Looking good!

Rick, how come you didn't paint the whole engine bay?

I had to stop someplace. I just rubbed off some of the discoloration left from life in the engine bay of a 914. It cleans up nice. I'm not doing a CW job on this. It's a very nice solid car we want to drive this year. Maybe even to the RRC 2011... We shall see...

Looking real good there, Rick!
I love the reverse switch trick! Genius!

She's starting to come back to life! My oldest son Aric and I rebuilt the 2.0 I got from John Miller in Racine WI. After many months of sneeking in a couple minutes here and there. Sandy and I started the engine tonight. The smoke is coming from the exhaust system. I had it sand blasted and I painted it with heavy zinc weld through primer. It's going to take awhile to burn off.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzTNI-sreSQ

It's alive!!

A couple gatuitus engine shots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z-lrIuW934&feature=youtu.be


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3rNSwOTtas&feature=youtu.be

Woohoo!

You're missing a few parts though...

Ya, you should have seen the looks we got! My son Aric and I took turns driving it around the neighborhood. We needed to warn up the engine so we could set the timing. The second video were still not timed. I was loosing the dizzy and discovered the shrink tubing on the connector for the supplementary air valve was dried up and crumbing. I accidentally shorted it with the wrench and blew the fuse on the relay board. If you notice the engine rpm's pick up as the injectors go lean then the engine died. Then I said. Oh oh...

I'm totally assimilated......

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Awesome! So glad to see it move under its own power!

Awesomeness. Another one back from the dead.

Not too much to update here yet since Aric and I drove the car around without and lights or body panels to be sure that mechanically the was sound. But here's a detail I missed. I decided to locate the fuel pump up front. I like the factory pocket for the fuel pump from the late cars so I added one.

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Also used the battery charger method to clean the gas tank before it was installed.

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I have the heating ducts finished with the exception of the barrel nuts for the cables. Those should arrive tomorrow and the car will be off the jack stands and ready for the paint work to begin.

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So cars are like a box of Cracker Jacks. There's a surprise in every box. Some good, some not so good. As I started sanding on the car I discovered it had two repaints. I don't paint over a repaint. Todays paint systems are not compatable with laquer based primers and glazing putties. This car had the old laquer base Nitrostan or what the old school bodymen know as Red Cap. So off comes all the paint right down to the steel.

The second not so nice surprise was the dent in the quarter panel that had been stuffed full of filler as deep as 3/4". To make matters worse they attacked the inside radius with a pick hammer!

I spent most of the day bumping and filing. Here's the results.

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Here is a dent that is easier to see. I used a bullseye pick and file to repair most of the damage on this panel.

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Some of the accessories For my Bullseye pick.

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I added this swivel foot to my pick. When you tip the tool the fixed foot tends to dig in and actually cause indents as your bumping the panel.

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If you turn the bolts on the engine mount bar upside down (head on the bottom) you're less likely to scrape it on a curb and bend the bar.

Ya, but it's alot easier to install them that way by yourself.

Great job on this car Rick. Love the color and know it will put a smile on the faces of many in the months and years ahead.

Wait until you see the new stripes I had cut on the new paint!

Ok, Missed a couple weeks of repairs. Soon to be in primer.

Left quarter repair. The last guy left a huge dent in the panel and beat the high spots in with a pick hammer. When I ground the paint off the panel I discovered I had about a 3 lb. coffee can of body filler dust. Completely unnessecary.

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After:

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Here's some California rivets I found when I stripped the left door.

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Repaired:

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Welded up the big aftermarket mirror holes.

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When do you move out here again?

Funny you should ask.... Sandy was looking at Jobs in other parts of the country and asked where I wanted to live... If she could get a new gig in Nor Cal.. Who knows.

She has a masters in IT leadership and computer science. She works with sequil and other stuff I have no idea about. Hey Andy!

How about Mile High!? Colorado!

That's right, I forget you couldn't breath here.

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Yep, altitude sickness, Remember that? I think you can adjust to that over time though.

Pulled the rocker covers.

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Nice jack points...you suck!

Plenty of good weather and insurance claims in CA. Nice work on Sandys car!

The car went into high build primer on March 31, 2012. We blocked it out a week later. I always like to let the car sit after blocking for at least a couple weeks to be sure the solvents evaporate. Some guys like to let it sit in high build then block the car I like to block it, let it sit then re-prime and re-block before paint. I've done it both ways and both work.

Here's a photo just after priming.

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I can't believe it's been almost a year since my son and I blocked this car. I put it back into high build and blocked it again. We were trying to make the Route 66 this year. I totally blew past the deadline. On the bright side the shell and doors are ready to paint. I have the paint and I'm working on renting a booth to shoot it. Lets see if I can get this done before next year this time.

First off, now I feel much better....

Second, what booth did you have at WOW?

Rich

Don't forget to seam seal and paint the inside of any panels you repair or the tin worn will wreck your day.

Also I want you guys to think about checking all the seams on the inside of the panels. Over time the seam sealer will split and allow moisture into the tight places where panels meet. Again the tin worn will be there sooner than later.

This is the back side of the butt welded fender I sectioned. You can barely see the seam. The outer face was metal finished.

Hey rich, remember when we talked about open flame heaters? I have a unit heater. I heat up the garage and turn down the t stat.

I have been attempting to match the factory color. I always use single stage paint for solid colors. I like the factory look of the single stage paint. It's vintage looking. I spent the last week tinting the paint. The color formula is no longer available in anything other than a truck fleet paint. I had my local Du Pont store shoot a scan with their color match camera. #1 and #2 are the colors the camera produced.

Number 1 is the first attempt with Chroma One. The match was way off. It looked pea green. Actually very close to the VW van color. Some of you may have seen those pea green 70's vans back in the day.

Well for $ 1,000.00 for Chroma One I wasn't going to even start tinting it. It was that far off.

Number 2 is the camera mix for Nason single stage urethane. I worked the color from pea green to a hue that was in the range of the factory color but too dark and the shift or chroma was off.

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After 6 more gradual shifts in color I'm happy with the results. The engine lid is still in the factory color as are the door jambs. Here are the results.

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I worked really hard at matching this color. Here is a photo from when I started on the car. Then the same shot after the repair. There is no body filler on this wheelhouse.

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Here is the repaired wheelhouse in color.

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These areas in red are not painted. I did not paint past the bulkhead seal and I only blended the color onto the bulkhead. This shows the color match.

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Nice!

Wow! THat is one hell of a color match. Nice work. Get some paint on that body now

What a great color

Shooting for Saturday

Good luck.

I found a local hotrod shop that was looking for work.
He painted all the parts, I put it all back together.
I slight tap with a 5 lb hammer in several spots got me back on track with the tub....just a little area that got pushed in from the bumper.


For the 914, as I crawl along at a snails pace...
I am wondering if any rattle can primer could be used as the base to cover up my work for some time.
With the plan to go over everything with real primer from a spray gun later (much later) and then high build, sealer etc etc.

Any experience with a specific brand of rattle can that works?

PPG sells one at the paint store, but I thought all rattle can primer is made up of the wrong materials...

rich

A little off topic but I have used self etching in a can when I had a spot or two that I did not want to mix up and spot in to save gun cleanup. That could work . You could always sand it off when your ready to move onto a 2K or something.

Rick

Finally took some time and rented a booth to shoot the shell and doors for Sandy's car. Loooooong way to go yet but at least I don't have to sit and look at this car in primer any longer. This is right out of the booth.

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Crappy smart phone camera. My son Aric and I tag teamed it Friday night and painted it in memory of my Best friend and brother in-law that we lost to cancer on Thursday. Dave and his son Dave Jr. would have been right there with us. Davey stopped by to check on us but couldn't stay for obvious reasons.

So here's to David! We stood shoulder to shoulder working on cars and family. We'll miss you.

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Nice!

Sorry for you loss Rick.

Car looks great...but you really should have chosen a bright color...