Hello Guys,

since many years I'm working on my 914-6 restoration project. Now I have finished most of the jobs like engine and transmission rebuild, electric harness, suspension ..., now it's time for the body work. Normally before I start I try to collect es much information to get a perfect result.

My body was repaired in the past by unexperienced and now I have to fix this badly bodywork. See the pictures and look at the door clearence than you understand.

The question is how can I fix this and if you had the same topic how was it fixed by you.

More pictures

one more

I think you will need to cut out the past patching, so the tub can be straightened out, and then do a proper re-weld, without warping the car. Pretty sure it was on jack stands when welded, and and the heat pulled it out of whack. I'm sure you know all this. A Six will be worth the effort!

Unfortunately the only way to properly fix it is to cut out and replace the entire long. The previous work done is pretty bad.

It might not be as bad as you think.
I'd re-install the drive train and suspension and put the car on the ground.
Roll the car around to settle it under its own weight.
Do so with four uniform tires. On a flat floor.
The issues can not be evaluated with the car on jackstands.
The front gap will be done by "adjusting " the hinges with a floor jack or a big
f_ _ _ _in hammer.
Then the rear can be better judged.
Remove the door latch until you get it close.

To roll the car and check the clearance is something I already have taken in consideration. But the point I still don't understand is how much the body clearance is influenced by welding/heat in the inner longitude. Before I start welding this metal part will be holde in place by using screws and clamps. However it must be guaranted that before welding the body is braceless. The floor panel will be completely exchanged and also the outer longitude. Much work I waiting The clearance on the driver side is also Bad although on this side nothing was welded.

My longs look a lot like that. Previous owner welded and brazed (!) patches all along the bottom. I bought new metal from RD and I'm in the process of cutting it all out and welding new metal in. I made braces to control the door gaps while the frame is compromised. My gaps may have been bad because of the welding, but I think the rust was a bigger factor- it was just sagging because of weakness. Welding torch, tape measure, and patience should take care of it...

If you feel the previous repairs were done poorly, I would brace the car at the door openings, put it on a rotisserie and cut out the old repairs and do them correctly, utilizing factory measurements to make sure all is square and plumb.

A Six is worth doing correctly. You will sleep better knowing it was all done correctly. Additionally, document all of that work too so if you decide to sell the car in the future you can prove the work was done to proper standards.

Good luck and keep us in the loop with lots of pictures.

Allais, another sunflower yellow car covered in Red!

Is a 914-6 conversion or the real deal? Makes a big difference.

Start by studying these dimensions.

http://www.914world.com/specs/bodydims.php

You car is an interesting puzzle. There will be some key things you will have to keep track of from start to finish.

Part of the problem is once the chassis started going south the repair person may have tried to bend things like the windshield frame to make the door fit less obvious. This makes some of the measurements you want to use unreliable. I will get you past that by starting with the lowest point on the car and working up. So there will be very few measurements you can count on as a baseline but you can get this back in spec.

I'm going to make some assumptions as a place to start for now. If the following turns out to be unreliable I can back up one step. I am going to assume at least the forward check sets are intact. (the donuts or pucks under the car) Post some photos and I will instruct you in another direction if they are damaged, rusted/repaired or missing. For now start here.

Here is where I would start. Set the car up on a level plain at the forward check sets. Set it level from right to left across the car.

Now bring the car up or down front or rear to get the left side longitudinal level. If you have achieved this on the left go over and check the right side, as well as the right to left at the rear check sets.

I'm not confident the rears will be intact but my goal is to determine if, when the welding was done the last guy caused the longitudinals right side to left side to be out of plain. So first we are looking for twist. Don't worry about anything else until you have addressed this.

Report back with this information and I will tell you where to go next.

I will need some more photos from you too.

If you can take a right side and left side photo of the whole car and photos of the check sets that would be helpful. Also photos of the longitudinal photos both sides.

This will take awhile to get through but if you have patients and a space to work where the car can sit without being moved I can help you get it straight.

Hello Cary, The car is a real 914-6, I never would by a conversion because in Austria the approval certifacte you will not get. All the tests you have to made and pass... this is different then in US

Hello Rick, I will send more pictures, I think the cassis have twisted. I already ordered many parts form Restoration Design. The measurments I will make on the weekend, I have to organize a telescopic gauge.
The care is accident free and at the moment I see rust on different places. Have a look on the additional pictures,

and more pictures

my hand made cellete

front trunk

Nice, good luck on your project.

Your in good hands. With Rick's long distance guidance you'll come up with the correct plan.

rear trunk

right outer side

again right side

engine

transmission, rebuild by my own, bought tools to align shaft and pinion (was damaged)

pinion

Before the rebuild, I'm sitting in the 914-6

looks like a pretty decent six, other than needing a hip replacement....was it yellow then green now red ???
the inner long, in Germany looks to be perfect compared to the RD one..the bottom flange even has the correct stamped impressions...here is a link;
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Innenschweller-rech...S-/251409572397

Yes it was yellow, and after restoration it will be again yellow.
The inner long from Germany is really expensive the part from RD I already have. But you are right, German Part is really detailed made.

After viewing the photos that car is not bad just poorly repaired. I noticed the section on the right where the door threshold sill meets the quarter panel is intact. That's good, these often get rust damage. It's a tricky little transition from the sill to the quarter panel.

Click to view attachment


Hell hole looks like surface rust for the most part. Both trunks look good.


The chassis jig will work out well. Does it extend back as far as the transaxle mounts? Get the car set up and let's analyze it. You may want to see if you can get a couple cheap laser pointers. you can attach one of those bubble levels the contractors use on string lines and make a cheap laser dimensioning tool.

One of the worst jobs is going to be removing that spray can undercoating.

Yeah, that Six does not look bad at all. But until you remove all the sound deadening from the chassis to see what it really looks like, we are just guessing. But the car really does look like a great starting point. The engine and transaxle look nicely done too. We will be watching this thread as your Six progresses through the chassis restoration.

For the undercoating and Paint removal I decided to use mbx. Hoppefully it works as promised

Another cool 914-6 thread. Subscribed and looking forward to the &

I know , But in the Long run it will be worth it,,at least your closer than us USA peeps,, judging by what you have done so far,,it deserves it



BTW nice pinion depth tool ,,,,,I have the same one, with the gauge blocks also

This is the part that you want to do the repair with. I'm in the same place as you on a repair to my 6. I also have the RD parts on hand but after taking a long hard look at things want the org parts for my repair. I even emailed the above company to see if they would ship to the US. At first their ad said they would ship to the US but now it's " may not ship to US". They did get back to me with a shipping cost of 100 Euro's plus whatever other fee's are involved. I get the feeling they do not want to ship to the US for whatever reason. If you need a replacement long for the drivers side I believe RD now carries a copy of the org part. I've searched for a while now looking for some oem panels and did locate some for my repair. There's a few items still on my list with the factory right long being one of them. Best of luck on locating the parts you may need. Another way is to buy a usable parts car to harvest the metal from.

BTW take lots of measurements prior to cutting and welding the car back up.
I've started making a custom chassis brace for my car. This should keep things inline when welding it back together.

Hello Luke,
I already bought so many parts from US and I'm happy to see that people in US friendly and willing to sell to Austria.
The shipping fees are sometimes really high and the customs... yes if it is not a gift and the price+ shipping fees > 100Euro I have to pay charges.

However, currently I'm looking for the rubber parts attached on the rear/front pumpers. I asked companies in US, they offer cheaper.

Tell me if the German company doesn't won't to ship to you, maybe I can help. You also will get this athttp://www.mittelmotor.de/content/news/activenews_view.asp?articleID=48 329Euro they are asking for cheaper then the offer on Ebay!!! And they ship to US as well.

Wow! Those parts are Awesome!

Click to view attachment

I'm on my phone at WCR?
Is that product from Mittlemotors?
Link didn't hypertext on my phone.

Please let us know how it works! I've always wondered and considered buying one.


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Cary, it is the Mittlemotor inner long. They really are awesome!

http://www.mittelmotor.de/content/news/act...sp?articleID=48

We need Pete to get a shipment from Mittlemotor so we don't have to pay that shipping per piece. Those are the parts I would use for a 914-6. Maybe cost prohibitive for the 4's but with prices rising... maybe not.

mittlemotor offers them in 2 thickness 1.5mm stock 2.0mm stronger

rick sent you a pm

These Parts are on the market since 2..3 years, the price was much higher, as far as I remeber about 1200Euro per pice. Now it is okay at least for 914-6 restoration. I will sell the pice from RD and will order from Mittelmotor.

If you order in Germany you must also pay additional fees( custome) ore how is this in US?

The sheet metall I already have for my car and my 2nd 914-4 2.0

yes

http://www.mittelmotor.de/content/news/act...sp?articleID=48

Nice 914

Another $$$ factor to consider is fiddling time to get the RD/AA to fit. If your paying to have the work done. Sometimes it might be a wash.
Another nice thing about the Mittlemotors piece, it has the recess/step for the floor panel. RD/AA piece is flat.

The part from MM is much more like the genuine part and both sides are available.

I already bought many parts from MM and they always delivered good quality. I like them but there is another company "memminger" they collected many parts, do you know them ?
http://www.914neuteile.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=56

Patrik at http://www.914er-teile.de carries those as well. Nice guy to dra with & I bought my new -6 OEM tank off him

Expensive but nice and what I will be using on my car if or rather when I need them

Keep up the good work

I've tried several times to make contact with Memminger. I've called and emailed them with no reply to date. I know they where on " holiday " at the time but not responding to a message or email in weeks doesn't sound like good business practices to me. I didn't know that Mittlemotors offered a replacement right long.
I'll reach out to Mittlemotors next and report back.

Ok, so I've called Mittlemotors and all I get is no answer. Yes, I made sure I called them when they're open for business. I also tried to email them but gets bounced back. So, is there any member in Germany that would be willing to make contact with them ? I'd like to know if they have the right inner long for sale and willing to ship to the US.


This : http://www.mittelmotor.de/content/news/act...sp?articleID=48

Nice tool but it is still a dirty long process.

Not sure that you know who you are getting advice from, but Rick is the real thing. He has helped many people straighten out things that looked impossible. I suggest following his advice as he has done this for a living. Some people like puzzles formed in metal and Rick is one of them. He can reverse an origami to flat rice paper.

Hello Luke, Mittelmotor responded on every mail I send to them, also calls are possible. I know they are sometimes really busy because the spare part deparment is responsible for the incoming calls/shipping and the guys which are currently in there office asking for parts.
I will order the right long from them I let you know!

Hello Worn,
The tool was the best choise, I chemical treatment ,sand/soda blasting is very expensive in Austria, also I have my doubst that the used medium can be removed out of all hollows.

I try to fix all rusted areas before I will remove all the paint an prepare for painting again.

I will poste additional pictures soon .

I got a hold of them this morning and the parts guy requested a picture/info of the part. I sent him an email with the info so I should hear back in a few days or so.