Sorry but that’s a parts car.

Looks a lot like mine did when I started my project.

Not a parts car but definitely a PROJECT car

Let's not forget the words of the legend @Jeff Hail

"I look at rust like a diamond in the rough. Rust is afraid of me because it know's it cannot live in my world. Metal becomes submissive because I have confidence in my metal working talents."

Required reading for our newest member of the rust don't scrare me club:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=76791



Indeed!

I was looking for a project, guess I found one at least the price was right $0.00 It has been 30 years since I undertook something similar, but I ain't scared. Both trunks are good, but the entire center section will need attention (replacement). The way I see it is the rocker sections provide the beam to hold the front/rear of the car in alignment. It can get tricky at the front and rear connection points. Also, the suspension mounting points are critical. I have started cutting out small sections and forming new 20ga and welding with a Lincoln 140 MIG. For now I am working on a scissors lift, but will change to something different when it comes to structural work. I have read the thread by Jeff Hail "bringing out the dead"
There will be some trying times, but the reward is worth it.

Wishing all a safe and Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you run a build thread to bring us along for the ride.

Yes, I found a way to get pics onto the site. Information is always good and I am more than happy to share the information gained with this adventure. Will be starting with small patches and move into the "tricky stuff". From what I can tell there is a mix of different gauges of sheet steel. I have ordered a few panels from Restoration Design and will be fooling with them.
My plan is to complete the restoration as close as possible to the original construction with regards to panels/overlap/welding.

I'm following this thread with interest.

I have a 1976 which now has a 1.7 with FI and most of the horses have long galloped off.

I'm not sure which direction to go, but I'm really intrigued to follow up more on Bleysengs's post to rebuild it to 2056cc for $5K. Alternatively if anyone has a 2.0 engine for sale I'll be interested to hear from you too...

Oh, the car is solid. In line with the previous posts, attached is a photo of the rear trunk!

Yep, I am in for the journey now. Click to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

It has been a few years since I have undertaken an ambitious project as such. My wife claims there is a pill ....

Had a few hours in the shop today

wow, respect to you that you are so positive and optimistic about the project.
And the amount of time it will take.....and parts and money and blood, sweat, tears and excuses to buy new tools......
It will be an interesting post to follow to see how you progress.
At least you have a good lift so you are not down on your knees working away through the rust.
Good luck !!!!

That is a project.

Nice job taking it on. Looks like someone already has new sheetmetal in it? Is the red metal on rear bulkhead and Driver Long Inner new or just primer over old metal?

You really want to take a look at adding door struts before you start welding. You'll be amazed at how much stuff moves around when welding. Pull down the chassis measurements from this site or Pelican, and keep a careful eye on them as you go.

http://www.914world.com/specs/bodydims.php

you need to brace the doors or you WILL twist the chassis while welding. There are lots of threads with that information in it. But for the most part people ar building stout rods with a turnbuckle in the middle you you can dial in the right amount of load to keep the car square.

Since these cars don't have a roof to add structure welding done along the longs will put a twist in the car. And you won't notice it until the very end when you are trying to re-hang the doors and the gaps refuse to line up, or worse the door refuses to close.

Zach

Thank you Frank, if given the option, why not take the positive/optimistic perspective? Besides, I am older and moving into retirement slowly. Progress is well, I am puttering with several small patches and will move into the structural work at some point soon. A couple of sheets of 18 ga and 20 ga arrived yesterday, looking forward to cutting it up and firing up the Lincoln 140 MIG. I am leaning towards a rotisserie mounted to the bumper attachments for welding in position.

Zach,

Thank you, the reinforcing braces are at the top of my list. Back in the '80's I put a '69 Ghia back together and did not align the body at all. The car drove well for many years afterwards, but always had bad door gaps. I am considering utilizing a system that would allow test fitting the doors as progress moves along. Not sure of the method. I am considering a few spreaders at the targa area with nylon binders to hold everything together. Theoretically this would maintain the 25 1/8" number between the windshield header and the targa bar.

5 years and about 20k if you do it yourself.

About that hard.

Have fun.

We are off to the races! I think you may even have the shitbox I started with beat.. not by too much but yeah, you win.

Thanks for the info and the fuel, I will be driving this restored 914 around the streets of Buffalo next summer.

wow
"Thanks for the info, I will be driving this restored 914 around the streets of Buffalo next summer. "

That would be a super achievement. Maybe the TV shows like Overhauling will make that in 6 months with their big team and all new sponsored parts.....but that is virtually impossible for a one man team in a garage in my opinion.
Even if you have the skills, you will run out of time !
But again, respect for your optimism :-)

Don't try and bolt anything to the top of the windshield frame. Its not structural and will just bend as the car twists.

Door latch to upper door hinge, and another from the top hinge to the base of the door sill. When I say hinge, I mean make a plate that bolts into the 3 captive nuts at the top of the hinge. Again, do a search or look in the Classics section. Pics make this easier then trying to describe it.

Zach

Thanks for the heads up, I was hoping to have an easy way to test fit the doors as we go without removing the temporary braces.

I don't want to toot my own horn because others have done this before I did - I didn't invent this solution.

But, since I'm lazy . . . check my build thread in my signature. 1st page post #4.

My door braces don't interfere with the doors and I've done all welding with doors in place rather than try to count on measurements and trial fittings.

Yeah, I did it too and highly recommend it. Use the upper bolt sockets for the seat belts and weld a big nut to front of the inner long near the speaker boxes. Run your adjustable brace between then ad you'll be able to install doors with the braces on.

Hawk, Brent,

Thanks, I have seen these in a few of the threads I have researched, just wasn't sure of the connections at the door hinge end. Can I assume it's a unanimous NO with bracing from the windshield frame?

IMHO -- No. There is no structure in the A-pillar / windshield frame. Not at all like a modern car that has to meet roll over impact standards that lead to robust A-pillars. If you look at modern cars - roll over regs are a main reason why the A-pillars have become so wide that they have become a blind spot unto themselves. It takes a lot of structure to support a modern 3500- 6000 lb vehicle upside down! Hmm . . . wasn't weight the subject of another thread . . . but I digress.

The 914's targa bar is the structural element meant to keep you from having the car crush you in a rollover.

It was actually pretty advanced for it's time. Many convertibles of that era would simply roll over and crush the occupants.

^^^^^^

I think bracing to the frame will get you nowhere other than a twisted tub AND bent windshield frame. It really is a weak structure. The passenger side on mine was bent down a few mm from people hefting their lard asses out of the seat by pulling on the frame over the years. I just grabbed it and pulled it back to factory spec measurements by hand.

I posted on PP before seeing it here but in my, non educated opinion, to replace that much structural metal, you need a frame jig (like Jeff Hail built) or Celette bench.

It looks like Jeff H has the corner on reconstructing the 914 rustout. I have studied his thread several times and are planning a similar strategy.

Its all math, weather geometry or structural calcs. Good thing my youngest daughter is a math teacher

Take a look at the thread "My '74 project" by @pencap914 .
I asked the same question and he posted a very detailed shot that will be useful for you.

Had some progress in the shop today. I went with a different method of holding the body while she is being cut apart. Old inner long finally gave it up, but not without a fight.
Click to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Holy cow.


You should buy that tub from that guy in the UK...for $1,500.


Man...the entire long is kaput.

Why would I do such a thing, this is the fun part. Good thing we have RD at our disposal, it would be much more difficult without them

Thats the spirit.

Honestly I was in same position - well maybe not quite as bad. The fun is in fixing stuff that others would simply throw away. For me that true of vintage cars, vintage motorcycles, vintage stereos, vintage tube amps. Whatever. this throw away society we've become accustomed to.

Though - next time I'd buy a tub from CA. The guys in CA have it made.

I have a CA tub waiting in the wings. Bare tub $500, shipping, $800. Minimal rust repair, priceless.

@mepstein

Now you tell me I've got way more than $1300 "invested" in reproduction sheetmetal And to think some guy got a whole car for just $200 more than that!

By now you should know how stubborn (i.e. dumb) I am. Saving a rusty chassis and building up a Mag case 2.4L that will certinaily cost more than the 3.xL engine you offered up to me a while back.

Nah, the easy way out isn't my thing.

But next time . . . . I certainly would take you up on it.

Travis had this engine up for sale. I was second in line but first buyer bailed. As luck would have it, the shop was doing a pickup near to him in AZ so the shipping was sort of free. It's at the machine shop right now - Shop owner bought a machine shop nearby so its getting fixed up to at least a long block. Sometimes even a blind squirrel gets lucky, or something like that...
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...6&hl=engine

Go Mark go!

Awesome score Mark!

Look at the size of those intake ports! That is outrageous!

Love the attitude! I do have some concerns though. Your bracing is interesting, but I don't see any way to adjust. A big advantage of a diagonal brace with turnbuckle is it gives an easy way to adjust the chassis to keep the body measurements in factory spec. It's amazing how rubbery the chassis gets when the outer long is removed. I was able to dial my measurements in literally using only two fingers on the turnbuckle.

Also, as Mark pointed out, removing that inner long takes this to another level. There is no longer any structure maintaining the tub length. You can see in your pic that the floor is sagging which means the length has been shortened so you'll need some kind of fixture to make sure the dimensions are correct and the chassis is straight when the new structure is welded in. You may already have a plan for this and I'm not trying to be negative. Just trying to alert to possible pitfalls the way others have done for me on my build.

Oh, and your rust bucket definitely has mine beat in basket case status

Thanks to all for the (non structural) support. I have built my career on historic building restorations in Buffalo for many years, and all this stuff is the basically the same. Metal/wood/concrete/glass all behave somewhat different, but similar. My basic philosophy has been, "if it was built a hundred years ago, who says we can't build it today". That basically holds true, except the pyramids in Egypt, but thats a story for another day.

The last project I undertook was a 1985 Alfa spider with 12,000 miles and NO rust, great car, but got in the way of the hurricane Sandy flood surge. I removed seaweed from the rear view mirror, it was bad. It took a few years, but she is now alot of fun. Personally this stuff is therapy and I have fun with it. Prior to welding new structurals I will be checking and rechecking the body dimensions and door fits.

Thanks again to all, I will continue to post and am looking forward to running this beast around Buffalo next summer.

I have that 2.4, going into REDRUM... You to DanRoot to Camp914, to Me..

True and true, many Americans simply throw into the trash all kinds of useable items when a repair can be accomplished. Generally speaking one is off their rocker to purchase a Porsche in the first place, more so off their rocker to purchase one in need of repair, and a rust out Porsche, well you get the picture.

Had a couple hours today, cleaned up a prior "partial floor repair" completed with 16ga steel brazed in and sealed with gobs of tar. Getting the tub clean and ready for the new panels is a challenge. I am fabricating plywood patterns fit into the door openings that can be used in place of hanging the doors as rebuilding occurs.

Found some original floor and opened up the "inner longitudinal on the passenger side. Selective demolition and discovery Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachmentphase

Wow. Mine was in a similar condition. Got the passenger side rebuilt, currently working on the driver's side. If you are finished by next summer, you will be done before me, but I will look forward to watching your methods. Godspeed.

@Matt , was the entire longitudinal in need of replacement? were you posting pics on this site. How is the drivers side

For my door brace, I found an "adjustable link" from Tractor Supply Co, cut it in half then welded it to a thick walled 1" square tubing.

The brace goes from the upper seatbelt bolt hole to a section of angle iron tacked into place on the inside of where the door hinges are, above the heater pipe. Not sure if it was the easiest/cheapest way to do it, but it allowed me to adjust the door gaps with the doors installed.



https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/adjustable%20link?


Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

What’s the deal with us 914 guys?!?!
I had the same view in my garage, 914, e class wagon and........black Cannondale bike.

Is that a "homemade" inner longitudinal? what gauge

There are clamshells available and long stiffening kits as well.

Once you fix the longs, of your plan is to race the car or add a significant amount of power, consider adding in inner longitudinal reinforcing kit. (I think Mad Dog sells it, maybe others these days.)

Zach

@930cabman , yes, cut the entire long out on both sides - one at a time, of course. Just about to button up the driver's side, need to update my build thread. Link is in my sig.