Good Progress on Major Smash Repair, Body repairs complete, very pleased with the results Options

[phillstek]

Earlier this year I was involved in accident that damaged my car substantially.

Fortunately, no-one was injured and everyone concerned had good insurance. I originally thought the car would be totalled but it was assessed as repairable.

Parts for 914s are few and far between over here, so it was decided that a trip to Ca. would be best to get what was needed to complete the repair.

Hooked up with Bruce in Riverside in mid July, he’d already started to gather the used parts for me and together we cleaned, packed and delivered them to a freight company for shipping back to Australia.

Shipping the parts turned into a nightmare as a few of the suppliers of the new parts were less than co-operative when it came to the required documentation. The lack of appropriate documents delayed the shipment by a month while I waited for a ruling from US Customs and after much frustration the parts arrived here earlier this month.

Since then however lots of progress has been made and I’m amazed by the skill and craftsmanship of the Zag Automotive guys.

[cn2800]

Is the front-most vertical panel, the one to which the bumper attaches, new? If so, where did you source it? I'm just beginning to undertake the repair of a near mirror image of your damage:

[edwin]

Looking really good Phill
Any changes while the repairs are being done or leaving the car as it was?
Would be really interested to see the price breakdown on a repair like this.
Cheers
Edwin

[bdstone914]

Is the front-most vertical panel, the one to which the bumper attaches, new? If so, where did you source it? I'm just beginning to undertake the repair of a near mirror image of your damage:

I found NOS front panel for him.
Check with Stoddard. They may still have some. About $600.
Bruce

[matthepcat]

Hey Phil,


Good to see your hotrod getting back together. Hope the rest of your CA tour went well.


Matt

[phillstek]

"Is the front-most vertical panel, the one to which the bumper attaches, new? If so, where did you source it?”

Yes, the panel is NOS and came from Glen (of G&R infamy) through Bruce, if I recall correctly Glen found it amongst some NOS parts at Pelican and was the only one he had. They are available through Stoddard though. Be advised that there are 3 different types with subtle differences between each. The one I got turned out to be for MYs 74-75 and had to have a small strip that’s spot welded to the top of the panel removed to allow proper fitting of the early bumper. Also some modifications had to be done around the light bucket. Of lesser issue is that there are no mounts for the fogs or horns. It may be worth the trouble of finding a good, early one from a donor and drilling out the spot welds on it.

"Any changes while the repairs are being done or leaving the car as it was?”

Yep, I’m upgrading the front suspension to a full ER coil over set up as the suspension was damaged in the smash (bent a strut). The valve guides in the 3.2 were pretty worn and the engine was consuming too much oil and blowing smoke so it’s getting a top end overhaul including new Mahle Euro Ps and Cs, lumpier camshafts and a chip.

"Good to see your hotrod getting back together. Hope the rest of your CA tour went well’.

Thanks Matt and thanks also for the ride down to Monterey. It was a very interesting trip and one I won’t forget that’s for sure. I look forward to paying you back if you ever make it down here!

[Cairo94507]

Wow! That is terrific. I am glad to see you were able to save your car and in the process do some nice upgrading. Looking forward to seeing more pictures as it all comes together. Best wishes and many many more safe miles.

[EdwardBlume]

Good luck with the reconstruction. If you need any bits and pieces let me know.

[rick 918-S]

Looking good! Bruce is a good guy! Glad you were able to source parts.

[phillstek]

Thanks for the comments and offers of help everyone, Bruce [/b]is[b] a great guy and was extremely helpful getting the parts together and helping out with the paperwork (when other suppliers wouldn’t) for export. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for parts.

Car has been media blasted and epoxy primered and will sit for 3 weeks while that fully cures. Had the wheel wells done too as they were covered in a tar coating that looked like crap.


Still needs to be planished in places and have a smear of bondo here and there. The repairer is saying early December for completion.

[eric9144]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
So glad to see this coming back together, after all of your hard work getting this build on the road is was really painful to see it smashed!

[Johny Blackstain]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumb3d.gif)

[PlantMan]

WHAT A SAVE!

LOOKIN' GOOD!

[EdwardBlume]

Nice work! We're going to start shipping our cars over for work if you keep this up!

[ThePaintedMan]

Slight hijack... maybe Scotty or Rick can clarify...

Does it really take three weeks for epoxy primer to cure?




Very nicely done! Should be good as new when finished. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[JRust]

Those repairs look great! Congrats on getting it back together. I know thats a good feeling. Can't wait to see it finished. Way to be patient & make sure they do it right

[SirAndy]

Did they pull the chassis on a bench before they started the repairs?

Even with your cage, that hit DID bend the tub, no question about that.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[phillstek]

"So glad to see this coming back together, after all of your hard work getting this build on the road is was really painful to see it smashed!"

Thanks man, I look at it like this: it’s an opportunity to fix the things that weren’t right about the cheap paint job, at least the front half that is.

"Does it really take three weeks for epoxy primer to cure?”

That’s what the repairer told me. I’ll take their word on it, I’m in no rush.

"Way to be patient & make sure they do it right”

My thoughts exactly.

"Did they pull the chassis on a bench before they started the repairs?”

Absolutely. The first pictures in this thread show the car bolted to the “Car-O-Liner” (similar to a Cellette system) and it was extensively measured. The suspension pick-ups had not moved.

[carr914]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumb3d.gif)

[CptTripps]

Just curious: Did you move and re-weld the old VIN when you changed out that section, or use the VIN from the new car? I guess you could go either way.