I think I got a little carried away, Hobby or Addiction ? Options

[greenie]

First off a big thanks to all the folks that created the " 914 Club" I discovered this site about a month after I bought my car. What a fantastic motivator & sometimes just a big freakin waste of time, I just have to check into the garage to see whats going on everyday.

I've always loved Porches & thought that 914's were such funky cool cars ,looked at lot's over the years but never found one without some major issues.

And then last summer my son found this car in Portland. The lady selling had owned it since "77" & was moving to a houseboat & didn't want to leave it outside.

"74" 2.0, 32,000 Miles, Perfect Interior , driven 2,000 miles since '88' 100% stock except exhaust. Talked my wife & son into driving to Oregon on our anniversary. I bought it on the spot.

The drive back with my son to Seattle was one of the funnest days of my life, throttle sticking open @ 3K most of the trip, dash lights going out at night thru tacoma , a real adventure.

[greenie]

So I figured I could spend the next five years or so kinda spiffing it up, just the minor things.

So the first idea was to get that throttle taken care of. A little cleaning a litlle lubrication, new fuel & filter.

Changing the old filter the hoses desinigrate in my hands( ominous music here) the start of things to come?

[sean_v8_914]

welcome to the drugless crackhouse. that is a nice looking car. I think any 30 yr old car is going to have issues. starting with a good solid foundation is a major plus. a car that sits in a garage for a long time may have slight surface corrosion on some of teh connectors. check teh simple (cheap) things first. check teh grounding points. clean off teh fuses and the fuse block contacts

enjoy teh ride!

[xsboost90]

replace those lines , get some 5/16 fuel hose and get to work. Those cracked up hoses can make a nice car into a flame thrower.

[sean_v8_914]

Herb Meeder will provide motivation for you to change those fuel lines out

[greenie]

The hoses are kinda hard to get to with the engine in so I may as well do it right, Study the heck out of Dave Darlings writings & everybodies favorite AA ( his checklist is great except for the part about 1/2 hour job) & pretty soon....

[Bleyseng]

looks good sitting there but locate a set of 2.0l SSI heat exchangers and a Bursch or Triad muffler. The SS he's will give you lots of clean heat (a must in the PNW) and the Bursch or Triad will give you back some hp that Manta muffler steals.

Change ALL of the fuel lines with proper high pressure Porsche FI fuel line so you don't do a Cheech&Chong!

Actually, this morning there is something going on at Kevins (Rhodyguy) before they go to a car show in Tacoma.

[greenie]

So after the new compressor, new sandblaster ($50.00 at Sears), new paint gun $39.99 @ Wholesale Tools, a fantastic 2 gun set-up, multiple $$$$ of POR 15, Zambezi Green paint my hjaw dropped win they told me the price after mixing it, multiple $$$ at Pelican parts ,(I Love those guys), this is my engine compartment.

[RustyWa]

That looks sweet!

[greenie]

Now for the engine can't put this crappy thing back in soo..., all new hoses went to the Wagon shop in Bellevue got to know him real well Bought the correct braided hoses & all new German hose clamps @ $3.OO ea ( alot of these little buggers on there), Fuel , Vacuum , fixed thermostat cable, boiled to test, cleaned painted all the tin, Big mistake should have powdercoated as suggested. and now...

[Michael J]

More inspiration. I love it. I just replaced all the hoses on my 1.7 with the "correct" braided hoses after my local mechanic gave me a load of crap about putting rubber hoses on a "fine German car". Next winter I am going to drop the engine and trans to just clean things up. But not now. The top came off yesterday for a quick drive. I had to bungee cord in the battery because i'm replacing the battery tray but it was fun. Enjoy the new toy!

[greenie]

I think I'm sending a few into cyberspace

My paint oven, a tip for painting in the garage... turn off the furnace intake fan ,cuts down on the wifes complaining about fumes, only took me a month to figure this out ...

[greenie]

So I drive the car around for a couple of days. I can personally attest the the car will run with a new Optima for about 100 miles without the voltage regulator plugged in. You know one of those I'll put it here so I don't forget it deals.

Me & my son bent over ( a very common situation ) Should I say something about AAron & the 4 hour erection problem here?

[greenie]

So things are settling down over the holidays. We're all watching the Barrett Jackson Acuction on the Speed Channel & my wife says" You deserve one of those real nice Paint jobs like those guys"

Uh Oh I say to myself. I know this means the timetable is moving forward on my five year project. But for us married guy's when opportunity knocks and you are given the OK to piss away many thousands you gotta move quick so.....
some more power tools ...

[greenie]

more..

[greenie]

more

[greenie]

Just a shot of my longs. I know this will sicken the stomachs of some of the midwest guys with all the work on the rust & fabrications that they do. My delimma was how to get the oversprayed undercoating off ( feel sorry for me?)

[greenie]

So while the car is at " Queen City" in Redmond for paint I've had some time for a few other things.

My Marriage counselor say's I need to spend more time with the wife, my alcohol counselor says It's ok to have a few beers while working on the car but it becomes a problem when you spend 16 hours a day with a beer on the bench. My financial guy tried to explain something about diminishing returns, I really thought about their advice... fired them all now I have more $$$$ for the car.!!!

I've gone completely Bonkers!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooo.........
may as well take the paint off the bumpers & turn them into Chrome.

[greenie]

The bumpers were a lot of fun.

I learned a technique call "Pick & file" you take a very sharped tipped hammer & rap the ding from the back & slowly raise the material to remove dents & dings. Very slow process but after a while you start getting a feel for it, very rewarding though when you get some confidence. After about 40 hours & equal beers I had them ready to take to the plater. I complicated the job by welding up the bumper " tit holes" creating a lot of extra work for myself.
I just didn't like the looks ofthe bumperettes.

[greenie]

same story with the rockers & front & rear facia.

It's amazing how 30 plus years can put a lot of dents in these things. I had these powdercoated black.

I'm not 100% happy with them but there's always next winter.

No photo's of the finished bumpers but they look incredible.