The interior looks nice.

Thanks man, I don’t think I ever posted a shot with my newly reupholstered center cushion , so here it is

My late model cushion box was somehow missing the original piano hinge .. so I thought ‘oh! I have one on my other box/cushion I can use’. Unfortunately it was mangled and rusting away. So I bought a new 12” hinge and cut it in half (for both boxes). Works perfectly now.

Well done! This is exactly what I did on mine. I even kept that left over hinge. I'm going to use it on the LE whenever I get to doing the interior.

With all the rain we’ve been getting I decided to finally rebuild my calipers.
Here are a pile of parts .. pre assembly

And now waiting for reinstallation

Damn! Those look nice! Well done!

Excellent!

Thought I’d update my build thread. I’ve got the brakes installed and initial bleed done. There’s not a strong pedal but I’ll bleed again after first drive (engine not installed yet). Also I keep trying to remember the note that’s been made a few times that the new brake seals will take some time to relax before a high firm pedal is achieved.

Rears. Added a photo of the pads I’m using otherwise I’ll forget by next week

I also got the fuel pump and hoses complete installed. I actually had to remove the tank after I’d gotten it installed because I could not manage the master cylinder install with it in. So that sucked but it’s done.

Speaking of the fuel tank.. my top strap is working well to hold the tank solidly in place but also isn’t perfect.. it’s not sitting on the plastic bridge like it should. Do I have something backwards ..or

Wrapped up fuel hose install under engine compartment today:

I moved over to addressing the transmission and engine. I figured I’d go ahead and replace most of the external transmission seals. I started with the input shaft seal. Here’s the one that was in it. Someone has used a non-standard seal here in the past. Had a weird greenish blue kind of color and shaped differently than the elring:

Elring replacement:

When pulling the blue/green one, I managed to push it down past the bearing bore, into the case so I pulled the diff cover and fished it out. Ordered a new huge o-ring for the diff cover. Here’s a pic of the old one after I finished installing the replacement:

Then on to replacing both output shaft seals.. this pic is after one of the old ones was pulled, replacement sitting under it:

I then installed the odometer gear holder thing.. this one I got from @bdstone914 (bruce stone) I think .. he offered them machined with a second o-ring to help with leaking:

The engine:
It’s supposedly rebuilt (approx) 7 years ago with zero miles on it.. a 1.7L

For some reason it only had about 2.5 quarts of oil (WTF), so I topped it off. And the the builder used worm type clamps at the injectors (though FI clamps elsewhere), that damaged the hoses enough for me to replace them. An example:

I also pulled the clutch assembly- which was all completely new Sachs (6 spring TYP 215) but I could see mucho rust. I cleaned the rust with a light abrasive wheel including the flywheel and all looked good before reassembly.

Back at the transmission I added one of the shift rod input bushings from Rich @914werke

Mounted an @Mark Henry hot start solution

..got it all wired up

Doug thanks for the shout out but you may have better success if you flip that bushing around so the flange is on the inside.

Now how does that make any since? How about some instructions next time!
And I thought I was gonna accomplish something that didn't need to be re-done this time! Oh well.

ps - why is it so loose?

Having the flange inside allows the full travel of the coupler.
Not sure when you may have bought that bushing, but all those items do (should) go out with the attached instruction sheet. HERE
As for being loose, 50 years of wear can takes it toll on that cast console regardless of the plastic bushing being sacrificial.

Had me curious 'cause the plastic one removed had no slop to it.

Got the engine installed

I’ve pretty much wrapped up the wiring to the battery (that I’m relocating to the rear trunk)..

I’ve probably gone overboard.. but each connection will have a separate fuse.

Damn that looks nice! Great job!

Update : I got around to installing my headers the other day

Unfortunately my clutch and speedometers cable were resting on it in their normally installed location

So I made up a custom bracket to lower the clutch cable wheel about an inch

I don’t think the added angle will be a problem for the cable/fork pull, but we’ll see

So I think this has oriented the clutch and speedo cable low enough to not be effected by the heat … I’ve also shrouded them with a DEI aluminized woven sleeve. Also it does not seem to be too low either - but again, we’ll see

Here’s a shot of the gap I now have between the headers and cables

Ps - in the lower right side of this pic you can see a little custom stand-off arm/bracket I made up to keep the cables at a maximum and stationary position. It’s attached to the underside of the engine where tin usually attaches.

Next I installed the muffler

And hooked up the 02 sensor
ps - (excuse time ) my welds here were thorough, but looked like crap because I used a flux core wire instead of gas .. I thought I’d “smooth” them out a bit with JB weld’s ‘Extreme Heat’ as a seam sealer if you will. That stuff set up super quick which made it impossible to smooth out. Wish I hadn’t have bothered, cause it basically looks worse But at least it’s all solid.

Built a small bracket to hold my USB charging port .. installed it under the dash using the cigarette lighter wires. It’s basically hidden, none of those wires are visible from a seated position. I’ve left the face cover/lid off for now - but may install it later, if the blue LED gets annoying but I doubt it will.

Also, I was just about to hook up the wires to the tail light housings.. but the crappy original female spades, which were corroded and painted wouldn’t leave me alone. I had to snip ‘em off and replace (I feel much better now ) :

Been working on my electricals lately and making some ground (no pun intended).

Top tip: to others doing a complete restoration- don’t bother to put any interior in the car, including the shifter lever, until you have all the electrical system confirmed to work first. You will inevitably be on your back, under the dash, with your feet on the rear window, just trying to work it all out! Its probably obvious to others but I learned this the hard way

Anyway- I got most of it under control. I still need to investigate a few items .. fresh air fan not working being an issue I need to look at soon. Here’s my dash lights finally cooperating:

Hooked up my pilot style driving lights - which I’ll be able to run during the day, with NO headlights on

And of course, with the headlights turned on. Driving lights automatically turn off with high beams as usual.

such a beautiful car.... very nice work.

Are the auxiliary lights fogs or driving lamps?

Fogs should be slaved to the low beams. You don't need them with high beams.

I'd want real driving lights to be switched only.

Here in Texas, I don't see much need for fogs.

Driving lamps that fire twice as far as the high beams are DAMN useful out in the rural areas.

You can see the hogs and deer so much farther away with driving lights...

They are driving lights as far as I know. They do cast the light further down the road than a typical fog... I'm pretty sure they're the Pilot brand light that have been popular replacements for original fogs.

The point for me was having lights during the day time that wasn't headlights, for better visibility by other drivers. No, they are not independent of the light switch but I like the fact that I can run them with the first pull of the light switch.. it means that I get the parking lights too - which is even better for visibility by other drivers IMHO. And of course the fog-light switch is still there and active, so they could be turned off if you wanted. Actually this all how the light switch/wiring for the '70-'71 works - my car being a '72, I guess I got a left over early light switch - which was a surprise to me. BTW, they are slaved with low beam and do not work when hi-beams are on - as you said.

It's true that an actual fog light is not that useful in Texas but I've done so many road trips where I was glad I had some, that I plan to add them to this car too (actual Fogs). I partially installed the relay for a set and ran the wiring already. They'll be mounted on the top face of the front bumper, with covers most of the time. When I get around to it. Hope to take lots of road trips in the 914.

Looking damn good! And good advice on the interior wiring. I had an issue with my freah air fan. I think it was the intermitted wiper delay that was causing the issue. Check the wiring diagram, of course. Keep up the good work

Thanks! I'm dreading the fresh air fan issue because it could mean having to drop the fuel tank, to diagnose, repair (or replace)... This is a decision I'll need to make soon because otherwise I'm basically ready to add fuel and try starting the engine. But I don't want to drop the tank unless there are no other options.

I always setup the fog lights so they come on with the park lights. That way I can use them for daytime running lights. Anything to make the car more visible is a very good thing.