What is the correct name for the front panel between the headlights? I've tried several searches and can't really turn this up.

My question is: Can someone point me to a link where the removal of this entire piece is detailed?

I'm replacing one headlight bucket and the entire nose panel if needed and I'd like to see how that comes apart if possible.

Thanks!

This may help

Drill out all the spot welds. Just takes time.

There is some photos here. I think start on page 2.

7 of 9.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=104128&hl=


FYI> The easiest way is to leave the bucket including the drain tube attached to the front panel. Otherwise your aligning too many parts without factory jigs to hold the pieces.

Can someone explain or show the difference between the early and late front panels?

76 doesn't have the holes in the front

Plus, early panels don't have the bumper shock holes/dimples ...

Thanks Mark, I was also under the impression that there is a change after '72
but I'm not finding anything that substantiates that.

Thanks Andy, I was typing when you answered... much appreciated.

Schloßquerwand vorn a link to all 4 types I have seen

Earlier cars did not have the semi-circle that goes around the front of the spare tire. In 72 or so, they added that.

--DD

Thanks for the reminder. In some dialouge with Rich a couple weeks ago I determined that there are 3-4 different variants.
Right now I have one of every year from 70 - 75 in the shop.
I'll shoot some pictures and post tonight.

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70 and 71 are the same ................

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72 looks to be one of a kind .....................

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73 and 74 look to be the same

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Here's one of Mark's 75's.

First of all, thank all of you guys for your responses and info. I'm about to fix concealed crash damage that I knew had been lurking...waiting for me. Virtually all of the rust repair is finished on the car now and I'm going to attack the front end.




This car has damage that reminds me of the Alien Baby of Rick's. Maybe not so extensive but the PS fender is bent outwards. There's a very defined bend in the weather stripping channel which I'll show in the pics below. Also, the hit seems to have been at the PS headlight bucket. You can see somebody pounded it back out to usable shape but there are kinks and tears in the area...Oh, and a ton of filler on the outside of the fender.

Rick, I know you said it's best to leave the bucket in place but this one is pretty damaged. Is the drain tube welded into the trunk floor where it passes through?

Am I OK to cut the nose out so It's easier to remove the remnants attached by spot welds? I guess what I'm asking is will the fenders "stay put" without the front panel connecting them?

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What is piece #9 and can you get it aftermaket?

...

That's kinda bad but not really. I meant to leave the headlight bucket attached to the front panel. As in Replace the bucket and front panel as one piece. It's much harder to replace the bucket then the front panel and get everything aligned. Check out post # 22 in the thread I posted. The right side is not trimmed yet. Look at the left side and you can see where I have it trimmed to replace the front panel. I included the reinforcement as well as the bucket. It goes together very nicely this way.I would also remove that fender and get a used one. There is far too much damage under all that filler. You will have a lot of time trimming used parts but sometimes it takes what it takes.

My advise, Buy a parts car for the front clip. Lots of cars out there with hell holes that are gone but good clips yet for parts. I don't have any spare fenders. I committed to a repair of a factory 6 that needs the only spares I have left.

#9 is the front trunk floor corner directly under the headlight bucket. The bucket drain tube is tack welded to the floor corner.

Yesterday I removed the passenger side bucket. Check out the inner fender. More bondo. I didn't have time to strip it to see just how large the repair area was. This shouldn't surprise me. There was bondo on the longs INSIDE the passenger compartment.

I do have a front clip I've been saving for this repair. Will leave the bucket attached to the front panel as you suggested. The down side is that this new clip is a 73 so it has the extra trunk reinforcements that I'll need to remove.

The same donor provided a straight hood. My stock hood had been part of the accident. It has a cracked rib and the front edge wasn't true. When I put the blue hood on with a consistent gap at the cowl, it rubs the inside of the driver side headlight (headlight up). This makes me think that both fenders lean towards the passenger side. I plan to use the dimensions of the blue hood to make the two fenders parallel to each other and I figure it'll be a lot easier with the nose panel removed.

Would you leave the existing driver's side bucket in place?

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Here's my thought on the subject. I would change the whole thing. If you have some deflection in the front clip. (Sway) you would be better off using a known good part to help better align the front clip. Use the cowl to hood as a gauge, Be sure to use the measurements as well, and the whole nose with buckets will help put everything in place. Hope that makes sense.

I'm about to start trimming the donor nose section. My car is a 72, the donor is a 73. This means that the 73 section has the added corner braces in the nose. I had in mind to remove these and utilize only the parts that matched my 72. Am I correct in my thinking? I realize that if I leave them "as is" and install the section in the car, somebody in the future may take a peek in the trunk and notice they aren't correct for the year. This might also scream "crash repair" to someone knowledgeable. On the other hand, I sort of like the additional bracing plus the trunk floor sits so nicely on them vs the way it sits in the 72.

I probably know what I SHOULD do... Any thoughts on this?


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Check out the thread in my sig. I replaced the PS fender and nose piece.

I would just ask if you are building a Concours car or a just nice driver. If it is going to be a driver, I would leave the '73 front clip as is - I also like the added support. Also, you have documented the front clip replacement (as Scotty did on my car) and that is a part of the cars history now. It's not like you are ever going to represent the car has never had any panel replacement/body work. The more important fact, at least for me, is that it is done correctly. That looks like a nice clean clip too.

OMG that's bent,wonder how the car steered after that hit,keep up the good work,the solution you have is the best and easiest,good luck.

This was my dad's car so I never plan to sell it. Eventually, it'll pass to one of my kids, God willing. I guess I'm just wondering if even a well done repair like I'm planning could hurt the car's value--presuming 914 prices continue to climb.

Expecting a 40 year old car to have never had rust or seen an accident is a pipe dream. The only thing that really counts is the quality of the repair. A high quality repair detracts little to no value whereas a poor quality one can detract thousands or make the car worthless.