Another 914 goes under the knife, UPDATE: IT'S ALIVE....FINALLY Options

[rick 918-S]

That is a nice piece! Who carries those?

[Luke M]

Great work on the repairs Rick. I have the same rust issues with my 914-6 and watching this thread has answered a few of my questions. The one main question and concern of mine is how do you keep the chassis as straight as possible while cutting then welding in the new metal. I have a brace similar to yours but mine attaches to the forward door post. I took the car off the rotisserie then placed it on jack stands to keep things level so I thought. I checked the roof to door/windshield gaps and found them to be off. A quick adjustment to the brace and things looked good again. My question to you is what do you think is the best method other then a bench to keep things straight? I see that you have this car on some type of wheel stands. Does this seam to help or is it just for a working height thing?

Keep up with the great work and pics.

TIA,

Luke

[rick 918-S]

Great work on the repairs Rick. I have the same rust issues with my 914-6 and watching this thread has answered a few of my questions. The one main question and concern of mine is how do you keep the chassis as straight as possible while cutting then welding in the new metal. I have a brace similar to yours but mine attaches to the forward door post. I took the car off the rotisserie then placed it on jack stands to keep things level so I thought. I checked the roof to door/windshield gaps and found them to be off. A quick adjustment to the brace and things looked good again. My question to you is what do you think is the best method other then a bench to keep things straight? I see that you have this car on some type of wheel stands. Does this seam to help or is it just for a working height thing?

Keep up with the great work and pics.

TIA,

Luke

Ben's car is really fairly solid. I did not need to get into the trailing arm mount so the suspension could stay in the car. It sounds like your car is a shell. Here is the answer I posted when asked this question earlier in this thread. I suggested supporting the car under the suspension pickup points not in the usual places where we set jack stands.:

By supporting the car under the suspension you are spreading out the weight where the chassis naturally carries it. You are adding less stress and pulling force to an already weak point.

Here's an example: take a piece of 11" X 17" poster board. Set up 4 pencils at the center 1/3 square of the poster board to support it. You will notice the poster board will sag dramatically at both ended.

Move your pencil supports out 2" in all directions and you will see an dramatic decrease in the sag.

If your repairing a car with no suspension you still need to try to move your support points out to the strut and shock mount points. this will decrease your odds of introducing stress in the chassis from heat and weight.

Other considerations are having a chassis stretch at the long when you have removed a huge section. Any time you do this you really need to plan ahead and add a second brace. You could hold the length with a brace from the door latch bolt holes to the upper hinge. This will sort of add a triangle to the targa brace.


Really. The best method to protect yourself from having to worry about changing the chassis is to spend money and buy enough steel to build a fixture to hold the car.

The second thing you really need to do is plan your welding procedure.

If you look at the above photos you will see I have the vertical welds completed. I have not welded the horizontal welds yet. This allowed the welds to naturalize without pulling the chassis.

[bigkensteele]

I hope you remembered to re-install the heater tube before you buttoned it up! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

[sixnotfour]

I hope you remembered to re-install the heater tube before you buttoned it up! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

Get a late heater tube they are aluminum foil lined..the insulation is not exposed to the ID.

[rick 918-S]

I hope you remembered to re-install the heater tube before you buttoned it up! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[rick 918-S]

Not much progress today. I spent most of the day cleaning the shop. Really Alllllll dayyyyyy........ (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) I did get the front vertical seam finished.

[euro911]

I hope you remembered to re-install the heater tube before you buttoned it up! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

[rick 918-S]

I hope you remembered to re-install the heater tube before you buttoned it up! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif) That would suck.

[rick 918-S]

I spot welded the outer long today. I used a pinch spotter to close it up like the factory.



I misted on some self etching primer and added a bead of urethane seam sealer to the top edge as the factory did.



Then I added the sill panel. I used my Lenco panel spotter to face spot the panel and used the pinch spotter to spot weld the braces to the sill.




Here is the bottom of the sill after installing. The seam sealer is squeezed out and prevents moisture from starting rust under it.

[Cairo94507]

That is beautiful work. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[rick 918-S]

I wasn't happy with the restoration design panel and the way it was fitting. I have used the panel as a whole section before but as a partial repair it was easier to just fab up a small section. So I fabricated a panel instead.

[vintage914racer]

Can't wait to see the car in person tomorrow.

[r_towle]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[CptTripps]

Nicely done sir...

[rick 918-S]

Not much progress. I closed in the firewall this weekend in preparation for the engine shelf. As I was shutting down for the night I think my new compressor pump blew up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[euro911]

Quit buying Harbor Freight S#IT tools (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

[rick 918-S]

Quit buying Harbor Freight S#IT tools (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

Northern Tools. My original purchase was at least 10 years ago. The replacement pump is exactly the same as the original so I expected more from it.

I went out this morning and the overload on the electric motor was tripped. I reset it and it fired up like nothing was wrong.

I'm changing the oil today to see if it's just from the break in oil I used. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[rick 918-S]

Finished up the engine bay including the rear lid pivot mount. Shot some self etching primer, Added seam sealer and Gravitex. Still lots to do but I feel like I'm getting somewhere now.

I'm not adding the battery tray until I paint the back of the stand and engine bay. there is no way to get some good paint protection with the tray on. Once I have color on I will use my spot welder and spot weld the painted tray to the stand.

[sixnotfour]

NICE ..