of the throttle linkage I d made that week after cleaning all the fold press machine marks out to give a brushed stainless finish.
The freshly gold BZP parts were added. (The return safety spring has the tension off in the picture. When fitted it will be rotated 180 Degrees, and the allen key is just holding in the throttle cable clamp temporarily for the photo)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket%20amp%20pipe%20006_zpsyxrc9adw.jpg.html

As I’d said earlier, Carbs were fitted from my shed stock way back in October 15 to get the engine running for the first time in several years so that I could find out just exactly what I’d purchased blind. The paint shop had also said to me that they’d only take the car in for paint if it drove, so carbs were a quick no cost solution for me as I have numerous old & new sets in my shed from my VW days.
Here’s an OLD PICTURE from October, showing the “replica” Chinese Webers and an old Empi throttle linkage I used to see if the engine would run.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20details%20013_zpslpvdeibs.jpg.html

Next I fitted my home made throttle linkage. Far, far better than the mass produced Empi linkage I’d had on the car earlier, that is crude at best and not throttle cable friendly in a 914. This was the main reason for making a much better linkage that works well with the STANDARD 914 throttle cable, using the STOCK position of the cable as it travels in the engine bay, thus removing any binding or length issues.
All those cornflake box templates, measuring & measuring again paid off.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket%20installed%20004_zpszazr9zbi.jpg.html

Perfect fit.
Next I made two 5mm diameter stainless throttle rods, LH thread one end RH thread the other, then fitted lock nuts and ball joints.
I then swapped out my old replica Webers for a genuine set of carbs and replaced the mains and idle jets to better suit a 2.0 litre. The floats were set and with new gaskets and home made stainless studs in the manifolds, they were fitted to the car.
In the afternoon with a fire extinguisher at hand I ran up the engine and tuned the carbs with the linkages off before setting carefully the rod lengths (of the new stainless linkages I’d made that morning) and fitted them between carbs and main assembly.
With the 914 throttle cable fitted and adjusted it all worked a treat and looks pretty neat too!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket%20installed%20002_zps9adrjseo.jpg.html

The key is to understand the geometry, length of pivot arms and optimisation of cable layout and positioning to obtain a good proportional smooth throttle opening.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/DSCI0384_zpsdzmbnnvy.jpg.html

I hope this helps other 914 owners with Carb conversions that are experiencing issues.

Posted by: DirtyCossack May 8 2016, 05:56 PM

That "bonus post" just blew my mind! Incredible work.

Posted by: jkb944t May 10 2016, 06:45 PM

Wow! This is some very impressive workmanship!

Posted by: Darren C May 30 2016, 10:55 PM

Month 8


Day 211

Today I contacted Porsche Centre to chase up the new ignition key as it has been 2 months now since ordering the spare. “It came in today” was the reply. Hmmm, co-incidence? I also ordered up a set of screw covers for the trims around the roll bar and the windscreen pillars. Most of the originals were missing or chewed up. Still available (as they fit 924,44 & 68 also) in stock Porsche UK and £1.97 each. Hopefully have them on Friday ready for the weekend.

The plan is to fit the windsheild and rear window this weekend. I’d placed them in the back of one of the garages for safe keeping after taking them out the week before going to the paintshop.
Setting up my trestles with extra foam padding I got out the rear window and with a brand new Stanley blade in my scraper I removed the old window stickers for South California University and Yellowstone Park. There was a good coat of paint on the glass too. Seems the last paint shop didn’t even take care to mask the glass let alone remove it. This all needed scraping off with a perimeter line of water limescale before the glass was scrubbed with Cif and scotchbrite. (A cheap supermarket green scotchbrite that doesn’t scratch). Flipping it over I cleaned both sides before starting on the windsheild
The glass is a replacement, having been fitted some time ago it was stuck in with tons of silicone! There was plenty left on the glass after slicing it out the car which needed cleaning off.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20glass%20001_zpsebzvdrlv.jpg.html

Again as with the rear window there was plenty of dirt, limescale (from years of car washing) and general grunge on the glass, so it got a total Stanley blade scrape and scotchbrite Cif.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20glass%20002_zpsxbmq06h9.jpg.html

After a few hours I’d got it cleaned up ready for the weekends installation. I’m not happy about the rear view mirror mount, so may need to take a look at prying it off the glass. The PO has glued it back on but scuffed up the base with 40 grit to key it and it looks awful from the outside looking in. Partially black with random sandpaper silver scratches to bare metal showing. I tentatively tried to get it off the glass tonight but its rock solid. As I was running out of daylight again, rather than rush it, I can take a look tomorrow.

Day 212

This morning before work I had a go at getting the mirror of the windscreen. The PO had stuck in on with what looked like araldite epoxy glue and had made quite a mess around the base. It was on rock solid so I had to get serious with it to remove it.
Setting up a layer of left over underlay from some laminate flooring from my old house (that I’d kept as it comes in useful for kneeling on while working) I carefully angled the screen, like in the car, so a good proportion of the glass edge rested evenly across the underlay pads.
The next bit isn’t for the faint hearted.
I got a new Stanley blade (loose) and rested it across the corner of the foot of the mirror. Next I used a toffee hammer sliding along the glass, ensuring it pressed on the inside of the screen as it moved (as you used to do when you nailed in window panes in old houses before using window putty) so that it struck the top of the Stanley blade and slowly drifted it between Mirror foot and glass until it was released.
The Mirror eventually came free, and wiping sweat from my brow I put everything away and left for work.
At lunch today I called in at a local sign writers (I hate using that name as today its all vinyl stickers as no one paints signs anymore) and arranged for a 20mm wide black glass vinyl strip to be made. This is going along the bottom of the rear window. I believe Porsche used a form of insulation tape like you use on wires to cover the inside bottom of the glass to stop you looking in from outside and seeing the un-upholstered back of the bulkhead trim.
The sign vinyl strip will do the same job but stick far better and make hopefully a neater job. The guy said if he made one specially for me it would be £30, but if I could wait a day or two until he’s doing some black vinyl work, he’d cut me several for a £10 while the machine is set up.
When I got home this evening I found the two seat belt triangular plastic covers for the roll bar had arrived from VW Heritage. They’d been on back order for a few weeks and it was a nice surprise. I tried the fit and it was perfect. Bit of a punt as they are listed as early VW Golf on their website but after a lot of trawling on line the pictures of the Golf ones looked just like the 914 covers.
After playing with the belts, I got the trestles back out and marked the mirror position on the outside of the screen with masking tape. Flipped the screen over and set about carefully scraping the old glue off the screen with my Stanley scraper. A final Cif & green scotchbrite and you’d never know it’d been there.
Finally I gave the glass a final clean and put it back into the rear of the garage until the weekend.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll pick up the screw cover caps from Porsche Centre and the plan is to turn down a cutting tool tomorrow evening to remove the a small circle of vinyl on my re-trimmed interior parts. (I’ve had the windscreen pillar trims, roll bar side and top trims all recovered) There’s about 20 or so holes to neatly cut in the new vinyl so I can get the screws in and caps on. With the new caps in hand I can measure them accurately with my Vernier to determine what size vinyl hole cutter to make. The old ones I have left are miss-shaped so not reliable to measure and the old trim holes were a bit worn. With a bit of luck If I cut the vinyl holes accurately the caps should be a snug fit and not need anything on them to hold them in place.

Day 213

Today I called in at Porsche Centre and collected the screw caps and key blanks. I went to a franchise key cutters at lunch to get the blanks cut. They refused as I’d not bought the blanks from them! I went to a local independent locksmith and while he was cutting the keys he was obviously curious about the car they were for and we had a good chat. When he found out the franchise key cutters refused to cut the original Porsche blanks he laughed and said have them on me and refused to take any money!
This evening after work & food shop I measured up the blanks and turned down a simple tube cut tool and tested it in some spare vinyl for the cap fit before very carefully sitting down and cutting out the holes in the newly trimmed parts.
They’ve come out really good in comparison to the nasty split parts full of filler that I handed to the trimmers.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20trim%20fixing%20holes%20002_zpsglbvrtof.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20trim%20fixing%20holes%20004_zpsxzzya36v.jpg.html

Again I ran out of daylight.

Day 214

Today I felt like murdering an old friend……

I got up early this morning and cleaned up around the rear window. I sorted out the small packing pieces form a bag of parts I’d previously made up and stuck them in place with a blob of caulking. I set up my padded trestles and gave the rear window a final clean up and degrease. Using the new 3m Butyl I carefully set a strip around the window aperture with the join spliced in at top centre.
Very carefully I lifted the glass into place and gently pressed it home, looking from the inside outwards to check an even stick and compression of the butyl.
Next I gently rested a piece of 4 x 2 against it while I went back to the house to sort out the roll bar trim. (Not that it was going to fall out, more for peace of mind)
I fitted the two plastic surrounds for the rear roof latches back into the trim and unpacked the latches bolts and washers.
The latches were fitted to the roll bar and nipped up then the recovered padded trim fitted over them. What a puzzle that was for a while trying to get it back on around the roof catches, but with a little patience it went on. I’d pre fitted the horizontal screws so that the points showed through as they were a real sod to get out the trim before recovering and don’t easily go straight back in without dropping into the deep hole in the foam of the trim and then you cant get them to line up with the inner metal frame. Pre-fitting them was the easy way to do it.
After a little manipulation the trim was pushed into place and the horizontal screws tightened up. The vertical screws go through a much thinner piece of foam in the trim and with a torch looking up its much easier to align the holes in the car body and with a magnetic screwdriver just put the screws straight in.
The new blanking caps got fitted next, much more supple than the old rock hard ones and the trim was complete.
I then fitted the two re-trimmed windscreen pillar trims. I’d asked the trimmers to leave a flap of vinyl on the top so I could feed it around the metal channel under the rubber. With the ends of the lower roof seal pulled out and the tiny screws and cup washers out, all that was needed was a tweak the fit was good.
Due to the dash cap being fitted and the trims being recovered they were a little tight at the bottom. A little soft soap (PH neutral) was put on the metal pillar, rear of the trim and end of the dash cap. The Pillar trims slipped in a treat. As with the roll bar trim the screws were pre fitted so the tips just poked through and with a little manipulation all holes lined up and the trims secured. The tiny upper screws and cup washers refitted along with the lower roof seal, with vinyl flap tucked under. Again all new screw caps were fitted to finish off.
After a bite to eat I started to fit the trim clips around the screen that hold the ali surround. I used a very, very small blob of caulking made into the tiniest of washers to surround the hole as they went in. This should hopefully prevent any water/rust starting around the clips. Next I fitted the two packing shims and set up my padded trestles.
Having lifted out the screen on my own, loaded it in my car on my own and brought it home where over the last few months I’d moved it numerous times I thought just to be safe I’d call and old friend over to help me lift it into place on the car. I lifted the screen out of the garage where its stored and carried it around to my lock up where the 914 is kept. Resting it on the trestles I gave it a final clean around the edge.
My friend arrived and I carefully explained what we needed to do. I went to sort out the new dash to screen rubber seal while he kept watch on the screen on the trestles.

Now this is where my day took a turn for the worst. My dear friend who is very enthusiastic, but is by no stretch of the imagination practical minded. While I was working on the car he went to lift the windsheild, but held it on the bottom corner and “thought” he could twist and lift it from just one corner while he swapped his hand over.

“KLICK”…..

I looked over from the car towards him at the trestles and in his left hand was a long razor crack right through the windsheild from top to bottom…….

I was simply lost for words. Nothing I could say would help the situation. He was with all good intention trying to help me, but had no idea of the consequences.
Next time I’ll just fit it on my own.

So tonight I am drowning my sorrows with a few beers.

I called a UK 914 specialist earlier to ask them about availability and got a Pilkington number for the screen. I phoned around a few local glass places but they all said that they wouldn’t know until Monday on UK stock as the suppliers were closed on a Saturday.

So if anyone is free tomorrow I may need a lift with a long heavy roll of carpet wrapped in bin bags that I’m burying in the woods!

Day 215
Today I sorted out a few long term electrical Gremlins. With most of the dash built up the majority of the loom was reconnected (apart from the centre console) so I decided to put the battery back on and test everything.
I started with the wipers. When I came to dismantle the dash I found the plug was already pulled off the wiper stalks and tucked up behind the dash? While the stalks were out I’d cleaned and tested all the contacts and cleaned the pins and spades in the plug. The wiper mechanism was unseized and cleaned and greased, all wires reconnected, battery on, ignition on, wipers on. NOTHING!
Here we go…..
So now was the time to find out what on earth was going on. I started at the fuse No8 and had power, so I gave the holder another clean and checked the fuse fit just in case. Still power but no wipers?
So I bit the bullet and took out the blower box again to check the wires on the wiper motor. I really wanted to do this before I put the blower box in, but I’d bench tested the wiper motor and it was ok, so never expected a loom issue (plus the dash was still out so I couldn’t test it in situ until today). Anyway, tested the wires and I was getting an intermittent low voltage on the red/white feed. It seemed to be ok with the cable pulled off the wiper motor but loose voltage when the wire was reconnected?
I went around in circles for a while and in checking the wiring diagram the same feed runs the fresh air blower. I’d bench tested the new motor, bench tested the rebuilt speed control and the slide fan controls in the dash and it all worked. Guess what, with the blower box out of position but loom plugged in it didn’t work either!
Looking at the wiring diagram the wipers share a power feed with the fresh air blower relay.
I dropped the fuse box and pulled out the fresh air blower relay and found a melted and burnt pin on the relay and in the holder. This must have happened to the PO when the blower fan broke up. There was some burning on the heater slide contacts I’d repaired earlier so it looks like the whole thing happened at the same time which would have probably smoked and smelt bad.
So now I kinda understand the PO unplugging the wiper plug now as I would imagine the melted relay would possibly smoke when the wipers were turned on (since the old fresh air blower motor had gone open circuit)
All was revealed. I set about repairing the relay holder and temporarily stuck my fuel pump relay in place (as it is brand new)
Put everything back together in the fuse box and battery on. Hey presto I had wipers!
Great I thought, moving the fresh air blower slide to try my new fan….Nothing!
With the air box still out I pulled the plug, switched on the fan and measured the voltages. 12V, plug back on, no fan? Eh?
After a bit of head scratching I decided to pry open the plug and take a look inside. There it was, a splayed open tube connector on the +12V (ironically all the –ve were fine). Cleaned up and back together, plug back on and eureka the fan worked.
I then spent a good hour wrestling the blower box back into position and compressing the top rubber seal. The lesson here is; check the wipers before fitting the blower box!
Next I tried all other switches. First to fail was the indicators, two blinks then nothing. Here we go again. Well to cut a long story short it was loose & dirty spade connectors on the relay base. Not wanting to be caught out again I removed all other relays and cleaned up their pins, female connectors and tightened everything up.
Trying everything else all was good except a gauge illumination bulb in the left gauge. Quickly popping out the gauge yet again I changed the bulb. All in all that’s 12 faulty dash bulbs the car had.
Before I knew it it was time to go pick my son up for another interesting white knuckle driving lesson in the Morris Traveller.
A welcome break in outing the Gremlins.

It’s an early night tonight, Got to be up a 3:30am tomorrow to get to the airport to fly over to Jersey with work, so I had to wrap up and get on line to order some new relays.

Day 216

Today was a long day. I flew out to the channel island of Jersey and was sat in a Waterfront Café in St Helier the capitol city eating breakfast before 8am. Following a very busy day of meetings I flew back and arrived home just after 7pm.
Not wanting to loose a chance to work on the 914 I went straight into my shed and started on the dash knee roll that the trimmers had, had an accident with.
The top edge of the roll which sits under the basket weave panel was torn quite badly in two places where they had pulled off the new vinyl after burning a hole stretching it into shape. I ended up having to cut all the loose original vinyl off until I came to a good bit that was still bonded to the foam. All in all I ended up with almost 10” x 2” missing off the knee roll. The foam then needed to be undercut to allow the new two part plastic resin to get a good hold on the old edge of vinyl. I mixed up a few batches one after another to build up the undercut edge and left it to dry while I grabbed a quick cuppa. The resin fortunately sets in minutes so next I keyed the surface of the resin and the old vinyl edge with 80 grit and applied a light skim of filler.
Before I knew it I’d spent over 2 hours this evening on the knee roll, so having been up for over 18 hours I was starting to feel a little tired, so left the filler to cure until the morning when I’ll start to sand it down.

Day 217

I was thwarted by the rain today. Hoping to rub down the flexible filler I put on the lower knee roll last night, I drew the curtains this morning to rain. Rubbing filler down inside is not a good idea as the dust makes a right old mess. A change of plan was in order so I sorted out the washer tubes between bottle, column and spare wheel.
I’d purchased all new rubber and had fitted between jets and column switch while the dash and blower box was out but not got around to the bottle.
I removed the tube & bulkhead grommet to the spare wheel and the washer bottle cap with short 5” tube and fittings.
New tube was cut to length and with some boiling water the tube was softened and all the ends & valves refitted.
I used some short ½” in length adhesive lined heat shrink and replicated the sleeves on all ends of the hoses.
The new hose was then fitted back into the car with a cleaned up bulkhead grommet and the cap refitted to the bottle. The car was finally free of all perished water hose.
At lunchtime I called in and picked up some black silicone sealant and some more masking tape.
I’d fitted the rear window with the correct butyl 3M ribbon at the weekend but I wasn’t too happy with the weather protection. Looking from inside out I could see I had a good 360 degree seal on the butyl to glass but there was a nice tiny channel between glass and body where the butyl holds the glass off by about 2-3mm.
Also when cleaning the glass the other day the vertical sides of the window where it meets the shell has a 2mm gap where the butyl is visible and is sticky causing fluff from the cleaning cloth to get stuck to it. This would drive me nuts, so I carefully taped the glass and shell as tight as possible into the corners and applied a tiny bead of black silicone sealant around the glass. With any excess cleaned off and the tape removed I had a very neat thin silicone coating over the butyl.
This should not only stop the sticky issue tight into the corner of the rear window but should stop the gap holding water, prevent leaks and help stop any future corrosion. Being silicone it can be easily removed if ever I need to remove the rear window.
Along the bottom edge its just lower than the steel lip so wont be seen when the decklid seal is fitted.
Next I sorted out two new fuel hoses for the fuel tank. I’d fitted new hoses before the car went off to paint, but they could do with being a little longer for ease of fitting/removal. I’d got plenty of spare new hose left so cut and fitted two more that were another 4” longer than the previous ones.
Finally I refitted the fuel tank retaining straps that I’d removed to get at the blower box before running out of torch light. With the washer hoses in and the blower & wiper motor sorted I plan to get the tank back in tomorrow.

Day 218

The weather was dry today so I got chance to rub down the flexible filler in the knee roll repair and start to reshape the damaged area. I applied another thin layer of filler and left for work.
This evening before getting too dusty with filler I decided to fit the rear window to deck lid seal as the window was well and truly stuck in and silicone cured. I wasn’t happy with the 914rubber seal so I’d bought a new genuine one. This went on a treat and sealed nicely along the glass just above the silicone and butyl.
Next I refitted the fuel tank and clamped it down. I was about to refit the filler and expansion tank but noticed the clamp ring was chipped around a few of the M5 bolt positions. I’d previously cleaned and repainted it so I was a little annoyed it had been chipped when I took the tank off again. A quick removal and strip off of all the paint to bare metal again, I gave it a new coat of fuel resistant black. This will need to dry overnight before I can fit the expansion tank tomorrow.
Main fuel tank in place I fitted the washer bottle and linked all the new pipes up that I’d made last night.
While the paint dried on the expansion tank ring I sanded down this mornings filler on the knee roll.
A third layer was required to sort out a few air/pin holes and shaping so I mixed up a new batch and applied it carefully before leaving it to dry overnight. Hopefully this will be the last sand and finish before I can give it to the trimmers again.

Day 219

This morning it was dry early on and I managed to rub down and refill the knee roll once more before the rain arrived at 7am.
We had some really heavy rain & thunder through the day, but as if by magic at 5pm the rain had stopped and by the time I got home it was dry again in time for more sanding and filling.
The accident at the trimmers had caused me a whole load of trouble chasing my tail across the knee roll to repair the torn off surface until I could make good.
After a lot of perseverance I finally sorted it out.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20knee%20roll%20001_zpsdzqz8glj.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20knee%20roll%20002_zpsi1xlmdj2.jpg.html

The plan is to drop it off at the trimmers again in the morning so that they can try again to recover it.
After dusting myself off I fitted the fuel expansion/breather tank with the newly painted securing ring and nice shiny M5 stainless bolts and washers before running out of light.

Day 220

This morning before breakfast I gave the dash knee roll a final sand and inspection before loading it up to take to the trimmers.
I dropped it off a lunch time and called in at the post office to collect a sign for packet. Two new round relays I’d ordered to replace the fuel pump one I’d put into the blower and a spare.
Hopefully the knee roll will be re covered in new vinyl by the end of next week so I can finally get the dash all back together. It’s starting to look good with the refurbished gauges and column back in.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20rear%20window%20004_zpsqtpjbmgs.jpg.html

The saga of the windsheild continues. I hope to get a replacement in the next two weeks. A brand new one so to be fair it will be much better in the long run than the old one which wasn’t original anyway. Until then the window frame is all prepared and waiting; just butyl to add once the screen is here.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20rear%20window%20005_zpsxkzaefay.jpg.html

On the way back from the post office at lunch I called in at the sign writers and picked up my laser cut black strip for the bottom of the rear window. I chose a satin black vinyl with a slight texture so it should blend in completely with the bulkhead trim.
I also had it made 25mm wide instead of the factory 20mm insulation tape so it covers right over the bottom of the glass edge.
After work it was food shop and weekly clothes wash so once the shopping was put away and the washing machine on I leaped into the garage.
The rear window was cleaned a 3rd time and I carefully applied the vinyl with a rubber scraper following the curvature exactly without any trapped air bubbles. It looked superb!
Next I carefully fitted the two pillar trims. They were a little tight due to re covering of the top roll bar trim and the fact both side trims were recovered too. After a little effort the screw holes lined up perfectly and the trims were fixed in place. The coat hooks were next and I had noticed that the rubber cover that goes over metal bracket has two lugs on the base that “clip” over the metal bracket. When I stripped the car down one rubber cover was missing, but I fortunately found it under the seat. The reason was now clear. The metal bracket had been overtightened in the past which had compressed the foam in the pillar trim. This meant that the two lugs on the bracket sat into the trim foam and the rubber cover couldn’t clip over them and just falls off. I made a small black rubber packing piece to hold the bracket off the crushed trim about 2mm. This raised the bracket back to the normal height and the cover went on with a dull click and was locked firm in place. Finally I fitted two new blanking plugs over the screws.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20rear%20window%20001_zpsxucl4qsn.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20rear%20window%20002_zpssvutd7kc.jpg.html

Plan for the weekend now is floor vinyl, seat belts, carpets and bulkhead trim.

Day 221

This morning I got out of storage all the old bits of vinyl that I took off the car when taking out the interior. They had been well and truly sun baked to a crisp, scratched, punctured and torn in places so the only solution was to remake them with fresh supple vinyl.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20vinyl%20infills%20003_zpsdfrmtzvu.jpg.html

Using the old bits as a pattern I drew around them with chalk onto my roll of black vinyl. This wasn’t as easy as you’d expect as they were blistered curled up and generally hard to lay flat.
After drawing around them I added another ¼” as they had definitely shrunk.
Cutting them out neatly I had a fresh set to go in the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20vinyl%20infills%20002_zps4pwrosy1.jpg.html

I spent the rest of this afternoon carefully gluing them in place with high temp/high grip impact adhesive working them into all the corners and around the curvatures. This took far longer than anticipated.
The first easy ones to go on were the two rectangles. These go just below the corners of the rear window to cover the metal panel where the seat belts exit.
Next the two “hockey sticks” that go along the rear of the door opening. Care was taken here to glue and cut them to roll over the spotweld flange that the door seal fits on, making sure they go from pillar trim to a good 5” along the top of the box sill.
The two sections that go over the crossmember were next. These get quite fiddly behind the hand break and around the switch. Also a little stretching was require near the centre tunnel to stretch it over the contours.
Once in it was the remaining centre tunnel sections that caused me the most difficulty. Getting them right into the corners at the rear of the tunnel and around the raised seat mounting was tricky. More so on the passenger side where I had to remove the seat relay and hold back the loom a little while I worked the vinyl into place.
After a quick trim with a Stanley knife all looked neat and tidy.
With a few hours of the day still left over I decided to fit the seatbelts and the handbrake switch.
Previously cleaned up and with new bolts and washers the seatbelts went in a treat.
Making good progress I took off the handbrake lever and fitted both sill carpets before refitting the handbrake, battery and testing the handbrake switch and buzzer.
All good!

Day 222

My son stayed over last night so we had a morning dedicated to driving lessons and highway code questions. Unfortunately when putting the cover over the Morris Traveller I noticed a drip from the rear n/s hub. Bloomin axle oil seal is leaking. Another job to do!
Anyway after taking my son for lunch, dropping him off, mowing the lawns and washing 3 cars; this afternoon I started on the 914. I started by fitting the newly recovered bulkhead trim. After strengthening the backboard and adding metal channels it was far stronger than before and kept its shape at the base and sides better. After wiring and testing the interior light (all ok) I fitted the bulkhead trim in place. After a bit of fiddling around I realised the small handbrake cable cover plate has to be off to get the trim in. With the plate off it sat nicely in the car with the 4 hook tabs located under the window, the screw holes lined right up.
Next I fitted the new door rubbers to the openings and carefully cut them to a perfect length for a neat fit.
The sill threshold trim that goes over the door seal and grips the carpet was split in a few places around the screw holes so I’d bought two new black coated metal ones from 914rubber. The screws I’d previously cleaned and repainted satin black ready to fit went back in and all holes lined up. The plates were carefully installed ensuring the carpet was tight up to the door trim and gripped tight so it wasn’t baggy.
To be honest these 914rubber metal sill trims are the best thing I’ve had so far from them!
Next I unpacked my previously fully refurbished seat runners that I’d done while the car was at the paintshop.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bulkhead%20trim%20004_zpsfp10enzs.jpg.html

Theses were carefully fitted with the toothed bracket and after a little adjustment of the small M6 bolts (at the hinged bracket on the floor) the mechanism operated smoothly and the latch located fully to allow the seat runners to raise and lower.
The previously refurbished seat belt clips were the next to go on with nice new shiny bolts & washers and the new “Press” decals.
Slowly gaining space back in my house and shed I took the re trimmed and rebuilt armrest out of storage and test fitted it.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bulkhead%20trim%20006_zps9tftogrj.jpg.html

I took these photo’s, then realized I’d put the seat belt catches in back to front! I quickly swapped them over.

The engine lid pull knob that was originally on the car was split and pulled straight off the cable before opening the lid so it was another item I’d purchased from 914rubber in my bulk order. I went to fit it next and found that the internal thread wasn’t formed correctly and needed a M5 tap run down it. Afterwards it fitted snug. Considering the mess the rear bulkead trim had been in when I got the car, all the repairs and strengthening had paid off before it was recovered. The fit was now perfect into the corner of the car around the engine lid release. I was very pleased with the result.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bulkhead%20trim%20011_zpszjzmx6om.jpg.html

Finally I tidied up the cables to the seatbelts and seats and fitted the small rear carpets.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bulkhead%20trim%20012_zpsnfvokoju.jpg.html

After a well earned cup of tea I decided to give the car its first wash since getting home. The garage is quite clean but over the last 3 months the car had gotten dusty from having the garage door open a lot and wind blowing dust around combined with some left over from being at the paintshop. Before I knew it, it was getting dark again.

Day 223

Today was a busy day. This morning early doors I worked on the seat belt covers that fit over the metal guide on the roll bar pillars. I’d gone to fit them yesterday and they were a tight fit but jammed the webbing of the belt.
These were the early golf ones I’d got from VW Heritage on a punt. They looked identical to the Porsche ones, but on fitting; the part that clips just above the seat belt webbing was in fact too chunky and closed the gap in the belt guide.
With a bit of Stanley knife surgery and a rats tail file I cut out the back of the cover and filed the two circular openings slightly longer to allow the cover to sit higher over all. Next I carefully trimmed a little off the clip part that goes around the pillar bolt to allow that to clip in at a higher point. This all sounds far more complicated than it really was, but the net result was after an hours fiddling about, the covers fit perfectly and the belts slid in and out freely.
I left for work and during my lunch break continued with the replacement windshield search. Autoglass a UK national supplier can get me one in from Pilkington but its special order, £575 and 3 weeks lead time. On a whim I called Porsche Centre Portsmouth and ordered a new adhesive pad for the rear view mirror and just for a laugh asked them about availability of windscreens for 914 from Porsche direct. The answer was available Germany from Porsche 1 week lead time and £275 plus VAT.
No brainer that one. Genuine Windsheild ordered!
So with a few minutes of lunch break left I called in at the local motor factors and picked up some new Bosch windscreen wiper blades in anticipation.
It was a late finish at work today and straight home for a quick change and off out to another car club committee meeting, so only just got in the door at 10:30pm in time to update the thread this evening, but at least I got a couple of hours in on the 914 this morning.

Day 224

This morning I started on the pedal assembly cover plate. The fibre board was looking a little tired and worn. I unbolted the clutch pedal stop, sanded down the board and gave it a fresh coat of satin black paint.
During lunchtime I shopped around for Morris parts for my son’s car and continued with the 914 this evening.
I first cleaned up the removed pedal stop, nuts & washers and gave them a coat of waxoil. Rummaging around in my shed I found a bag of parts that I’d not gotten around to cleaning up so got stuck in with them. This contained the heater “on” light block from the centre console, the heater lever escutcheon and a selection of fixings for the console, dash knee roll and pedal cover plate.
Cleaning the parts up I found the 4 screws & cup washers for the centre armrest, so after a quick clean up I fitted them to the car and screwed the armrest in place.
There was also a bag of screws for the speaker grilles.
4 months ago I’d ordered a brand new set of speaker grilles from Auto Atlanta.
I should have known better, as 6 months ago I ordered a 914 rear badge that is STILL to arrive. They emailed me to say there was a problem with the fixing pins and it needed to be rectified before they would send the badge out.
So guess what. The two new speaker grilles I ordered and paid for are in a new email “on back order” with NO date by which to expect them.
Blo*dy frustrating. Why oh why don’t these so called specialist suppliers tell you the parts are out of stock before taking your hard earned cash. I certainly won’t be using Auto Atlanta again!
Anyway in my shed of parts that have arrived was a new accelerator cable from UK supplier Roger Bray. I hope to get the knee roll back this week from the trimmers so I thought I’d do a few little jobs under the dash while access was easy.
I removed the old accelerator cable and fitted the new one this evening. The old one was getting tight to operate and made the pedal heavy. Once the cable was out it was obvious why. The white nylon sheath had snapped inside the tunnel tube, right where the metal ferrule fits on under the car (where the black outer sheath starts). This effectively made the cable “hinge” at the ferrule and had bent/creased the inner wire. Moving the pedal the bend in the wire was getting tight as it passed in and out of the black sheath.
Anyway with the new cable in place the pedal was far lighter to operate.
Before I knew it I ran out of light again.

Day 225

What god awful weather today, more like November than summer.
I was rushing around this morning sorting stuff out on my son’s car so it wasn’t until this evening I got to carry on with the 914.
At lunch I did manage to call in and see the trimmers in anticipation of getting the knee roll back but they hadn’t started it yet.
This evening I removed the gear knob, leather gaiter and fitted the centre tunnel carpet first. Then re assembled the pedal board with its bump & travel stops.
The board was carefully fed over the pedals and laid to rest in position. I then fitted my two new genuine Porsche pedal rubbers for the clutch & brake.
Back to my shed and out with a brand new 914rubber accelerator pedal that I’d bought in my bulk order. All was going well until I bolted it to the floor and went to fit the accelerator pushrod into the socket.
The brand new straight out the packet 914rubber accelerator pedal was making a cracking noise when it hinged?
That didn’t sound at all right.
I unbolted it from the floor and in my hand flexed the hinged base.
“Crackle” and “Grind” with jamming as it moved.
This got my interest so with Stanley knife in hand I cut the rubber off the back of the hinge part to find the internal metal hinge snapped clean off the base!
The metal was absolute rubbish inside the rubber moulding. As thin as paper and looked like it’d been beaten from a baked bean can on the streets of Beijing.
The metal in the hinge is about a quarter the thickness of the genuine one and poor quality at that.

So combine this with the horizontal rain and the too dark to see by rain clouds I had a miserable evening.
I retired to my shed and cleaned up a few more bits including the semi circular pedal board retaining clamp that had the tiniest bit of paint flaked off. I stripped it completely and gave it an etch prime. Finally I cleaned up the leather gear lever gaiter and gave it a good coating of hide food to help soften and restore it before calling it a day.

Day 226

This morning before work I mixed up a little 2 pack clear lacquer and using my airbrush I gave the pedal cover retaining plate a clear coat. This was flashed off at 50 Deg C in my kitchen oven while I ate breakfast.
In my lunch break today I called in at Porsche centre and ordered a replacement genuine accelerator pedal and checked on progress of the screen.
This evening I had quite a good assembly.
With the clear lacquered retaining plate now dry I bolted down the pedal plate with all the cleaned up fixings.

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Next after having a trial fit and good look at clearance; I decided to fit the centre console before the knee roll is re trimmed as I reckon it’ll fit with the console in place.
Unpacking all the cleaned up fixings and bracket I screwed the console in place.
The newly refurbished 3 gauges were fitted to the panel and carefully holding it clear of the gear lever (with knob missing, it was just asking to scratch something) I fitted all the cables to the gauges and took off the very last of my paper wire i.d. labels.
With the panel propped upright I started assembly of the base insert panel.
The leather gear gaiter was nice and supple now and a nice black lustre was returned after 24 hours soaking in hide food. This was buffed lightly and fitted back into the base panel.
Next the heater lever escutcheon was given a blast of my heat gun and left to cool. The two long sides had, in the Desert Heat, bowed inwards to narrow the slot and restrict the lever movement. This looked awful, so with a small timber insert in the slot to hold it back open, heat was applied and left to cool back into shape. Being extra careful of course not to melt it and only heat from the underside so any risk of visible damage was removed.
The escutcheon was then clipped into place and the panel carefully held over the gear lever while I fitted the Heater illuminated block and wired it up. I’d cleaned up the block yesterday and sure enough the bulb was blown so this evening I fitted a new bulb and tested it. Heater block on the panel was finally clipped down and the vertical gauge panel fitted and clipped last.
The heater lever knob had faded to a milky pink on one side so I’d already purchased another (in the 914rubber bulk order). I was expecting it to not screw on, but no problems here, screwed on easily and was a nice even rich red colour.
Finally I nipped back indoors as it started to get dark and retrieved the passenger foot mat before fitting it in place and making sure the floor posts sat fully through the rubber eyelets to locate it correctly.
It’s starting to look quite nice in the cabin now. I was going to take another picture but the camera ran out of charge. I’ll take some over the weekend (if I manage to get that knee roll back)

Day 227

Today was one of those 914 one step forward two steps back days.
This morning I fitted my nice new gear knob. The old one had the clear insert disc in the top all crazed and cracked like a shattered piece of safety glass. It was nice to see a new flawless gear knob on the car.
I left for work and had a phone call from the trimmers mid morning. What I thought was going to be “your knee rolls ready” ended up being “can you come and take a look, we have a problem”
I called in at the trimmers in my lunch break and unfortunately they’d had another accident trying to cover the old vinyl.
Unfortunately they’d made another tear in the old surface and pulled out some of the original foam and new filler trying to remove the new vinyl that they had glued on.
I know it wasn’t intended, but I was really annoyed that this was the second time they’d damaged the part trying to cover it.
I had no option but to bring it home again for the third repair.
Suffice to say, this evening after food shop, I ended up cleaning and starting to fill the new damaged area.
I managed to get a first fill and sand and a second fill (to dry over night) on the knee roll before it got dark. Fortunately it was a nice sunny evening so sanding filler down outside was possible.
Not quite what I had planned for this evening and into tomorrow, but I have no option but to fix the damage.

Day 228

This morning I awoke just after dawn and started work on a few more 914 parts. The filler was dry on the knee roll but before I got all dusty I thought I’d sort out the rear view mirror which had been bugging me.
Being a California Desert car the plastic of the mirror right against the screen had been well and truly baked to a crisp. The UV had started to degrade the surface which had gone white and started to crumble. The mirror glass itself was in fair condition so rather than try and buy a new assembly I thought I’d give it a go with refinishing it. The mirror glass was carefully masked and padded. The fixing foot was painstakingly draw filed with chalk to get all the PO random scratches out of it while keeping the surface perfectly flat. Finally I sanded it with various grades of wet and dry in a straight line to give it a perfect brushed finish. Next I gave it a good 3M red Scotchbrite to take off the UV damaged surface layer and key it ready for a coat of satin plastic paint. With such a hot day today I managed to give it several light coats over the day in between other jobs. The result was a brand new looking mirror ready to go on the new screen.
With the first coat of paint drying nicely (taken inside my conservatory to stop flies & dust) I started to sand and refinish the knee roll.
After a couple of hours the knee roll was all repaired again ready to take to the trimmers on Monday.
By now it was 10:30 and my son had arrived to work on his Morris. After a quick cup of tea we pulled the rear axle half shafts, drove out the rear bearings and replaced the oil seals and re packed the bearings in the N/S hub. Stripped and de greased the mess in the brakes and fitted new shoes and adjusted everything. Next we took off the O/S hub to change the shoes and found the start of an oil leak on that side that wasn’t leaking externally! Hey ho, should have bought two seals; but as a jobless student he could only afford one, however its a good lesson in false economy for him. So that was the end of that. We ordered a new seal kit and held back on fitting the new shoes on that side until the O/S seals are fitted. A few other jobs done on the traveller, it was 4pm and time to take my son for dinner and back home.
As soon as I got back I started on the 914 seats. The runners that fit to the underside of the seats needed cleaning up. I brass wire brushed them clean and stripped the paint off the adjustment hoop handles down to bare metal as it was all flaking and looking awful. The handles were rubbed down and painted with a durable gloss black and coated the runners with waxoil before being put alongside the rear view mirror to dry.
Next I started on my newly upholstered seats. Only the original basket weave was left, all other vinyl has been replaced with new. Unfortunately as good as the trimmers are at seats, they won’t spend time cleaning stuff, so the basket weave was still pretty dirty. I used a foaming trim/carpet cleaner and a toothbrush and spent about an hour on each seat cleaning into the weave pattern to get them somewhere like presentable before running out of light.

Day 229

This morning I had a well deserved lie in and started on the car at 7:30am. I’d charged my camera up last night so first thing this morning I took a picture of the recently restored rear view mirror before bagging it up for safe storage until the screens fitted.

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I tried the recently refurbished seat runners (the ones that fit to the underside of the seats) onto the runners in the car. Hmmm, bit tight on the new powder coat so I spent the next hour fettling them until they slid with ease.
Just then about 9am the heavens opened and I had to quickly push the car back inside the garage.
I took the runners back into the house and fitted them to the bottom of the seats.
The pull handles and shiny metal runners looked good back in place.

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The basket weave in the seats that I’d spent a good few hours yesterday had dried thoroughly but now there was still some greyness in the bottoms of some of the tiny square recess’s in the pattern. As it was throwing it down outside now, I spent another hour re-cleaning the seats again with a toothbrush working into the depths of the basket weave before placing them back into the conservatory to dry.
Still raining outside I decided to get my freshly restored and painted Targa top down from the loft. I gave it a wipe with a damp cloth as it was a little dusty before measuring it up for the new Perlon headliner. This is roughly 45” x 24” I carefully unrolled my new Perlon and marked a piece out to the size above, making sure all sides were true and 90 degrees to each other, then cut it out. Dry run fit and all was good.
Masking off the inside of the roof to leave only the area where it needed glue I then used a high temp, high strength spray glue from Woolies. Same on the reverse of the Perlon, waited 10 minutes until touch dry, then carefully fitted it.

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I used an old fashioned beech wood wallpaper roller to go over every square mm to ensure it was well and truly stuck down. All that was then required was a tiny trim around the two rear catch mountings and the small webs along the front that are hidden under the padded trim. Looks very nice now. The old headliner was sand logged (see way back in this thread) and despite numerous vacuuming and brushing, it still dropped grains of sand and fibres of Perlon so with my new interior that simply wouldn’t do!
Just then there was a knock at the door and an old friend had decided to pay me a visit. Good time for a break, we popped out to the local Marina for a bite to eat and a catch up.
Perfect timing as after lunch, mid afternoon the sun had finally come out, so work could continue.
Car pushed out the garage once again I fitted the seats.
With camera in hand and the sun out I took a few more pictures starting with the re-assembled restored centre console, gauges, heater controls and gear knob.

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Then of course the seats, which after that second scrub up looked like new again. New vinyl and soap & water, no nasty “wet look” greasy plastic cleaners in sight!

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Just need to get that dash knee roll re trimmed, get some new speaker covers and I can complete the dash.

Day 230

This morning I dropped off the knee roll at the trimmers and went into work. At lunchtime I called in at Porsche Centre and picked up the new accelerator pedal. It was obvious looking through the bag even before opening it, that it was far, far superior quality to the 914rubber one.
First thing this evening when I got home I fitted the pedal to the car. Installed the restored drivers mat (with remade heel pad) and clipped it to the floor properly using the two eyelets and connected the pushrod ball in the socket of the pedal.
With the drivers floor mat back in the car its amazing how it transforms from work in progress to looking almost finished.
Since it was still dry this evening I got the two door cards out of storage and started to clean them. Much like the seats, the dreaded basket weave material was holding no end of dirt, sand and grime. I spent a good hour on each panel with a foaming cleaner and toothbrush. Some of the staples along the bottom behind the panel have come away and the basket weave is loose. Once cleaned and dried out I plan on re-gluing and stapling it all back in place. Fortunately the only small tear is around a bolt that holds the armrest on so should be covered.
As it started to get dark I brought the panels inside to dry out. I expect they’ll need another going over tomorrow when I can see any dirt left over once dry.

Day 231
Today I had an early start at work. I’m organising another car club stand at a charity event for Children in Need called Carfest so need to get ahead of things at work so I can make time to organise for the show.
At lunchtime I called Woolies and ordered some more high temp glue, spray and tin. I’d used the last up on the headliner and I have more new Perlon to trim the bonnet area with.
This evening I spent another hour cleaning the door cards again to get the remaining dirt out of the basket weave. Leaving them to dry I started to re assemble the Targa roof, fitting the catches, trim and new rear fuzzy seal. The door window top seal runners had me perplexed for a short while. They are curved and you’d expect them to be convex from the outside, but they are in fact concave. The edge of the targa top is straight and the channel is curved. I hadn’t noticed it when I stripped them down, but it did confuse me for a short while.
In the end I took the roof over to the car and fitted it (minus the window top channels) to see for sure how they went.
The roof was a real tight fit onto the car with all the new seals and took some pushing and pulling to install it for the first time. I think I’m going to have to leave it on the car a good while for everything to settle in.
With that cleared up I took the roof back to the house to fit the runners and new 914rubber window top seals.
Channels fitted a treat but sliding the Tee of the window rubber into the runner was another matter. I tried all sorts. Talcum powder, soft soap, washing up liquid, Vaseline (not all at the same time) and after getting about 6” of rubber in the channel it was rock solid.
I spent the next TWO hours wrestling the seals. In the end I had to forget trying to slide the seal, but instead I had to squash it down its length so that the T curled in on itself enough to locate it into the channel. By the end I’d had enough and having got just one side in, I’ll leave the other side until tomorrow when I’ve had time to relax and regain my patience.

Day 232

Anyway this evening I got the last seal in. The seals were a good 2” too long (well one was the other was an inch too long). Even before fitting one was longer than the other. Once in – and considering I put them in by squeeze not slide – I needed to cut them to length at the windscreen end. I did this with a brand new Stanley blade and squared off the ends that had arrived wonky.
I was then ready to trial fit on the car again.

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All fine in the end.
The square cut off end by the windscreen met the frame rubber perfectly and the 45degree end over the roll bar sat neatly on the vertical seal giving a tiny resistance as the rear latches were closed.

With the door windows wound up there’s a bit of adjustment to be made to the regulators to level the glass off against the roof seal. This was something I couldn’t do until the roof was finished which is why I’ve held off with fitting the door cards until now. Something for next week.

Day 233

Today I finally got to pick up the knee roll from the trimmers. It was about ¾ done and they decided that this was as far as they could go with it after all the shenanigans. So that left the final trimming, glueing of all the return edges and stapling to me!
My high temp high strength new pot of glue had arrived from Woolies so today I set about finishing of the vinyl covering myself. I had to stretch and glue the vinyl down the recesses for the fixing bolts and around both ends. Not an easy task and I can see why the trimmers didn’t want to go much further than the flat surfaces. They had however managed to heat stretch it around the face of the knee roll without a stitch join or crease, so that was appreciated.
Anyhow after a couple of hours I got it all stuck down, cut off the excess and put in a few staples (out of sight) to make sure it doesn’t retract the stretch in it and undo easily. Not factory to have staples but considering the state it was in originally its much improved. Just need to let it settle and the glue dry properly over the next few days before it goes back into the car. I’ve put it in my conservatory living in hope that the sun will come out over the week and with the heat, anything that’s going to move or come unstuck should reveal itself.
I also had a small packet arrive over the weekend with the oversize screw plugs that go in the ends of the dash and door panel. No longer available from Porsche I tracked some down in the US $5 all up including postage and got them within the week.
AASE Sales. (not sure how you pronounce that)
While the glue was out this evening I also stuck down the door panel basket weave edges that had come unstapled along the bottom.
My son arrived this evening and we finished off by replacing the O/S drive shaft seal on the rear axle of the Morris before it got too dark to see. Just cooking dinner as I write this in my daily diary then afterwards I’ve got to drive 30 miles to drop him off...I'll be so glad when he passes his test!

Day 234

This morning I finished off gluing a couple of rogue edges of vinyl down on the knee roll that had lifted overnight and using my Swedish punch set I cut the small circles out where the side screws and cap fit, before leaving for work.
During lunch today I chased the new windscreen from Porsche Centre Portsmouth and picked up some more 3M 3/8” Butyl window tape from the Motor Factors as I’d used more than anticipated on fitting the rear window.
This evening when I got home from work I got the 2 stainless trims out of storage that go across the knee roll and sit at the bottom of the basket weave dash insert. The trim was held in place with a double sided tape which seemed to have a cloth inner (a bit like a material sticking plaster) The residue was scraped off and old glue removed with a little cellulose thinners before a good Brasso metal polish ready to go back on the knee roll when I can find some similar double sided tape.
Earlier I’d fitted the targa roof and noticed the window glass wasn’t level/parallel to the roof. The glass was up into the rubber end cap at the top of the quarterlight front runner, but with the roof now on, it was about ¼” (6mm) low at the rear leaving a clear gap into the car?
I’d looked at multiple images on-line of the glass to roof alignment, some hard to make out, but generally they seemed to vary wildly. I’d also looked at other 914’s and had come to the conclusion that the panel and glass fit wasn’t that great originally, but certainly better than I had at the moment.
With the door panels off I thought I’d have a play around to see what could be done to make the car watertight
Before I’d fitted the roof, the glass was adjusted so it sat evenly on the vertical seals and the angles adjusted at the bolt adjusters on the base of the runners in the bottom of the door. I’d also adjusted the limit stop (B) so that the glass stopped when it reached the runner end cap at the top of the quarterlights, yet still the glass was low at the rear in comparison to the horizontal roof line. The glass needed to rotate ever so slightly in the door to raise the rear.
This had me flummoxed for a while because the short horizontal mechanism channel runner at the rear of the door held on with M6 hex bolts was as high as it could go, yet the glass was still low……….
After a bit of head scratching and trying different things, the penny dropped.
The mechanism is a sort of pincer, and if the distances between the two tops of the pincer are shorter/closer then the net result is the reach is higher. Since the rear part of the pincer is a roller in a runner (short horizontal mechanism channel in para above) and that was already adjusted as high as it could go, it couldn’t be that. However the front pincer top is a M8 bolt in a slotted block (A) which you can adjust.
Simply moving the M8 bolt to the rear (the block forward) allows the glass to lift further and change its angle/rotation within the door.

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With the M8 bolt (A) slid to the rear, the end stop (B) needs to be adjusted again and another ¼” (6mm) can be gained at the rear of the glass before it hits the front quarterlight runner end cap.

RESULT…

Level glass on both sides that goes up to sit neatly on the Targa roof seals with no gaps for water or hopefully wind noise.

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With everything adjusted I checked the windows wind up freely, doors open and close easy and then nipped up all the adjustment bolts to complete the job.
Day 235

Today I have continued to work on the knee roll. A little more fettling and gluing was required. I picked up some high strength doublesided tape at lunchtime from the Motor Factors and fitted the stainless trims to the rear of the roll, making sure to carefully measure the “gap” position where the steering column plugs go.
I got the two vents out of storage and fitted those into the knee roll so that I could check the 4 clips on each open properly to lock it in place.
The hardest part of re-trimming the knee roll was getting the vinyl to stretch and glue down the bolt hole recesses. In the end I had to apply gentle heat and draw them down with a long nut and bolt and the old penny washers. Leaving the glue to dry overnight I hope to finally get it back in the car tomorrow and complete the dash.
Finally this evening I gave the basket weave on the door panels another scrub; they seem to dry after a few days each time with grey muck at the bottom of some of the pattern which is quite frustrating, but I’m getting there.

Day 236

Today I finally finished fettling the re-trimmed knee roll. I’m quite pleased with how it came out in the end after all the grief it caused. The plan (like the roll bar trim) was to try and make it look as original as possible and as if it hadn’t been re covered at all. Considering all the splits and chunks missing from it and the 3 filler repairs, it didn't turn out too bad in the end with a good grain match to boot.

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After work today and with nice new shiny bolts I managed to fit it back into the car today.

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http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20finished%20Knee%20roll%20008_zps7imifobv.jpg.html

I hope this inspires others to have a go at fixing up their interior parts when they think all is lost through age and damage. Most things can be repaired & restored in some way.
Just need to get the steering wheel back from the trimmers now.

Day 237

Today was a mix of sunshine and showers. (typical British summer)

Anyway, late morning I started on the old front trunk carpet. The old Perlon was very dirty and torn so had to go.

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The hardboard spare wheel cover has the Perlon stapled on, so I carefully picked all the staples out and cleaned up the board. The edges are painted black but several areas had worn and started to crumble. These were re painted with matt black paint; applying it heavily so it soaked right into the board on the edge, this sealed as well as coloured it. The underside face that sits against the wheel wasn’t too bad just a few chips which I touched in with a modellers brush. While that dried I got out the remains of the Perlon sheet I’d bought for the headliner and marked carefully around the old carpet with chalk.

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These were carefully cut out with my shears and the hole for the washer tube punched out. I had a little delay looking for my Staple gun and in the end I remembered I’d lent it out but couldn’t get hold of the guy so had to nip and buy a new one from the hardware store. By the time I got back the black edge paint had dried so I carefully stapled the Perlon on; stapling alternate 90 degrees with the gun so that the staples had the best mechanical advantage to not pull out.

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The front bulkhead and whole boot was then carefully masked off and high temp, high grip spray glue applied to it and the rear of the carpet. While the glue touch dried I took off all the masking tape and paper so that there was no chance of the Perlon getting stuck to the masking paper and tape while being lifted into place.
Once the bulkhead carpet was in place I fitted the new rubber seal across the top. This was a genuine Porsche seal and fitted perfectly to complete the trunk.
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Day 238

What a day today!
The UK 914 club convinced me to come along to meeting at a Castle today. A 300+ mile round trip but well worth it. Up at 5am I was at South Mimms for 8am and met up with a good group of 911’s & 912’s before leaving around 9am for the more driving in convoy to the show.
It was great to meet everyone today and to see so many nice 914 & 914-6’s together. Lots of great information gained from hanging around with 914 owners.
Weather was great and time flew.
As always I was keen to get at least an hour a day in on my 914, so rushed home to make a start.
I was asked today if my daily 914 Build Thread was genuinely real time….the answer is yes! Today was genuinely day 238 of ownership of my car.
Arriving home I started by getting my new sunvisors out of storage. The originals were in a shocking state all lumpy and mis-shaped so couldn’t go back in the car. The brand new ones were found on German Ebay and purchased a couple of months ago.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20sunvisors%20001_zps5nfifelx.jpg.html

To show its realtime (to the UK guy’s) I’ve included my entry pass from Castle meet in the pictures!
The old screws were cleaned with a brass bristle wire brush before a brasso polish of the heads ready to fit.
They came in a single box so the passenger side visor needed sliding onto the centre rod. This was a bit of a fiddle as the vinyl was heat welded all around so the hole needed very carefully cutting in it to allow the rod to fit. The rest of the installation was fine once the distances were set for the brackets to match the windscreen frame screw holes.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20sunvisors%20004_zpsoqnfzhoy.jpg.html

They look pretty good in place. As it got dark I finished off and took a picture using the flash, they look slightly grey with the flash but in reality they are black honestly.

Day 239

This morning I gave the door cards another clean and got the door damp proof membranes (or what was left of them out of storage)
One was reasonably intact but the other was shredded and half missing. The only option was to make new ones.
At lunch today I hunted down some new plastic sheet to make the door membranes. One little tip I’ll share from having been down this route many times is that VW & Porsche membranes have a “flap” that is heat welded onto the membrane which allows the water/moisture to run into the door and not out between the bottom of the door card and door. The membrane is a particular type of plastic and my top tip is to use the plastic off a new mattress (that has the ends heat welded). At lunchtime I called in at the local Bed Store and asked the manager for some mattress plastic. When they deliver beds they usually take it away for the customers so to them it’s just waste back at the store and they’re glad to give it you!
This evening using the best remaining membrane I marked out two replacements and cut them out.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20door%20membrane%20001_zpsoj2ostbi.jpg.html

The holes for the window winder spindle were punched out and two strips about 8” wide cut from the spare plastic to make the flaps.
The trickiest bit next is to heat weld them onto the full size membrane. From the look of the originals this was done by passing it through two heated metal wheels. Now I could have made a jig/tool to fit on the end of my soldering iron, but having done this before the quickest and easiest way is to use the soldering iron bare.
Heating it up fully I used some scraps of new plastic to trial the pressure and speed of drawing the soldering iron over the plastic. Not too slow to melt clean through and not to fast to just melt one sheet and have no joint. A small allowance to slow as you draw is required as the iron cools with prolonged contact.
With a metal sheet laid flat on my bench and some trial scraps I perfected the plastic weld before moving onto the new door membrane.
The flaps were neatly welded on giving about a 40mm overhang along the bottom as per the original.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20door%20membrane%20003_zpskrxxgqxv.jpg.html

Finally I trimmed off the ends to finish the new membranes. (old is vertical to left, new are horizontal to right)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20door%20membrane%20002_zpsrgcw6ug5.jpg.html

It’s also worth pointing out that the welded on flap sits against the door card and the full sheet sits into the door bottom so that any water doesn’t get trapped in the horizontal weld and run to the sides and wet the door card.

Day 240

Today before work I painted the rear of the door cards with the same wood hardener as I had done the rear bulkhead trim before it was recovered to add strength. With the door cards it not only adds some strength but also seals the hardboard which makes it far less prone to soaking up water, blowing and falling apart.
I placed the door cards to dry in the conservatory and left for work.
I had some good news today…my windscreen is in at Porsche Centre.
The plan is to go pick it up on Thursday with a suitable large van as it’s in a crate.
This evening after work I started on the interior door furniture. I’d put the parts into storage straight from stripping down and they are in a bit of a state.
I began by taking apart the drivers door pocket, lid, and frame. I took everything apart and gave it a good scrub with Cif and hot water. The pocket/cubby has a flock finish on the inside on top of the pressed cardboard base. This was absolutely shot, scratched and worn mostly off and covered with years of grime, sticky stuff and sand. The only solution was to strip off the remaining flock with a detail wire brush.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cubby_zpsbfnt1rai.jpg.html

While the card base was slightly damp from washing I clamped the lower edge in the vice between 2 bits of timber to “press” it back into shape before leaving it to dry.
The top hinged armrest lid and frame were next to get a Cif scrub, followed by the passenger side armrest.
With everything left to dry I cleaned up all the screws, bolts and cup washers that hold it all together with a brass wire brush before running out of light.
Having a rummage in one of my sheds I found an old flocking kit that I’d got left over from another cars restoration, so tomorrow I’ll re do the inside of the drivers door cubby and hopefully get everything sorted for a door interior rebuild at the weekend.

Day 241

This morning I coated the inside of the cubby with the flock paint/adhesive and then sprayed on the static charged nylon fibres which stand upright in the adhesive to create a new flock coating.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cubby%20flock%20001_zpsudf96uj8.jpg.html

With the camera flash you can see the flock fibres more clearly.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cubby%20flock%20003_zpsz9yxwf5v.jpg.html

The process takes a good few hours to dry, which was ideal as I then left for work.

I’d had a card through the door yesterday evening to say I had a parcel with customs charge to pay at the Depot in Segensworth. Living near Chichester this is quite a way away (70 miles, that’s a long way in UK) and a real pain to collect so I raced over from work this evening to pick it up.
Good timing, it was a replacement Right hand door pull/armrest with a perfect plastic cover surround for the top mounting bolt. My original has the cover completely missing so you see the metal tab and bolt. Unfortunately you can’t buy just the oval plastic cover as it comes as part of the armrest! I’d tracked one down on US ebay which claimed to be in perfect condition and also managed to get a good price on a multiple purchase of an excellent RH speaker grille too. (Thanks Ron if you read this)
As always I had a hefty customs charge of £40 to pay which really does annoy me, but hey, no one likes the taxman.
Anyhow I was late getting back home tonight fighting the rush hour traffic for almost 20 miles to find yet another card on the doormat!
Same Parcel Force Depot, different parcel.
Why oh why didn’t they tell me there was another parcel waiting for me when I had just picked up the first one? I phoned and went through all the options and 30 minutes later they took me off hold. After paying the second customs charge I asked the guy if they put all parcels with the same postcode in the same place in their depot (I thought this would be logical considering they must load up the vans by route or area). “Yes” he said, so I asked then if I had two parcels waiting and came in with one card would there be a system to flag up I had two parcels when they processed the first one? “No” was the reply.
So the net result is I have to drive all the way back to Segensworth tomorrow to pick up the second parcel that was sat right next to the first one on the same shelf in a bay allocated to my Avenue! They won’t deliver it to my home as it’s a customs charge parcel and I’ll be at work and it needs a signature. They won’t re direct it to my work address as it’s a customs charge parcel that can only go to the address on the label. So as well as paying for postage and then £90 for customs I have to drive another 70 miles to collect the parcel! Oh well.

Rant over I took my frustration out by scrubbing the new parts within an inch of their lives with Cif and cleaning up the 3 metal fixing tabs on the armrest with a detail wire brush before painting them to prevent rusting in future.

Day 242

This morning the flock had dried completely so I re-assembled the door cubby before leaving for work.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bobs%20005_zpszcmrjcdb.jpg.html

At lunchtime the Windsheild arrived from Porsche Centre, hooray!
The plans to put it in next weekend.
This evening I raced over to the Parcelforce Depot again to collect the Auto Atlanta speaker grilles. Opening the box this evening I found the RH one broken and both were of really, really poor quality (absolute tat) so I’m not at all pleased with these reproductions and now I’m going to have to send them back for a refund.
This is the way of the 914 emotional rollercoaster!
To take my mind off it, I retired to the garage and fitted the door damp membranes I’d made earlier before running out of daylight.
Carefully checking everything inside the door was tight, I used caulking rolled into a thin strip to attach the plastic. In this way they can be removed numerous times and resealed if I ever need to get back inside the doors. The caulking is like a very sticky Blu-tack so is great for this purpose.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bobs%20003_zpsc5yerojw.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bobs%20001_zpsfr3y2xlb.jpg.html

Perfect fit with the doubled up heat welded flaps tucked neatly inside the door so any water runs into the door and not soaked up by the door card.



So that was Month 8

90% of the interior is restored and back in, and the car is starting to look real pretty.
Again it’s been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Things didn’t go to plan, my friend breaking the windshield, the trimmers continually having trouble with the knee roll and issues with parts. On the flip side with a little perseverance as a whole the car looks fantastic and much better than hoped for.
With just a handful of months left now in this 12 month build challenge I feel that the light at the end of the tunnel is near and I cant wait to finally get to drive it!

Thanks again for the kind comments posted earlier and for taking time out to read my thread.

Posted by: Gmanscott55 May 31 2016, 07:48 AM

This build thread and level of detail is insane! Like being a fly on the wall taking it all in.

Well done and really a beautiful car!

Posted by: jd74914 May 31 2016, 10:47 AM

That interior looks fantastic Darren!

Posted by: siverson May 31 2016, 12:24 PM

Nice work!!!

Posted by: Big Len May 31 2016, 06:25 PM

I've never seen anything like this. Speechless.

Posted by: Big Len May 31 2016, 06:25 PM

I've never seen anything like this. Speechless.

Posted by: Darren C Jun 28 2016, 02:13 PM

Month 9

Thanks for the kind encouragement guy’s and congratulations to the other challengers after the results of the second round voting. I’m really enjoying reading others threads.

Day 243

After a busy day I sped home from work and started on the 914.
With the door damp membranes on, I fitted both door cards that I’d scrubbed and scrubbed, then cleaned numerous times to bring them back to life, I re-glued the basket weave edges, new staples and strengthened the hardboard backing with the wood rot hardener I used on the rear bulkhead previously. Then fitted the armrest and cubby on the drivers door. Winder handle and door handle escutcheon to finish off. I managed to find replacement armrest screw plugs that were missing and fitted those to complete.
http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bobs%20008_zpsc4mq9jh7.jpg.html

On the passenger door panel I fitted the very nice condition pull handle I got from Ron on US ebay, winder and escutcheon. (Ron if you ever stumble across this thread….many thanks for your help in supplying me with superb condition used parts) The lower false cubby that came off my car is broken around the 3 fixing holes at the base so for now I’m deliberating on a repair or trying to find a good replacement (albeit the searching hasn’t shown any good ones up to now)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bobs%20010_zpsktzkc4u7.jpg.html

I even lined up each winder handle perfectly with each other when the windows are tight up!

With the door cards on it’s almost done now interior wise, just got to sort out those speaker covers. I currently have 2 broken ones off my car, 2 really bad quality (1 broken) Auto Atlanta ones and a single presentable RH one I got from Ron on US ebay. I also have just had a UK source for more, so hopefully it will sort itself out. I’ve already bought some new 4” speakers to go behind them to compliment the Blaupunkt, so itching to get the job done now!

The biggest challenge is in such a narrow (8 feet wide) garage with 7 feet wide door, is working on the car as when the car is parked centrally I cant open the doors more than 6 inches, so its either push it outside each time (which in UK is not great as it rains 50% of the time, or keep pushing it over to one side or another so I can get a door open 12”. I’ve fitted some foam pads on the garage wall to stop any damage as most times I’m having to push the car door against the garage wall just to open it enough to squeeze in!

Day 244

Today I made good progress and after all the preparation and pain I finally got the new Genuine Windshield fitted single handed (no UK Auto Glass companies would entertain fitting it using the Butyl method) so I stood inside the car reaching over using a set of rented glass suckers.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bobs%20004_zpszbncxnpv.jpg.html

With the weather being hot again this afternoon it was ideal to warm everything through and help the Butyl ribbon become more workable. The screen went in a treat and sat neatly on the packing pieces to hold it central in the aperture. After a couple of hours of massage in the heat of the sun I got it sitting nicely down with the butyl compressed to give a wide adhesion and room for the ali trim.
The next thing to do was to mask up the paintwork around the screen to avoid any accidental damage when fitting the surround trim. I then used a small modellers brush to paint the body surround with waxoil under where the trim fits. This in combination with the caulking I put around the plastic clips should stop/restrict any rust forming where water sits. Starting with the lower piece first I carefully fitted the two corners to it and slipped them fully on each end. Having measured and marked the centre I carefully clipped it down working outwards to each corner. When reaching the corner before the final clip, the corner joiner piece was then adjusted to suit the aperture. Lastly before clipping the trim into the last lower clips I slid in the two remaining parts of the surround trim into the lower corners and set how far they slid in (the height) with the top of the aperture. The top link cover piece was slid onto one of the side trims and then the lower corners clipped in and working up the pillar I carefully clipped the rest of the trims in place. The top centre link piece was slid out onto the other trim and set 50/50 in the middle of the car before clipping the surround into the last clips. The masking tape was then carefully removed.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bobs%20006_zpsl516m7n9.jpg.html

All that was left to do was fit the recently refurbished rear view mirror. I’d purchased a genuine stick pad from Porsche on the 914 part number so carefully fitted it to the mirror. The adhesive on these sticks better when warmed up, so I left it on the black granite worktop in my conservatory this morning so that it was warmed right through before applying the sticky pad. I used masking tape on the outside of the Windshield to mark the mirror position (measured from my old shield) and cleaned the inside of the glass thoroughly.
The sky had clouded over by now and it had gone black with approaching rain (there’s UK summer for you) so I needed to warm the windscreen to aid the mirror to stick well, so pushed the car back into the garage which was like a small oven after having sun on the roof most of the day. Since there is no power in the garage I couldn’t warm up the screen easily so had to think of another method.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bobs%20013_zpsmaho4tbd.jpg.html

This hot water bottle did the trick and after 10 minutes the glass was toasty warm, so I fitted the mirror firmly and left the heat to do it’s magic while the bottle cools overnight.

Day 245

This morning my son was due over at 9:30 for more driving lessons so I started very early on the 914. With the screen in, I was itching to fit the wipers, I’d bought new Bosch blades but had yet to sort the arms out. Being a Desert car I can truly say the wiper arms looked like they’d been half sand blasted. They were completely peppered on the underside (facing down to the scuttle) and lightly peppered over the rest of the arm. The only thing to do was to strip off completely the remaining black paint. I did this with numerous coats of paint stripper and a wire detail brush in between until every last bit was off. Next the arms were red scotchbrited to clean them up and key the surface.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20wipers%20amp%20speakers%20001_zpsqkdeo4x9.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20wipers%20amp%20speakers%20002_zpsq9ebubpc.jpg.html

With the sun out this morning I hung them from the washing line and gave them a good few light coats of etch primer, and left them to dry until tomorrow.
My son arrived and we spent most of the day out driving in the Morris Traveller before calling into Mc Donalds for a bite to eat mid afternoon. All went well except a real pain in the ass late 50’s cashier lady at the gas station who refused to let my son fill the car up at the gas pump as she thought he looked under 16.A very heated and loud argument followed as I was NOT impressed. He was driving a car on L plates, yet she wanted proof he was over 16 to use the gas pump. It’s not as if he’d walked in off the street with a can. He’d left his wallet at home so I showed her the cars Title in his name and his certificate of insurance to drive the car as a learner. Because neither had his date of birth she refused to accept them, even though I maintained he needed to be 17 (in UK) to drive and have this insurance. I did cause a bit of a scene I admit; but god help us, why can’t common sense prevail! She totally refused to authorise the gas pump after watching him drive the car in and it was also on CCTV so I called her a few choice names and left in a huff, while others in the queue witnessing the charade had a go at her on my behalf.
Anyway we got home and both took out our frustration with some flatting and polishing with T-cut on the Morris Travellers paintwork. The deal is; for every lesson, we T-cut a panel on the car so hopefully by the time he’s ready for the test the car will look very nice indeed.
This evening I started again on the 914. I’m sort of resigned to having to make good speaker covers out of the collection of damaged ones I have, so started by stripping my old ones down.
The speakers say made in Japan ??? and were held in with 4 small bolts in each corner of a multi-ply card mounting plate. The card plates were all flimsy and the black tissue type speaker paper on the outer side was holed and rotten. I decided to drill out the rivets holding the old speakers so I could use the ply card as a template to make new ones.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20wipers%20amp%20speakers%20003_zpssul5xrxd.jpg.html

This is where it gets quite interesting…..
The ply card plate looks professionally made and mass produced. The rivets are pan head so need a machine to install. The card is die cut and again needs a machine to manufacture like this.
When the rivets were out the ply card pieces came apart to reveal this…

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20wipers%20amp%20speakers%20004_zpsql4oxwo5.jpg.html

Printed card from some old Children’s game set, possibly to teach Japanese children English? The manufacturer must have recycled old toy box card to make the 914 speaker mounts!
Suffice to say I plan on making a much better mounting plate over the next few days to hold my new speakers in place.

Day 246

This morning the etch primer was well and truly dry on the wiper arms so I gave them a couple of coats of satin black and hung them back up in my conservatory and left for work.
At lunchtime I had to go over to the local Volvo dealer and pick up a new ETM for my V70 which failed on me on Saturday morning. I also got the steering wheel for the 914 back, but on close inspection the trimmers hadn’t done a very neat job on the stitching so I rejected it and asked them politely to do it again. I’m getting quite frustrated with trimmers. This was a different one from the knee roll guys and came highly recommended. Unfortunately it looks like an 11 year old stitched it up in their first attempt at needlework. If this was a prank TV show I may have thought it was a wind up. A real pain as they’d had it for a couple of months and its not easy moving the car in and out of the garage and over to one side or another to work on it without a steering wheel. Anyway I’ve made my thoughts known and given them an opportunity to do it right so let’s see what happens.
Anyway after getting home tonight I changed the ETM on the V70 which took 2 minutes to unbolt then 1 hour to get the wiring lead free! The lead runs behind the starter motor but the multi plug on the end is too big to fit around the starter so you have to remove the bloomin starter motor to pull the lead free. Great engineering that is!
As it started to get dark I managed to fit the new blades to the 914 wiper arms then fit the arms to the car. I was puzzled again about the wiper positioning and having purchased genuine Bosch blades I wasn’t happy how the drivers side sat on the screen. The blade didn’t follow the curvature of the glass at its end (near the chassis plate) it stuck out in mid air. After some research it was apparent that the new Bosch blades have evolved over the years to better suit the modern flat screens and therefore don’t bend as much as they used to. In comparison with some blades on my other cars I have from the 70’s the new blades are more “chunky” in comparison to older designs and pivot & flex less. Despite my best efforts, the only way to get the tip to sit better on the 914 screen is to bend the end pivoting section of the new Bosch arms to a slightly greater arc so that it allows the rubber blade to sit closer to the glass.
Using the Haynes manual guide I set the two blades (post 71 year car) to as close as I could to the recommended 20mm gap before it got too dark to see.
Moving into my workshop I started on the passenger false door cubby repair. I used a strip of 1mm stainless steel about 300mm long folded to an angle about 10mm x 15mm. This was placed inside the base of the damaged cubby from the inside and the screw holes marked on it. Removed and drilled with 3 x 6mm holes, I de-burred and roughed up the surface with 80 grit on both the angle and rear of the plastic cubby. Using polyurethane panel adhesive I bonded the angle onto the back of the cubby to give it strength across the base where the screws pass through and also bridge the gap where the broken and missing piece went around the end hole. The cubby was then clamped in my vice and mole gripped with protective packing pieces at each end and left to dry for the morning.

Day 247

Today I carried on with the passenger door cubby repair. The bonding agent on the 4” long angle stainless reinforcement was dry this morning so I cleaned up any excess that had squeezed out. Since the cubby had been damaged before I got the car the pieces were completely missing around the mounting hole.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cubby%20amp%20speakers%20mount%20001_zpsgetxmjlt.jpg.html

With the stainless angle in place I had a good base so taped up the edge and hole to make a trough (mould) and mixed some flexible plastic bumper repair 2 part resin and poured it into the mould and let it dry while I went to work.
This evening when I got home I filed and sanded the resin down to blend in and re drilled the hole.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cubby%20amp%20speakers%20mount%20002_zpsnxvfvcos.jpg.html

The repair was finished off with a light coat (localised only over the repair) plastic bumper texture coat rattle can spray. Not exactly a grain texture, but close enough to hide the repair to the eye.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cubby%20amp%20speakers%20mount%20004_zpsqlqqb6fo.jpg.html

Working inside my shed I had no issue with light, so carried on and made two Aluminium speaker mounting plates with hacksaw, drill and file to match the cheap cardboard originals.
With 3mm aluminium sheet there was no need to make the sound obstructing X in the centre, so hopefully they’ll be some better sound from my new upgraded 4” speakers.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cubby%20amp%20speakers%20mount%20007_zps1oyp1fzz.jpg.html

By the time I’d drilled all the holes and cleaned off the burrs it was time to call it a day.

Day 248

Today was an interesting day, I spent most of it having my leg pulled at work. I was unintentionally on the ITN TV 10 o’clock News last night and more people than I’d hoped had seen me. In fact it was a tea spitting out surprise when I happened across it myself last night.
Yesterday was the UK Media launch day for the new Rolls-Royce Dawn, that I have been involved in helping design and put some of the infrastructure in place for manufacture over the last 3 years at work. Last month there was a lot of secret filming with Jodie Kidd and that was all last minute.com to sort it out. I can tell you now as it’s no secret any longer with the cars launch at the Frankfurt Motorshow.
Anyway this is a Porsche thread so I’ll stop there; but if anyone wants to discuss, know more, pm me.
Moving on…
This morning I sanded down the speaker plates to key them and gave them a couple of coats of satin black before leaving for work.
During lunch I had a bit of a run-around looking for some speaker cloth. The plan is to mount the new speakers in the new brackets then cover the face with black speaker cloth before fitting into the housings. My new speakers have little in built tweeters in the centre that are a bit of chrome bling and would stand out a mile looking through the bars of the speaker housing so the material should hide them and do the trick. Anyhow the two places I had enough time to visit were out of stock, but hopefully I have a 3rd in mind tomorrow so will ring ahead this time to save a wasted journey.
This evening when I got home I gave the mounts another coat before starting to make a good set of speaker housings from the damaged ones. Fortunately I have most of the broken bits and enough damaged housings to cut up and make a good set.
I started the same way as the door cubby with bending up some thin stainless sheet. This time though, because I had broken bits I could carefully glue them back together with ABS plastic waste/drain pipe adhesive from the plumb centre. I’d tried a bit on the rear of the housings a few days ago to determine what type of plastic it was and which solvent glue dissolved it or just set on the surface and peeled off. The former I found, was the standard ABS glue for the white plastic household waste pipes. Carefully applying a tiny amount to the pieces I glued them back together and made the missing pieces (like a jigsaw) from the spare damaged housing I have and glued them in too. After about half an hour it was dry enough (but fragile) to use the polyurethane bond to attach stainless re-enforcing plates behind the joins. I’d key sanded the back of all the pieces before gluing together and sanded the stainless to key that, so the housing was ready to bond on the plates already. Cleaning and tidying it up I’ve left them to dry now until tomorrow.

Day 249


Today I spent the day finishing off repairs to the two damaged speaker housings. Much like the door cubby but I discovered they are made of the same plastic as the rear light housings. Since I polished them with Brasso to a fantastic shine I gave the speaker housings a go too. There are multiple repairs where I’ve glued them back together and made new bits to fit in where parts were lost, so a 1200 grit wet and dry was require over the joins before the Brasso.
I’m really pleased how they’ve come out, and challenge anyone to spot the repairs!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20speaker%20mounts%20001_zpsqj82rdth.jpg.html

Brasso polish is wonderful on this type of plastic for turning a sows ear into a silk purse.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20speaker%20mounts%20004_zpsotvz8spp.jpg.html

With the housings all done now I riveted the new speakers into the newly made mounting plates as per the ones I’d removed. The rivet heads were blacked out with a little paint and left to dry.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20speaker%20mounts%20005_zpsm6pv4057.jpg.html

Due to the numerous bits of stainless re-enforcing plates behind the plastic housings, I had to cut out a small relief in one of the speaker plates to give clearance for it to fit (top plate in picture)
At lunchtime today I called ahead and found a supplier with black material in stock to cover the face of the speaker and plate. They cut half a metre off the roll which was the smallest amount they do and asked for 49p I gave them a pound £ and said keep the change.
The plan for tomorrow is to cover the face of the speakers and fit them in the housings ready for assembly at the weekend.

Day 250

Today I fitted the speaker cloth to the new speaker mounts and fitted them both into the housings ready for putting into the car tomorrow. It was a busy day (& week) at work so I was late home tonight and after food shop it was almost 9pm before I could start on the 914, but at least I got an hour in and finished the speakers off.

Day 251

Today was one of those days where everything seemed to fight me.
With a glorious sunny morning I pushed the car outside so that I could open the doors fully and decided to take the knee roll back out.
Since fitting it a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t happy with the way it now bolted in to the car. The knee roll was sitting ever so low and the stainless trim had a small 2-3mm gap before the basket weave panel. After some thought over the last week I realised the new vinyl used to re-trim folded over and glued behind the knee roll whereas originally it stopped on the edge. With the roll bolted in the new vinyl “return” was sandwiched between the roll and dash which was holding it down 2-3mm; particularly where it was folded over itself and 3 or 4 layers thick.
The only solution was to unbolt it and cut it back.
There was also an issue with the dashcap that was fitted to the dash before fitting the dash back into the car. This when put back in was pushed down ever so slightly on each end above the vent grilles as it squash back in between the windscreen pillar trims. This also pushed the knee roll down and added to the gap along the bottom of the basket weave.
Anyway I spent 4 hours on it this morning, cutting back, trial fitting, taking out again for more fettling and refitting a few times before I was 100% happy with it.
Once back in the stainless trim was close up to the basket weave and I could finally fit the rebuilt speaker grilles and test the Blaupunkt. All good!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20speaker%20grilles%20fitted%20001_zpsbugeezld.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20speaker%20grilles%20fitted%20003_zpsc77np0gn.jpg.html

I also fitted the repaired false cubby to the passenger door. Again it fought me for a while trying to get the 3 screws to find the holes in the steel of the door. I had to take it on and off a few times and add a little vertical pressure and use a scriber down the holes to guide it in. I didn’t want to drill any more holes in the door for the screws but after a frustrating half hour I got the first one in. After that the remaining two followed with ease.
All that’s left now is the steering wheel and the interior will be complete.
I also completed another job that's been bugging me over the last few months. The door hinge bolts. Taking them on and off, in and out, had chipped paint off the bolt heads and washers, so I carefully removed them one at a time (to keep the door alignment) and cleaned any chipped paint edges before putting them back in and then repainting them with a modellers brush. Over the course of the day I got two good coats on each bolt.
After a bite to eat I decided as it was such a nice day to wash out the engine bay. Since going into the paintshop, despite being covered it was absolutely full of dust from sanding down the original paint and flatting water mess from the primer, plus general dust from filler off other cars sharing the paintshop. It took a good couple of hours to get it half decent using 3 buckets of water, sponges and numerous detail brushes. Paint & filler dust is really difficult to clear as every time the water dried the white stains returned.
With it eventually clean, I pushed the car back into the garage and placed it on four axle stands.
This was a small milestone in the restoration. I’d wanted to get the wheels refurbished for a long while now but having to have the doors wide open refitting interior I need to be able to keep pushing it in and out of the narrow garage so the wheels had to stay on.
The plan now is to take them into work and get the tyres off at lunchtime so they can have the anodising electrochemically removed for selective polishing.
In the meantime while they are away over the next couple of weeks I hope to clean and refresh under each wheel arch and complete a few remaining mechanical jobs.

Day 252

Today I picked my son up early doors and we had a few hours driving lessons in the Morris Traveller before finishing at noon by taking it to a local Classic car show at Chichester College.
The weather was glorious and 3 Porsche turned up amongst the many cars, 2 x 911SC’s and a 924 turbo, no old school unfortunately so we got our fix looking at some early VW’s.
Mid afternoon we returned home and flatted and polished the orange peel and cellulose fade from the front wing of the traveller (as per our agreement; 1 lesson = 1 panel to make good)
With a gorgeous summer evening at hand I took the Delorean out to blow off some cobwebs and drove my son back to his mums.
Getting back home I started by cleaning under a wheel arch of the 914.
The PO (a one owner car from new) had had the car spray undersealed by Porsche when it was new. This is a black coating and is everywhere under the arches and over the floor pan. Good news to stop it from rusting when new, but a bit of a pain now 41 years later when some of it has flaked off.
There are sections where it falls off in flaky sheets to reveal nice shiny Alaska Blue paint underneath as they must have just sprayed it on without keying the surface.

I have a quandary now.

Do I spend the rest of my days scraping it off with a plastic scraper or do I remove the loose and re apply new all over?

My OCD would like to see mirror polished blue paint under the car, but if I do this I’d be too scared to use and enjoy the car. Since this was a dealer option do I just re coat it all (knowing that the shiny blue paint and good metal is underneath?)


Anyway after a couple of hours with my head inside a wheel arch, looking like I’d been down the mine, I called it a day, and swept up all the loose scrapings with a brush and pan.
As it started to get dark I moved the wheels closest to the garage door ready for loading up in the morning to get the tyres removed.
I thought I’d take a quick picture for the records of the California Desert Sun UV and age degraded tyres.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20tyres%20003_zpswo7qacpu.jpg.html

And in close up…

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20tyres%20001_zpsfvzwfioj.jpg.html

I’m gobsmacked that the shipping company pumped these up with air to load the car almost a year ago and NONE of them have gone down in that time.
Loading on the flat bed truck to take it to the paintshop made me flinch a little when the ratchet straps pulled down on them, but nothing….they just kept on holding air pressure.
Unfortunately I think the Ministry of Transport inspector would have something to say if I kept them on the car. Even if I did like Anthony Hopkins did in “The worlds fastest Indian” movie and filled all the cracks with boot polish, I don’t think it’d be wise to drive on them.

After a search on here.. this evening I found this:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php? ... try1247057

It took this guy almost a whole YEAR to get all the original spray on black underbody guard off. Great result, mind numbingly boring and I could restore another car in that time. Trouble is, it does look very nice indeed. I think I’m gonna opt for the “restore” the Porsche applied stoneguard; otherwise I’m not gonna meet the Build-Off-Challenge fix the car up in 12 months deadline!

Day 253

Today I took the 5 wheels over to my local tyre fitters at lunchtime and got the tyres taken off. They tried to lecture me on how dangerous the tyres were to drive on! I had a bit of fun telling them I wanted to put them back on the car when my wheels had been refurbished so that I could keep the car original for concours purposes...the chaps face was a real picture!

I've also noticed that one of the gearbox drive shaft seals has started to weep (since draining and filling up the box with fresh oil, they were bone dry before?) I called Porsche Centre and ordered 2 new ones. I'll replace them while the wheels are off & away. Better to find the leaks now than after the cars back on the road. I'm sure in the first few months of it being used they'll be more things show themselves.

Tomorrow I plan to take the wheels down to my friend who runs a wheel refurbishment company to have the rear of the wheels cleaned up. The alloys are part polished then anodised which I intend to replicate but the rear of the wheels are a little scabby so need a bead blast to get a good finish before they can be re-anodised.

This evening I carried on cleaning the paintshop dust from the arches and underside of the car concentrating on the lower bulkhead where all the cables and pipes pass through. I’d previously cleaned and waxoiled this but it was covered in white dust. It also gave me a chance (now the cars reasonably high up on axle stands) to get a better fit on the recently replaced throttle cable ferrule to the tube on the car. I also tidied up the fuel return pipe as it hadn’t gone back in all the clips correctly.
I managed to get 2 hours cleaning in before my LED torch ran out of charge.

Day 254

Today I dropped the wheels off at the wheel specialists and had a long chat about cleaning up the rear of the wheel without touching the outside, or the inner rim inside the tyre.
This was a first for the company who have never had a customer who just wants the inside of a wheel cleaned up!
The wheels are going to be electrochemically stripped of the factory clear anodise, then carefully polished (in all the right places on their faces) before going back to have the clear anodise coating electroplated back on.
The wheel specialist is only cleaning the rear of the wheels because there are some tiny, tiny spots (like freckles) of corrosion in the factory anodise that the electroplate removal wont clean up. The polishers can’t do it either as it will give a too smooth finish on the rears. Gentle bead blasting will leave a more “factory” look and clear out the oxidisation to leave an even finish all over that can then be clear anodised at the end of the face polishing.
I left them in good hands and called in at the motor factors to pick ups some more waxoil on the way back to work.
This evening I spent 3 hours under the rear RH wheel arch washing, scrubbing and cleaning all the dirt out of the ripple stone guard and suspension parts.
I took extra care to clean the inside of the return lip of the wheel arch itself to get every bit of muck out of there. After multiple buckets of water I started to make progress, which last night and early tonight was not in sight. LED torch all charged up I reached in and cleaned all the way behind the door slam panel, up to the base of the roll bar fin, down to the sill and right around to the rear lights. Sitting in a puddle of muddy water in the tight garage I was soaked through up to my waist by the time I got to rinse and wipe it all with a clean cloth.
Finally I started to clean all the splashes off the trailing arm and the shock absorber. I’d placed a carrier bag over the brake disc so it stayed clean (after washing off the paintshop dust last night)
Desperate for a change of scene I started with a plastic scraper to get the underseal off the trailing arm. It looks like they were quite lazy when they applied it, and masked off the bare minimum (if anything at all). It is all over the trailing arm at the pivot mounting. Scraping it off gently revealed nice satin black paint underneath and a white “K” in a circle stamp that the originality guys rave about.
Having taken 3 hours tonight and a couple last night and seen how the underseal was sprayed right inside the arches all over everything and right up to the inside of the door latch panel; to strip it off completely would be a hell of a task.
With my head stuck inside the arch for 3 hours tonight I have decided to keep the coating on the car (after all it is original Porsche), remove the flaky bits, locally re-apply the missing bits and then black it all out with black waxoil. I will however clean it off all the bits it shouldn’t be on, like the suspension etc. I did consider the suggestion of painting body colour over it, but having done this in the past on other cars, it looks bad with stone chips and you can never guarantee its going to adhere or if the old coating flakes off underneath (or you’ve missed a loose bit during prep) it looks bad when it comes away and isn’t easy to touch up. Added to the fact Porsche never body colour painted over it on the 914 (as far as I’m aware), it was either undersealed or left smooth in body colour.
As you can see I’ve talked myself out of scraping it all off to appease my OCD!
Only 3 more arches to wash before I can start on the underseal repairs.

Day 255

“Underneath the arches
I dream my dreams away,
Underneath the arches
On cobble stones I lay,
Every night you'll find me
Tired out and worn,
Happy when the daylight comes creeping
Heralding the dawn.”


This morning an hour before dawn I started on the rear LH arch and got the first scrub/wash complete before needing a bath and leaving for work.
At lunchtime I called in a Porsche Centre and collected the driveshaft oil seals ready for the weekend.
This evening after work I returned to the rear LH arch to continue cleaning.
I managed to get another 3 hours in. I’m pretty knackered tonight having spent 5 hours under the same wheel arch and managing 8 hours at work!
Anyway its starting to look clean under there.
I’m still amazed by the condition of the bodywork on this 41 year old car. Having cleaned mud, dust, spiders webs, leaves, pine needles and lots of fine desert sand from the textured underseal there is no rust anywhere I can see.
Here’s a picture from inside the rear wheel arch looking outwards behind the arch return edge, had this been a European car it would have started to rust within months with such a thin coat of paint and missed completely with the underseal.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20underneath%20arches%20001_zpsoxslkztz.jpg.html

Looking down the arch to the bottom where it meets the longs/sill, it’s absolutely solid here. Unbelievable when you think this is where all the mud and dirt collect on the horizontal ledge. Washing and cleaning it all out I couldn’t fault the car anywhere.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20underneath%20arches%20003_zpsr1undr6j.jpg.html

With the white primer showing through a dusting of blue paint and missed entirely with the underseal (due probably not being able to get in at the right angle to spray it) I will certainly get in there and make sure its coated with maximum black Waxoil to keep it from rusting in our UK climate.
Despite all the hard graft in getting it super clean before applying the waxoil, it’s certainly worth the effort when you’re working on an old car in this superb original condition.
Just the two front arches to clean now.

Day 256

Today I have spent another 4 hours under a 914 wheel arch.
This time I’ve cleaned the LH front.
Getting a bit tired with it now, but only one more to go!

Day 257

Today I finished another 4 hours washing the dirt off from under the last wheel arch (Front RH tonight) Not much to report just a long hard slog this week but finally got there.
The plan tomorrow is to locally repair the flaked off underseal in all arches and while that dries I can get the gearbox driveshaft seals replaced.

Day 258

Today I started to replace the Driveshaft seals on the gearbox. After a bit of a struggle with the CV joint bolts They came out to reveal some very dry molybdenum grease and on further inspection the CV boot rubbers had started to perish at the base of the concertina mouldings. To be fair by the state of the grease they need stripping down cleaning and re-packing with grease, so it’s a good time to replace the boots. (Will order some up on Monday)
To ease access of cleaning (and to do it properly) I removed the castleated nuts and pulled out the hub shafts with the driveshafts. In this way I can get all the crusty old grease out of them and also clean the dirt and sand from inside the large hole in the trailing arms later in the week.
Next I removed the O/S drive flange from the gearbox to access the first lip seal. I cleaned the old grease out of the recess in it and almost cut my finger.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20driveshaft%20003_zpsraorqqlh.jpg.html

All around the inside chamfer there was rubbing and burring? I cannot see how this could of happened unless the CV joint had failed/Circlip come off in the past or shims had been required and been lost?
The oddest thing is that there is no visible wear on the CV joint that was attached to it? I inspected the other end of the driveshaft in case someone had taken them out in the past and put them back the otherway around. (inside to outside) but no wear on either end? The only explanation I can think of is that a CV joint may have been replaced in the past.
Despite the wear not getting in the way of anything, I wasn’t keen having the mushroom burrs on the flange because if they broke loose; small bits of metal could get into the CV Joint and ruin it.
I put the flange in my lathe and turned down the burrs so that they were gone.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20driveshaft%20004_zpsywpwn4cw.jpg.html

This was the easiest way I could think of the get down inside the flange to remove them. I was careful not to machine the “dents” out as this would take too much metal off and could possibly weaken the flange. Just taking off bad burrs would be enough. Finally I gave the outer casting of the flange a coat of thin waxoil to protect it.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20driveshaft%20005_zps0prvbiso.jpg.html

With the drive flange off I had new seals and a new O ring so I took the differential cover off so that I could inspect the bearings, gears and clean out the sump of the gearbox.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20driveshaft%20001_zpslsmlowcw.jpg.html

All mechanical parts looked good, but there was a fair bit of sludge in the bottom of the gearbox casing that simply taking out the drain plug wouldn’t remove. I cleaned it all out so that it was spotless before turning my attention to the cover that holds the lip seal.
With this removed it was very simple to drive the lip seal out from behind without risking any damage. Once out I cleaned everything up. I’ve been slowly cleaning the engine, gearbox & suspension. When the car was originally undersealed they sprayed it everywhere and splattered everything. It was even on the outside of this diff cover plate! With it off and on the bench I was able to clean it much easier so took the opportunity and then carefully fitted the new lip seal.
With the gearbox cleaned out and dry I fitted the new O seal and put the cover back on and refitted & adjusted the clutch cable. (Need to get a new gaiter for the cable too)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20driveshaft%20002_zpscvrwtekz.jpg.html

Need to get a new dust cover for that clutch cable end.

Finally I refitted the RH drive flange with a tiny application of new gear oil on the seal & shaft and tightened up the bolt.
LH tomorrow.

Day 259

This morning I picked my son up early and we spent the morning with driving lessons.
This afternoon I continued with the 914 and replaced the LH gearbox shaft seal. All parts were cleaned up before reassembly. Curiously there was a tiny but of CV joint rubbing inside the flange but no where near what the RH had.
I also managed to do all the local repairs on all 4 arches where the underseal stone guard had flaked off and I'd removed the loose. I used a mini roller with an emulsion head to replicate the spray/stipple effect to make invisible repairs. This will need a couple of days to dry properly before I can black out the whole arches where the original has gone a bit grey. I plan to dismantle clean and rebuild the CV joints over the next few days while this dries.
When I took the car apart for the respray I found that the clips that hold the thin ali trim strip that goes along the bottom of the roll bar fin vinyl, had a big blob of old caulking on them up inside the wheel arch. Presumably to stop water/spray from the wheel running out under the clip on the outside of the car.
With everything dry and clean I used some new caulking rolled to about the size of a marble to cover the back of the new clips up inside the arch to replicate how I found them.

Day 260

Today I contacted Porsche Centre with a list of part numbers for the CV joints. Boots, circlips, gaskets etc. The boots are available rubber only and x ref to same as 911, but if you want them complete with metal bit on the end (with bolt holes) they are sold separately and still available but £29 each!
Annoyingly the cork gaskets that stop all the grease being thrown out at the flange joints are no longer available I'll just have to make some from gasket material.
This evening I started the god awful messy job of taking the CV joints apart. Early diagnosis is not looking good as Desert Sand has gotten into 3 of the joints and the grease is gritty between your fingers. I fear another phone call tomorrow to price up some new CV joints. To replace 3 and not the 4th is a little stupid so it's going to be another expense that I wasn't counting on. They do look like IRS Beetle CV's to me, and at £50 a pop that's £200. It'll be interesting to see if Porsche still stock them. I've got to be careful here as the Beetle & 911 use 6 bolts and the 914 has 4 plus two dowel/rollpins, so more homework is required.
Hey ho; that's how it goes some days with old cars.

Day 261

This morning before work I started to clean up all 16 CV joint bolts (they were pretty manky with old dried grease, sand and dirt) and left them in a small pot of white spirit before leaving home.
Spoke to Porsche Centre this morning. 914 driveshafts complete are STILL available from Porsche. Ordered two as its cheaper than buying all the genuine parts individually (joints, boots, circlips, dome washers etc). Plus I was planning on getting the shafts blasted and powder coated while they were stripped down, so a small saving there too!
The gaskets are a punt. They’re £1.17 each and Porsche Centre said that if they’re wrong I don’t have to purchase them, so worth a try. No big deal if they wont fit, I can make some up out of gasket sheet. It’s still a bit frustrating that the driveshafts are available but the gaskets required to fit them aren’t. ??
This evening when I got home I continued on the 914 with cleaning up the LH rear trailing arm. The front pivot was splattered with old underseal and the painters had got blue overspray on the outer bracket while painting the car and arch returns. I started by carefully scraping it off to find solid steel and original black paint underneath. I was pleasantly surprised to find the outer pivot Philidas nut was still shiny gold zinc plate underneath the underseal and looks like new now. Hopefully tomorrow when I clean the RH it will be the same.
I was also very surprised by the amount of crud that had accumulated in the arm down the driveshaft hole. It was pretty much packed solid with just enough space for the CV joint to rotate. Almost 3/8” thick all around which covered the whole of the old washing up bowl bottom I was using to catch the dirt when I scraped it all out. Afterwards I cleaned everything yet again with a white spirit soaked rag.
Working on late I had to use the flashlight tonight to finish off. With 3 hours cleaning; the LH trailing arm is now clean and ready for a small touch up of some stone chips that I hope to do this weekend on mass with the other side after some more cleaning.

Day 262

Today I picked up the leather covered Steering Wheel. I’m still not 100% happy with it, but I don’t think I’ll get any further with them now. In all fairness I have got this done in exchange for a favour so no money exchanged hands. The stitching is much better now but for some reason they put two joins (top & bottom) in the leather rather than the one I wanted?
In the scheme of things its better than having a UV sun perished crumbling steering wheel, but I know the two join thing will bug me in my OCD kinda way!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cleaning%20stuff%20001_zpsdh8fr7nn.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cleaning%20stuff%20002_zpsiezoy5y0.jpg.html

This evening I continued cleaning the RH rear trailing arm. Like the LH there was a heavy coating of underseal, sand and old CV joint grease, plus the blue overspray from the painters. (Take a look a few pages back in the thread and you'll see how much blue paint & lacquer was on the end of the trailing arms!)
After another painstaking 3 hours I’d scraped most of it off. You can see a lot of it on the newspaper below. There was of course a fair amount up my nose, in my ears and down the back of my T-shirt from lying under the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cleaning%20stuff%20005_zpspbrph017.jpg.html

I was pleased to find the Philidas nut on this side was a lovely bright gold zinc plate under all the crud.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cleaning%20stuff%20011_zpsgaeqmy3h.jpg.html

Again there’s some tiny chips and tiny rust spots but nothing to shout about. I’ll touch it all in at the weekend when I’ll have sunlight rather than flashlight. They’re really quite good condition and don’t warrant a full repaint.

I also took a picture of a localised underseal repair in the LH rear arch, to help explain what I described a few posts ago. The chipped, flaked and missing underseal has been locally touched in and the texture replicated. By the weekend it’ll have had a whole week to dry properly so that I can black it out along with the whole of the inner arches to return it to the same appearance as the car had when it was new (but a bit tidier and not splattered everywhere like it was).

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20cleaning%20stuff%20008_zpswdmozthl.jpg.html

Day 263

Today I carried on cleaning the rear trailing arms. I removed the last bits of underseal from the arms and the last bit of grease from right up inside the recess where the CV joint goes. I degreased everything with cellulose thinners and lightly sanded the area’s where a few small spots of rust had started.
Having done this on both arms I concentrated on the RH one this evening and used a scissor jack under the rear 4 point jacking plate and took the weight so that I could relocate the axle stand I’d got under the trailing arm. This allowed me to clean up the last bit that was obscured by the axle stand.
With everything cleaned off, degreased and a wipe with a tack rag I repainted the area’s of the RH trailing arm that had been damaged or rusted. I used an oil & fuel resistant paint and a ¼” modellers brush with very soft bristles so that I could blend in the paint and not create brush marks in it.
Before I knew it, it was 10:30pm and with failing LED light, and mosquitoes making a meal of my legs I called it a day.

Day 264

Today started off like any other day in my life, but would end on a very sobering thought.

Throughout my adult life I have been relentless in my acquisition and restoration of cars. Working all hours god sends in my employment and then working another full day on my cars divided between early mornings and late nights.

On average I sleep between 4 & 5 hours a night.

Something had to give….

This morning I continued under the 914 from dawn (4am until 7am) then left for work.
I was driving home from work alone this evening and at 5:45pm on a back road between work and home and I suddenly without warning (suffered what later was to be diagnosed as a TIA stroke while at the wheel) in seconds I was totally blind, and had no control of my left side.
I had no warning, my vision just turned into a Kaleidoscope of nonsense in technicolour, like heavy rain water running over a pane of oily glass. What the hell???
At first I started to blink, thinking I’d got something in my eye, but within a nanosecond I realised it wasn’t an individual eye, closing each eye in turn the image was the same….in another nano second I realised this was neurological, and I was driving at 50 mph at the time. To say I was instantly sh*t scared at the reality of what was happening was an understatement.
I then realised I couldn’t move my left side properly. I was in a manual/stickshift car and couldn’t press the clutch with a dead left leg.
Time went into slow motion as adrenalin rushed through my system.
Thinking quickly I managed to bring the car to a stop using the grass verge at the side of the road feel through my right hand on the steering wheel. I stalled the engine as my good right leg was on the brake pedal as I fought the car, trying not to dig into the verge, just use it as a guide for positioning the car. I didn’t need to run into any of the trees that were lining the road a few feet in from the grass!
Equally I didn’t want to cross the lanes into any oncoming traffic that might be there.
What seemed an eternity of bouncing off the grass blind was in reality probably just a few seconds.
The car came to a halt and I turned off the ignition.
My first reaction was to feel for my phone to dial 911 (999 in UK).
But I had a smart phone.
Ever tried to dial 911 when you’re blinded by a stroke on a locked smart phone?

I thought I was gonna die there and then at the side of this empty road alone.

I opened the door and fell out the car into the road as I couldn’t stand up, blind and trying to shout for help with slurred speech, it was a bizarre feeling not being able to form words. The only way I can describe it is, like being an observer in your own body.
Having seen Military action and been in 2 wars, I have cheated death 3 times in my life in very hostile environments.

This was an irony, my life couldn’t end like this surely?

Lying alone on that road in a desperate way for what seemed like 30 minutes, I certainly had time to think about life. It’s a very humbling experience.

Fortunately a passing car stopped and the guy got out and came to my aid. He rushed me to the local Hospital ER (A & E in UK) while his friend drove my car to the hospital car park behind.

They carried me in and I was rushed straight into a CT Brain scanner,ECG, where doctors poked prodded and tested me into the night.

At 4am I was moved into the stroke ward and surrounded by end of life patients with their families at their sides, thin curtains did nothing to quieten the difficult conversations that were taking place.

I remained in the Hospital for 3 days where a TIA was diagnosed and recovery was being made.

Being a stubborn old mule, I can only apologise for missing 3 days on this months Build-off Challenge it certainly wasn’t planned.


So that was Month 9

It started off at speed and ended with an emergency stop.

The challenge this month was not with the car, the weather, the tiny garage, vendors or new defects to deal with…..my challenge this month was literally not to die…..

My Consultant tells me I must slow down.
My appetite for cars is killing me. Friends tell me the same, but, well, I am who I am, I’d rather die doing what I love.

Here’s looking forwards to Month 10 and living long enough to finish the build and enjoy this 914!

Thanks for taking time out to read my meandering drivel.

Posted by: 2mAn Jun 28 2016, 02:52 PM

this is crazy. seriously, all of it. health first. I wish you a speedy recovery

Posted by: DirtyCossack Jun 28 2016, 02:55 PM

I hope you're doing better. That is super scary.

Posted by: tygaboy Jun 28 2016, 03:08 PM

My thoughts and prayers are with you for a speedy and full recovery.
Your health is way more important than a car - but OK, your car is way awesome...
Keep us posted on everything and take good care.

Posted by: Mueller Jun 28 2016, 03:33 PM

The amount of work and dedication is insane, in a good way.

Posted by: jkb944t Jun 29 2016, 08:23 PM

This workmanship is absolutely fantastic!

Jeff B

Posted by: Olympic 1.7 Jun 30 2016, 06:46 AM

Wishing you a quick return to health.

I enjoy seeing the methods you use to repair and refinish parts.

Very inventive.

Tom

Posted by: 76-914 Jun 30 2016, 08:23 AM

God speed, Darin. Your determination will trump any physical limitations placed upon you. Kent

Posted by: mbseto Jun 30 2016, 08:57 AM

Take care of yourself, man- best wishes for full recovery. Your workmanship is amazing.

Posted by: jor Jun 30 2016, 09:32 AM

Health First; car second. Get well soon!

That said, your work is utterly fantastic and I am thoroughly enjoying your posts on your build. Well done, sir!

Posted by: altitude411 Jun 30 2016, 10:09 AM

Take care of yourself, your build & thread are fantastic. Great job.

Posted by: Darren C Jun 30 2016, 04:22 PM

Thanks for your overwhelming support Guy's.

It's been very tough going after the TIA stroke.

My thread is as I said at the beginning of this Challenge, is a couple of months in advance of time. (That's how us Delorean owners roll) ;-)
In all fairness it is a real time thread with each day number indicating the days since the car arrived in UK, and the total time in my ownership here across the pond. I was 1/4 way into the build in October when the challenge started, so decided on the grounds of fairness to all contestants, and have exactly 365 days to start and finish the build, that I would run my thread in real-time but just backdated to meet the October to October duration of the Challenge.

I've had much time in and out of Hospital since the TIA and I am currently back at work. Thanks for your concerns and kind wishes. The story of my recovery will unfold in the next few monthly updates on here.
It was actually in the first few months of this Challenge that I had the TIA Stroke. I actually wrote up some of my earlier posts on here while in Hospital typing with one hand! If you read back through you'll see I have mentioned having brain scans in the MRI machine while thinking about working on my 914! I didn't want to give away what had happened to me or throw in the towel.

The need to get the car finished in 12 months and the need to update this Build-off Challenge thread each month has actually increased my determination and sped up my recovery.

For this I am truly grateful to 914World.

Posted by: Darren C Jul 3 2016, 11:13 AM

Interim post to bring my thread up to July 4th.

Day 265

I didn’t sleep a wink in the Stroke Ward overnight. The guy opposite didn’t make it through the night. The mechanical breathing machines in the wards rhythmic clunk and hissing plus the groaning and my own thoughts wouldn’t allow me the escape of sleep.

Over last night it was diagnosed as a TIA stroke as within 6 hours I’d gotten my functions slowly back. It was a 50/50 chance of a full blown stroke or a TIA, for the grace of god this time it happened to be a TIA.
My vision came back first. Tunnel vision followed by soft edged fuzzy vision. By 2am I could see normally.
This was the greatest relief.
Motor functions returned but I had a complete numbness/pins & needles loss of feeling on my left side.
They could only give me water (no food) for 24hrs. This was in the form of small chilled bottles. I found that holding the ice water on my right side I felt instantly that it was cold. Holding it on the left side I felt nothing.
Shakily I could walk and hold stuff in my left hand.
I stayed in the Ward all day being tested every 30 minutes.

Day 266

Another restless night. I did manage to catch a few random naps. At least I got Breakfast today. Having not eaten for 36 hours it was very welcome.
I was still lacking sense of feeling and the Consultant arrived after breakfast for a meeting.
Since I’d had a TIA, they decided that I’d have to take a range of pills including Statins indefinitely until more tests could be done. I was to be discharged that evening as I’d got 95% function back, but because it is classed as a brain injury I would have my driving license suspended.
This was NOT what a guy who’s whole life revolves around cars, wants ever to hear.
I argued with the Consultant that not only was it my job, it was my hobby and my life.
Suffice to say it changed nothing.
I had a long conversation and the outcome is that until I have further tests including more brain scans over a period of several weeks, there would be no change in the ruling until I got an “all clear”. Besides I hadn’t fully got my sense of feeling back in my left side and it was unsure if this would be permanent.
I had to phone a friend to come collect me that evening and to arrange to get my car moved from the Hosptial car park.
By 8pm I was discharged with a sack of drugs and back at home.

Day 267

On day 264 in the morning of the TIA before work I’d cleaned up the CV bolts and painted all the heads satin black and laid them out to dry before leaving for work. At lunchtime I’d picked up the new driveshafts from Porsche and the gaskets that I took a chance on. Sure enough the gaskets were too large a diameter, so it looks like I’ll revert to Plan B and cut some out myself. Interestingly the CV boots & cover flange fitted to the new dive shafts has 6 holes not 4 (which bugs my OCD) but has the dowels fitted. Looks like Porsche use a generic boot and flange these days.

I called sick into work this morning and had to be back at the Hospital this afternoon for another MRI brain scan so in my world it was another wasted day of trains & taxi’s with nothing done on the 914.

Day 268

After being poked and prodded all day again in Hospital, I’m getting bored with all the Cop type drunk tests (stand on one leg, touch your nose with your left finger and so on) they let me out this evening at 6:30pm.

Getting home late this evening I needed a little normality so off to the shed I went.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20driveshafts%20new%20002_zpsopla4xhw.jpg.html

The next job was to sort out the elusive gaskets. After finding the 912 ones were too big on Friday lunchtime I’d had an idea. I measured the CV joint to find the inner diameter of the required gasket (80mm) and got out a British Standard flange table. A quick visit to BSS and I had 4 + 1 spare 3” pipe flange gaskets with a perfect 80mm hole in the centre.
Carefully marking out the 4 bolt semi circles and the 2 dowel semi circles I cut them using my punch set and finished them carefully with a rats tail file.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20driveshafts%20new%20003_zpsvlampogi.jpg.html

All that was left to do was then carefully mark out and cut the external diameter with sturdy scissors. Much easier to cut the outer diameter than trying to cut an inside diameter.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20driveshafts%20new%20005_zpsccoauzzi.jpg.html

I made 4 plus 1 spare so just need to clean up the outer stub flanges and we’re good to fit.

Day 269

This morning I awoke at 3:30am with too many ideas running through my mind, by 4am I’d realised a design for a new fuel rail, calculated the flow, itemised materials and worked out a rough cost. I’d decided the best composition of a painting that I’m planning, decided on the plan this week for the 914, had considerations of how to get mobile while I’m not allowed to drive and had a few more ideas for my other cars.
Suffice to say by 4am I couldn’t lay in bed any longer so got dressed and went out to the garage. The weather was awful this morning before dawn so I got a few bits from my shed and closed myself in behind the up and over door with two LED lights.
I fashioned two long handled paint brushes from some flattened tube and sticky tape and began work on the RH rear inner arch.
While lying in hospital over the weekend I actually got a lot of stuff sorted, designed, tweaked and considered in my mind. As they say I had plenty of time to think.
One thought I had was about the final finish of the old factory underseal on the car. The product Porsche used dried to a matt finish and wasn’t jet black as a result. Simple underseal off the shelf is too Black, too glossy and slightly gritty in texture. I had a product in mind from an old 911 restoration I did a few years ago, rummaged in my shed last night and found a half used 5 litre tin. This is a professional stoneguard designed for spraying in a Shultz type gun. It dries to a matt black very resilient hard finish.
Since the task was to “restore” the under arch Porsche finish (and I’d locally repaired the flaked damaged areas with a similar texture) I was able to just lightly paint the new stone guard on with a brush and stipple finish it to loose any brush marks.
This morning I started on the RH rear arch and managed to coat everything forward of the rear wheel including behind the door striker plate panel, and up under the roll bar fin. I coated everything down to the sill panel on both the inside of the rear quarter panel and the inner arch making sure every surface was covered.
I was back at work today (yes back at work 5 days after the TIA, I got bills to pay and we don’t get sick pay) and had arranged a colleague to pick me up, so needed to get cleaned up and changed for 7am.
This lunchtime I called Porsche Centre and ordered a single 914 wheel bolt to replace my single rogue Beetle bolt. They’re still available and I’m curious to see what final finish the new bolt arrives with. The old ones have a dull zinc plate (or what’s left of it). I plan on having the bolts replated and hopefully the new bolt will show me what a new bolt should be like.
Anyway after getting home a little later than normal from work this evening I carried on to complete the RH wheel arch.
I took a photo with flash, so the arch looks far grayer in the picture than in reality.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20undersealing%20002_zpspwrkj0nl.jpg.html

The two trailing arms were repainted and “toned down” to give them a natural look rather than a just painted too shiny gloss. Both "K" marks were carefully retained to look like original un-restored finish
I was extra careful with the stone guard and used a small modellers brush to detail around all the fiddly bits like the suspension bolt caps and sill screws to finish the LH arch.
Going back a page you can see the washed and scrubbed original Porsche coating has been matched pretty well with the new stoneguard for colour and matt finish. I'm really pleased with the way its turned out.
Tomorrow the plan is to do the same with the RH rear arch.

Day 270

Today was a repeat of yesterday but with a lie in until 5am this morning!
I finished off the LH rear arch this evening after work to match the RH. The “K” mark was retained on this trailing arm too (its just behind the brake pipe obscured in the picture below). On this side of the car it didn’t have the circle around the K, possibly to id the parts left & right at the factory?

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20undersealing%20011_zpsrazzjcss.jpg.html

(The runs in the stoneguard near the front of the inner arch are genuine Porsche, so I left them!)

Day 271

This morning before being picked up for work I cleaned up the drive flanges that attach to the end of the shafts and fit into the hubs. I also purchased a new set of shiny gold BZP twin hole plate washers for the CV joint bolts (couldn’t put the old ones back on these uber shiny driveshafts)
The Porsche ones are no longer available but IRS Beetle ones are; from UK stockist VW Heritage. Slightly different profile but the best I could find from the same stable and era.
This morning I gave them a light coat of Waxoil and slid them along a wire to dry while I put a thin coat on the drive flanges and the CV joints and gaiter metal flanges too. This should stop the nice shiny BZP from fading or going white and powdery before rusting.
I left everything to dry and went into work for 7:30am.
At lunchtime I convinced a colleague to drive me out to the paint suppliers and picked up 4 more litres of stoneguard. I used 1 ½ lites under the two rear arches, so a quick calculation showed I didn’t have enough in the old tin left for the front. I’m also considering redoing the floorpan while the wheels are away and the cars up in the air. Not savouring the thought of the deep clean and prep, as it’s a large area!
Anyway this evening after work I decided to fit the driveshafts. Fitting the flanges into the hubs first and loosely fitting the castellated nuts I carefully degreased the perimeter of the CV joint where the thin gaskets fit with cellulose thinners. I then cheated by putting two tiny opposing dots of superglue on the gasket and stuck it to the CV joint.
This allowed me to push the bolts with plate washers through the joint before feeding it over the gearbox and heat exchangers and down the hole in the trailing arm to meet the flange without the gasket falling off and getting damaged. I used this method as I didn’t want to have to remove or disturb the heat exchangers. With a spline tool on a short ¼” drive extension I tightened the all bolts up gently to make sure everything was good and the gasket was fine before swapping to 3/8” drive and tightening them up a little at a time using opposites to pull the dowels home equally.
I left the transport/packing caps on the gearbox end to stop grease getting everywhere and manoeuvred the CV joint with loose gasket (no need for glue this end as you can hold and see everything) into place and bolted it up to the drive flange.
The N/S is a little more of a fiddle with the starter motor in place but with patience it does fit in without taking the heat exchangers or starter off.
I nipped everything up and then went around again just to be certain I’d not missed anything before calling it a night.
It does look nice with new driveshafts fitted.

Day 272

Today I had a whole day in Hospital undergoing further test, scans and general poking and prodding.
I decided to get a couple of hours in on the 914 before catching the morning train and had to think of a few tasks that wouldn’t get me too dirty. Following on from last nights driveshaft installation I needed to tighten up the castellated nuts on the hubs and fit the split pins. I sorted out some new split pins and pre cut the length and then using two wheel bolts and a very large crow bar in combination with the handbrake I locked each hub in turn so that the nuts could be tightened to the high torque.
The pins were added and then the nuts and pins given a light coat of clear waxoil to protect the gold BZP finish.
With the waxoil can at hand I gave the CV bolts a light coat along with the 3 bolts and plate washers on each underside that hold the outer trailing arm support bracket. I was pleasantly surprised when I cleaned these off last week to find them still shiny gold BZP so the waxoil should keep them this way.
I wrapped up and got the train into the city and walked a mile to the Hospital.
During the day Porsche centre telephoned me to say my wheel bolt was in, so while I’m not mobile I’ve asked them to post it out so hopefully if it doesn’t arrive tomorrow I should have it by Monday.
During the numerous MRI brain scans today I had a lull from 11:30 until the ultrasound tests of the arteries in my neck at 2pm. Not wanting to sit doing nothing I decided to walk right across the city to the motor factors and pick up some bits and bobs. Easy when you’re in a car but I underestimated the distance on foot. I ended up power walking 2 hours for about a 5 mile round trip to get back in time for my next Hospital test!
Anyway after walking back to the station and getting home this evening I started on the steering wheel.
The steering wheel spokes were a little dull and had a few tiny chips here and there. I’d expected the trimmers to maybe make a mark or two and to get glue on the spokes and true to form that’s what they did. I carefully cleaned all the excess glue off with white spirit.
Next the spokes were T cut rubbing polish to restore the faded paint to a very nice gloss finish.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20Steering%20wheel%20002_zps2j3xxwms.jpg.html

After a couple of hours working carefully with the T cut on both sides of the 4 spokes and around the hub I use a very fine modellers brush to carefully touch in the small chips so they disappeared. Finally I used Brasso on the hub which is made of plastic to get a glass shine.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20Steering%20wheel%20003_zpstldwirpc.jpg.html

I then turned my attention to the horn push. This was looking a little worse for wear and had lots of chips and worn off paint. I’d scrubbed it with Cif cream a few weeks ago and now it was time to sort it out. Starting with a fine (400 grit) wet & dry I carefully feathered all the edges of the chips. I looked at trying to remove the foam pad out the centre of the metal surround but decided against it as it was well and truly bonded in there and risked damage trying to get it out. The only thing to do was to take extreme care working around it. There was a little oxidation of the Mazak in the corner and a section of paint had fallen off. Again I carefully removed the loose paint and feathered the edges before going over the whole metal section with red scotchbrite to key the surface.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20Steering%20wheel%20001_zpsx1kbvrfg.jpg.html

After masking up with some fine line detail tape, degreasing and a wipe with a tack rag I locally etch primed just the areas of bare metal and left it to dry for tomorrow.

Day 273

Today I started by flatting down the etch primer on the steering wheel centre with 1200 wet and dry. Drying any water off thoroughly I degreased and tack ragged the surface before the first coat of black paint. I took extra time on this small part as it will sit in full view every time I sit in the car so any small imperfection would drive me mad.
Allowing a good hour between each coat I built up the colour in several thin layers to a high smooth gloss finish with no orange peel.
In between coats I cleaned the horn contact ring on the back of the steering wheel hub and with a light coat of grease I fitted the steering wheel to the car.
I also moved 4 cars around to empty my main garage at home as one of the strip lights had burnt out the ballast last week and tripped the breaker. I had a spare ballast in the attic of the garage so stripped a spare unit down and replaced the burnt out one. As a precaution I’d bought some new starters having seen the ends were quite brown from heat; so went around and changed all 12. I also had a bit of a spring clean in my workshop. I was loosing floor and bench space with a collection of old worn 914 parts and a few bits from the other cars that just seem to mount up.
After 4 or 5 (can’t quite remember) coats of black paint (and changing the gearbox oil on my Volvo V70 in between) it was almost finished. I brought it indoors and sat in on the kitchen worktop and warmed it gently with a small electric fan heater on low setting for an hour, rotating it every 15 minutes to help the paint cure. Normally I’d put stuff in the oven, but this still had the plastic/sponge pad attached so I didn’t want to damage or melt it.
After another hour to cool I unmasked the pad cleaned it gently and fitted my new decal.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20Steering%20wheel%20centre%20001_zpsgqacdysl.jpg.html

I was fortunate enough to find the original “To Start” decal under the centre console carpet when I lifted it out. I’d posted earlier in the Originality section on here (914world) where a guru had replied with a photo showing where the decal was originally fitted! Many thanks.
The old decal was intact but the adhesive on the back was long dry and full of dirt from being on the floor of the car for 40 years. Enough detail remained for me to scan it and send the details to Rob (a nice guy in UK that makes long lost auto decals) who very kindly made me a new one (and a spare).
I’d imagine most owners on purchasing their new 914 would have peeled this off and thrown it out; after all it’s not particularly attractive.
I kind of like the idea of having it on the car now that it’s looking almost new again, so decided to reinstate it.
With the wheel centre still nice and warm from the heater I warmed the decal and carefully applied it using a stiff bristle nail brush to work it into the grain texture of the horn pad.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20Steering%20wheel%20centre%20003_zps53rnwz5e.jpg.html

I plan on leaving it 24hrs for the paint to dry a little more then fitting it back in the car.

Day 274

Today was a busy day.
I started early by going to fit the horn push in the steering wheel. True to form it was awkward and in the end I had to take the steering wheel off and change the cable from the contact ring and solder a new spade on it. I’d heat shrunk the old spade but it was proving difficult to fit the horn push as the heat shrink was not flexible enough to allow it to move while fitting. Eventually after a few dry runs with the wheel off the car I sorted it out. Fitted back on the car and battery on, turn the key and the horn sounded continually.
Battery off and horn push off again to examine, and I found the bayonet frame in the wheel slightly bent? All I can think of is that it got bent at the trimmers as it was fine when I took it apart. The bent frame was just holding the horn centre in enough to make contact at the bottom which was sounding the horn. With this gently bent back up the horn push was refitted and worked fine.
My son arrived just as I’d taken the battery back off. I called a friend and we spent a few hours this morning out on a driving lesson. (I had to ask my friend over to sit in the car with us as I’m not allowed to drive at the moment and technically that even means I can’t supervise my son. A right royal pain in the ass!). As a reward I cooked a Sunday Roast for us all and while it was in the oven we flatted one half of the Morris bonnet with soapy water & 1200 grit to remove some old orange peel and dull paint, before rubbing paste, T cut and a good wax.
With everyone fed & watered and on their way I returned to the 914 and started under the front LH wheel arch. I’d cleaned and scrubbed the inner arch previously, but there was plenty of splattered underseal all over the suspension. I started by scraping it off the shock absorber and working down to the torsion arm, hub and steering rack.
I spent 3 hours scraping off the excess underseal on the LH before running out of charge on the LED light and calling it a day.

Day 275

Today was another 4 hours under the front wheel arch scraping underseal off the front suspension; it really is rock hard and a bit of a nightmare to get off. I took a few pictures so you can see the task in hand. Fortunately under all the underseal there is very little rust if any to speak about.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20front%20suspension%20007_zpsfvmxog2u.jpg.html

Absolutely everything had gotten sprayed with stone guard but with a little time and patience I’m slowly getting it all off.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20front%20suspension%20004_zps7now1bfx.jpg.html

I worked on the RH side this evening and started at the top of the shock absorber and worked down to the torsion arm and to the end of the steering rack.
Yesterday I got most of it off the LH side.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20front%20suspension%20006_zpsjumqxauk.jpg.html

Once it’s all scraped off I plan on lightly sanding down any paint edges and locally priming any bare metal as I did with the rear suspension. It’s going to take a few more days and long hours to sort it, but hopefully I’ll have it all prepared ready for a weekend of painting.

Day 276

Today I made up two short brake pipes with the formed end on one end only. I passed them through a couple of new unions and then brazed up the open unmade ends of the pipes to blank them off.
I clamped the flexi hoses on the front suspension and undid the brake pipes at the shock absorber and quickly swapped over and fitted the two “blank” pipes I’d made up. This allowed me to remove both front callipers without loosing brake fluid.
The callipers were carefully placed in my shed and next I removed the front discs and dust/stone guards from the rear.
All the grease was cleaned off the stub shafts and I now had much better access to continue cleaning and dismantling the front suspension at my leisure. To do a good job I needed to stripdown the front suspension and take it off the car.
So another couple of hours cleaning after the mechanical strip down and my LED lights were out of charge so I called it a day.

Day 277

Today was another day under the front wheel arches. After scraping off the underseal over the last few days there are a some areas that needed sanding and preparing. I spent several hours today with 320 grit wet and dry feathering any paint edges, smoothing out runs in the original paint and dealing with tiny bits of surface rust.
I took apart the tension/limit stops for the torsion bars so that I could clean and prep behind and spent a good while on the trackrods removing some nasty old pipe wrench/mole grip marks.
By 9pm I retired to my shed and cleaned up the torsion bars, track rods and tension/limit bolts as the long exposed thread on them was quite rusty. After cleaning up the hex heads I called it a day.
A few more hours sanding and fettling and it should be all ready for paint.

Day 278

Today I continued to prep the front wheel arches with the suspension off. Finishing sanding down and with it part dismantled I dusted and degreased everything.
With the seasonal temperatures low for the time of year I’m in a race against nature now to get anything on the car painted. If the temperature goes too low the paint just wont flow or dry properly and with no power in the garage I’m trying to get it all painted this weekend. If not I’m considering options of renting a Calor gas heater or similar, but I’m not keen with the idea as they generate a lot of moisture and there’s not much room in the small garage to set it back far enough from the car.
With time pressing, tonight I gave all the areas above where the suspension bolts on a coat of stone guard and continued on the underside of the wheel well sides where the torsion bars run and up and over the steering rack back to the sills. I used another litre of the stone guard, painting until I ran out of LED torch charge again.
Tomorrow I plan to paint up inside the shock towers and then everything will be done so that I can move on to painting the suspension and bolting it all back in place at the weekend.



So this takes us up to day 278 of 914 ownership which is July 4th (starting on October 1st 2015)

The biggest challenge this month, was to recover.
Personally the not being able to drive is the hardest thing for me to accept.
Being suspended from driving indefinitely and having to visit the local Doctors Surgery and the City Hospital every other day for tests is a real bind. Fortunately my work colleagues are my taxi service, but my relentless need to do stuff and go places is awkward for all.
Hopefully the Neurologist will get to the bottom of it and I’ll have an idea of what my long term prognosis is.
I already know I’m restoration crazy, so maybe they’ll actually medically confirm it!

Posted by: Darren C Jul 24 2016, 11:42 AM

Month 10 continued….

Day 279

Today I continued to stone guard the front arches. I finished off up inside the shock towers and moved on to the rear of the wings down the back of the door hinge post and up and over the inside of the wheel arches to the front valance on both sides. This took quite a while to work it into every corner and around the panel seams. It’s a bit like decorating a room, do all the fiddly cutting in then paint the bulk of the walls after with a roller. Just need to do the roller bit now. Last night (and tonight hopefully) the weather was mild so still good for painting. It’s supposed to get colder overnight next week, so I need to get a move on this weekend!

Day 280

Today was a good day as far as progress goes. I finished painting the removed front suspension in my shed then back under the arches in the garage for a paint-athon moving from side to side, front to back, inside, outside upside down and back again. I feel like I've had a real workout today in that tiny garage!
More of the same tomorrow with the stoneguard and I might just get this bit done before the weather turns bad.

Day 281

Fortunately it was really mild today and the sun came out for a good part of it which heats up the garage roof and acts like a mini radiator.
This morning I got up early and started to clean all the bolts and washers in my shed that hold the suspension to the car with my detail wire brushes. They were surprisingly good condition beneath the old underseal. Most of the original BZP was intact and after an hour they were all clean. I then gave the underside of the car another coat of stoneguard just where the suspension fits before my son came over for an 8:30 am driving lesson.
After which we flatted the remaining half of the Morris hood, rubbing pasted and T cut it back to a glass shine before a couple of coats of wax. After cooking a large fry-up brunch, my son left for his part time job, and I continued on the 914.
I undersealed for a couple hours and with sidelights removed I finished painting the inside of the wings and around all the fiddly bits before filling in the remainder.
Coming up for air with all the paint fumes making me a bit heady I made a quick cuppa got some fresh air and returned to fit the suspension back up onto the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20front%20suspension%20done%20005_zpsculn0vlh.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20front%20suspension%20done%20006_zpsi1wxkana.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20front%20suspension%20done%20007_zps2qvckmsc.jpg.html

I need to let the paint harden a few days now. They’re a few spots I’m not happy with on the suspension, but the paints too soft at the moment to address them. I’ll see how the weather pans out this week and get back to them; now I’ve got the thankless task of painting the floor pan next. Working in such a tight garage with no power or light, I haven’t got the luxury of being able to spray on the stone guard. Instead I have to decant it into a small pot then work it into every nook and cranny with a brush before going over a second time with a soft paint roller. Takes a whole lot longer than you’d think to work it into the old textured surfaces and replicate the missing areas.
Just gotta keep going. Takes my mind off my suspended driving license.

Day 282

Today was a long day.

I got up early and 800 grit, wet and dried the suspension and shocks. I wasn’t happy with the finish. There were a few tiny paint sags and a few tiny bits of dust in the paint that ended up being foam from my new roller stuck in the paint!
I got picked up this morning and taken to work early by a colleague because I needed to get ahead as this afternoon I was back in hospital for more tests.
This evening I had to catch the train back home from the city and got home a lot later than normal. Just got to wit now for the Consultants to give me the results.
I did manage however to get a fresh coat of paint on the areas of the suspension that were displeasing me late into this evening with foam shedding free roller.
There were a few scary moments in the torchlight this evening as a massive eight legged friend scampered across the garage floor towards me as I lay under the car. I did scramble out in a flash but now I don’t quite know where it went?

Day 283

Today I telephoned the wheel refurbishers who are bead blasting the rear of the wheels to see how they are getting on as I haven’t heard anything for 3 weeks.
Unfortunately it transpires that they haven’t even started them yet!
They've promised to take a look this week. A bit frustrating though as I was hoping to get them back and off to be electroplating stripped this week.
Hey ho, just have to wait a little longer.
I also called Vintage Tyres at Beaulieu where I have 5 new tyres reserved. It’s been a little longer than I anticipated having them reserved so to be fair I’ve paid today and should have them this week. They've found me some brand new 165 SR 15 Michelin XZX’s, which I’m pleased to have as they are the same as the originals the car came to me with and the paperwork in the history file shows were purchased by the PO in CA way back in the early 1980’s.
This evening I fitted the Torsion bar adjusting screws that I’d removed and cleaned up then began to start the deep clean of the floor pan. I began with covering the garage floor with lots of old newspapers and with a bucket of hot soapy water and scrubbing & tiny nail brushes I cleaned the drivers side floorpan up to the centre line from the steering rack back to the rear bulkhead. It’s not easy working upside down with water! With a little patience I got most of the mud sand and dirt off. Unfortunately most of it ran down my sleeve, inside my shirt and I now have muddy elbows and a muddy back from lying in the dirty water for several hours!
Again not easy with the car on axle stands only an inch from the tip of my nose when I crawl under it!
Tomorrow the passenger side floorpan…..the deep joy continues.

Day 284

The 5 new Michelin tyres arrived this afternoon at work. Looking really nice, but I had to move them out the office as the ladies didn’t like the smell of the rubber…
Suffice to say there were a few jokes going around this afternoon.

This evening more of the same I’m afraid. Scrub, scrub and more scrubbing under the floor pan. At least with it raining this afternoon I was already wet from having to walk home before I started so it didn’t matter at all having more water run up my sleeves.
Hope to have the whole floorpan cleaned for painting this weekend.

Day 285

Today I got a friend to drive me over to take a look at the 1st “trial” light bead blast of the rear of the wheels.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/image1_zps9k2bsbxx.jpg.html

I’m going to replate them with the clear anodise like they were originally, but the rear of the wheels needed a good clean up to prepare them for the process. Painting the rear or powder coating would be the easy option to “hide” corrosion, but my OCD wouldn’t let me live with a compromise here.
The result looks pretty good and I’m happy to let them do the remaining 4 rears of the other wheels. (The front face has been heavily masked up to stop the bead blasting getting anywhere near the polished surface).
This evening after work I continued with the floor pan scrub and finally tonight I have all the mud, sand and dirt off it.
Tomorrow its scrapers and wire brushes to remove any small areas of flaky underseal.
(Really looking forward to that)

Day 286

This morning before work I started by painting the front brake discs that I purchased from Pelican parts so that they are ready to assemble this weekend. Using the same very high temperature paint as I used on the rears, I painted the hub section and the outer diameter edge of the discs and left them to dry.
This evening I scraped off a few area’s of loose underseal and carried out some local texture repairs (as I did under the arches) to replicate the missing underseal so that it will dry overnight for a full re-coat tomorrow.
Wanting to progress further I retired to my shed and de-greased the front hub bearing caps, carefully removed the rubber grease seals and sanded the caps carefully before applying new satin black paint to finish them like new.
I cut a small piece of wood and made a nice tiny shelf to fit on top of my kitchen radiator and sat the bearing caps on it to keep them warm overnight so the paint doesn’t bloom in the cold night air.
It was a late start this evening afterwork, with food shop (using a friend as a taxi) and weekly washing chores, so after painting the caps it was gone 10:30pm so I called it a night as I needed to cook some dinner.

Day 287

Today I made very good progress with repainting the floorpan.
I started this morning and with a combination of brushes of varying sizes and a sponge roller I painted the whole of the floorpan from the steering rack right back to the rear bulkhead and suspension.
It was a bit like painting a concrete block wall for the first time. In the end I gave up with the roller and used brushes. Due to the very textured underseal it took a lot of effort to work the new paint into the texture. Especially difficult were the circular areas and sides closest to the sills where the seam sealer is the heaviest stipple texture.
Again all this working upside down was a messy job with the runny stoneguard.
By mid afternoon I’d completed the floorpan. The stoneguard dries quite quickly and the front of the car was dry by the time I reached the back. I could then see some areas/spots that I’d missed so spent another hour filling in.
Tomorrow I plan a second coat and some photos

Day 288

This morning I made use of the light at dawn and started early to assemble the front hubs. It was too cold first thing to paint so I started by fitting my new bearings into the Pelican Parts discs that I’d painted the other day.
I then re fitted the recently blasted and powder coated disc backing plates to the hubs followed by the discs.
I cleaned the paintshop dust from the brake callipers and refitted them next with new bolts and tab washers.
Finally the brake hoses were connected just in time for my son coming over to visit. While the morning air lost its chill, my son and I bled the brakes.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floorpan%20012_zpsmb4giyjg.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floorpan%20011_zpstbmimpvk.jpg.html

Afterwards we cleaned up and went into town, as I’d promised him some new clothes and a haircut.
Arriving back home early afternoon, the sun was out and the temperature into double figures. It was warm enough to give the floorpan a second coat of stoneguard.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floorpan%20014_zpshcqkgfns.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floorpan%20022_zpsscfu1zwp.jpg.html

I’m quite pleased with the result. It was worth taking time to 800 grit wet & dry all the suspension parts to get a super smooth finish.
Again taking time to replicate the Porsche stone guard finish with care (unlike the original sprayed on that seemed to be splattered all over everything) makes for a neat look.
I just need to get the wheels back now and I can remove the axle stands and fit my blasted and powdercoated steering rack undertray.

Day 289

Yesterday I’d removed the horn push from the Steering wheel again. I wasn’t happy with the black paint. I’d spent ages getting it super smooth but it just looked too glossy against the rest of the dashboard.
With the sun shining and the temperature in double figures I lightly scotchbrited it and gave it a thin coat of satin lacquer to tone it down slightly.
This morning I woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep so after an early breakfast I decided to un mask the horn push and fit it back in the car.
Tonight after work it was one of my other monthly car club committee meeting and I knew I’d not be home until after 11pm, so if I were going to achieve something on the 914 today it had to be done early this morning.
With the horn push refitted it looks much better with the less glossy black paint.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floorpan%20025_zpspmmocbdc.jpg.html

Day 290

Today the evening was very dark with storm clouds, windy and wet.

I retired to the shed this evening and started cleaning up the wheel bolt heads. The new missing wheel bolt turned up week before last from Porsche Centre and it has a dull zinc plate. I plan to get the bolts replated but need to clean and fettle them properly first.
Pretty boring stuff, filing a few burrs, wire brushing and sanding, but preparation is everything.

Day 291

Tonight even with another dark and wet evening it was pleasantly mild. I managed to complete a little job that was niggling me.
Working under the arches with the stoneguard I’d noticed when sat under the arches with the suspension missing, looking outwards, that the rolled return of the front arch from 11 to 1 o clock is rolled tight over. This means that it was difficult to paint when the car was sprayed in the paintshop with the wheels on. The blue paint was a little thin on the return, and I suspect it was like this from new also as I could see the white of the factory primer through the colour.
I have about ½ litre of colour left from the respray so I carefully stirred/mixed the paint and poured a tiny amount into a mini roller tray and then with a new mini gloss roller with only a light coat of colour, rolled the paint onto the return of the arch (with the inner stoneguard masked off). Using this method there is an invisible edge of paint on the rolled arch. This was only the edge that’s rolled right over so you cant see it looking upwards at the arch, you need the wheel off and your head resting on the shock absorber to see it.
Tomorrow if its mild enough I’ll put a coat of clear lacquer over the basecoat colour using the same method.

Day 292

Today was a real bind as I had to leave early and got home late from work using the train (as my work colleagues are finding it a real chore to taxi me around while I cant drive) combined with it raining again, it was real grim.
This evening I decided to hold of coating the arch returns with lacquer as with the cold damp air it would most likely bloom. (go foggy with the cold and damp weather)
Instead I gave the engine bay a good clean. The garage I’m renting seems to have a real issue with dust/dirt. 3 garages down they are developing the old council estate, knocking down and building new flats so there is an excessive amount of dust generated, which seems to cover the car even when the doors shut. With no engine lid on the car yet, I keep washing off the bodywork but haven’t done the engine bay for a while. I must get an indoor cover sorted!
Anyhow after a good wash & wipe clean I sorted out a few bits and bobs including a couple more P clips to tidy hoses and wires, I called it a night as my second LED flashlight ran out of charge.

Day 293

Today was a GREAT day.

I had to go visit the Hospital and see my Consultant for the results of all the tests from my TIA.

No visible permanent damage.
High risk of a re-occurance
Keep on the Medication
Change my diet to keep low cholesterol
More tests required to find the cause.

Then he said the magic words….

“I will lift the driving suspension”





Today was the first day that I have been allowed to drive for a month (it could have been a year or indefinitely, so I was VERY lucky)
I made the most of it and when I got home I spent the rest of the day driving!
At lunch I called into the wheel refurbishers. Having had my wheels for over a month, they’d obviously lost the sense of urgency and had only done the back of one wheel. Hopefully they’ll get the other four done before the end of the month now I’m mobile and can check up on them!
Tonight I took my son to the movies so tomorrow I concentrate on the car!

Day 294

Today I started with taking my son out on some more driving lessons, 1200 flatted the front section of the Morris Traveller roof & front wing, then polished out with rubbing paste & T cut. Lunch, then out for more driving before dropping him back.
I then carried on with the “tinkering”.
I’m going to call it “tinkering” now, as I’m just finding stuff to do until the wheels come back and I can get the car down the UK Ministry of Transport Test Centre to have it Tested and hopefully certified and legal to drive in UK (and then they will issue a Title and license number) .
With the afternoon sunny and warm I mixed up some 2-pack lacquer and finished off the roll over edges of the wheel arches with a fresh mini gloss roller over the blue base coat I’d applied the other day.
I then crawled under the car and touched in a few little area’s of the stone guard in the original heavy ripple texture, where from certain angles I had missed a few valleys in the texture.
I also had an in line fuel pressure tester (with gauge) turn up in the mail today. I’ve wanted a professional one for a while and had knocked myself up one (cobbled from bits & bobs) that had started to leak a bit and I wasn’t sure on the gauge calibration so had taken the plunge and bought a new one.
I made up some extra fittings on my lathe this evening and shall have a play with the car fuel pressure tomorrow!

Day 295

Today I did a little more turning on my lathe to make a fuel return bleed and assembled my new fuel pressure tester.
I sorted out the fuel hoses in the engine bay and tidied everything up. A trip down to the local gas station with two cans (with a stop for lunch) I put fuel back into the car. It’d been dry since pulling the tank out to replace the fresh air blower motor a couple of months ago. After replacing the fuel pump relay (removed while I was sorting out the cars electrics that needed the ignition on) I ran the pump and found a few leaks. These were repaired and the pressures set and tested.
After some more fettling I ran the engine and warmed it through while checking for leaks from over the whole system, tank to engine bay & back.
One of the criteria when the car went into the paintshop was that the painters could drive the car. I’d temporarily rigged up the engine & fuel system so that this could happen, but now I needed to make a more permanent (and safer) situation.
With everything looking good I stopped the engine and made use of the heat in the garage to touch in a bit more paint including the LH heat exchanger where the outer casing had moved/expanded along the pipes about 3mm and revealed bare metal needing painting.
I was interrupted by a neighbour with car trouble so gave him a hand to fix it before returning to the 914. Finally fitting a few tinware screws that were missing and clipping the throttle cable near the coil to tidy it up before calling it a day

Day 296

Today I had another afternoon of testing and prodding at the Hospital. Despite the results the Consultant wanted a couple more tests run. I did however manage to visit the zinc platters and take along the wheel bolts.

I took along the brand new single bolt as an example of how I wanted the old bolts refinished in dull zinc.
After an inspection and discussion they agreed to do a sample strip and replate on one bolt only as a trial.
Expecting to return tomorrow the guy said, take a seat, have a coffee and I’ll do it while you wait.
10 minutes later he came back with a electro stripped and replated old bolt.
The colour & matt finish was good but the old bolt hex head had some wheelbrace/ socket marking.
The new bolt (and my old ones when new) had a very slightly rough texture in the metal from the forging/manufacturing process. Over the years taking them off and on with a socket or wrench had “smoothed” the textured surface. Not easily seen when in the old condition, but once the bolt had been replated the smooth corners of the hex had quite a comparison to the textured centre of the hex flats. The smoothness makes the zinc plate look more chrome/shiny than even dullness.
After a bit of deliberation I plan to take all the bolts over to the bead blasters tomorrow (including the replated one) and have just the heads blasted to return the texture finish evenly to the hex flats.

Afterwards they can go back to the platers for a coat of dull zinc. I want a minimum 15 microns to give good rust resistance whilst retaining the surface texture.
I know its an OCD thing, but I want the car to be finished to a high level, and marks on the wheel bolts will drive me nuts.

Photo below show (from left to right) New Bolt, Test replated bolt with texture worn fron wrench use & old bolt as it was before test replating (remaining 14 are like this).

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bolts%20004_zpslrupw0hz.jpg.html

The plan is to get them looking like original brand new against the refurbished wheels without spending a fortune on buying all new bolts.
The new bolt from Porsche admittedly has a high texture finish to the head, which seems to be slightly rougher than my old bolts. It’s the wrench marks that really show as a “polished” smooth contrast to the texture that is my issue. It’s a little like the contrast of the Fuch wheels between dull and smooth surfaces. It really stands out, so off to the Blasters the remaining bolts go!

Day 297

Today I took the wheel bolts to the blasters and got all the heads cleaned up and textured evenly to remove the socket wrench marks before dropping them off at the zinc platers.
This evening I emptied out a few boxes and bags and took stock of the few remaining parts that I’d removed from the car to work out the best restoration methods.

Day 298

Today I picked up the freshly dull zinc plated wheel bolts. The pre blasting really did the trick and all the heads are now a nice even texture with no socket marks showing in the zinc plate.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bolts%20finished%20002_zpsp0x5iuu9.jpg.html

The dark rings on the thread is where they were wired up to hold them in the tank for plating. This will have a nice coating of copper grease so should be fine when fitted.
I’m really pleased with how they came out. It cost me £10 to get them done which is just less than the price of the one new bolt from Porsche (which I needed anyway as I had a rogue Beetle bolt in there) What a bargain price to get them looking all like new again.

Interestingly the bolts had little VW stamps on the ends..

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bolts%20finished%20003_zps94a4jeum.jpg.html

Day 299

Today was a little frantic to say the least. I had a 10:15 hospital appointment in Portsmouth but decided to get up early and do a bit on the 914 very early on.
I’d picked the wheels up from the blasters on Friday and taken them home. The guy who works at the platers said he needed them pretty clean so that it wouldn’t contaminate his chemical tanks. The blasters had done the rear of the wheels as asked but the rims had lots of hardened black rubber marks from the tyre beads and the face of the wheels had old black and dirty stick foam from old wheel weights. All this had to come off before I could drop them off to be stripped of the original clear anodise coating.
It took me a good 2 ½ hours this morning to clean all this off with a combination of aluminium plate scrapers (I’d cut from some spare ali sheet) brass wire brushes, Cif cream (good olde Cif) and some pan scrubber scotchbrite (the green stuff that wont easily scratch) and a good amount of Cellulose thinners to clean after and remove the old grease from down and around the bolt holes
As it was a Monday and I’d had engineers working on a project at work over the weekend I needed to go into work before the Hospital appointment at 10:15. I had breakfast on the run, loaded the car with the wheels and shot off for 2 hours at work before leaving in good time for the Hospital.
Today I had an EEG test following my TIA last month, where they wire about 30 electrodes on your scalp to measure your brain waves, make you look at strobe lights and hyperventilate until you start to starve your brain of oxygen (all in the name science).
What they don’t tell you is that they measure and mark your head/hair with a pastel crayon then a sort of paste and glue the electrode onto your head, so by the time it was time to leave I had a head covered in goo, sticky stuff and spots of yellow pastel crayon. Not a good look and certainly gave me a few funny looks on the walk out of the hospital!
Anyhow, still looking like some crazy punk rocker I dropped the wheels off at the platters to get them stripped of the clear anodise before rushing home to wash my head.
After a manic wash and brush up I leapt back in the car, hair still wet and raced to Chichester Hospital for a 2pm MRI brain scan.
This was a novel experience too. Stripped of any metal jewellery, clothing containing metal and fitted with ear plugs and ear defenders, my head was sat in a cradle with a cage place over it while I entered the large donut MRI machine. This banged, clunked and buzzed in an alarming way for 20 minutes with me daring not move a muscle as it carried out an in depth brain scan.
Fun over I asked the lady where I collect the photo (in a sort of Roller Coaster, end of the ride way).
Back in the Hospital carpark I turned my phone on and got a message to say the wheels had been stripped and were ready to collect. By now it was 4pm and a toss up between going back to work for an hour or picking up the wheels. Guess what choice my fried brain made……

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket5%20003_zpsnb7t4klj.jpg.html

They’ve come up like brand new!
Tomorrow the next stage of this refurbishment process is to go back to the blasters to gently blast the dull area’s between the polished petals to remove some old battle scars (scratches, knocks from lazy wrench action etc) to give a uniform texture before going off to the polishers.
Once all this is done they can be re anodised in clear. I forgot to mention that when I dropped them off this morning before work the chap used a special meter on them to measure the original factory anodise thickness. This ranged from 8.5 microns on the face of the petals (which you can only presume wears thin with washing over 40+ years) to 11 microns on the inside of the wheel (under the tyre where it cannot get washed/rubbed)
The platers reckon they can get 20 microns on them when they re anodise, so hopefully this will exceed the factory finish and prove to be longer lasting.

Day 300
Today I dropped the wheels back off at the blasters and explained what was needed on the “dull” area’s of the wheel faces, so hopefully they get out the numerous dents and scratches for a flawless finish!
I had a few parts turn up in the mail today including the majority of my 316 stainless pipe fittings that I plan to construct a neat Twin Carb fuel rail with. (This is the one I mentioned designing last month).
After unpacking the pipe fittings I started on the new stainless fuel rail and made up the parts ready for Tig welding.
I should have enough bits to keep me going this weekend while the wheels are still away. I’ll take some pictures tomorrow of progress as I’ve not been home in daylight today, early start and long day at work getting in the way of the 914 restoration!

Day 301

Today I had a good day making stuff.
Since the weather was awful I spent the day in my shed and cut and treaded some stainless pipe to make up a nice fuel rail with centre feed so as not to starve either carburettor. To ensure that there was no risk of fuel leakage from any of the thread fittings, all joints got stainless Tig welded up.
To make sure all the welds and joints were good I capped the ends and pumped it up with my foot pump to 10 psi. (I plan on running between 3 & 3.5 psi, so a test at 10 psi is more that sufficient). To double check I submerged it in the bath tub for a good while and all went well.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20pressure%20test%20001_zpsbxsfakzd.jpg.html

Next I turned down a fuel bleed/return. When running carbs with an electric pump it helps to have a bleed/return to keep the pump happy when the engine is at idle and the floats are closed. It also helps to cool the pump if there is always a flow.
The easiest way to do this is machine out a shouldered bore inside a spare carb hose tail. After rummaging in my shed I found some old bits of carb and unscrewed a hose tail. This was lightly bored out on my lathe and from a scrap bit of brass I turned an insert with 1mm bleed hole. It’s always important to turn a chamfer/cone on the end facing against the fuel flow. This helps if there are any dirt or particles in the fuel system. The hole is less likely to block as the dirt/debris tends to head down the chamfer/cone to the sides of the pipe and keep the hole clear.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bits%20amp%20bolts%20003_zps0xvbllz5.jpg.html

Day 302

This morning I had a lie in until 6am. I went and picked my son up and we spent a good 2 hours out driving in the Morris Traveller. As the weather was blustery with constant drizzle all day, I let him get away without flatting and polishing a body panel after we’d finished. After a fry up brunch I dropped him home and started on the 914.

I had a good day fitting parts to the car and making a few adjustments to get this just right.

As I’d said earlier in my thread, Carbs were fitted from my shed stock way back in November to get the engine running for the first time in several years so that I could find out just exactly what I’d purchased blind. The paint shop had also said to me that they’d only take the car in for paint if it drove, so carbs were a quick no cost solution for me as I have numerous old & new sets in my shed from my VW days.

I temporarily fitted rubber fuel hoses and used rivi-nuts in the factory holes in the bulkhead between engine bay and trunk to secure the fuel hose to the bulkhead with stainless rubber lined P clips. (This picture is from last November)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20details%20019_zpsdaorc99h.jpg.html

Moving on to today I fitted the stainless steel fuel pipe manifold I’d just made using the same rivi-nut fixing points for a much neater and safer out of the way installation.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket%20amp%20pipe%20005_zpsseiiuiq2.jpg.html

Just need to hunt down some tiny metal tubing this week to make a nice twin vacuum tube between carbs and dizzy.

Day 303

Today I chased up the wheels, they’ve had them a good few days now but told me they have been too busy to start them this week. Fingers crossed they might be ready to take to the polishers by the end of the week. With the engine running, and most bits done I’m itching to get the car down to the test centre for the MOT. It’s most likely that they pick up some inherent “made for USA market” faults and make me go take it away to make it comply with UK market law, so I need to plan time to do any remedial works.

Anyway this lunchtime I ordered up a couple of metres of small metal tube to make the vacuum pipe with.
When I got home this evening I did a little housekeeping in the engine bay and noticed an open tube from the tinware on the drivers side forward of the inlet manifold. I think this is the old warm air take off for the induction. With the twin carbs it isn’t really required so I turned down a spare bit of stainless bar on my lathe and plugged the hole so that any air wouldn’t escape into the engine compartment and instead be redirected over the cylinders.
I also had a tinker with the spring tension on the newly made throttle assembly. I’d made a spring anchor with a threaded end which fits in either of the 4 bearing housing mounting bolt holes. By moving it left or right by a hole, I can adjust the coil spring tension and ultimately the accelerator pedal feel/resistance.
The throttle arms fitted directly on the carbs have their own return coil springs and with the new assembly “safety” spring installed the resistance (when set as I found on the FI) was overall greater than stock as your pressing against two carb springs in addition to the FI springs. Since I cannot safely remove the two carb springs (which is not recommended) I took the Safety spring anchor off tonight and set the tension less by moving it back to another hole. This worked a treat and the pedal feel is much nicer than before.
It’s these little tweaks that I need to make and find over the first few months of usage until I get everything to my liking, fluid and just so!

Day 304

Today, with blustery rain and wind I’ve kept indoors all day (There’s British summer for you) . I took the engine lid out of storage in my attic and started to re-assemble it as I’ll soon be ready to put it back on the car.
First I fitted the two new rubber bump stops to the hinges, followed by the cleaned and refurbished spring rods that hold the lid open under hinge tension. The small plastic clip and screw were cleaned within an inch of its life and fitted back on.
Next I used my Swedish punch set to make the holes in the new rubber T seal for the engine lid grill (that I’d previously fitted the Porsche script too). I then fitted the grill using the cleaned up captive rubber coated washers with a tiny bit of caulking applied to the rear to seal the hole in the engine lid and hopefully prevent any future corrosion due to held water under the washers.
Finally I fitted the new genuine Porsche U trim along the outside edges. I tried alternative suppliers but found only the genuine Porsche seal is the exact size U, nothing else seemed to come close.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20lid%20001_zpsbwrnouay.jpg.html

Tomorrow I plan on getting the water tray out of storage and sorting out the fixings to complete the lid rebuild.

Day 305

Today I picked up a few stainless fixings and this evening I fitted the refurbished water tray to the inside of the engine lid. I discovered why the tray was cracked when I got the car. There should be two bushes in between the tray and the two outer M6 securing bolts. Without them the bolt pulls the tray into the metal pressing and cracks it. I’d repaired the tray and only when looking at the PET last night for the M6 bolt lengths did I see the Bushes. These were missing from my car. I can only guess that when the Muppets who carried out the awful respray for the PO back in the past, took the tray off, lost the bushes and bolted it back on pulling up the bolts tight and cracking the water tray.
Anyway, suffice to say I’ve made new ones this evening and bolted on the repaired tray without issue.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20lid%20finished%20001_zpsox1zxjjo.jpg.html


The grille I fitted last night with the rubber T seal was causing me some concern. The last and first inch of the seal has to have the bottom return lip cut off to clear the lid pressing. This means with a 914rubber seal (unlike a more rigid plastic original seal) it seems to just flap around as it’s too flexible. Last night I masked it up, after posting on here, and injected a tiny amount of Tigerseal between grill and lid at each end of the seal and stuck it back in. With a small bit of masking tape to hold it in place I left it to dry until today.
With the tape removed it was held perfectly in place with no Tigerbond visible. No more flapping about and hanging out.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20lid%20finished%20002_zpswpapatb6.jpg.html



So that was Month 10……

Despite all the setbacks from the TIA, the Consultant thankfully found no lasting brain damage. I’m still having many ongoing tests and have to stick with the Medication and low cholesterol diet until they can find what caused it.

The good news after a month is that I can drive again. For someone who’s raison d'être is cars, it’s the best news ever!

Progress on the 914 has been good in cramped conditions and bad weather setbacks, the whole underside is restored and repainted, front suspension and brakes refurbished, rebuilt and back on. Wheels part restored and the wheel bolts refurbished. A little self indulgence was had on making a neat 316 Stainless Steel fuel manifold for the Carbs in the engine bay; and the engine lid was re-assembled.

We only have 2 months left now before the end of this 12 month Build-off Challenge and I’m on track to have the car tested by the UK Ministry of Transport so that after many years sitting un-used it can be returned to the road and enjoyed again.

Thanks yet again for taking time out to read my thread. I hope you find it interesting.

Posted by: 3d914 Jul 24 2016, 05:32 PM

Awesome job, Darren. Glad you're on the rebound health wise. This will be a sweet ride to enjoy for many years.

Posted by: theleschyouknow Jul 27 2016, 09:19 AM

wow. just wow
just read the whole saga over the last few days
great build great documentation
your persistence and attention to detail is amazing, if a bit over the top!
holding a good thought for your continued recovery


cjl

Posted by: gereed75 Aug 2 2016, 08:31 PM

I read with continued amazement. Continued good health to you.

Your level of craftmanship is off the charts

Posted by: Vysoc Aug 10 2016, 10:00 AM

Wow Darren, you are really an inspiration to all of us.

Stay healthy....unbelievable work and documentation!!!

Vysoc

Posted by: Darren C Aug 29 2016, 12:40 PM

Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated.

There’s been a lot of good progress this last month with the other challengers build off threads, some impressive work going on out there!

Month 11


Day 306

This morning I started by very carefully painting the retaining nuts holding the Porsche script letters black through the grill so the couldn’t be seen so easily. The originals were black as far as I know, but the Porsche superceded nuts came BZP and could be seen through the grill which played on my OCD, so they needed to be blacked out.
At lunchtime I checked in on the wheels at the bead blasting company. They’d promised to start them yesterday so I thought I’d see how things were going. Not finished yet so will try in a few days. Today the fine pipe turned up in the mail for the vacuum advance tube I plan to make.
This evening I spent a good few hours with some fine gas welding rods to bend up a “pipe wire” the guide I plan to use for bending the pipe. I tried a few options before coming up with what I think is the neatest route where the pipe can be clipped easily at even spaces and doesn’t offend the eye or obstruct anything in the engine bay.
For the sake of a good vacuum advance/retard curve I’ve retained the original distributor. Most people swap them out (with all good intention) to a centrifugal type. These are ok to a point but never match the original advance curve exactly and can cause issues at certain revs with timing. With my twin carb modification the Webers that I’ve used have vacuum ports. The key here is to use BOTH carbs vacuum ports linked in one pipe to stop “pulsation” that sometimes occurs when your only running a vacuum advance from one bank of cylinders in a Boxer engine.
With the pipe wires made up tonight I hope to start bending my new pipe tomorrow.

Day 307

Today was another manic Friday. I did however manage to get a blanking disc made to fit in the centre of the alloy wheels (about 77mm diameter) to help the metal polishers keep on track.
I also started to bend the new vacuum advance pipe to match the wire I’d bent last night. I need to check & double check one end of the wire for the driver side as the welding rod I used was too short for the complete length (it exceeds 1m between carbs). I started to venture out of my shed and over to the garage tonight just after 9pm and had second thoughts due to the drop in temperature; so returned to bending pipe and sorting out some nice stainless rubber lined P clips to hold it in place.

Day 308

Today I took my son out for more driving lessons, he did really well and by noon we’d been out almost 4 hours so called it a day and dropped him off back at his mom’s house..
I carried on this afternoon with the vacuum pipe. Taking a few things off the car to have good access I went too & fro from garage to shed getting the bending just right for a perfect fit.
I marked up the area nearest the dizzy and cut a short piece of pipe to make a tee and silver brazed it in place for a very strong joint. Next I ran a small drill down the pipe to create an opening inside the tee.
After sanding it all down, dressing the braze with needle files and a final rub with red scotchbrite; I gave it a paint indoors in the warm with satin black engine enamel.

It doesn't look much, but figuring out a neat route for the pipe to avoid all obstacles and make sure it doesn't obscure service stuff, plus pick up on tinware screws for the P clamps was no mean feat.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/porsche%20914%20vac%20pipe%20001_zpssaqzp1np.jpg.html

Day 309

Today I fitted the vacuum pipe using a flashlight, it’s no fun in a tiny ex council garage with no power & heat in the dark I can tell you!
The pipe fitted a treat held in place with the new rubber lined Stainless P clips.
If the temperature doesn’t start to rise a little I’m going to struggle working out there in the evenings after work. Fortunately I have only the engine lid to fit back on the car now, then it’s the wait for the wheels to be finished and I should be good to go!

Day 310

Today I did call the blasters and they told me they were in the middle of working on the wheels and they should be blasted (between the area’s to polish) by the end of the week. Hmmmm, I’ve heard that before somewhere?
During the engine lid rebuild I wanted to fit the rubber “L” bracket to my car to prevent the boot hitting the engine lid. I’d purchased the rubber part from Mark at 914rubber way back in the summer with the other bits but had no metal bracket to support it.
Internet and UK parts searches had thrown up the part as discontinued so I thought I’d make one.
Not having the part and only some low res pictures off google, I spoke to Kevin a fellow UK 914 owner who did me a smashing drawing with photo of two brackets he’s hoarding.

Here’s a copy of the picture he emailed me and his brackets. (The one I’m missing)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/engine%20lid%20bracket1_zpsewsfunkz.jpg.html

This was all I needed to make my own.

This morning I got up a few hours before work and with the aid of a warm air blower spent a couple of hours in my shed before dawn and started to fashion some heavy duty spare metal plate in to a form press to make the missing bracket.
Now I guess at this point someone is going to tell me they have one that I can have; but to be fair the fun and satisfaction for me is in making one. (sad I know)
After work this evening I carried on with filing and checking, welding and dressing the form press parts in my new Imagineering quest.
To be fair this evening I was only going to post a couple of sentences in this thread saying “spent 5 hours in shed filing” or something similar, but hey, I thought post a picture because no one ever realises when I explain something as mundane as an angle bracket, the sort of effort that goes into it.
So with the two parts of the form press roughly measured and made, the next stage tomorrow will be to machine a locating dowel (for the hole to hold the metal precisely in the die while pressing) and a strongback with matching dowel hole for the other plate to lock upper and lower forms together while pressing.
Eager to see how things would work out and to understand the press “shrinkage” I was going to get (so that I could make the actual plate that forms the bracket wider to start with so that when pressed it will be the exact size) I trial pressed a piece of scrap Zintec sheet.
I’m quite pleased with the result as a first trial, there’s maybe another few hours refining the form press but it’s pretty much where it needs to be to make a nice “pattern” bracket.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bump%20stop_zpsfjrtbr8z.jpg.html

Day 311

Today's 914 escapades started at lunchtime when I picked up some slightly longer M6 stainless Cheese heads from the iron mongers. The new throttle bracket I made and a couple of the P clips holding the vacuum pipe barely go in a few turns now as they pass through extra parts so my plan is to swap them over for longer sets.
This evening I had a parcel arrive. It was from Auto Atlanta (about time too) with two new deflectors in. These are the plastic parts that hang under the car just in front of the engine. One of mine was missing (apart from a broken bit of it left, held on with the screws). I opened the parcel with great expectation but my smile turned into a frown. The quality was again very poor. Obviously a back street molded part. Air bubbles and pieces where the plastic hadn’t flowed into the mold properly. I’m beginning to think (from bitter experience) that 99% of Auto Atlanta reproduction parts are like this. They must employ Stevie Wonder to make them and wear mittens for quality control.
Hey ho, at least they weren’t expensive unlike the speaker grilles. I think I’ll repair and tidy up the best one of the two and just replace my missing one.
I decided to take my mind off things and head for the shed.
Using some more scrap plate I cut and welded a strong back onto one half of the form press I made last yesterday. I then turned down a M8 bolt to give a 6mm dowel and tapped out the other half of the form press. Lining the two halves together I carefully measured and drilled the strongback to accept the dowel bolt.
With a second piece of Zintec of the correct thickness, I bent it at 90 and drilled a 6mm hole to take the dowel. This “Locked” it into the form press and because I’d made a threaded dowel, as I pressed the zintec in the form press (using my large vice) I could back off (unwind) the dowel so that both halves of the form press could close fully without the dowel hitting the jaw of my vice.
The result was perfect. Superb definition and no distortion in the zintec as it couldn’t slip & slide like my first trial piece. The shrinkage on the width was a whopping 7mm (calculated from the first trial) so with the second zintec sheet cut 7mm too wide, it finished at a spot on width.
Finally I opened up the 6mm dowel hole to a 7mm slot and radiused the corners and folded the 5mm angle on the bottom to complete the missing bracket.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bump%20stop2%20001_zpspu8gpzjb.jpg.html

I’m really pleased with the result.

This evening I cut a few extra long tinware screws down to an exacting length for the vacuum pipe P clips, rub down the small angle bracket and give it a coat of etch primer before sticking it in the oven in my kitchen to bake.
Fingers crossed tomorrow I can pick up the wheels from the blasters.

Day 312

Today I’ve been tinkering with jet sizes in the carbs and painted the newly made engine lid bump stop bracket a satin black over yesterdays etch primer and fitted it along with the rubber part to the engine lid, perfect!
I then had a play with the Carb intake trumpets. I’d bought some nice billet turned ally ones and with messing about with the jets the otherday noticed that the flange on their base overhung the main jet holes just enough to make you have to take the trumpets off to unscrew the mains. This was obviously a faff, so I took them off and filed a neat semi-circular cut out in the flange to clear the jets and refitted them.
I then spent a few hours making one good underbody air deflector flap from two poorly molded Auto Atlanta replacements and tapped out the 3 mounting holes M5 to finish.
With the wind and rain picking up, I went back out to the garage and got under the car to remove the old remaining part of the broken off air deflector. I had to unclip the fuel pipes to get the old bolts out but once off I gave the area a damn good clean. The underside got touched in with stone guard and behind the fuel pipes above got a good coat of clear waxoil. All this should hopefully be dry by the morning so that I can bolt on the “remanufactured” air deflector.
As promised in between todays escapades I took a few photos in daylight (very dark cloudy daylight) of the engine bay to show the fitted vacuum advance pipe I made last week to sit neatly on the engine.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20view%20003_zpsmajynskk.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20view%20002_zps3p9im0ln.jpg.html

Day 313

Today was a busy day with more driving lessons with my son, working on my Audi A4 daily driver (fixing the tailgate latch flap cover and putting another coat of paint on the 4 new brake disc/rotors ready to fit them) while trying to keep things pinned down in the very blustery wind.

I did manage to get the remanufactured AA air deflector fitted to the underside of the 914 and another coat of waxoil over the bolt heads!
With any luck the wheels might just be ready from the blasters tomorrow.

Day 314

Today was a long day.
I was out of the house and off to work by 6am and I have only just got in at 11:25pm !
Straight from work I had a car club committee meeting that went on a while.
Anyway the good news is that I managed to pick the wheels up from the blasters and it was well worth the wait as they’ve done an excellent job and understood everything asked of them.

This is “Stage 4” of the wheel restoration.

Stage 1……. was the clean, scrub and cif to get the dirt grime and brake dust off after the tyres were removed including hours of scraping with soft aluminium home made scrapers to get the black tyre bead marks and old wheel weights & stick foam off the rims. This left cleanish wheels with a good amount of surface corrosion on the rear inside rims.

Stage 2……. was to bead blast the rears to remove the corrosion and leave an even finish, plus cleaning them perfectly ready for Stage 3 (which they would only do with clean wheels)

Stage 3……. was the electrochemical stripping of the anodising.

Stage 4……. was the removal of all marks, scratches and damage to the dull areas of the wheels in between the polished rim and petals, including slip scratches from wheel braces, PO scraping off scratches from old wheel weight removal when the tyres had been changed and the removal of screwdriver lever marks from old centre cap removals.
Here’s a couple of pictures from tonight after bringing them into the house.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stage%202%20wheels%20001_zpsunbwdbg3.jpg.html

This is still bare metal, no anodised coatings or paint.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stage%202%20wheels%20003_zpsi9hjkndj.jpg.html

Stage 5….. will be the Polishing of the appropriate areas only and 6 the re anodising.
Tomorrow I need to spend a few hours tweaking the polishing templates and centre discs I’ve already made before I’m happy to drop them off at the polishers.

Day 315


Before work and after this evening I’ve been working on the polishing template/guards.
I plan to drop all the wheels off at the polishers in the morning so needed to make sure all the polishing templates were a good fit. Time spent on this is well worth it for a good lasting result.
The first template is 2mm steel and solid so it wont deform. This sits flat and level in the wheel and I designed it to be used purely to polish the outer rim and leave a neat line between polished and matt alloy to match the original.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20wheel%20templates%20002_zpskh0pf4ka.jpg.html

The second template is 1.5mm aluminium that I have worked by hand into a convex dish (using my panel rollers) to sit perfectly around the petals. This is for polishing the petals only. I also made two centre discs to sandwich the middle of the wheel to aid petal polishing and a “spring” ring to sit inside the rim to stop the polishers catching the matt area.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20wheel%20templates%20001_zpshreelaib.jpg.html

With the aid of 14mm bolts everything is locked in place so that the polished shapes are uniform around and between each wheel.
I’ll load them up in the morning and drop them off before work.

They form a kinda “idiots guide” for the polishers and should provide mm perfect accuracy and match across all 5 wheels when they are worked on the polishing wheels. It also means it costs me less money at the polishers as I’ve made it real easy for them.

Day 316

I dropped the wheels off at the polishers today. The bloke took one look and said with a sharp intake of breath "oooo they're a bit fiddly!"

"Fiddly, fiddly!”
After all my effort in making the templates so they can go wild with the polishing heads without getting it wrong, the chap thinks they're fiddly?
Just a load of twaddle imho to justify him trying to charge me more money!

Well, we'll have to see. He thinks he'll get one polished by the end of the week for me to inspect.

Until then tonight after work I'm tinkering with rebuilding/refurbishing the whole braking system on my Audi A4 wonder bus that I bought the other weekend to replace my Volvo V70.

Day 317

Today was manic, driving lessons with my son at 8am. We went along Southsea front and it was so stormy a wave hit the sea wall and crashed right across road and the little Morris Traveller. Suffice to say we gave it a good wash when we got home to clear the saltwater stains!
The rest of the day was dedicated to full brake replacement inc hoses, discs & calipers on the new Audi. Needs must on the daily driver.
Anyway a few more 914 tinkering bits turned up in the mail including these….

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20jets_zpsmrtyewjm.jpg.html

So there's still stuff to play with while waiting for the wheels and working on the Audi!

Day 318

Today I visited the polishers......
4 out of 5 wheels done
They look AWESOME !

The last one should be finished tomorrow so off to the anodisers Friday.
I'll take my camera tomorrow so I can take some pictures.

Day 319

Yesterday I called in at the polishers but they hadn't quite finished the last wheel.

Today I called in and collected them in my van.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20wheels%20polished%20003_zpslvx6amii.jpg.html

They look perfect.
I took them down to the anodisers straight away. They need to fully chemically degrease them and remove any residue polish and dirty finger marks prior to the final clear anodise process. This will protect and calm them down ever so lightly to match the original finish.
Part of me would like to leave them this high mirror polish finish, but with salt on UK roads they’d just corrode real quick. I’ve opted to get them re-anodised to help stop this and get them back to factory fresh finish.
Hopefully they’ll be done tomorrow, it’s a quick process.

Day 320

This morning I loaded up the 5 x new Michelin tyres and took them into work. I called the anodisers this morning to see if the wheels were ready to pick up at lunchtime. The plan was to take them straight over in my lunchbreak to get the tyres fitted.
Unfortunately they were still in the tank as they hadn’t gone in until late this morning.
I got to collect them late this afternoon.
It was quite a surprise to see them at the end of this long process. The wheels had “toned down” massively from the highly polished finish they arrived with to what I can only describe as a dull satin. Apart from all the kerb marks, corrosion on the rear, chips and scratches (that have all been removed now) the wheels don’t look at all like they’ve been refurbished.
Part of me quite liked the very chrome-shiny look before anodising and is sorry to see it lost, but thinking long and hard about what I see before me now, I’ve achieved the goal I wanted….the fact that they look like they haven’t been refurbished at all!
The only down side today is that by the time I’d dropped them off at the tyre fitters this evening it was too late today for them to fit the tyres.

Day 321

Today I did a little fettling on the 914 (after working on my son’s car and my Audi).
In anticipation for the wheels arriving home with tyres on, I wound back the track rod arm lock nuts on both ends and unscrewed the link rod. Everything got a good coat of copper grease and re-assembled. I'll need to get the tracking done when the car goes in for MOT so today's exercise was to ensure it can be done with the lightest of touch and little effort at the garage.
I also went around and under the car with a fine tooth comb and a tiny brush touching in a few bits and bobs.
With any luck I'll get the wheels back from the tyre fitters tomorrow. My friend runs the tyre shop and He knows I want a good job with balance weights on the rear of the rims so they look neat from the front. I’d rather wait a day than get a bad job or a damaged rim.

Day 322

Today I finally got the wheels home with tyres fitted.

Not that it all went to plan, that is…..I telephoned the tyre fitters this morning and they said they’d be done for 5pm today. This scuppered the planned lunchtime pick up, so I worked through and left half an hour early.
After fighting through the rush hour traffic I arrived at the garage and collected my wheels, arriving home this evening after 7pm in the miserable dark & rain I carefully placed the wheels in my No1 heated & dehumidified posh garage (attached to my house) to spend the night.
I’ve taken a few photo’s of the finished wheels.
Please excuse the tyres, they’re covered in that soapy stuff used to fit them still and soapy dirty fingerprints around the holes in the alloys from the fitters (and me) lifting the wheels around. I was going to wash them off but in the hammering rain and darkness outside I’ll leave it until the morning when I can see to do a better job.
As explained a few days ago I was quite taken aback on how they’ve come out after the clear anodising. With the test meter we measured consistently North of 20 microns so they are far, far better protected than they were new.
At first sight I thought they looked as if they hadn’t been refurbished at all, which was a little disappointing considering all the effort.

Then the penny dropped….That’s because I have followed the original processes to a T, so they should look like this.

So to further talk myself into this theory and support the synopsis I started to google old factory pictures (or what I thought to be old).

For some reason I’d gotten it in my mind that there was a stark contrast in light and dark between the polished and un polished surfaces (as in the photo of them in the back off my van leaving the polishers) but in reality it is all about how light hits the wheel, after all its all the same alloy, just a contrast between a smooth and textured surface.
Bingo! In some light and angles the wheels look all one shade and in others the texture strikes a contrast.
So after much ado (and waffle) here’s what all 5 wheels looked like tonight under the light of my No1 garage, seemingly one shade….

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20finished%20wheels%20002_zps9hdekvho.jpg.html

When laid flat and with the camera at an angle so the light hits the wheel in the horizontal you get the contrast. (This is the difficulty of taking pictures on a dark night under strip lights and camera flash)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20finished%20wheels%20007_zpswrveiuwd.jpg.html

So that’s hopefully (an OCD as best as you’ll get in the UK) refurbishment of the 914 Fuchs wheel!

Day 323

I couldn’t wait until the weekend to wash and clean the wheels to get the tyre fitters paw prints and soap off. I gave them a good clean this morning (in the dark before work) and finished them off this evening (again in the dark). After a chamois I brought them into the house to dry.
Off into one of my sheds and unpacked the nice new centre caps that I got in the summer with my large order to 914rubber. I’d taken one over to the anodisers to use their special meter to check firstly if they’d been anodised at all and to what thickness.
The chap said they’d had a chemical brightening process before between 6 & 8 microns of clear anodise applied.
I considered having them re-anodised to a thicker coat but the chap said that he couldn’t do that without dulling them down a little because he couldn’t replicate the chemical brightening on site. After a little thought I decided to leave them as supplied. They’re a relatively cheap item so if in 5 years they corrode with UK salt on the roads I can just buy some more.
Tonight I went over the 5 wheels and selected the one to be the spare then fitted the centre caps to the remaining 4. These were bloomin tight to get in, even with a little PH neutral soft soap, in the end I had to use a block of softwood and mallet to get them in. Hopefully they won’t fall out easily!
I couldn’t resist placing the bolts in the holes loosely to see how they looked.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20finished%20wheels2%20003_zpsziaus1ow.jpg.html

Day 324

As I was off work today I decided to take advantage and get the wheels fitted to the car. I got up at dawn (before the rain swept in) and started by coating the mounting faces with a very light smear of copper grease. This should stop them sticking to the brake discs over time and help prevent corrosion.
I carried each wheel in turn out of the house down the road and into the garage block in a wheel relay race to beat the rain clouds. All inside the garage (a bit cosy I can tell you as there’s hardly room to squeeze down each side of the car let alone do it with 4 wheels in the way) I set about copper greasing the newly plated wheel bolts and sitting them neatly on 4 sheets of kitchen paper roll by each hub.
Having checked the owners handbook for the torque setting (for 39mm long bolts) I set my wrench and fitted all 4 wheels before finally removing the axle stands to drop the car onto the floor and torque the bolts up.
Apologies for the dark pictures but it was raining and I didn’t want to push the car out of the narrow garage.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/xmas1_zpsj0ru3fjt.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/xmas%20010_zpsa2ku5r1u.jpg.html

Within minutes of opening the garage door this morning the car (freezing cold from overnight) began to condense moisture over every surface from the warm humid air entering the garage. By the time the wheels were fitted the car, to my dismay, was dripping wet with condensation! I chamois it off but it fogged up straight after so there was nothing I could do until it physically warmed up to the outside temperature.
I retired to my shed and unpacked the front undertray that I’d had previously blasted and powder coated. With the axle stands now removed and back into the shed I could fit the tray over the steering rack. I’d got some rubber trim from UK supplier Woolies, they list it as “mudflap” trim, some call it feather or lip edge, but it’s the same stuff as original. The lip on the Woolies trim is about 4mm wider than the old trim, but apart from that its identical. I’d put the trim on the undertray in the same orientation as the old one that came off, but had to admit the old one didn’t look great when it was on the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/xmas%20007_zpsqkosamb6.jpg.html

I fitted the tray after cleaning up and waxoiling the bolts, but wasn’t happy with the fit of the seal to the car underside. Lying under the car looking at it I pondered for a while (while watching the suspension arms slowly fog up with condensation!) and decided to take the tray back off, remove the seals, flip them over and refit the tray.
Perfect!
With the seals reversed the curl in the lip met the underside of the car and followed the contours perfectly to close all gaps.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/xmas%20011_zpsx4ikpmjv.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/xmas%20013_zpsgujetptb.jpg.html

With the axle stands gone I went around and did a little underbody guard paint touching up just as the wind and rain moved up a gear so I called it a day as the wind kept lifting and rattling the half open “up and over” door allowing the rain to blow all over the rear of the car! Lets hope the weather gets better tomorrow.

Day 325

Today I was up and out before dawn to attend a classic car show in Wickham Square, North of Fareham (An old medieval village about 20 miles form Chichester). There’s always a varied turnout of cars and today was no exception. My favourite car of the day had to be a lovely burgundy 912, with a 3 letter 3 digit 912 licence plate. Anyway I had a nice day out and the weather stayed dry for once which helped.
I got home mid afternoon and straight on to the 914.
I took the carbs apart and fitted my new 32mm venturi’s in place of the 28’s, reduced the air correctors to 175’s and the mains to 125’s.
The engine ran up easy then as it was warming through it started to splutter and died?
Since I’d fitted a fuel return, when the engine stopped I couldn’t hear the pump?
Hmmm, lifted relay cover and took out the Brand new genuine Porsche relay and swapped it with an old one that came with the car, pump ran up again….bloomin annoying.
I did notice that the large voltage regulator fastened to the relay board had got a very hot bracket where it screws onto the relay board (not the dome cover, just the brackets)??? I’m wondering now if its on the blink or I’m getting excess voltage (which might have killed the new pump relay?) or that's actually normal?
The gauge on the dash shows a shade over 14V when running so on initial inspection seems ok. I need to get my meter on it tomorrow in the daylight.
With the relay swapped over I ran up the car and all was good again, apart from a hot reg bracket, but I need to fine tune it now as I have suspicions on the timing as I’ve not checked that since buying the car.
More jobs for tomorrow.

Day 326

This morning, making use of the dry weather, I sorted a few jobs out on my Audi before mid morning then moved onto the 914.

All went well first thing. I turned the engine over by hand (spanner on the alternator nut) and revealed the timing marks on the fan. I gave them a degrease with a small paint brush soaked in cellulose thinners, before using a very fine modellers brush to paint the thin line white. I carefully continued this across the fan blade to cover the width of the fan in a bright thin white line.
With the relay replaced yesterday I started the engine and warmed it through. The alternator output was checked and by meter was 13.44 volts so no issue there, which was a relief.
Next I set and checked the timing to the 27 degrees mark at 3500rpm with the vac pipe off. It was a tiny bit out but nothing to shout about. With it reset spot on I did up the clamp and put my strobe light away just as a friend turned up with his dwell meter.
A quick check of the dwell and it was all good at 45 degrees.
I was just about to fine tune the idle speed and the engine died, just like yesterday?
Today in daylight I could see better than yesterday evening and after initially suspecting the relay (I took it out and tested it….but it was ok) I noticed the fuse on the relay board looked burnt.
On closer inspection it had blown but in a heated slow way which meant that the two halves touched when cold and parted when hot. This was causing the issue yesterday. When the engine was cold it ran up, when it warmed through it parted and cut the engine out.
This was a 25A fuse, so something was amiss?
I spent the afternoon chasing myself around in circles and discovered a partial earth on the 87 pin of the fuel pump relay connection in the relay board when the 14 pin plug (nearest the bulkhead) was disconnected?
At first I thought it must be a fault in the relay board so removed it from the car for testing but all seemed good. After a bit of head scratching and staring at the Haynes wiring diagram I noticed in very fine print, a take off from the fuel pump relay pin 87 (built into the relay board) that feeds pin 12 on the 12 pin connector at the rear of the relay board (nearest the boot). This has a white wire that feeds the FI Supplementary Air Valve that I’d removed when fitting the Carbs. Inadvertently when I reconnected up the main wiring loom I’d got one spare male spade in a single housing and one female spade from Temperature sender II that were both located by the coil. With everything reconnected and the FI loom off the car I’d foolishly connected these two wires together on the basis that they were the only two connectors left and were the correct position on the engine as the loom lay to joint together. WRONG!
So in reality I’d put a resistance to earth on pin 87 of the Fuel pump relay via the Supplementary Air Valve cable…Doh! It was a slow heat of the fuse on the relay board that eventually blew it.
Having realised my mistake I disconnected the wire just as my friend who was googling “blown fuse on 914 relay board” came up with a short on the Supplementary Air Valve wire!
Suffice to say I swapped the fuse over for a 16 Amp (instead of a 25A) as I have no rear heated window and to give a better earlier indication of any future faults.
It wasn’t a relay after all, just a self made error.
The voltage regulator still runs warm to the touch, but as there’s a vent opening under it in the relay board and I’m measuring 13.44V, I suspect that its normal to run warm but not hot?
On the bright side though....I have the carbs running sweetly. No nasty spitting back or popping that you usually get as a compromise with Carb conversions.

Just need to sort out the advance curve now on the dizzy.

Day 327

After the weekends tinkering and setting up of the Carbs and timing etc I wanted to get the vacuum advance working on the original Distributor as changing to a fully centrifugal (which most people do) has its issues with flat spots and poor mpg.
That said if I can’t get the original vacuum advance to work with these carbs then I may still need to go down the centrifugal route, but not before trying
Currently with all the tinkering at the weekend the car runs well with the vacuum plugged. Connect it up with my new pipe and the car runs worse?
This got me thinking and reading up on line articles and also some old 1970’s Weber books I have.
I think the issue is that the new carbs have a single vacuum port with a short stub pipe on each carb and the original FI took the vacuum from the combined manifold at the chamber.
The pipes on the IDF are “ported” vacuum take off, which isn’t quite the same as manifold or “direct” vacuum.
The ported vacuum take off is shown highlighted in red below and is a 15mm long 5mm diameter pipe sticking out from the carb.
http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/weber_idf_ports_zps7vxniaoz.jpg.html

There’s plenty of conflicting information on the internet and reading numerous articles just confuses you more. Many people advise to drill and tap a point in the intake manifolds to get a “direct” vacuum but there is already provision for this on the IDF that most people forget (arrowed as "vacuum ports"). There are two plugs next to the two mixture screws for manifold vacuum take off.
Problem is buying something that fits these (most vendors don’t understand what you want) so tonight after work I set about making some on the lathe.
After removing a blank plug and id-ing the thread as M4, I cut down four 20mm pieces of stainless 5mm diameter bar left over from making the throttle linkages.
The next stage was to face off chamfer and machine a 5mm length on the end, down to 4mm diameter and under cut the shoulder to 3.3mm and cut an M4 thread on it.
Next I faced off the other end and drilled a 3.2mm hole 13mm deep. This was then tapped out to M4 to a depth of 6mm.
The idea is that the plugs that came directly out of the carb to blank the holes will fit exactly the ends of these tubes to blank them. This is to ensure that I have some flexibility in using all or none of these tubes in the end. I plan on experimenting at the weekend with my bank of 4 vacuum test gauges to see and measure exactly what’s happening at the new “direct” manifold and at the carb “ported” tubes.
Finally to finish off the new manifold vacuum pipes I drilled the last 7mm in length at 2mm diameter through the middle of the M4 male thread to ensure it still has a decent wall thickness and strength.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20vac%20tubes%20002_zpsfpjgvzoj.jpg.html

It was difficult getting a good focus on the camera as these are so small!

Day 328

Today I thought I’d investigate the vacuum/timing characteristics of my car in an attempt to understand the optimum method for ignition timing and use of vacuum advance with a standard dizzy using Weber 40idf carbs.

As I’ve said before, it would be nice to keep the original dizzy (if I can get it to work well) with the carb conversion. It’s a bit like one of those Top Gear challenge specials. I have a fully centrifugal 009 with 050 advance curve lurking in a box in my shed. If I can’t get the original dizzy to work well, then the box is opened.

The first thing I did today was take out the Weber manifold vacuum plugs and fit my new tubes on cylinders 1 & 2.

Next I connected vacuum test hoses to these points (leaving the “ported” vac pipe still plugged and my blue “bespoke” vac pipe disconnected)

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20vac%20test%20003_zpsoxjenjwl.jpg.html

The hoses were run to my Carb Synchroniser panel gauges 1 & 2.
I then connect gauge 4 to the carb on banks 3 & 4; to its single ported vac pipe and ran up the engine with no connection to the vac diaphragm on the dizzy (as you do to time the car).
After warming through and sitting a tad below 900 rpm I could measure the vacuum in the intake manifolds of cylinders 1 & 2 and the ported vacuum of the carb on bank 3 & 4.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20vac%20test%20001_zpsdxlvcxir.jpg.html

To my surprise I had a reading on 1 & 2 and nothing from the ported vac pipe on the carb over 3 & 4 ??

Hmmm. The balance on 1 & 2 was fine, but zero on the carb ported pipe.

I gently rev’d the engine to around 1200rpm and from about 1000 upwards I started to get a reading on gauge 4 from the ported carb vac.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20vac%20test%20002_zpsvmpxkb0z.jpg.html

Not a great vacuum but watching and comparing “ported” with “direct” (manifold) vacuum, the results are that my 2.0L engine has manifold vac from idle to around 1500 RPM which peaks around 1000 and drops off to zero as the carb reaches about 15% open. The ported vac however, starts at zero when at idle, then slowly increases up to 1100RPM where it balances out with the direct vac (as that decreases) so overall the maximum ported vac is much less that the manifold vac at idle. It’s not a very good vacuum and only present for a short period of time.
Interestingly with the timing set at 27 degrees BTDC at 3500 with vac pipes disconnected as per instructions; the timing at idle is barely 2 degrees BTDC (with vac pipe disconnected). With the vac pipe connected using manifold vacuum to the pipe on the dizzy diaphragm closest to the body it pulls the diaphragm at idle to just past TDC, retarded by a degree or so (hard to tell without markings)
Since this is the “factory standard” diaphragm pipe to use for the 2.0L with the other pipe (furthest from the dizzy body) left unused, I’m quite surprised by the findings?
I’d have expected it to be a few degrees BTDC? More investigation required.

Day 329

Looking on line I got a factory timing table for 1.7 & 1.8. but expect that the 2.0L is different.
However it does show an advance timing at idle. (The vac measurements are pretty much what I'm reading in mm)
From a little digging I've been told the timing of a 2.0L at idle is "around" TDC. It's not really where you measure it as the "books" state 27 BTDC at 3500rpm, and give no indication of where it should be at idle.
Having timed my car this way and used manifold vacuum to the diaphragm pipe on the dizzy nearest the body (the one you call the retard pipe) which is where it should be on a 2.0L; my gut feeling based on how the cars running now, is that I would benefit from a few more degrees of advancement at idle.
This is all obviously my own doing by converting to carbs from FI with a stock cam.

I'm sure I've got it running and timed by the book (including the correct dwell which can give 3 or so degrees of timing adjustment).
It's my OCD that's maybe making me look for something thats not there; combined with my experience of tuning multiple engines in the past that gives me this gut feeling that with these Webers fitted I need a few more degrees of advance at idle to optimise what I've built.
If it ever stops raining today I plan on trying the vac pipe connected to the other (unused on a 2.0L) pipe on the diaphragm. This is the one that folk normally use and refer to as the "vacuum advance". In reality I believe this is the "ported" vac pipe connection, and the one your calling the retard, is the one used for "direct" or manifold vacuum.
The early carb cars used both. Working on that basis it gave you a pull on the inner diaphragm chamber at idle, a pull on both around 1200RPM and nothing after 15% throttle on either. Looking at this logically all it did in effect was offer vacuum at idle and no vacuum early on in the throttle opening as one balanced out the other. This nips the vacuum in the bud at low throttle but seems its loaded in favour of retarding timing at idle. If I play about and put my "direct" vacuum on the outer diaphragm pipe only I'll think I'll initially get what I'm looking for but may get a little too much advancement between 1100-1200rpm.
It's going to be interesting to measure and document all this as I can't currently find any record anywhere of this data.

So after writing my daily diary today, it got the better of me and I had to go back into the garage!

Just been tinkering/experimenting in the garage this evening. It finally stopped raining!
So here’s what I’ve found today.
If the manifold “direct” vacuum is applied to the outer pipe on the distributor diaphragm (against the standard Factory installation) I get my “in my mind”, ideal advancement at idle, running about 4 degrees BTDC at 900 rpm.
Trouble is that as the engine revs the 27 degrees BTDC mark is reached way too early (2000 rpm) and overshoots to give excessive advancement above 2000 rpm.
So I cant place the manifold vac pipe on the outer pipe of the distributor diaphragm.

On a whim I rigged up a second vac pipe from some spare hose with a Tee and connected it up to the Weber ported vac tubes (the brass one) that's in the initial photo had the blue hose attached. I paired up each Weber ported vac tube and connected that to the outer diaphragm pipe and left the manifold vac hose connected to the inner diaphragm pipe. (As per an early 1.7L carb car)
Sceptical if this would work with a 2.0L distributor, I ran up the engine.
Bingo!
I kept a nice 5 degrees or so (hard to quantify without a scale) advancement BTDC at idle and as I gently rev’d the engine up to 3500 rpm it made the 27 degree mark right on target!
I may have answered my own question. As seen yesterday by gauge, the ported vac rise eventually matches the direct vacuum so cancelling each other out early and preventing advancement past the 27 deg BTDC.

It certainly looks like the best ignition timing installation for Weber twin carbs on a stock cam 2.0L using the stock distributor is to run both a ported and direct vacuum pipe (like Porsche did on the earlier cars) after all.

Problem now is I need to make a second one of those nice bespoke vacuum pipes to run between my carbs ported vac take offs and the outer distributor diaphragm pipe!

Day 330

When oh when are we going to have a day without horrendous wind, rain and hail?

Anyway having got soaked 3 times today and having to work in darkness at 1:30pm in the afternoon, I managed to make up a new “ported” vacuum pipe out of 4mm copper pipe.
This is to be a permanent pipe to replace the loose rubber hose I ran last week while tinkering with timing and vacuum advance.
I got the parts delivered through last week and brazed on a Tee pipe next to the dizzy and sleeves on each end to increase the diameter to 5mm at the Carb ends to match the Weber ported vac tubes. The pipe was purposely chosen at 4mm diameter to match the port on the dizzy diaphragm.
The outer diaphragm port is 4mm the inner diaphragm port is 5mm. Keeping them factory sizes stops anyone (or even me in a senior moment) getting them mixed up.
Like the first pipe I made for the manifold vacuum, I painted it a nice satin black and carefully bent it to follow the contours of the tinware and held it down with stainless P clips.
Running backwards and forwards down the street with tools, pipe and stuff I got soaked in the heavy rain which wasn’t funny the 3rd time after changing my clothes twice already!
Having pressurised the washer system last weekend (in its first test since rebuild) I had a leak from the Schrader valve core in the hose nearest the bottle. Again I’d pick one up during the week from the tyre fitters so got to change that over today.
Lastly I managed to source some olde fashioned black cloth woven wiring loom insulation tape on line last week. Today I finally managed to re-bind the “Tee” part of the engine loom at the base of the bulkhead in front of the engine fan for that OCD factory fresh look.

Day 331

This weekend was a bit of a landmark date in the restoration of my 914.
After working in the engine bay, fettling, tweaking, imagineering vacuum pipes and tuning to get the engine running well; I finally fitted the last part back on the car……….The engine lid.

A new set of stainless bolts and stainless washers (made on my lathe) were used to hold it in place.
A good amount of adjustment was needed to make sure it was centralised to give an even gap on each side. It also needed adjustment forwards and back to line up exactly the thin seal between metal panel and grille of the lid, to the two fixed matching bits each side of the opening. Too close to the glass and not only is it out of alignment but the lid catches on the hinges and won’t open fully. Too far back and the rear boot lid catches it when opening.
After a bit of faffing around and in between setting the height of the rubber bump stops it was all aligned nicely.
The final job was to fit the striker pin (purposely left until last so while all the adjustments were going on, there was no risk of snapping the lock shut and not being able to open the engine lid if it was misaligned).
Again the striker pin was set to hold the lid down sitting flush on the bumps stops so it wouldn’t rattle with the minimum pressure to help it “pop” up when the cable was pulled, but not too much so as to jam it.

With the lid fitted the car looks instantly complete for the first time since the car arrived in UK.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20lid%20fitted%20003_zpsti5suhsq.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20lid%20fitted%20005_zpslhpgszqb.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20engine%20lid%20fitted%20010_zpsasfrgrya.jpg.html

Lastly this afternoon I took the jack out of storage and started to give it a clean up and repaint ready to go back into the trunk.
All that’s required now is to sit tight for some nice weather so I can drive it around the block to see if there are any last niggles and Ministry of Transport test here we go!

Day 332

In the meantime, a small update today….

Finishing off a few final bits and bobs I repainted the Jack earlier in the week. I also had the old tool kit cleaned up and took the box spanner wheel nut tool, the open ended spanner, tow eye and shaft for the screwdriver down to my local electroplaters.
This lunchtime I collected the tools looking all shiny and new again.
The vinyl roll (late type) was missing from my car presumed lost, so after a bit of searching I only came up with some nice (but wrong, I know) early basket weave ones for sale. Studying a few pictures on line the roll I needed looked very much like my old Boxster one. I got a replacement one off ebay for a few pounds and it scrubbed up really nice (thanks Cif). Albeit it has more pockets than the 914 original its not a bad match overall and comes with a sewn on tie tape rather than a rubber band (plus it's genuine Porsche)

This evening I lightly oiled my newly plated tools and popped them into the tool roll.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20tools_zpsx6cklmd7.jpg.html

Day 333

Today was a BIG landmark day for my little 914.

I’ve been holding out for the good weather to arrive for the MOT. Not only to allow all the salt on the roads to clear, but also to ensure the anniversary of the MOT will fall again next year in the best weather.
So today after a good week of dry sunny weather I drove my 914 for the VERY FIRST TIME (I’d never driven it before) to the MOT Station.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20MOT%20002_zpstz7plbyv.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20MOT%20006_zps1ri7b13n.jpg.html

The rebuilt and RHD converted headlights were aligned to the UK Ministry height and direction.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20MOT%20003_zpsz40bp6cl.jpg.html

After a whole hour of rigorous testing…..

It’s PASSED !!!!!!

The brakes just squeezed in, over the minimum level, but to be fair with all new discs, pads and callipers a 3 mile drive wasn’t enough to bed them in, they started to get better on the way over to my friends workshop afterwards.

Finally this afternoon we set the wheel alignment, to complete the landmark day. The first time in many, many years the little cars been driven, and the first time I've driven a 914!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20MOT%20001_zpswyyl22vp.jpg.html

Now I have a mountain of official paperwork to fill in….

I’d already applied for the forms (called V55/5) as it takes around a month to get them sent out from the UK authorities, so this evening I began to fill them in. Hopefully I’ll get everything straight in the post tomorrow morning to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

They take around 2 weeks to process the paperwork and I should be issued an age related UK licence plate number and UK title for the car.

For now I’m NOT allowed to drive it (other than taking it straight home from the MOT test centre) until the paper work returns and I get licence plates made up.

Day 334

Before the MOT and first drive, I hadn’t been happy with “feel” of the brake pedal. Having bled the system 5 times, using a combination of pressurised bleeder and the old fashioned “up…down” method; the pedal continued to feel soft and creep. This was driving me a little nuts. Each calliper had, had at least 2 litres of fluid bled from it yet the pedal simply didn’t feel right.
So, while waiting for a Title Document to arrive I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new master cylinder. This was most frustrating as the master cylinder on the car was brand new, but after checking the rear calliper clearances 4 time, bleeding the system 5 times, taking the pads in and out to check the pistons and looking everywhere for leaks and finding none, it all kept coming back to a master cylinder issue.

The 2nd new ATE master cylinder arrived today, so early this morning with the aid of a friend I changed the master cylinder.

What a difference!

A nice firm pedal at last!

So there you have it. The first new ATE master cylinder from a reputable supplier was faulty or maybe the seals in the NOS unit had degraded with age.
Fitting a good one has transformed the car. Hopefully this was a one off, but if any of you are planning to fit a new master cylinder, please be aware of this issue.

Anyway, moving forwards, this afternoon I decided to make up a bracket to support a fire extinguisher in the car. Having had a good look around over the last few weeks/months for a suitable mounting place I decided to install it behind the drivers seat at floor level so that the seat can still slide back without obstruction. Not wanting to drill any holes in the car or mark or damage the interior I thought the best solution would be to pick up on the two existing bolts at the base of the rear bulkhead.
Carefully measuring the padded trim and the distance between holes and height from the floor; I came up with a simple design. To stop the bracket squashing and marking the bulkhead trim I turned down two spacer bushes on my lathe. One at 5mm and the other (inner one) at 10mm. This set the bracket frame clear of the padded bulkhead trim and the 5mm offset squared it off to look aesthetically pleasing. The spacer bushes were turned so the outside diameter matched the metal ferrules in the bulkhead trim. All designed so that they clamp firmly without marking.
I then made two angle brackets on which to attach the extinguisher holder.
These had two functions.
1, to sit the extinguisher lower to the floor, just above the carpet so as not to foul the seat, while allowing the original bulkhead screws to used.
2, To turn the extinguisher holder 90 degrees so that to grab it in an emergency it lifts upwards to release (had I just mounted it flat to the bulkhead then it would have needed the seat to have been slid forwards to allow enough space to remove it from the holder. This would be too much of a faff in an emergency, when you just need to grab it)
Finally I welded it all together and dressed up the welds ready for powder coating.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20ext%20bracket_zpskzidhsbo.jpg.html

Day 335

So I dropped it off at the powder coaters this morning before 8am and after work this evening in exchange for a box of tea bags it was nicely blasted and powder coated satin black.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20ext%20bracket2_zpshqh9jwxk.jpg.html

I ordered some over length screws (to fit through the bracket & bushes and be still long enough to fit to the car) on-line on 3 days ago, so hopefully they'll be here tomorrow so I can fit it to the car.

Day 336

The stainless 1 1/2" screws arrived today in the post so this evening I fitted the extinguisher.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20ext%20bracket1%20003_zpsvxtddsmw.jpg.html

Having got the car out of the narrow garage a few times over the last couple of weeks, tweaking and messing with the Carb jets (driving under load always shows up a few niggles you can't see when running stationary) and noticing a few paint issues, I've got it running really sweetly now. I needed the accelerator pump rods adjusting to cover the change from idle to main jets that bogged the car down under load but didn't show while running parked up.

So still waiting for the Title to arrive, I got a little bored this evening so decided I'm going to hand flat and polish ALL the paintwork. It's not a bad paint job, but it generally bugs me to see slight orange peel in places. Tonight I've made a rod for my own back now........by flatting a rear quarter down with 1200 wet & dry.....hand polishing with rubbing paste, finishing paste, then T cut. After 4 hours solid I have a rear quarter that has a glass smooth surface finish now.

Trouble is; it may take me a whole month to do the rest of the car!

So that was Month 11.

For the first time in 8 years this little 914 is up and driving and has been saved and is loved once again….
It’s passed the stringent UK MOT testing and is declared fit for use on UK roads.
I have to wait a couple of weeks now for the Title documents to arrive before I’m able to drive it for the second time ever!

Having worked relentlessly for 11 months, these last 2 weeks are going to be the toughest.

To take my mind off it, I plan on hand flatting and polishing the paintwork. It’s had 6 months to cure and harden, so it’s a good time to get it looking like a $million glass finish paint job!
Another challenge that’ll be in this tiny 16ft x 8ft garage with no power or light……

Thanks again for all your kind words of encouragement and I hope you’re finding my thread interesting.

Regards
Darren

Posted by: Dave_Darling Aug 29 2016, 03:16 PM

Good lord! If I ever wind up able to buy my wife an old Bugatti, I think you'd be the person I chose to restore it! Even over most professional shops!!

--DD

Posted by: Andyrew Aug 29 2016, 07:00 PM

I agree! I would love to be able to have the dedication and time into my project that you did! No corners cut for you!

Congrats on the MOT pass! Now start driving it!

Posted by: Frankvw Sep 2 2016, 04:50 AM

Darren, it is really cool to see/follow the work you are doing. Good to see your health is not holding you back, you are doing a great job.
Thanks for sharing it all with us.
Good you have MOT now, so more driving soon ! Too bad summer is almost over (the little English summer you are having)...
Looking forward to the next updates !

Posted by: jkb944t Sep 2 2016, 05:50 AM

Awesome job on your car! It simply looks amazing!

Jeff B

Posted by: Darren C Sep 13 2016, 05:43 PM

Month 12,

Thanks again guy’s for the kind words. Like I said earlier, there’s some really great work gone on this last 12 months in the 2016 Build-off-Challenge, I’ve really enjoyed seeing and reading others progress on their 14’s.

So on to month 12 and to September 14th final round of judging.

This takes me up to day 350 of my 914 ownership and 11 ½ months of the build. I did a rough count and I believe I found on average 6 hours a day, every week day and somewhere around 26 hours each weekend (not counting my visit to ER when I had the TIA stroke) to work relentlessly on the car. This didn’t include maybe 30 minutes a day writing up my diary for 914world.

So all in all I reckon to take my 914 from an unloved wreck that hadn’t been driven in 7 years, to a car that anyone of us would be proud of, took me 2800 man hours.
Plus 175 hours sat at my PC writing this diary and uploading pictures!

Not forgetting that 90% of this build was done in a 16ft x 8ft garage a block away from my house with no power or light.

As an overseas participant and due to the time line of my build I wasn't eligible to ANY of the great vendor deals or discounts on offer.

So what you see is purely for benefit to others as I took no personal gain from being a participant in this contest. (Apart from maybe a tee shirt to come. I presume we get these at the end Steve? after the final results?)

So…..to bring us up to date:

Day 337

V5 (UK title) arrived in the mail today. Hooray! The car is now legitimate and legal to use on UK roads.
The paperwork got passed real quickly as I sent a COA, a NOVA (Notification of Vehicle Arrival in UK document) and a letter from Customs and Excise to say all taxes had been paid, which made it all real easy to process.

I’d had a plan for the UK number plates (licence plates) since the car arrived in UK and had been itching to put it all together. This is why I restored the original US plate support frames.
My car was a 1 owner California car from Desert Hot Springs just East of Los Angeles. The COA said that the dealership was Los Angeles. Old US cars had bezels from the supplying dealers or custom bezels fitted by the owner. These vary in style and quality. The early ones I found are the nicest and are a good quality item.
I managed to track down a set of period repro VW-Porsche dealership bezels from the early 1970’s from a dealership in Los Angeles
Being a California State car it had originally Blue and Yellow licence plates and the Bezel has a California Blue colour enamel infill.
This I thought would look great on an Alaska Blue car, and be appropriate in many ways.
In UK we have a standard format for reflective Perspex plates (amber at the rear and white at the front) These have to be purchased (with all relevant documents) from a DVLA approved supplier and must meet regulations for size, shape & font. These UK plates wouldn’t fit in a US bezel, but there is an exception to our law if a car was first registered outside the UK and or, is constructed in such a way that a standard plate wouldn’t fit the manufacturers position on the car. I used this law (the former) to get plates made up that comply with the colour and font, but are reduced in size to fit the bezel.
It was my homage to the cars origin and the US.
The licence numbers issued in UK fit certain formats depending on age of vehicle, so a 74 car has 3 letters, 3 numbers and a single letter designating the year of manufacture. The last 2 letters of the 3 are a code for the issuing County. The numbers are sequential to how many plates of those 3 letters have been issued. The first letter moves through the alphabet (somewhat randomly) when 999 is reached.
So what is seemingly a random licence number does hold a lot of information. That said, like in US we can purchase combinations (keeping within formats and rules) that can spell names or words etc. But for now I’m just happy to get a licence plate number and title document that allows me to drive the car.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20plate%20011_zpsryalye4m.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20plate%20010_zps8usdsu9a.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20plate%20002_zpspiyiwv9u.jpg.html

I’m really pleased how they came out and they certainly finish the car off in a “faithful to its history” kinda way. I drilled out the US licence plate bracket where the self tapping screws wound in and fitted M6 rivet-nuts so I could use some nice Stainless dome head bolts to hold them on.

In the picture above you can see the “orange peel” in my paint job that been really bugging me, so I now began the mass “flat & polish” by hand exercise to give a glass surface finish.

Day 338

Spent 7 hours today with 1200 grit wet & dry, a rubber sanding block and warm soapy water flatting the driver’s rear quarter. A small amount of washing-up liquid soap (for dishes) in the water helps lubricate and stops “pick up” on the paper so it lasts longer and reduces risk of a pick up scratch.

Day 339

Spent 7 hours today with 1200 grit wet & dry, a rubber sanding block and warm soapy water flatting the driver’s door with mirror removed and handle taped up to avoid contact. I got late into the night so no pictures I’m afraid, it was by flashlight again.

Day 340

Spent 7 hours today with 1200 grit wet & dry, a rubber sanding block and warm soapy water flatting the driver’s front wing.

Day 341

Spent 7 hours today in (daylight for once) wet & drying the passenger side rear quarter panel.

Day 342

Into week 2 of early mornings before work, flatting down a single panel with 1200 wet & dry by hand. On average 3 hours hand flatting and then after work 4 hours hand polishing (as I have no power in the garage I cant use any machine mops, plus I don’t want swirl marks) with various grades of rubbing paste, T cut and polishes, linear motions at 45 degree increments between changing paste grades.
Last week I managed to finish the Drivers rear quarter, door and wing. Over the weekend I completed the passenger rear quarter.
This morning at 4:30am with the aid of my torch I started the passenger door.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20flat%20amp%20polish%20003_zpskyhlbpiy.jpg.html

After work today I polished and polished until 10pm by hand & flashlight to complete the door.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20flat%20amp%20polish%20009_zps0ro4yjvq.jpg.html

None of this is for the faint hearted, it's far, far too easy to rub right through the paint and that would be a disaster. Super care needs to be taken after every couple of rubs with the paper, an old chamois was used to dry the panel to see if all the high spots were gone, any places I’d missed, so only just enough surface was removed to give a smooth glass finish.

It’s bloomin hard graft and I can hardly lift my aching arms and bend my fingers but the glass like result, I think, is absolutely stunning.
On the flip side it does show the slightest dent in the car and I’ve discovered some very, very tiny carpark door dents in the drivers door that you couldn’t see before, and they are now driving me to distraction! :-)

Day 343

Spent 7 hours today with 1200 grit wet & dry, a rubber sanding block and warm soapy water flatting the Passenger front wing.

Day 345
After 2 solid weeks flatting and polishing by hand the results are beginning to show.
This morning I was giving the sides of the car their first wax polish after all the wet & dry and paste, when I happened to look down and the car had vanished.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20flat%20amp%20polish1%20002_zpshwhcdt5r.jpg.html

I stepped back in amazement, but the car had just disappeared into the floor.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20flat%20amp%20polish1%20004_zpsadqbqwys.jpg.html

For an Alaska blue metallic paint (not just a plain colour like black which is easier to get a mirror effect from) I think I’m starting to loose all traces of orange peel to achieve the flawless mirror result I was looking for.

So late morning today I took the car out on its maiden voyage (other than MOT and a few tests around the block) and met up with fellow UK Fourteeners and drove to East Wittering for lunch. It was great to be in Convoy with a group of 914’s, and quite a spectacle it was.
The cars running a little rich at the moment so a little more jetting and twiddling to do, but apart from that all seems good.
It was a real experience throwing the little car around the country lanes. I can now see why everyone raves about the handling….great fun!

Fellow owner Kev Clarke said

“Today it was a real pleasure to see Darren finally drives his 914 on its first proper outing on a drive with other 914 owners, on a run to the south coast to have lunch together at Billy’s on the Beach.

Darren joined the 914 convoy (that had driven down from the outskirts of London) in Boxgrove.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/144_0730face_zpsbnczkaf3.jpg.html

It was a great to see Darren drive his 914, he had a big grin on his face and you could see he was really enjoying the 914 driving experience.”

Day 346

Now this might be a little shocking......

After exchanging some emails over the last few weeks.......

This afternoon I drove the 914 to Porsche Centre Portsmouth and did a straight swap (no money exchanged hands) for a brand new Black Edition Boxster. I cant believe how big it is in comparison to the 914. I can barely fit it in the garage with only mm to spare; let alone open a door to climb in and out of it!

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20PCP%20boxster%20launch%20012_zpse7y6sfho.jpg.html

I left the little 914 with the guy’s who’d flown over from Stuttgart Museum.

Day 347

What a day the little 914 & I have been lucky to have had…

This evening was the Porsche Centre Portsmouth Launch of the new 718 Boxster. Some very special cars had been brought down by Porsche from their Museum. Upstairs at Portsmouth there was a small collection of flat 4 engined vehicles to demonstrate Porsche history of the flat 4 leading to the new flat 4, 718 Boxster.
The word had spread from the guy’s in the parts department at Porsche Centre Portsmouth, to the halls of the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, that there was some crazy guy who kept coming in to buy 914 parts, and that his year long restoration had finished to coincide with the 718 launch. After dropping the car off it was fully inspected by the Porsche Dealership staff and the guy’s from Stuttgart, who unanimously agreed it was of “museum quality” and worthy to be displayed as part of the 4 cylinder lineage exhibition

I was genuinely chuffed to bits to have my car involved and spent the evening waxing lyrically about all things 914 to the VIP guests and stunned to hear many of the kind comments from VIP’s, Porsche GB & museum staff who absolutely loved my car!
It was fantastic to fly the flag for the 14 and to see that it is really starting to generate a true appreciation in the halls of Porsche.

What a great experience this 914 ownership is…..first time out, a fantastic day at the Witterings and the second rubbing shoulders with Porsche Stuttgart Museum 550’s.

Here’s a few pictures from this evening.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20PCP%20boxster%20launch1%20001_zpsmx9yem6t.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20PCP%20boxster%20launch1%20004_zpso8dvbfoz.jpg.html


http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20PCP%20boxster%20launch1%20005_zpsxmckd9nv.jpg.html

The 914 is having another sleep-over with it’s new mates tonight and I have the Black Edition Boxster courtesy car until tomorrow when I go pick up my car….you kinda guessed I wouldn’t have swapped it for a Boxster....surely

Mind you.....I wonder if the keys will be in the 550 tomorrow morning early on?

Day 348

The car spent another day & night on display at Porsche Centre today as the rain & drizzle didn’t stop all day and I didn’t want to drive in it un-necessarily.
This meant I kept the Boxster another day & Porsche were absolutely fine with it.

Day 349

This morning I picked up my son in the Boxster and drove a while in the cloudless blue skies before handing it back and returning home in the 914.
I gave it a thorough clean and wax before I put it to bed.

Day 350

I had an odd issue that came to light the yesterday when driving the 914 for the first few times.
The engine ran roughly, and spluttered at odd times then ran well???
When I got back from Porsche Centre the car stalled twice while manoeuvring into my garage. Everytime I selected reverse gear it stalled???

On the third attempt I noticed the Voltmeter drop to 9V as soon as reverse was engaged and my foot was on the brake. 10V when foot on the brake, 9V when selecting reverse with foot on the brake, then stall. Foot off brake and in Neutral I had between 13 & 14V.
Dropping to 9V or below was not enough for the ignition coil to operate.

Fortunately I’d had this issue (without the benefit of a Voltmeter in the car) many, many years ago in a Beetle. It was the Voltage regulator.

I'd also noticed while working on the 914 that the regulator was getting quite hot, so I'd had my suspicions.

I found a replacement on-line using the Bosch part number from a UK company “Just Kampers” for £26. It turned up yesterday in the post and was made by Beru.
The casing is much shorter in height so I suspect it’s electronic.
Now, as always there’s a catch.
The 3 pins on the underside are about 5mm further along than the Bosch one, so it plugs into the relay board easy but the two screws don’t line up to attach it.
I ran the car and tested it first, and all was good, so I very carefully re-drilled and fitted the screws a little further along from where they were originally.
The bonus is….with a shorter regulator the relay board cover goes on and off a lot easier!
So now I consistently have between 13 & 14V with engine running, dropping to around 12.5V when the brake pedal is pressed with reverse selected and turning the headlights on.

The other snag I’ve found since driving the car is that the time clock gears must be worn as the hands get so far then the clock makes a whirring noise but the hands stop moving. There’s always something or another after rebuilding a car.
Again fortunately I’ve found a NOS never fitted clock (at a very reasonable price) on US ebay. My New old stock Time Clock arrived today in the mail.

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20clock_zpsynppnk8t.jpg.html

Swapped it over and now I have a fully working clock.

I suppose its all part of a “shakedown” period finding all these little defects in a car that was off the road for 7 years then torn apart for restoration.


So that brings us right up to date, day 350 of ownership and day 350 of the 12 month Build-off-Challenge.
This has been a real-time diary of saving a 914, over 11 ½ months from arrival in UK.

I have tried to pitch my rambles at a level that everyone can understand and enjoy. I hope it inspires those with no technical ability and proves interesting to those with more 914 knowledge than I.

This is my first 914, and everything has been a learning curve, yet I feel I know the car inside and out at the end of this journey.

But this is certainly not the end, there’s the rest of the month to go.

Stay tuned in and I’m sure to spend a few more hours yet on the car and share them with you.

Kind regards
Darren

Posted by: Darren C Sep 14 2016, 01:15 PM

To celebrate 9-14 day (and because I liked very much John’s (Garland) photo montage in the main thread) I thought I post a few of my favourite pictures from my build. Some that I’ve posted before and some you guy’s haven’t seen yet….

Starting with my very favourite picture…..enjoy

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20day%20001_zps4ixr2huh.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914stuff008_zps8fddc138.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914stuff003_zps98aac048.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20day%20008_zpsesxtci1a.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bracket%20installed%20002_zps9adrjseo.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20exhaust%20003_zpszwtiiqyt.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20underside%20001_zps6hxvgqdb.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20outampabout%20001_zpse2jw6cyc.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20windscreen1%20004_zpsgdiudm55.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle%20007_zpsjoz6vuoa.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle%20002_zpspq1fw3ro.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20rear%20window_zpswe3fjhlt.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/DSCI0336_zps5okvllr5.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/DSCI0335_zpscnxskzlc.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20PCP%20boxster%20launch%20009_zpsexqbym6g.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20stuff%203%20008_zpsomrfmxoz.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20day%20010_zpsykrs7nxl.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bumpers%20011_zpsnopygojh.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20lacquer%20003_zpsntjasjl8.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20day%20002_zpsb1hyoqap.jpg.html


http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20electrics%20install%20002_zpsfiz4mfc5.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20electrics%20install%20011_zpsrfjzngj6.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dismantle1%20001_zpsig9ladru.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20finished%20targa_zpsmijizfqs.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20carpets%20002_zpssutrg2ej.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20headlights%20003_zpsaln0q4jm.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20outampabout%20009_zpsy8omiudd.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20stripout%20004_zps6g8rszcb.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20dash%20build%20002_zpsl9hwwnxt.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floorpan%20025_zpspmmocbdc.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20bulkhead%20trim%20006_zps9tftogrj.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20undersealing%20002_zpspwrkj0nl.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20floorpan%20022_zpsscfu1zwp.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20tyres%20001_zpsfvzwfioj.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20wheel%20templates%20001_zpshreelaib.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20finished%20wheels2%20003_zpsziaus1ow.jpg.html

http://s265.photobucket.com/user/DarrenLCollins/media/914%20day%20005_zpsel7xyghe.jpg.html

Posted by: Mueller Sep 14 2016, 01:20 PM

Almost speechless!

Superb job on the vehicle and the documentation!

Posted by: matthepcat Sep 14 2016, 01:33 PM

Darren,

Have you considered doing this type of work for a living? It takes a special personality type to restore at this level, mostly by yourself. What I enjoyed about this build was learning the finite details of the 914 construction(as all the tenners I have owned have been modified many times over). Thanks for documenting.

Posted by: Darren C Sep 14 2016, 02:22 PM

Thanks for the kind words.

I've often thought of doing this kind of thing for a living, but when I left school I started a coachbuilders apprenticeship, as great as it was & as much as I learned, I hated every minute. When the hobby or passion in your life becomes a necessity, the fire can easily be extinguished.
Restoring cars for me is my therapy from a high stress career. Ultimately (and as I've just turned the wrong side of 50) I'd like to maybe do this on my own terms when the house is paid off, as a step towards retirement etc when it doesn't have to be a necessity. Unfortunately divorce moved the light at the end of my tunnel a little further away but I'll get there one day. For now though, its nice to restore cars on my terms and not to a deadline.
Good business is about cost, profit, delivering on time and meeting customer expectations. All of these things create compromise; especially so in the unknown quantity that is restoring old motorcars. I hate compromise (in an Indiana Jones "I hate snakes, why did it have to be snakes" kinda way)
I hope this explains where I am on this Matt.

Besides, I'd make a lousy businessman as I help most people fix their cars and parts mailed to me and offer help and advice for free, or in return for donations to charity.

Posted by: KELTY360 Sep 14 2016, 10:04 PM

Posted by: Andyrew Sep 14 2016, 10:51 PM

Congrats on all your hard work and accomplishment Darren!

I really think you deserve the win. Ive always given you top marks on the voting as your dedication and documentation are amazing! I love the car and the end result as well! You made some fantastic choices along the way and you do the community proud!

Congrats! Its a beautiful car!

Posted by: Frankvw Sep 15 2016, 12:31 AM

Darren, your post is really great and I learned some things from your documented work. Thanks.
When I read the part :
"This afternoon I drove the 914 to Porsche Centre Portsmouth and did a straight swap (no money exchanged hands) for a brand new Black Edition Boxster"
I was flabbergasted....really ??? but a few lines down I saw what the deal was about, that is really cool. Maybe they let you drive the spider, who knows :-)
Thanks, nice work and good to see you are back on your feet with your health as well. All the best !

Posted by: Stoddy Jan 17 2019, 08:48 AM

Darren, I've only just joined the 914 world after recently buying a 73 1.7 from an importer here in the UK. That's a truly outstanding degree of dedication and attention to detail.
Congratulations on it's completion!

I hope your health is still good and the car still going strong. maybe I'll see you on the road once mine is done.

Thank you for your thread.


Stoddy.

Posted by: Coondog Mar 19 2020, 07:27 PM

What a great read for the second time........

Posted by: ctc911ctc Mar 24 2020, 01:21 PM

Re-read this, WOW.


Very, very cool - can you comment on other cars you have re-furbished?

Love that you got the inside Stugart guys all excited!

CTC911CTC

Posted by: FlacaProductions Mar 24 2020, 01:48 PM

I just finished this thread for the first time over the space of about 4 days. It's riveting. The sheer determination, patience, knowledge, patience and more patience is amazing. What's really interesting is that it appears that Darren hasn't been active on the boards for quite a while now...July of 2019.

Posted by: ValcoOscar Mar 24 2020, 02:18 PM

Darren was at my house several months back (while visiting from UK) as we were attempting to start Jeffrey's car. He's a very interesting guy and jumped right in getting his hands dirty. Extremely knowledgable!!! He showed us some pictures of his car collection...very impressive!!

This is what he's working on now with Ant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEmJBdRG37s&t=106s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-EoUzrh4cw


You can see Darren @ 2:00 mark

Oscar

Posted by: Darren C Apr 5 2020, 06:19 AM

Hi Everyone,

Just checking in.

I hope everyone is well and keeping safe in these strange times we all find ourselves in.

Time to stay at home & reflect on all the things dear to us

We're all in this together

Best Wishes to everyone on 914World and their families from here in UK

Posted by: MM1 Nov 6 2020, 05:05 PM

Fantastic thread! My favorite color too . . .thank you for sharing, Darren - well done, Sir!

Posted by: Archie Aug 19 2021, 06:27 PM

Hello Darren,

Expat Brit in Canada here in the process of restoring a '72 1.7L in Blood Orange, which, interestingly, is a fruit that I've never seen over here! Exquisite work on your car which I shall try and emulate!