April in Oregon .............
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Damn it's hot ........

Finished up the door sill.
Brazed the joints.
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Gave it a covering of SE primer.
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Then on to the inner box patch.
Lots of fitting and hammer work. Used a ball-peen hammer with a blunt chisel and a squared off piece of r-bar to get things nice and tight. Using the Clecos I drill and 1/8 hole to install the pin. I then drill a 3/16 hole on then side I'm going do the rosette weld on.
Tool Whore input: I've switched to Norsemen Made in the USA drill bits. Best I've ever used. A 1/8 pilot bit can last 3-4 days. HF, 3-4 minutes.
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Pinned it into place, then got after my favorite welds, directly overhead.
In actuality they went pretty well.
That one on the edge got away from me. As soon I touched it, it popped up.
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After everything got tidied up.
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Then into the long and begin the slow and patient plug welding routine. I did turn up the heat a bit and let off the trigger a little sooner. Seemed to help. This shot is before any grinding on the plug welds.
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Outside patch is just about ready to go. Just a little trimming.
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I'm switching cameras today. I'm not digging the camera on the phone, bringing my point and shoot. Better close ups and hopefully better with the back light coming in from outside.

Matt (Mark's brother) from 914 Rubber brought a 1.7 D-Jet system over for me to bench test the components. I'll start with the MPS and see what he has.
Might be calling Chris for a volume discount on MPS stop screws and diaphragm kits.

Dude....I can't believe it's so hot.
84 in April.
Really?
Soon will be back in about 50-60's and lots of rain.
See you soon,

I'll drink a beer in your honor Thursday night.

Finished up the outer long patch before lunch. I'm trying the hotter faster plug welds. It seems to be working. Only thing to add, make sure you get the hole completely filled on the first shot. Coming back to fill them in leads to a pile up.
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All finished up. Pushed it a little on the heat a couple times. One must remember, slow down the go fast. If you let the heat build up you blow nice big holes.
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Ground down and brushed up .............
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Paint job. SE Primer.
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Note: right corner next to firewall not completely finished. That portion of the firewall might be coming off.

Spent the afternoon putting Mark's car on the frame bench. Primarily so I can work on my 73 DD. But we're thinking we'll take a break and build some fixtures.
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Primarily I'm thinking a pair for the transmission mounts. A left side 3/4 for the rear suspension. Mine won't need to be anywhere near as stout as the Celette. I'm not going to be doing any frame pulling. Just R & R rusty panels.
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But I want to start with four of these to replace the jack stands and pinch weld frame.
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The fixture building will be documented on my rustoration thread.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...7546&st=720

You guys are doing great work. One question regarding all your plug welds.. Are you making your patches to overlay the damaged/rusted area and then plug welding to that area or are you butt welding. I just noticed all of rosettes and was wandering if those are overlays?

I am doing my rusteration similar in quantity to you and doing all butt welds to avoid the potential for rust in the future. I am just curious..keep up the great work.. It keeps me motivated.

Patch panels are all butt/seam welded around the edges. The plug welds are for strength. Everything that is to be covered is painted with weld thru primer. Hopefully that will prevent future rust. Time will tell. These had nothing before. Just raw steel.

I've given it some thought. But is there enough work out there to keep me busy?
Mark thinks so ............

Biggest thing is the additional tools/equipment that I'd like to have to make myself more efficient. And how many folks want to bring the car to a shop that doesn't paint?
I do plan to make arrangements to spray the project with epoxy primer before they head home.

Plus I'll have the ability to pick up and deliver. Open and enclosed trailer.

* 22 cfm compressor (replacement) $2500, must have
* additional air drying system components $1000
* additional lift $3000, multiple projects, plus Dad's garage has 24 HR service
* portable scissor lift $2000, might look at one this am that needs a new oil tank
* Texas blaster $800, step up from the Harbor Freight unit
* TIG welder $1500
* Additional 140 amp Miller welder $1000
* 48" powder coating oven $3500, for suspension pieces
* pallet stacker, for heavy lifting

I'm having discussions this week with a couple different folks about Porsche restoration work. But both of these shops are way beyond the scope $$ of doing DD 914 work.
I'm also looking at another job that could become a 3 1/2 day a week commission sales job. It feels like my sabbatical might be coming to an end.

While I was working on my DD I thought I'd prep the right door sill portion for reattachment.
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Mark dropped his blue 2.0L off for a little TLC before WCR.
It's sitting under the yellow parts car
I'll add a couple shots tomorrow.

It kind of looks like a 914 workshop.
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Here's the original work-list.
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Both conversations went well. Then I go to my own shop and the 914's.
I really want to help keep/put as many of these cars on the road that I can.
I thinking I'll see if three 10 hour days is an option at either one of these shops.
That would leave me 2-3 for 914 Restoration.

PM me if you might have some work that needs to be done.
It will be a bit before I take on any more projects. Lock down business name, incorporate, insurance, etc.............

As work/design continues on the frame bench fixtures.
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This is where we ended Saturday evening. I'll call this Version 1. Bought the longest 10mm bolts Ace had. But still an inch short of what would have been needed to build in the longer box end version, like Celette.

I decided that I'd pull the outer suspension mount off of the remainder of the driver's long that I bought from Perry. 1. Remind myself where all the spots welds are. Tough duty when everything gets covered and welded over with the tie plates. I'll shoot pictures of the spot weld drill outs for future reference. 2. How to cut out/off the wheelhouse with the least amount of carnage.

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Lots of delicate cutting disk work to remove the ties without damaging the mount.
Used both the 4 1/2" electric and the die grinder on the mandrel. You can see the mount under the cut out tie.
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Here's the money cut on this job. Basically make a plunge cut to get the sawsall access. When going thru the ties. Let the tool do the work. Don't push too hard. All it will do is wear out the blade. Do as I say, not as I do. LOL.
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After a couple hours in the vice.
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So back to work ..................

Installed the trimmed portion of the right sill that needed to be removed to get the wheelhouse cut out.

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Then on to working on the crater under the right door handle. I looks like they pounded it in with a hammer.
Couldn't move it much with a hammer and dolly. It's tied into the firm edge of the door handle pocket. Broke out the stud weld gun. But it wouldn't work ............
Headed home ...................

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So we stopped at HF and picked up a new stud welder. Took the extended warranty for $13.

Got right to work. This might become my new favorite tool.
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Went to the tail panel and pulled the little dent behind the latch brace that I couldn't
get to with a hammer and dolly.
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While I'm doing this on the project car. The blue car is running on the lift to warm/heat up and check for oil leaks.
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Got the majority of the door handle crater pulled out. Then I moved on to the rotten section under the door handle.

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Here's what I found after I cut out the rotten section.
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Fitting the new piece ...............
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Then the fun began. Not only is the door jam arced/bowed. The qtr. panel has a bow/crown in it also. Both about this shape.
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Here's the bow in the panel fitting to the needle gauge.
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That was crudely done with the beater bag. I once asked myself why would I ever need an English wheel. Today was the day.

In she goes ...............
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Door jam isn't welded in yet. Need to hammer in a little bit more bow. And there is a lot of metal yet to be moved on the qtr. panel.

Tomorrow I'll be dropping the engine in the blue car and continue the research on the oil leaks.

1. Crank seal
2. Flywheel seal
3. Galley Plugs, hope not.
4. Push rod tube, one of #4's needs new seals.
5. Oil Cooler seals. I doubt it. But it is missing the side bolt that keeps it in place.

I can see oil coming out between the halves of the fan housing. Not a lot. In two hours of idling on the rack nothing hit the ground.

When we returned to the shop I did have an oil spot under the engine/transmission union. So out she came.

Diagnosis :
1. No O-ring flywheel seal
2. Top of oil pressure switch leaking
3. Seal under oil filler/vent box

So the question is, do we replace the crank seal behind the flywheel while we're in there? Looks to be Elring. I have a Sabo coming from GPR.
The rear trunk will come off today. Right hinge bracket has come loose. We'll see if it can be reused. Engine lid needs some tension attention.

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Arrows indicate the location of the oil dye.
Flywheel is on its last turning. Shaved bolts. But clutch looks to be in good order. No sign of oil saturation.

I'll put Super In Law on the clicking drivers door hinge. Everything in the door strap looks to be new. Hole on door side pin holder is wallered out.
Our usual course of action is using the biggest bolt the new strap will take. And some mini bushing from something we dig up out of the little drawers at ACE hardware. I've yet to see a right angle adapter small enough that would let you weld in the holes and re-drill them. But its been a long time since I've looked.

Looks like I may have to make some pins for the door straps? One more part I haven't made yet.

We need is someone with a NOS door hinge post to give us the original ID on the hole?
Or in MacGyver fashion. Because you've made the door strap so reasonably priced. You measure the hole. Make multiple sizes of the pins. Then re-drill the strap to fit the hole you have. Not CW, but it would get rid of the clicking.

PET says Cotter Pin 1, 5 * 10.

I used a new 6mm bolt and it's better. But I'll stop and ACE and get a 7mm and it will be perfect.

Decided the engine needed a bath before it gets its valve adjustment.
Steam cleaner came back to life without any issues after its long winters nap.

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Having never worked on a carbed 914. I have a question about the plug wires.
I'm not digging the way the plug wires line up with throttle linkage. Do they make a 914 plug wire set with an angled connector?
Back in my youth I help build and maintain SCCA Pro Rally cars. This looks like a recipe for disaster. I'm firm believer of, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

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Then on to the trunk hinge.

Not good. Needless to say, not reusable.
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Based on what I see. This will be hinge #3.
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Old welds removed. But after the grinding was done I did a little poking around.
Marked area will receive a patch on Monday.
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I was thinking with no visible rust under the sail panel vinyl it seems odd I would be rusting out here. So I decided to remove the tire and look up into the fender well. Looks like the end of the inner sail panel support got ate by the rust worm.

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Not exactly part of the scope of work on this car. I'll patch the inner hole and aggressively seam seal the rotten section to keep water and debris out.
Then Mark can install some of his fender liners for added protection.

Edited : 4/21/16
I think its the tail end of the circled area. I'll flip over my rustoration to confirm.
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I love this picture. The craftsmanship is stunning. Hope to get close some day. The Metal Surgeon

Lights out and heading home. Spending the weekend in The Dalles to watch the Oregon Trail Rally. I'll be driving my white 73 if anyone else is going.

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I'd like to see some pic's of this repair if you have them. Kent

I'll shoot a picture on Monday.

Nothing fancy. Just a 6mm * 20 bolt and a Nylock nut. With the door frame wallered out to 7mm I'll drill out the strap to match. Tension the nut just enough that it doesn't bind up. This will keep it from jumping up.

Forgot, I have bolts and nuts on both sides in my white car.

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Not CW, but they look pretty sanitary.

i got a set of beru plug wires from parts geek that have short caps that don't interfere with the carbs. they were pretty cheap too, i think like $25.00.

I see Mark's on right now. I'll let him take look and make a decision.

Nice catch ........... Those look great.
Gets rid of the two long/tall ones.

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KUDO's to Brian at GPR. Box with seals and oil filter just showed up.
Ordered on Wednesday, arrived Friday.

I got it. Wasn't paying enough attention. I thought you were talking about the door hinge pin where the door hangs from. They get wallered out too. BTW, your not going to like going back to an 8 to 5 after working on cars a couple of months. And that garage of yours; oy vey! It is sitting on a million dollars worth of real estate if it were in SoCal. "Cary on".

Nice thing about the door is they can be totally removed. So we (Super In Law) could build a jig to hold the door under the drill press. So we could weld and re-drill.

Kent I'm only holding out for one 8-5 job. If it doesn't come to fruition in the next two weeks I'll be pursuing Porsche restoration as a career change.

Super In Law is working on the front end of the blue car.
1. Installed new trunk cable
2. Realigned hood
3. Reworked both headlights
4. Stopped at Ace on the way in and got the 4mm bolts for the trunk light
Waiting for some eyebrow rubber before we shoot any pictures.

Back to the green car while I'm waiting for parts. So I open up the sawzall and get to work.

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Wont go into detail on removing the suspension mount, covered that last week.
But on a sour note I did find some rust worm work under the smaller tie. It will get a multiple piece patch. Another example of our cars rusting from the inside out.

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Getting ready for an application of OSPHO before we head home.

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Start the day with chemically prepping the wheelhouse/upper inner long for enclosure.
Step #1, application of cold galvanizing spray. No picture, just another picture of the area sprayed in gray. Let it dry 3 hours with shop lights keeping it nice an toasty.
Step #2, application of Eastwood HD Anti Rust.

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Long left baking with the stoplights over night.

Looking good Cary.

While the chemicals are drying I decide to tackle the removable exhaust shield project.
I changed my mind on the direction I was going to go. Blind nuts on the floor of the trunk. I decided to go with only the pan being removable. That way you go could work on paint and or undercoating under the pan.

Took a while but turned out real nice. FROM 25,000 ft. Punched two 1/8 holes in each of the stand offs. Aligned the pan using the parts car as a reference. Held it in place using vice grips thru the mold release hole that I opened up earlier. Then used my long handle 90 degree pick to scratch the hole locations. Then drilled the matching 1/8" holes in the trunk floor pan. Held everything in pace with Cleco's. Removed the pan. Then removed two stand offs off the pan. Kitty corner from each other. Each stand off has three spot welds. From the backside, using the Rotacut spot weld cutter drilled the center one clear thru. It will be used for nut/bolt hole. Then drilled thru the pan layer on the other two spot welds to pop the stand off free. Then applied weld thru primer to the to be welded on surface with the two 1/8" holes. While that was drying I welded back in the two extra holes in the pan created with the Rotacut. Then welded a 6mm nut to the middle hole of the stand off. I did this two by two as to not get too far ahead and out of alignment.
Note : I did enlarge the hole in the trunk floor to 3/16 ths for ease of alignment and weld penetration.

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Nut tucks nicely out of the way ..........

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When I was learning to tear apart panels and spot welds I found a couple of things that made it easier to find and separate the welds. First I bought a bunch of 1/4in drill bits. I also picked up a cheap paint scraper (like a really hard metal putty knife) at Harbor Freight. After the initial knock down of crud I would spray the area with a cheap black paint. I would then hit the area with a block sander and look for the spot weld low spots. I would drill through the first layer of metal with the bit. I would then wedge in the paint scraper, which is very thin, and start tapping it in between the metal sheets. It usually cuts right through the remaining portion of the spot weld. You can also tap the scraper between the metal to find the next spot weld as it will stop right at the edge of the weld. These scrapers are super tough and very cheap. I have done a TON of spot weld removal and still have not worn out a scraper. I hope this helps speed along the process for anyone out there trying to learn this skill. Great work

Super In Law starts on the patch for the end of the suspension ear.

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He built it in one piece. We should have brought over the forge. We'll use the forge when we fabricate the next set of tie plates.

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Tacked in. Forgot the shot of the backside all tidied up. Front side in the valley I just couldn't get a good angle with my welding helmet on. I'll finish it up when we put the car back on the lift.

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I got after trimming the wheelhouse panel.

Started with marking the opening from inside the engine compartment. Then gave myself an additional inch for good measure.
Used the HF power shears. They do a marvelous job. Even thru the wavy stuff.

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Trimmed off the excess and fitted it again.

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Then I trimmed off the portion over the remainder of the inner box. It will be rosette welded to the old wheelhouse outer wall.

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All trimmed up and ready to go.

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Super In Law spent the day tinkering with the headlight covers and the eyebrows.
Alignment and leveling.

Next we're going to get after getting the driving lights fired up.
Found the white/yellow 75 additional headlamp wires. Now I just need to look up the wiring diagram for the Pilot 30 amp headlamp relay.

The rosette portion of welding in the wheelhouse went great. Welds look great.
The butt weld across the top is giving me fits. The old metal is shit.
Should have made the cut a couple inches higher. Constantly blowing thru. Then welding in a big pile to fill the hole. Then over grinding to make it look nice. Grind thru. Then we start the process over again.

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Thanks guys,
This will be the 1st time in 4 years that I will have a fully functioning 914 !
I've been meaning to hook up the fog lights for 3 years now.



Honestly, In our area there are few guys that can do what Cary is doing. He's been seriously looking into do this on a regular basis, I would think that he would make an excellent resource for our community. If you have any 914 work to get done I would recommend you contact him. I suspect he will become quite busy based on the quality of work I have seen.

Again, a potential vendor I would highly recommend .

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Took a bit of unraveling. The blue car is a backdated 75. But the wires to the J12 Additional Headlights Relay didn't match. The wires matched the 74 USA schematic.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. The 85 leg (ground) should have been a brown wire looped to the fresh air blower relay right next to it. But no, it was a gray/red running up behind the dash switches. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Work around. Cut the gray/red about 2 inches from the relay socket. Labeled the wire coming down from the dash as 74 fog light switch. Added a brown wire and a wire connector to the 2" wire from the relay socket and added to the dash ground stud.

Then there was issue with the power lead the Pilot headlamp relay. Made about 10 attempts on the fused side of the J West panel. Every time I pulled the headlight switch the headlight motor/dimmer switch blew its fuse. Damn ...........
Finally used my retractable wiring lead and ran it from the battery. Viola ......
Finally wired it to the incoming side of of fuse #12. Working like champ.
Runs like a 75-76, driving lights are on when ever the headlights are on. But we could wire it with a switch if desired.

After yesterday I think I'm going to draft a checklist, kind of like a PPI. So when some one brings me a car and asks me to make it road worthy I just go down the list and check them off.

From on my knees at the drivers door on the blue car.
1. No horn
2. No fresh air blower
3. Ignition key didn't go into the front trunk lock

Heat and keys will have to wait for its next visit. We'll get a horn going before Mark picks up the car. It will be interesting to see which which schematic matches up. LOL.

I had the same problem welding in my upper wheelhouse patch today, that area is a total pita...

I also decided that I am totally going to steal your removable heat shield idea.

Super In Law is tearing into the front trunk seal channel. Not super bad, but every corner will need some work.

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Looks like the front fender has been replaced. I"ll try and do some creative work with the brush on seam sealer to close up the gap.

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Getting the wheelhouse all locked down for the welding to begin ...........

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Finally got the wheelhouse completely welded in.

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Then I find a big chunk of bondo right above where I was seam welding ...........
So I cut it out.

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Reference
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Thank you for the reference photo. That's where we ended the day. I want to remove the bumper support so he can recreate the metal pieces. So we got out the torch to remove the brazing. But the little spot in the corner of the support is a weld not a braze. That's the only place I've seen gas welding on these cars. I found the same thing on the bumper support on the rear panel replacement.

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