Okay... I decided to start a Gint-like thread and just post progress instead of starting a new subject each time I do something neat.

Latest project.... Pedal cluster rebuild.

This is really VERY easy to do.

I had the pieces powder coated. Installed new bushings. Cleaned up everything and reassembled.

I'm also installing AJ billet pedals (I've got the billet gas pedal too).

Mental note to self: Must have billet pedals! Very nice! Can't wait to see your car finished.

Also had the light buckets powder coated... although no one will see them but me.

Man these things were nasty before I bead blasted them.

NOW! Nice and shiny

did you plate the hardware on the cluster yourself?

Cluster hardware cleaned up very nice to look new. I lucked out.

I just garmed out all the black pieces for gloss powdercoast after I bead blasted them at home.

Same guy who did this...

nice karl. with the influx of parts i take it your car is on the road to being on the road. endevour to persevere.

kevin

Unfortunately... not much work on the body other than fitting flares. LOTS of rain here is making it hard to get body work done... humidity is high and it's so friggin hot.

That's okay... I'd rather the car get painted in a month or two after the rains start subsiding a little more...

I basically have just been refinishing/replating everything so that when I do get the body back... everything (for the most part) is ready to go back on clean and refreshed.

Carpet came in this week... Gauges are due in next week. Interior is all redyed (I do need to redo the door panels).

Tranny rebuild project is next...

901 - GT torsen differential, billet intermedate plate with new bearings, billet side cover, new synchros, 1st gear dog teath, seals, and regearing for the engine.

so when is your targeted completion date? it's nice to see someone dumping this kind of money into a 914! I really like what you're doing with the car.

Do not let Karl fool you. Not all pedal assemblies come apart easily. 90% of them are a serious pain in the ass to get apart (like getting the roll pin out of the clutch arm).

Looks great.. I'm going thru the same pain on the 3.6 car soon.


B

Dumping money is right... I am totally aware that I am stupidly dumping inordinate amounts of money into this car that I will NEVER recover.

But I am doing this once (I am building my dream 914 to last and keep). It will, for all intents and purposes, be basically a NEW 914. Almost everything is being replaced, upgraded, rebuild, replated, refinished, restored, etc.

This car has consumed me for many years (lots of dreaming). I have loved 914s since my first car when I was 16. I've spent countless hours searching through catalogs and magazines over the years for ideas. Luckily the internet has made my thought process easier over the past several years.

Groups like 914club and the Pelican Parts BB make the free exchange of knowledge and ideas so much easier. Thanks to Brad for making THIS board the best! Thanks to everyone else for contributing.

Working on this car is also my therapy and release for the stresses I deal with daily at work and the life my wife and I live.

Realistic completion date is the end of the year...

I figure another 6-8 weeks for body work (he's slow but good).... A month to reassemble (in my spare time).... And a month to install everything at the shop, troubleshoot, tweek, balance, etc.

Maybe it will make a nice Christmas present.

Oh yeah... the roll pin was a BITCH.

I drilled and drilled and cursed and swore. Took it to a machine shop to get pressed out. The guy placed it on a vice... took a hardned steel punch and a big f-ing hammer and WHAM it was out in 1 second. No charge. (Of course I was also picking up my lower valve covers for machining.).

If I can give any advice to someone restoring a car... two things.... Air compressor and bead blaster. It's made refinishing crap so much nice than dealing with a wire brush or chemicals.

Karl, I have a question for you. Do you think that , when completed, you're car will be so nice that you'll be afraid to drive it? At least to some degree? You may need to get another one to use for a fun car. If your petal cluster is anything like how the rest of your car will be upon completion, you'll have to put it in a climate controlled showcase.

This car will NOT be a daily driver, but a weekend, and fun car. Car shows, maybe a driver's ed event. Cruising for the weekend.

My wife probably WON"T like riding in it because it will be a very stiff car (although Mueller's needle bearings will help a little).

No.. .it won't be a garage queen, although I did meet with my builder today and he's going to add A/C to the garage...

Here are the valve covers... they were painted with VHT wrinkle finish paint.

Nice work...I love it when people put the effort in to powder paint all the pieces.

I expecially like the fan housing...who did that for you? I am getting my fan housing in the mail soon and I haven't decided what I want to do to it. I like the idea of painting the housing black...that is powder painted also right? What kind of finish is on the actual fan? From what I understand, it is magnesium which can be difficult to make look good?

Let me know,
Britain

Housing was powdercoated in gloss black

Fan was blasted and coated in silver powder coat and then clearcoated.

DO NOT powdercoat the inside of the fan housing area that the alternator slides into. It is basically an interference fit and even the powdercoat layer will not allow you to install the alternator. Have it masked off... as well as any screw threads.

Same goes for the pedal cluster... cork off the through-tubes to allow the bushings to fit and tape off any screw threads.

Karl,
You need a CPM schedule of your project. I do them for work all the time. Make a list of the activities and the duration, than put them in order. When you find your longest string, you have the credical path and with a time scale you can figure out your completion date.

Paul

Thanks for the info Paul... this coming from someone who has taken 24 years to get his car where it is....

Just kidding.

If you look at my website and my progress page.. you will see large gaps in activity. This is due to lack of time, kid being sick, work taking too much time, me not feeling well.

http://www.my914-6.com/progress.htm

But you will also notice a lot of activity in the last few months that has been pretty consistent.

Of course I don't document EVERYTHING!

Karl that is going to look soooo cool. I cant wait to see it all together, heck I cant wait to see my car all together!

Karl,

It's great to see progress like this

Not that I know what to look for, but are those valve covers modified for use in the 914 yet??

Mueller...

Yes the lower valve cover ribs were machined down to allow clearance on the rear trailing arms.

The ribs come up about 1/4" higher than the valve cover mounting bolt thru-holes. I had the ribs machined down to the level of the holes.

About $40 for the machining.

I have been watching your project with keen interest. You are realizing a dream and that vision is coming together as you have seen it. The money spent over the twenty four years is not waste since it contributes to a working hobby and when averaged out those years does not appear to be bad. Yes, the total appears to be very high and scary. Then you look at the project and the dreams becoming a reality. Yes, I would have spent the money anyway in some other activity, but I have been building a dream; not becoming a reality.

Very nice job and I will continue to watch with great interest. You are seting build standards of quality and excellence.

Thanks for letting us participate in watching you buildi your dream.

Steve Hurt

Steve,
Karl hasn't been working on his car for 24 years. He was just giving me $hit because I've owned mine for 24 years. Karl's bearly 24 years old himself.

Karl, so for our next get together, you're driving your car right? You better.

Paul

Yes... Paul's had his car for 24 years and it is getting lighter and lighter... not due to the usual brown rot... but due to Paul's "texas chainsaw massacre" style of bodywork....

I've had this car since last May!

I've had 3 other 914s in the past starting at age 16.

Today's project... clean out the fuel tank!

Karl, everything is lookin great!

On the tranny, if you are putting in new 1st gear dogteeth go for the 2nd gear ones too. They take a beating with all the downshifting along with 1st gear.

BTW- What do you do? (for a job)

Geoff

European Racing Headers came in today... They look VERY nice. Off to get ceramic coated tomorrow!

Hmmm... I think I'm gonna like this exhaust setup...

Karl,

what type of mufflers are those in the last pic?

Mufflers.... click here...

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...st=0#entry44661

Karl,

Everything is looking good!

Where are you having the ceramic coating applied? Do you have a place in the Southeast? Are you having the mufflers coated as well?

Thanks.

Mike

You can also get these wheels. They are 15 X 6.5 and fit in the fenders.

http://www.minilitewheels.com/

I have these on my 1974 914

Van

I like my wheels! I don't need minilites!

The mufflers are all stainless... so no coating needed.

Headers are going to Jet Hot for the Stirling ceramic coating.

Karl

Karl,

You'll like the sterling finish. It looks very nice!

mufflers look a little rice to me! jk man. nice project. how cheap is it to get stuff powder coated?


also....carl, can your car balance on two jackstands? didnt think so

Engine Dressing...

Paul,
Is this going to be a work of art or a car?
Very nice stuff-you're doing it right.

Paul

You're gonna need some velvet ropes to put around it when you're done, Karl.

Engine is 99% done... just need some pulley parts and the carb jetting pieces...

Gauges are done...

great looking gauges!

Karl,

I think you'd have a few people interested in a calender with only your car in it once finished...maybe a few months could have pictures of the piece parts before it went together

Karl,
Where did you get the bezels for your gauges?!?!? They look sweet!

Palo Alto Speedometer installed them...

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...t=ST&f=2&t=3948

Real pretty, Karl.

But they look heavy.

Paul

Believe it or not, the triple gauge is the lightest of the three. The housing is an aluminum stamping instead of the pot metal.

Hey.. I've got them mounted in the plastic gauge panel from the '75 car to save some weight... ha!

I picked up a set of fiberglass front and rear GT hood replicas... the car is getting lighter and lighter...

Steel flares will add some weight....

Fiberglass bumpers, rockers, front and rear hood will save a bunch of weight.

I removed all of the tar, most of the seam sealer, the rear firewall insulation, and the engine firewall pad. Quite a bit of weight in total here.

What does a stocker 914 weigh? 2200 lbs or so? I'll probably come close to the original weight after it all evens out. Engine is heavier, flares are heavier, and bigger wheels and tires are slightly heavier.

Hoods, rockers, bumpers, and insulation reduce a lot.

Oops, I forgot about the chassis stiffening stuff... okay so I may be a little heavier!

From the list of things you've done, I would say it would be less weight than stock. Those hoods are heavy, as are the bumpers. That friggin' car is gonna fly!!

BTW, I just spent three hours in the garage with a new blade in my Sawzall.
Guess what I cut out. I'll post pictures in the morning.

It's almost midnight, I'm going to bed.

Paul

finished replating the hardware for the front light buckets and reassembled...

Gathered the rear suspension stuff...

And the front...

started stripping the rear trailing arms...

bilsteins on the front? why not koni's?