Laguna Blue '75 build Options

[andrewck]

Greeting from Denver. I was at a 996 meetup a few weeks ago and started talking to a guy selling his 914 project car. A week later, I am said owner of a 1975 Laguna Blue 914 with two 2.0L motors, a couple of transmissions, and lots of parts to put it together. To top it all off, I made a new friend in the PO and have had a warm welcome into the 914 world.

PO spent a lot of money and effort to addressing rust so I'm starting off with a fantastic chassis. I'm spoiled as I come from the 996 world where I don't have to worry about many of the issues that come with 45+ year old cars. I'm decent with a wrench, though I have no fabricating skills and have never rebuilt a motor, so this is all a learning experience.

The plan is to clean the "complete" motor and redo seals, belts, gaskets, other basic things to get it running and just drive it. Meanwhile I'll explore options on the second block, and am already looking into a 2056 build. Step one of getting the car back on the road looks relatively straightforward, but the catch is I don't have a garage/shop to work on the car, so much of it will be done in my livingroom and parking spot.

Already appreciate all the knowledge posted here and I'm finding inspiration in a lot of your builds. The search function has been my friend, but I'm sure I'll be asking questions going forward.

-Andrew

[andrewck]

My car came with a cracked dash, as well as 2 spares (one in worse condition, and another in ehh shape, but better than the installed one). I'm having a drink now, but I sure should have had 3 before taking on this project.

I was able to get the lower dash (knee pad) off easily, but with it can clouds of dust and dirt. I took my hand and banged on the metal bar that the knee pad attaches to and with each thump saw waterfalls of debris coming out from the dash. I did this for 5 minutes until there was nothing left to rain down. I don't know how so much crap got lodged up there, but I filled up a vacuum canister from what came down.

Now on to the upper dash. This took way too much trial and error even with forum instructions. Maybe I'm bad at following directions and have too large of hands, but please see below for what worked for me to access the hidden nuts. I worked my way from left to right, ripping off disentegrated dash as I moved on. FYI all nuts are 13mm

1. Used a crow foot wrench inside the vent to loosten, then removed by hand

2 used a 1/4" 13mm deep socked and extension. Started from the hood release and worked back up towards the dash to access the nut

3 I did not remove the instrument cluster or steering wheel. I removed oil temp gauge and used a 13mm wrench to slowly access the nut hidden way back under the sheet metal. This was the most difficult one to access and because I don't have thin/narrow wrenches, it was a drawn out process of 1/3 turns and resetting the wrench

4 same as #3, but removed the speedo to access

5 red arrow should be pointing straight up as I used the same methodology as with nut #2. A long extension and deep socket should allow you to loosten and remove while looking up from underneath the dash. To reinstall, keep the speedo out and use a crow foot wrench and your fingers to tighten the nut just to the right of the opening.

6 make sure your radio is out to get access. again get under the dash and look up. you should be able to use a nut driver or crow foot to loosten the nuts and then pull them out by hand

7 see #6, you should be able to access both nuts at the same time

8 remove the glove bot metal strap. it is next to nut #7 and held on by a 4mm?? nut, . you don't need to pull out the entire glovebox, just loosten the strap. at that point you can get back on the floor and use same method as #2 and #5. Long extension to loosten, pull out by hand

9 crow foot wrench going through the vent up and to the right. probably 5 small turns to loosten it and then unscrew by hand

By now, your back is sore, your fingers are dirty/bloody, and your neighbors have learned a couple of new curse words. Congratulations! You should have 9 plastic nuts and metal washers. The dash should pull up and out. installation is the reverse. you now deserve another drink.



Anyways, I hope this helps at least one person out there that is frustruated with removing the dash and is wondering why no combination of socket set is getting the job done.

[Gint]

By now, your back is sore, your fingers are dirty/bloody, and your neighbors have learned a couple of new curse words. Congratulations! You should have 9 plastic nuts and metal washers. The dash should pull up and out. installation is the reverse. you now deserve another drink.

The installation is really a PITA. But at least at that point you know where the attachment points are. And your vocabulary is up to speed. The local crew got together and did one of these a while ago.

I think that was Pete's old car. Did Doug give you the details on prior ownership?

[andrewck]

By now, your back is sore, your fingers are dirty/bloody, and your neighbors have learned a couple of new curse words. Congratulations! You should have 9 plastic nuts and metal washers. The dash should pull up and out. installation is the reverse. you now deserve another drink.

The installation is really a PITA. But at least at that point you know where the attachment points are. And your vocabulary is up to speed. The local crew got together and did one of these a while ago.

I think that was Pete's old car. Did Doug give you the details on prior ownership?

There are some receipts from Peter from the mid-90s. Looks like it had a few owners since then, but if there are some fun stories/details you might know, I'm all ears!

[Gint]

By now, your back is sore, your fingers are dirty/bloody, and your neighbors have learned a couple of new curse words. Congratulations! You should have 9 plastic nuts and metal washers. The dash should pull up and out. installation is the reverse. you now deserve another drink.

The installation is really a PITA. But at least at that point you know where the attachment points are. And your vocabulary is up to speed. The local crew got together and did one of these a while ago.

I think that was Pete's old car. Did Doug give you the details on prior ownership?

There are some receipts from Peter from the mid-90s. Looks like it had a few owners since then, but if there are some fun stories/details you might know, I'm all ears!

We need to do a fall drive... Did you ever attempt to join the Colorado-914 email group? I haven't seen a notification.

[andrewck]

By now, your back is sore, your fingers are dirty/bloody, and your neighbors have learned a couple of new curse words. Congratulations! You should have 9 plastic nuts and metal washers. The dash should pull up and out. installation is the reverse. you now deserve another drink.

The installation is really a PITA. But at least at that point you know where the attachment points are. And your vocabulary is up to speed. The local crew got together and did one of these a while ago.

I think that was Pete's old car. Did Doug give you the details on prior ownership?

There are some receipts from Peter from the mid-90s. Looks like it had a few owners since then, but if there are some fun stories/details you might know, I'm all ears!

We need to do a fall drive... Did you ever attempt to join the Colorado-914 email group? I haven't seen a notification.

I sent an email to the address you gave me. Guess it was unsuccessful if you didn’t see it