Of course when the exhaust came off, it brought about another set of problems. Most of the studs were loose or already pulled out, so I ended up installing time serts for the time being. Paul (URY) found a set of heads he had, which I'm looking into getting rebuilt at a local machine shop. Paul, when I found out what condition they're in, we can figure out a price?

In the meantime, I'm stuck with these heads. I'm pretty sure #3 has a burned ex valve. Below is a picture - is there anything obvious from it?Click to view attachment


Also, last oil change was pretty curious. At the bottom of the tuna can was a bunch of crusty stuff. I ran a magnet through the sludge, and nothing stuck to it except a few very small slivers. I wonder where all this crap came from then?

Click to view attachment

Seems to me that the plug hole was already fixed once but someone didn't take the time to cut a flat set for the plug.
It can be fixed but make sure it's cut it straight this time.

Been quite awhile, and in fact, only a little over a year after I purchased the car, I can't believe how far its come. Dropped a transmission, drove it, dropped the trans/engine, repaired the passenger long, floorboards, put the drivetrain back in and now almost ready for paint in a little over 12 months. So, after the Tropical Ramble, landing a full-time gig and sort of figuring out school and money for the time being, I got a chance to tackle what I consider my specialty (and my favorite hobby, believe it or not) - bodywork. I started with the front and rear trunks.

I guess I don't have a good picture of the front trunk or rear trunk painted. But here is the prep work on the rear. This was probably one of the most difficult tasks I've done on the car. The PO sprayed some kind of rubberized undercoating all over it. The "lie detector", as Scotty B calls it, didn't work very well, neither did a standard wire wheel. The heat gun made progress but it was slow and I was removing a lot of good paint, which I felt was unnecessary, since there wasn't rust in the majority of the trunk. Finally I tried brake cleaner, which is dirty, greasy work, but removes that rubberized stuff like a charm. I wonder if the same would be true for you guys removing the floor tar? The last pic is after filling in pin holes and reapplying seam sealer where necessary, then a coat of POR.

That's awesome progress compared to many cars on this board that have been on jack stands for years!!!

I've said from day one that this was to be a "rolling restoration." By that I mean, I wanted to get the car mechanically as sound as I could so I could enjoy it, even if it looks like a turd. The other part is that since I do not have the ability to own a compressor where I live, I have to drive to my previous company's shop (which they graciously allow me to use) in Tampa to do any kind of work that requires one. And, well, I'm tired of working outside. I also happen to work in Tampa, so when I get off at the end of the day I spend a couple hours doing a little bit of body work here and there with filler. Here is the last bit of welding that I had to do before I could start with the filler.

Lookin' good man!

Unfortunately I welded this up with flux-core prior to the Tropical Ramble, where John Faure (Fourblades) so graciously donated his great Hobart mig setup . However, as John said, the proverbial and literal torch has been passed and I plan to put it to good use with the roll cage. Thank you once again John.

On a side note, if any of you are ever going to re-paint your cars or do any work around the door jamb area, make sure to check not only the little round vent for rust, but also the area I cut out. Poke and prod there and more than likely you will find plenty of weak metal. If you didn't have the sail panel trim, you might get lucky. This is a big blunder I think on Karmann's part - below you will see the white epoxy-like chunks I scraped out of this area, which trapped water, most of which came in through the holes in the sail panel.

Here is something interesting. I didn't know till recently looking at all the other cars at the TR that the fenders are not supposed to be flush with the cowl. The PO of my car had at some point filled all this in. So, I ground out the filler to see what was underneath. Sure enough, the fenders are welded to the cowl where there would normally be a seam. Luckily, they did a decent job and there was no rust under the filler, so I re-filled it.

Almost forgot about this. The front of this car was tagged pretty good at some point, obviously.Click to view attachment

The headlight bucket was pretty buckled. If I were in a different spot financially or this car had been in better shape to begin with, I would have just sourced a replacement piece. Click to view attachment

But, as I wanted to learn more about metal and collision work during this process, I thought this would be a good chance.

Started by drilling out spot welds (anyone else who has tackled any metal work will know this is usually the first step).
Click to view attachment

Then I "relieved" the metal by cutting it along the creases.Click to view attachment

Then cut the three welds holding the bucket support bracket to the fender. I then let the redneck in me out and hooked up a ratchet strap to the bucket. Next, rolled the car backwards in neutral a few times, and checked the distance from the bucket to the bulkhead using the passenger side measurements as a reference. Click to view attachment

Finally, once I was satisfied, that was all welded back up. Fast forward to last week, and this is what it looks like with a little filler.

Click to view attachment

More filler. Trust me, it looks like a lot more than it really is. I pulled and dollied out as much as I could before starting. Also, if no rust was present, I chose to scuff the surface lightly prior to adding filler. I personally don't believe in stripping it down to bare metal before filling, as the paint is one more barrier to prevent rust. If you were doing a concours car, obviously it would be a different story and you probably wouldn't consider filler in the first place. For me, no big deal

Click to view attachment


Now here is the frustrating part. See all those black swirlies? It appears as though someone at some point let a five year old loose on this car with a dremel or something along those lines. They were ALL over the car. None that I observed went through the sealer or first coat, but most were through the second paint job layer. I only discovered this when I started to DA/block the car. From what I understand, this would usually mean taking the whole car down to at least the first coat. Since I don't have the time, resources or a dedicated shop, I can't strip the whole thing down. So instead, I decided to block it as best I could so that the primer coats I would lay wouldn't have so many steep "valleys" to fill. Perhaps Scotty B or Rick can chime in here, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that once I block the primer I won't see these valleys in the final coat.
Click to view attachment

And that brings me to last weekend, where I shot a coat of urethane primer/sealer. I will block this coat and then possibly shoot another before color. Traditionally a great paint job gets at at least 3 of these before color, from what I understand. But for a Chumpcar/daily driver, I think I've probably already done far more than was really necessary. The best part was that my fiance said, "Okay, so I just want to say, you did a great job. A year ago, I never thought you'd get this far. I'm proud of you." .... I guess I can keep her Wait till it gets color - she might even ride in it then! Click to view attachment

Nice work George!

It is looking good.

John

nice work! have you decided to build this up right? i thought you were going to take it to a smashem up derby and about cried. kinda like "The Crying Game".

You really don't want to repeat your Award from the TR

It's looking better and better. way to go!

That's one way to get it done.

Good job Painted Man. Your name fits.

It's great to see all your progress with the car! Your doing a great job and with her support the sky is the limit

Thanks guys! No, I don't plan to take it to a 'smash em up,' but I won't be terribly upset when it gets tagged in a race... if and when that day ever comes. But for the time being it will be nice to have a decent paint job so I don't have to repeat my award , as TC reminded me, at next year's Tropical Ramble. Just to piss you off though T.C., I will be keeping the rear reflector. After working on the rear, it would have been more work than is necessary to fill the holes and straighten all of the dents. I promise the next teener that I get won't have the goofy reflector.

I don't mind you keeping the reflector, it only makes me angry when someone butchers a car to put one on

Crappy pic, and not quite the paint job I had hoped for, but it'll do for now. Need to color sand and possibly repaint the hood after it dries over the next month. I was wearing gloves and didn't know my hands were sweating inside. Needless to say there is a spot where sweat dripped onto the paint where I had just gone over. Oh well, looks better than it did.

Great work!

Lookin good!

Damn George - Awesome work!

Looks like you're going for Most Improved Award at the next Tropical Ramble

Nice work!

First time seeing your build thread, George. Nothing short of awesome!

Anything else transpired in the past month?

Thanks Mark Yeah, I've been piecing things back on it for the past few weeks and removing others to repaint or replace. I mocked up the cage so I could get measurements and soon I'll start wiring it for a cutoff switch, etc. Still have a small hesitation under heavy throttle transition, but I think that can be solved with bigger idle jets. John (FourBlades), my new teammate has agreed to loan me some so I can troubleshoot. Here is the most recent picture. Would never have gotten this far without everyone else's help and inspiration. Thanks again!

I like the chrome-less look! Nice job!

Quite a transformation! You have every reason to be proud!

Awesome work!

Holy Crap George, It's awesome!!!

Looking good. Sorry I never saw your post about those gouges in the primer coats. di that turn out o.k. once you got the color on ?

I'm not inspired...I'm exhausted! I'm too old for this stuff but am glad to see some of you out there have a vision and tenacity to save cars like this! Your car looks great and you should be very proud!

Cracker

Good looking car you got there. Well done.

As always, thanks for the support fellas. The paint on the car didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, even though it looks decent in crappy pictures. Up close, there are a couple dimples I missed here and there and I should have spent more time with the 600 grit since I can detect some sanding lines in some areas. However, given the gouges that Scotty pointed out and the amount of crappy work done previously, I'm fairly happy with it. It was my first time spraying single stage, and I learned a few things. Either way, eventually it will hit the track and look better than 99% of the Chumpcars out there (well until the first corner at least.) For now I'm just having fun and receiving thumbs ups!

Next to do:
Finish the bolt in cage
Wire up cutoff switch
Install remaining gauges (this will be a cool project - going to rework the dash in fiberglass)
Hopefully test it out at a DE soon

nice work george.

Looks great! I would paint the mirror(s) black so the body line flows better. I also like the all blacked out trim and black mirror(s) would add to that. Congratulations - great work!

WOW! I can't believe someone would rip into you like that?! I am inspired and impressed with what you are working on and what you are accomplishing.
Keep up the amazing work!
James

Wow, the lack of civility is palpable. What is the point in posting such harsh words and criticizing?

I guess I have a dog in this fight:
BA Psychology with a 3.9 while working on my 914 and others transmissions.
MD - while working on my 914 and other transmissions.
MPH - third verse same as the first.

Oh, and I have many other projects as well. I put myself through school. I managed to fund my hobbies by providing services to members here like transmission clinics, DVDs, parts, interiors, CV bolts, special rear view mirrors.

How someone managed to maintain their hobby is none of your business unless they decide to share it. The distraction this hobby offers from school work is priceless.

George is like the Board's adopted, little brother, most everyone tries to help him!

Some people forget their manners... "If you don't have something nice to say, than don't say anything!"

Man--great job with the car! Mine sat for 14 years before I got it going again. This was fast!

Ignore the haters, George, and keep inspiring us with your work!

3.9 in psychology?... Why not a 4.0?

My GPA was 3.925/4.0 for my BSEE...now that was a lot of work.

Only got a 3.75 for my MSEE. Of course, I had two small kids and was flying back and forth to England for a year. I guess I got lazy...

Thanks again fellas. That guy posted a long time ago, and have not heard from him since. Either way, my coursework is done and now I'm just finishing up my thesis.

I always thought of myself as the red-headed stepchild of the forum, but I'll take younger brother any day.

Full disclaimer though, I never intended this car to turn out as nice as it has, which is still a long way from most of your restorations. If quality isn't a main concern, it definitely speeds up the process. I envy those of you who are doing it "right." Hopefully I'll have some cool stuff to show in the next two months as the rest of the stuff gets done. Right now its wiring the kill switch ignition switch and starter button, which confuses the hell out of me. I'll need all the help I can get!

Keep up the good work at school and on the teener, both will be well earned accomplishments when you're finished.

Mike

My comment was not aimed at George, it was kind of hard to tell

No offense taken Dr. Mike. Question for you though - as we all sat around imbibing watching the Rolex 24, I was asking some of the guys about my transmission. I noted that I usually can produce a grind in every gear but fifth if I don't give plenty of time between throws, and of course the 1st synchros are definitely shot. I haven't really ever driven a teener with a new transmission quickly, so I'm not sure - with a freshly rebuilt gear stack, is it possible to shift any quicker than a... one Mississippi, two Mississipi without them grinding? I'm assuming this transmission its the original box and never been serviced, though it does have brand new fluid in it which helps.

On a similar note, there is a guy about 50 miles away selling a recently rebuilt side shifter for $300, which I've considered. While I'd like to send this one off to you to work your magic on, I think this is a decent deal to swap out to get me around in the meantime. Your thoughts?