Package deal only.

Back in the Q. Looking for a 70 to early 72 front clip Any leads would be appreciated.

Glad to see you back in it.

Finally back on this car. It is hard to believe it has been 10 years since Sandy and I picked it up. So much has gone on betweeen that time.

I actually had a front clip from a donor I got from Chappy in Minneapolis at one time and ended up using most of it on Jueren's 6 repair.

Since the car made it here We built a house and moved to another state. Well just across the Big lake. Infact I can see my old neighborhood from my deck.

I purchased a 74 from Craig and ended up giving it Mark at 914 Rubber. The cost to ship it was more than I could justify.

I located a California 1970-4 up on the Canadian Border that was brought up there on a trailer in the late 90's from Arizona, parked on the trailer in a pole building and never moved. This was the find of the century up here. But the more I looked at the car the less motivaed I was to cut it up. It is as rust free as 914 come these days. So I added it to the cars to build and not the cars to part out.

Now that we are in our new house and Juergen's car is headed for spain it's time. The car is in the shop on some of the fixtures McMark built for me. I picked up a front clip from Garold but as I was trimming it down I realized it was not enough to complete the repairs.

So my friend Pat, the guy I did the I did the Mercedes 280SL for located a clip down by him in Ohio. A mutual friend of ours coming back from the East Coast with an open trailer and will be dropping off here for me the end of the month. So stay tuned.


From the begining...

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10 years ago and I remember that day.

Made the tool last night.

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This is a planishing hammer. This is for the inner wheelhouse. I plan to metal finish it. There is alot of time to be invested before I get far enough to really use it but I tried it out on a couple of creases they I hammered out. With the shrinking disc and this tool I am fairly confident I can pull it off. Most guys would have just chopped out the wheelhouse and sectioned one in.

This was the current state.

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Alot of time will need to go into bumping and shrinking yet before thplanishing hammer becomes an effective tool but this was about 3-5 minutes time.

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Been waiting for this. I’m prepared to be amazed.

Nice! Sandy did a number on me too

Messed around a little tonight just as a demonstration. There is alot f repairs down low that need to be straightened before I get to finishing the panel. There is a thick layer of rubberized in the wheelwell i need to strip completely in order to work the panel level and straight.

But this was for fun:

Started here. I worked a deep wrinkle above the sharpie area then moved to here.

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Started the metal moving.

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Ended here for now.

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Love this car, looking forward to following its resurrection!

Nice work!

nice work Rick, get after it so you can do my '86 Targa!

Working on it..

Great day Great Food!!

Spent a couple hours on the 6 tonight. Started roughing out the panel and working in a broader sweep.

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Around the sway bar hole there is alot of stress. And by the way, I did not drill the holes in the wheelhouse or slice the right fender with a zip cut tool.

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By the end of the night I started getting the horizontal crease back in the panel. I think another couple nights and I will be ready to start trimming the parts clip. It will be here by the end of the month.

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As I am working the wheelhouse the right fender is coming back in line.

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Metal Magician. I love watching the transformation.

WOW! I would have no idea where to start. Real progress Rick!

Another night out hammering away on the wheelhouse. i set up this vector pull to start moving the panel forward. the arch over the Rack was closed up. I actually did two different pulls to get the shape back.

Ther is not much tension here. Just enough t help move the metal as I hammered the kinks.

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Hard to tell but this depression took hours to flatten. This was caused by the kink over the rack.

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You can see this spotweld flange is pushed backand the panel is rolled out.


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There is still a very slight depression at the swaybar mounting hole but once the gas tank bulkhead is welded back in ot will be right on.

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Wow, just wow!

Don’t feel bad. It took me 41 years before I started working on my -6.

Charlie

Amazing artistry, Rick!

Slow night tonight. I am kind of stalled until the cowl cut arrives later this month. I want to see how much of the front is usable before trim too much more.

I started thinking about the car and how best to move it forward to it's next life. When Rocky had it he was invited into the very exclusive R Gruppe So Cal. The car still wears the banner on the windsheild. I'm not Rocky. I do not know any of the R Gruppe that I am aware of. I am not the one that was invited to join. So I am torn.

Should I complete the car as it was when Rocky ran with the So Cal gang or take it to another place. I don't have the 3.2 or the short gear transaxle. I have a 2.7S I got from Slits.

Here's my thought. Plan one is to complete the car with all the graphics like it was when it was crashed complete with the orginal R Gruppe So Cal banner on the windsheild. (Which I really do not have permission to do)

Or reinvent the car with an Alien Spin. Alien Graphics Flares and 16x6 and 16x7's

What say you...

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Your car, your choice.

I think i should contact someone from the So Cal R Gruppe to see how they feel about putting the car back and leaving their banner. One of those situations where assking first may be the right thing.

Anyone know any of those guys?

I know a number of the members. And while at Rennsport, I had the pleasure of dining with Jessica, the daughter of R Gruppe founder Chris Huregas. I'll PM you some details.

Really fun to watch you work metal, it's such a lost art! Even the couple of 356's I restored, the shop was all about cut out and replace. Really didn't spend much time metal working to save panels.

Using heat to get metal back where it's supposed to be is also an art. Sort of got okay at it years back. I'm certain I'd just punch holes in things these days.

I had a section close to the arch over the rack that was really stretched. I ended up using the torch - hammer - quench - method. Old school.

I had a nice conversation with one of the board of the R Gruppe. Short story from a long conversation is the windshield Banner will be coming off. If I could get it off without wrecking it I would send it to Rocky.

Glad to hear the R Gruppe stuff was worked out quickly. Now, back to the METAL!!!

Parts Clip arrived. Originally a white car.

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WOW, that was a fast acquisition. The hood channel looks pretty good. Big cuts a coming. Following.

Impressive work ,working on a compound curve and some rack pull outwards @ the same time wow, where do you plan cut for the clip ? ,I would assume forward of the wheel wells ?.
Great to see this car back Rick ,keep up the great work .

That is some metal work! Very nice!

Continuing to work the right inner panel. I am not sure you noticed but the depression on the wheelhouse was completely obliterated and wrinkled. In order to repair the shape I had to hammer it smooth first then put the depression back in. Here is a reminder of where this started.

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Then the reshape

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Then adding the depression back in. I started with the torch and a homemade hammer made of 3/4" roundstock with a bullet or rounded face. I just wanted to bump the metal down when it was mallable.

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I spent about an hour and a half working the shape with hammers and dollies. When it was shaped and the lines we sharp I ran the planishing hammer thru the depression to smooth it out. Then used the shrinking disc to tune up the edges.

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Compared to the donor clip

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Your skill level is ridiculous, Rick. I'd love to be close enough to come hang out and watch. Thanks for all your effort saving these cars.

Rick,

Your skillsets are amazing, you are an artist in metal shaping and much more. Thank you for taking us on this journey with you. It takes time to document the work the way you are, so thanks a lot

Best Bob B

So much more to do before I can say it's a usable panel. I have been eyeing up the parts clip thinking how easy it would be to just section in the whole thing. But the more I work on this wheelhouse the better it gets. I think I am past the hard stuff. The little dents and dings left will really not show as progress. But there are lots more big moves to make as it starts to come back to life.

My son says that a hammer is the most complex tool available: it never does exactly the same thing twice. My father used to say that all of the tools we now have were made with a stone hammer. Me, I say that if all you have is a hammer, everything looks really different and interesting. Only once in a while like a nail. Nice work!

"Sooner or later, every tool becomes a hammer." - Garage Squad

Started trimming the parts clip. I and separating the outer cross brace fro where it caps over the wheelhouse. I have done this before when I changed a factory wheelhouse on Juergen's 6. The spot welds are tiny and fairly easy to drill out. I will tig the holes when I put the outer cross brace back over the wheelhouse strut caps .

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Working my way around the floor pan. I have most of the left side off. I have the bumper brace and the headlight brace trimmed.

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The scrap pile is getting bigger.

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That's a pile of 914 sheet metal now!

Very cool watching you save as much original metal as possible.

Awesome work Rick...there shall be NO bondo on your watch !
You should keep a log on the R gruppe history of this 914; there were 1 or 2 allowed into that "Club", and I've seen one car there in person at the Rennsport 6 corral.
Years ago Chris Huergas invited me to meet up at the Rose Bowl parking lot to hang out with his followers; he took a liking to my black flat-fan biturbo six. He did mention that the 914 would not be extended an invite into their club. I never met up there (already had other calendar plans). A few years on from there...I brought the 914 to Chino CA. "Freinds of Steve McQueen" car show. One of the judges that I met on that day was Freeman Thomas, co-founder of the R-Gruppe. He and his team did inspect and judge my car; I left that Sunday with the "McQueen Cool Style" trophy...guess they had a soft spot for the 914 !

One of our 914 World members, Bob @rmarx , was invited to join the R Gruppe with his 914 v8 conversion (327 SBC). Not sure if that's one of the 914s you're mentioning but for sure there are some in the club.
Sorry for the hijack...back to saving the 6!

@tygaboy Hi Chris...came by 000 at Renn7 but missed you + Pete
Marty

Really great work. Makes my hands hurt just looking at it. But what I am really enjoying the most is all the wonderful toys. My workshop (backyard) to move metal it would be an anchored floor jack and a sledgehammer. I will endeavor to be more like you.

Just more boring trim work.

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Front panel and headlight bucket braces on both sides are trimmed.

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Right side Strut tower brace is trimmed. Wheel house strut tower top is removed,

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The donor is getting leaner and the scrap pile is getting bigger.

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Great work Rick,

love how you make your own tools ,
helps to know we can make em not spend $$$
(if any were to be found.)

Guys and Gals, I was bless with Rick coming through town, on his way to Red Rock,
he helped finalize Car-B-Q with design and help Beauty's receiver hitch .

Rick's Red Rock adventure that year is another story.

(wish I have that photo of Henna watching Rick leave his mark on a sign.)

Hey Kevin! I may have to dig up a photo or two. I think I may have that old girl saved someplace. Rest her soul. She was a great companion.

That would be so cool to see,

Classic Alien is here, animals can see em.

Just a little Off Topic for Kevin.. Henna Looking at us like 'What are you hoodlums up to"

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Had to stand on the Car-b-q to Reach the Sign

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BTW This was 2010 Wow!