Today was a good day to start. Got help from my son and his buddy which really moved things along. Seats, carpet, trim, bumpers, valances, and AC unit have all been removed, labelled and carefully cataloged and stored away. We found the battery tray rusted away as well as a hole on the adjacent fender. Both will be an easy fix. Otherwise the body is in very good condition with no other rust. Picked up some used tires which we put on the alloy wheels. I believe they are Empi's as I had a set on my VW Variant years ago.

I will post additional pictures once I figure out how to re-size them.

UhhOoo. Just a small hole. Good looking car. See the restoration threads on battery tray rust and I hope that's all there is.

Chassis looks pretty nice in that picture. Take your time and go over that whole chassis looking for rust. Best to ID it right away and address it before you do anything else to the car.

Pop the back pad and insulation pads off the firewall if you haven't already. Mine was a CA car and my firewall was swiss cheese.

Good start, check the passenger side jack post and under the longitudinal where it's welded on. Also the base of the bulkhead just in front of the engine where the floor pan stops.

The wheels on your car now are called Westerns. Even cooler than EMPIs. Nice save. That will turn out to be a very nice car.

Keep it silver and keep adding updates.

Made good progress this evening. Removed the rear glass and was able to save the inner gasket. The outer one was cracked and broken. Started sanding and filling panels on the driver's side. Also removed the frond turn indicators thus saving the gaskets, but the lenses are cracked. Removed the panel behind the seat and found the firewall in great shape. Have not found any additional rust so far. I think that I lucked out considering the condition of this car. Thanks again for all the advise and support. Now to figure out what bumper configuration to get? Headed to Pomona Swap Meet this week-end in search of a few parts. I've been told CASH is King!


BTW Orange County Craigslist has a fairly nice car advertised for sale, original owner for $2250.

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/3982862483.html

Today we pulled the engine/trans with not too much difficulty. Separated the trans from the engine and started engine breakdown. The good new is the I have a 2.0 #GC000317. The bad news is it looks as though I have sucked an intake valve into the cylinder. There's no valve there and I can see chunks of metal in the cylinder. Tomorrow should bring additional information once I get the heads off. Obviously it will require a rebuild, but should I increase displacement or leave it stock. Any thoughts? I will post pics tomorrow of what I find. Neil

2056 ... Same expense but more displacement ...

I have read that AA piston/cylinders are problematic. Who make a decent combination that won't force me to rob a bank? My son thinks we should go Subaru. My comfort level is much better with OEM.

I've used AA cylinders with no issues. Tell you son when you finish the stock rebuild together you can start on the Subaru project together next. By that time he will know how all the stuff in the stock car goes together and understand what needs to be modified to make the conversion work. It will make the conversion much more interesting and easier to engineer.

I've just finished a 2056 using EMW (european motor works) 96mm cylinders and Keith Black 96mm pistons from EMW. Sourced a cam from webcam. Of course you can always get the stock jugs cut to 96mm, possibly cheaper. Many say they are better than ones you buy. All those parts together are less than $1K. One of the easiest engines I've rebuilt.

Just get all the literature together (914 handbook and tom wilsons Aircooled VW) and with the help on here it is not too tough.

If you dropped a valve there may be some head work/replacement necessary and who knows what else in the case. That's where your money will start to add up but there are engines in the classifieds often. Personally I like the simplicity of the aircooled engine (and low weight), I have a subaru with a 2.5 and it's not nearly as nice to work on as the old aircooled one.

Well, just finished pulling the heads and wouldn't you know it we found armageddon. Somehow I don't think we will be repairing this head or using these cylinders. Look closely at the valves that we found inside the cylinder. The other side is in fine shape so I need to find at least one head. Any leads would be appreciated although I'm in no hurry as I want to get the body done first. I want to take my time and do things properly as well as learn everything about this project. Click to view attachment

Outsch!

I don't know if Empi made copies, but Dan Gurney and Western Wheel are the most prevalent copies of that style wheel. The original design was from Jack McAfee. My first 914 had them too. I also have a set of 5-luggers for one of my 912s

I also recommend European Motoworks in Hawthorne, CA. George and Javier are good guys. They are actually the source for many other VW parts houses including KB pistons

That's rough, pull the rest of the engine apart and see if you have a useable case/crank etc. May just require new pistons/cylinder/head (1), might need rods as well.

What head do you have on the other side? (3 or 4 bolt intake)

I believe he said it was a ('75) 1.8L in another thread.

They are three bolt. I originally thought it was a 1.8 as I couldn't see the engine ID. Now we know it's a 2.0. The engine turns over easily and am hoping not to break the case, but will do further investigation before I move forward. I look at it as just part of process and will enjoy the rebuild whatever will be necessary. I knew that there would be challenges when I bought the car. I'm just glad that this is virtually a rust free car, I feel as though I'm ahead of the game. At this point I'm going to put the engine aside and concentrate on body work. I will keep an eye open for a replacement head or a set if necessary. Any input is appreciated. Neil

Moving ahead slowly with body work while parts are at the sand blaster. Trying to decide whether to media blast and paint myself or turn it over to a pro. Here's pics of my last project. Same engine, different body.

Neil,
That 912E looks awesome! Those cars are great...

Hope to see great progress!



Thomas