My LS was feeling a bit less sexy than usual, what with that Ferrari engine sitting there in the shop. So I treated it to a few more style points by way of some neat-o valve covers. These look SOOO much better than the stock LS covers and their unused coil mount bosses.

Nice!

Those have a NICE look to them!

Moving from "looks so much better" to what's looking as ratty as can be.
Today was working on the rear lighting harness: final routing then sheathing with DR 25.
Yes, an incredibly boring pic but I know you care about all these details.

I'm nearly to the point where I'll be seam sealing the fire wall and spraying the sound/heat treatment. Major milestone stuff!

Do you really think so.... I mean. OMG it's good to hear sense. Can we?

That certainly takes the LS engine to the next level; very nice.

So I actually did get something more done on my car. I made part of the rear lighting harness.

Yeah as ive grow ive learned to hate spade connecters. The less, the better.

A shame that Porsche didn't make them all like that. That is the way I wish my car was wired. Very clean and I am sure, 100% more reliable and maintenance free.

Where to route the harness... This is too visible But I have an idea!

A few holes and some split grommets for protection and?
There, that's better. Once sheathed and secured, it'll all but disappear.

Rear lighting harness tested, sheathed, sealed and installed with all protective grommets in place. Nearly invisible, as hoped.

If you look back at the last couple pics, you'll see that the corners of the engine compartment still had remnants of the stock sheet metal. Today was working to tidy up these areas.
Another item to address is that this is a '75 so since I removed all the support structure for the BUBs, I needed to do something to reinforce the rear panel and be sure things would be strong enough to put it back on the rotisserie when it's time for blasting and paint.
First step was to remove all the old metal, then fab a couple bumper mount area spreader plates. With those in place, I folded up a triangular corner brace that ties the rear panel to the reinforced area of the inner wheel wells.
A nice big speed hole to give it some additional strength and visual interest and it's nearly time to weld it all together.

I like it

Nice.

Nice touch

No teasing of the other engine swap potential here?

@preach - I started another thread for the Ferrari build.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=359314

Well you sunk the hook again on me.

Keep up the awesome work!

Both rear corner braces fabbed, fitted and ready to install. Maybe kinda looking like 911 engine mounts, as someone pointed out to me.
Gotta say, it's hard to focus on the braces with that drive train sitting there!

Nice. Even the gussets. Is gusset-envy a thing...

Who says you can't use a Ferrari 360 engine cover/rear hatch release as the lever to actuate your 914 GT headlights?
This will most likely get used on the other build as the trunk release latch but I had to give it a go, just for fun. Good news is it worked.

Bonus points if you alter the silhouette to a proper 914 with lights up.

Today was contorting myself into the foot well to replace the clutch master cylinder. It was a 7/8" bore which, while great for track use, ends up being WAY too heavy and essentially an On/Off switch. It was replaced with a 3/4", as recommend in a quick call with Renegade. Should be a greatly improved driving experience.

Then I spoke with CMS about the updates to the Boxster trans. I mentioned it's getting the 3.0 ring and pinion (down from the factory 3.44 ratio) and an LSD.

I allowed myself to be talked into adding their billet side plate and a fix to prevent the dreaded "popping out of 2nd", which mine wasn't doing. But easier to prevent now than address later, should it have happened. Exciting pics, I know.
Finally, they're prepping the case for a trans cooler and temp sensor.
It should be done and back to me in a couple/few weeks.

Progress and new parts are always exciting.

Our foster kitties are doing great! They celebrated their 7 week birthday on Weds, 5/11.
Left to right, that's Twist, JitterBug, Hula and Disco.
A nice distraction from the car projects, that for sure.

I swear, I'm trying to add more 914-realted content to this build thread. Just look at what I was trying to do when the kitty cuddle puddle ended up in my lap!

Incredibly cute

Waiting for the transmission allowed me to focus on a couple items I've wanted to redo.
One was my hood prop. Cool as I think it was, I completely overlooked the fact that the pit pin handle would get hot, what with being a foot from the radiator! Not fun when you go for a refuel...
Here's an early version of that set up, but you get the idea.

So I ordered the Camp914 hood strut kit - and then realized I'd removed my hood spring brackets. What to do?

First, I removed the strut ball pins from the bracket that bolts to the hood, reversed it and welded it back on. This moves the strut outboard. Now all I needed to do was fab a bracket for the other ball pin, worked out where it needed to be and weld it to the chassis. Done!

All done here. Repeat on the other side and, she's complete.
On to removing / repairing all the mounting points for that original hood prop and looking forward to uneventful refueling!

Oh, and to a hinge update, thanks to @ValcoOscar !

Very nice job with the struts and the Oscar hinges will look perfect.

I'm getting a lot of the little projects done. Today it was working up a solution for the GT headlight pull. That Ferrari lever is way too big for what I wanted, plus it didn't really fit anywhere that I liked.
I wanted something a bit stealth and I ended up sourcing a domestic hood release latch ( Amazon ~ $10).
A bit of rummaging in the parts stash and a quick muttering of, "I swear I have one of those 90 degree throttle cable routing tubes..." Bingo!
Then I cut a mounting tab and removable mounting plate. Pay no attention to the mismatched fasteners - I need a specifically sized shoulder bolt and these were all I had laying around. I'll get matching ones, I promise.
Now, where am I going to mount this?

I love it when the stars align. Who'd have guessed that a randomly selected latch would fit perfectly in the lower dash pad indent under the steering column? Well, it does! And really nicely.

And just for fun, I applied a spare wireless steering wheel button sticker. Not sure I like it as lowers the stealth value. I may end up removing it. We'll see after it's fully installed and I can experience it with the car back together.

Now to weld on the tab and check this off the to-do list.

It took a bit of welding upside down while contorted in the footwell, using my shoulder to work the pedal... but with that fun session of "stunt welding" out of the way, the headlight release is fitted under the steering column.

Talk about a great stash of parts to pick from!

Tool Whore ALERT:
With all the panels I've changed out or removed, I need to get things sealed up ahead of paint so after a bit of research, I treated myself to an SEM pneumatic seam sealer gun.
This will allow me to essentially duplicate the look of the factory seam seal, as well as spray sound pad and other neat-o looks.

It also strikes me that I need to post a thread and announce some sort of "tool loan" program. I'm fortunate enough to have amassed some pretty cool tools and I was thinking I should let folks know they're available to borrow.

This seam sealer gun is a great example of something that makes all the difference in getting "the look" during repair/resto but that most folks wouldn't want to buy to use just once. Beyond my took whore-ness, I figured I could justify it based on needing it for my car, the Ferrari 914 build, RacerBenz and my E9, which needs floor pans and spare tire well repair. And @markhoward Mark will for sure want to use it on Smoggy!

Certainly some details to work out to ensure a successful loaner program, but it seems like the thing to do. Your suggestions welcomed.

Good on you! This tool in particular is one that begs for a rental/loaner program of some sort. Just one more of many examples of your generosity.

Chris is an amazingly generous man and we are blessed to have him in our World. Plus his place is just awesome.

Cool tool dude

The E9 is back home. It's now a 3.5 injected 5-speed with a proper stance, new wheels and LOTS and lots of other stuff done to it. Euro bumper conversion in the works.
Probably as different from my 914 as another classic car could be.

Beautiful! I love E9s, and that's a great shot with the Ferrari engine poking up in the back and the 914 waiting its turn.

Wow, what a lovely E9. I dont know all the old BMW colors by heart, but is that Fjord Blue?

Euro bumper conversion will elevate it quite a bit. Love the M30 motor also.

Perfect two car solution LOL

@2mAn Yep, Fjord blue. It's a popular, well-liked color on the E9. Not my favorite, but it's growing on me pretty quickly. It certainly is pretty and suits the car well.

Back to the 914! Today was more "stunt welding". This time, it was the back/underside of the transmission mount X brace. I was laying on a board that was propped up on two tires. I had to wedge myself against the chassis to keep from sliding down the board. But I was able to get comfortable enough to get this result. The lovely blue background is the underside of my trunk.
Certainly room for improvement but I feel like I'm getting a reasonable handle on TIGing.

Please note that the driving reason I post stuff like this isn't to show off what may be a nice result. It's to point out that only a few years ago, I didn't know how to weld at all.
I hope what folks take from this is that if I can do it, you can, too. Give it a try, practice and...