I decided to start a build thread like so many others in the hopes of motivation and some usefull advice. I bought the car back in febuary and tinkered with it since then but due to health problems and work i was unable to do much. I now have some time to put toward it and im excited to get to work. Last week i pulled the rocker covers off to check out the rust. It turned out not to be as bad as i had thought. The longs are rusted out near the jack post, worse on the drivers side, the battery tray is mostly gone. Friday i pulled out the interior and spend the weekend making new upholstery. This is the first time i've ever attempented to do this. It didnt come out perfect but its better then what was in there and it only cost around 120 bucks which is much cheaper then what local shops whated to do it. So far i have the area around the seats done and the material cut out for the seats but i needed to take a break from it and watch some football (drinking beer and doing upholstery dont mix, welding on the other hand).

So i tried to replace the brakes but nobody sales rear brake calipers for 914's does anyone know anyone that sells them? Mine leak out the e-brake adjuster and the rebuild kits don't seem to have the parts to fix that. Not only that but i perfer not to cut corners on things like brakes being that peoples lives are on the line. Well i'm off to replace the suspension and the brake lines.

Eric Shea will restore your callipers to a better than new condition. His work is awesome!

these ones are pretty much screwed, very rusted cylinders, plus i prefer to have new or remanufactured ones. Like is said peoples lives are on the line so i don't play around with them. I've found on other restoration "people rebuild things" and the product turns out to be garbage and your out X amount of dollars. I would rather just get new ones.

Eric Shea does brakes and they are basically brand new brakes by the time he gets done with them. There is a plethera of knowledge on this website. Its your car you do what you feel comfortable with. But always remember there are alot more people that have been there and done that. Some of them this isnt their first rodeo. oh and

I was in the same situation as you 6 mo ago.
I started with the front ones and tried to buy rebuild calipers. The rebuilt ones were junk, even more then the ones I originally had (but returned them as core). I exchanged FIVE sets of calipers till I got a good set!!! Most of the calipers had weak bolts (DIN8.8 instead of 12.8) This means only 60% of retaining power between the two halves of the caliper. I could die using those!

For the rear ones, I decided to do them myself. Sorry but I can only trust myself after all I've been through. I ordered a brake set on eBay, one that has all the o-rings. The leak from the adjuster is just a small o-ring inside.
I also used a hone to clean the rust from inside the cylinder and polished the pistons with my drill and a rug.

Now I have brakes!

Thanks, one of my chief concerns is that they were rebuilt from the last owner becouse one side has a torq head and the other is a hex head bolt that seems to be crushed into the calipers. I really don't think these can be fixed. The tube for the bleed seems to be crushed becouse of the use of hex bolts. Is there any other calipers from other cars that will work on these? Ive been restoring cars since i was in high school and i never pick "normal" cars, i like the off brands, Internationals, Studebakers ect... so i'm no stranger to making other things work. I'm yet to find an interchange manuel for foreign cars however. Does one exhist?

the three kits i've bought don't have the o ring for the ebrake, i have the tools to do it. Just can't get the right parts, plus the one can't be fixed, it aslo has weak bolts in it.

Eric Shea can sell you the correct kits with all the "O" rings. Contact him. You won't be sorry.

Why don't you just buy a set of rebuildable cores if you don't think yours are rebuildable? I know a lot of us have spare calipers lying around that would good to rebuild.

Do you have his contact info?

I'm all about that, i've seen company's that do that and i wouldn't mind having some extra parts. If you know anyone that wants to sell a set let me know.

Eric Shea's website for teener services - http://www.pmbperformance.com/teener.html

and for brake rebuilding- http://www.pmbperformance.com/calipers.html

Check the parts section of the classifieds here for used core calipers:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showforum=18

Check the member vendor section for Eric Shea's info.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showforum=4

He has several posts there. Click on his name under the topic starter heading. You will see a PM tab. Click on it and send him a PM. Or look at the bottom of any of his posts. His web site and phone info will be there.

http://www.pmbperformance.com/catalog.html

Oh, and

You can also use the search function.

My shop is right up the road from you ( Cahrles City ) and I have a pile of old calipers you are welcome to peruse. I can also show you what to expect when you get into the rust repairs. I am currently repairing this one ofr a guy in Richmond.

Thanks, and thanks for the advice. So my plan for this week is to remove the engine agian and get the car ready to go home (North Carolina) for rust repiar floor pan replacement and paint this week. I'm hoping to be able to take a few weeks of vacation since i have a few months worth on the books. Paint and body work is more my thing, i love doing mechanical work but i'm not as good at it as i am paint and body work. I've spent the last 9 months collecting parts for the car so i could do everything all at one time. I've found if you spend too long between projects you tend to forget alot of knowledge you've gained. It becomes easy to forget to tighten up bolts and replace clips and things that you have broken and forgot about. I really want to have the car finished before i go in for shoulder surgery next month.

Awsome, I"m sure thats about what mine is going to look like when i get into it. I would love to get some new (old) calipers. Hell if you ever need a hand let me know, i love working on old cars and the battle against rust. I'm all about learning new things, this is my first 914 and i have alot to learn.

Got the suspension, the ball joints changed out along with the pad behind the seats today. I was wanting to pull the engine today but due to a broked garage door i couldn't use the lift. Maybe tomorrow i'll be able to do that. I'm looking forward to making the rust repairs and doing the body work.

I pulled out the engine this afternoon. Got that down to just over an hour. The CV joints were another story. It looks like the PO tried to use an allen wrench making the bolts impossible to remove. Last time i ran into this issue, on the transmission, i was able to get them out using an bolt extractor but there isn't enough room to use an easy out. Does anyone have any ideas on a easy way to remove them? I really don't wanna drill them out.
On a good note i figured out why my shifter has a huge amout of play in it, the bushings that connect the tail shaft to the shaft that runs through the tunnel. They seemed in good shape the last time i had the engine out but somehow they turned to dust. I knew i should of replaced them last time i had the engine out but i couldn't figure out how to remove them, i guess leaving them sit for 8 months will take care of that for you.
Now the next thing i need to is finish the upholstery and kill time till vacation at which time i will attack the rust and lay down some paint.

well had to brake out the cut off wheel to get the rails off the seats, the prongs are totally rusted off so i'm going to have to fab up some new ones. I think i'm going to call it a night and leave the seats for tomorrow.

I got the seats about 75% complete today. Between the garage work the last couple days and all the other upholstery work my fingers have had it. I have gained a new respect for auto upholstering. Plus I couldn't for the life of me find my philips head screw driver, i live in a 800 sq ft apartment and i somehow managed to loose my only screw driver here and didn't feel like going to the strore to get one. I miss my garage so much. My girlfriend is going out of town this week so i'll be able to get alot of work done. I will be very happy if i can have all the seats finished by this weekend when i tow the car home.

Does anyone know or have a picture of where the fog light switch would go? My car came without them but i found a set of fog light bazzels thanks to the PO but i don't see a place on the dash board for the switch. Thanks in advance.

Here is a picture for you. Its the yellow one. The hole should be in the dash frame, you just have to find it and poke through the basket-weave material.

Click to view attachment

Thanks, i found the switch as well just didn't know where it goes.

Well got one seat finished but i'm hung up on the lack of clips that the rails bolt into. I went to some of the local upholstery shops tring to find these clips with no luck. It looks like i'm going to have to make some. Tonight i'm going to take inventory of my parts, mainly the gaskets and seals to make sure i have everything before i go and paint it. I don't want to turn the car into a leaking rust bucket again.Well I need to order my primer and paints tonight as well. Sorry about the lack of pics but i didn't feel like uploading any tonight i'll do it tomorrow when i have more to show.

I was about to order paint and i just realized i don't know what color i want to paint the top, should i go with the origional finish or should i do a smooth high gloss black or do it silver like im going to paint the rest of the color, so many choices......

So my girlfriend just emailed me and it turns out she did some research and found out the 914 isn't an automatic and wants to know if i can make it one. I'm glad to see she is taking some intrest in my cars but on the other hand i think it may have been better off if she didn't. She now wants a sports car she can drive. I'm thinking about giving her my mustang. Im not a fan of it anyway, however she knows that and may think i'm just giving it to her becouse i don't want it, on the other hand i'm scared to see what she may want me to build for her. I need to get a dog so i won't have these problems. On a good note i finished the seats. I guess the next project to hold me off till i can do the rust repairs will be removing the gas tank and replacing the wires. I'm not sure if i'm going to use the fuse box or get an updated one. I like the stream line look of the one thats in there. Oh well i'm going to call it a night i got an early morining ahead of me and a very long day.

Wow! You are doing great things for this car. Keep us posted and some pictures if you can.

Borrow a Ford Fiesta stick shift from someone not really a friend, and go teach your girlfriend to drive a stick.

You can really depend on people like Eric and Scotty and others for quality work and help. Go back about say 800 pages on this site and come forward. You'll see experts that have done and posted it all on 914's for a long time.

Check out the vendor section too. When looking for rubber seals, go to 914rubber (also in the vendor section) Better than original.

Hope to see you up and running soon. Bill

Thanks Bill,
I told her i'm going to take her to Pennslyvania this winter and give her a stick shift blazer to drive around on the hilsl in a snow storm, Thats how i learned, Sink or Swim!!!

Well here is a pic before i go to bed.

Its missing the clips so it will look alot better once i make them, its more of a test fit then anything.

I spent the morning finishing up the seats. I started by making up the brackets the rails bolt into, i'm happy with how they cam out. The seats just need alittle adjusting around the head rest area and they should be finished. I have some cracks in the trim i may attempt to repair them until i can find some replacement peices. As i was going over parts i've collected i noticed i didn't have the molding that goes on the bottom of the windshild and the bottom of the rear window. I don't know how i overlooked ordering them. I'm going to have to order them today if im gong to be painting it next week.

I have a windshield frame if anyone wants it. I took everything I needed off it and don't want to just toss it trash if someone could use it. You would have to pick it up, I live in norfolk va.

Well progress has come to a standstill due to poor weather. I'm not a fan of trailoring my car in the rain so I'm stuck here in va waiting for the weathere to clear up. Wanted to start my new wiring harnesses but my wires are on back order. Id like to clean up the engine compartment of useless wires from the old fuel injection system. They seem like a short waiting to happen not to mention the current wires break if you bend them so that must be taken care of. On a good note I was able to pick up my sheet metal and some pipe to make the braces today and I happened upon a transfer case for my old internation harvester. I'm sure the old truck isn't going to be happy getting kicked out of the garage while I work on the 914. Well I guess I should try to find something to do today to keep me out of trouble.

its been a busy few days. I had to wait till monday to get new stickers for my trailor so over the weekend i talked my brother into helping me clean the garage and polish a wheel (he pretty much just drank beer and used the die grinder for a few mins, but i got a pic of it) and repaired the busted rocker panels. Tuesday i brought the trailor up to va beach and picked up the car. Today i began digging into the rust, figured i would start and the back and go forward. The truck seemed to have developed an eco system of its own, some kind of 2 leafed clover things, dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing. Never the less there home is gone now and has been replaced with fresh metal. Well the UV rays from the welder kicked my butt today so i'm going to cut this short tonight.

oh almost forgot, somewhere along the north carolina state line my dad said "that car is growing on me." thought that was worth saying, he hates german cars. The man thinks the only sports car worth a damn is a corvette. I took a pic of that moment.

Well today I had a doctors appointment out of state so i didn't get crap done on the car today however my father (the porsche/vw hater) spent the day removing that tar crap off the floor pan for me and even media blasted the seat rails. I guess it must be pay back for all the repairs I made on his 78 monte carlo this weekend. The wiring on my car is all kinds of jacked up so I picked up some new wires for it figure ill run it while the floor pan is off. Perhaps if I repair his floor pan and paint his car I might get him to strip the paint off the car. Well I got a couple odds and ends left to do with the upholstery so I might do that this evening.

That is a great little moment!

I like this thread and that you are tackling this car. I would recommend on replacing that progressive carb with either dual singles or going back to the FI.
That carb will frustrate you, especially in cold weather. Also, in case you have not read it before, the stock cam does not work well with Carbs, something to think about.

Go forward with the rust issues as the engine will run as is, but something to consider for the future.

Ah, one step ahead of you, i picked up a set of used dual webbers, when i get finished with the body work and the car on the road and back to VA i plan on rebuilding them and putting them on the car. They seem like a good rainy day project that i can do in my apartment with out making my GF wanna leave me like when i did my upholstery. I want to get all the big stuff done before the weather gets bad. I also need to replace a floor pan and paint my fathers monte carlo before i get my shoulders reconstructed so i have lots of rust to deal with over the next few weeks. While i've been out of town my father took all the tar stuff off the floor and striped the paint off the front trunk lid and a fender, lots of work from a guy who hates porsches hahahaha, or perhaps he is wanting a show car finish on his car and he is kissing my butt. Im kidding he's awsome.

Today was a productive day. Found more rust as always. The hell hole had some work done in the past with some bad welding so i fabricated some new metal for that area however my welder is being a POS so i didn't even try to do any welding today. The weather should be good over the weekend so i should be able to get lots of work done. My primer, paint and clear coat came in along with my outer longs and jack points so that was a great surprise. However my stock pile of 18 gauge steel is running low and my supplier is closed on the weekend, its going to be a close one. I would hate to start cutting into the car and not have the materials to put it back together, i don't wanna leave it all hacked up for any length of time. I might just have to hold off on making a new battery tray and mount to conserve steel till monday. On a crappy note after removing the paint on my door it had a massive amount of work done on it with like 5 lbs of bondo on it so i'm going to have to take the skin off and fix that up properly. I really hate taking the skin off doors but i think its the only way im going to be able to get the dents out. To make matters worse just as i was getting into my groove and making progress i ran out of sanding discs for my die grinder so i had to stop and make a trip into town and donate to the red army for some more (harbor freight). I wish the Eastwood company had a store in my town that would be soo awsome. Well here are some progress pics from today.

I got that nasty rust taken care of in the engine compartment today just need to make a new shelf for in there. Took the door off and started cutting the 8 million spot welds in the sill. The guy that did that must of been getting paid by the weld or something. There seemed to be no rime or reason for where he put them too. Alot are an 1/8 of and inch apart and some area's go 3 inches without any. Finished up patching up the holes in the trunk as well. In the morning i plan on taking the passenger side door off and putting my braces in and cutting out a section of the quarter panel so i can get to my rust "issues". On a side note my dads super annoying neighbor stopped by to slow down progress. He asked what kind of car i was working on and i told them and he replied "i thought you were an american, you know we fought them in the 2 world war don't you" I reminded him he drives a nissan and "we" were at war with them too and by we i mean perhaps your father or maybe my grandfather since you weren't old enough to fight and i wasn't born yet. I can't stand that jerk. I have 4 garage doors and there is a reason i keep the 2 in the front shut.

Well the car is braced up and ready to be put up on stands. My shoulder was bugging the crap out of me so i wasn't very productive today. I did what felt like alot of work but it doesn't look like much. I got the heat shield off from under the trunk so i could clean that area up. The trunk has been sanded inside along with the under side of both trunk lids and ready for primer. I didn't want to jack the car up until i had a full day to make repairs due to lack of space i need the car half way out of the garage so i might do that in the morning. The weather report is calling for rain thursday so i want everything to be completed by then that way it isn't getting rained on. Im hoping to have the car ready for primer by next week. I have 19 days of vacation left and i think i'm going to be cutting it close considering i have to paint my dads monte carlo as well. My International's bed has become a great storage area, I think it has damn near two cars in it.

Rust, rust rust and more rust. I was too tired to update last night. I got the car up in the air and removed the outer long on the drives side. The inside was much worse then what i had expected. The car had been restored in the past and new metal was added but when they did that they never welded or sealed the top portion of the replacement metal allowing water in. It seems the last person that did work on it didn't want to remove any of the quarter panel so they just didn't do anything with the upper portion of the repairs (for lack of a better term). It has become very difficult to find good metal to weld too. I began fabricating new pieces for the inner long today and welded in some patch panels in the forward section of the inner long. I should have the drivers side finished up tomorrow i hope. I got all of the really bad metal out and treated the remaining area with pro-15. It was quickly becoming one of those days where nothing goes the way you want it and i found myself feeling like this wasn't a hobby anymore and began making dumb mistakes so i decided to call it a day. I knew this was going to be a huge project but sometimes when you start screwing up too much its best to walk away and cool down rather then make a mistake that could cause injury or completely ruin the project. So i'm off to take a shower and head over to my mothers and see if she'll make me a pie or something (mom's love doing that stuff). Perhaps this evening i will give it another go.

"...sometimes when you start screwing up too much its best to walk away and cool down rather then make a mistake that could cause injury or completely ruin the project."

I agree with you on this. I've been in this situation alot and you see more clearly with a new day and a fresh mind.

Making great progress, enjoy the picts, keep it going.

Dave

Thanks Dave,
Today started off great. Got alot of the rusted inner long removed, fabricated some new replacement steel and got most of it in. I'm so worried about warping the car from the heat of the welder i've been doing a couple tack welds far apart from each other then i go and make a new panel or prep the next area ill be attacking. I'm very happy with how everything is fitting and my equipment it running great. I new taking an afternoon off was a good idea. I was starting to think my old international truck was messing with my equipment since I haven't given it any TLC lately. If anyone knows where i can find a transfer case and drive shafts for a 57 international 3/4 ton long bed let me know (sorry i know that was a little off topic). Back to the 914. I only have one panel left to make then i'll be ready to put the outer long back on. Well since i slacked on pictures the last day or two here are a few.

The rest of the day i replaced some more rusted stuff as always. Not much to say about that. It seems to be the story of this car. My brother helped me prep the new outer long too. I hope to have the drivers side knocked out tomorrow and if i'm lucky i'll get to the passenger side, that might be a tall order considering i still have to weld up the section of the quarter panel i removed. I have exactly two weeks to have the car finished otherwise i will have to tow it home defeated. This is without a doubt the toughest restoration i have ever done. I have to give so much credit to all those that have gone before me. My dad called it last night, you've put so much work into this your going to be afraid to take it on the road. I highly doubt that. It will make a great addition to my collection however, i'll have my muscle car, my hotrod truck, my old 4x4 truck (still in progress), my sports car and if i'm really lucky i might be able to keep my girlfriend too so long as she is out of town when i'm working on these things. I might even have enough spare parts left to put together a rat rod???? Perhaps i'm getting ahead of myself. Well i need to wash the iron oxide off me.

Got all the work inside the long finished, had to make a new bracket for the seat belt to bold into. I started to put the outer back on. Just have a small section to make for the rear portion. I seem to be feeling a bit under the weather and with the off and on showers i didn't get all that i set out to do done but i'm on vacation no need to work too hard. Perhaps this evening i'll try to get some more done.

Well got a little motivated after dinner, im not going to let a cold slow me down too much. finished up the drivers side, just need to put the quarter panel back on. forgot to take a pic of the jack post and bracket installed. It seems like the welding takes forever since i dont wanna warp it i do a few welds, play around with something else, do a few more take care of something else ect... Its nice to be rust free on one side just one more to go. I will now have something to attach the new floor pan too. My jack stands are going to be so lonely next week.

Well the car is back on the ground again and everything is square and true. Now i just need to turn it around and do the other side. I did a ton of work but it looks like nothing was done today. I made a lot of preps for paint got the front bumper off and got the mounts in for the fog lights, thought it was cool the factory put the wires in for me. I found out my horn doesn't work, it give me a reason to put on of those locomotive horns in a car hahahaha. I have always wanted to do that, besides who needs a spare tire, just kidding, kinda. A neighbor stopped by tonight to ask about the car he said he saw it on my car hauler the other week. Turns out he is a mechanic and use to have a bug with a type 4 in it. He said he always wanted a 914, i asked him if he liked tetanus, thats all i'm going to get from this thing. I asked him if he know anyone around her that has one he said no, haven't seen one on the road since the 70's, i think drivable 914 are all a myth. Took my head lights out, was happy that they opened, and it was so full of crap, the mud bugs took the housing over. I spent an hour chipping away at there little mud and dead bug nest. I took some pics of my mustang's interior and the color i'm going to be painting the car. I really love this color its called platinum silver.