Got the pass floor pan done. Installed the adjustable seat brackets, welded in the lower inner and outer fire wall repair patches. Check that off the list.

It's official the right long is in...
Good thing I have the bench fixtures while doing this.
The whole rear portion was off by a good 1/4'' to the outside and 1/2'' to the rear.
After about an hour of dealing with the issue the welding started.

Tested fitted some panels this morning. Looks like everything needs to be shifted backwards 3/8'' . Starting to look like a car again.

@Luke M - I am now using the picture right above this is my screen saver. That is the coolest picture I have seen laying the chassis bare. Outstanding work!

Looks beautiful Luke
Keep up the good work
Little by little

Great work Luke, too bad many of us are working with backyard fixtures (at best) to get our loose 914's aligned. I suspect many of them are far from aligned to factory specs.

Thanks Guys. Working away here today. Started to spot weld the floor pan to long. Michael I watched your 6 being worked on by Kent. I got a lot of knowledge by watching how Kent removed the panels and fitted them. Today I spent several hours test fitting the NOS panels and adjusting the inner fender/inner rocker. First I have to seal the inside of the long then weld her up.

Wow Luke, that's some gold lying on the floor. That is going to be one killer Six. I know you and Kent would be great friends if you met.

So Glad it made It.. Undamaged.. nos flairs are next ?? offers..

Anyone know if this 914 owner is a member here?

Those are some seriously rare body panels! It's starting to come together.

A few more things checked off the list. Installed the right rear triangle, sealed inner long, and the backsides of the sheet metal that will not see day light. If I have time tmrw morning I'll test fit some panels if not it'll have to wait until Thursday.

BIGKAT_83 I believe

Hey Luke didn't the right long come complete with the outside suspension console ?

Hi Rory,

The right long came with the inner (engine side) suspension arm attached.
The outer console is attached to the inner fender portion. I have a pretty nice and rust free outer suspension console that's going back on. The org console was badly rusted out. I'm heading out in the garage soon here to test fit the panels. I want to measure everything then on Thursday I'll start welding everything up.

Luke, you make this look awfully easy. Great work this baby will be honkin down the road soon!

Installed the new heater tube, and tested fitted some panels. It's starting to look like a whole 914 again. That's all for today.

Wow looks great.

Luke curious, are you tracking your hrs on this?

I'm not keeping track of the work hours. On the days that I work on it I spend anywhere from 4 to 6 hours. So far I have more time in locating parts then actual man hours on the car itself. If I had to guess on time spent doing the right long swap it would be in the 50 - 60 hour rage so far. Lots of time spent installing, test fitting, trimming, checking specs, prepping the new panels for install. Not to mention cutting out and grinding all the old metal sections.

Don't forget all the misc. items we incur during these projects. Time = $$$$ and lots of it

BTW work looks superb

Amazing project, enjoying a lot your progress as I am myself involved in such a big project (my type 14 ghia). Keep us updated, it is so great to see work well done as you are doing!

Cheers

Antoine

The first rule of 914 ownership is "Don't ever total up the time you spent or the total dollar amount spent."

If you ever do, you will regret the fact that you could have had a new GT4 for less than what you already spent..... and it is still not finished.

And if your wife finds out (well... your wife, not mine), you won't have the car much longer.


Clay

Take your time with your Ghia, I rebuilt a 1969 convert in the mid 1980's and did not get the door gaps correct, but she held together for a long time. Best of luck Antoine

I have that same RED level - do not trust that thing! ASK ME HOW I KNOW!

I have a few better levels I use to make sure everything is good.
I quadruple check everything..lol

I did run into a snag today while test fitting the outer rocker and door threshold sill.
The door sill needs to be adjusted so I can move it forward 2 mm. Then all the upper rocker mount holes will line up and the sill will be in the proper location. Right now the most forward part of the sill is too far away from the door post/lower fender section.
The lower rocker to inner rocker mounting holes were slightly off so I addressed that.
Then I found the RD inner wheel housing didn't have the lower mount/hole for the outer rocker. So off that needs to come so I can drill and weld a nut inside it. Good thing I was checking everything before I started to weld everything up. I deal with that on Sat.

Well the last several days I've been fighting with the darn door post. The measurements went way off and couldn't figure out why. I had my son help me with installing the door and figured out the issue. The inner rocker kept dropping down under the door post which in return the door post also dropped enough to screw things all up. Now that that's figured out, I have to figure out a good way to keep everything in place so I can test all the panels prior to welding. 10 days to blasting party so I need to get it done.

Does anyone else see the factory red-ish primed panels and wish they could just have their whole car like that and shoot a satin clear over it?

What a PIA it is to line up all the panels. I'm getting close but still off 2 mm at the bottom of the door. I'm trying to set the door to q-panel and door to front fender gaps to a max of 5 mm all around. Seams like that's gonna be harder then I think. Right now I have a 4 mm gap but opens to max of 7 mm and as tight as 3 mm. The pics posted are of the measurements prior to cutting of any sheet metal and right now. Thick sharpie is prior and fine sharpie is current measurements. I believe I can get a 5 mm gap at both of the door bottom ends. See how Sat turns out. As of right now the rear q-panel is set, outer rocker is set, jack post set, door sill is set, front fender is set, inner rocker needs a slight adjustment and the door post needs to be moved forward another 2 mm at the bottom only.

Luke, those gaps, as they sit right now, are probably better than most 914's on the planet.

I can see why body shops charge what they do to set the gaps.
I wonder how long it took Kent to do your car.
I'm on day three now messing with this. I'd like to set the door post tmrw and get it welded on.

Yeah, my car was at Kent's for about 18 months. Of course he had other cars in his shop too. When people see my car they go crazy over the body, gaps and paint.

My cousin, Phil, is doing a split bumper Camaro hot rod and it is in the body shop now getting prepared to paint very soon. We took my car to the shop so the painter could see how Phil wants his car to come out. The painter looks at the car and recognizes the quality. Phil tells the painter, as they return to working on the Camaro, that is the way we are going to do my car. The painter, w/o missing a stroke of the long-board, looks at him and says, "No we are not". My cousin said he busted out laughing because he knew the painter recognized the tons of hours to get a car that straight and perfect. Phil had to call me and tell me about the compliment before they got back to the long-board work.

Working away here.. ready to close up the right long for good. I lost count on how many times I tested fitted all these panels. I did it for the last time this morning. Started welding things up. Got to love spot welders. I spot welded the door sill on the inner rocker prior to welding it on the right long. Sealed the internal sections with some Eastwood internal frame coating. My brother dropped his 914 off at my house for the weekend blasting party. That is if the weather co-operates.

Awesome work!

Speaking about gaps: You have your car on the "Celette" which is the most valuable thing to do. Is there any experience out there what might happen to the gaps when the car sits back on it´s own wheels? Is there any body sag to be expected that must be compensated beforehand?

The bench fixtures do help a lot. I had a small issue fitting the NOS right long in the chassis. Had I not had the fixtures I would've messed up the install for sure. It wasn't off by much but 13 mm here and a few more mm there gets things all screwed up. I had an issue fitting the new NOS door post too. Once I figured out the issue there the door gaps were spot on. I get a 4 to 6 mm gap now. I believe once the chassis is on the ground the gaps will show very little movement or at most 1 mm which gives me a 5 mm door gap.
I'm also installing a GT kit along with the RD long frame stiffeners. I also plan on stitch welding the seams just to strengthen the chassis.

you are moving right along, build is looking great Luke!

Thanks Glenn.. Lots more to do. Looks like the blasting is being pushed back due to weather. The blasting co. owner called today to reschedule it for next week. That's fine by me as I need several more days to finish up a few things. Today I got the inner fender all welded in, and started the GT kit install. Hopefully on Friday I can have the right long sealed up.

I just love the pictures you have posted of all the work you are doing. They really show the structure of these cars.

Got the GT kit welded in the right side. Did some grinding as well.. Did I mention that I hate grinding.. Anyways, welds are ground down and prepped the inner rocker to be spot welded on.

I got the inner rocker spot welded on Saturday. Today will be attaching the door post and checking final door gaps. Then I'll be grinding some welds.

The door post is in and done for most part. I have to grind the welds down and clean up a few spots underneath. Test fitted the door and checked the door gaps. They came in at 4, 4.5, to 5 mm all around. I can't complain about that.

You must be a very patient man.
Great work!

Yeah, you can say that..lol
It's been an 11 year project but I'm hammering away at it this year.
I want to be driving it next summer.
My brothers 914 was blasted yesterday and my 6 is up next.
The weather is messing with the scheduling now as rain is in the forecast for the next 8 to 10 days. The blast guy said if there's a chance of rain he won't blast it. We did get about a 20 min rain fall here as they were blasting my brothers 914. It didn't flash overnight which is good. The blast guy washed the whole car down with some rust inhibiting stuff once he was done blasting.

Hey Luke
I might know the new owner of the metallic grey car.
I'll confirm soon.
Rory

Hi Rory,

Cool and thanks...

Such an amazing build! Love seeing the inner workings of a 914 like this.

Nope, not the car. Right color, wrong car.

Happy New Year to all...

I had a buddy of mine hit me up to see how my 6 was coming along so I figured I'd make a little update. In the fall of 2022 I had to have a surgery to fix my arm/shoulder.
Fast forward after recovery and several months of pt things seam to be coming along well. I have a followup with my surgeon here in a few days and hopefully get the ok to get back to it. So, yeah the 6 still looks like the last pic I posted. I'd have to cleanup the garage a little to get to it but I'll try my best to get working on it here soon. If anything I was glad to get my brothers 6 conv assembled enough to get it moved back to his place. It looks like I have my spring and summer booked for now.

Shoulder surgery sux! Had one done several years ago. It is still perfect now. The car looks great. Keep going. Wish I had those from strut tower fixtures. I could use a set for a week or so just to check height for my 6.

Good luck with your doctor appointment Luke. Looking forward to seeing your progress once you get back to it.