914-6/904 project begins Options

[Unobtanium-inc]

Nice! was near your shop yesterday wondering if you were (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

Nope, yesterday I was shoveling, and then shoveling some more, if only snow was $$$!

[Unobtanium-inc]

As Ice Cube would say, "today was a good day!"

I started with the middle section of the cowl under the suspension beam. It went in almost perfectly, a little tweeking, but I was happy with the result. I then went to the passenger side piece and it was all wrong, I messed with it for about an hour and finally tossed it and made another, which I was much happier with. The driver's side piece needed a little finishing but was un-eventful. I got all three pieces welded in and it's strong. I plan on doing more metal on the back side and in the corners to make sure the strength is there, but I am happy with the result today.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Today was very productive. I welded up the front cowl panel, and then made and welded up a backside panel. The fit was very nice and I have to say after welding on rusty 50 year old 356's all week, welding newer steel to brand new steel was wonderful. It was flowing so nice it was laying caulk.
A good day indeed!
Tomorrow, back to 356's, a 63 Super 90 Coupe.

[Unobtanium-inc]

My wife was having friend's over today so I got to slip away to the shop. It doesn't look like much but this piece curved in about 5 different directions, so it was a lot of fitting, banging, fitting, wheeling, fitting, banging, and finally welding it in.
The other piece of good news is a I talked to a friend of mine who lives behind a race track and he said I can bring the car to his place, he will help me set up all the suspension (corner balancing, toe-in, camber, etc.) and then we could run it on the track. I'm still several months out from this but it's nice to know I can really sort it on the track when the time comes.

[r_towle]

Adam,
Clean up the metal before you weld.
It may help to get better welds.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Adam,
Clean up the metal before you weld.
It may help to get better welds.

Rich, thanks for the tip.
I think a lot of that was coming through from the backside, I cleaned the surface but I was welding deep and it finds contaminates and draws them to the surface. The welding was also hard because on the back side I had to do most of it upside down and at funny angles. The front part of the cowl came out much cleaner. But thanks for looking everything over.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Sorry everybody, no 904 work this week, I headed out to MA to check on my 356 paint job and spent the rest of the day shaping 550 metal. The wire form is almost done, much easier than a wooden buck.
904 updates next week!

[SirAndy]

Sorry everybody, no 904 work this week, I headed out to MA to check on my 356 paint job

That dude should donate his lungs to a museum, i'm sure that would make for an interesting display ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[mb911]

Adam,
. god bless you for saving all those cars and helping them to get into the right hands.

Regarding this build I feel like I am being catfished here. The skill sets being talked about are not being translated and I am one that is in the know so I can speak to quality of fab.

[EdwardBlume]

Adam,
. god bless you for saving all those cars and helping them to get into the right hands.

Regarding this build I feel like I am being catfished here. The skill sets being talked about are not being translated and I am one that is in the know so I can speak to quality of fab.

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

Going to work is a form of male enhancement, daily, in that shop.

We've had an unwritten rule around here for a long time, and that is support people's dreams with their 914s, it's their dream, not yours. Safety is another issue, fire away.

[EdwardBlume]

Interesting looking drums on the 356... and knock offs?

[tygaboy]

Adam - the 550 work looks like it's happening at Wray Schelin's place?
I'll be there next week for his 4-day coach building course (Fri-Mon).
Any chance you'll be stopping by?
Chris

[Unobtanium-inc]

Interesting looking drums on the 356... and knock offs?

Yes, Rudge knock off wheels. People tend to knock them, but if they were good enough for Steve McQueen, they're good enough for me.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Adam - the 550 work looks like it's happening at Wray Schelin's place?
I'll be there next week for his 4-day coach building course (Fri-Mon).
Any chance you'll be stopping by?
Chris

Yes, at Wray's place. The wire frame is finished so I'll be there a lot and maybe next weekend, hope to see you there!

[mbseto]

Those wire frames are really cool. When I was a kid it was a dream of mine to be able to design and fabricate a car body. Had no idea how it could be done and was surrounded by people that thought only a big car company could do it. By the time I heard about techniques like this, I was well on my way to becoming a cubicalized engineer. Finally got the resources to get into the game a little, even if it was a bit late. Watching this process still fascinates me. I'm enjoying this thread.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Those wire frames are really cool. When I was a kid it was a dream of mine to be able to design and fabricate a car body. Had no idea how it could be done and was surrounded by people that thought only a big car company could do it. By the time I heard about techniques like this, I was well on my way to becoming a cubicalized engineer. Finally got the resources to get into the game a little, even if it was a bit late. Watching this process still fascinates me. I'm enjoying this thread.

You should take Wray's class, it almost life changing. You start looking at cars and saying, "I can build that!"

www.proshaper.com

[mepstein]

Catfished (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[Unobtanium-inc]

Adam,
. god bless you for saving all those cars and helping them to get into the right hands.

Regarding this build I feel like I am being catfished here. The skill sets being talked about are not being translated and I am one that is in the know so I can speak to quality of fab.

Catfished? Not really sure what that means, but if reading this thread is making you feel funny inside, maybe you should not click on it.
If I had to guess what you're trying to say it's you saying your skills are far superior to mine. Maybe, I don't know your skills. But if they are the adult thing to do here would be to maybe offer pointers, or suggest pitfalls to avoid, I don't know, really anything that might help a fellow car guy in his build. That's what forum's are about, right? Or maybe you guys can just take some jabs, like real internet tough guys, that would be really adult.

Seriously, how many times do I have to say this, if you don't like my build, don't like me, or don't like my ideas, don't click on the thread.

As far as the quality of the work being done on the 914, I can tell you it's well on par with all the work that has already been done to the car, in fact in many cases my work goes far beyond the quality that is already evident on the car. If anyone has constructive criticism on how I can improve something, like some people on this thread have done, I'm all about it, happy to learn, discuss methods, ideas, etc. But if you're just going to heckle, please go find another thread. After 60,000 views and 12 years on this board I think I and this thread have earned that. Also, I'm showing the work raw, as it's being done, end of the day, I could clean everything up and only show certain shots, but what's the point in that?

[mb911]

Adam,
. god bless you for saving all those cars and helping them to get into the right hands.

Regarding this build I feel like I am being catfished here. The skill sets being talked about are not being translated and I am one that is in the know so I can speak to quality of fab.

Catfished? Not really sure what that means, but if reading this thread is making you feel funny inside, maybe you should not click on it.
If I had to guess what you're trying to say it's you saying your skills are far superior to mine. Maybe, I don't know your skills. But if they are the adult thing to do here would be to maybe offer pointers, or suggest pitfalls to avoid, I don't know, really anything that might help a fellow car guy in his build. That's what forum's are about, right? Or maybe you guys can just take some jabs, like real internet tough guys, that would be really adult.

Seriously, how many times do I have to say this, if you don't like my build, don't like me, or don't like my ideas, don't click on the thread.

As far as the quality of the work being done on the 914, I can tell you it's well on par with all the work that has already been done to the car, in fact in many cases my work goes far beyond the quality that is already evident on the car. If anyone has constructive criticism on how I can improve something, like some people on this thread have done, I'm all about it, happy to learn, discuss methods, ideas, etc. But if you're just going to heckle, please go find another thread. After 60,000 views and 12 years on this board I think I and this thread have earned that. Also, I'm showing the work raw, as it's being done, end of the day, I could clean everything up and only show certain shots, but what's the point in that?

Adam I have no ill feelings towards you . In fact I admire what you do and how you find these fantastic cars. I just know two things that I term catfishing (or jobbing us is another term for this). The work I think you are saying you do on the 550 and wire fixtures is not translating in welding and fabrication on the 914.. I have taught welding and fabrication at college level for 18 years now and have run 2 successful business's fabricating parts for 911s, 356s, 912s, 914s and I see you operate and English wheel but then I see you make a template of a part you want to put on the 914. You then "fab " it up and proceed to" weld" the panel in place. The quality levels of the 2 different projects are 2 different ends of the spectrum and I struggle to see how they were done by the same guy..

Now if I miss read this my apologies. I can tell you this much I do respect you for what you do immensely and would gladly buy you lunch or a drink if we were ever to meet up. Its just that when we talk fabrication /welding sometimes I can't bite my tongue.

Carry on I will be happy to watch your project and won't comment just looking for clarification..

[mb911]

One last thing my number is in my signature I would be happy to talk with you , give pointers, etc.. My biggest critic is proper prep of the weld areas, proper but joints, cut materials with plasma or oxy torch as a last resort and use shear and cut off wheels as standard.


I am absolutely sincere in my offer. Give me a call.