Bringing out the dead Options

[Jeff Hail]

Bringing Out The Dead.....or how to restore a rusty 914 and convert it to a street/track car when I have time after dealing with everyone elses stuff.

My background is collision and restoration (day job) of high end automobiles for 28 years in addition to race fabrication. I jumped the fence and left that industry to pursue pretty much the same thing except on the paperwork end which is really boring and thankless. (another day job)

I look at rust like a diamond in the rough. Rust is afraid of me because it know's it cannot live in my world. Metal becomes submissive because I have confidence in my metal working talents. I will add to this post as work progress's.

I hope my years of experience can help others as I add. I believe there is a right way to repair a car and wrong way. I metal finish because in the end its cleaner, lighter and stronger. I was taught old school techniques with new school technology. A great combination. I also believe in doing a job once correctly using the highest quality materials and proper tools. Many ways to skin a cat I say. If you hold it by the tail it can still bite!

Good advice to follow:
Take measurements of the door openings and targa bar to windshield header. Cross measure then do it again to confirm. Recheck your measurements against the factory figures. Make a couple of adjustable braces for each side that attach from the upper seat belt anchors to the door hinges. I recommend cross braces also right to left. These can be made from rod or tube and turnbuckles for cheap. Racer Chris has some really nice ones with rod ends. Support the car from below equally on both sides of the undercarriage and front and rear. I do not believe jack stands can hold the proper tolerances at 4 points. It takes a minimum of 6 and preferably 8. These are all easy to do and are essential to a square and level chassis. Not everyone can afford a Cellete bench or hourly frame time at a shop for these type of do it yourself repairs. Impovisation can be done correctly and for a lot less money. Make sure your floor or platform is level.

Keep in mind that tolerances for the 914 were 7-9mm from the factory so anything you can do to make it better is worth it. 7mm by today’s standards is huge. 9mm is a Grand Canyon. Anything you can do to tighten the tolerances will provide a better end product. Exterior panels were fit with the adjust and weld method and are only a skin.

My 914 had measurements all over the place on the front end and the rust issues were all in the rear that needed correction. Car was never in any collisions.
90% of the measurements were factory assembly tolerances. Porsche's aint perfect.

I made my own dedicated bench for 911's and 914's. By some stroke of luck I ended up with a 1 mm variance in height (datum) and 2mm in length and width is zero with my own fixtures. This has been substantiated with endless anal cross measuring and factory manuals. I used a steel front suspension cross member as a front body holding fixture. I went through 4 before I found an acceptable one. The first 3 were so far off factory tolerances (4-6 mm out of square) I rejected them before I found a good one.

My bench is not for pulling. It was designed for assembly and replacement of structural parts. It will support 3,000 pounds. $350 worth of steel and another $175 in industrial castors was worth it considering its use. A stripped 914 shell is a feather and easy to roll around. When you cut and replace structural parts recheck your measurements. Control points change when you remove, replace and weld in new parts. They are easily controlled with patience.

If it does not come out perfect do not lose sleep. Remember tolerance and variance was not perfect from the factory. If you have a control point locating hole that is 14 mm a dowel or pin of 9-10mm was used during birth. That is why suspension systems are adjustable for variance and wear. You will also find center indexing points on the front and rear of the body. Easy tools to use are plumb lines, tape measures and levels if you do not have access to high end measuring equipment. You can locate and make symmetrical measurements throughout repairs. If you have one side that is undamaged or not rusted use that side as a starting point for measurements. Use panel gaps as a visual indicator during repairs and welding.

3 important factors- height, length and width. If you are me then there are 4 (Z axis) and that one will make you lose sleep!

Some pics of the beggining: A back east 914 comes to California.

[Eric_Shea]

What the hell did I miss here? Jeff turned a pressure cooker into an oil tank? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

[Jeff Hail]

43 Plymouth dash? Nope!

[Jeff Hail]

Got to make some room.

Thought about putting a Carrera front spoiler oil cooler but those things are really long at 21+ inches. Would not follow the body contour and would interfere with the bumper fit.

Standard Carrera fender oil cooler tipped on its side. They flow that way anyways.
The core is 13 x 7 x 2.5 which provides a lot of heat throw.

I will shroud the bottom of the cooler and leave an exit behind and under it since it has plenty of room on the backside of the cooler. Its 2 inches above the bottom of the floor well so it wont bottom on anything.


More welding and grinding to finish it off but you get the idea.


Never liked the idea of weather or oil cooler exhaust air going into the trunk.

[Jeff Hail]

The metal I used is 16 gauge. Would like to have a little bit of strength considering what was removed. Its tied into the floor where it rolls upward and across to each control arm reinforcement to just below the latch.

Funny I used to be able to grab the nose just above the hood latch and it would flex a little. Not anymore. That area is plenty stout now,

[Jeff Hail]

Hey its got a front end again. A little "R" styling for the oil cooler inlets. Will need to modify the spoiler ends to fit the flairs better later.

[Jeff Hail]

It has a rear end to ! Lots of work to do here.

[Jeff Hail]

Rear lighting. Bases painted and assembled.

[jaxdream]

Tip your bartenders and waitresses...

Word has it around here you are a class act (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) Are you tending bar tonight or the host?


To back up a bit to last weeks intimate conversation. Here are the spacers for using the late Carrera hubs (one inner, one outer on each side of the 914 wheel bearing). Easy enough? Rotors are also Carrera. Depending on going 20mm or 24 mm appropriate caliper half spacers required.

By the way you spelled Carrera incorrectly. Two "R's always come before the single "R". I just wanted to point that out you know. I am sure the bartender or host will volley back with a good jab just for fun. Thats getting back for the Kings Lad thing.

Jeff please explain the second spacer that appears to go on the backside of the bearing/ SC hub ?? I got and installed the 5mm spacer that goes on the front side / wheel side of the hub to use up against the bearing to use the wider bearing SC hub . Thanks for any info on this setup.

Jack

[Jeff Hail]

Tip your bartenders and waitresses...

Word has it around here you are a class act (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) Are you tending bar tonight or the host?


To back up a bit to last weeks intimate conversation. Here are the spacers for using the late Carrera hubs (one inner, one outer on each side of the 914 wheel bearing). Easy enough? Rotors are also Carrera. Depending on going 20mm or 24 mm appropriate caliper half spacers required.

By the way you spelled Carrera incorrectly. Two "R's always come before the single "R". I just wanted to point that out you know. I am sure the bartender or host will volley back with a good jab just for fun. Thats getting back for the Kings Lad thing.

Jeff please explain the second spacer that appears to go on the backside of the bearing/ SC hub ?? I got and installed the 5mm spacer that goes on the front side / wheel side of the hub to use up against the bearing to use the wider bearing SC hub . Thanks for any info on this setup.

Jack

Easiest way to explain: Using Carrera hubs and axels. The late 911 stuff uses a wider bearing. To use the 914 cartridge bearing the spacers simply make up the difference in width on each side to match the 911 bearing. The spacers are sized accordingly to properly space the hub in the trailing arm. Boils down to making the bearing cones wider while retaining the dimension of the 914 bearing at the race so as to not modify the 914 trailing arm at the bearing carrier. If you are going with Carrera axels you will need both spacers.

The rotors are a matter of choice and really depend on the calipers being used. I just swapped a buddy my Carrera rotors for SC rotors because Shea will bust my balls about the weight difference. Maybe he wont because he is so cool. When I decided to go with Boxster calipers can use either rotor.

I just went through some parts and have everything out. Let me see if I can take some photos to show the differences. Will add shortly.

[Jeff Hail]

Carrera axel and lug centric hub on the left with spacers installed.

914 bearing

914 axel on the right.

As you can see the axel stub shank is the same length for both the 911 and the 914.
The shank is the same diameter on both. The splines are different (one course, one fine).

The Carrera axel stub has a more defined step on the shank where the bearing butts up against it. The spacers are chamfered to accommodate this.

With the bearing and hub installed the offset would be incorrect. The spacers correct that issue to center the hub face so the rotors center with the caliper mouth.

[jaxdream]

Ok I gottcha , you are centering the Carrera hub in the bearing and using Carrera axles also. It seems a matter of getting the right parts with spacers to work around the 914 bearing size . Nice that these are available to source for differing setups. Thanks again for the info, somthing to ponder.

Jack

[Jeff Hail]

Unhappy with factory lighting and unsatisfied with the bulb output of the Hella R tailites had to take this to another level.

Sourced some dual output (running, brake) LED clusters. They were the brightest I could locate using red LEDS. Red LEDS with red lenses were the obvious solution since white LED washes the color.

[Jeff Hail]

Modified the Hella bulb housings and installed some standoffs to bring the cluster close to the lens. Because there is no side marker I needed the cluster to illuminate the lens from all angles.

The clusters are waterproof since they are dipped in epoxy. I let these run for 1 hour straight and they do not get hot at all. In fact they don't even get warm.

[Jeff Hail]

With the lights in the garage out these are really bright on both the run and stop modes.

The last photo is of the ceiling to show how much output these give off. Lit up the whole garage. This was a test with a single lamp on.
Very bright and I am satisfied.

[Eric_Shea]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) Nice work Jeff. Nice to see some skin on it!

I just swapped a buddy my Carrera rotors for SC rotors because Shea will bust my balls about the weight difference

(you can install as many flywheels on your car as ye see fit. I'm just an innocent bystander) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Maltese Falcon]

Jeff, I'll need to source some of the hub-to-bearing spacers soon.
Are you still parking the chop top 911 in your front rec-room? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
Marty

[Maltese Falcon]

Jeff...any updates on your build ?
Hope your shoulder+ hand are doing better...I joined the sheet metal lacerated finger brigade as well (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
Marty

[76-914]

Rear lighting. Bases painted and assembled.

Jeff, I've seen this style tail light assm in 2 other builds. Are they available aftermarket? Looks good!

[Jeff Hail]

Jeff...any updates on your build ?
Hope your shoulder+ hand are doing better...I joined the sheet metal lacerated finger brigade as well (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
Marty

Been working on the 14 just have not been taking photos.

[Jeff Hail]

Rear lighting. Bases painted and assembled.

Jeff, I've seen this style tail light assm in 2 other builds. Are they available aftermarket? Looks good!

Honestly they are a pain in the ass to make. No aftermarket because I own the molds and masters.