Taking a break today to allow my hands to recover and my wounds to heal, so I thought I'd share the experiences of the past few weeks. I'm sure this story is going to sound mighty familiar to many of you. Sharing it for your amusement, and because that's what we do on this forum.

This all started with a bit of a front end wobble when applying the brakes. No big deal, just a warped rotor. A quick check of the braking system then revealed a leaking MC. Not the most pleasant job in the world, as many of you will know, but you can't safely drive a car with a failing MC so I did what was necessary, but man was it painful. Bleeding these systems can also be challenging, but three quarts of brake fluid later I was satisfied that there was no more air in the system and I had proudly achieved a very firm pedal. I absolutely love my Motiv pressure bleeder. It took a while to get back to the rotors, but after some limited driving I put the car up on the scissor lift and decided that while it was up there would be a good time to also change the engine oil and the transaxle oil. While changing the transaxle oil I suddenly remembered that 914Rubber speedo drive gear guide bushing kit that I bought a while back and thought this would be the perfect time to put it in. Mind you, my current drive gear guide bushing was not leaking so I'm now fixing a problem that I don't actually have. Old guide out, new guide in, super easy. Right? Well, to a certain extent. When reinstalling the guide retaining bolt the threaded insert (yes, the factory uses a heli-coil here) failed and I was faced with a stripped bolt hole. A few days of research, a new thread (no pun intended, and with thanks to everyone for their advice), and I learned all I wanted to know about heli-coils, time-serts, and big-serts, none of which I had ever used before. Well, one expensive time-sert kit that I hopefully will never use again and that issue was solved. The transaxle refilled, I moved up to the front again to do the rotors and bearings, and thankfully that went smoothly. While I was doing that I thought that since I had the calipers off I might as well put on a set of PMB restored calipers. Since I was doing the calipers, I should also replace the soft brake lines. Mind you, the brake lines looked fine and the calipers were working fine. On those went without any problem. Since I had opened the system again I now had to bleed the brakes and another two quarts of brake fluid later I had a firm pedal and was satisfied there was no air in the system. Perfect, time to wrap it up and put the car back on the road but then my eye was caught by the Riviera's that came with the car, which I have never liked, and so I decided it was time to put on some nice Fuchs. Off came the wheels and tires, which were fine even if they are not IMO the most attractive, and on went a nice set of Fuchs with relatively new tires. When tightening up the lugs on the passenger side rear wheel I then noticed some play in the trailing arm. Well, a LOT of play in the trailing arm. Mind you I have never heard a clunk from the rear end, but this was a really obvious problem with the car up in the air. Off with the wheels again, off with the trailing arm (there was almost nothing left of the inner bushing), a trip to a friend's shop to use his press, and new bushings are in place. With the trailing arm out of the way it seemed like a good time to adjust the valves, so I got to work on that. I then had a prolonged struggle with a valve cover that just wouldn't go on again until I discovered that the problem was the hidden end of the bale had slipped out of it's retaining hole. That solved, and with the car still up in the air, and the brake system already having been opened, I thought I should replace the rear soft lines as well. After all I already had them. Those of you that have done this before know that the clip that holds on the forward end of the soft lines is pretty inaccessible. I struggled with that for a while before I realized that at the attachment for the bracket there are two small notches on either side that you can put the blade of a screwdriver in and then lever the clip forward and work it off. That accomplished I decided that since I would now need an alignment anyway now was the time to upgrade to turbo tie rods. That also necessitated sourcing a 32mm wrench and grinding the head down to fit on the turbo tie rods. While taking the old tie rods off I then noticed that the NEW MC was leaking from the Welsh plug. I had to walk away for a moment so back to the rear to reinstall the trailing arm which went smoothly except for gouging my head open on the sharp edge of the rear valence. Now I had to shift gears to my real profession, and a bit of wound care and closure, and calming down a worried wife, I was back to the car to finish off the rear end. So where I stand right now is the new ATE MC has arrived and I'm ready to start with that install, and then bleed the brakes for the THIRD time. I've had to stop myself from putting on new PMB rear calipers, replacing the trailing arm bushings on the driver's side, putting in new rear wheel bearings, and a variety of other "while I'm there" tasks.

I'm not done yet, but today had to be a rest day as my hands are a bit sore and my wounds need some time to heal. I'm hoping the MC is a bit easier the second time around. I'm also hoping that scope creep doesn't take hold again! I have to say that even with the cost, time, aches, bruises, and flesh wounds I have really bonded with this car again, so there's at least that.

I'm impressed if you actually read this far. I'm sure this progression rings familiar for those of us that wrench on our cars. Hopefully it was at least slightly amusing.

oh, man.
we've all been there.
You'll be really happy with yourself (and the car) when it's all wrapped up and you're driving it again!

I try to limit mission creep to the late fall where it can drift into the winter/non-driving times but then there are those infrequent beautiful, dry, mild winter days where a drive would be great - and i'm up on the lift....ugh. It's never a good time, is it!?

As Morpheus in the "Matrix" stated:

“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe."

"You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

Did you take the red pill?

Those damn rabbit-holes!

sounds like normal 914 ownership

for doing it right rather than pretending everything will be good enough. These cars are now all so old that it really becomes overwhelming to catch up with years decades of neglect.

Imagine the exact same thing, at the same time, on 5 different cars...

That's my world!

And I get to run a heavy load of customer cars during the hot season...

They don't count as "projects"

Active I've got in progress

2 MSMs engines, both super nice
1 914, exceptional! 30+ year hibernation, resurrection.
1 986 250K roach, going to be FUN!
1 "speedster/959" trash VW scum. A bad choice of my father.
04 Tahoe Z71, engine NICE!
89 Grand Wagoneer customer car, semi resto (Perfect survivor, top 1% in the USA.)
99 Honda Accord 280K roach youngest son
13 Veloster 260K roach middle son

So not 5, more like 9...

I need to start writing books for my supper...

Screw the books, it's time to retire & drink beer.

Great cliffhanger for the ending of Season 1.
When does Season 2 start?

Great Read !!
I think most of us that wrench our own cars have been there and done that. I know I have, especially the "While I'm in there".

Great story.
I am sure many of us can relate!
As others have stated, take it easy for a bit, then start the 2nd chapter!

Resistance is futile. Just give in, set aside a few years, and tear it down to a bare shell and build it back up.

(in a creepy voice)
"Join us! Be one of us! Hahahaha!"

Something very satisfying and fulfilling to say; "What mechanic? I did that!"

I believe you're enjoying the trials and tribulations that 914's bring.

What you guys CANNOT see is the fact that MOST of you are better than 98% of the professional techs out there in the wild today...

We've got a SHITLOAD of parts changers now!

Real techs are ALWAYS old and grumpy...

The correct answer for "How long have you been doing this stuff?" is "Too long".

Our only saving grace is kids like Francis who love this stuff anyways.

My life advice for them is "Find something else to pay the bills". Don't be a technician UNLESS you have your own shop and can control EVERYTHING yourself.

Even still you will not get rich doing this unless you can get your shop into a reality show...

Well that's a "fun" and relatable story.

But, you know you won't stop thinking about those new calipers you should have installed, along with the left trailing arm bushings and the bearings. You know, if you skip "fixing" them.

You should probably put on new parking brake cables or at least adjust them.

How's that clutch cable holding up? Probably should at least check its adjustment.

And since you have it up on the lift, now would be a perfect time to replace all those shifter bushings.

Motor mounts? Tranny mounts?

Pushrod tube seal leaks?

Oil cooler seals?

Etc.

Etc.

Yeah, thinking about it might as well drop the motor

You read my mind! Shifter bushings are next. The order has been placed The motor and transmission mounts seem fine, as best as I can tell. A little seepage from the pushrod seals. I have a set of viton seals sitting on the shelf (from a long ago 914Rubber GB) whispering to me. The oil cooler looks brand new, probably done by the previous owner who had the car for 44 years, and no leaks from the seals. Clutch and brake cables adjustment checked. Please don't make any more suggestions!!!!!

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