First off a big thanks to all the folks that created the " 914 Club" I discovered this site about a month after I bought my car. What a fantastic motivator & sometimes just a big freakin waste of time, I just have to check into the garage to see whats going on everyday.

I've always loved Porches & thought that 914's were such funky cool cars ,looked at lot's over the years but never found one without some major issues.

And then last summer my son found this car in Portland. The lady selling had owned it since "77" & was moving to a houseboat & didn't want to leave it outside.

"74" 2.0, 32,000 Miles, Perfect Interior , driven 2,000 miles since '88' 100% stock except exhaust. Talked my wife & son into driving to Oregon on our anniversary. I bought it on the spot.

The drive back with my son to Seattle was one of the funnest days of my life, throttle sticking open @ 3K most of the trip, dash lights going out at night thru tacoma , a real adventure.

So I figured I could spend the next five years or so kinda spiffing it up, just the minor things.

So the first idea was to get that throttle taken care of. A little cleaning a litlle lubrication, new fuel & filter.

Changing the old filter the hoses desinigrate in my hands( ominous music here) the start of things to come?

welcome to the drugless crackhouse. that is a nice looking car. I think any 30 yr old car is going to have issues. starting with a good solid foundation is a major plus. a car that sits in a garage for a long time may have slight surface corrosion on some of teh connectors. check teh simple (cheap) things first. check teh grounding points. clean off teh fuses and the fuse block contacts

enjoy teh ride!

replace those lines , get some 5/16 fuel hose and get to work. Those cracked up hoses can make a nice car into a flame thrower.

Herb Meeder will provide motivation for you to change those fuel lines out

The hoses are kinda hard to get to with the engine in so I may as well do it right, Study the heck out of Dave Darlings writings & everybodies favorite AA ( his checklist is great except for the part about 1/2 hour job) & pretty soon....

looks good sitting there but locate a set of 2.0l SSI heat exchangers and a Bursch or Triad muffler. The SS he's will give you lots of clean heat (a must in the PNW) and the Bursch or Triad will give you back some hp that Manta muffler steals.

Change ALL of the fuel lines with proper high pressure Porsche FI fuel line so you don't do a Cheech&Chong!

Actually, this morning there is something going on at Kevins (Rhodyguy) before they go to a car show in Tacoma.

So after the new compressor, new sandblaster ($50.00 at Sears), new paint gun $39.99 @ Wholesale Tools, a fantastic 2 gun set-up, multiple $$$$ of POR 15, Zambezi Green paint my hjaw dropped win they told me the price after mixing it, multiple $$$ at Pelican parts ,(I Love those guys), this is my engine compartment.

That looks sweet!

Now for the engine can't put this crappy thing back in soo..., all new hoses went to the Wagon shop in Bellevue got to know him real well Bought the correct braided hoses & all new German hose clamps @ $3.OO ea ( alot of these little buggers on there), Fuel , Vacuum , fixed thermostat cable, boiled to test, cleaned painted all the tin, Big mistake should have powdercoated as suggested. and now...

More inspiration. I love it. I just replaced all the hoses on my 1.7 with the "correct" braided hoses after my local mechanic gave me a load of crap about putting rubber hoses on a "fine German car". Next winter I am going to drop the engine and trans to just clean things up. But not now. The top came off yesterday for a quick drive. I had to bungee cord in the battery because i'm replacing the battery tray but it was fun. Enjoy the new toy!

I think I'm sending a few into cyberspace

My paint oven, a tip for painting in the garage... turn off the furnace intake fan ,cuts down on the wifes complaining about fumes, only took me a month to figure this out ...

So I drive the car around for a couple of days. I can personally attest the the car will run with a new Optima for about 100 miles without the voltage regulator plugged in. You know one of those I'll put it here so I don't forget it deals.

Me & my son bent over ( a very common situation ) Should I say something about AAron & the 4 hour erection problem here?

So things are settling down over the holidays. We're all watching the Barrett Jackson Acuction on the Speed Channel & my wife says" You deserve one of those real nice Paint jobs like those guys"

Uh Oh I say to myself. I know this means the timetable is moving forward on my five year project. But for us married guy's when opportunity knocks and you are given the OK to piss away many thousands you gotta move quick so.....
some more power tools ...

more..

more

Just a shot of my longs. I know this will sicken the stomachs of some of the midwest guys with all the work on the rust & fabrications that they do. My delimma was how to get the oversprayed undercoating off ( feel sorry for me?)

So while the car is at " Queen City" in Redmond for paint I've had some time for a few other things.

My Marriage counselor say's I need to spend more time with the wife, my alcohol counselor says It's ok to have a few beers while working on the car but it becomes a problem when you spend 16 hours a day with a beer on the bench. My financial guy tried to explain something about diminishing returns, I really thought about their advice... fired them all now I have more $$$$ for the car.!!!

I've gone completely Bonkers!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooo.........
may as well take the paint off the bumpers & turn them into Chrome.

The bumpers were a lot of fun.

I learned a technique call "Pick & file" you take a very sharped tipped hammer & rap the ding from the back & slowly raise the material to remove dents & dings. Very slow process but after a while you start getting a feel for it, very rewarding though when you get some confidence. After about 40 hours & equal beers I had them ready to take to the plater. I complicated the job by welding up the bumper " tit holes" creating a lot of extra work for myself.
I just didn't like the looks ofthe bumperettes.

same story with the rockers & front & rear facia.

It's amazing how 30 plus years can put a lot of dents in these things. I had these powdercoated black.

I'm not 100% happy with them but there's always next winter.

No photo's of the finished bumpers but they look incredible.

Worked on the trim, this is kind of an interesting project..

The vertical Targa trim was kinda dinged up & the little pieces that go across the top, same pick & file technique except very gently..with progressively finer sandpaper I've got them looking like new except now I'm not sure how to coat them to protect the finish. Ive used Mothers polish & it say's it will coat but I'm not sure. Any help here?

The last few weeks I've been working on my EBay Fuchs. Cleaning & doing gently sanding on curb rash etc. I don't want to reanodize them , just want to keep them stock looking. Now I need to pick-out some tires.

how did that yellow 914 get there??

QUOTE (greenie @ May 14 2005, 12:50 PM)

how did that yellow 914 get there??

That freaked me out!

I just this minute posted the yellow 914 image for Rick Oolah in his thread asking for a 914 badge. It's the thread right below this one.

Must have been a computer hiccup. I think you should be able to delete it. If not, one of the admins can.

Sorry.

Anyway, nice looking car!

I'll Post more later.

Just a note. This is the 1st " just for fun car I've ever owned, I did'nt even own a jackstand for Gawds Sake" now I'm tripping over them. I've never thought I was much of a mechanic but am gaining skills & confidence.

This site & pelicans has been an inspiration to me. It's always fun " Just keep me away from Jake & my wallet may stand a chance.

Next winter ???

Your car is beautiful, and your detail appears to be 100%.

Excellent work!


M

Your car looks great! Yes, you probably did get a little carried away; of course I'm jealous. Keep up the great work. More pictures!

After all the posting this morning I came home & drug the bumpers out of the attic. so I could show off my chromed bumpers.

By the way the very first photo is what the car looked liked before I ripped it to shreds,

Its still in pieces.

more

rear

I'm running out of things to do until the car gets back from paint ( next couple of weeks hopefully), so I put in my new vent seals from pelican & cleaned everything up.

In other words, you be like Qarl....

QUOTE (greenie @ May 14 2005, 03:49 PM)

I'm running out of things to do...

Shhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

(in a hushed voice) A married man should NEVER, EVER say those words out loud.

-Ben M.

ps - super good work on your project!

Wow, You are doing a fantastic job, keep updating us with pictures

QUOTE (Lou W @ May 14 2005, 10:40 PM)

Wow, You are doing a fantastic job, keep updating us with pictures

Well done! You are definately an inspiration.

Awesome work and true dedication

Don't worry about the obsession, this is a good obsession. It will keep you out of trouble. Don't worry about the wallet, that was a done deal once you signed your blood to the title.

Oh, just don't let the HoneyDo list fall behind. I even use the old but proven method to suck the Mrs in to my restoration causes.

"I learned this from my old hotrod teacher" He pulled this off for 50 of his 70 years.

This is how it works.......

Lets say that you have just got in a ton of new parts over the week and you can hardly sleep thinking about Saturday. Saturday awakes you to a beautiful morning. The Mrs knows that you have car on the brain when you slip out of bed to run and make coffee. What she doesn't know is you are about to pull a trick on her. This trick always confuses their emotional thought processes (or so it seems). See... she thinks that you are going to the garage to tinker on "the car", but what you do is start on all those things that she has asked you a million and one times to fix, move or paint. Yea I know it is painful thought but, you will pull her to your corner. Especially when you have to fork over even more cash to something else needed for the "the car". I have pulled this trick to the tune of 16K over the last five years and now she asks me when I'm going to get busy and order this or that.

Dig where I'm going with this?....Just because you are the fox in the chicken coop, doesn't mean you have to eat the chickens like the farmer thinks you will.......

I have reached the husbandry standard of Freud.....God it feels good to be king!



Keep up the hard and good work. You are going to have a masterpiece when you are done. I know it........

Thanks for the kind words.

I have a few misadventures I'll post later.

I've met some really interesting guys as a result of this car,just a blast to have this added element in my life.

Curt

For a new guy, you sure started your posting off with a bang. Keep them coming.

damn curt, that is nice!

QUOTE (seanery @ May 15 2005, 09:06 AM)

damn curt, that is nice!

VERY nice work!

Tell me more on this "pick and file" techique you used. Do you knock the low spots high on the opposite side with the hammer, and then file the "bumps" off? And if you don't mind me asking, what did the rechrome on the bumpers run you?

Kevin

Hey Special K,

Yes exactly on the pick & file, I put the hammers I used in the photo. I think it's old school body work. 1st get the dent or ding as flat as possible with a small body hammer.
Use the sharp pick opposite of the indention. Strike hard, (but not to hard) enough that you make a pimple on the opposite side. Lots of pimples & pretty soon you are moving metal. Then use a block (see picture) & 80 grit sand paper,you will see the low spots (rinse & repeat)then progressively finer sandpaper. The 1st couple of dents took a long time but by the end I was really rolling. When you think your're done do it all over because your not.
I got a great deal on chroming, I know the plater $500.00
total for both bumpers.

Thanks Curt, that's kind of what I envisioned with your description of the process. Did you use a sandbag (beater bag) for back-up? Or just beat it into submission right there on the workbench.

Great job/price on the re-chrome, they look better than new!

So its been awhile since I posted anything....

The car took nearly 5 months at the paint & body, gave me plenty of time to get everything ready, lots of cleaning, plating
& general stuff.

Even had time to start on a garden shed now that I need more room in the garage.

So I'll just post a few pics of the project.

These are my 205s vs what came off.

at paint about a month ago...

I had scrapped a lot of seam sealer , Queen City did a beautiful job of matching it.

Too much work on the wheels... couldn't put the crappy lug back on.

The neigbor kid came by , I told his mom "Elliot caught me polishing my nuts"

I' really got fired up with the quality of Queen City, no shortcuts..

Greenie

Show the bumpers. Damn I love those bumpers. The whloe car looks great. The bumpers are a labor of love. tell em what you did.

Dave

Drove it home ( the backroads) last monday. A friend followed close behind with instruction to drive erraticaly if he saw a cop.

Got started on the goodies.... had to get the bumpers on, I think i'm most proud of these, it was an incredible amount of work but they are gorgeous.