Laguna Blue '75 build Options

[andrewck]

I’ll actually take a step further back and do a proper intro since I joined and came in here pistols blazing with questions on my build thread.

I’m in business turnarounds and based out of Denver, so life up until COVID is typically spent on the road. When I’m not wrenching, you can find me fly fishing in the Rocky Mountains, looking for a great burger or on the hunt for good tequilas enjoyed with a view.

A couple of years ago I started a website by the name of Garagetime - we are essentially Airbnb for DIY workspace. I was fed up with working on my BMW K75 on the roof of a Whole Foods parking deck in Chicago, and started the site to put DIYers together with garage owners. It’s still very much a side project, but something I’m deeply passionate about as a DIY enthusiast.

As mentioned above, my first love was a 1990 BMW K75S - which I stripped down from a sport touring bike to…cafe racer is the wrong term, but more of a sport bike (build thread here). About 6 years ago I purchased my first Porsche - a 2002 996 4S. I love the car and it’s my daily, but was not really impressed with the weight and ability of the AWD…so I pulled it out. Now my 996 2S is the car I thought Porsche should have released from the factory - almost a GTS. It’s got wide body and wheels, turbo suspension, turbo brakes, RWD, and is relatively analog. The car does everything I could ask for…great for around town, winter wheels make it a good ski/mountain car, high enough that it can handle fire roads for fishing access, comfy for long trips. It’s a keeper for sure. The problem is the car feels very modern, and as a minimalist I wanted something more mechanical. I was originally on the hunt for a dirtbag 912, but during a 996 meetup in Denver stumbled upon the laguna blue 914 just purchased.

This car isn’t going to be a show car, will likely never be detailed, may not end up period correct, will always be mechanically sound, and earn a patina from getting driven hard and enjoyed with friends. If you’re ever looking to fish, grab a drink, hit the slopes, or rip around canyons, give me a shout and look forward to meeting many of you.

[andrewck]

Nothing is ever easy.

Just got back from Woody's Wheel Works in Denver and none of my cookie cutters are straight (some more than others). Trying to evaluate my options for 5-lug wheels now. Would consider replica Fuchs, a matching set of 4, 2 pairs of wheels, or anything else that may work with my upcoming 5-lug conversion. Anybody have extra 15x6 rims they are looking to get rid of?

Goal this weekend is to tackle interior, fuel lines, and button up the motor

[DRPHIL914]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)
the airbnb garage idea is really cool, there is a similar place near us here in SC.
my first bike was a '73 Bmw r90/6 , wish i had kept it! Dad was into all aircooled stuff. cars and bikes. Colorado is a beautiful place been there many times while living in MN and Iowa, but ended up east in SC so NC and Tn blue ridge mountains now are our playground when not at the beach, plenty of fun roads for the bike and cars for sure. I have friends in Longmount and in Berthoud Co. but love the Frasier and Winter Park area.

Good luck with the 914 build, i think what you need to do based on that bio is turn it into a rally car! big knobby tires probably fiberglass or rubber flares, light bar front and top with of course a ski and fishing pole rack on top too. But you need more power so put that 2.o original motor aside for now and put in a suby, if you are on a tight budget but have the ability to do most of the work yourself, this would be a great way to go.
Just a thought but... if iwere living in Colorado, or even up full time herein the blue ridge, that would be my next project. Good luck and keep us posted on the progress.

Phil

[andrewck]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)
the airbnb garage idea is really cool, there is a similar place near us here in SC.
my first bike was a '73 Bmw r90/6 , wish i had kept it! Dad was into all aircooled stuff. cars and bikes. Colorado is a beautiful place been there many times while living in MN and Iowa, but ended up east in SC so NC and Tn blue ridge mountains now are our playground when not at the beach, plenty of fun roads for the bike and cars for sure. I have friends in Longmount and in Berthoud Co. but love the Frasier and Winter Park area.

Good luck with the 914 build, i think what you need to do based on that bio is turn it into a rally car! big knobby tires probably fiberglass or rubber flares, light bar front and top with of course a ski and fishing pole rack on top too. But you need more power so put that 2.o original motor aside for now and put in a suby, if you are on a tight budget but have the ability to do most of the work yourself, this would be a great way to go.
Just a thought but... if iwere living in Colorado, or even up full time herein the blue ridge, that would be my next project. Good luck and keep us posted on the progress.

Phil

That's quite the thought. Has the 'safari' trend hit 914s yet? This first one is going to become my canyon/weekend car, and maybe the 996 gets sold to fund another 914 offroad build? haven't looked into how these do with snow tires yet, but now you have me thinking....

[andrewck]

So I started the weekend off with an easy project - getting the door cards out of my storage unit and mounted. There are a number of writeups on the topic, but I purchased some 3M double sided tape from Amazon, HDX 2mm drop cloth (had laying around), and the Auto Atlanta door panel hardware kit.

Despite having 15ft of tape, I still ended up about 1.5 feet short on the bottom of the drivers' side door. If I were to do it again, I would left a 9" opening in the middle of both sides.

The AA kit comes with 3 rubber nipples that I assume are supposed to go into some of the holes. I couldn't find a good diagram online or in any writeup as to where to place these, so I ended up leaving them out. The 9 plastic rivets clipped in securely and I regret not ordering more speed clips as some were missing from my door.

[andrewck]

Thanks to @fiacra and @rfinegan for the battery write-ups. I ended up purchasing an Odyssey PC925, as well as ebay battery tray and SAE terminals. Battery fits very snug in the mount, but the lip seems to stick out too far to allow the Porsche battery bracket to fit over it. I've got to play with it still, but materials-wise I;m sitting pretty at the moment

[andrewck]

Thermostat bellows were blown, so a quick search pointed me (and my wallet) in the way of Awesome Powdercoat.

The new brass hex screw that came with the kit was slightly larger diameter than the old one, so 5 minutes with the Dremmel opened up the hold in the side of the bracket enough to ensure the thermostat can expand without binding.

[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.

[Greycarrera]

There is a pretty good video of 914 dash removal on 914 Rubber's web
Link: https://914rubber.com/dash-top-for-porsche-914

P.S. Also have 02 996 and 74 914

[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]

There is a pretty good video of 914 dash removal on 914 Rubber's web
Link: https://914rubber.com/dash-top-for-porsche-914

P.S. Also have 02 996 and 74 914

what a fine car combo

[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!

[Tdskip]

Thanks for the updates and write up. Good stuff.

Garagetime is a cool project btw, great idea.

[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

[Frankvw]

I like the updates and build, good luck with the rest !
The airbnb-garage is top ! it would for sure work over here. We do have a bigger place where you rent space and tools by the hour or day, but not like your website where just people rent out their garage (in various shapes and forms...and prices I see).

We have a European website where aircooled enthusiasts can register and when you are on a road trip and get stranded or need a tool for a repair you can check who is closest. I really loved that idea (it is free and help is given for free, it is a karma kind of thing) and I registered of course, so I am on the map. After all these years....nobody needed me sofar ! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Good luck !

[andrewck]

I like the updates and build, good luck with the rest !
The airbnb-garage is top ! it would for sure work over here. We do have a bigger place where you rent space and tools by the hour or day, but not like your website where just people rent out their garage (in various shapes and forms...and prices I see).

We have a European website where aircooled enthusiasts can register and when you are on a road trip and get stranded or need a tool for a repair you can check who is closest. I really loved that idea (it is free and help is given for free, it is a karma kind of thing) and I registered of course, so I am on the map. After all these years....nobody needed me sofar ! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Good luck !

Thanks Frankvw (and to @tdskip ) for the kind words on Garagetime. It's a side project and passion of mine to make DIY space more accessible to all. I'm younger and see a gap in DIY skills among many of my peers. Not sure where the website goes, but it's deffinitly my goal to lower the barriers of entry for automotive work and get/keep more people involved in the DIY community.

[andrewck]

I am tackling the 5 lug hub conversion this weekend. 2 concerns right now:

1. I have brand new front hubs in a box. It would appear that the PO fully installed and seated the inner and outer races into the front hub assembly, but I do not see any signs of grease. Do I need to remove the races to ensure they are greased, or would these be ready to install?
2. It appears that Swepco 101 is the hub/bearing grease of choice. Can't find it anywhere in Denver on short order. Have others had success with Lucas X-TRA heavy duty grease? It looks like what @iankarr uses in his install video, but always nice to get group feedback.

[Tdskip]

[*]It appears that Swepco 101 is the hub/bearing grease of choice. Can't find it anywhere in Denver on short order. Have others had success with Lucas X-TRA heavy duty grease? It looks like what @iankarr uses in his install video, but always nice to get group feedback.
[/list]

I doubt that any high quality grease you want to go with will be an issue.

[andrewck]

[*]It appears that Swepco 101 is the hub/bearing grease of choice. Can't find it anywhere in Denver on short order. Have others had success with Lucas X-TRA heavy duty grease? It looks like what @iankarr uses in his install video, but always nice to get group feedback.
[/list]

I doubt that any high quality grease you want to go with will be an issue.

Fronts done. Rims look rough, but really happy with how the 5 lug conversion bolted up. Tried to remove the nut on the rears and broke my socket extension. Off to HD for an impact driver and to try the rear again tomorrow