I admit - not all of my ideas are great ones. I am not sure where this one lands. But, here it is . . . .

Anybody interested in a build (fun) challenge contest? The idea is to get 2, 3, or 4 people who are planning to do their 914 build over the next year. And track all of the builds at the same time - in a thread and in Fourteener Magazine.

I don't know if there even needs to be a "winner" per se. But, if so, I am sure we can come up with some swag and/or parts, etc. for the "winner."

The main thing is I think it would be fun to track a few builds simultaneously.

Anybody interested?

Great idea. The magazine can pay for the builds. Like the reality/car shows. I'm in.

I knew that was coming. Just an idea. I think it would be really cool to follow a few builds simultaneously, and watch what hurdles they run into.

I will officially announce my





search for sponsors!
anybody out there wanna fund my rebuild I am in!

this is really a no brainer for some of our member vendors

-all (95ish%) original 73 2.0 180k (but freshly rebuilt by the po at 90k-ish!)
Cali car no (known) rust issues!
really just needs a thorough engine out cleaning/once over/tasteful upgrades/color sanding/...

so any body out there willing to step up pm me I'll gladly put your stickers on my car and would be available for promotional opportunities!


cjl

The first adjustment would be change it from "over a year" to "a five-year" build competition...most seem to take that long.

Tony

Just started the rough in pulls on my 6. I have most of the parts. Fortunately I own a Celette. Unfortunately I don't have the second gen towers. I contacted Celette to rent the original fixtures. I was told they scrapped the original fixtures. I have to purchase 6k worth of second gen towers then rent the tops for about another 1000-1500. That ain't happening any time soon...

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Bummer. No body around here has the original towers? It seems like a set would be out there.

Nope. I'm going to see if I can find a shop in Minneapolis that has the second gen towers. I may be able to rent the towers and then rent the tops... Big hassle.

I volunteer my Six as one of the candidates to consider. Scotty is actually, in about 3 weeks, going to hit the ground running on my car and I am understanding it will be completed within 6 months at the outside.

Alright, fine, I'll put mine in too!

1975 2.0l FI, rust and body work done in original L041.

DONE: body work except for color sand, fully redone interior exept headliner on targa, runs and drives.

NEEDS: some light engine work, linkage work, door handle work, new bumpers, radio, few more rubber seals, and fiddly bits.

This maybe a short project for someone with the time and money, but given I'm still in 10th grade high honors and play 3+ sports a season, it will take at least a few months even if I had the money and parts, this is why I could use some help getting my first teener on the road.

Wow - I am impressed by the dedication and commitment dudzy's914 (Finn) has demonstrated. His car should definitely be a party to this challenge/madness.

I like the idea, but after hanging out on this site a while I notice that many (most?) threads I see are guys that do this for a living and the work is done at a business. A few are guys that do something else for a living, and the car is... I hate to say hobby or that they are amateur because some of them are really good, but you get my point.

What I'm getting at is it might be cool to get a couple different projects from the ends of this spectrum and do a compare/contrast. It would sure help a guy like me to see how a pro approaches the various tasks of restoration, and especially how a pro would recommend an amateur approach the same thing. There is a ton of that on this site already and is the main reason I am here, but the more the better!

Let me think about how this might work. The initial idea wasn't to fund someone's build Rather, instead of a single project car in the magazine, I thought it might be fun to track a few builds side by side. Dedicate a page to each of 3 or 4 builds, in each issue. Cover the details in a thread or online.

But, I recognize that when you introduce professional shops and money, it becomes something else. Maybe the way to go is to find 3 or 4 builds happening over the next year that are about the same work (strip, repair, paint, assemble . . . or something like that), and by car owners (not shops).

If you are looking for a complete rookie to join the competition I would be interested. Got my first 914 recently and my first post on Sat. Not sure what qualifies for it but am certainly trying to get mine going.

-Brett

I think the main things we need to look for are:

1. Similar amounts of work that needs to be done (with the caveat that you never really know what lies underneath until you get into it).
2. That the owner is planning to do it in about a year. I am imagining that we would start this fall or winter, and finish in 2016. So a 9 month or 1 year thing. But, as we all know these things never go as planned. So, it's difficult to figure out. We would cover i over 4 issues (1 year), with online updates along the way. I'd love to introduce the 3 or 4 builds in the January issue.
3. Not a shop doing the restoration. Obviously some things may need to go to a shop - metal work, engine rebuild, paint, etc. But, for the most part I was hoping it would be the owner doing the resto.

These are just ideas. Other ideas are always welcome.

Thanks,
Steve

What about the 914World Limo?

Most of us are amateurs and many of the DIY guys just stopped posting or finished the car long ago. Sir Andy (haha, spell check fixed it to So Randy) he built a whole sub forum for build threads, well worth the time to review all us hack builders, myself included

Im in

The problem with the build thread sub forum is nothing has been moved in there in 2 years and there have been some amazing builds in that time.

I would be in, need to close up long, install engine shelf, some body work, strip and paint.

If nothing else this will motivate some guys to push on regardless.

Ya, misery loves company. Seriously though, it is always more fun (tolerable?) to do projects with other people involved. So, maybe it will spur a little camaraderie. A little competition to get it done doesn't hurt either.

Wish i could be in on this build off of sorts. But none of my parts from prior vw build are selling so im stuck at the moment.

Ok. So this doesn't seem like as crazy of an idea as it did at first. Let's see if we can put this together.

We need 3 or 4 people that are planning to do their build in the next 12 to 15 months and who want to do the Challenge. Please post a couple pictures of your car in this thread, and a short list of what you need to do to it (we are looking for builds that include a significant amount of work (whatever that means), but, can be completed in 1 year). Then we can figure out where to go from there and see if we can put this together. It would be nice to keep this more of a DIY, and less professional shops that are doing the whole thing for the owner. Obviously, some things are going to be sent out to a shop. But, you get the idea.

Steve, are you familar with my project? First link in my sig. I have about a year left on my build at this point for the major conversion bits.

This is a fully mechanical / electrical build along with a full 100% custom interior build.

The short version.
Engine: Audi AEB 1.8t Engine, rebuild unit and install upgraded rods for 600hp capacity
Transmission: Audi A6 2.8 5 speed FWD unit
Turbo: Comp Turbo triple ball bearing CTB5356 10psi 275hp, 35psi 500+hp.
Wiring: Strip all Porsche wiring, Replace with Audi wiring 100%
Engine Management: Modified OEM Audi Ecu
Power brakes: Yes
ABS integration: Yes
Traction control integration: Yes
Launch control: Yes
Cruise control: Yes
Climate control/AC: Yes
Alarm: Yes
OBD2 full control: Yes
Check engine light: No smile.gif
Front trunk and rear trunk: YES!

Thanks. Very cool car. Looks like an "Outlaw?" Whatever that means. :-)

Can you post a couple pictures of the car now in this thread, and also a short list of what you need to do to get it done and on the road? I will add it to the list of prospective cars.

Wait,….. a big, rich national sports car magazine wants to help financially put this engine in my car? I'm in!!!!!!

Click to view attachment

Nice looking engine. Not big, or rich. But, hopefully interesting. No financial help. Sorry. I am sure the winner will get a trophy, maybe a little swag or a few parts, and undying admiration.

Must include more than installing an engine, though. I am still not sure how we are going to line up 3 or 4 cars that need about the same amount of work. But, we will figure it out.

A global magazine, thank you.....

I'm sure I missed a bunch of to do's in my description, but here are a few photos of the progress so far, more this weekend as we are moving and the car will be out rolling on a nice set of 2.0l Fuchs.
Bringing it home Click to view attachment


In the body shopClick to view attachment

Home from paint...Wait till the weekend for more!

As much as I'd like to get in on a competition like this, I'd hate to have a hard timeline hanging over my head. I have no idea if my latest 914 project will take 1 year or 4.

I agree. There is no way I could enter my projects. I thought I would have the silver car on the road for Hershey. It is still not done. Too much time doing 914 magazines and t-shirts, I guess. Not enough time on actual 914s. On the other hand, this little challenge is just for fun. So, while a friendly competition is nice, in the end it is just about doing things in the 914 community and all (maybe a little bragging rights).

I sure hope so. I want to see you driving!

I am still debating what car I am going to use 72 or 75, but I have done almost all my research and just need a set of tires and clutch. I got to get rid of one of these cars as I need garage. Space for.....

My build will be an ls1 turbo powered car. I have engine and booster tranny and am awaiting my adapter to be completed which I am told should be in my hands in two weeks. I also have decided to use a corvette c5 front and rear suspension with 17/18 inch c5 speedline zo6 rims which I have. So my build will be starting very soon. I will,be building a frame with 1-1/2 inch square and round tube Dom. Still unsure if I will be extending the chassis to keep all stock engine accessories but will make decision soon. i am a bigger guy and don't have any room inside to spare. This project will be starting as soon as I get my adapter

Hi all! I am a an extreme beginner and have no clue how long it will take or will what is around each corner, but am hoping to have it on the road in a year. Sooner the better.

Right now i know that i have the following items to complete:

1. Repair frame rust
2. Rebuild engine (seized)
3. Rebuild weber 40 idf carbs
4. Repair door panels
5. Repair rear trunk rust as it will not stay up un-assisted (thankfully old lady is holding it up for the photo)
6. Some muffler work (not sure on this now)

Potential items that i feel may need work

1. Fix fiberglass fenders (front left has ripped)
2. Other bodywork repair to remove rust spots
3. Repaint
4. A million other items that could arise

Corvette suspension. Tube frame. Sounds time consuming. It would take me a year to plan a tube chassis (and it still wouldn't be right), much less build one. But yours sounds like it will be cool when done. So you in?

Oh I have done a lot of research and its taking me a lot of time to get where I am at. and I never said I have any idea what I am doing . But yea fuck it I am in

Oh and pulled out a wheel to give you an idea of the ridiculousness of it......

Believe me, I've spent more time poring over those than anywhere else. In fact, I've made my own little document that indexes and cross-references several of them, so I know where to look for different sections of the body.

Anyway, I'd be up for this. Spent the last few months building a dolly and bracing, mounting the car and disassembling interior, suspension, etc. Starting cutting out the rust a few weeks ago, and making a shopping list for RD, and trying to decide what I can make myself.

Overall plan is to restore the body this year, drive it next summer, then tune the engine next year. It will stay a narrow body and mostly original, but not obsessively so. End goal is a fun daily (fair weather) driver.

Here's my thread, but if I need a pic in this thread I can do that (can I repost a pic that has already been uploaded?)...
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=262220

I don't think any of my build threads made it in there...

Don't fret, you're on the cover of 914world and getting some mag coverage soon...

You just have to ask Sir Andy to include them.

I never got around to asking either...

John

I didn't do any build threads just build Q&A posts!

Lennies914 and I built 3 cars in less than 12 months and Lennies car won car of the month.

We are just two guys who like to build things and are not "pro's".

I think that who ever gets into the build off challenge should be a regular person like us who have used this site to share information and learn from the collective knowledge we have.

We are not like other clubs and we never will be......Thanks Andy!!!!!

We are going to talk about the best way to do the Build-Off while at Okteenerfest this weekend.

I am thinking there are two options:

1. Choose 4 builds for the build-off. Or 3 or 6. But, a fixed number.
2. Anyone that meets the "criteria" can participate. Under this scenario we get more builds, but, more of them likely fall out along the way as they encounter issues that take longer (and more money) to fix.

As for criteria, here is the thought:
a. Must include removal and installation, or installation of the engine.
b. Must include significant rust/accident repair, and/or paint and bodywork.
c. Must include interior work.

How are the builds judged?
1. Finishing on time - The car must be "done" and on the road at the end of the build.
2. Completing all build tasks, as outlined at the outset of the build. This is determined by the person doing the build, but, roughly set out at the beginning of the build.
3. Quality and workmanship of the final product (I know that this one is hard to judge from afar and online. But, I think we have solutions for this).

The goal is less of a hard and fast competition, and more about getting the car done, done right, and on the road.

Thoughts?


EDIT: And do we include professional shops?
EDIT: Continued participation? Maybe progress (photos) every month? Every two weeks?
EDIT: There will be a deadline. Maybe 1 year from now - September 1st? Maybe coincide with Okteenerfest 2016. Although some west coast cars may not be able to attend. We can figure that out.

OK - I am just a spectator, so I am out. Full speed ahead fellow members.

It seems like most everyone wants to see the mostly DIY builds included, rather than the professional shops. If we want to include them though, I am up for anything. Maybe feature them separately. I know Black Forest is doing a great build for David. And then there is yours (name of the car?), and mine (we call it Cinderella), and the one Kent is doing, etc. I am sure there are other great professional builds.

Take all (amateur?) comers, and make the requirements for *continued* participation. In any group of builders, you never know who will make it through on time, so let them self filter- when a project stalls, it's off the list.

Then at the end, if it's successful and people want to do it again, you can let those that fell by the wayside have a second shot at jump-starting their project.

My thoughts are no one does a complete rebuild in only a year.....