Luke, that is pretty much what I have done as well. Since my welder took a crap yesterday I was sulking so didn't get to that part. When the new welder gets here I guess I'll have to post the finish....lol.

Yes, I did read about the welder going south. So all under control then.. lol
Keep up the work it looks great.

Wow, Santa was very nice to me and he beat the "supply chain" problems....A mig/tig and stick welder from Eastwood...Yeah, now I can get back to work,

So, of course boys with new toys have to try them out right away. I must say it is night and day difference from my old craftsman. In no time at all I had the fender welded up the rest of the way. The welds are much nicer and easier to control, so allot less grinding and finishing.

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Here is the rear portion of the fender flare where I blended it into the channel at the bottom where the rocker panel bolts in, just a little clean up grinding to finish it up.

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And here is the front where I joined it to the support, leaving just a small portion of the original fender to insure a strong joint.

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According to the factory diagram there was an allowance of 1/4 inch in placement, from side to side. I guess measuring 50 times before cutting paid off, as my measurements had less than 1/16 of an inch varience...very happy

Congrats on the new welder...and the fender placement looks great! Well done!

Keep busy...it's coming along nicely!

Today I decided to balance the car and install the 4th and final fender flare. So again measure and tweek the fit about twenty times till I like the fit so I can cut the gaping hole. In the first photo you can see the original fender underneath. In the second you can see that the fit is a bit off, will have to make adjustments once the original fender is cut.

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And with the cut out marked, its time to cut that gaping hole....This part always makes me nervous. Even after measuring and checking the fit 20 times I am always afraid I have missed something.

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Alas I put the cutoff wheel to the metal and cut the hole ...Every time I do this it always looks like the cut out portion is so much larger than it should be until I fit the fender.

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After cutting the fender I needed to attend to some other issues up in the fender well. For one thing there was still allot of the undercoating in there. I also didn't like the looks of the welds on the frame stiffener. Also up inside the fender is the bracing that goes up to the sail panel of the roll bar. It was obviously damaged in the prior accident and for some reason was not adequately straightened.

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I re-welded the stiffener that was already there, and added a second piece while things were accessible.

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I also found that when the repairs were made from the previous crash, that they never put seem sealer in the joint when they put the new fender on. This left a long crack where water could easily enter the rear trunk and is obviously a ripe spot for new rust damage. So I will clean it up, coat with Ospho so even deep in the gap is protected and then add seam sealer.

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At the end of the day, I think I lightened the car by about 5 lbs of dirt, undercoating, metal filings and other garbage....lol

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Today I spent the day still working in the left rear fender well cleaning up what the PO's body shop did, or failed to do... Here is the left rear fender brace, and you can see it doesn't look anything like the right rear brace...

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So I cut it away from the fender and got it straightened and then re-attached it, matching the measurement from the other side.

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Then after cleaning the seam where the fender mates up to the trunk, I decided to apply the sealer. I used Tiger Seal from Upol. I was not very happy with the product, as it was like pushing concrete through a garden hose, but I think the tube may be old, so I have a call in to Upol, to discuss the issue, will let everyone know what I hear back.

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And since I had the tube open and not wanting to waste $22.00....I sealed the floor plugs also, Nothing like two fisting the gun to get the sealant to come out of the tube.

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Since I was aggrivated with the seam sealer, I finshed cleaning up the welds on the frame stiffeners and shot it with a coat of acid etch spray paint...Then called it a day...

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okay, today I decided to complete installing the new fenders. I'm not sure why but this one gave me nothing but problems. It didn't want to line up and had some pretty sizable gaps and other areas that I had to make additional cuts to. When I measured it a couple days ago, it was 1 cm wider in the measurement..... By the time I finished installing it ( 6 hours of cut and fit) It came out with the exact same measurements as the passenger side....I think it was a matter of luck more than anything.

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So my beloved 914 is officially now a wide body....

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Looks great Kevin! Well done!

Thanks Rob, Not sure why this fender was such a PITA but took a couple of breaks so I didnt beat it into place with a BF Hammer.

Nice work--and the wide looks good!

Thanks Bob. I am certainly glad that part is over....

Today I figured I had put off the cleaning part of the body work long enough. I started with removing the tar undercoating up in the passenger side wheel well

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What I have discoverd is that the tar chips off faily easily, unless it is over seam sealer. The Tar really forms a strong bond with the seam sealer, which I am hoping when I have the body blasted will break the bond and blast the tar off. But after a couple hours of chipping and scraping I was able to get the largest majority of it off.

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Then I moved into the engine bay. I began by chipingthe old seam sealer out of the seams of the rear firewall. As thick as that stuff was I believe it was half the original cost of the cars....certainly didnt go sparingly. But hapily there was no rust or metal damage under the seam sealer at all.

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On a good note the drivers side is not nearly as heavy with seam sealer, the bad thing is all that brown stuff, that looks like rust is actuall some type of adhesive. It is extreemly hard to remove and gets very sticky when solvent is applied....Yuk, but better than rust.

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I used carburetor cleaner and was able to remove allot of the adhesive. But had to quit because I couldn't open the garage door.

So I guess we will call it a year and go drink beer.
Hope everyone has a great and safe new years eve, and a happy new year.

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I can tell you that after having my brothers 914 blasted it did not remove the seam sealer. My brother removed some from the front trunk but left the area under the cowl alone. The blasting didn't touch the seam sealer at all. The blasting sorta cleaned the areas where he used the heat gun and scraper. He had to go back and hit the areas with a wire wheel to remove it all. As for seam sealer we used a product called Sure Seal. It comes in a calk gun tube then we spread it with a hard bristle brush. We also used epoxy primer in the areas prior to adding the seam sealer.

Car looks great. I know installing flares can be a pain to get just right.

Thanks Luke. I noticed in all the posts that the seam sealer stays intact, but I really hope the tar coating will come off. I started sealing the floor plugs etc., with Tiger seal from Upol, but the tubes I got were old so it was very difficult to use, so I returned them. How did you like the sure seal, and do you know who makes it? I am planning on doing the 2 part Epoxy primer as well.

It's called Dominion Sure Seal LTD. Made in Canada
Code : 9002 , Stock : CSW
I picked up the tubes at a local auto paint supply store.

Spread pretty well. I used the calk gun to apply and my brother behind me spreading it around. Dipped brush in mineral spirits to keep the sealer from sticking to the brush. After a while went to the finger spreading method..

Dries fairly quick too but we let it cure 24 hrs before painting over it.

Thanks Luke. I will check at my local paint supply. Thanks for the input. Happy new Year.

Finally got a day where I could move the hot rod outside, so back to work on the 914.

Finished installing the rear frame stiffeners, then coated it with some primer to fend off the rust.

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Then spent the rest of the day grinding and sanding the welds on all 4 fender flares. They are all installed and ready for body work.

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Cross 2 more items off of the white board

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So, since I am waiting on my seat hinge brackets fron RD, I decided to finish up my trailing arms. I had already started boxing them before leaving Colorado, so it was pretty much a matter of cleaning up the welds and cleaning them up... I do have to press the shaft and bushings out of one of them before sending them to powder coater.

I am amazed how quickly things rust here. These sat in the garage in Colorado for a couple of years with no paint on them... and no rust. A few months in Texas and they need blasting.

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So spent a couple of hours finishing up the welds and then grinding everything smooth.

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Then re-blasted everything in prep for the powder coating.

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Then I spent the rest of the day doing the thankless chore of cleaning my blast cabinet. Most of the media was gone and replaced with tons of rust and paint dust. So cleaned it out and replaced with new blast media....ready to clean more Porsche 914 parts......

Give them a few more months and they will grow mold.

I do not miss the climate of Texas.

No doubt Bob. The one thing I do miss about Colorado is you could take a step forward (metal work wise) and it stayed there, even if you had to take a months long break....Here you don't dare leave it for anu more than a few days or you've gone two steps backward....

If there is one nasty, dirty job that you would like to do to your 914 on a rainy (or snowy) day when you can't be outside, this is the job. Stripping, cleaning and repacking your rear axle CV Joints. I have 2 sets here, plus one extra that I don't have a clue where it came from.

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So we can start with the extra. Someone took the time to tape it up with several layers of masking tape to hold all the pieces in. If you have ever tried to remove ancient masking tape, you know what I mean when I say it sucks... But at least this one is a throw away....

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I will go into detail tomorrow as to tear down and cleaning and re-assembly, but this is a good representation of the parts in each of the CV joints, for any of you who have never had the desire to do this nasty job. Of course this one is garbage. Parts are very badly worn and rust has taken its toll, but I didn't have to clean off a quarter pound of grease to show the parts.

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Now I'll show you what is inside a used (or new) CV joint. Be prepared for a royal mess. Have tons of rags, parts cleaner and lots of gloves or be prepared to wash your hands every 5 minutes, and take my word for it, don't let your wife catch you washing your hands in any sink in her house.

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I dis-assembled the transmission end first. As you can see, the grease in here is thick and is as black as charcoal...

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And it sticks to everything.....I guarantee, you want to be wearing gloves.

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