I got a call from the e-coat place. It's ready to be picked up. My friend is picking it up and bringing it home to Cleveland until I finish Ben's car and his father in law's 911. So it is coming back.

It looks like its really coming along ow

I've always wanted to see a 914 on cookie cutters, very nice indeed!!

Sux with no compressor! Pump won't be here until next week.

Here's a couple photos anyway.


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Hi Rick

I will be working on door gap issues on a car later this Spring. I am watching your comments on correcting these problems. I notice that you have the car support high off the ground at the wheels. The door gap is braced. It looks to me that the car would want to close at the top. The brace is stopping this. Is this how you intend to weld in the long repair? It seems a little odd to support the car this way when we are so concerned about warping/ twisting when welding. I assumed it would have been best to have the car fully supported. Can you explain this please.

By supporting the car under the suspension you are spreading out the weight where the chassis naturally carries it. You are adding less stress and pulling force to an already weak point.

Here's an example: take a piece of 11" X 17" poster board. Set up 4 pencils at the center 1/3 square of the poster board to support it. You will notice the poster board will sag dramatically at both ended.

Move your pencil supports out 2" in all directions and you will see an dramatic decrease in the sag.

If your repairing a car with no suspension you still need to try to move your support points out to the strut and shock mount points. this will decrease your odds of introducing stress in the chassis from heat and weight.

Other considerations are having a chassis stretch at the long when you have removed a huge section. Any time you do this you really need to plan ahead and add a second brace. You could hold the length with a brace from the door latch bolt holes to the upper hinge. This will sort of add a triangle to the targa brace.

Interesting. You learn something every day.

The compressor is back up and running. I installed a new pump last night. I was able to cut some sheet metal today and fab up a couple pieces I needed to close in the base of the rear bulkhead.

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Lower bulkhead engine side repaired.

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While you have the floor off, could you please take a picture of the bottom of the long, drivers side, right under the seat belt nut?
And then with the floor board in place??

I need to fix it, just like to see the assembly

I'll see what I can do Rich.

I started welding in the floor pan on the passenger side. I drilled through the bottom of the long and plug welded the pan from the top side. Then I used my spot welder and spot welded the pan also. It looks stock with spot welds not big mig rosettes.

I left the long clam shell off until I have completed all the pan welds. I was able to use my pinch spotter that way.

Made up a new bracket of the heater tube.


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Welding in the right side floor pan.

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Here are a couple photos of the sill supports. They actually curve on the bottom edge. I reshaped them to match the factory parts.

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Couple more photos. I installed the sill brackets onto the outer long with my spot welder. and test fit it onto the car.

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Looking great, Rick!

I will be closing up the right side long tomorrow and installing the right Jack post. I have a few more details to finish on the right side rear floor pan but it's close.

I still have lots to do but some stuff will move fairly quickly like the Battery stand and tray and the right side engine shelf.

I have the right front floor to repair, clean the surface rust on the left floor pan and repair the left jack post.


I have 18 GA. chassis stiffeners built into the inner structure where you don't see it. The chassis will look stock with spot welds but I have mig and tig welds hidden throughout the repair. This takes considerably longer to do but the end result will be worth it.

Nice work! You sure are getting your money's worth out of that spot welder.

I fried two Harbor Freight 240 volt pinch spotters in the last two weeks. I had one for several years but sparks flew out of the front and it stopped working. I purchased a new one and killed it in a week. They have a 90 day warrantee so I just went up and exchanged it. It must have been defective because I had only used it for about a dozen spot welds when it failed.

Quickly....

The floor pan welds over (under really) the inner long?
So it's just laying on the inner long in that area where you show a picture above?

I know I have done this before, but I cannot see it ......

Yes Rich, The factory inner long actually has a slight recess pressed into the bottom. The Restoration design part does not. It also does not have the stamping recesses for the muffler clamps or the oval shaped cut outs. I only used the Restoration Design part as a starting place.

Because of the condition of this car (not as rusty as most) I determined what I needed to actually repair.

I cut the rust damaged inner long section out, I fit a section of the R.D. part then used my bead roller to add the recess to the R.D. part. When you look at the area where the pan spots to the long the repair I made now looks like the factory section I left in place.

Once I had the section where the seat belt bolt is welded in I used the balance of the R.D. part as a reinforcement and plug welded it to the inside of the long.

Here's what I worked on yesterday. This is a reinforcement panel and a outer rail closing panel I hand formed.

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The R.D panel for the outer rail that welds in behind the jack post cover and it kicks up behind the quarter panel is huge. I did not need to replace that much of the outer long and did not see the point in purchasing a $ 300.00 plus part to cut off 8"

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Here is the inner reinforcement mocked up in place. This part is slipped in behind the rail at the kick up and ends at the edge of the R.D. clam shell edge. This gives the 8" outer repair panel I made a backer behind the butt weld and adds a second layer of strength behind the jack point.

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I have to repeat this on the left side. R.D does not make left side repair panels past the clamshell.

BTW: I don't have a sheet metal brake. All my panels are hand formed using my vise and what ever I can figure out.

Finally closing up the right long. I sleeve all the butt seams. For the forward seam I installed the sleeve and plug welded it to the forward rail section. Everything is cleaned and sprayed with cold galvanizing.

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The rear side sleeve is plug welded to the long first then slipped inside the rail as it's installed.

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Notice the sleeve extends under the hell hole repair and is plug welded to the long.

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I welded the jack post to the long before installing the outer section.

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The jack post cover was plug welded first. All the welds were ground flush then spot welded to look stock.

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The seam and plug welds are ground flush. the rail has a stock appearance.

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Nice work, Rick! I hope you're still making that how to video...

Started out with my son but he's been unavailable.

He just does not want to go out in 50 degree below zero weather to film anything...

That's a nice car ............ Wow.

At least were not chopping wood

No we....just me.
Boy went missing again...seems to happen each time lately...

Impressive metal work !!!!

There is a new inner long for the right and left being made in Germany that appears to have more of the factory details formed into it.
maybe even OG dies ? HESS , is a VW parts supplier

That is a nice piece! Who carries those?

Great work on the repairs Rick. I have the same rust issues with my 914-6 and watching this thread has answered a few of my questions. The one main question and concern of mine is how do you keep the chassis as straight as possible while cutting then welding in the new metal. I have a brace similar to yours but mine attaches to the forward door post. I took the car off the rotisserie then placed it on jack stands to keep things level so I thought. I checked the roof to door/windshield gaps and found them to be off. A quick adjustment to the brace and things looked good again. My question to you is what do you think is the best method other then a bench to keep things straight? I see that you have this car on some type of wheel stands. Does this seam to help or is it just for a working height thing?

Keep up with the great work and pics.

TIA,

Luke

Ben's car is really fairly solid. I did not need to get into the trailing arm mount so the suspension could stay in the car. It sounds like your car is a shell. Here is the answer I posted when asked this question earlier in this thread. I suggested supporting the car under the suspension pickup points not in the usual places where we set jack stands.:

By supporting the car under the suspension you are spreading out the weight where the chassis naturally carries it. You are adding less stress and pulling force to an already weak point.

Here's an example: take a piece of 11" X 17" poster board. Set up 4 pencils at the center 1/3 square of the poster board to support it. You will notice the poster board will sag dramatically at both ended.

Move your pencil supports out 2" in all directions and you will see an dramatic decrease in the sag.

If your repairing a car with no suspension you still need to try to move your support points out to the strut and shock mount points. this will decrease your odds of introducing stress in the chassis from heat and weight.

Other considerations are having a chassis stretch at the long when you have removed a huge section. Any time you do this you really need to plan ahead and add a second brace. You could hold the length with a brace from the door latch bolt holes to the upper hinge. This will sort of add a triangle to the targa brace.


Really. The best method to protect yourself from having to worry about changing the chassis is to spend money and buy enough steel to build a fixture to hold the car.

The second thing you really need to do is plan your welding procedure.

If you look at the above photos you will see I have the vertical welds completed. I have not welded the horizontal welds yet. This allowed the welds to naturalize without pulling the chassis.

I hope you remembered to re-install the heater tube before you buttoned it up!

Get a late heater tube they are aluminum foil lined..the insulation is not exposed to the ID.

Not much progress today. I spent most of the day cleaning the shop. Really Alllllll dayyyyyy........ I did get the front vertical seam finished.

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... ...

That would suck.

I spot welded the outer long today. I used a pinch spotter to close it up like the factory.

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I misted on some self etching primer and added a bead of urethane seam sealer to the top edge as the factory did.

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Then I added the sill panel. I used my Lenco panel spotter to face spot the panel and used the pinch spotter to spot weld the braces to the sill.

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Here is the bottom of the sill after installing. The seam sealer is squeezed out and prevents moisture from starting rust under it.

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That is beautiful work.

I wasn't happy with the restoration design panel and the way it was fitting. I have used the panel as a whole section before but as a partial repair it was easier to just fab up a small section. So I fabricated a panel instead.

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Can't wait to see the car in person tomorrow.

Nicely done sir...

Not much progress. I closed in the firewall this weekend in preparation for the engine shelf. As I was shutting down for the night I think my new compressor pump blew up.

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Quit buying Harbor Freight S#IT tools

Northern Tools. My original purchase was at least 10 years ago. The replacement pump is exactly the same as the original so I expected more from it.

I went out this morning and the overload on the electric motor was tripped. I reset it and it fired up like nothing was wrong.

I'm changing the oil today to see if it's just from the break in oil I used.

Finished up the engine bay including the rear lid pivot mount. Shot some self etching primer, Added seam sealer and Gravitex. Still lots to do but I feel like I'm getting somewhere now.

I'm not adding the battery tray until I paint the back of the stand and engine bay. there is no way to get some good paint protection with the tray on. Once I have color on I will use my spot welder and spot weld the painted tray to the stand.

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NICE ..