Best Practices for Engman Kit Install, How to install without chassis warpage... Options

[ConeDodger]

I just picked up my car from McMark's shop today. Original Customs for the uninformed. I had him install the Engman Kit I got in the last group buy. I had heard the stories of door gaps shrinking and things not lining up and that is why I gave this job to Mark. My car is a 70K mile preservation and I am only the second owner. The door gaps were perfect going in and perfect coming out.

Nice work Mark! If you are thinking of doing this, I highly recommend Mark and if you are too far away, definitely ask how he did this. His method worked without any body warping...

Thanks! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[McMark]

Rob, I reworded you title slightly. Not that you were wrong, but I think mine is slightly clearer.

I installed the kit with no additional bracing or support, with the car sitting on its wheels. There was absolutely no warping and no change in the door gaps.

I 'dry fit' the kit to make sure everything looked and fit exactly how I wanted it. I then modified two drill bits to prepare each hole for the rosette weld. One drill bit passed through the hole to clear the paint from the long, the other cleared the E-Coat from the kit. I'll post pictures of those modified drill bits and pictures of the install on Tuesday. I also used self tapping sheet metal screws to secure and pull the kit into place.

I took my time doing the installation and prepped three or four holes at a time, welded them, waited a bit, then repeated. Took me about 15 hours to remove the interior, prep everything, weld, grind, paint, and reinstall the interior.

It's important for me to mention that the Engman Kit fits absolutely perfectly. I didn't have to tweak, modify, or otherwise manipulate his parts. They dropped right into place. And as long as you work SLOW and METHODICALLY you have no danger of warping the chassis. Rushing and welding too much, too fast are easy mistakes to make and WILL cause problems. Prepping all the welds ahead of time is a mistake that will encourage you to weld too fast. I also welded starting at one end and work consistently towards the other. I figure that jumping from one end to the other can 'trap' stress in the long. My thinking is that if you make a weld, and that heat distorts the metal, if you make another weld farther away while the original metal is in an 'altered state', your second weld will 'trap' and lock the metal into that 'altered state'. By keeping the welds together, I think you'll keep the 'trapping' to a minimum.

Pictures on Tuesday.

[andys]

It's important for me to mention that the Engman Kit fits absolutely perfectly. I didn't have to tweak, modify, or otherwise manipulate his parts. They dropped right into place.

Pictures on Tuesday.

Glad that you had success where others have had trouble; trouble that's self induced if not careful.

Perfect fit is debatable IMO; some mis-fitting areas are inherent to the 914 chassis, and others are with the kit itself. Let me explain. I quickly discovered that the top surface of the longs is not flat (mine was slightly dished in some areas, and bowed out in others). This results in a gap between the long kit (which is flat) and the top of the long, which is not favorable to welding. The same is also true for the sides of the longs, though slightly less pronounced in my case. The bowed-out areas could be gently pounded flat with a rubber mallet. The kit doesn't fit or line up properly in several areas. The cutouts for the seatbelt anchors on mine did not line up, so I had to remove material. The inside of the long kit where the cutout is for the 914 crossbrace rests atop the flanged and spot welded area which resultantly lifts it off the surface causing an undesirable gap for welding. On the transverse piece at the firewall, it needs to be notched to allow the 914 floor rib to clear on both sides. There are some other minor areas, but those are the main spots that. I've got photos and was going to do an install write-up, but time did not permit.

As with others, I used TEK screws to fasten down the kit prior to welding. The paint had to first be removed in the local areas that need welding. I measured (using calipers) and documented my door gaps both before and after welding. Some shrinkage was noticed after a methodical and slow process similar to those previously described. I used a TIG welder which is favorable to minimizing the heat input, but would not recommend it due to its very tedious and slow progress and all the contortions and angles requiring two hands (one for the torch, the other for filler rod).

The Engman kit IMO is still a good kit, and would recommend it with the understanding that some file-to-fit areas may be necessary.

Andys

[ChrisFoley]

I used a TIG welder which is favorable to minimizing the heat input...

I disagree with that Andy. TIG typically causes more heat buildup because of the slowness of the process. MIG creates less heat in a given area. With MIG you can be finished with a weld more quickly and start cooling it sooner. Consequently the heat is not given an opportunity to spread out to a wider area.

Again, my purpose in starting this thread is to illuminate the method McMark is using because as he said, he used absolutely no bracing, welded with the wheels on the ground etc...

Our procedure is considerably different than McMark's and we have no trouble with warpage either. We don't screw the panels in place temporarily, we don't work in linear fashion from one end to another, and we don't avoid pre-cleaning the weld locations.
I'm not suggesting that there is something wrong with Mark's method, but that it is only one of several successful procedures.
Key elements our methods share are careful prep & fitment, and progress slowly to avoid excess heat build up.