Hi Everyone!

This past sunday 6/10/12, I purchased my first project car. It is a "barn find" ready to come out of it's 20 year deep sleep, and i need all the input I can get!

The Facts:
1972 Porsche 914, 1.7L Sun dual carbs
No fuel pump (went out about ten years ago) or battery
Has been in a garage in SoCal since just after 1990
Was not stored properly (tank was left with gas in it, seals werent lubricated, was left resting on tires not jack stands so the tires are goners....)
Floor pans look great! front and rear trunks, cockpit, and battery tray area are 100% free of rust! the only rust spot is on the inner rocker panels, I will be able to gauge the damage this weekend.
There are some aftermarket features on the car, but the extent is unknown to me, they were from previous previous owner. So far I can see the exhaust and shifter have been tinkered with, will be able to see the full extent when the car has been stripped more.

The Plan:
AutoX track car!
First order of business, I need the car to be rolling so it can be rolled in and out of garage when needed. To do that I want to first complete the suspension rebuild. I was thinking of putting 911sc suspension on, since it bolts right on nicely (from what i hear). I want the car to be a 5 lug set up and not a 4 lug, with bigger brake calipers, new blisteins, all new bushings, a-arms, trailing arms, a sway bar....and so on.
Along side the completion of the suspension in the next few months, I will putting a new lead acid in to test for electrical functionality all around, as well as installing the fuel pump for carbs with SS lines kit from Tangerine Racing. I will remove and THOROUGHLY clean both carbs. I have rebuilt a carb once before, it was on a 250cc kawasaki ninja R... took a little work. I am going to remove the gas tank from the car and clean the shit out of it, literally, clean all the goop that has built up form 20 years of aging gasoline. Now I was born in 1990, so help me out, was the gas from the station leaded gas at that time? will the valves have to be changed to work with unleaded gas that we now get at the pumps?

I need help with what else HAS to be done before I can fire up the engine and see what i really have to work with. Before i do any major engine/tranny work, I would like to know their current state.

The Future:
Roll cage, racing bucket seats, 5 point harness, wieght reduction all around... and what ever else is needed to compete in autox events.
I also what to weld on the 10 piece chassis reinforcement kit.
In the far future I would love to do an engine/tranny transplant, with hopefully a subbaru flat 6, but for at least the next 5 years i plan on just building up the my car with the engine it has. And an engine rebuild is in the future for the current powerplant, its just not top priority as of now...

I am currently living in Woodland Hills during the work week, temporarily relocated for an internship. but on the weekends travel back to my house in Walnut where my car is being stored and worked on, by me and good friend. So I will only be physically working on the car over the weekends but will be researching and posting here during the week!

I am posting pictures from sunday night when the 914 arrived in its new garage so you can get a visual idea of whats in store.

Like I said, any and all comments, suggestions, referrals, parts, ext... will help me on my journey ahead. Thanks!

-David

Get ready to get your hands dirty!

Chalon or some other body kit?

As you noted, I would definitely start with the "must-do" items first, as well as do some events in a stock/street class, before you even THINK about a bunch of performance mods.

You will need to look-for and fix any structural rust, go through the brakes, suspension bushings and struts/shocks, fuel system, electricals and obviously wheels/tires. There is TONS of great info on this board and pretty much anything you'll run across has been documented here with pictures.

Good luck and keep us posted! I am nearby in Agoura - shoot me a PM if you ever get stuck on anything where I may be able to help.

The body kit is from Beach Boy Racing in LA, it was put on pre 1990... so it needs some work.

Ya I went thought everything from the top view to look for rust. The inner rocker panels will need some fixing for sure. Once i remove the door sills i can see if they will need to be completely cut off with new ones welded on or not. I was having a hard time removing the door sills though... the allen key screws holding both pieces onto the frame weren't budging. I am to the point of just drilling out the darn screws, unless someone else has a better idea. The only other two rust spots, which i found this weekend are, a, under the batter holder (very small) and b, in the middle of the lower rear crossmember (also very small).

I cant wait to get the car jacked up on all four jack stands so i can remove the whole suspension assembly and start refinishing/cleaning all the components.

I removed the carbs today, found out they are Webber Ide 40's, and they are surprisingly in very good condition too! I completely took apart one of them and cleaned every nook and crannie. And then reassembled the guy too, correctly!

Does anyone have a good plan of attack to refinish metal covered in old dried adhesive? my fire wall needs this badly. the dash, which is plastic, also needs it done. It had a carpet cover but the foam/glue is being quite feisty in some areas. For the firewall i was going to take it down with a wire brush like attachment on my drill, basically sand it off. I was hoping to do something similar on the dash except with a softer abrasive material than wire brush. Any suggestions would be helpful. I also thought of resorting to goo-gone for the dash... but seems like more time..

I do want to start fully planing the new suspension and will want a lot of input on that but i want to do a little more of my own research first. And this post is already way to long, so thanks for reading, if you got this far...

Regards,

David

Oh and thanks for the support, i will most likely PM you at some point for your help, I appreciate that!

Start digging. Because that would be like winning the lottery. More often than not, a "rust free" hell hole turns out to be a smooth fiberglass patch over the rust.
Start poking it (hard) with a large screwdriver.

If it turns out to be solid, consider yourself very lucky.

I'll definitely be poking around this weekend looking for more rust. I did find small holes in a two spots so far. one on the rear bumper and one in the crevasses below the battery tray of course, i could see it from my angle last time i looked...

Very cool! Welcome to the madness. Do you know yet what material the sail panel extensions are made from? Are they steel? I often wondered what a 914 would look like with those extended out in more of a fast-back look. This is in no way a slight against your car, but I think I like the way they look from the factory, now that I have seen it. Either way a cool car though and one that should be a lot of fun for you!

Thank you, I am looking forward to my fun times ahead as well. To be honest i am not quite sure what the extended sails are made out of. From the feel and sound i actually think they are wood with a fiberglass overlay...

If you don't mind me saying, I would be skeptical of their construction. At some point it might be prudent to "poke" at them. If you decide to keep them and they are indeed grafted using fiberglass and wood, they may delaminate from the metal underneath, especially in the midday sun, ruining your paint job. Fiberglass is a very fun thing to work with, but tough to get right unless you use the right materials and do it the right way. Good luck, keep us posted on the progress!

Thanks!

There is already de-lamination taking place at the bottom of the sail, which is why my thoughts pointed towards fiberglass overylay, but it is only on one side... I like the look of the extended sail so i will decide later if i will keep (and rework) or completely remove.

It is definitely different. Like I said, I always wondered what it would look like. In theory, if you were to re-do them in fiberglass, you might follow a process similar to the fiberglass fender flare threads here on the forum. Make the extension first out of FG, then bond it to the body using 3M and/or sheet metal screws. Then use filler to make it all seamless. This is all way down the road, but its something I had considered before as well. What would be even cooler is using steel, but much tougher to get right. I imagine one of the biggest drawbacks is that it makes it much harder to reach the engine back though.

That's similar to the route I'm going. There's some front suspension stuff pictured
in my progress (or lack of) thread. It might help.

I have
911SC Boge struts 3.5"
911S Calipers
Rebel Racing Bushings
Bilstein Sports
22mm Torsion bars
22mm Anti Sway bar

Talk with Eric Shea - he can hook you up with new or rebuilt suspension/brake parts.

That's similar to the route I'm going. There's some front suspension stuff pictured
in my progress (or lack of) thread. It might help.

I have
911SC Boge struts 3.5"
911S Calipers
Rebel Racing Bushings
Bilstein Sports
22mm Torsion bars
22mm Anti Sway bar

Talk with Eric Shea - he can hook you up with new or rebuilt suspension/brake parts.
[/quote]

John, love your thread. looked through the whole thing, car is coming along nicely. I would love to get in touch with eric. I had seen a posting from him awhile back for a 5lug conversion he does and really liked his way about it.

here are the rest of my plans for suspension:
I have been on elephant racing's website browsing their suspension upgrade kits, and so far it seems like the best kit out there, unless anyone else can point me in a better direction. For their suspension package i decided to go with their street track 1 level for component selection. For their coilover system package i went with the level 3. I am posting a picture of the cart with all the items that have been selected through these packages.

The next suspension package i found is for the a-arms and crossmember, from tarret engineering. Their 935 suspension kit is intended for coilover set ups, which is my plan.

Would love to hear everyones thoughts and comments, like if anyone has any less expensive alternatives... thanks!

David

Check out Rebel Racing also.

http://www.rebelracingproducts.com/Suspension/Steering.html

You've got some spendy stuff in your cart.

I wont be buying all that stuff at once! thats for sure, it would come in waves. And per a suggestion from another member, the 935 front a-arm kit is not really what i am going to be looking for so that one is not in the picture anymore.... Hopefully i will talk to Eric today or tomorrow and work out with him some of the rotor and brake set up!

So since the suspension is taking longer than anticipated, I wont be sending in the components to Eric Shea for another 2 weeks or so...waiting for the air compressor and impact gun to arrive. But when i talked to him on the phone last week we worked out my plan of attack:
911 front struts with 3" caliper spacing, he suggested the borge inserts, anyone have a take on that?
911 hub and rotors.
Question on that, will my stock brakes fit and work for with the 911 rotor?
Front stock control arms will be media blasted, powder coated and fitted with new bushings
Rear trailing arm will be cleaned up and drilled to 5 lug, then fitted with new bearings and bushings
I believe the rear hub used will be the stock one just drilled to 5 lug as well, and then use a 911 rotor

Thats the plan for suspension as of now, everything should be sent out to him no later than the end of this month, with a 2-3 week turn around from there.

As far as wheels and rims go.... what's the largest pice of rubber i can fit on this puppy at stock, considering 15 or 16" diam..... what width can i go with?
Also where should i look for them? Most of the online sites that sell rims and wheels make you select your car, but then say there are no options for the 914... so all tips on where to look and what to look for would be great.

Thanks!!