Spent the night in the garage working on little things.

Ground and re-welded the tubes for the trailing arms. My welding skills aren't great, but WAY better than they used to be. These go off to powder in the AM.

Stopped by the sandblaster today. JUST in time!

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When the dust cleared (pun intended) I got quite a sight.

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So...my tub is in a LOT better shape than I was expecting.

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Just a tiny bit of Swiss cheese on the passenger floor,
But everything else appears to be real solid.

They're etch-priming in the AM. I'll have it back in the garage on Saturday!

Awesome. That's a great tub! Tiny little patch and a few plug welds for the extra holes drilled over the years and you're all good.

That is so freaking exciting. You are lucky to be able to stop and see it in progress. I can't wait to go visit my car at Scotty's.

Yeh, I was prepared for a nightmare scenario where there was a ton of hiding Bondo and dents. Lucked out this time I guess!

The actually helps quite a bit. I was expecting 3-4 weeks worth of bodywork, but I may be able to have the interior, bottom, and trunks painted by the 15th.

What did the hell hole look like?

HH is good. It's been repaired in the past, and I'll likely clean it up a little more. (My welds aren't great...these are horrid!)

This is getting exciting.

It looks great! Its gonna be sweet painted!

Spent last night working on the ECU.

File this under "OCD" but it was driving me nuts that the wiring on the ECU cable was A: Thin and B: Blue. It took me a while digging through Delphi catalogs, but I found the right connector and ordered a few hundred female pins. While watching TV last night, I was able to re-build all three of my ECU cables. I used a larger gauge teflon coated wire that will also terminate easily into a distribution block. I plan on making that half of the panel real soon.

I also snagged the Rhino label maker from the server room, and bought 1/4" shrink tube so I can print out labels for everything. I'm planning on doing this for every cable in the car. I know it seems like a lot of work, but I have a chart and can easily print everything out ahead of time, and then as I clip wires shorter, or build harnesses, I'm not having to look at a chart. I can easily identify every wire and know where it terminates and what it's for. One of those jobs that's easy to set up and stay on top of if I start it now.

Your doing a great job, I have the labeler, the heat shrink tubing, and the harnesses lying around. Now I just need to get off my butt and get something done.

Your making great progress, keep it up.

Worked for 2hrs on the engine wiring harness tonight. Ugh...this is a lot of work!

I've got it all mapped out now though. Only 2-3 that I need clarity on. I'll be spending lots of time searching for replacement plugs too. Other than thT and a few bits/pieces, the motor is pretty much built.

In other news, I talked to the sandblaster late in the day. There was a problem with the etching primer I'd given him, so they had to use a different brand. I'm not too worried about it. What they had was just a different version of the SW paint id given them. I'll have it back Sat morn now instead of Fri night.

Doug... just make sure you tell the body shop that is painting it that you used etch primer otherwise they may put the wrong top coat on it and well.... bad things happen.

Ask me how I know

Todd: I'll be doing the bodywork. PLEASE tell me what you mean? I was planning on doing all the filler on top of the etch primer, and then 2K primer over that before I apply the color. I may have someone else do the final top-coat and clear again, but if things go well, I may do it myself this time. (I feel more confident about painting this time around.)

2K (Urethane) primer should not go over etch primer. It has the ability to stick to bare metal and should not be used over etch primer.

I etched the TR6 and the body shop put urethane over it and it all melted together... when they went to block it down it just wiped away. They had to strip and re-primer. Nice big bill for me

I should have used what I usually use which is "z-chrome" from Claussen but I was doing it in batches and did not want to hassle with it... serves me right I guess.

Rick can chime in with a more specific reason why the etch and urethane do not mix... I only know what my buddy told me.

We used a 2k etch primer that was specifically compatible with the 2k high build primer that I bought too. I SHOULD be ok in that department. I'll absolutely check though. Great tip.

You should be good then... I did not (apparently). I think I used acid etch... dumb ass move I know.

Doug, just run it by your paint supplier. Those guys usually sell just 1 or 2 brands so you may have to check a few places.

Picking up the car tonight. Looks good...but I've got some work to do for sure!

Tomorrow morning I'll get to grinding and welding. Gotta map out all the spots of interest first.

Spent all morning in the garage, getting ready to fix the areas of the floor pan that needed attention. Nothing bad at all. After I got everything fitted, I took them out and sandblasted the replacement metal and primed them.

I also grabbed Garrett to give me a hand with marking all the holes on the Engman kit. He's only 7 but turning out to be a BIG help with tasks like that.

Going to work on the engine shelf and look inside the long after I get back from taking the boys to the dentist. I'm determined to lick this before sundown tomorrow so I can get back on track.

It won't be a biggie but that flange on the L rear patch will hold off that Engman piece a tad. It welds up flush but I don't think .030" offset will matter squat.

Spent the weekend:

patching the floors...
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removing the shelf...
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...and fixing the hell-hole. (There's another thread on it, but here's the end-result.)
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This is the section that I was planning on cutting out next week to box in preparation for the Subie trans. I've got a piece of 2" steel tube that I would put between the two shock towers. Any other ideas? Is this enough room?Click to view attachment

Does your engine setup require you to cut all that out? All I had to do was cut a small hole for the starter in the trunk floor and another 3x3 square in the back for the intake manifold.

Here are a couple pics of mine

One more. Sorry I can't resize on my mac worth a

You really don't need to cut out that whole area. The starter only comes through little bit. So just an access hole should be fine

I've got an intercooler that needs some additional piping, and was planning on mounting the ECU on it.

I don't see a cutout for the turbo. Did you move it?

I love what McMark did with this one. Wish I had the spare parts to make it work.

OK I figured it was something if you were cutting a hole that big. I don't think Jamie's is turbo'd (yet).

That extended piece does look nice and stockish with the matching ribbed panels. I'm sure someone has a piece of trunk floor they could cut out for you...

Excellent, that's what I've been trying to describe to people but I didn't know someone had already done it, that there was a photo. That's perfect, and if I were doing it again is the way I'd do it.

I think you'll find that how much you need to cut out, and where, depends on where the cradle, or whatever other engine mount you're using, locates the engine. That's the most important factor, then the engine's plumbing, tubing, whether the manifold was flipped, etc, etc. For my first cradle with the 901 transmission we kept the engine pretty much at the same position as the T4 engine, then when we did the Subaru transaxle we we moved the transmission forward an inch or inch and a half, because we could and because that gave the engine more space for the flipped manifold and the intercooler tubing. So I think how much you're going to need to do depends on what configuration you're putting in. But that big cutout that McMark did (damn, he's a smart guy) should cover pretty much any combination.

That's kinda what I needed to hear. My engine and trans won't 'meet' the car until after the bodywork is done, so I need to guess at the maximum space and hope that it works out.

I have a complete rear trunk panel, but I need to use it because what I have in there now is a piece of flat sheet metal from the PO.

Kiss the imposed April deadline good bye! You have a lot of work and it just keeps piling up.

Ye of little faith! I'm determined to drive it to Hershey.

Honestly, it's all going to start coming together from here. I have just about all the major fabrication done. If I can get the trunk floorpan and cut-out done tonight, I'll be ready to start the rest of the bodywork.

Stopped by Cleveland Ohio Powder Coating to see what everything looks like this morning. They were just getting ready to put everything in the oven to pre-bake. I dropped off:

Front Struts
Front A-Arms
Front Mounting Pieces
Front Support Beam
Rear Trailing Arms
Brake Shields
911 E-Brake Shields and Mounts
Other pieces/parts

A bunch of it will be "Powder Chrome" and the other parts will be neon green.

I'll have everything back later today!

Yeah mine is just a normally aspirated 2.5. Although the motor was built a little & dyno'd at 160 to the rear wheels. It pulls great & runs awesome. Not sure I will ever go for the turbo setup. An suby 6 would be more likely. For now I am just trying to keep from screwing anything up. I want to enjoy a driving 914 for once

Cool!
get er done!

My powder-coater rules.

WOW, Nice
Looks Photoshopped.

It's bright. That's for sure!

Bright AND protected for awhile! Great job at any price!

I love the colors!
also, when I did my /4 suspension, I did it the same "chrome" it came out really nice!

Got busy with a few projects last night.

First, I finished up the hell-hole repair. I ran out of 18awg steel, so I picked up a few more sheets yesterday. The piece went in easy and after some fitment, I feel confident that I have it all buttoned up well. My welds aint as pretty as I'd like just yet, but they are getting a lot better!
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Next, I played with the seats a little bit. For whatever reason, this part of the build still has me flustered. I just don't know what I want to do. On one hand, I have these bad-ass Carbon-Fiber seats I picked up for a song. They need recovered so if I want them in the car, I need to decide pretty quickly what I want to do. BUT...if I use them, I'm going to need to move the e-brake handle and use the Boxster handle I bought. That'll take some fabrication, and I'm not sure I'd ever really trust it if I needed to.
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I'll ponder that later...time to get started on more welding before I move on to the trunk project.

I have this GT kit, and after I got this piece in place, I realized that I didn't have the instructions, and couldn't figure out where 2 of the other pieces went. So...I got these installed and left it at that until I can research placement, and if some of the other pieces are really necessary.
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GT kits where made for the -6 cars, so the two pieces you have most like run up the inner logs towards the inner suspension console. They are covered by that much needed -4 engine mount on each side. You could cut them out, weld in the plates, and then put them back in as you need them for the Coldwater cradle.

That's exactly what I figured out. I'm wondering if that particular part is really needed though. Also, I don't want to take something off, and then realize after it's too late, that I put them back incorrectly.

In the end, I may just add the pieces I know I need, and then seam weld the parts that are normally just tacked up. That should give me the added strength that I need, without adding additional weight.

In other news...

I mocked up the dashboard yesterday so I know what the pieces of aluminum I need to have water-jetted for the dash. I had to make a few things smaller...others a bit bigger, and some of the holes that I made are just downright WAY too small.
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Also found a place local to me that had a bunch of Porsche rims and assorted other goodies. These Corbeau seats look to be a much better fit than the Carbon Fiber seats I bought last week. I can trade him mine for these, and have something closer to what I'm looking for without having to move the e-brake handle.
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Still hunting for a body guy that can take this from me on Saturday and work on it next week while I'm out of town. My hope is to have it back in a week and be ready for final blocking and paint.

This is Dan. My new body guy.

I have to get on a plane to LIT tomorrow, then ATL on Monday, the. SFO on Tues. So I needed some backup.

He tells me he can get the body filled/blocked/everything by next Sunday. If he makes the FOLLOWING Sunday, I'll be happy.

Already sent me some progress pics. I'll post those in the AM.

What was the decision on the rear trunk. I have McMarks rear trunk Evernoted for my Project as it is the cleanest factory looking one I have seen.

I got my cradle from Ian, have the mockup motor almost ready to go in and see what and where I need to clearance.

Your making great progress keep it up.

Thanks Stephen. I "punted" until next week when I get the body back. I think I'm going to end up dong something similar, but without the "ribs" that McMark has. Honestly, I'm going so far off the reservation with the rest of the build, it doesn't make sense to put a ton of work into making it look stock.

Dan has been doing a great job on the flares. He got all the "waves" out of one of them about an hour after I dropped it off. He also fixed the welds that the other guy ground too much off of. He sent me a question last night about how to match the flares with the existing sheet metal down by the rockers. I know I've seen a few threads on it, so I'll keep digging. I dropped the fiberglass rockers off at his garage this AM on my way to the airport. I'll let him have fun with that!

Here's one of the pics he sent me last night. Already I can see a big improvement. I'm not sure what the other guy was doing with the pick-end of the metal hammer. Trying to shrink it up? Who knows. This guy is much better.

So I got an update late last night from my new body gut Dan.

He isn't happy with how far he got yesterday, but I sure am! He ground out and braised any of the thin spots that were over ground. Then modified the bottom of the flares so they match up with the body panels now.

Also welded all the little holes I wanted buttoned up. So far, I like what I see.

Here are a few of the 20 pics he sent me last night.

More pics from my body guy, while I'm out of town.

VERY glad I didn't try to tackle this on my own. He welded everything up, blocked it out, then re-sprayed it with more epoxy primer.

He's starting on the bondo (Using Rage Gold) work today. He'll have it blocked out and in 2K high-build by the time I get home on Thursday. He'll do a few more coat before it lands in my garage next Sunday.

From there, I've got to do the trunk work, then I'll paint the bottom and interior so I can get started on re-assembly of all of that before it hits the paint-booth for the exterior work on April 3rd.

in no time...

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Whoops! Shoulda had them mask off this section depending on what bearing/bushing replacements you're using. The PC thickness will come into play on most setups. Also, you'll likely have the grind the PC off the ID to fit the ball joint into the arm.
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But I really like the chrome and green.

Glad you like the trunk restructuring we did. The top of the new section is the vertical wall from the trunk, cut and flipped. This kept the ribbing and gave us the smooth rounded transition. The other piece is a section of rear trunk pan from a donor car. I opted to leave the 'portholes' for a little more authenticity.
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There is also a very important reinforcement section on the bottom of the new piece. The stock cars have a double wall, boxed section between the shock towers. Without replicating that box section or otherwise reinforcing the shock towers, you may experience flex or worse, tearing metal.
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Wow Mark...I completely forgot to have them mask the arms. They did it on the trailing arms and the struts.

The trunk work is going to be interesting. There are 2-3 different ways that I can go about it, but I'm going to have to wait and see what I come up with when I have the sawzall in my hand. Maybe I can get some advice on Wednesday when I drop by Mark?