Yep, I will be joining the caravan in South Central PA. Its pretty cool seeing this thing start to come back to life.

Welded the outer suspension console on today. Pretty smooth installation overall with the sheet metal screws holding things in place. Cycled between welding and cooling with compressed air. Put two coats of primer on:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Brushed two coats of acrylic enamel on in the area below the tank on the passenger side:

Click to view attachment

Great work Bob !!

Looks like you will have it up and running in the next few days

Hershey is gettn closer

Been rollin pretty good on the teener...

I had to cut back about 3/4" of the engine bay seal channel up front for proper fit. Tack welded channel back on:

Click to view attachment

Started fitting the passenger side lower door sill. I took measurements from the drivers side from the sill seam to the jack post - 3 3/4". With the replacement all the way forward, the passenger side was 3 5/8". I trimmed the front of the piece 1/8" and re-bent as needed. This was one of the easier replacement panels for me to fit:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I realized that some areas would be tough to get to after the engine shelf is installed, so I prepped the area below for ospho and primer:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Drilled rosette holes where possible on the engine shelf & gave all areas two coats of weld thru primer:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Started fitting the sill triangles as well...measured the drivers side setup and used these measurements for the passenger side. It was 24 11/16" from the front triangle to the middle triangle and 4 1/2" from the rear triangle to the jack post:

Click to view attachment

Welded in the brake line attachment point on the passenger side and made/welded a metal strap out of sheet metal for the front engine shelf to replace one that was rusted away:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Welded the engine shelf in. I rosette welded this piece in when possible and "stitch" welded areas where there wasn't enough metal to drill for a rosette:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Attached the door sill with sheet metal screws to make fitting the sill triangles easier:

Click to view attachment

Cut and installed another section of engine bay seal channel in the front of the engine bay...had to make relief cuts to get the right bend:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Fitted and welded the passenger side rear jacking donut replacement. I had to go back and re-grind some welds on the fabricated floorpan for proper fit. Additionally, I had to trim the piece a little and mess with the curve. The bottle jack worked well holding this thing in place. After it was tacked in place, I removed the jack and used a hammer and a large drift for any final tweaking to the metal. Finished it off with two coats of rust encapsulator:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Sprayed a coat of rust converter on consoles and engine mount. I was amazed at how much surface rust already formed on these pieces:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Followed up with two coats of rust encapsulator:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Prepped the passenger fender area for welding:

Click to view attachment

The engine shelf on the passenger side looked a little higher than it should be so with the rear trunk closed all the way (and fitting evenly), I measured from the underside of the trunk to the bottom of the shelf on both sides. Drivers side came in at 17 9/16 and passenger side was 17 1/2...going with "close enough" on this one.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Snapped some pics of the old longitudinal and the reason for this thread...

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Impressive

Wanted to verify the sill angle, so I leveled the car and used a HF magnetic inclinometer in the same spot on both sides of the car. Drivers side - 27 degrees, passenger 26. Angle was easy to adjust with the sill screwed on:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Started fitting the lower rear part of the door jamb that had been removed for rust repair. I picked up a set of body panel welding clamps at HF - definately a good $8 purchase to help hold things in place. Had to fabricate a piece to connect the sill with the jamb. I used a scrap of metal from a RD replacement panel for better corrosion protection (galvanneal):

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Amazing work. You've really taken on some serious rust. I thought mine was enough work. Hat's off to ya.

Curious - you mention repeatedly about using "One coat ospho, two coats Rust Bullet". Why both - don't they do the same thing?

Inspirational work. Makes me want to go out and start hacking my POS passenger long out and fix it.

Keep it up

If I understand correctly, Ospho only neutralizes the rust. Rust bullet forms a very strong protective coating over the rusty metal. It may be overkill.

I have used numerous different kinds of rust treatment/protection on this project...time will tell which are the most effective after I get the car on the road.

Upon advice from the world after seeing the rust in the gas tank area, I needed to check the airbox seal. It wasn't to bad, so I popped it in the dishwasher for a good cleaning. I broke one of the plastic arms for the spring clips...but the airbox will still seal well so I am not going to worry about it. Cleaned out the nest in there and blew out with compressed air:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Prepped the passenger rear fender for re-installation. There was a decent amount of surface rust, so I applied a coat of ospho. The stub of the fender to outer suspension mount brace had to be removed as well:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Fitted the rear fender for welding - everything lined up quite well:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

With everything in place, I wanted to make sure that the outer rocker fit properly. I referenced the drivers side...passenger side matched near perfectly. I measured from the lower rocker seam to the outer rocker panel and both sides came in at 11/16":

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Prepped the front passenger floorpan for ospho. There was only light rust in this area. Backing plate for lower front fender repair will be seam sealed:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Shot two coats of weld thru primer on the sill and inner rocker:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

With everything in place, I took a measurement from the inner rocker seam to the edge of the new door sill. Measurement was 3/16" greater on the passenger side. With all metal components lining up well and the outer rocker fitting well, I decided to roll with it:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I am pleased to report that I am becoming a good mig welder. I hated taking the door off again after getting it to fit well, but I figured it may save me some grief while welding the front areas of the sill. Started with a few tack welds to hold everything in place. I needed to apply a little torque on the sill with vice grips for proper alignment where the new sill meets the rear door jamb:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

One of my poker buddies stopped over last weekend. We were in the garage and he asked what was going on with this piece of shit car. Told him that the plan was to drive it to Hershey in April. He said - no way that is happening, care to wager some cash on it? I agreed. The bet is that the car has to make it to Hershey under its own power.

Forget personal pride or a sense of accomplishment - I need to win this bet!

With winter setting in, I have more garage time. I started keeping the heat on low in the shop at all times so paint & rust proofing will cure properly.

How much we talkin bout

Great work man!

You are really making some progress.

You might want to install the door and check the gaps while welding the rear fender back on. You can easily adjust if needed now, but once it is welded up it is hard to fix later.

John

Just a few bucks, nothing major...its the principle of the thing.

Good call John. Found some nice rust on the underside of the passenger door that will be easier to fix with the door off so it may be a few days before the fender gets back on.

Considering how critical this area is to the strength of the car, I ran a bead of weld on the backside of the door jamb & sill:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Fitted the sill triangles. They didn't need much and held themselves in place for welding. I have struggled with small rosette welds and can't describe what goes wrong without cueing a barrage of "that's what she said" jokes. So I tacked welded them on both sides:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Ground down the welds on this piece. Scrubbed everything down with scotch brite and shot two coats of primer. Overall it turned out well, but the primer revealed a few low spots at the seams that will need to be re-welded.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Ospho'd and sprayed undercoating on the outer edge of the floor:

Click to view attachment

Hi there,
reminds me to my projekt, but differnt colour.
Very clean work. Keep on

Started mounting the new Billstein shock on the passenger side. The nut holding the bottom of the old shock was frozen. Tried penetrating fluid and a big hammer with the console clamped to the workbench. I don't have a regular torch to heat the nut with, so I used a heat gun - it actually worked. I am sticking with stock springs initially...may end up switching to 140's later on. I will have to move the lower spring mount up on the shock about 1 1/8" by moving the circlip.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Noticed some rust on the bottom of the passenger door. Removed the seal for inspection. There is some surface rust and about a 2 inch area rusted through. I don't have time to fix this the right way, so it got cleaned & ospho'd. I will do the best I can to rustproof this area until I can do it right or buy a good set of used doors:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Garage at capacity:

Click to view attachment

Two coats of rust encapsulator on the passenger front floor pan & applied undercoating to new metal in the rear passenger floorpan:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Went back and added some weld to the upper seam of the door jamb:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I hated the idea of putting the gas tank back in with the original carpet pads because they hold water. Wandering around Home Depot, I think I found a cheap solution - polyethelene pipe wrap. Cut three pieces and tie wrapped them overnight to help flatten them out. Removed remaining carpet and cleaned mounting area:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

great progress!!! I'm dealing with my doors now and yours are way better. Need to cut the seal channel to patch the rot holes

Please post pics of your door repair so I know what I am in for!

The drivers side door is MUCH worse on my car. Both will be fixed or replaced properly after the car is on the road. I need to start driving this thing.

I will, I think I may be posting to many pics on my resto and SirAndy will start asking for dues!!

Thanks!

Adriatic Blue is my favorite color on teeners...followed closely by Zambezi Green.

Finished putting the new Billstein on the trailing arm. The factory shock was slightly pre-loaded when I removed the hold down nut on the old spring. I ended up using the 2nd groove from the top for the circlip that holds the lower spring holder to match the spring load:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Took a look at the lower suspension consoles. The factory had "caps" of 14 GA metal that tie the inner and outer suspension console together. I snapped a shot of the cross section from another chunk of long. Other than buying 14 GA metal and beating out these parts, has anyone found a good solution for making these?

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Loaded up the parts cleaner for another round:

Click to view attachment

Glued the new gas tank vibration dampeners in with 3M weatherstrip adhesive:

Click to view attachment

Seam sealed front passenger floor pan:

Click to view attachment

I realized that I probably won't have time to give this car a complete and proper paint job before Hershey, but want it to be presentable. Tested what two coats of brushed on acrylic enamel would look like on the door sill:

Click to view attachment

Started fitting the battery tray...have some questions about placement on a separate thread:

Click to view attachment

Who cares what it looks like at Hershey as long as its there Making lots of progress Bob

Original suspension "caps" were made from 14GA metal (~.075"). I picked up some 1 1/2" flat steel for $12 at the local hardware store that measured .100" thick. These things are complicated because they twist in some areas along the consoles. I opted to make these pieces in two stages...side pieces welded in first, then tie them together. Made a template for each piece and hammered them out. I was able to get the most of the twist with a big pair of vice grips and fine tuned with a ball peen hammer against the suspension consoles. I still had parts of the old caps on the outer console that I plan using:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Sprayed two coats of Rust Encapsulator on the rusty areas of the lower passenger door:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Bolted/clamped the battery tray together so I could see how it wanted to fit and compared measurements to those received from the world. I came up with 3 3/4" from the leading edge of the tray to the firewall (without pad) and 11" from the top edge of the engine bay body panel to the tray. The vertical matches perfectly and I am close horizontally. I still need to level the car again to make sure the battery tray is level for final fit:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

While welding upside down, a chunk of hot crag fell on my chest & burnt through my sweatshirt. The burn looks like a comet, because as a reaction to the searing pain, I rolled on my side causing the molten metal to roll across my chest leaving a very nice line! This only needed to happen once for me to pick up a welding apron.

Finished making the caps for the suspension consoles yesterday and tack welded them on. I want to wait until the door is back on and I can verify door gaps before seam welding these pieces, as three chunks of the car are joined with these. The factory piece had drain holes in it on the bottom, so I added them on my reproduction pieces:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Finished up the "quick fix" on the passenger door. Shot two coats of hi-build primer on a low area, sanded, then two coats of Zambezi Green acrylic enamel from an aerosol can. There is absolutely a paint line, but it will look OK from about 20ft:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

The air duct in the door jamb is loaded with surface rust and started pitting in some areas. Wire brushed with a dremmel tool and sprayed with ospho:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

The last thing I want is to get hung up with the DMV a week before Hershey, so I started looking into classic/antique plates for the car. It looks like you have to take pictures of the car to submit with your application which would not bode well for me right now. Depending on the timing of everything, I may have to get a regular registration this year and apply for antique or classic plates next year.

No Way

Ask Zach for pictures of his car, front side and back (No Tag) Then you need a pic of the vin on your car. They also required me to bring a rubbing of the vin, which is impossible for our cars unless you are missing a windshield.

If I can help I will.

Joseph

It's possible I had one too many beers working late on the car the other night. Without thinking it through, I drilled holes for rosette welds in the bracket of the battery tray thinking I would weld it all together before installation. The problem is that I would have no real access to the rear metal tab on the bracket that gets welded to the long. I tried bending the tab the opposite way, but it rested on the innser suspension console, not the long. The holes needed to be filled. I found some old copper pipe to clamp on & use as a backer:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I have decided to wait untill the car is on all fours to install the battery tray...it will be easier to get it perfectly level.

Pulled the engine bay cover out of the shed to address some rust:

Click to view attachment

My lower passenger door seal was in remarkably good shape. Ran it through the dishwasher twice, treated it with RV slide out seal conditioner and put it back on. The "J Man" stopped over to help fit the passenger door. Wanted to have this in place to check door gaps before final welding on the caps on the suspension consoles and the passenger fender. We put the top on as well to make sure everything still lined up. Everything looks about as good as it can with old seals...it was nice to see after all this work:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Joe:

Did you go with antique or classic plates? I want to be able to drive this car as a daily driver most of the year. Based on this, I was thinking that classic may be the way to go.

I will see what kind of progress I make over the next month and decide from there. Hell, Zach's car is almost the same color!

Bob

IIRC, they are looking for pics of the car in an unmodified state, as it came from the factory. No window tint included. There are specific picture angles required as well.
I took a rubbing from the front stamped VIN on the right front fender. When you insure the car, they may want pics of the car as well whether it is collecter or regular just given the age.

Bob, I admire the time and work that you've put into your resto work. The PO of my car did alot of metal with the pans and such. But I could see a difference in the quality of work as he progressed in different areas of the car as I think he was getting tired or in a hurry. I'm gearing up to do some rustoration work in the areas he didn't do as well and the downtime is going to drive me nuts. So where I'm headed is, keep taking your time for your quality work. If you miss your Hershey deadline it will be a bummer because youv'e worked so hard and we won't get to see it, but you won't have any "I wish I had" regrets down the road. Keep up the good work, you are my inspiration!

Man, thanks Kevin. Your advice is top shelf!

This project has taken on a life of its own...much more than I bargained for.

Keeping up the quality has been a concern all along for me and I normally call it a day when I get frustrated or burned out on the car. I have rushed projects in the past with poor results & recognize how bad it would suck to have to re-do major stuff that was rushed. I don't want to be dropping the engine/tranny again for rust repair in the engine bay area, so fixing these areas correctly is the #1 priority before Hershey...I am OK with finishing other rust work down the road.

The Optima 34R arrived today. I look forward to installing it.

Finished zipping up all the seams on the suspension console caps. This was the hottest setting I had used so far on the welder. I turned down the wire feed where the gaps were close, took my time, cooled with compressed air often, and wore a welding vest. Went back and touched up a few areas with the mig. Pics are after grinding.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

There was one small area on the engine deck lid that had some surface rust. Wire brushed it and applied ospho. Took inventory of the P O R S C H E letters I had picked up at swap meets. I had a few duplicates, but couldnt make a set that all had the studs. Dremmeled the plasitc studs off, drilled the letters & installed #6 X 32 machine screws with the heads cut off. They will work well with the nylon nuts from home depot:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I guess I haven't been following this thread close enough Bob, sorry!
I have templates to make the console caps - shaped from single pieces of 14ga. (I could have sent you a jpeg)

Looks real good!

I went with the antique tags. Drive the car every day. I always have extra parts in the car (working on it) and I have never had a problem. I also have a speeding ticket on those plates and the issue never came up. I think there is a big gray area on the antique tags.

p.s. I live right next to brimmers tag and title and penndot if I can help in any way. As far as the pics YES there are certain angles they require. Piece of cake

Light work on the car yesterday. Got a set of letters ready and installed. Seems as though every time I touch one of the original speed nuts, the associated stud breaks. Lost another "H" trying to tighten it up.

Click to view attachment

Sprayed acrylic enamel on the passenger side door vent:

Click to view attachment

I have three vehicles with Antique Pa. Tags and I'll be going that way with my '74 when it is due for regestration renewal in Sept.

You'll need four pictures, front, rear, right side left side. Also they want an etching of the vin but I used a close up digital picture which they accepted. The pictures don't have to be current if you have some from before you started restoring and frankly other then the vin shot they don't come to your house to varify. If you want shots of mine let me know, only thing we might need to do is put your current tag on it for the rear shot.

Pendot seems to have a policy to reject the first time you submit. One time they said my 69 Chevy Pick up had the wrong hub caps and I had to find two original hubcaps for the side shots require and resubmit. Strangely they missed that the truck is lowered, nosed and decked and has several other non stock mods.

My K5 Blazer was rejected me because I had a trailer hitch, which I had to remove and redo pictures to resubmit. Then I put the hitch back on. They missed that I have a non stock Grill.

The great thing with Antique Tags is $$$ no more Annual Registration or Inspections required for a long as you own the car. You're supposed to only drive it in the daytime and only to Shows, Parades or to a Shop for maintenance, which could be your garage. I had a Cop ask me what the restrictions were because they don't know and aren't really interested in enforcing. So go for it.

Also, the insurance is dirt cheap for Antique cars and they don't care how often you drive it because they don't have a lot of Claims to pay to people don't rack up high milage and who love and take extreme care of their cars. Usually less then $100 per year and JC Taylor doesn't charge for more then two if I recall.
Some companies have a 5,000 mile annual clause so if you commute daily to work they could reject a claim possibly.

besides.... who would drive an antique car to work 100 plus miles every day

Click to view attachment

Seam sealed a few areas:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

For the first time in about a year and a half, my car has four complete fenders! Final fitted and tack welded it in place. It took me a long time to get everything right. I had to go back a couple of times and grind a spot weld off, tweak the metal and re-weld:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

The door needs to be lowered about 1/16, but overall things are looking pretty good:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Finished welding up the seams on the fender. I took my time and went in about 1" bursts rotating around the panel until it was done. The toughest part was the lower door jamb where it meets the door sill. I had to go back and re-weld this area about five times to get it right. I will need to use a thin coat of bondo on the exterior:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

It has been a while since I bought good quality (Dupont) automotive paint. Yesterday I picked up all the painting supplies (paint, primer, activator, etc) I needed to paint the car...got jacked for $350...this stuff ain't cheap! I went with single stage acrylic enamel.

Applied bondo to the outer seam of the rear fender. Hard to believe how many hours I have invested in this one repair:

Click to view attachment

Primed the inside of the fender well:

Click to view attachment

Seam sealed the inner fender:

Click to view attachment

I noticed a small bubble on the paint below the windshield on the passenger side. Went to work with a small, sharp screwdriver. Scraped the area down to bare metal and treated with ospho:

Click to view attachment

Took a look at the drivers side "hell hole" area and jack post. While this is in much better shape than the passenger side, it is still pretty bad. There are rivets & bondo holding the jack post support on. It would be nice to be able to fix this area without cutting the fender. A screwdriver easily made its way through at the outer seam:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

My Dad's old Sears Craftsman 2 HP, 20 gallon oil-free air compressor gave out on me Thursday night. It had a heck of a run. Started getting really loud then siezed up. I am still finding ball bearings and chunks of metal throughout the garage.

I needed a new compressor quick, so I bought a 30 gal twin cylinder oil filled, cast iron Husky at HD. I like it so far and it is much quieter than the old one. Had to re-organize the garage as the built in electric garage heater was blowing hot air on the cylinders of the new compressor.

Ladies, please...one at a time here. How could you not be impressed with this unique blend of washers, dryers, mig welders, air compressors, laundry supplies, hot water heaters and Porsche parts:

Click to view attachment

After three coats of bondo and three coats of spot putty, I am STILL finding imperfections in the fender:

Click to view attachment

I got zero replies for my WTB drivers side engine shelf post in the classifieds, so in between work on the fender, I started fabricating what I need. I cut out the old shelf about 1/4" forward of the blower motor mount. Naturally, I nicked the steel brake line that rides directly below the shelf. I started with the recessed area for the motor and went from there using 20 GA sheet metal:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Slightly lesser known than the LE "Grasshopper" and "Bumblebee" models...I present the very rare "Green M&M" 914. One final coat of spot putty got the fender where I wanted it:

Click to view attachment

Conditioned the airbox seal and re-installed the airbox. I remember reading about what a bitch this thing was to install...I agree with all comments on the subject!

Click to view attachment

I have an airdam on the way from a member of 914world who told me that both sides were the same. Took measurements off the drivers side and drilled holes for the passenger side:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Like many before me, I ground down the edge of a socket extension to make a CHT tool. I found BOSCH 012 on Ebay, reasonably priced. My D-jet was running pretty well when I pulled it, but "hunted" at idle. I will put in a new CHT sensor before the engine goes in:

Click to view attachment

Finished welding up the front section of the drivers side engine shelf. This part turned out well. The recess is a little deeper than the original, but will be just fine:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Picked up an "E" clip at the local Ace Hardware to fix the rear roof hold down:

Click to view attachment

I didn't want to have to pull the suspension back off for paint, so I shot color in the fender well and the underside of the suspension consoles:

Click to view attachment

Wrestled the trailing arm assembly into place with a floor jack and a pry bar. The strap that holds the rear part of the fender was in the way, so I had to adjust it with a big pair of vice grips, a hammer and a large drift. The strap will have to be re-welded at a later time:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

For the first time in about a year and a half, the car sat on four wheels and saw sunlight. The J-man stopped over to help roll it out of the garage and back it in so I can gain better access to the drivers side:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment