Yea, Rudy! Welcome back!

Thanks for the awesome welcome back. @andyrew @sb914 @76-914 @ValcoOscar @tygaboy Andy I'm just going to put the stock floor back in since the car is already low (4" clr) I don't want to expose my hindquarters and moneybags any more than it alreasy is. Kent, It would be better if you came by on the weekend after labor day. I should have the floor by then and will be installing it. Hopefully the new wheels will be in at that time as well. The break has been good, I've though over some things, changed my mind over and over but now I feel way better about some of the design changes. I am going with the radiators in the quarter panels and I decided against (for the second time) the hollow spokes.

By the way did you guys notice the front and rear track dimensions. It's a half inch from being 63" Square.

BTW does someone have the link to the guy that shows how to widen the steel gt flares? I've checked using the search but I was not successful. I remember that he cut the whole thing and added a strip to it. I will need to do the same thing and is the next thing on my agenda after the floor is welded back in.

Rudy - here's a pic that @ChrisFoley posted on my thread about a flare widening update he did. Maybe check in with him.

Sweet - looks good. What software are you using for the front/rear track diagrams?

-Steve

Autocad

Thanks I will look him up.

@chrisfoley would you happen to have more pictures of that flare widening? I searched your name and widen flares and did not come up with what I was looking for.

Love how the new @ things are working.

I have a collection of pics in my office computer showing more details. I don't recall if I ever posted more of them on the forum. Just checked my facebook company page but only a couple incidental pics of that car in the timeline photos.

@chrisfoley I would appreciate it if you could post up a bunch of those pictures to get an idea of how you did it.

Ron S did it on his real 6.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...3&hl=flares

@mepstein Thank you so much......that was perfect.

I went thru all my pics. Most of the work is undocumented.
The process started with cutting off some crappy custom flares that had really thick bondo to make them smooth.
Then I carefully butt welded the AA GT flares in place and hammered the weld seams smooth.
Next I chose a cut line just inside the curved edge. The location was chosen so I could shrink the edge of the removed piece to match the new shape.
Then, using a modified palm nailer, I hammered the shit out of the part left on the car to raise up the top so the wheel opening would end up at the same height as on the stock flare, and I smoothed all the surfaces with hammer and dolly.
The front and rear edges were curved outward to create a smooth shape that would line up with the reworked edge of the removed piece.
After many hours of reshaping the loose edge I was satisfied with the transition and clecoed the loose section in place with some small pieces of sheet metal to bridge the gap.
This is the point where I started taking pictures.

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Thank you @chrisfoley this is super helpful

Well I started to install the flares. I started with it upside down cause it makes it so much easier. I painted both mating surfaces with weld-thru-primer before welding. Notice the rear fender how it encroaches onto the rear tail light. That is because I stretched the wheel base 3". I like the way it is fitting. I will need to add about 6" to the rear flare and 5" to the front flare. I'm waiting for the new rims to come it before I do that though.

Wow Rudy...

That's Bad Ass.

For those who don't know the meaning.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAGcDi0DRtU


Enjoy !!!

Oscar

Im jealous of the fun metal fab work your going to do


However only 1 fender would be fun, 4 would be repetitious and boring


6" extension of those flares is going to be substantial!!!

I did enjoy

Andy I hear you on that. The reason it's 6" is that the 996 hub to hub dimension is 5" wider than a 914. So, add to that the 335 tire on 12.5" rims and there are the ingredients for the wide rear. I think that it wont look too weird since I am adding an 18" wide radiator on each side within the quarter panel that will be taper to the interior about 12" from the face of the quarter panel. If I did not have that I would of put in some serious + offset on the 3-piece rim and tuck the meats inside. But I don't like the look of the meats tucked in. Yes there will be more aerodynamic drag on them....but I don't care, it will look downright mean.

You might need a third cooler FYI. That 2.7 runs pretty hot. I would run an electric water pump so you can at least have as optimal cooling as possible

And your cars going to be awesome I just love everything about this build!

I am descended from Finns and now I am removed rom the thread pondering ass, or asses. Still, it looks like things are in good hands.

Amazing how complex that word can be.

Hey guys I’m needing to borrow a sheet metal break for a couple of months. Does anyone have one that I can borrow or is someone willing to let theirs go on the cheap. Let me know.

I have a 24" or 30" brake. I forget which size it is. CPOS but it works.

As long as the CPOS works....... I'll call you later this weekend.

Wow...love these panel clamps.

Well I'm in the process of welding the fenders on. It takes me about 4 hours per fender. Here is how I did it.

First, flatten out the bottom lip of the existing fender. This is to give you a flat area with which to attach the new fender. At this time also cut the existing fender along the bottom edge.

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Then attach the fender to the two bottom lips and weld. Then tack weld along the top center of the fender. This will give you 3 points where it is attached to the car now.

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Then cut from the bottom to the top half of the fender an attach panel clamps. I found that using a thin cut off wheel worked the best. It gave a nice gap to weld and was not so tight that it would bind the panel clamps when trying to pull out.

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Spot weld in between the clamps

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Then remove and spot weld remaining gaps that the clamps left behind.

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Cut and clamp the other half

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Weld, remove clamps, weld, and grind. I find that it was super easy to grind with the cut-off wheel and then to finish with an 80 grit disk sander.

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Amazing...

Pictures speak volumes thanks Rudy

Gee..I need more time off work

See you tomorrow for breakfast!!!

Oscar

Rudy - I know! You can come up to Petaluma and we can install my flares!

Seriously, that looks GREAT! Nice job!

Wow!!! Fantastic work Rudy!

The gap-police would give you a 100% + on your continuity

I think you could rent yourself out to install flares


1/8" cut off wheel? Who's wheels are you using the last set of thins I got destructed every time they spun up, after two of them launched across the room, I grew the tossed them away. Seen to many pictures of what can happen.

I dropped off my bumpers to Oscar and had breakfast w/ Rudy and him yesterday. I felt like I was in the presence of Royalty as I sat with these 2 metal-meister's. Afterwards I stopped by Rudy's to check his progress and snapped a couple of pic's. Very impressive build.Rudy took the time to walk me thru the flare install. He said it was easy peasy but me thinks it's a trap. Seriously, he made it look simple but I know better. Anyway, here are a couple of shots of Rudy's project.
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Hey Guys , @ValcoOscar @tygaboy @Andyrew @Maltese Falcon @914forme @76-914 thank you for the compliments they really do help with morale.....encouragement helps fuel the project.

Those butt clamps were amazing, and cutting it with the thin 1/32" cut -off while using the fender as the scribe line was the trick. Also doing one half of the fender at one time was very helpful. I used 0.23 welding wire and a 110-volt Lincoln. It worked perfectly! My 200 amp wire welder was too big and it didn't like to push 0.023 wire 15' in the gun. I didn't want to tig cause I'm not good with Tig.

Well I completed the 3 fenders and the last fender is all tacked in. It now needs final welding and grinding. It will take about 30 minutes to complete. Then it's off to the floor and finish the openings in the chassis.

As for the cut-off wheel I didn't know it, but I stumbled onto some super good wheels. I was cutting along no problems and then ran out and got another brand since my local welding store ran out of the ones I was using. So I bought this other set which was expensive and was surprisingly, "made in the USA", but was pure crap. It lasted 12" of cutting into the fender before wasting away. You could watch it reduce in size in real time......ridiculous. And then, dust everywhere. The original ones would last about 12'....feet not inches. So the EXCELLENT cut off was by Pearl and it was a 1/32" thick wheel. It lasts for one fender if you include grinding. However, I think that if I did not grind with it that it could cut all four fenders.....it's that good.

Here is the Excellent wheel that I used.

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Here is the crap one.

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Left Front Fender

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Left Rear Fender

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I love 1/32" cutting wheels! Like butter! I'll have to get these, as I always just grab a set at harbor freight...

This reminded me of another epic thread about flare method by Dan Root. Can't find it right now, but maybe someone has a link?

@rand here it is http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=89850

@Curbandgutter Rudy thanks!

Such a great thread and project.

I looked away for a while and some really cool projects have come along.

Keep it coming.

John

Great to see this project back on track...looking great Rudy! 335?!?! Holy moly pal!

Cracker

Yep, my car is too light and I need mechanical grip.

Here is a picture of the wheel and tire combo that I ordered. It will take 8-10 weeks.


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Except that the lip will be polished like this.

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Very cool Rudy! Here is my (small) 275 rear next to the gt40's 415...it would've been waaaaay to big!

Cracker

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Cracker you crack me up.:
You had to throw that 415 up there huh . It's like "oh yeah, you got 335's.........look at these 415's"

All kidding aside that is an amazing ride there though. Love those 180 degree headers and the ITB's on that V8...stunning.

Maybe you can do this to your 914??

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Update pictures of center tunnel and floor. Ill be finished with the center tunnel this weekend and will start with new floor. I decided on making my own floor so we will see how it turns out. I still need to add the web struts at each end of the center tunnel and it will be complete and fully structural. I plan on doing twist test soon and will be testing it with an without the top bar that tie both the rear roll bar hoop and the front roll bar hoop. If the twist test shows 1 or 2% stiffness improvement....then they will be removed.

Looks great Rudy...is it going to weigh less than 3k pounds? BIG & BEEFY all the way!

Tony

Hey Tony... I sure hope it will come in less than 3K #. I do believe that it will be slightly heavier than a stock 914-6. I'm counting on some composites on the body to help offset the weight.

I was thinking the same thing. What size / thickness tube are you using?