Bodywork with no 914 experience Options

[patssle]

There are a few things I need/want done to my 914...finding somebody with 914 bodywork experience is a bit tough. A few rust bubbles and some body repair from damage - is there any reason for a guy who does good bodywork to have trouble with a 914? Or is bodywork pretty universal? Of course I'm looking for it to be done right that will last a long time. The car will need to get a paint or wrap job. A few pictures below of the major issues, some others are in a photo album: http://imgur.com/a/Og8rT

[914itis]

Is the car suffers structural damage and rust in hell holes, longs, etc. you will need someone with 914 experience. If it's just surface rust and body repair any experience body shop can do it.

[Andyrew]

Bodywork is different from rust repair.

You need a highly skilled person for rust repair.

General bodywork can be really easy.

Final bodywork is very difficult.

[mrbubblehead]

i just looked at your 6 or 7 photos. the one that is going to be difficult is the cowl. 5 panels all come together right there. if not done properly the rust will come back for sure. i dont think many body shops would be able to do a proper repair. that repair is going to take a skilled metal worker. the other stuff in your photos should be basic. but that cowl is different. i would be afraid any old body shop would hide it with filler. may look ok for a year or 2. but the rust needs to be cut out. depending on what it looks like after it has been stripped and blasted of course.

[mepstein]

The pictures that you have are only of the outside of the car. Typically the common rust areas of a 914 are all inside the car. Hell hole, longitudinals, suspension mounts, floors, pedal area, behind bumpers, back of trunk, botton of cabin firewall, door jam, ect. You might be lucky but chances are you are only seeing 5% of the rust that is normally on our cars. Addition pictures would help.

[rick 918-S]

There are many levels of body work from this: This 911 has a huge rust hole that was beat in and stuffed with body filler.



To stuff like The Metal Surgeon does:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=194009

To stuff like this:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=104128&hl=

The key is to look at the structural rust first. No point in shining a turd. The structural rust will be the determining factor in helping you decide whether you should even start looking for a body man or a technician with chassis experience.

If the chassis is good then you need to decide what level of repairs your satisfied with. Check the auto body supply stores. They generally know who works on classic cars and rust.

[patssle]

i just looked at your 6 or 7 photos. the one that is going to be difficult is the cowl. 5 panels all come together right there. if not done properly the rust will come back for sure.

I've thought about just getting rid of the cowl seal completely and weld the fender to the piece that goes across between the hood and window. That would help eliminate some of the trickiness of fixing the corner. Haven't read any arguments for not having a cowl seal, but maybe I'm wrong.

The pictures that you have are only of the outside of the car. Typically the common rust areas of a 914 are all inside the car. Hell hole, longitudinals, suspension mounts, floors, pedal area, behind bumpers, back of trunk, botton of cabin firewall, door jam, ect. You might be lucky but chances are you are only seeing 5% of the rust that is normally on our cars.

I agree, but my car is structurally sound. I was very fortunate to find one that had little rust and had already been stripped and fixed at a previous time in its life.

[mrbubblehead]

"I've thought about just getting rid of the cowl seal completely and weld the fender to the piece that goes across between the hood and window. That would help eliminate some of the trickiness of fixing the corner. Haven't read any arguments for not having a cowl seal, but maybe I'm wrong."

i use to think the same thing. but a friend of mine who knows way more about these cars than me, told me the first 914s or the prototypes, (i dont remember) did not have this crevasse. and they cracked there. now if thats true or not, i dont know. maybe some of our professional restoration guys will chime in on this for us. i would like to know also.

[somd914]

All I can say is that from my experiences around here, body shops don't do rust repair anymore - they all told me to research restoration shops which for me don't exist within 60 miles of here. Seems that today's body shops are nothing more than panel swappers, so you might run into similar issues with your local shops.

[Andyrew]

"I've thought about just getting rid of the cowl seal completely and weld the fender to the piece that goes across between the hood and window. That would help eliminate some of the trickiness of fixing the corner. Haven't read any arguments for not having a cowl seal, but maybe I'm wrong."

i use to think the same thing. but a friend of mine who knows way more about these cars than me, told me the first 914s or the prototypes, (i dont remember) did not have this crevasse. and they cracked there. now if thats true or not, i dont know. maybe some of our professional restoration guys will chime in on this for us. i would like to know also.

3 years later and it still looks like this. I step on that area on the time as well...

I welded it up about 8 years ago, then did body work over it. What you see there is a molded fiberglass fender to the steel body. Still looks fantastic.

[OllieG]

..are there any threads on the World showing the cowl area stripped and fixed properly. This is the only bad area on my car I'm nervous about taking on!

[patssle]

i use to think the same thing. but a friend of mine who knows way more about these cars than me, told me the first 914s or the prototypes, (i dont remember) did not have this crevasse. and they cracked there. now if thats true or not, i dont know. maybe some of our professional restoration guys will chime in on this for us. i would like to know also.

Interesting. Especially since I plan on autocrossing this car after my /6 conversion - that would put even more stress on the chassis. Hmmm maybe getting rid of the cowl seal is a bad idea.

[mrbubblehead]

..are there any threads on the World showing the cowl area stripped and fixed properly. This is the only bad area on my car I'm nervous about taking on!

there is.... in the build forum. its called bringing out the dead. jeff hail does a nice job on fixing the cowl area. actually the whole thread is superb. it think its about 30 pages long. well worth the time reading it. the cowl part is around the first 1/3 of the pages. i just finished reading the whole thread again.

[mrbubblehead]

i use to think the same thing. but a friend of mine who knows way more about these cars than me, told me the first 914s or the prototypes, (i dont remember) did not have this crevasse. and they cracked there. now if thats true or not, i dont know. maybe some of our professional restoration guys will chime in on this for us. i would like to know also.

Interesting. Especially since I plan on autocrossing this car after my /6 conversion - that would put even more stress on the chassis. Hmmm maybe getting rid of the cowl seal is a bad idea.

im not so sure now.... andreww did his. seams to being holding up... get it "seams" to be holding up (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

i have two 914s both california cars and fortunately they're cowls are good. one i know for sure because i just stripped that area. my dd seams ok. BUT its painted. who knows what it would be like stripped. im afraid to look. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[mrbubblehead]

patssle, as nice as your car is, i think a proper repair is warranted. i think you will regret not fixing it, or putting a band aid on it. it wont do that car justice in my opinion. even if you have to drive it a couple states away and leave it for repairs.

[patssle]

patssle, as nice as your car is, i think a proper repair is warranted. i think you will regret not fixing it, or putting a band aid on it. it wont do that car justice in my opinion. even if you have to drive it a couple states away and leave it for repairs.

Oh there's no doubt I'm wanting a proper repair on all troublesome spots. I want it done right and to last a long time! Any cowl fix will involve removal of ALL rust - regardless of keeping or getting rid of the cowl seal.

I found the cowl repair section of that thread: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...6791&st=250

[mrbubblehead]

oh good, you found it. as you can see its not for the faint of heart. at least the thread can give you an idea of whats involved.

please report back and let us know what you decide, and how it turns out. good luck.

[OllieG]

patssle, as nice as your car is, i think a proper repair is warranted. i think you will regret not fixing it, or putting a band aid on it. it wont do that car justice in my opinion. even if you have to drive it a couple states away and leave it for repairs.

Oh there's no doubt I'm wanting a proper repair on all troublesome spots. I want it done right and to last a long time! Any cowl fix will involve removal of ALL rust - regardless of keeping or getting rid of the cowl seal.

I found the cowl repair section of that thread: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...6791&st=250

Thanks for posting the link for the cowl repair guys..I was originally thinking on my car I would just put in a new rubber seal and forget about it; but after all the other work I've done it would be a shame just to 'band-aid' it and let it continue to rot.