First, my apologies to 911 defector. Being a newbie, I don't know all the proper protocol. I didn't mean to jump on your thread, so I will start my own. To introduce myself, I am an old fart (67) with a young mindset. I love to drive, I wrench most of my own stuff and I still get a kick out of it. This year I sold my Carrera S and bought a 75 914 from a fellow in the local PCA club. I live on the Central Coast in CA and love all the cool roads in the area. Anyway, I am in the process of having the engine rebuilt by Mark at Original Restorations and I am doing all the rest of the prep myself. I have ordered a load of parts from Eric at PMB Performance. The car has very little rust and I have been working on that. My questions to the group is "Are you interested in seeing the progress of the re-build or would that be boring to some of you that have been doing this for a long time? I would be very open to sugestions, criticism or the like. I am not thin-skined, but I am not afraid to shoot back. So, let's hear what you have to say.

We would love to see what you're doing on your car. Post lots of pics as many of us don't want to read.

We like to see what other members are doing since most of us don't have time to work on our cars and its good to see others doing what we wish we had time (and money) to do.

Show us!

i agree! please share progress on your project. seems you've already found some of the best to help you with engines and brakes.

wow! modern carrera s to ancient 914. you've got it bad!

welcome to yet another model of the brand madness!

You've obviously done your homework and are off to a very good start!

Welcome,
Please post your pics and you can kind of keep a journal of your progress. It's allways cool to look back at where you were when you're done. Also, you will learn a thing or two as we all do with these cars. It's allways nice to have a few eyes on what you are doing so other memebers can let you know what they learned and maybe save you some grief. You may also learn somthing that someone can benifit from in the future. The search function will be your friend, and the knowledge you recieve will add to the group collectively.

-Mark
PS Lots of pics

Welcome, welcome, welcome. Please take pictures as you progress in your project so we can all enjoy it with you. I personally like to see project threads because it keeps me motivated for my car.

Best wishes.

... from a nearly as old fart to another!

Central Coast? Some nice roads out there!

Are you the guy that originally thought about a Subaru engine, and has the marathon blue 914 at McMark's shop?

I am the guy who was working on my black 914, advancing my rustoration w Mark's help. My 914 is back at home now
Just tell Mark you want deluxe service, with 914 World progress thread included!

I bet he already has some pics

Are you the guy that originally thought about a Subaru engine, and has the marathon blue 914 at McMark's shop?

Nope, not me. Mark De Bernardi only has my engine and transaxle. The rest is in my garage with some photos coming soon.

.........I dig 75's myself
peace ......but I stuck with the carrera 87'

Welcome. You're in the same house, just another room! As far as your build thread, someone always learns something from someone else's build. Would love to see your progress. It feeds our addiction.

BTW, do you have a set of good jack stands yet??

Definitely share the progress - which some of us are able to make more of, faster than others.

And make sure you ask here before you buy major parts like seals etc..

You're just down the road from me, let's get together sometime!

Before you start buying ANYTHING, let me know. I have lots of jun....er, um, ....high quality used parts that I would love to make you a deal on.

Please post. My dad lives in AG and we have a place over in Pismo. It would be nice to connect sometime. The Coast is my old stomping grounds. I currently live in the Valley buy come over frequently.
Mark

A time stamped record can come in handy as well! I look forward to seeing some progress!

This site is 100% 914s. Post away. Btw I was born and raised in nipomo / Santa maria! Great roads, but cruise up our way sometime....

Will do Rob.

When I first bought car:
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Dropped the engine:
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Engine loaded to deliver to McMark:
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Engine compartment before. Note battery holder completely rusted out, but hell hole not too bad:
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Engine compartment after clean-up and new battery holder installed:
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Cleaned up rear wheel well area and painted:
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Painted control arms almost ready to install:
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Parts ready for paint or plating:
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New parts ready to install:
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NICE!

Love the colour! keep the pics coming!

Very nice!!


-Jim

Wheel half done sandblasting

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Used Harbor Freight blaster and 80 grit media

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Finished wheel ready for polishing and painting. I will polish the raised leafs and paint the others silver like the originals. I picked a little darker silver for more contrast. I was going to do black, but think I will stay kinda stock. I will post a pic when done.

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Add: By the way, this is the spare. I wanted to see how the blasting worked out before I do the road wheels.

Oooooo, this is looking good already. With that attention to detail and the two member-vendors here helping with parts/engine....you will have a really nice car.

Where'd you get the paint to re-paint the engine bay? Did you use color-match cans?

The paint in the engine compartment came from the local auto paint store. I used the paint code to match and srayed it myself. It is a two stage paint, but I could have used single stage, which I used in the wheel wells. Expensive, but the color match is perfect.

Installed the trailing arms, shocks, rotors and rebuilt calipers. Had a problem with the CV joints, so I am waiting to install the stub axles until I get them back from the machine shop. Everything is pretty much stock, except for the 140 lb springs.

I have pulled off that ratty looking rocker panel and found dirt and rust. Need to clean that area up and do a little welding. I will take pictures of that area and post them.

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It also helps that you have a very solid car to start with. That will save you tons of grief and $. Keep the pics coming.

John - You are absolutely right. There is a little rust here and there, but nothing like what you started with.

As you can see in this photo, there is significant rust damage to the jack insert. When I removed the rocker panels, rocks, dirt and other misc. things fell out. This area was obviously a very wet, muddy collection of crud, therefore the damage. This side is the worst, but both sides had damage. IF YOU HAVE NOT REMOVED YOUR ROCKER PANELS, PUT IT ON YOUR BUCKET LIST NOW!

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This is the re-inforcement template I used. I made a cardboard template to form the shape and then transferred it to the piece of 18 guage sheet metal.

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As you can see by the completed, welded piece, I am not a welder by trade. But then I am sure it is stronger now than the original, without the rust. Besides, the rocker panel will hide my handiwork.

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This is the opposite side, but you get the picture. At least the jack insert willl work if I ever need it. And, more imlportantly, the frame in that area is re-inforced.


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I am now working on the front end, replacing fuel lines and sealing the gas tank, etc. More photos later.

Love it, very motivating! keep em coming

I am impressed with your work and the devotion you have to your car. Keep the pictures coming please.

love the color!!!!

An you had to ask if we wanted to see this! Incredible work brother. Motivational to the max!

Update?

I like the pic of the engine with tool #1 on the ground next to it. Hopefully you didn't need to use it to much!

I have a '75 myself, except originally a 1.8, enlarged to something that I haven't figured out yet. The PO put a FAT stroker crank and big bore kit on it, and I was told it is over 2 liters now...

Nice job on your cleanup work, is the engine going to remain stock with fuel injection when it's done?

I have been really busy with cleaning the gas tank, installing new fuel lines and getting the car ready for the engine, which I picked up last Sunday from Mark De Bernardi. I pulled the tank to change the fuel lines and fuel pump, etc., and this is what if found.

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I did a little research here, found and tried the Electrolysis method of removing the rust. Sorry, I can't remember the name of the post I got the info from, but it was very well written.

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It is basically a 12 volt battery, battery charger, cables and pieces of rebar used as the sacrificial electrodes. The electrolyte solution is water and laundry soda.

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Here are the electrodes out of the solution.

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This is what the solution looked like.

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The process took almost a week and I still wasn't satisfied with the results.

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I was tired of messing with it and let it sit without drying the tank. Damm it.

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I then bought the POR-15 stuff and after using their prep products and sealing solution, I was very pleased with the result.

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Here is the tank painted and re-installed.

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I will post more later.

Looking great Warren! We're getting there

I used the electrolytic method for removing the rust from my very crusty pedal cluster before I rebuilt it and I was pleased with the results. Too bad I don't have a vat big enough to drop the whole chasis into

When I opened the tunnel to install my new stainless steal fuel lines, look what I found. Yes, a ton of rust, but doesn't look like any structural damage.

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So, after vacuuming out all the loose stuff, I used a bottle brush to coat the entire tunnel inside. I think I got most of it. This photo shows the new fuel lines installed with a rubber protective sleeve where the tabs are holding the lines. I only needed one line, but just in case someone wants to go back to FI, the return line is there.

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This is the new lines in the engine compartment.

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...and under the tank.

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I painted the blower housing dark metallic silver after I picked up the engine from Mark a week or so ago.

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....to match the wheels.

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What do you guys think of the color? The wheel on the car is the original color.

repainted wheel looks great. Did you do the polish on the lip yourself?
SW

wheel looks great, color works well. I also like the engine and carb linkage.

Looking good, let me know if you re-find the information on the electrolysis method you used. Looks like a good thing to do, then POR the tank like you did.

The engine is in. All I need to do now is hook everything up. Had to use an extra jack to help the motorcycle jack get the ass-end up.

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Nathan - Here is the link to the electrolysis information I used: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=150777&hl=

Had a little stumble with the break-in. I need to get the engine back to Mark so he can take a look. That's it for now.