recommissioned., australian 914 Options

[wonkipop]

after 16 years of storage its back up and running.

had this for 31 years.
picked it up in chicago when i lived there back in late 80s/early 90s.
off the first owner.
brought it back to aus with me.

its largely original. 40k miles.
where its not original is i had to convert it to rhd. did that back in 92-93.
thats another story if anyone is interested.
rest of it is showroom stock and untouched.
just finished doing a clay bar deep clean on the phoenix red.
got to the end of today and i was back in 1974.

got inspired by 50th hoo hah. been at it since october last year.
co-vid lockdown got me some extra "vacation" time on the project.

keep on 914-ing all of you.

don't know if this image will work but giving it a try.

[wonkipop]

some images of firewall area. tank out for remaking fuel lines recently.
some surface rust starting was found down in the v joint below the fuel tank due to condensation maybe. on top metal surface of the cavity not bottom (underside -road surface). we went back over all the welds from when i converted it and gave seams etc some love/attention 30 years on. tight fit to bring the fuel lines through to the bottom of the tank.

you lose tank connections access port (or its severely reduced in size with conversion), so back then an access hole cut in the front truck firewall hidden behind the truck carpet to assist getting fuel lines on to the tank. the tank loses about half of its lower bulb and has reduced capacity.

some images from last few months. in one of them you can see mods to lower firewall from cabin side. evident where we have been attending to seams and welds. on lh side the original firewall and floor piece for the pedal mounting gets removed and moved across to right as part of the new drivers footwell. a replacement panel is folded and welded in.

another bit of useless information, but all this stuff is sheet steel and welded on my car. would not have thought to have done it any other way, neither would anyone else in the 80s and 90s. i've seen a crayfords car up close and they were pop rivetted panels with mastic sealant!!!!! some of the panels were sheet steel but one of the firewall panels was a fibreglass moulding. no welding! the 1970s!?

[phillstek]

some images of firewall area. tank out for remaking fuel lines recently.
some surface rust starting was found down in the v joint below the fuel tank due to condensation maybe. on top metal surface of the cavity not bottom (underside -road surface). we went back over all the welds from when i converted it and gave seams etc some love/attention 30 years on. tight fit to bring the fuel lines through to the bottom of the tank.

you lose tank connections access port (or its severely reduced in size with conversion), so back then an access hole cut in the front truck firewall hidden behind the truck carpet to assist getting fuel lines on to the tank. the tank loses about half of its lower bulb and has reduced capacity.

some images from last few months. in one of them you can see mods to lower firewall from cabin side. evident where we have been attending to seams and welds. on lh side the original firewall and floor piece for the pedal mounting gets removed and moved across to right as part of the new drivers footwell. a replacement panel is folded and welded in.

another bit of useless information, but all this stuff is sheet steel and welded on my car. would not have thought to have done it any other way, neither would anyone else in the 80s and 90s. i've seen a crayfords car up close and they were pop rivetted panels with mastic sealant!!!!! some of the panels were sheet steel but one of the firewall panels was a fibreglass moulding. no welding! the 1970s!?

Looks like you’re in Melbourne, going by your pics. Great city with arguably the best coffee in the world.


Cut my dash up into 6 pieces, welded it back up and then vacuum vinyled it. Biggest issue for me was the tank/firewall modification. Ended up with rust issues in the tank that caused untold problems with carb jets even with 3 fuel filters in line. Solved it by fabricating a new tank in aluminium.