I would like to know a measurement on your 914. This is a '75 and the right side has some re-work so I'm not able to get a good measurement for the left side inside wheel well distance. This is the measurement I'd like to get (Example is from the right side is approx 9.5"):


Click to view attachment


This is what I get the left side - approx 10.25":


Click to view attachment


I used the center of the top of the wheel well lip for these measurements (I've got most of the fender damage out in this picture):

Click to view attachment

The inner wheel well difference between right and left was initially 1.35" and I've shrunk the fender to a difference of .75". I have more work to do on this fender but I'm trying to figure out if the right side might need to come out a bit and the left side should bend in something far less than .75".


I'm dealing with multiple bends, some trace to an accident, some trace to a repair shop. The left fender was sculpted with bondo. After stripping, I could see all the issues. The picture below was just before I started on the metal work. So the symmetry is off and trying to compare right and left sides can be tricky.


Click to view attachment


What I noticed was the top of the rear fender looked like it was twisted. It's actually bent at this point on top from a bend in the inner wheel well.


Click to view attachment


Inner wheel well bend. This caused the oil can look on the top area of the rear fender:


Click to view attachment


I've got the inner wall flat with an only a small low spot left (backside can't be accessed for a dolly unless I want to remove the spot welds and section out the area). There is this weird spot weld on one side (pictured below). Does anyone also have this?

Click to view attachment

After hand working the metal, the geometry from the center of the car to the rear suspension is correct (at least the same for both sides). So the body does not appear to be twisted or bent out of square. Now I just want to get the wheel wells to approx where they should be before moving on.

Thanks,

DaveB

Whoa!!

Ambitious project here, from a prior crash. I am unable to provide measurement's now but I am sure others will chime in.

I looked, I thought I kept pictures from my project where I took a metal rulers just like yours, to the rear wheel wells. Sorry I didn’t keep ‘em. I do remember tho, that the left side measured 9.5” and the right measured 9-7/8” .. I folded the lips in and lightly stretched both sides until I got 10-1/4” on both sides. I’m hoping that my ET20 wheels will fit (if not, I do have a set of ET26 ). Anyway basically it’s common knowledge that the two sides almost never measure the same.. your measurements at this point would probably be considered factory spec. I’d try to get the lesser side stretched a little closer to the wider one, but that’s up to you -good luck.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.

I didn't know the measurements on the two sides were different from the factory. It was the 70's but I would have thought their chassis fixtures were a little tighter. There is feed wire in the factory welds and some panel alignment is not exact, so I guess I'm not that surprised. Good luck with your ET20's, if you get them to fit post some pic's if you hit a pot hole. . I'm being wimpy and going with an ET36.

DaveB

We know that most if not all 914s are different from side to side. It's almost always more difficult to fit wider tires under one rear fender than the other, and it's not always the same side.

--DD

i'm sure tolerances were a lot tighter at regular VW factories on regular VW models.
karmann practically hand built these things and seems they were restricted on size of individual panel pressings they could or would produce. most of the 914 is patched together from quite a lot of individual pressings when compared to many other unibody cars of the period (particularly american domestic cars - detroit had the ability to produce much larger individual body part pressings). i'm not really surprised the 914 body wandered about a bit. particularly at the rear. some of that may have had to do with the mid engined layout of the car itself. its a big hole right in the middle where a lot of other cars have a continuous floor pan through most of their middle section.

I went and checked my 71 since it’s on jackstands. I always heard they were different but mine were 9 7/8” on both sides. They must have been running low on hallucinogens at the factory that day. I would rather they were both about 10 1/2”!