All Business dash with 10k tach, very wide red line.



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And some close ups pics of other 914's too



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Well here is something I did toward the end of 2020 just before Christmas, I bought this beautiful 10 K tach from Tony, AKA retroracer, who builds them and sells here on 914 World.

Seeing the 10K tach on the Brums car picture reminded me I had purchased this beauty.

It will certainly help with the GT look. I have not installed it as yet but it is on the list! Beautiful piece. and he even wrapped it for Christmas!



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When I realized 2 days ago, awakened by eric9144's thread on "Big Laguna", that I was woefully behind in posting anything and wondered how does that happen? Well for me it has been quite the year and I don't mean all the Covid stuff but that I was pulled in a lot of different directions, mostly good, but not necessarily car related.

I committed to post some of the things that happened over several posts as I gathered up what I could find pictures of.

In addition to the 6 month deck project shown earlier, I built custom cherry cabinets for my son over another several months.....


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I did all the engineering and construction and finishing and he did the installation...


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One of the longer term small projects I have been working on is to have an early jack in my trunk as opposed to the correct for the year green dot jack that a '74 would have.

When I got the car it did not come with a jack so I posted a WTB green dot jack. Rhodyguy answered and I bought one from him.

It was not until years later I realized that an early jack just looked better to me. I eventually located one and restored it.



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Next, I needed the correct bracket for an early car. Finding one was not straight forward as to my knowledge no one sells just the bracket. The jack just sat while looking.

Finally, it occurred to me that I have bought parts from Garold before and wondered if had a parts car with one, so I reached out to him and he quickly came through for me. He literally cut the fender piece with the bracket still welded and sent it to me. I ground the welds and separated the two, cleaned up the bracket and primed it.

Next step paint match for my car as it was painted about 1998 I did not have the match.

I plan to JB weld when painted. It fits very well. More to come.



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That roof came out incredible
Like that you filled the rain channels

Sounds like the local C&C put on by the PCA is finally going to start back up at the end of this month, hopefully will catch you at those

Thanks Eric!

Have not been to PCA C&C for a while, I know they have kept on having it just not SDPCA sanctioned again until now. Plan to be a the next. I'll text you.

One of my passions in life was to find a nice 911 M491 or as some call it a “wide body” or “Turbo-Look”.

For those not familiar, M491 is the option number and was only available from 1984 through 1989, first because there was no turbo available in 1984 or 1985 in the US and then as the Trubo came back into production they retained the option as I said through 1989. Ever decreasing numbers were produced each year. The advantage of course is you get the turbo wide body and all the suspension and handling, but with the normally aspirated 3.2 which is much less costly to maintain. Some say the best of both worlds, some scoff at the idea. To each his own.

I have looked off and on over the years and seen at a lot of cars in that time. I can’t remember when I actually started the hunt but I would say early 90’s. I “settled” when I came across an outstanding 911 example pristine low mileage 1988 911 cab (not wide body) which I had for about seven years. Was not a fan of cab’s as it turned out and the hunt has always continued since. In 2016 I began my BAT habit and found one local to me in San Diego, but it seemed so out of reach and I just drooled thinking my wife might not be quite as enthused as me. Well surprise, surprise, I found she was, …….after the auction ended.

Now with the auction over I intensified my quest and actually looked at a number of cars that year locally several and then taking me to LA, Houston and of all places Montgomery Alabama. The Alabama M491 was not officially “on the market”, I’d heard about it through a friend and it was very nice, but as it turned out, he really did not want to part with it, and so I got to know the guy and we became friends over time. He was a car lover and multi car collector and owner and had had many various makes of cars over the years buying several and selling several while I knew him, but always hanging onto the M491. When I first met him, he had an Audi R8 and a beautifully restored ’67 Jag that eventually I watched him sell at RM Sotheby’s in Scottsdale, and the M491.

Fast forward a few years to last year and my friend decided to leave Montgomery for Florida and now did not have the room for his M491. I got the call, did I want it?

Duh! So my wife of 50 years and I hooked up our trailer and were off to Alabama!
Turns out there were a few things needing attention and this consumed several months doing so, but it sorted out nicely, unfortunately continuing to put the 914 on the back burner until recently.


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You win. That's an all time favorite of mine, too. Beautiful and big congrats!

Even more amazing in person! Also one of my all time fav's and Jim's is a remarkable example, was well worth the wait

Thanks @tygaboy and @eric9144 much appreciated. It is really something when you realize a dream.

Car has black interior, sport seats, limited slip, Dansk muffler, and 71k miles.

Engine bay was super clean from the previous owner and I'm grateful for that!

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The underneath was a little above average so I had it ice blasted and then I detailed it more and painted the heat exchangers. What a difference!
There is more I did to the car but I want to get back to 914 stuff.


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Not sure how much viewing threads get posted in Originality and History? I have never posted there until yesterday and only in replying to an old thread about paint code labels and where to find them.

Posting the link here to see if it helps. Post 38 in the thread. Thanks for any leads.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=227846

Looking for this one


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Took the advice of @bbrock from the thread posted above and contacted the same people he did. It was on Ebay and they are in the UK, just use the link Brent provided, worked great, very responsive.

Sticker ordered yesterday, shipped today.
Thanks Brent!

I'll update when it arrives to show how they did.

Cool! Did you have them double space the letters on the code? It's the one thing I would do different, but if you sent them that photo, they'll probably get it right.

Your car is looking fantastic and those cherry cabinets are... well... CHERRY! I hope your son knows how much those would have cost.

Yes through several emails and the picture we hopefully sorted out the spacing. We will see!

Actually my son was the cabinet maker and worked in the trade years ago, he knows very well. He just doesn't have the tools anymore.
And, who do you think taught me?

As I mentioned back a few posts in #958, I had long wanted to have an early jack. I just like the look and position better than a "74 jack and placement.

Got A quart of paint match and one of those rattle cans with hardener in it you have to activate that you can get at an automotive paint store. Had never used one of those cans they fill for you before, but it was a one timer and I wanted to give it a try rather than set up a paint gun for a small job. Another small project materialized to not let the remaining rattle can paint go to waste that I will cover soon.

Once painted I installed the bracket with JB Weld and I am very happy with the results.


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Jim and his friends ALL have M491 cars. I saw them at the Rancho Santa Fe cars and coffee a few weeks ago. Great cars, great turn out.

Jim's is the best (cleanest) of the bunch!

Thanks Lawrence! @larmo63

Your recent white 911 find is awesome, as is the story of how you found and bought it.
Great to see you and hope to see you again soon. Kicking myself for not taking a pic your car.

Well this was fun...............

When I got this car in 2013 it had the steel flares, all the body work, and Imron paint, ALL DONE!
This was huge for me, the car was in the middle of a 6 conversion. The paint job was in great condition for having been done about 1998. Still looks fabulous today.

I had lots to do to finish the conversion (5 years) so not having to worry about the above mentioned was fantastic and left me to focus 6 conversion, engine rebuild, and a bit more.

I was not too concerned at the time about the underside and only did some touch up here and there. Being as the car turned out well, something has bugged me for some time now, and that is the areas below I painted, which is basically the underside of the engine compartment. Of course having the paint I got to do the jack bracket project certainly helped!

Have no idea how long it took me to tape this off but it was a while. pictures are huge so will take a couple posts.


The left side

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The left side done!


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Right side...

Both sides had their challenges. And why didn't I paint this when the engine was out?


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And the right side done. not sure what took longer taping off or removing? I think it is a toss up and the reason for the delayed posting.


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That may have been a pain in the rear to prepare and tape off but it looks so much nicer.

Thanks Michael !

Post up some pics of your car out in the wild on your thread. I do recall seeing one a little while back but more is always good.

I went to Rancho Santa Fe today and as you can see from the other thread posted I got to meet up with Larmo63, Steve, and I don't know Brandons handle if he has one here on world.


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@Lucky9146 - THat's a good idea; I will post some of my next road trip when I head up north. I am doing some minor intake mods right now and waiting for parts to come back from the powder coater.

Results on the paint color decal I ordered and mentioned a few posts back.

Communication with supplier in UK-----Excellent/OK
Making and shipping-----Excellent
Packaging ----------------Excellent
Quality--------------------Excellent
Making the decal exactly like the picture I sent---------Close

In spite of spelling out desired wider spacing was needed between the L 80 E and providing this exact picture shown here.

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This is what I received................ @bbrock same as your experience.


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I think yours looks better than mine (more spacing), but still not quite there, is it? Looks to me like they need to about double the spacing they used for yours and they would have it.

I'll say though that the sticker is so tucked away that you'll soon forget about the spacing. I doubt even the most anal judge would catch that it was a repro. Still, I share the desire to have things replicated perfectly. If it was made a certain way once, it can be done that way again.

As I am trying to make the underneath look better, something I have tried a number of times to do is get a match for the bottom gray finish of the pan.

My 74 appears to have the original paint/coating/ finish on the bottom of the floor pan. It is a gray color with a very slight orange peel finish, almost smooth. And I truly do believe it is an original finish with a few scrapes here and there. It kind of reminds me of an old an old porcelain oven inside color/look. Wondering if anyone has seen it, come across it, knows anything about it? Have tried to look up with no success. It seems that most folks who repaint a car paint the bottom the body color or black.

Any ideas what the factory may have used on a 74? I have no real way for the paint match people to get a good shot at it with the car so low and no lift at the paint place of course.



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A couple more close ups


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A baby step toward my 915 trans swap was getting my electric speedometer done.

Slowly and I mean slowly, I continue gathering the bits and pieces for this project. Sitting on the shelf for about a year, I now have an electric speedometer ready to go!

Received back over the weekend I had it done by John Bell who is on Pelican & Early S Registry as jbell959.
He performed excellent work and I felt quite fairly priced. I learned of him through a friend who had a lot of custom work done by John.
I recommend him for his work, price, communication + turn around time. Wish I had taken a before pic.

John:
- Swapped needle with early silver button needle to match my current gauges.
- Replaced odometer gear
- Reset odometer to 0
- Repainted bezel
- Installed new acrylic lens
- Removed the word Electric for a cleaner look (his idea)
- Recalibrated and tested it

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In talking to @Steve over the weekend, he pretty much confirmed that I will be back into my 915 trans to add the side cover with speed pick up feature.
I had elected not to buy that part, as I had heard there were other avenues like GPS or a pickup on the rear axel.
Someday..................

Posting Link from my 2021 Werks Reunion Monterey experience.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=355634&hl=

Kicking myself for not posting more of the wonderful events I've had the opportunity to participate in with this car and the places my car has been.
Have wanted to resurrect this thread for some time now and share my experiences and the great people I've met along the way.
More to come....

Hi Jim,

Damn, a 915 transaxle...that would be very nice indeed. I hope to see you at an event in the near future.
Cheers,
Michael

Hi Jim!! Nice to see you at UnStock. Car looks great!!

Werks 2021 Monterey was I posted I think the last time we met up! Yes we must meet up again!
915 is still in the planning / holding stage
Best
Jim

Thanks will post picture from Unstock soon.

I think the last time we met up was the Julian Cruse Oct 2020 and you let me drive your car!!. Good to see you as well!


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Unstock #3 Sunday at HRE Performance Wheels in Vista CA

I volunteered to help at the event and got there early, doing so afforded me the first parking place, an end spot, right in front of the PCA tent.

Great day! Saw lots of people I knew, amazing cars, great weather, you couldn't ask for a better event.

I would say this being the third Unstock and continuing to grow, that this venue with cars placed inside their manufacturing building was close to Luft 5 at the lumberyard.


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@Eric9144 was there with his beast.
and got an inside spot!!
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Had a good surprise this past Saturday of a friend coming down to San Diego from Venice Beach with his just finished 3 year project '73 914-6 Tribute
Chalk Gray over black interior. He is not a World member.
Built 3.2 L with ITB's. 915 Trans
Fun time! His first visit to RSF


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My lovely wife made this service cover for me a while back, a copy of Garold's Mothers.
She has made a few since. PM if interested.


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Both cars look sweet! I'm really diggin the partial GT look on that Grey car. Any more pics somewhere? That 3.2L with ITB's if you set it up properly it can be a 300hp screamer... so fun.