Inching closer every night.

I would sincerely like to have this thing moderately operable enough to drive 1 mile by the weekend of the 11th. I have too much pride, after spending this much effort on this thing, to tow it 1 mile to my new home.

Today's only major issue - there is, of course, at least one every other day:

I tried to shift the car for the first time while on, horrible GRIND and then nothing. Goes into (I believe) every gear while off.


I know the tail shift is bad... but it at least goes into gear right?

Here's what I attempted to remedy/diagnose this:

1. I put it into 1st then turned the car on, it lurches (same with reverse)
2. I read the Haynes trouble shooting.
3. I read the John Muir shifting issues, but nothing stood out, might not apply as much, being a 914.
4. I adjusted the clutch cable tighter, three different lengths. It makes a huge difference in the pedal feel, but no different on the grind.

-The clutch and pressure plate were never separated, have tons of meat. -flywheel matched those too. (all same car)
-Shifter bushings are all brand new.

Wondering if this is a throw out bearing issue. I sure hope not.


Any thoughts?



Part 2:

I finalized some fuel pump wiring, buttoned up the interior, set the car down, and installed a triple gauge panel. Oil Pressure, Temp and Volt.

I used the 42Draft Designs Universal panel, and used it as a radio delete.
Here is a photo:




I am really happy with how the interior has turned out.





I do need to get a new voltage gauge that sits in flush, that would look correct.
Oil Temp Gauge doesn't function all the way, but gets power, gotta figure that out.



I ran the motor for a while and adjusted the carbs a bit more.





Looks like a complete car.





New trunk (that actually closes) courtesy of Mepstein. He'll be getting a Christmas card this year.





That's all for this evening.

I hope the lid is true. It came from an 80K mile car and while the front had a fender bender, I think the rear was good. I'm glad it's getting used and it made a little more room in the workshop.

“New trunk (that actually closes) courtesy of Mepstein. He'll be getting a Christmas card this year.”


Yep-methinks @mepstein deserves a card - early this holiday season!

I have always enjoyed having my parts end up on other members cars. Sure, some of it I sell but there are a lot of parts that aren't worth selling but end up going to good uses. The lids have been sitting around for a couple of years but now the one is getting used. I'm especially happy when stuff ends up on an east coast car. I may have a chance to see it and east coast cars need more love. They always need a rustoration in addition to everything else. Jared is a great guy. I'm glad I can help out a bit. All the people on this site give me 100X more than I could ever give back.

Your car is looking great. I love the radio delete gauge location. If you could find some gauge pods that would angle the gauges towards the driver, all the better. I have my fingers crossed you will be driving that car to your new place.

There he goes ripping people off again (still shaking my head on that one) . I don't think any of these resto builds get completed without a healthy dose of Mark's generosity. I know my car has hundreds of dollars worth of donated parts and services in it. Nothing but admiration and good karma.

Your car is looking fantastic. I'm amazed how quickly you've been able to get to this point.

Jared, is it possible that the pressure plate is rusted to the flywheel? That happened with my car some years ago, and I think the symptoms were the same. We were able to break things ( ) loose without dropping the engine, but I can't remember exactly how we did it. Others here may have some tips.

Steve A-

339 days.

That is the number that it took me to bring this 914 out of its 21 year rest, back onto the road.
Last registered in Alabama in 1998.... I think it's about time to stretch her legs.

After a very brief fix with the clutch. (was stuck to the pressure plate) Thanks to excellent advice on that thread, it was quickly solved.


Verified the shifter, it basically goes into every gear (almost) every time. The only thing left to do is go for a pack a to-go tool bag + fire extinguisher,
go for a test drive and hope I have enough gas to get to thegas station. (and actually hope to get there!)

OK Reverse works... backing out of the driveway.





Off we go.


Girlfriend following closely with jacks and about enough prepared tools to pull the motor.






It WORKS!! I think the feeling of shifting into 2nd gear for the first time and actually cruising down the road will stick with me forever.


Here are a few photos from her 15 minute breath-of-fresh-air and re-acclimation with the road.








Made it to the gas station. The second I pulled in I got the classic "Dang! What year is that??"








Super, super happy!

-A few things glaringly wrong; alignment is awful - to be expected.
-Shifting is definitely rough. Sometimes I think its in 1st, its in 3rd and the folks behind be at the stop light aren't happy.
-Really loud, but its missing some seals, still. Doesn't have an engine lid installed, may have an exhaust leak, and the carbs still need adjusted.

All things that don't really matter today!


While there is a long road ahead and a lot left to do, I couldn't have done any of this without you guys.

Thanks to @beatnavy , @bkrantz , @mepstein , @bbrock , @cairo94507 , @anderssj , and @nditiz1 .
JUST to name some of you guys off the top of my head. Hope I got the tags right.
You guys given, loaned and sold me parts, helped in person, answered PMs, Texts and calls with boundless advice. All for a 914!

Most importantly thank my girlfriend B for late nights, dodging the thrown tools,
learning how to spot weld, holding, handing and sanding things for me, etc. Dont find that everyday.


Built 12/70 and 50 years later exactly, on 12/20 she is back on the road.

I can finally check the one part of my list that has been there since day one!









Gotta love the wheel stop, since the ebrake is not hooked up yet. A testament to a now rolling project.

THIS!

That pic of you at the gas pump is priceless.....

Congrats! It looks great.

Congrats Jared!!

Now drive it like you stole it

That is AWESOME! And in under a year. Just amazing. Be proud. Be very proud. Now go write "Drink Beer" on that white board.

I am so happy for you. I knew you would get to drive it before your deadline. Very exciting to be able to pull into a gas station and fuel-up the first time, second time, third time, fourth time....

Congratulations Jared! And yes that smile at the pump is priceless! Plus blessing from a supportive and patient girlfriend! A lifetime partner!

way to go! that was a lot of work done in less than a year, you have a solid safe, running car. now enjoy the heck out of it! lots of new memories to make. enjoy!
congratulations!

Congrats and GREAT job! Enjoy!

Amazing work! Just read entire thread. Congrats!

Wow, thank you for the responses guys!!! Hopefully I will get a video giving it the beans soon - once I am not afraid to drive it. It really is a bit scary as is.

Just make sure you have AAA membership in case of breakdown and as long fuel lines or electrical are in good shape to avoid any fire. Enjoy this aircooled 914!

OUTSTANDING!

And your girlfriend B sounds like a keeper

Glad to see she's alive and kicking. Been really enjoyable following your journey. I've made a little progress on mine, but I'm still on the (never-ending) search for rust before anything gets put back together.

Hey guys,

I havn't made an update in a bit. I've been insanely busy. Not much to update, but I figured I'd share some photos of the new digs.


Here is the last photo taken of my 914 at the old small garage.

(arguably the best angle of this car)





Really lucky to have been able to find a place with a garage with just enough room to repair the 914. I will miss some things about it.... but its time for an upgrade.

Here is the backyard of the new house that we bought. My last "yard" was about 12 by 9 feet, so this is overwhelming.
With a detached 2.5 (deep) car garage (maybe 3 914s if you cram ) and a separate gated entrance to the garage out back.





The garage is a recent build, and will need its share of work throughout the winter. It does not have dedicated electric.
So I will need to run a sub panel off the house, the floor absolutely needs some beefing up and a layer of epoxy, insulation, paint, etc.

I have my work cut out for me. BUT it is all there, I love it and I own it..


The 914 made it over! ... Barely ... It was only a mile, I ripped it the entire way, ear to ear smile (only my second time driving it - it is freezing temps here in MD).
Of COURSE, when I turn into the neighborhood it starts static idling at 3k rpm. Making a huge ruckus (sorry new neighbors!)

I coast most of the way down the block, fire it up and gun it into the garage.

Turns out the left carb linkage was stuck open at half throttle.... This is why we don't purchase the hex bar linkage folks!




But we made it. Lord knows I was not paying for a tow several blocks, If i had to push the ***ing thing, I would. Too much pride!





Here is a funny video of my feeble attempt to get it to it's new home:

Nice try, Jared

Nice! You're going to LOVE your new shop space! Just be careful: Nature abhors a vacuum and look at all that (currently) empty space...

It appears the shop has a plywood floor, so what is under the wood? I see some insulation on your shopping list by next Christmas, so enjoy the space.

So true. My advice is to resist the urge to fill that space as long as you can while you're doing work on this car.

Nice place. Did you move out in the country or something?

It does! It was a prefab built in 2010... It's a gravel base, cemented piers, 12" spaced joints running the length, and 7/8 plywood floor.
It is really solid, but I was dissapointed to learn about the floor. The house was so perfect for us that it didnt matter.

So the work around is Epoxy. (I cannot afford a 9k concrete pour)

I need to clear the garage, add a vapor barrier, + another layer of 3/4" OSB, fill gaps, sand and epoxy.

Check out this you tube video

Here

I think is a good solution for me. I am NOT a contractor, if anyone has any better ideas for this I am all ears!




Thanks for the advice @beatnavy . When I was moving, I could not believe how much stuff I was coming up with.
I set up several piles, give-away, sell, and five 30 gals of trash ( I dont need to keep all the rust sections I cut out of the car, haha)

I live in Catonsville, off 695. I moved about a mile down the road, near UMBC.
Its a corner lot in a quiet neighborhood and backs up against county property. So its super quiet.
Lucky to have found this house. We put the offer in within 10 hours of it being listed on zillow.

P.S. In that case I'll stop looking for the first $500 Bay window bus shell I find, just to put there as yard art... because I have the room

More expensive, but tile would be neat over another 3/4" of subfloor. Relatively inexpensive if you get a clearance-type deal. Regardless of how you go, I'd probably go ply over OSB.


Congrats on the new house! One more thing to work on!

concrete board and then tile?
or foam board and then more osb/plywood and make a homemade SIP.

Good idea @mepstein , So current set up, then add a couple 4x8 of concrete board (for vapor barrier + strength) and tile directly over?

SIP would be good for strength and insulation I suppose.

Again, I am totally new to this. I'd just like to make this floor last and be able to withstand fluids, foot traffic, welding, etc. and not spend several grand to do it.

I'm just throwing out some ideas but I'm no engineer so I can't do more than that.
Post on garagejournal.com and someone with more experience will be able to help.
Right now I have a big blue tarp on mine because I cleaned the floor with a pressure washer but I don't have time to attend to it. Give yourself a chance to come up with a plan.
Congrats!

If I can grab a truck I might buy some of the porcelain tile pictured. $0.50 per sq/ft is a good price and I need tile that won't show dirt.

Any material placed over a wooden floor must also be flexible, because the wooden subfloor under load like a car will have some flexing. A rigid top floor material like tile will crack, causing a renovation job that could have been avoided by using a flexible top material, like more plywood or OSB.

You need to consider the weight of the cars. I've tiled floors over a normal solid sub-floor, over two layers of wood sub-floor, and over cement backer board over wood sub-floor and they all work find for foot traffic although I very much prefer cement backer board. For a garage floor that cars will park on, you need to either build up the floor to be rigid or stick with flexible materials throughout. I'll bet two layers of 3/4" sheet screwed and glued together with a layer of cement backer laid in thinset and screwed down would do the trick, but I'm not an engineer and it would add to cost and work.

If it were my garage, I'd also be wondering if there was insulation under the existing sub-floor and if not, how hard it would be to get some under there. Lifting the sub-floor to install rigid foam between the joists and vapor barrier over them and under the first layer of sub-floor sheet might not be a horrible job if the plate was screwed down and not glued, but you'd need to weigh the cost and benefit. An insulated floor makes a big difference in comfort and cost of heating.

Again, I'm not an engineer or contractor but have built a huge barn/garage and renovated our first house that were later inspected by a structural engineered who commended me on the top notch work.

Love the look of the shop. However, unless the joists and plywood are decay resistant/pressure treated, ultimately there will be wood rotting issues. Also, load supporting wood members should have adequate ventilation. That said, flexible vinyl tiles would be an option over the existing plywood floor. Cheap, easy to install.

But that is much more experience than I! This is truly my first rodeo.
It doesn’t surprise me that someone else was giving you kudos for your first rate work.

I will need to make a price list of my options and weigh all that out.

I under stand the “do it right or do it twice” situation here. The issue I see is that this needs solved soon, while maybe temporary, building up a flexible floor, with a cement backer, and tile over that might be a good option now, that will get me through 3 or 4 years, when cement pouring might fit my budget down the road.

‘We do it nice BECAUSE we do it twice’ is my motto.



I agree. I was told this was pressure treasured, underneath, but I need to get in there for myself and see. I believe they are screwed down so I could pop a board up and see what I am working with.

Vinyl might be my move. I don’t think epoxy would be the best for flexibility. I see the coat cracking in time.

I made a thread on garage journal dot com. Maybe I will get some bites there as well.

Here's another option for getting by. Just slap on a couple coats of cheap(ish) epoxy paint or glue down a cheap sheet of vinyl and call it good while you save some pennies for a proper slab. Back in the 90s I was able to buy 2K floor epoxy at Sherwin Williams for about $30/gallon that I used on the floors of an animal laboratory facility I was managing. Those floors were exposed to daily scrubbing with strong detergents and frequently exposed to acid and wore like iron. That was over concrete but I did paint some wood stuff with it and it worked well. It was pretty flexible. Cheap and durable. Note that this was not a pour on premium epoxy coating. Just a 2 part paint that rolled on like regular paint. RESPIRATOR REQUIRED.

I also agree. If you are thinking of replacing this with concrete some day, then I suggest two steps to use the floor you have until then:
1. Make sure the plywood floor is strong enough, especially for things like jacking. If you have doubts, add another layer of ply or OSB.
2. To protect the wood, at least in the work area, get a roll of utility flooring. These are not too expensive (around $250 to $300 for a 8 x 16 ft roll) and nearly indestructible.

Awesome. Thanks fellas. I got more info here than on Garage journal. I appreciate it getting brought up in the first place.


Last questions that I am a bit confused about.
-If I’m adding a 3/4” plywood layer now to strengthen what a I have, should I glue and screw to the existing layer?
-do I need a vapor barrier, if so what is a good choice, cement board, etc.

Options are:
-Vinyl tile (eg: Race deck) expensive, but adds; durability, attractive and strengthens.
-Roll out mat, cheaper, one solid layer, but thin.


Thanks!

I think the vapor barrier needs to be on the ground or at least under the first layer of ply.
Glue and screw unless you plan on removing the 2nd layer at some time. Then just screw.

If you are buying plastic floor tiles new, look at what they sell at greg smith equipment. They are 5 minutes off 95 in Newark DE and no sales tax. They have samples and are sometimes cheaper in the store than online.

If I was doing tiles, I would still do an inexpensive epoxy on the wood. Otherwise, oil and chemicals will get between the seams of the tile. It's an aircooled Porsche so...

I looked at roll flooring and got a sample. It was very thin and scratched easy. By the time I ordered enough for my 22x24 garage, I was at $1K.

Glue and screw (or nail) will make the stiffest floor but will a lot harder to demo later if you decide to do that. It doesn't really matter if you nail or screw if you glue the sheets together with construction adhesive. In that case, the nails or screws are really just clamping the sheets together while the adhesive dries.

I agree with Mark on the vapor barrier and would probably skip it. Instead, I'd make sure there is ventilation under the sub-floor. Foundation vents are cheap and easy to install. If you were to insulate the floor and keep the garage heated, then I would want a vapor barrier. Likewise if you ever pour a slab, you will want a vb between the ground and the slab.

I think it all just depends on how deep you want to go now and how temporary you intend the solution to be. I have a storage shed with an OSB floor on treated joists resting on a gravel pad. No insulation or vapor barrier but the shed is not heated so it doesn't matter. After 15 years it is still dry and solid.

Buildings, by code, typically specify 40 lb live load per square foot. This is more than adequate for walking and furniture. However, if you jack up one side of a 914, you are putting over1000 lbs on a very small area. Doubling up the plywood spreads out the load over a bigger area, which is a good thing. If you double the plywood, be sure to overlap the seams of the bottom plywood with the top plywood. I think a better solution would be to pull up a couple of pieces of the plywood floor and put additional support under the floor joists, where you anticipate the jacking points will be. If the floor was constructed properly, it would have been glued and screwed, meaning you will damage the plywood sheets when you pull them up. You have the great start to an awesome shop.

Simplest option would be to build another building for a shop, buy more 914’s and use this one for storage. Problem solved. Your welcome.

Great thread, and amazing save! The car looks like a lot of fun!

Congratulations on the home and garage! We bought a home three years ago and have just finished what we believe is that last “correction”.

Expect, what you inspect

Thanks for sharing!

Hey guys,

Thanks again for all the great responses above. There is so much knowledge here.

Yesterday was about 50* and drying up a bit since the last snow. I wanted to take the car out, at least once more this year.

Drive #3:









I took it around the neighborhood for a while, trying bed in the brakes a bit. I decided to nut up and take it on the highway.
I drove a few exits down i95 and took the long way home. Everything worked great.

Cruised 70mph no problem! It's slow as a dog, but a ton of fun.
I've never driven a stock 1.7 So I am not sure how to compare the 1911. I wasn't expecting much.

(I used to have an '88 Isuzu Trooper... so anything quicker than that is great... )

Things I noticed:

- Yes, my windscreen needs cleaned

- Throttle pedal... Not a lot of travel. This is normal for carbed cars right? It does not take much to get the carbs wide open, a little pedal goes a long way...

- After I stopped driving the engine bay "smoked" for about 10 minutes. I assume everything from break-in burnt off by now. I presume I have an exhaust leak at the heads.

(it is loud and I can hear a *tic tic tic tic* so I am going to go with exhaust leak)

-Last thing, is there any vacuum, evap stuff directly on the motor that I need to plug or filter? Only thing I can find is maybe add a small filter next to the oil filler cap.








Merry Christmas
Jared

Seriously minor detail that should be way down the list but is your reserve fuel light on? I've always believed that the gauge will lie but the light won't...

Awesome job on this - the build has been fun to read. Merry Christmas!

Your journey in emojis:











Great job, Jared. Great job.

If you have stainless steel heat exchangers, they definitely tick.

Nice going, Jared. And good to see that these cars can actually drive after serious project work.

@jaredmcginness - Merry Christmas Jared. I love that you got your car back on the road and you are stretching it's wings.

It does not matter what level of restoration a car undergoes you will always have things to chase down and remedy. I am still working on little things on my car and like you I am also driving it and loving it.

It amazes me the number of people that just walk up and begin talking to me about it. The most fun is the young kids who were, of course, not around when these cars were new or even after that when you could see them all over driving around. 2 people have asked, "Is that the new Porsche?"

Enjoy every mile as it puts a smile on your face.
Michael

Great Job ,

Thank you! Good eye. I have 8 or 9 gallons of gas in there. The light is just always on. Maybe I have the wrong bulb plugged in... I need to look into it.






I am loving it, excellent advice. It is easy to get caught up with the next goal and the next problem, rather than enjoying where I am at -
somewhere I have been dreaming of being for a long time!
That's one of the biggest problems I found myself having with this car's refreshment. Take a step back and enjoy it.
Next time around (912, hopefully - or another 914 ) I will know to do so.

Journey not the destination.



A small update: I ran the car for a while today and stuck my hand under each port on the heat exchangers...
Oh boy! A small exhaust leak under cylinder #3 and a reallly nice leak under cyl #4.

This would certainly explain the popping, wonky idle, power, etc.

When I get my new muffler in hand I will pop the exchangers off, file, reseal and use some copper goop this time.


Other news...
Santa (my girlfriend) got me these BEAUTIFUL Coco Mats for Christmas.





They are black/natural with the long passenger mat. Such a perfect combination and excellent choice with Irish Green.

All part of the big picture.





I am a lucky guy.






Thank you everyone for reading and participating!