Ugly Duckling to a Blue Bird, Roller into a 6 Conversion Options

[FourBlades]

Welcome to 914 World!

Looks like a very solid car to start with. The original color appears to be Marathon Blue Metallic.

You clearly have some skills, this should be a good build. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

John

[pete000]

Nice rescue!

[PanelBilly]

Welcome aboard. I’d support the door openings while your working on the body. Double check the door fit first to make sure your happy with it.

[Sway Bar]

Thanks for the comments...I've tried my hands at 2 911 builds and each time I try to do a little more. The 914 is the farthest I've gone in one go and I keep changing the end result in my head. I'm having fun with this platform.

Next up Epoxy primer...makes the car look real good real fast. I found it fun and easy to spray. I've done inner fenders or panels before but nothing this large in one go.





Once cured I decided to texture undercoat the underside and certain areas before applying color.




In the end I'm really happy with the end result and next would be a dash of color. Again, something I've never really tackled at this size.

[dr.tim]

There's a fun new racetrack in that neighborhood too.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[Sway Bar]

Picked a color...love the color.

Hard to get feel for any color from pictures. Base plus clear Blau Metallic



Can sort of get a feel for the metallic flake.

[Sway Bar]

Excited to see what the exterior will look like with a real painter shooting.

This concluded another huge milestone. Now I can reassemble some of the chassis, suspension and the likes. Plan was to ship it out the door to a good friend and learn some real body work and prep for paint.

[Sway Bar]

Few more in progress...Re-install of suspension. Was going to forgo a parking brake but had most of the 911 e-brake parts on hand and a parking brake really is handy.





After this is was a little more paint removal that i wanted to undertake before it was out the door for some fender treatment.

[mb911]

Looks great.. Please note don't drill the tank holes until you get the tank. Make a template off of that 1st. It will benefit you..

[porschetub]

Few more in progress...Re-install of suspension. Was going to forgo a parking brake but had most of the 911 e-brake parts on hand and a parking brake really is handy.

Just noticed your handbrake setup,can't see a top brake shoe retainer on the trailing arms ? don't rely on the back plate to retain the shoes,its simply not strong enough for an emergency brake...ask me how I know.
If you have them ignore my comment,if not you need to weld a 40mm wide tab on the trailing arms,the car these parts come off (911) already has that piece on the trailing arms.
You are making amazing progress on this build and I love the colour...keep it up the good work (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Sway Bar]

Looks great.. Please note don't drill the tank holes until you get the tank. Make a template off of that 1st. It will benefit you..

Thanks

Tank was in when I took the plunge. Just doing the raw hole like what I did on my 911. More racer like (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) ? Trying my hand with my own bolt it filler neck to the existing tank and whatever one calls the existing overfill/spill surround.

Marlon

[Sway Bar]

Few more in progress...Re-install of suspension. Was going to forgo a parking brake but had most of the 911 e-brake parts on hand and a parking brake really is handy.

Just noticed your handbrake setup,can't see a top brake shoe retainer on the trailing arms ? don't rely on the back plate to retain the shoes,its simply not strong enough for an emergency brake...ask me how I know.
If you have them ignore my comment,if not you need to weld a 40mm wide tab on the trailing arms,the car these parts come off (911) already has that piece on the trailing arms.
You are making amazing progress on this build and I love the colour...keep it up the good work (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

It's hidden but it's there, I did weld in a 40mm tab/retainer in the rear between the shoes. Everything I believe checks out. I say believe, since the one item I'm missing is the short cable piece from the e-brake handle to the equalizer bar. On the list of little items to finish.

[Cairo94507]

I think you are doing a great job and I love the color. Looking forward to seeing the exterior body work and paint. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[Sway Bar]

Looks great.. Please note don't drill the tank holes until you get the tank. Make a template off of that 1st. It will benefit you..

Thanks

Tank was in when I took the plunge. Just doing the raw hole like what I did on my 911. More racer like (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) ? Trying my hand with my own bolt it filler neck to the existing tank and whatever one calls the existing overfill/spill surround.

Marlon

My duhh moment. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/screwy.gif) You are of course talking about your oil tank yet to come. I was already thinking of this pic that was upcoming in which I got out the big hole saw for the hood.

This is when I dropped off the car with a good friend who happens to be a a real awesome body dude. Idea was that I was still going to do and learn the body prep and finish under his mentorship but he would do the heavy lifting and of course the fenders.

Spend a lot of time test fitting, string lining, measuring and aligning the fenders so both sides are symmetrical, straight and flow together front to back.

[billh1963]

Watching with interest! I'll be doing something similar later this year....

[Sway Bar]

I think you are doing a great job and I love the color. Looking forward to seeing the exterior body work and paint. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

Thanks, its been a fun project thus far. It has been a sort of open canvass. I don't really have an end product in mind except for the fenders and the 2.4L. I look at all the awesome threads, builds and cars on this site and keep getting ideas.

[Sway Bar]

Body Work Time...so really starting to understand the amount of time required for a good end result. I great paint job is only the result of great prep and finish and you truly get what you pay for. The amount of hours is quite incredible especially the hand work. I'm amazed on the amount of product that ends up on the ground even with well prepared metal.

The fenders even though seemly great reproductions from RD are far from weld on and good to go. They took a lot more massaging to make a great fit. I left that to the pro while my work out consisted of the doors and deck lids.

Doors were in really good shape and besides a few areas for the rubber seal trim I had solid panels to work with.



After epoxy and time to cure it was on to primer and sanding, guide coat, sanding, guide coat, sanding, spot reapply, guide coat, sanding...you get the idea. I worked through various grits with the eventual final being 600 prior to shipping off to paint. You can see the master indicating all the areas that still needed attention as I progressed along various stages.

[Sway Bar]

Never really did take too many early pics as we progressed but I'm sure we all have seen many pics before...various stages of fender install, application, and finish.



Initial stages of shaping and blending of flares.




Starting to look like something good now.



And eventually after all prep the initial epoxy application...the begining of the end product. Of course posting pics makes it look so easy but many many hours of labour.

[billh1963]

Any updates?

[JRust]

Man you are flying through this. Love the way it is looking