No big deal today. I took off the bumpers, lights lids, hood, hood pin plates and pins, trunk lid, deck lid, rubber seals all around, windshield and trim pieces, and everything that would get in the way of a paint job. Time to tune up the four year old garage respray.

In AZ, a two stage paint job with body prep, prime, three coats and a clear coat prior to flat sand and buff can run up a big number.... it gets into the low four digits!!!! The EPA has not yet figured out how to get that number adjbusted to the high four digits as in CA.... this is not a political observation. It is an unvarnished fact. Same products. Same application. Same labor hours. Different state,.... of mind.

Who knows? It may look better than the pics of my garage job from Laguna herein and it will drive even better with so much less air drag......
:beer

Inspired by Ian Karr and his video. thanks @Iankarr one down and 3 to g0!Click to view attachment

Do your seats move fore and aft easily, like factory?
Or are they tough to slide?
Great looking seats!

They move just the same as stock as they use the factory seat rails/subframes.

Are your belt mount eye bolts above your shoulders? I was in a crash with a 4 point and because of the design of the roll cage, the belt mounted below my shoulders. When my vehicle came to a stop, but I didn't, the belts forced my shoulders down and tore my rotators.

They're about level - FIA and Motorsport UK regs say that the shoulder harness mountings must be no more than 10 degrees above or up to 45 degrees below the level of the seat. Ideally in the zero to 20 degrees below range.

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In that picture the seat design keeps the belt from dropping down. I did not have that. Looks great.

Made a license plate bracket that does not require holes in the bumpers.
Bought four 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/4 inch rare earth magnets from Apex Magnets.
These are countersunk.
Drilled 4 small holes on the license plate frame, tapped the holes, then screwed the magnets in place.
Covered the center piece with felt, and cut four small pieces for the magnets.
Just place the license plate with the magnetic frame to a hole less bumper and it’s on.
Takes a good 30lb pull to remove it; and, Ivan now clean behind the license plates

Apex: https://www.apexmagnets.com/magnets/3-4-x-3...eodymium-magnet

Very nice work Jim......impressive!

Now you need a different set of plates you can switch in when doing something you shouldn't be doing.

I have another set-up with a commutative plate from the Medford WCR.
Easy switch; I also made up a Euro frame for the front.

Over the past few months my mechanic Chuck Miller of Millersport in Hillsborough NC and I (he did most of the work!) have completed the following maintenance/upgrades to my 71 Irish Green/Biscuit 914:

suspension overhaul (bushings/bearings), Bilstein struts and Rebel Racing coil over kit with Eibach 100lb springs

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Stainless heat exchangers

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optima red top 25 battery

AA rebuilt fuel injector, fuel filter and heater hoses

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PMB 19mm master cylinder and Rebel Racing Turbo Tie Rods,

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Bruce Stone Rebuilt Pedal Cluster

Dansk muffler

ebay Rear valence with notch (I'm still looking for a period correct valence with a hole PM me if you have one for sale)

AA empi-fuchs wheels with 195/65R15 Michelin Premier AS

lloyd mats with 914 logo

AA german tan loop carpet kit

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element fire extinguisher

Now I am waiting for the weather to cooperate so I can finally detail the car!

Needless to say I am significantly underwater based on it's value but . . .

it drives great!

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And looks pretty good as is (need to repaint the rear valence. Jack point and rocker rust repair will have to wait a while)

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Looking good. That's a large chunk of work you got completed.

@drphil914

Hey Phil,

So sorry for the huge delay in response. Not that it matters now, but I wasn't able to make that Dec. 12 meet — really bummed I couldn't be there.

And I actually ordered the progressive springs from 914rubber. Haven't had a chance to put them on yet as I hit some delays in getting the car home from the shop it's been at, but it should finally be coming home to Jacksonville next week where I can get started on some things.

Did you pull the trigger on those springs? If so, how are you liking them?

What did you do to your 914 today?

Made a few passing glances at it as I unpacked tools that I had to sled back to the shop, still have about 24" of snow in and a bit more in the drift zones, making getting things in and out a bit of a job. Right now id when I wish I had poured a driveway to the back, and when the ground is soaked.

But at least the temps have moved out of the single digits here, and I can walk outside with out looking like the Michelin Man.

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Bled the brakes and **drove it for the first time in YEARS**. The last 9m of work was completely worth it for the adrenaline rush! Lots more to do still, however ...

hey ! no, i didn’t make any changes, i suppose it would be better than the stock ones , especially if autocross if, but, i don’t do that much. and i need new shocks for the Maserati., so other issues have taken presidence. i have been working on the fresh air defrost box rebuild. thst Jax get together was great so many great cars! maybe and hopefully see you at the Werks reunion, just had an offer to sell.... hmm hard to s consider... hard to refuse!! maybe time for another project and anew daily driver????

First warm day here in Germany. Spring is around the corner. Drove the 914 for the first time this season. Later in the afternoon a friend dropped by with his ´77 S. Had a coffee and talked cars. Made my weekend.

Jim, those new chrome bumpers look great!! i like the deeper scoop rear valance in body color too. What did you do up front?

@jim_hoyland

sprayed the longs body color this weekend and started hanging the new rocker panels. Also put a new headliner on the targa, installed a radio antenna (purely aesthetic) worked on a few other little things.
All of which I didn't finish for one reason or another so, they are 1/2 done.

picked up some interior door parts from David @Beach914 . thank you again David!

I got an email from Craig this morning asking if I wanted a Boxster suspension for $75.

Fuch yeah I do.

Thanks Craig with the list.

First decent top-off day this year, so checked it over, kicked the tires, lit the fires...and drove it for about 50 miles.

Did a little bit of cleaning inside the engine bay and as always checking for rust under the battery tray. Also, dropping off gas tank cap parts for cad plating.



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That looks like a nice hell hole.

Looks like one nice 914/3.2 well sorted, keep it goin

That is not a hell hole. That is a heaven hole. No rust!

By the way, there’s always rust. I’ve had this car since 1988 and if I’ve learned something over the years. I would not wash the engine bay out too regularly. I’ve gotten much better by using petroleum and paraffin spray lubricant/sealer‘s. Almost like a cosmoline undercoating where the oxygen and water cannot penetrate..!

I sent off my SDS EFI ECU for a connector and the install of the data logger daughter board and cable. More importantly this allows me to download software updates.

Yes, our beloved 914's were standard with rust. My thought is to not feed it, always garage and never take out in the rail. This will minimize it's growth.

I suppose it's possible to drill holes in the hollow sections and inject some product to slow the rust

By the way, my opinion.
Never store your car in a heated garage that makes rust grow faster.
Frozen or cold slows everything down..!

Switching out my Dansk single outlet sport exhaust for a more factory style quieter Leistritz muffler.
In order to fit under the valance panel, will need to cut off the outlet and re-weld in a different orientation.
Dropped it off at the local muffler shop here in Boring.

Had the '73 out with my older son (who is visiting from SD) also driving a friend's F355 spider. Something inviting about an older car and the old saying it's more fun to go fast in a slow car than slow in a fast car. He'd taken another friend's 488 out yesterday and preferred the F355. I would too...

Picked up another Subaru fuel pump assy and cut out the center so I can use the outer ring as an inside tank support for the bolts that will be welded to it to come through the top assy and tightened to help prevent leakage. With 2 gaskets, one in and one out, I'll be able to seal the two and won't have fumes coming up to attack us. Hopefully. Sometimes the rivnuts will make for a good sealing platform but I want to minimize my chances of chemical pneumonia...again.

Had a 4-wheel alignement done this morning. Toe-in was out of spec what explains the rather "spongy" feeling while travelling on the Autobahn.
(Pictures where taken during setup, measurement was done with the wheels sitting on the ground, off course.)

At long last I changed out the throttle body on my 2056 for a Vanagon 2.1L version. My first impression is that it revs much more freely especially from 4000 rpm to 5000rpm. That makes sense since the 1.8 TB choked it a bit at the higher flows. Well worth the effort plus I only paid $25 for the new TB.

I don't have a mill like some of you but I was able to rig one with an x-y table and my cheap drill press. I needed to modify the old shaft for the larger plate. Took it slow and easy so it wouldn't blow up.

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That is cool where did you get the new TB?
Why do you need to modify the old shaft.
Why can't just use the new TB as is?

There was a guy on Samba that had some TB’s. The throttle switch geometry is different on the Vanagon part so you need to use the 1.8 shaft. Then you have to machine the shaft so the larger plate will fit.

Thanks for the clarification.
I wonder if I can get away with not have it modified since I plan to run a Bosch TPS for microsquirt

@Bucci ,
By the way, my opinion.
Never store your car in a heated garage that makes rust grow faster.
Frozen or cold slows everything down..!

My experience has been the opposite, a heated/dry space is far superior to an unheated space. What is your 20? (location)

Temperatures are very mild in California, I prefer cooler spaces the rust seems to be slow to corrode.

1976 2.0 viper green
Installed new battery hold down clamp, replaced a broken fog lamp lens, installed a factory Porsche front license plate bracket.


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Engine out ...rod bearing..

Tackled the floor goo... Click to view attachment

More work on her trailer. Floor is finally done. Putting up the lights today.

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On to wiring, board (12v), box(110), outlets and generator. Oh and don't forget the battery...

Looks like you need to pay attention to that woofer too.

A good high school annual fake name for a kid who has an old VW bus is 'Rod Bearing III'

Mine seems to be purring along.
She thinks the car is hers.

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