1973 2.0L Rustoration, Restoration turned OT garage build Options

[Superhawk996]

Also did some more removal of the rear frame & inner wheelhouse.



I can see that drilling spot welds is really going to be a re-occurring theme.

I can't believe how many spot welds are on the outer suspension console for the trailing arm. This is in addition to some factory MIG welds.



Pretty much the same story for the engine mount but with even more factory MIG along the outer perimeter.

Honestly, it took the better part of the day just to get these two pieces of sheetmetal freed up for recycling. Sure wish that new metal was available.



Just about the time I was thinking I was doing OK for the day, I got a little surprise. Turns out that during the demo of the frame, the saw blade had banged the rear fender from the inside -- totally buggering the paint.

This was a bit of a let down. Since the paint on the car is in very nice shape I've been trying to avoid cutting out a piece of the rear fender to allow easy access to the frame / console area like so may others have done.

I thought I had been careful. Nope. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)



I think I'll still try not to cut out this section of rear quarter. At this point it is still easier to do a small paint repair than to deal with cutting into the quarter and having to deal with the fiberglass flares. Welding on the sheetmetal with the fiberglass is going to be a big problem that will likely force me to remove a portion of the flare, weld, and then have to reinstall the flare. Not a fun prospect.

Worst case . . . . paint will be hard to match. I had hoped to contain the re-spray to the door jambs and the engine compartment.

At some point, assuming I'm happy with all this structural work, I had planned to strip all paint in the future (maybe next winter) and return the car to original blue.

I had long ago resolved to never again have a red sports car. Can't tell you how many thousands of dollars I've paid to the highway robbers over the last 40 years or so. I've never changed the speed I drive but I can say with a straight face that white Miata never attracted 1/2 the attention my red 914 did!

[Superhawk996]

So after all that, I decided to take a look at how the rescued pieces will fit to the new sheet metal.

Gives me a good idea of what still needs to be trimmed & tweaked.





It also gives he a bit of hope and chance to forget the paint fiasco.

Two steps forward, one step back but focus on the overall forward progress.

I also had a chance to check out some of the projects you guys have posted.

Bbrock's project is awesome! Gives me hope that this is indeed worth doing. Likewise, I've been able to find a bit more info on a center mount AC compressor that another member did. Same thing, makes me realize that it can be done.

Such a shame the 914 had a relatively short life cycle. Had the line continued, think of the improvements that could have been made.

I was very excited a few years back when Porsche hinted of a return of the 914 (OK it was more like a decade ago!). But like a lot of concept talk around the auto shows, it was just a bluff!.

Oh well, if Porsche won't do it, I guess I'll have to keep the old school metal on the road on my own!

[sixnotfour]

way to dive in... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

[bbrock]

Then put passenger side door back on to gauge door fit. Overall I'm pretty happy. However, it seems the only way to get a decent fit is to shim the bottom hinge slightly (1 washer). I don't recall my old car having any door shims. However, it also seems odd that there is no way to "tilt" the door without using a shim.

Overall looks reasonable for a rough fit up but needs a little more tweaking.

Believe it or not, you can often fix a sagging door by just grabbing the rear bottom and reefing up on it. Alternatively, if you look carefully, you may find a slight bulge in hinge pillar at the upper hinge. Over the years, the metal seems to stretch there and cause the door to droop at the rear. So you can gently push that bulge back with a body hammer. I was surprised how a tiny adjustment fixed my drooping doors. I used a combo of the two methods to fix the droop and achieve the gaps I wanted fore and aft.

Nice work you are doing!

[Superhawk996]

Then put passenger side door back on to gauge door fit. Overall I'm pretty happy. However, it seems the only way to get a decent fit is to shim the bottom hinge slightly (1 washer). I don't recall my old car having any door shims. However, it also seems odd that there is no way to "tilt" the door without using a shim.

Overall looks reasonable for a rough fit up but needs a little more tweaking.

Believe it or not, you can often fix a sagging door by just grabbing the rear bottom and reefing up on it. Alternatively, if you look carefully, you may find a slight bulge in hinge pillar at the upper hinge. Over the years, the metal seems to stretch there and cause the door to droop at the rear. So you can gently push that bulge back with a body hammer. I was surprised how a tiny adjustment fixed my drooping doors. I used a combo of the two methods to fix the droop and achieve the gaps I wanted fore and aft.

Nice work you are doing!

Tried that to a limited extent. However I pulled by back out really bad about a month ago so I wasn't in a hurry to overdo it! The "reefing method" is what used to get done in auto assembly plants to tweak door fits and window channel fits as recently as the late 90's. I might use a floor jack though if push comes to shove.

That was the 1st time for me with pulling my back like that and it was not fun and had me laid out for a couple days. I was trying to move my engine a bit without a dolly or hoist. Made the mistake of lifting and twisting at the same time. Used to be able to do that when I was 20. No so much anymore! Not only are the 914's older and in worse shape than I recall in the 80's -- so am I!

[bbrock]

That was the 1st time for me with pulling my back like that and it was not fun and had me laid out for a couple days. I was trying to move my engine a bit without a dolly or hoist. Made the mistake of lifting and twisting at the same time. Used to be able to do that when I was 20. No so much anymore! Not only are the 914's older and in worse shape than I recall in the 80's -- so am I!

Oh man, I feel your pain. I was actually in my 20s, and it was the 80s) the first, and worst time I put my back out. Did if lifting a stainless steel pan that probably weighed all of two pounds and something I did hundreds of times each week for that job. But for some reason, my back went out and my knees just buckled. I had to chest crawl back to my office to call my wife. Then I had to somehow drive my 914 across town to where my wife worked so she could take me home. The only way I could operate the clutch was to put my foot on the peddle and then push my knee down with my hand. At least you were doing something manly and can blame age. I hope it heals quick. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Superhawk996]

So here is a fun picture of my original 914 back in the early 90's.

They say that a 2 seat sports car is of limited use. I beg to differ. My buddy and I ran a house painting business during my 1st summer of college. I learned two important things.

1) Don't show up to do estimates in a 914. I never got any of those jobs. Wasn't until I started using my buddy's Citation that we started booking jobs!

2) You make do with what you have. This was bout a 16' ladder. At one point I had a 40' ladder on it but never got a picture of that one!

[whitetwinturbo]

............I'm popped out just reading this thread (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

Everyone is pulling for this one to be saved. Nice job! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[Superhawk996]

Getting back to work after a few days off.

Slow going lately. Still removing parts and cutting metal to get access to the Hell Hole areas.

Had to remove the trunk to get the old trunk hinges out. Of course that meant screwing around with the torsion bars which is always a smashed finger waiting to happen if not done properly.

Also a reminder that I need to move the battery to the frunk! Previously was crudely mounted in the trunk and taking up too much area in that already limited space. Plus I prefer the weight to go up front like I had it in my 1st 914.



Previous paint job used bed liner type spay on material to hide a variety of repairs. I already know the rear trunk bottom edge has had the fiberglass treatment. Afraid to dig into that one this winter. Non structural and honestly, it is pretty inconspicuous at the moment. I don't see a way to repair this right now without ending up with even more paint work on my hands.



The trunk hinges had to be pulled:
1) to make way for new sheetmetal to repair the AC butchery. Hole saw pass thru is absurd. I can't believe the sheetmetal isn't rusted around the edges of the holes and leading to even more decay. Finally, a blessing! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) That is the mystery of this car so far. . . . how is the underbody so gone but the upper is in decent shape?

2) Repair the trunk hinge brackets. Although not broken off they were welded in with snot welds and look like they will eventually break. Even if they don't break I don't want someone to think I welded them!.

3) Upon removal, I discovered that the proper hinge bolts are long gone. Replaced with a 10 mm threaded bolt that is enlarging the bracket hole each time the trunk is opened. So the bright side is that I found this out before they broke! New brackets will address #2.

I'm constantly amazed how poorly previous owners took care of maintenance and repair. I understand 914's not getting due respect but come on. . . . (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif)

Makes be a bit worried about getting to that engine and transmission. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) I already know there are a couple of dicey exhaust studs and the compression is lacking (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Got around to cutting the firewall to gain access to the Hell Hole to install the wheelhouse inner. More spot welds and cutting. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif)



Spent the better part of two days getting this far. I think I was in for about 4 hours just to rough fit the inner frame rail. The way it fits up the the front of the trunk is tricky. Had to spend a lot of time reworking of the frame rail flanges to get it to fit right.

The one thing that bothers me is this frame section is corrugated. The original is two layers of steel. Inner is corrugated but the outer is smooth.

I think I'm probably going to have to fabricate a 0.030" (ish) outer layer to smooth out the appearance of this. Ideally, I'd like the rail to look OEM. May be too much work. Time to think that one over for a while. Open to suggestions if someone else has traveled this road. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)





Lots of rough mock up to figure how how stuff will fit and what the best assembly sequence will be.

Discovered that the Restoration Design outer clam shell will need to cut into two pieces for my install. There is no way to weld on the upper portion without cutting off that rear fender so it will have to get welded to the wheelhouse section before that whole section is welded in. Also it needs to sandwich to the wheelhouse and the longitudinal which can't be done after the door jamb is finish welded.

Not a big deal but better to find it out now before welding starts!

[Superhawk996]

Posted a video up on YouTube. Posted as much for myself as a reminder that it did run . . . (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) and why I want to get it back on the road.

Shift linkage was out of adjustment and I had some trouble finding reverse and kept catching 2nd. That my story and I'm sticking to it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ5_EblRToE

[Superhawk996]

Deleted duplicate post - oops!

[jmitro]

Alternatively, if you look carefully, you may find a slight bulge in hinge pillar at the upper hinge. Over the years, the metal seems to stretch there and cause the door to droop at the rear. So you can gently push that bulge back with a body hammer. I was surprised how a tiny adjustment fixed my drooping doors.

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-ton-heavy-d...-kit-62115.html

I used this tool to slightly stretch my very tight door gaps (and then I returned the tool for a refund after I got done (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif))

[Superhawk996]

Spent a bit of time getting the 914 clock working.

Was initially non-functional when I first applied power to it.

Took a bit of poking around on the various forums to try to figure it out. Estimate to repair was about $285 from Hollywood Speedometer. I'm sure they would do a great job but that isn't in the cards right now.

Although I was able to get it working, it sill isn't fit for use and the front plastic lens is scratched. Oh, and the inner bezel is painted red (as are all my other gauges) -- Oh, the things people do (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) to these cars! so at some point in time it may go in for a professional repair.

In the meantime, the curiosity of how it works and the itch to repair it was killing me.

When I first got it, the factory seal on the back of the clock was still in place which was a good sign. That meant only the front of the clock had been opened up to paint the inner bezel. Looking at the outer bezel closely did show signs of this but overall, it was done reasonably well and carefully without mauling the bezel too much.

Opening the back reveled the internal thermal fuse was open.

However, I put a jumper across it, and the clock still wouldn't run. It didn't start ticking on its own. I did eventually find that if I put some light finger pressure on the main spring gear that it would tick. I figure this was due to a gummed up mechanism.

Flushed the mechanism with denatured alcohol.

Repaired the thermal fuse. This one is a bit tricky. The back of the case says to only use 120C low melt temp solder. I can't seem to find this at a resonable price. I think the only solder alloy close to that temp is Indium based and the only places I could find it were about $250 for about 10 grams of it.

I did finally find some commercially available solder with a 138C melt point at Micro Center. Close enough for Government work. Certainly better than 60/40 Tin/Lead electronics solder with a melt temp of 188C but I'd rather eventually fix this in the long term. Luckily I have a power supply that I can do current limiting on so no risk in the short term.



https://www.mgchemicals.com/downloads/tds/tds-4902p.pdf

Powered it up and voila! Or so it seemed.

Although it would run it wasn't self winding properly.

This is the most ingenious thing about the clock. When a set of contacts close, a solenoid is actuated which winds the clock. As the solenoid reaches the end of travel, the inertia of the winder mechanism carries it just a bit further than the contact on the solenoid arm, and opens contacts, and shutting off the solenoid. All this happens in a fraction of a second.

So what was happening is that although the contacts appeared to be closed, there were ever so slightly shy and not making electrical contact. I suspect this is due to mechanical wear, arching, or maybe something has gotten bent over the years. I tired cleaning the contacts but no luck.

I found that by putting a small shim (tip of a small tie wrap!) on top of the solenoid arm, it added just enough preload to close the contacts and to allow the winding mechanism to operate on its own.

Video below is with the tie wrap tip, taped into place with a small bit of green masking tape.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCQlqokfIPI


If anyone has more information on these clocks or has a more successful long term repair idea, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise I may eventually use a bit of glue to hold the tie wrap in place until I decide if $285 to restore the clock is worth it. Not likely in the short term until I get this car back on the road . . . I already have a $15 clock in my garage that works!

Also, I've found that a 1/2 Amp fast blow fuse is adequate to protect the clock in the short therm. The solenoid measures about 9 ohms so maximum steady state current flow would be 1.33 Amps by Ohms law. However, a solenoid is an inductor and inherently limits current in-rush and its inductance will be much higher than 9 ohms. I could dig up the equation to figure out the instantaneous inductance but that is too much work when trial and error works as well. Anyway, when I use a 1/2 Amp fuse, I can see the filament "bend" as the mechanism closes and current flows heating the fuse wire. However before it can get hot enough to blow, the current stops. In the long term, this bending of the fuse filament will fatigue it but for now, it works fine to protect the clock.

[bbrock]

Happy New Year! Thanks for posting your clock repair experience. My clock hasn't been plugged in for 35 years and I can't remember if it was even working back then, so I may have to reference this soon.

FYI, I had my local glass shop cut new glass lenses for my tach which had a plastic lens and it was a reasonable price. Lenses on my console gauges look good but I may eventually do the same for them. SEM Trim Black is a dead nuts match for the satin black used on the bezels. I resprayed both inner and outer bezels on my main instrument panel gauges and they look like new. Much cheaper than a full professional restoration at least.

I'm curious about the thermal fuse. Is there no way to replace with one with long leads attached so it could be soldered in with normal solder without melting the fuse? Having never seen inside one of these clocks, just wondering (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[Superhawk996]

I'm curious about the thermal fuse. Is there no way to replace with one with long leads attached so it could be soldered in with normal solder without melting the fuse? Having never seen inside one of these clocks, just wondering (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

Pelican forum has a picture that is not very clear - I'll try to post something a bit clearer in a day.

The bottom line is that the answer to the question is No. if the internal fuse is melted it needs to be re-soldered.

I've read of others just using normal solder and then putting the fuse external to the clock. Per my post, 1/2A fast blow would do the trick. However if the internal fuse melted (as mine was) it would need to be resoldered to get power to the solenoid. If you get closer to doing this, I'd be happy to walk you though it with better pictures or video.

https://cdn9.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/...repair/fig3.jpg

[euro911]

Is there enough room inside the housing to solder in a miniature fuse 'socket'? Then you can install a small replaceable 1/2 amp fuse without worrying about melting the element when it needs to be replaced. I've replaced mini-fuses in old VCRs and microwave ovens, they're something like 1/8" diameter x 1/2" in length ... (unfortunately, I forgot the size designation)

Littlefuse also has miniature ceramic fuses with axial leads that could be used if you heat-sink each lead while quickly soldering one in (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

https://www.littelfuse.com/products/fuses/a.../251/251_5.aspx

[Dion]

Just spotted this thread. Nice work! & Good luck.
Look forward to seeing your progress. Looks like you have a handle on it all.

[bbrock]

Littlefuse also has miniature ceramic fuses with axial leads that could be used if you heat-sink each lead while quickly soldering one in (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

https://www.littelfuse.com/products/fuses/a.../251/251_5.aspx

Yeah, those are what I was thinking about too. Here's an example of what I was looking at: https://www.galco.com/buy/NTE-Electronics/N...ASABEgIvMvD_BwE

[Superhawk996]

I suppose you could add in one of those miniature fuses but it wouldn't serve much of a purpose.

What maybe isn't clear is that the internal "fuse" is the dab of low melting temp solder itself. Tthere are basically two "eyelet" loops.

One is fixed firm to the solenoid. The other is "sprung" down from the rear of the clock. This is just a piece of spring steel that is copper plated.

The sprung eyelet portion is pulled down to the fixed one and then the solder is placed which holds the two pieces together.

If a short were to occur in the solenoid, or if the mechanism were to jam preventing the winding contacts from being opened after only momentary contact, the thin spring steel will heat up, melting the low temp solder and the "fuse" then springs open breaking the current flow.

Remember, the purpose of the fuse isn't to protect the clock, rather, it protects the car's wiring.

So if the internal fuse is already opened from whatever cause, the root cause needs to be fixed. In my case this was to flush the sticky internals with alcohol to free up the stuck rewind mechanism and the mainspring gearing.

In theory, if you either put the mini-fuse inside (maybe between the eyelets) or outside the clock, it wouldn't really matter. Just protect your vehicle wiring.

I looked at the spec's on the mini-fuses you linked to. Those take quite a while (up to minutes) to blow depending on size of the fuse. It would take some careful sizing to get the right fuse vs. time to melt it. I'd prefer to just go with a simple external 1/2 fast blow automotive glass fuse since I know this works to run the clock but would also be low enough amperage to blow well before melting the clock power feed if a short were to occur.

Attached is a closer view. Sorry for limited resolution. I can send high res photo via e-mail if that would help.

Yellow arrow points to the "sprung" eyelet. Red circle is around the two eyelets that are now soldered with the low temp solder.

[FourBlades]

Great looking restoration!

Check out this page for rear suspension inner console reinforcement plates:

http://www.tangerineracing.com/chassis.htm

John