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Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 22 2008, 04:41 PM

Everyone needs a build thread, right? Here’s mine. I am going to post the first part of this retroactively, and then I’ll try to keep it updated.

I got the car as a trade for services. A guy that I knew had 5½ 914s, and was getting married. I agreed to photograph his wedding in exchange for a 914 and a 901 sideshifter. Barter is good.

My plan was originally to do a Subaru conversion, but I decided that to do it right would cost too much, and I had just been forced to retire from the Air Force two days before my 43rd birthday. The budget will be tight. I considered a 2.7/6 conversion, but again, the little things would add up to be expensive.

Over the last year, my plan has evolved. I decided to stick with a Type IV, and rebuild it myself.

The factory color is L21E Tangerine, and I plan on an updated M471-style GT look. Small parts will kill a budget, so many of my decisions will be based on NOT buying or restoring parts to factory condition, but still having a solution that looks like I did not compromise.

My goal is 1900 lbs, 150 HP and LOTS of fun.

Here is my inspiration:

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 22 2008, 04:47 PM

02 Sep 2007

Here it is on delivery day. I was so excited when it arrived on a trailer that I forgot to take photos until we got it hoisted into the garage. Looks good! Just a 1971 rolling chassis, though… with a sideshift 901 on the side. I managed to clear out enough room between the brewing equipment, camping gear, lawn mower, bikes and model airplanes to fit it into the garage. I’ll need more room later.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 22 2008, 05:10 PM

13 Sep 2007

Initial assessment. For the last two weeks I’ve been going into the garage every evening and sitting in my new toy. Now I am finally ready to start looking for damage. I knew that the left rear fender had been replaced at some point, and the car had been repainted at that time. Apparently, there had also been a minor ding on the right front corner.

Some rust bubbles under the touchup paint on the right cowl-fender seam.

A small bondo spot on the hood.

Door have been professionally cut for speakers, and the door panels themselves are trash.

Driver’s door has a crack in the structure.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 22 2008, 05:14 PM

13 SEP 2007 cont

Pulled up the carpet, and the pan looks okay on the driver’s side, just a little rust up front.

55167… what does that mean? 155,167? 255,167? Who knows?

Front targa seal is almost gone.

Hell hole.

The guy that I got it from cut away “the bad part” with a plasma cutter. Cool. But, then he sprayed red oxide primer over everything… I’d have rather been able to see the damage. He also cut through the right rear hard brake line. Oops!

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 22 2008, 05:19 PM

18 Sep 2007

Hmmm… the tar was loose on the floor pan in some areas, so I pulled it up. Wow, no floor! So I took the interior out, and prepared to strip out all the tar to see just how bad it was.

Posted by: southernmost914 Oct 22 2008, 05:54 PM

Pull off those rockers and give us a peak.

Steve

Posted by: iamchappy Oct 22 2008, 06:54 PM

Yeah it's almost Halloween, scare us.

Nice collection of empty beer bottles, which reminds me i was going to send you a little package.

Posted by: Phoenix 914-6GT Oct 23 2008, 01:48 AM

Wow Todd, you told me you got a little rust but I am waiting to see if there really is a 914 there... You can do it

Posted by: jc914 Oct 23 2008, 08:36 AM

Wow you got some rust i will keep up with your post on this project. I want to see those rockers ... Good luck you can do it.

Posted by: PanelBilly Oct 23 2008, 10:13 AM

Looks like fun. If your setting a short timeline for having a drivable car, I'd say your budget needs to be fairly large. Its not going to be cheep to get all the parts you need to fix the rust and running gear. I think if you can leave the "finish date" open (like anybody finishes one of these cars???), and source the parts on the secondary market or from parts cars, you'll save some money. Rebuilding a car can be a lot of fun if you take your time.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:05 AM

When I pulled the rocker covers, there was a copious amount of dirt under each one. Fortunately, the dirt was bone dry. Here's what it looks like under there:

My target "finish date" is "when it is done". Since I got the car as a roller, I've never driven it. I'm really anxious to drive it, but it's also fun to work on it. It's fun to work on because I can do it on my terms. I'ts not fun to work on a car when it's on the car's terms.

When I was working, I always wanted to hang a sign in my shop that said "Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick any two." Well, with this project, the choices are "good" and "cheap".

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:11 AM

15 October 2007

I bought my first part for my 914. I bought a steering wheel on eBay, a Momo Club 4. $35. Seller was in Japan, so I expected high shipping… $42.00 was even higher than I expected though. Still, $77.00 for a Momo wheel with a horn button isn’t bad.



So, now I need an adaptor. Found one on eBay and won it for $50 shipped. Turns out, it is for a 914/6 or early 911, and although the splines match, that is all that matches. This is as far as it goes on.



Come to find out, 1970-71 cars had a different column than the 72-later, and Momo doesn't make an adapter for the early cars. This early 911 adapter has found a new home, in exchange for a /4 adapter and 1974 column.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:16 AM

30 Oct 2007

The passenger side turn signal bucket and taillight housing are both bad, so I bought one of each. The taillight housing arrived broken. Now I have two broken right side taillight housings.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:18 AM

5 March 2008

My driver’s side window regulator won’t raise the windows all the way up, so I bought a pair from a guy on 914World for $5 + $15 shipping. I know that the early regulators are regarded as crap, but I like the fact that they weigh nothing.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:23 AM

2 May 2008

The 901 side shifter that I got with my car had a broken mounting ear on the tail cover, so the guy that I got it from told me that he’d swap it for a good one.



I took the tail cover off… there was more water than oil in the case. Looked like something on a coral reef.





The 1st-reverse shifter fork was broken as well.



Looks like I'll need more than a tail cover.

Posted by: Zaney Oct 23 2008, 11:33 AM

I feel your pain
I am currently in the 'While I'm in there' phase myself. The rear half of the floor pan was trash so after many spot weld drill holes it came out. Now, it is time to nut up and dig into the right long and wheelhouse with a wire wheel.
Good luck and keep your spirits up!
Nate

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:36 AM

17 May 2008

I took the instrument cluster out of the dash today, and started cleaning things up. The bezels are rusty, as is the panel itself.



The gauges are looking pretty dingy and faded.



I’m going to redo them, so I’ve taken them apart.



Look how faded the low fuel indicator is!



While I have them apart, I reset the odometer to -0-.



I'm trying to decide what to do with the gauges. I can redo them in the factory white-on-black style, or the popular black-on-white. I can do them with tangerine faces to match the body. I can do the bezels in either black, aluminum or tangerine. I'll think about it for a while, because I also want to incorporate a 911 oel temp/druck gauge, and I need to decide how to do that too.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:40 AM

25 May 2008

I bought some seals from Mikey914. A pair of cowl seals, complete set of inner and outer door seals, and a lower front targa seal for $90 + $8.95 shipping. I’m thrilled with the quality, and the price!

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:44 AM

5 June 2008

I bought a 2.0L core engine for $300 and a 78mm counterweighted crank with a set of clearanced stock rods for $100. Had a nice drive to Bellingham to pick them up, so shipping was the cost of gas… figure $110. Stopped for beer at a few places, and met Phoenix 914-6GT for dinner at Diamond Knot.

I was so excited that the only pic that I took was after it was all apart:

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:45 AM

9 June 2008

I bought some 1989 911 front suspension parts from a guy on the bird board. Spindles/rotors/hubs/struts/calipers for $350 + $50 shipping.

Edit: As of October 2008, all I have received is the rotors/hubs/calipers. The guy’s name is Mike Hogan from Bethesda, MD 301-706-2896, mhogan@umd.edu

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:45 AM

21 June 2008

Talk about buying parts when you don’t need them… I decided to organize a GT flare group buy with Auto Atlanta. This is one of the last parts that I’ll need… but I want them, and the price of steel is not going down. $675 shipped, $150 for a set of matching rockers.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:50 AM

13 July 2008

Went to the WCR 2008 in Issaquah, and had a blast. Rode around with Jim (roadster fan) for two days. Picked up some more rubber at the silent auction… a set of engine seals. I’m not saying how much I got them for



Jim's is the beautiful silver car second from the front on the right.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:51 AM

6 August 2008

Got some more eBay parts:
New WebCam #163 with gear $76.01 + $16.95
New set of double valve springs with retainers $22.75
New set of pushrod tubes $19.99
Windage Tray $3.24
Lower Right Inner Wheelhouse $62.00 + $25.00

Also got an inner windshield seal from Mikey914 for $15.00 + $5.20 and a set of 1.7 rocker arms for $40 shipped.

Here's my rubber collection:

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:56 AM

20 July 2008

The hellhole damage is worse than I thought.







Even the suspension console is cracked.





I’m having second thoughts, and am considering a different car… driver or project.

Edit: After looking around, and listening to some opinions, I decided that I’m not going to find anything better for near the price, so I’ll tackle this one.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 11:59 AM

More pics of the floor after I got the tar off:

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 12:02 PM

29 July 2008

I took the rest of the dashboard out. Good thing. There were some fried wires in the harness under there. I plan on refinishing the dash, and probably using some new switches instead of the factory ones. I hope to laminate carbon fiber over the metal to replace the basket weave vinyl, and will probably add a couple gauges… at least a CHT.





The fuel tank has rusted through where it rests on the felt pad.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 12:08 PM

03 September 2008

The passenger engine mount ear is rusted pretty bad on my car, and nobody makes a repro part. Fortunately, roadster fan had one in his stash! Thanks Jim!

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 12:13 PM

21 September 2008

I got a suspension console for $150 here in the classifieds. I’m slowly collecting the sheetmetal parts that I’ll need, and then I’ll buy a welder

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 12:16 PM

23 September 2008

My car got to go outside today! I lowered it out onto the driveway with a tiedown strap so that I could pressure wash the engine bay, rocker panels and trunks. The pressure washer didn’t do as much good as I had hoped… and now the car doesn’t roll very well. I think the brakes probably flash rusted.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 12:19 PM

24 September 2008

Is that a great headliner, or what! It was glued in with contact cement, so it was a b!t¢h to get out, and it left a lot of yarn still attached. I went over it with the knotted wire wheel in the angle grinder and got it all off.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 12:22 PM

29 September 2008

I bought a complete 2.0 engine this weekend for $400, from induction to exhaust. The exhaust was a set of stainless heat exchangers! As received and after 5 minutes of scrubbing…





The carbs are 40 IDFs, and I really need 44s.

I also got a replacement fuel tank, with less rust. Not a bad haul.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 12:23 PM

02 October 2008

I took the headlights out today. I’m thinking about deleting them and just running GT-style driving lights, since I don’t really plan on driving the car much at night. It stays light here in the summer until almost 10PM. Lots of dried pine needles in the buckets, but surprisingly little rust.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 12:28 PM

06 October 2008

The engine that I bought last weekend was sold to me as a 2.0 with 44IDFs. The guy told me that if it was him, he’d just put gas in it and see how it runs. Today I took a look… Uh, nope. I’m not going to try to run this thing. That looks pretty ugly. I think I’ll tear it down… I was planning a rebuild anyhow.



I was stumped by the “AW” code… it’s a 1.8L bus case.



Nice job on the dipstick, dipstick. (that's how it fits)

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 02:13 PM

07 October 2008

Pulling the valve covers revealed a little more rust in the internals… uh-oh.



Pulled the left cylinder head, and found 2.0 bus pistons and broken cooling fins. Again, not a big deal if I’m going to rebuild. Whoever built this engine used a gasket on the #1 cylinder, but not on #2.



#3 and #4 both had gaskets, but #4 had burned through.



Something in #4 beat the sh!t out of the piston and head before finally being embedded into the head. My best guess is that it is a spark plug electrode, and the DAPO just put in a new plug and kept going... Nice! Well, this is a bit more of a big deal as far as a rebuild goes. I have another pair of heads, but I was counting on having two sets available.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 02:17 PM

08 October 2008

Today I found some 2x2 twill pattern “carbon fiber” vinyl. I think I’m going to use it for my door panels to match the carbon fiber dash that I have planned.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 02:21 PM

15 October 2008

I bought a Bostich TU-216-71 pneumatic upholstery stapler on eBay for $31. The guy sent the wrong stapler. The one I bought is a ⅜” crown, this one is a ½” crown. After a phone call, he shipped me the correct stapler, and told me to just keep the other one rather than throw more money at a problem. Cool!

Posted by: Todd Enlund Oct 23 2008, 02:25 PM

That pretty much brings things up to date, and I'll continue from here as things develop.

I've been looking for either 911 RSA door pulls, or 914 GT door pulls. Both have been out of my budget. Today I ordered a set of Fiat 600 door pulls for $13 from Mr. Fiat... the same door pulls that Porsche used for the 914 GT.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Nov 21 2008, 05:50 PM

Today I made my first attempt at a door panel. It's not quite finished, the padding at the top needs finishing on the ends. It's hanging on the car with 3M 77 glue drying, and I'll finish the ends after it dries. The indentations are from my fingers when I hung it... they aren't visible without the flash, and I think they'll go away. The Fiat door pulls are just tacked on with tape right now for the photo. I'll have pics on how I did this after I determine if I need to redo this one, or if I just need to make the other one.

Posted by: Justinp71 Nov 21 2008, 06:05 PM

Looks like your making progress, make sure you have fun while doing it!!!


One comment on the heads, if you can I would probably check the valve seats. I had one drop on me and most likely thats what fell and ran into your cylinder head that is all beat up.

Posted by: Gint Nov 21 2008, 06:10 PM

Big job!

I'm working on a PM for you.

Posted by: jc914 Nov 22 2008, 08:07 AM

keep up the good job. and keep us posted.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 6 2009, 08:46 PM

I dropped my crankshaft off today at Dan Hall's machine shop. It gave me a warm fuzzy when I walked in the door and before the door was closed, someone said "wow, a type IV... and it's a 2 liter!" I was quoted $130 to mag and check straightness, and grind if it checks good. That was about what I expected.

Posted by: sixnotfour Jan 6 2009, 08:50 PM

If it checks good -polish ?

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 6 2009, 09:32 PM

No, it's scored... it'll need to be ground. By "checks good", I meant "is straight and not cracked".

$100 for a 78mm crank and a set of clearanced rods, and $130 for machine work... $230 for a 78mm crank is a bargain.

Posted by: roadster fan Jan 7 2009, 07:54 AM

LOL! Todd, I just went back and looked at you build thread and I think I missed this when you posted it. You said "the beautiful silver car"

I think heeltoe914 said it best when he saw a picture of you and I leaving the lunch spot near Mt. Ranier in my 71: "why is it the guys with the under restored cars seem to be having the most fun?"

Keep plugging away at the car hope to see it at a WCR soon.

Jim

Posted by: OU8AVW Jan 7 2009, 10:31 AM

I'm in Annapolis if you need me to go after the parts for you.
P.S. I'm 6'3" and a third degree blackbelt
Just kidding, but if you need someone on the ground let me know.....

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 7 2009, 10:50 AM

This guy shouldn't be too much trouble, then... he's a skinny little punk.

I just tracked him down on VW Vortex, and he's apparently moved to Boston. I think he goes back and forth between the two. He's trying to feed me a bunch of sob stories and tells me that he's shipped the struts three times, and thought that I got them because I never contacted him, but he's had loads of trouble with UPS singling him out and holding his shipments. He stopped checking the bird board, and doesn't answer e-mail. He's got 1121 posts on VW Vortex to my 1, so he's trying to discredit me. I wish I had a valid address for him.

Posted by: J P Stein Jan 7 2009, 11:09 AM

I like Dan Hall's. It looks & smells like a machine shop should. The folks there have dirt under their finger nails.

Don't forget, YOU are responsible for cleaning out the oil passages in your crank after grind/polish. Clean till you're cross-eyed, then do it summore.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 7 2009, 11:19 AM

They told me that they would clean it, but I plan on re-cleaning it when I get it, and I also plan on cleaning every single part immediately before it goes in my engine.

I'm still working on cleaning the case... it looks clean, it's nice and shiny, but it doesn't feel clean.

Posted by: J P Stein Jan 7 2009, 06:02 PM

They never said anything about cleaning out any of the cranks I took there.....and they were definately not clean. I spent hours squirting clean solvent ...pipe cleaners, Q tips....whut ever... thru the suckers till they ran free of shittage.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 12 2009, 09:54 PM

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to pay attention...

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 12 2009, 10:00 PM

I drew my first bead with the new MIG. 18 ga sheet, Lincoln .025 wire on a Miller 140 set to "Autoset". First few attempts something seemed not quite right. Then, I noticed the gas gauge was going to 0 when I pulled the trigger. I cranked the tank up to 30 CFH, and got the bead that I circled in red. I could not be more thrilled... it looks exactly the same on the back side. Obviously, I'll need a bit more practice, especially in finishing a bead, but WOOHOO!

Posted by: watsonrx13 Jan 13 2009, 06:40 AM

Todd, weld looks good.... Just remember, to get really good welds you need the following:

1. good lighting, you need to see what you're welding
2. good ground, get as close to the weld area and remove all paint until you get to bare metal
3. take your time, the metal on these cars are very thin and it's easy to burn through

-- Rob

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 13 2009, 11:33 AM

Thanks for the advice. I bought a sheet of 18 ga to practice on so that I'd get used to the thin metal. I have a Harbor Freight auto dark hood that worked pretty good. I'll throw some more light on the work next time to see if I can see any better, but this still beats crap out of stick welding with a flip down hood.

Posted by: Spoke Jan 13 2009, 12:02 PM

My brother in law welds for a living on the railroad. When he was coaching me on welding and I mentioned that I couldn't see the bead, he suggested I wear my reading glasses for welding. Duh. What a difference the reading glasses made.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 13 2009, 12:08 PM

I could see the bead okay, but seeing where I was going was a bit iffy. Next time for practice, I am going to cut two pieces and try to follow the seam.

From looking at my initial attempt, I feel like I need to move a little faster, and I burned through at the end of the bead.

Posted by: strawman Jan 13 2009, 06:10 PM

Be sure to get way down low and bring the bead toward you so that you can see what going on... sometimes the MIG gun or something else blocks your view when welding on the car, but practice/practice/practice beforehand will give you a better feel for hand speed, angle of the gun, motion of the gun (straight, half-moons, etc.), distance of the gun from the metal, etc. Soap pencils parallel to the weld area can also help when you're welding in an area with low-light.

Have fun!

Geoff

Posted by: J P Stein Jan 13 2009, 06:28 PM

Anybody can run MIG in the flat particularly downhand like your doing. Verticle & overhead seperates the men form the boys (I'm a teenager ). Down hand flat/verticle is OK for sheet metal, but thicker materials need up hand for penetration. Overhead sheet metal....what ever you gotta do to keep from lighting yourself on fire.

Posted by: RAB914 Jan 13 2009, 06:40 PM

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/thin-metal.htm

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 14 2009, 05:48 PM

Got a call from Dan Hall's today. Crank is broke. Fuch. So much for the 2258.

Now I need to make a decision between a 2056 and a 2270. I have two more 2.0 cranks. Time to crunch a bunch of numbers.

Posted by: iamchappy Jan 14 2009, 07:31 PM

("Now I need to make a decision between a 2056 and a 2270")


Bigger is better.......then theres always bigger......and bigger........and bigger.......

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 14 2009, 08:33 PM

At this point, bigger involves a $600 crank...

Posted by: Solo914 Jan 15 2009, 06:14 PM

Todd,
That sucks... what options are you looking at?

Kyle

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 15 2009, 06:28 PM

I have an interim plan. I'm thinking I'll build a closer-to-stock engine to run until I can afford the rest of the parts for a 2270 or 2316. Then I'll have a spare engine in case the big motor grenades...

Posted by: Solo914 Jan 15 2009, 06:35 PM

Yeah.. good idea. Gets you on the road sooner and lets you shake out the other stuff. I drove down to Portland last year and picked up a complete 2.0l with sideshift trans for $500 with the intention of doing something like you are doing but just can't decide what to do. What does Jake say about those 78mm Foreign MFG'd forged cranks?

Kyle

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 15 2009, 07:47 PM

I can't imagine that he could badmouth them too much, cuz he sells them...

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 15 2009, 09:19 PM

Flared rockers came in the mail today from the AA Group Buy. First impression is pretty damn nice... here is one just set in place:

Posted by: Solo914 Jan 15 2009, 09:28 PM

Yeah, but he doesn't put them in his kits. I wonder if it has to do with rod choices etc.

Cool Rockers. Are those steel or fiberglass?

Kyle

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jan 15 2009, 10:07 PM

They are glass, just like the factory GTs. George says that they are from a mold pulled from a factory M471 car.

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jul 20 2014, 06:24 PM

Car has been in a storage unit for over 5 years now. I just found a new place that finally looks like I can get back to working on my 914 soon. I'm pretty excited about that.

During the last 5 years, I have managed to acquire a pair of Len Hoffman heads and a pair of raised spindle 911 struts.

Hoping to get Lonely Neuron Brewing up and running again soon as well.

Posted by: balljoint Jul 20 2014, 07:06 PM

Posted by: Krieger Jul 20 2014, 08:30 PM

Cool Todd! I hope things start moving along for you.

Posted by: swooshdave Jul 20 2014, 09:46 PM

Are you in the same area?

Posted by: Todd Enlund Jul 21 2014, 12:30 AM

Pretty much. Moving from Woodstock to Kerns.

Posted by: Dr Evil Jul 23 2014, 06:32 PM

Couldnt have happened to a nicer guy