Hey Brad you were right about my clutch tube. That was my problem. I put in 2 ubolts in the acces where the shifter is. Spaced about 10" apart. That strengthened it considerably. I'm plannng on putting a few welds on those (inside & underneath the car). For where it comes thru the firwall. Would it hold to just weld where it comes thru the firewall. Or does it need to be on the inside? Anyone? Planning on welding monday & want to make sure this will last! Thanks in advance!

Honestly Jamie..

I would cut the tunnel and weld it in the factory location without the U bolts.

I would then weld the cracked portion on the firewall with a small scab plate that fits over the tube. Make sure you grind away all the "braze" that they used..otherwise your welds wont hold.

No BS: The U bolts are the cheap way out. It shows me that somebody didnt care enough about the car to fix it correctly (when I look at a car for sale with this method) Not saying it wont work.. just do it right.

B

It's stupid to wish this on myself (or jynx the car) but I wouldn't mind doing that repair on my car. You cut the tunnel as Brad said and for me personally, I would get some welding experience in an area that doesn't show ever unless you lift the carpet. You make a couple of goofs here with the welding and it's not a major scab.

Guess what... I have to do this repair too. I noticed the clutch tube floating around tonight while I was working on the shifter. I looked at the bracket with a mirror and sure enough it's detached from the firewall. What a PITA.


Does anyone have any tips for cutting the access panel and welding the tube?

I suck at welding so I am going to find someone in SD that can do it or bribe a friend up north to help. If I cut a panel out I am almost tempted to leave it out and have a hole (maybe put a removable lid on) instead of some ugly bent and welded piece.

I guess I knew I was going to have this problem sooner or later.

Several methods for cutting into the tunnel. Sawsall, use a short blade and watch the angle. Cutoff tool (air powered) uses a thin circular blade. Air sheer, takes a strip of metal about ¼” wide out for every cut you make. Easiest to use is the sawsall, but watch what you doing or you could cause more damage. Cutoff tool is nice to use but the blade can jam when you cutting through sheet steel. Makes very precise cuts

or, use the cutoff tool to cut off the end of a short sawzaw blade to make a "stubby" blade.

-'Chung

mabe?

Jamie Make the repair but do it correctly, you may try to sell me the car and I will know where to look
Have another meeting at your place and have Geoff bring his welding tools and all you have to do is serve pizza and beer. Sounds like a fair trade.
Craig

The welding part is the easy part. It is all the cutting and prep, you really want to cut the piece out so it can be welded back cleanly. Grind and sand the whole area that is going to be cut first of all tar and paint. Use a straight edge to make cut lines. I use both a sawzall and a 4" grinder w/ a cutting disc on it. Go slow cutting to make nice straight cuts and of course don't go too deep and chop up everything else that is in the tunnel. Remove the tunnel piece and then clean the clutch tube for welding. Then weld it. Pretty simple if you go slow. Then weld the tunnel piece back on. Put non flammable blankets around the floor of the car if the carpets are still in there too.
Geoff

Beeee Verrrrrry Carefull not to tag the fuel line when you are welding!!!!!! I tagged :gilloutine: it on my first 914 when I was 19 years old!!!

PPPPoooooooooffffff! Lots of smoke and fire. It was a good thing I had all of the interior out of the car.

Live and learn.

Jeff

I'm planning on using MIG to do the welding. I hope this reduces the risk of welding fuel lines... The fuel lines are far enough away that I think I can wrap them in wet rags and stuff to avoid any disasters.

I assume that you would drain the gas tank, pull the front hoses so they drain and blow compressed air thru from the back so the lines are clear of gas. Once you cut a gas line and catch it on fire, sheeeeeeet what a mess! That happened at my old house when I let my son's friend fix his bus in the garage. Didn't listen to me and cut the gas line and ignited it too! Liquid fire everywhere!!!!Gas draining is like a flamethrower!! Not good and kinda hard to put out. They came a woke me up to put out the fire. Boy was I pissed!
Geoff

I did remove the tank and drained what I thought was all of the gas out, but I didn't blow it out! Big mistake but not as bad as your son!!

Very important, blow out the fuel line before beginning!

Jeff

I did use the u-bolts . I am going to fix it right though. I'm going to cut some of the floor pan out of my parts car. I'll weld it on from underneath. I'll try to get some pics later. It will be done well & look good. I haven't gotten to the fix cause my cars running & I've been enjoying it a bit before I sell it! Of course I'm fixing it before I sell it!

Welding is the way to go..if that is an option.

I did added a "U-clamp" to reduce the stress on factory connection. The factory connection hasn't broken free yet and now with the clamp, I don't think it will.

I cut the excess bolt of underneeth the car to help with the looks (if anyone is looking under me car???)

And as stated above be CAREFULL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Kerry

http://www.all914.com/projects/Drobbins/cl...befix/index.htm

Fire away with the questions. I noticed somebody on PP posted some pics of his repair. I thought I would show a different method.

http://www.all914.com/projects/Drobbins/cl...befix/index.htm


B

Did that thing you put into the end of the clutch tube used to be an intake valve? Odd looking thing... Aluminum, though, good for a heat sink!

--DD

I dont know what it was used for prior to having one side knocked off. The head was too big and not allowing the clutch tube to fall back all the way against the tunnel wall when clamped. So.. I modified it.

Worked well and kept me from burning thru the tube with "weld" (ask me how I learned that ) ha ha.. bad day.


B

I really like that fix. Tell me again (cuz I forget) why you think they break. Tunnel rust? Clutch cable failure? Bad day at the factory 30 years ago?

I'm going to check mine rather brutally when I get my car back.

hmm, new project to start on.

Nice pics Brad. Good tip on the tube filler thingie.

FYI, this is probably not a good application for the auto-darkening welding shields. Anytime you are weding in a hole like that, or under a ledge or something, you have to be very careful with the auto-darkening helmets. If the solar cell that darkens the shield cannot 'see' the arc (shaded because it doesn't have a direct line of sight to the arc), then it won't darken. I learned that the hard way when I was welding my exhaust. Couldn't figure out why the helmet sometimes wouldn't darken - then finally figured out that part of the muffler was 'shading' the solar cell.

Brad: I looked at my car this weekend. My clutch tube was re-welded through the shifter hole. This put the brace about 5 inches back from where the factory brace was located. Tube seems very solid with that brace (used a big 'ol screwdriver to pry the front part of the tube to see if it would flex at all - it didn't). Ever seen it done like this?

Demick
'74 2.0

They break because people dont run the floorboard and the tunnel rusts. The floorboard has a clutch pedal and gas pedal stop on them for a reason. If you dont have the board in place or the stop adjusted correctly.. it pull's the cable up when you try to over extend it by pushing the pedal past where the stop should have been. We caught this one before it broke at the firewall.

B

Isn't the clutch pedal stop built into the clutch pedal itself? Adjustment is how far the clutch pedal is screwed into the pedal cluster, and it bottoms out on chassis sheetmetal (has nothing to do with the floorboard). Or is there a stop that I am missing that I don't know about?

Demick

Brad,

Clever idea with the shaft that slips inside the tube to protect from burning through. Looking good! Get a few of these lessons together and Pelican's Tech articles will have some competition.

Douglas

Demick, there's a rubber stop on the floorboard.

There's a stop on the wooden floorboard. Check the hole that the clutch pedal goes through--there is a rubber "bumper" at the top of the hole, on the inside (toward the pedal cluster). That is the stop for the clutch pedal.

--DD

Thanks, I'll check for the stop on the floorboard.

Demick

If it had broken at the firewall you would get to meet Pissed Off Brad, he's A-hole Brad's less likeable twin.

As for Jenny's new tub, it was beautiful when I saw it first thing in the morning, but then after we all had a few cups of coffee and started using the Port-O-Potties it began to wilt from the nose back.

Jenny let me pet her puppy

(I feel like cross-posting today, let's see who can keep up)

Do you use a right hand or left hand welder to do this?

Paul

It started rusting after you and Andy used the sani-can, Jon. You two were drinking all the coffee!
Jenny's puppy licked me on the nose..
Geoff

So would you all agree that this is a fix now or fix later deal? Mine feels rock solid still, but I guess I could just throw a few extra welds on it to hold it.

They should name the 914's, F.O.R.D. Fix Or Repair Daily.

Here is a picture!!
Jeff

Demick,

Sorry I didnt get back to this thread earlier.. I sat in meetings from 3pm until Midnight. I dont think it really matters where the tube is held. As long as it doesnt move.. you'll be fine. The factory clamps the throttle tube right above the clutch tube (you cant see the throttle tube in my pics...) they both end at exactly the same point inside the tunnel.

Oh... I didnt use a shield for anything inside the tunnel. Place the nozzle of the MIG in front of the "arc" and it will shield itself from your face. I can make welding circles with the tip or spot weld without having to see my actual "arc". Most body shop guy's do this also. I did use a mask on the 4 holes I drilled for the outside of the tunnel.

SWood,

Leave it alone. If you ever hear a "pop" and the clutch pedal moves closer to the floor without you touching it...the tube broke at this front mount.

B