I agree looks like you have mig wire instead of flux core

A little more progress, I guess. Struggling with the very slow pace of my progress.

I switched back to a new spool of HF wire - still sealed with the label so that I could verify exactly what it was! Really struggling to get things consistent! I did not touch the settings when welding this patch for one of the AC holes, but the welds seem all over the map...
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Going to regroup and try to get settings dialed on some scrap metal before any more welding!

Cleaned out the seam sealer in the frunk area under the gas tank. Just minor surface rust, thankfully!
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I'm really feeling way too old for some of this work! I walked funny for a bit after getting this last section done...
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I went back and cleaned off my failed paint test. At least the sail is solid and filler free!
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Moved on to the seam sealer in the trunk. Had some rust hiding under it back there and a bit of heavier surface rust in the rear of the trunk to treat.
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Question; When you treat rust with the acid treatment/converter and it turns black, is it good to go? Or, do you need to try and wire brush it more to remove the black?

Uncovered the body number in the right, rear of the trunk. Seems like stamping the number created a low spot which caused the area to rust, go figure!
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I removed the factory jack mount since I do not have the factory jack, and may need to trim, or open some of this area for the Subaru intake, etc. I hope not, but we will see.
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I want to use rubberized undercoating on at least the trunk floors to texture them, and to help a bit with road noise. I made sure to get the paintable kind in case I do not like them black. I read on the label that it needs to be sprayed on bare or primed metal. WOOHOO, more flap disk/wire brush work!
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It's raining for the next couple of days, so no chance to work until things dry out again...

Well remember you are using flux core on sheet metal so it is really a challenge. I think it looks great for the equipment being used. I can tell you that I have seen much worse.

Tack weld question; when you are tacking sheet metal, are you doing a small circle with the tip/wire, or staying still/in one spot for the tack?

I've been moving in a small circle for my tacks, but maybe that's causing me issues...

No circling for what your tacking

@mgarrison - Here are a few photos of my e-brake mechanism, hopefully it helps confirm location for you:

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Check all the connections on your welder.
Especially check everything with the ground clamp. Make sure all connections are clean and tight and the clamp surfaces are clean. I discovered that was an issue once.
Also check inside where the wire feeds into the torch tube and make sure that is all clean.
Now back to your regularly scheduled welding....

Thanks for the tips guys! I'm going to practice on some scrap, and try to get my settings dialed in...again. I will also double-check all the connections, and clean the welder up. Appreciate the advise!

More trunk work - that took a lot longer than I anticipated! Safely covered with some primer for now. Need to figure out what/how/where I want to coat it with...Still debating the paintable rubberized uncoating vs. spray bedliner vs. body color. Want to hide my welds/repairs/treated rust and make it look at least decent...
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Let's call it finished!
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Got the center tunnel wire brushed out as best I could. Treated it with rust converter, let it sit overnight, brushed it again, let it sit and then rinsed it out good. Vacuumed it with wet/dry vac, and then took the lawn blower to it to dry everything as much as possible. Added a quick coat of primer after hitting it with a wire brush again to remove any residue from the rust treatment.
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Waiting on more primer and more internal frame paint to finish up the tunnel and floors...

The last thing I did last night was check the weather forecast. It said a 1% chance of rain, so I left the tarp off the 914 so it could air out after the rinse, vacuum, and blow dry of the center tunnel. Thinking I should go buy a lottery ticket - it rained for all off maybe 3 minutes this morning! More wire brush time...
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I tried these fiber wheels/brushes from HF. They work pretty well where there's light rust, or you just want to remove paint without chewing up the metal underneath.
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Some decent results with the fiber wheels. Prepping for the Mad Dog inner long stiffener.
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Lost my light for tonight...

Looking great bud. Keep up the good work

Great build. Moving slow, but you're doing it right. Keep it up

Does anyone know if these two holes should be there? They go all the way through into the engine bay. The one on the right side seems wallowed out and a bit oval. This car seems to have a lot of random, strange holes in odd places...

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While I'm waiting for more weld-thru primer to get here, I started trying to fit/mold the Mad Dog inner long bracing. I ran into a couple of minor issues. I think my replacement handbrake pivot is a slightly different size than the original.
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Looks like I need to trim a bit where the handbrake cables exit the firewall as well.
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I will have to pull all this out so I can spray everything with the weld-thru primer, but at least it's mostly ready to go!
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Not totally sure I understand the "screw in EVERY hole" instruction, but I didn't design the kit. Good thing I have two batteries for the cordless drill!
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Your moving along nicely! Just a friendly reminder - Before welding in the stiffening kit it is highly recommended that the opening for the doors get braced before you start, otherwise you might end up with some unwanted shrinkage changing the door gaps. Not sure what your experience is with the weld through primer, but mine was that it sucked. I sprayed mine with epoxy primer as a result, and ground down or taped off the areas I knew would be welded.

Thanks for the advice/reminder! I ran down to my local Lowes, but all they had was one six foot long 1" square tube - not enough for both sides! They did have some four foot 1/2" square tube. Not super sturdy, but it can't hurt. I checked measurements, and they are spot on - want to keep them that way! Hopefully, these little braces will help. I got them in there nice and snug...

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I got each and every hole filled with a screw, and did my best to fit the panels as snug as possible. My hands sure are not used to driving that many screws!
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My AWOL order of weld-thru primer finally showed up, so I undid each and every screw. Which is a bit of a PITA as the self-tapping tip never wants to come out! For some reason this reminded me of the pincushion guy from Hellraiser!
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I got the backs of the panels all primed, and primed the bare metal of the longs and lower firewall.
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Once they were all screwed back in place, I tested my settings one more time to make sure things were good to go. I got the welder and everything I needed setup inside the car so I did not have to climb in & out any more than needed! I would take one screw out, then fill that hole with weld. Then take another screw out and weld. Then I would move to another panel on the other side of the car and repeat.
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My welds are nothing to write home about, but the price is right!
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Murphy was riding my shoulders once again today - my welding helmet broke and would no longer stay up after I flipped it up between welds. Each time I would go to reposition to the other side of the car, the helmet would fall down, I could not see well and would invariably bonk my head or back on something hard & sharp! Off to HD in the morning for a replacement...

Loving this thread, keep it up

Ran to HD early (to avoid people) this morning to grab a new welding helmet. After washing, clay barring, and "ceramic" coating my wife's Jeep, it was back to finish up the rosette welds. Nothing too exciting, except my knees are really happy all those welds are complete!
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The rosette welds came out pretty ok, at least for my skills & equipment!
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I need to figure some things out before diving into the stitch welds though...
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Looks great.

You need a copper backing plate to help with the stick welds. How you angle your gun has an influence also.

I've got some smashed copper pipe to use as backing, but no way to get it inside the long and hold it there. It is what it is...wanted to do as much as I could myself.

Today was mostly washing/cleaning up my truck, but I did manage to spend a couple of hours on the 914. I got all my rosette welds ground down. A few little spots here and there, but overall not to shabby for me.
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I did some test welds, and tried to ensure my settings were ok, and worked on trying to stay straight! Looking a bit better...
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Does it feel stiffer?

Impossible to tell...no suspension, wheels, etc.!
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I got the panels all stitched in. Things were going better, so I figured while I was on a roll, I'd just go with it!
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Welds looking better...at least for my welds!
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Hit everything with the wire brush, vacuumed up all the debris, and coated with primer to protect it...
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Great job!!!

Is there any stich welding on the bottom at the floor pan?
Curious if this kit can be installed before doing floor pan replacement.

Thanks,
Sean

I did not do any stitch welds along the bottom. Since the longs are curved at the bottom, they pull away from the new panels. Not sure how you would weld down in there, and the stiffening panels do not go all the way down to the floor pan.

Still just trying to keep moving forward. Inch by slow inch...
Trying to get the interior of the chassis all wire brushed, any rust I find treated, and then a quick coat of primer to protect it. With all the little nooks & crannies I think doing the flares and the outside might seem easier! Still have the frunk to finish up!

I found some surface rust under the dash - seems like a really odd place to rust, especially on an Arizona car!
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Not too terrible after cleanup.
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Some more surface rust on the firewall, but not much!
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I actually forgot to treat the two spots on the firewall before priming, so I looked back at the above photo and hit the right areas with the wire brush so I could treat them. Just try to ignore my amateur patch on the left there!
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There was some odd, crunchy sealer just in front of the doors under the dash. Very different stuff from the other seam sealer!
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I tried to check all the problem areas to uncover any rust. The usual spots look really good!
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There was a bit of rust in the windshield channel, especially at the two bottom corners. Did my best to wire brush it and then treated it too.
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The shop vac is seeing daily use, and getting quite the workout sucking up all the paint dust, rust, and metal shavings!
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I wire brushed the vent holes as best I could and then coated them with the Eastwood internal frame coating. Should keep them from rusting, etc.
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I drilled out the holes for the coolant lines through the longs. Took a deep breath before drilling through the panels I had just welded in!
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I taped over the smaller holes in the "ducts" where I will run the coolant lines to the frunk, and most of the holes in the center tunnel so I could spray the internal frame coating without getting it in my face...
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Still got some on my boots though...That's not coming off!
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Here's the tube & nozzle it comes with. I taped the tube to a section of coat hanger to keep it straight, and to be able to aim it a bit better.
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Stuff seems to work rather well, but it does make a mess, and is thin enough to drip out the bottom of the chassis (how it got on my boots).
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Shot the dash support with some primer, and tried to catch all the other areas I had stripped so they are protected.
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On/back to the frunk!

I've been working along slowly. Just keep swimming...

I removed the tabs for the back pad. I don't have a back pad or 914 seats, and being six foot three will need all the room I can get!
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I see why there is not much paint or primer in the area under the head light buckets...HTH do you get in there???
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I ordered this extension from Amazon, but it only takes a 1/8" shank, so very limited options other than Dremel ends.
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It kind of works, but not very well. I tried using it to get down in the corners of the fender well where it disappears behind the headlight bucket.
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The area under the headlight buckets had a bit of surface rust, but not bad. The "seam sealer" they used in this area was very different from the rest. It is dark and had hardened up to a brittle, charcoal like substance!
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Quite a bit chipped off rather easily:
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Here's a closeup of a big chunk, odd stuff:
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I moved over to the area under the gas tank. I needed to feel like I was making some progress/difference...needed to see some kind of change!
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I was really struggling trying to figure out how to get a wire/fiber brush down into all the nooks & crannies in the frunk area, and the area under the gas tank. I thought I had found a flexible extension for my drill, but then received an email that it was no longer available from the supplier!

At that point I gave up and got a abrasive blaster from HF. I decided on the 110lb model since it was only $20 more than the 40lb model. After reading reviews, I stopped by Tractor Supply and got 100lbs of the Black Diamond fine blasting media (coal slag). It's $9.99/bag for 50lbs. The HF media is $24.99/bag for 50lbs!

I have a 2HP Kobalt twin cylinder compressor that's plumbed in to another 32 gallon tank left over from my old compressor that died. So, 62 gallons of 150PSI air, theoretically...

So far, so good. Works pretty well, and I have not run low on air pressure that I have noticed. I blast a section, then take a break - it's been in the mid to high 90s here already, so having a N95, safety glasses, hood, gloves, long sleeves makes it a bit too toasty to blast for very long!

Creates a nice finish, but boy does it make a huge mess!
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I have been cleaning the media up with my shop vac - one reviewer suggested sucking up all the used media in a clean shop vac, and then sifting it and reusing it. Have not tried doing that yet, but the shop vac is getting pretty heavy!

Been plugging along slowly. Finished up the frunk, tested sandblasting a bit along one rocker and both front fender wells. Cut and welded patches for the side marker light holes - Think I'm finally ready to order my flares and outer rockers!

Once I get them mocked up and the fenders cut I plan on sandblasting the inside of the fenders - the larger cut out should make for easier access, I hope!

Some pics of the marker light patches...
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I do lose a couple of days a week helping our daughter at the barn. But it's worth it since I get to hang out and help with this guy!
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I got the block off plates from Mad Dog Motorsports for the heater openings under the dash. No instructions, but it mostly made sense once I laid it all out.
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I finally was able to get my flares and rockers. A big shout out to Patrick Motorsports (who knew they were local!), and James Patrick for taking the time to go over his approach, and lessons learned on how to install the flares. I really appreciated his time and getting to see some really cool cars, and learning the local options for take-off parts, etc.

I started with the rockers first. Got them trimmed, openings cut out, and holes drilled for mounting.
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I did my best to get each side of the car all lined up between front, rear, and rocker. It's challenging to try and test fit the flares without an extra sets of hands.
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How does that song go? "The first cut is the deepest"...
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I used my butt-weld clamps to mostly keep things in place until the cut was finished.
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Definitely had the "what have I done!" moment!
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It sure takes a bit of sanding to try and get the flares to fit tight to the body.
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I just have things temporarily mounted. Still need to sand things a bit more in a few spots, and I need to find the right bolts and order some more rivnuts.
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No clue why it keeps rotating the images until you click on them!

Working on reusing/repurposing the fender braces on the rear fenders since the area they attach to gets cut out. This one is pretty easy since its close to where it needs to be, and can just be bent a little to line up with what's left of the steel fender. It already has the holes in it from drilling out the spots welds.
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Still need to bend this one around after wire brushing where it needs to be welded back on.
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The front brace on the rear fenders needs to be removed, and then re-bent to be reused. Guess I could have just bent a new piece of steel, but figured why not reuse what was there originally since nothing is wrong with it.
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Using those butt-weld clamps as a 3rd hand was a good idea. Or as dad used to say, that's using your head for something other than a hat rack.

Yep! When I was squaring up the edges for the frunk pan replacement, those butt-weld clamps were real lifesavers - kept the saw blade from binding up constantly!

I've been making small/slow progress. I just keep trying to do something on the 914 most days - just keep swimming!

I saw a great idea in "9146C's" thread to lift the chassis up off the body dolly a few inches, so I copied his idea after a quick trip to Lowes for the parts. The front jacking "donuts" sit inside the rears (who noticed!), so I had to add some 1/8" plate to locate them in the proper spot. With a bit of assistance from my son, and some 4x4's laying on the QuickJack rails, we had success!
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I was going to use "fender nuts" to give me a bit of wiggle room for flare alignment, but in the end it did not really help much - will be going back to my original rivnet/nutsert mounting idea.
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Received my VW fender beading and set about getting it trimmed to fit and clear the mounting bolts, etc.
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I believe once the flares are painted body color, and I figure out how to hold the beading in place on the back of the flares, this is going to look pretty decent.
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I cut out some metal strips to rivet to the bottom of the fiberglass rockers - this was how James Patrick @ PMS said they mount the bottom of the rockers. A bit annoying, to say the least that you have to create your own mounts for $300 fiberglass rockers! I may end up going with the weld-on ends eventually since the original metal rockers I have are in good shape. They do line up reasonably well once you get the lower mounts attached.
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Next up was getting the fender wells and bottom media blasted and ready for the Raptor bed liner coating. Got sick of cleaning up media off the driveway really quick! I was able to reuse quite a bit of media by sifting it into a 5 gallon bucket, then sifting it again as it went into the blaster. I can't believe how much of that crap got into my shoes though - it was under my insoles!
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I sprayed and wiped down the fender wells and the bottom with degreaser just to be on the safe side. There was quite a bit of grease on the passengers side near the rear axle that I had to scrape off before blasting. Grease does not like to come off by blasting - too soft I guess! Grease also got up into the passengers side rear shock mount - that was way too much fun to clean out! Looking pretty decent at this point - still need to finish priming the bottom - ran out of juice just behind where the steering rack mounts...
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I had a bit of a distraction/another project for the Memorial Day weekend. But, I could not stop smiling about welding up "frog legs"! And I kept thinking of that line from the Six Million Dollar Man; We can rebuild him. We have the technology.
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Who ordered the "half-leg" platter?
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And the "whole-leg"?
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Whole Mariachi Frog again!
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You will finish the project quicker when working on it everyday, whether it be 15 min's or 6 hours. Stay after it.

Finally got my filter/dryer delivered and installed. Getting the right adapters together was a PITA, of course! Hopefully, this keeps the compressed air clean enough for spraying the Raptor liner, and maybe paint one of these days!
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Started before 6am to try and spray at least one quart of Raptor liner on the fender wells before it got too hot. It was already about 85, and toasty with long sleeves, gloves, and respirator on! But, I got three fender wells, and the passenger rocker sprayed with Raptor. Super easy to spray, and the little bit left in the bottom of the jug was still liquid, so the heat did not affect the hardening time that I could tell. I think the flash time was super short though - was dry to the touch in no time! Came out rather well, I think!
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Looks great. What size tip did you use? I don't think moisture will be a problem for you in AZ. Just bleed your compressor's tank before spraying and have a filter at your gun also. I'm in SoCal and don't have any moisture problems here. When I lived in TX it was a different game; entirely.

I just used the Schutz gun that came with the Raptor kit I got. I am running a filter/dryer on the compressor, and I was running about 55PSI at the gun...

About as simple as it can get, I think.

I've been spraying one quart each morning before it gets too hot. I got the bottom covered this morning, and I still have one quart left. There are a few spots that need touch up, but not too many. It's definitely a challenge to spray with the tub on a body dolly, but totally possible. The Raptor is crazy easy to spray - I'm not sure you can really mess it up! Wearing long sleeves, gloves, respirator, etc. in 90+ degree heat is not so easy...But, it does flash off/dry really quickly!
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I really like how it came out! So much so, that I ordered a 2nd Raptor kit and plan to do the frunk, trunk, and inside. I may eventually scuff the Raptor and paint it body color in the frunk & trunk, but I really like the texture and durability it provides. It also seems cheaper/easier than lining areas with Dynamat.

Looking and making lots of progress. Congrats.

So, the Raptor coating did not hide my patches/repairs as much as I hoped for. Not sure if it's because of the sheen, or if I know where to look. Here's a couple examples where the patch/repair is a bit too easy to see:
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So, I ordered some body glaze and set about seeing if I could fill over and around my repairs so they are not quite so visible. I figured since I'm now working on the topside, I might as well make the effort to make things look better!

Most of the work was where I replaced the frunk floor...
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My fingers are a bit tender after all the hand sanding to blend things in/feather the glaze out.
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Here's a couple of spots where I did rectangle patches to replace small rusted out sections. I believe once I spray the Raptor liner over them you will be hard pressed to find them (I hope!).
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I did go back on that second one and do another layer to blend things in better. I know it will be behind the seat, but if I don't do it now, it will never get done!

I went ahead and sprayed the VIN body color, and coated with clear. Does not look great, but decent enough for under the hood.
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Now I just need to figure out how to mask off a clean rectangle over the VIN number so it does not get coated with Raptor and you can't read it anymore!

I spent hours yesterday in 112 degree heat masking everything off so I could spray the Raptor in the frunk, trunk, and interior early this morning...Only to wake up to 25mph wind and rain on the way. Chance of rain every day this week. Oh well, we really need the rain...

Finally had a morning with little wind, so I gave it a go spraying the Raptor. It tried to rain on me a couple of times, but was not enough to cause any issues, thankfully. I got the trunk and engine bay all sprayed.
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Cleaned the gun, and then mixed up another quart for the cabin.
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Cleaned the gun between each quart, and used my last quart on the gas tank area & frunk. Almost made it, but not quite
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I ordered a couple more quarts to finish things up; need to touch up a couple spots in the gas tank area, finish the frunk, and still need to spray the rockers. I started filling all the divots, lines, scratches, etc. in the rockers. Lots of filling and sanding!
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I will take what progress I can get!

Impressive work! Are you going to spray the areas with liner body color or leave them black?

Most likely will leave them black. But, if after I get it painted I dont like the look, I can scuff the Raptor liner with a scotch bright pad and then paint body color. I don't have an engine or trans, and will be installing a Subaru driveline, so not really worried about staying original...

I am enjoying the build, I am in Mesa with a similar car, look forward to seeing it at the Pavilions.