So here's my 2nd 914 in 2 years. And I've still never driven one! Here's to hoping I have the intestinal fortitude to take this one across the finish line within a few years. My 1st 914 was a 1974 that hadn't moved in ~15 years. After doing some of the fun stuff (engine removal, started the rebuild process, new brakes, etc.), I realized it was too far gone for me at that time. I had a small garage, no welder and no time to work on it. Now, I have a much bigger work space, more tools and I just competed my MBA, so lots more free time (more is a relative term here). Now I have a 1973 2.0L with steel flares.

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I haven't had time yet to take a real deep dive into it yet (still unpacking stuff in our new house) but here's what I can tell so far:

The good:
1. 2.0L engine with new "Webers" (I was told they were legit, but they aren't)
2. Steel flares. They actually look like they were installed pretty decently
3. Interior looks to be in decent shape
4. Center gauge console with 2 CHT gauges, oil pressure and oil temp
5. Momo steering wheel
6. Wide 4 lug wheels - not sure what kind
7. Floors and trunks look to be solid
8. Hell hole isn't totally shot - still some repair work needed
9. Battery already relocated to front trunk

The bad:
1. Longs are totally shot - going to install Brad Mayeur kit
2. Paint/body work is HORRIBLE
3. Engine only has compression on 3 cylinders and smoked BADLY
4. Steel rocker covers are welded to the car
5. Lots and lots and lots of bondo on the joints between the car and the rocker covers
6. Passenger side door is rusty

Here's my plan of attack, at least until I find lots more issues that may make me change course:

1. Fix all the rust
2. Finish building my 2366 engine
3. Do body work and paint prep
4. Paint Ravenna green
5. Do 5 lug conversion w/ 5 spoke Fuchs


I'll have tons of questions for this great group as I go through this project, so thank you everyone in advance for your advice and encouragement.

So here's are the first, but far from the last, questions I have: has anyone had any experience removing rockers like this? Aside from measure twice once, any other pieces of advice as I start this rust repair? Will it be better for me to leave the doors installed to set the gap, or weld in braces?

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Over all impression is it looks to be a very nice 914 with some well done features. Remember that few if any 914's are without rust. You'll get a lot of responces to the rust issues but it might be faster to just begin by searching the many strings of posts that will lead you through the process's used in the past, including pictures.

I suggest also that you first begin finding out what the engine problem is, in hopes that there are not major problems, it might be a quick fix, such as just adjusting the valves. Once it's running and if there are no major problems......DRIVE THAT BABY and enjoy the ride for a while as you continue to sort things out. As you probibly already know, once they go up on the Jack Stands they tend to resist coming down.

Hooray for Ravenna Green!

Please do a complete chassis inspection for rust that is not readily apparent. Before you invest a ton of time doing other things, make sure the "foundation" is good.

I would consider putting it on all 4 wheels and opening both doors with the top off and having someone stand on the door threshold while you look for deflection and sagging. That will be your real indicator of how bad the rust is.

I don't necessarily think welding a stiffening kit on is the correct fix if the underlying structure is bad. That is just covering up the problem with a band aide. I am not saying you would do that, just saying I have seen some cars "fixed" that way and in the long run it may not be the best result.

I agree that from 15' it appears to be a reasonable starting point. But bondo can cover up a ton of crap. It really depends upon what your goal is for the car.

Congrats on your MBA and the car. Now have some fun and

Good plan. Chip all that bondo off and see where you're at. What's it look like underneath? Is the original color Ravenna Green? Either way great choice.

Unfortunately, the longs are bad enough that I don't trust them enough to drive it before they are fixed. On the up side, I have almost all the parts for my 2366 build




Definitely going to fix all the rust issues before trying to do anything else. That was my mistake on my last 914. I had to learn my lesson the hard way. I was under the impression that Brad's kit was designed for repairing the longs. I was going to cut out all the rot, treat the metal with anti-rust product and install the kit. Is that the wrong way to go?




I don't think it was the original color. But definitely my favorite! When it's all said and done, it'll be a '73 flared Ravenna green car with a 2.4L engine, Supertrapp muffler, headers and matte re-pop Fuchs.

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I can't wait to see this one; I'm up to a similar thing right now.
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Godspeed!

I am sure Brad's kit will work so long as you have something to weld to. He is well respected in our community and has been making and installing that kit for years, likely decades.

I am biased in that I like to see the longs repaired to their original configuration first so if you remove the rockers it is all stock in appearance. I just believe do it once, do it right and then you never have to address it again. That is what Scotty (ScottyB) did on my car and then we added the interior chassis stiffening kit which essentially becomes invisible once the interior is installed.

However, I realize that is going to add up quickly and may likely kill your budget.

If your car is going to be a driver street car, I see no problems. I agree with the earlier comment about removing the bondo to see what lies beneath though. Even though it is going to be a mess, better to remove it and repair any rust or possible poor workmanship, so that once you fix and paint it you know it is not going to bubble up with rust 1 year later.

These cars really are a slippery slope... I started off with my Six planning to just do brakes, fix oil leaks, SS fuel lines, tires, sort electrical and then drive it . However once I started to do the math, it just made no sense to do all that knowing it had some rust that needed to be addressed. In the end I jumped into the extremely deep end of the pool . Here we are coming up on 4 years in May that my car has been with Scotty and it is finally getting close to color and then assembly. I hope.

Believe me, if these cars were not in my blood since I was 18, and I had not already owned 3 other 914's, two of which were original '70 Sixes, I would likely have never embarked on my project. But I truly love these little go carts and always wanted a '71 Six. I wanted to do a complete car to my wants and wishes. Even though the prices of these cars are heading to the stratosphere I have no plans to sell my car. Once I am a dribbling old fool (maybe 10 years if I am lucky, my wife's opinion my differ on that.....) then my wife, brother or son can do what they want with it so long as I am unable to comprehend it.

Given the length of this post, maybe 10 years was overly optimistic

Jor - I love your car.

Man, you got it bad. defeated the first time out, now you went and got a bigger workspace, more tools, and grabbed another project.

Good luck.
I would suggest you strip the car and send it out to get it sand blasted....it will save you a lot of time.

Yep, I do have it bad. My wife reminds me often I even went out and bought a Boxster since I had a mid-engine Porsche itch that needed scratched. I had the red car picked out before I even sold my blue one. And before moved into our new house, she loved that.

I'll call tomorrow to get a quote for blasting it. Any idea how much $$$?

1k-1500

It's worth it...

Could be cheaper in your area.

Well, I haven't gotten anywhere since I last posted, and I traded my Boxster for this. Progress on the 914 will only be slower now

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I was finally able to find some time to work on the 914 and got the interior stripped. I was amazed I didn't find anything that needs to be addressed. Looks like the PO actually did a pretty good job welding in new metal in the typical rusty spots. Looks like the only thing they didn't do was take the time to re-mount the seat belts.

I know this is still quite a ways out, but I'm wondering if the 40 IDF carbs that came with the car will be enough for the 2366 I'm planning on building, or will I need bigger carbs?

Congrats with your new project .
Looks like you have a great list of to do before you just in any further.
Lastly, congrats with completion of your MBA.
I'm sure you know that it will pay you dividends.

Get the 80's out of that classic mustang.

Working on it...

Good finding the positive on interior rust,appears someone has gone to some effort on the car but some not in the right direction (ie bondo).
Those 40's you have will be fine with that engine combo no need to go bigger,its the correct tuning of these that really matters not the throat size as much.
Hope you don't find too many nasties under all the filler

...

Seriously, it is all about focus and organization. Best wishes.

Slowly making progress - engine is out and still knocking out bondo. I'll be cutting off the welded on rocker covers soon and I'm looking for a good reference to measure off of and figure out how much to cut off so I can go back to bolt on rocker covers.

Does anyone have a measurement from the door sill to the rocker cover top?


Soon it will be time to order Brad's long repair kit

Brads long kit is very easy to install, I did it on my car and it turned out pretty well.

Best of luck!

I got the passenger side rocker cover cut off. Long is in pretty sad shape, as I suspected it would be. Looks like I'll be adding quite a bit of metal before I am ready for Brad's kit.

Gotta hold back the urge to at the sight of this and push forward!

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Wow. Mine looks pretty similar to that, just exorcised it:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&...t&p=2368414

Stand strong...

Just take your time it really is about the journey. Mine is very similar in condition but I have replaced both longs and have fanned my own internal chassis reinforcement like enggman set up.. Each day I do about 45minutes of work on it so that it does not become a job. Goal so to be rust free by spring and rolling so we can put our house on the market.. ( too much land right now to take care of)

The car's about 80% stripped down now. All that's left to remove is the wiring harness, dash, brake fluid reservoir, windshield wiper motor, glass and some trim.

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Since my last update, there is some good news and of course some (rust related) bad news.

Bad news - front bumper mounting holes are shot, front trunk has a few holes, rear trunk has a few holes, floor has a few holes. Nothing too major, but I was told by the seller the only rust issue was the longs - I should have known better!

Good news - since I was considering selling my 2366 engine, I needed to make sure the 2.0L that was in the car is in decent shape. When I got the car, it ran horribly - no compression on 1 cylinder. When I started the tear down last night, the spark plug on the offending cylinder was hanging on by about 1 thread. Pulled the head off that side and found 96mm pistions/cylinders and 48/38mm valves in the heads. The cam looks great as well. So hopefully I won't have to invest too much in this engine to get it going again. That also means the 2366 is 100% for sale.

The plan at this point is to finish the strip down, put it up on jack stands, build a frame for the rear so I can adjust the door gap, install door braces and start the repair of the longs.

I also found a rotisserie I can borrow, so as soon as the longs are done, the suspension is coming off and the car is going on it.

That is EXACTLY what happened to my 1.8. Thought it was running like crap, was ready to pull it out, then found that the plug wire was the problem. That thing might be totally fine. When I replaced the wire mine was back to normal.

The car is stripped and I just got the door braces in. The welds look like crap, but look like they will hold just fine. And for my first welds on the car, I am relatively happy with them.

Next step is to get the car up on jack stands to begin installing the Brad long repair kit.

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Keep plugging away at it. I like the plan of doing 45min a day. Doing the long weekends get's old quick. Doing a little each day is a good plan. To easy with projects for them to sit for weeks then months then years. Keep up the good work

Before I start cutting out all this rot on the longs, should I add more bracing? I did my best to show what I was thinking in these pics. The braces would weld on just below the seat belt bolts on the firewall and on the inner longs right in front of the doors.

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Also, the Pelican instructions for installing Brad's long repair kit say that you should adjust the door gap by using a jack on the transmission to raise and lower the rear of the car. My engine and transmission are out, so I was thinking of building a triangular wooden structure and using my jack to do the job. Since I have adjustable door braces in, can I just use them to set the gap, or do I need to use the jack method?

I don't think the kit from Brad was meant to be used in this application. I'd rather use the pieces from RD.

Also, check your floor pans, they have already been patched (badly). I also see patches on the inner longs and inner rear firewall.

Don't trust ANYTHING the PO has done to this car ...

I had gotten the same feedback from other members as well. I called Brad to verify and his kit will work for me. I may have to add some metal in to make sure I have something to weld his kit onto.

I'm thinking multiple POs welded on this car. Some of the patches look really good, some look really really bad. Those will be cut out and redone. Some rust holes were filled with bondo

My preference is not to make any welds on anything that is only temporary. My door bracing is bolted to the door hinge brackets, not welded to the wall.

I wouldn't think X bracing is needed; only the side bracing

Brad's kit would probably work, but I agree with SirAndy and think that with that much missing from the longs the RD pieces would be more appropriate. But that's just my opinion.

I'll cast a vote for more bracing. My longs look a lot like yours and I've got a rigid dolly bolted to the suspension points in all four corners holding it square and fairly planar, and I have two door braces in each door. It's STILL a little more flexy than I would like it.

Still not too late to buy this:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/5709594012.html

Nah, that's no fun. I'd rather cut out and fix lots of rust!