My 74 In-Garage Restoration Options

[barada]

Well Figured I would start a build Thread to share with you guys. With all the cool builds going on I had been thinking about posting.

I bought a 74 914 from this board a few years ago and have really enjoyed it as it arrived. It is a 1.8 and had served as my semi daily driver (weather dependant-not just rain when it is 95 I need AC).As I added a couple more cars this one just sat and sat. All last summer I only drove it 300 miles. At the beginning of the year I started thinking it would be worth putting some time and money into and get it how I wanted to begin with.
Car was originally White but had been resprayed Black long ago. When I got it the paint was ok but was starting to lift on the edges and was cracking in certain places. The paint shop who did it just lifted the front trunk and sprayed widly inside there so the quality was terrible.
I have a good friend who is a painter for Delta and was a hi-end painter for about 15 yrs for a local shop, but moved to Florida for about 4 years. He moved back and got in my ear about helping me with the 914. He works 3 days a week so he has a lot of free time.
So about two months ago my son and I started tearing it down. we found a little rust, I knew the Hell hole was going to need attention as well as the rear passenger floor corner. The body wound up being very straight as we stripped it.
Thanks Phillip

[poorsche914]

Ouch, same thing happened to me 20+ years ago when CV bolts came out and the mounting area that the starter bolts to was broken off. Sidelined my 914 for over a year (my father in law - a welder by trade - was going to weld the piece back on. Never happened (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) ) Never did get that car back on the road (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

[barada]

I guess I was lucky. I have read where it has taken off a large chunk of the tranny. Believe it or not I drove it home with the bracket broken. When I was checking on the damage I did not see it as the cover was still on and holding it together. Of course when I was trying to shift to 2nd I knew something was wrong as my very tight shifting pattern was like stirring a stick in a bowl trying to find gears.
I have another hi-torque starter I was going to send back for warranty just had not got around to it yet so I will ship it back and see if they will get me a new one. I was thinking of swapping the case of the old one with the new internals but if they will swap my other one I will do just that.

[rick 918-S]

Well seems everything was going too good to be true. Had a axle break a bolt and I guess the other three backed out during the past month. I was driving home today and heard an enourmous "pow" I thought the motor blew as loud as it was. I now will double chekc torque at all times on these as I had a 911 do this several years ago, but do no damage.
If you know the name of this part or if you have one for sale I am in the market. And yes that is a Brand spanking new starter that is ruined above it.

I had a close call like that but fortunately I looked under the car and noticed a few flecks of grease spattered on the bottom of the trunk pan from the loose axle. Contact Dr. Evil if you don't have that shift rod support. He may have one from a core trasaxle he can sell you.

BTW: (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drooley.gif)

[barada]

Yeah parts will be coming. I am going to do the safety wire set up when I fix it. Sucks as I was planning on driving it all week.

[barada]

Big thanks to Bob for supplying the bracket. Shift rod was bent as well so I had to use a surgical device to get it back into range. Drove it to work Friday and all day Saturday with no issues. Did have to adjust the linkage as reverse and 2nd were right on top of each other after I put it back together.

Now I just need air vent hoses for the front and drain hoses for the engine lid and it will be back together 100%. My plan is to have it ready for the Mille at AMS in November. If I have time I will refinish the underside before it makes an official public appearence.

Phillip

[barada]

Spent the weekend stripping old undercoating and overspray in the fender wells.
If this is factory undercoating, it was on pretty think, texture was the same everywhere so I assume it was done 30 yrs or more.
I did this on my 911 and forgot how much fun this is NOT to do. Was neat to clean the trailing arms and see the stamp from the factory.

After putting it back on the ground I realized you will never really see any of the hours put into it but at least it is clean.
I used heat at first to strip the undercoating and just decided to use a scraper and flake it off.

As soon as my strut hardware gets back I will shoot some pics of the front trunk. At this point I think I am going to show it next week at the Mille then put it into full time daily driver.

On a side not. I have a friend that has been wanting a 914 and I found a pretty good deal on a 76 so I am going with him to look at it tomorrow. If he passes I will probably get it and start on it next.

Thanks
Phillip

[barada]

And got the Front trunk finished up. Had to buy the Heater hoses from a VW place, could not find brown anymore. Had my strut hardware plated (was suppose to be CAD) but it was free so light grey is fine.

[yellow 914]

Looks like my bumper tops are not going to work so I suspect yet another order to 914rubber is in order. Budget was running fine. Timeline is way ahead of schedule, guess that is the way it goes. Got a lot of unseen things done. POR15'd the floors. Had a little surface rust on the firewall but otherwise factory paint. Also Installed the engine lid, rear glass and repainted the gas tank. Going to go with black leather in place of the vinyl that is on top of the dash, mainly because I have a nice stash of leather I was going to use to convert to black and decided to stay factory tan. Now just need some nice door panels and seats!
One thing that I never like on repainted cars is when the VIN tag is taped for painting.Even the best guys have some build up or the vin tag is flush with the paint when it is done. On this one I took about 2 hours massaging it off without tearing or breaking the sticker. Got to glue it back on this weekend. Nice seeing the orange behind the vin number.
Had to order carpet and front carpet kit. The hinges and headlight covers were painted this weekend so the hood and trunk will go back on sometime this week. I am out of town again so it will eat at me what does not get done before I go.
I looked in my mileage log for the car since I had to get the interior parts. Car was pulled off the road on 5-28-2011.

I just saw your thread. Great work. How did you take the VIN sticker off? What did you use to stick it back on?

[barada]

Thanks.

I used a heat gun,Very sharp razor, and a solid hour of working it up. I cleaned the old adhesive of the sticker with 3M adhesive remover and used a Sprayable contact cement upholsters use for leather. I sprayed the sticker with all the little holes taped off so the residue did not show.

[barada]

Just posting to keep this alive. I have been driving it and enjoying it during the warm winter. I am starting to get a buzzing/warning sound now at times. If I turn on the blinker it goes away so I assume I have a bad circuit somewhere.


Phillip

[etcmss]

i'm in the similar process and hope mine comes out as good. a 71 with a 74 2.0L and has one registered owner with lots of original docs. thanks for sharing.

[pnewman]

Looks Greeeeeeat! (Tony the Tiger)

Great Job!

Another 914 returned to or beyond its' former glory! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[DEC]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

[barada]

Thanks Guys. I drove it a few days this week to work. Took it to a local VW show last Saturday. They got a kick out of the Rear Emblem.

[barada]

I made some changes to the car lineup and now I am 100% aircooled and this car has become my daily driver and has spent time at the airport while I travel. I am going back through getting some bugs out of it I ignored like wiper arms that were stripped and bent shift rod. Hood latch became super hard to open and had to take the bumper off to get it open. Adjusted it right and it has been smooth as silk.

I have got to where I would rather drive it over the 911.

[stateofidleness]

Beautiful car. Odd question for you... is that the original interior or an interior carpet kit? It looks "thick". If it's a kit, would love to know which one it is!

Thanks.

[barada]

Beautiful car. Odd question for you... is that the original interior or an interior carpet kit? It looks "thick". If it's a kit, would love to know which one it is!

Thanks.

Thanks. The interior is original aside from the carpet kit.I got the carpet kit from Morph www.914ap.com


Thanks
Phillip

[barada]

A little update. Car has been fantastic, still chip free and it is my daily driver when not in the company car. The leather top for the dash has faded pretty bad as it is almost tan now so I should have used vinyl. I have been working hard on my bus the past 14 months so it has been outside the last 4 months and has held up great.

[BMiller]

The 914 turned out great! I'm about to pick up a Phoenix Red 74 that needs a full resto.....this was inspirational.

[barada]

Well the day finally came for this one to get a new home. I really will miss this car and hope Wayne and his dad have as much fun with it as I did with my son. I have been so busy with other projects that I only drove it about 600 miles last year, so it was time.