I've decided to keep my wrecked red car until my new 74 2L 914 from Part Pricer is road ready.

I just needed to pound out a few dents to get Big Red back on the road.

Here's a couple of before pics.

Here's some pics now. I don't have any special repair tools, just one heavy sledge hammer, a 20 oz hammer, some small body hammers and dollies, and an Audi scissor jack.

Here's one way that I've used the Audi jack. In this position, the jack was able to pull the fender out quite nicely. I think the fender is still about 1/2 inch lower than the driver side, but it's getting close.

From the back, the trunk is starting to look like it did before. First I'm getting the metal to the right position, then I'll work it to get it into shape.

The wood in the back of the trunk was used to support the Audi jack when pushing the back end of the car back into shape.

The engine seems to run ok, and the loud exhaust noise has been traced to a loose header bolt so it should be ok. I've driven the car around the block a few times without issue.

I'll also pound out the rear bumper, haven't gotten there yet. The valence has minimal damage, just a few dents and one screw hole pulled out.

I will need a passenger side taillight assembly. I have extra lenses. Also need the rear trunk lock actuator.

Nice work. A little bondo and some touch up paint and you're good to go.

I thought that I may have had a trunk lock actuator in the parts stash. But, I went down and looked, no such luck. I went down to the garage in my bare feet. Damn, it's cold.

Nice work! I have done a lot of body work over my 30 years of fooling around with cars and at one time I was taught metal finishing and body repair by a top notch body man. The key thing to keep in mind when pulling out collision damage is to reverse the process of the impact. Look at how the vehicle was impacted, what damage was done first and the secondary damage. We would put unibody cars like 914’s on a frame machine and set up a pull say, for a right side rear quarter and apply initial pull pressure but not completely back to shape. Sometimes rear damage would transfer to the front of the car with a ripple to fender etc. and during the pull we would work out the front damage first as that was that last area of damage that happened to the car during its accident.

Same thing goes for managing a fender dent. Apply reverse pressure to the center of the damage and work out the dent from the outside areas that are least damaged. It's amazing with patience and the right body tools how you can manage metal back into shape. Good luck!

Dang, I'm impressed. I've got a porta-power and I don't know if I would have tried tackling that.

Nice job!

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

Still working on the damage. Don't make much progress working 1-2 hours every 2-3 days. Here's the latest pics. I'm welding split seams and a couple of cuts and holes that I made.

Just welded the seam between the rear fender and rear panel just below the tail light opening. Also welded the tail light hangers.

Welded the floor pan to the wheel well. The long weld on the wheel well repaired a cut that I made to make unfolding the wheel well easier.

bringing her back slow and steady, I like it....

Nice hammer collection in the trunk there

The fender is starting to get back to its original shape. Some of the metal has been stretched by the accident. How do I get it to go back to its original shape?

Nother side view.

Tail light fits pretty well. I've used cardstock to make templates to get the proper shape of the corner.

The trunk is the next project. The hinge on this side needs adjusted. The edge of the trunk with the paint knocked off is where the actual impact happened.

I noticed this little crack by the passenger door before the wreck. It got bigger after the wreck so I decided to grind it down to find about 1/4 inch of bondo.

Picked up a chrome bumper in Jersey. $10 from Ebay. Someone mounted a trailor hitch to the car so there's some extra holes on each side. The bumper's very solid.

You have done an amazing job getting the car back in shape.

QUOTE

The fender is starting to get back to its original shape. Some of the metal has been stretched by the accident. How do I get it to go back to its original shape?

I wish I could answer your question about shrinking metal, but I have the same question.

I have heard of shrinking hammers, but don't know how they work or how to use them. I have also heard of shrinking disks, but again don't really know what they are or how to use them. I know that there is a guy here that does absolutely AWESOME metal work and even he said you were doing a nice job. (John Kelly)

I would love to learn to do some of the metal shaping that he can do.

Heat will shrink the metal. Ask JP about how his car flexed a little when he welded in his roll cage. John Kelly (sp?) sells a "shrinking disk", which seems to be a large copper or copper-coated disk that you chuck into your drill and then spin against whatever metal you want shrunk. The friction heats the metal and shrinks it. (Going from memory, but I think that was what it was.)

The "rear trunk latch cam" should be available from most of the usual parts places. Hmmm... OK, it doesn't seem to be available from us, for whatever reason. I believe that Weltmeister makes a nylon version; we ought to be able to get it I would think. If not, I'm sure the "other" PP place in L.A. can--and GPR probably can as well.

Or PartPricer?

--DD

QUOTE (Spoke @ Apr 4 2006, 07:12 PM)

Some of the metal has been stretched by the accident. How do I get it to go back to its original shape?

Shrinking dollies and hammers. They are what you use to unstretch the metal.
Eastwood search

I don't know how much experience you have doing this type of work, but from what I can tell you are doing an amazing job of bringing your 914 back into shape. I think the best thing, is you are using no special body tools for the most part...unless of course, you count the "Audi" jack. LOL

Way to Go!

When you get into the small details you might want to pick up a book on metal bumping for some of the basic procedures. I am doing this same thing (in a different place) and it really helps out with understanding the priciples. Just like with anything else there are two ways to do something. You can beat it into a rough shape and then fix all the little ridges, v-channels, and strecthes that result (rough 'em out / smooth 'em out) or you can use the Fairmount method and take a more scientific approach. The Fairmount method deals with relieving the stresses on the metal that result from a collision and using the sheetmetal's natural tendencies to reform it's shape. It will result in A LOT LESS WORK to get a professional result. You will also greatly reduce the amount of body filler you will need to use in your repair.

I recommend this book: The Key to Metal Bumping By: Frank T. Sargent

BTW - I am not an expert in bodywork (yet ) but it looks like you are doing a great job. Keep it up!

Spoke,
It looks like your really moving now. I guess the small bit of spring weather in the NE got you motivated.

So how's the green car coming? and when will you have a teener on the road so we can do a PA meet?

My car should be back on it's wheels this weekend. I had a small brake hose issue!!!!! Hopefully I can pull off the alignment and get the car driving by sunday.

QUOTE (newto914s @ Apr 4 2006, 07:55 PM)

QUOTE (Spoke @ Apr 4 2006, 07:12 PM) Some of the metal has been stretched by the accident. How do I get it to go back to its original shape? Shrinking dollies and hammers. They are what you use to unstretch the metal. Eastwood search

Those shrinking hammers and dollies are...for want of a better word: crap. They sell a lot of them, but all they do is mark up the metal with the harshest, least effective shrinking method ever. You would get better results just welding in the area you want to shrink....my very humble opinion.

A torch can shrink stretched ares, but you have to practice a lot to get the technique down. One thing...heat only a little bit. The metal should not turn red like so many people recommend....or even blue. It is not necessary and distorts and hardens the metal. Heat just until the metal steams when you quench it with water. This is a gentle, effective way to shrink.

A shrinking disc is the easiest and best method of shrinking, but may not be a good investment for one time use. Here is one of my shrinking disc albums with a little more information:

http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/comm...d=9980121727059

If you are broke, you can make one from a stainless saucepan lid. Won't work as well, but the price can't be beat. Here is an article with some shrinking disc instruction in it:

http://metalshapers.org/101/jkelly/index.html

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

I agree with everything John said. I've found the same conclusions. His shrinking disk on a polisher is a great tool. It takes a while to work stuff out, but that's actually better because you can avoid over shrinking.

Finishing up the last of the welding. Got all of the metal where it needs to be. I heated the metal on the fender according to instructions I read on the web (thanks John Kelly) and from guidance from friends at Klasse 356.

When I removed the muffler heat shield, I cut the floor and now time to fix the holes. Since this is the second time I cut the floor for the muffler shield (first time was when I fixed the trunk floor rust), I decided to bolt the shield to the floor instead of welding it.Click to view attachment

Here's a close up of one of the bolts. I welded a nut onto each of the mounting tabs, then made alignment marks for after the welding.

My pics are coming out like thumbnails. Is this new to the site? Can I turn this off?

Here's the heat shield with bolts attached.

Had to repair some rust under the bumper dog bone. Another signature Spoke weld. Still not good at welding but getting better
Click to view attachment


More signature Spoke welds and holes are gone.

Started stripping the damaged areas in the trunk
Click to view attachment

Back panel came out very nice. Will still need bondo to smooth it out.

Click to view attachment

I third it...

John Kellys shrinking disks are a freeking awesome tool. It is one of a handfull of tools that I really rate high on the best tools ever- along with my Miller MIG, my HVLC paint system and a few others. Ith has really changed my bodywork style. Before I was vey careful to not stretch the metal pushing it back out and to make sure that it NEVER protrudes above the undented surface. With John's disk, pound it out past the surface, don't worry about stretch, and shrink to match......

I bet you could take a car fender and turn it into a flat sheet with a hammer and his disk.

Ken

The fender is now as close to the original shape as possible. I used cardstock to make templates for the shape of several areas of the fender. I decided to strip just the damaged area as I may end up cutting the fender area covering the longitudinal to do some long repairs.

Are you gonna drive that the hershey???

Rich

If the weather cooperates, I'll bring the green 74. Progress on the red car is so slow that I won't have it fixed by then.

Spoke

James,

I put a new clutch in the green "Skittle" car as my daughter's boyfriend calls it and I'm on the road. Been driving it every day to work. Haven't done much to it since it runs real good and is a very solid car. What a difference between a 2.0 with properly functioning FI and a 1.7 with one of those stupid center progressive carbs.

Spoke

John,

I want to get one of your shrinking disks. Which one should I purchase for working around the rear fender? PM sent.

Spoke

Glad to hear that the car is working out for you. Although, you made me really miss having a 914. Oh well, I get one again eventually when I can find storage.

Did you get the extra keys?


BTW, you should be able to post your pics now without thumbnails being created as long as they are less than 800x640 pixels.

Yes, thank you. The keys arrived a couple of days ago. I've already distributed them at home and work

Spoke

Test fitted the $10 ebay bumper I picked up in Jersey. Seems to fit well but the damaged passenger side of the bumper sticks out about 1/8 inch more than the driver side. Both bolts on the rubber top pad were ripped off in the impact. I was thinking to just contact cement the pad on on this side. Is there any way to re-bolt the missing bolts?

BTW, the 2 vertical reflections in the middle of the bumper are my legs. Not that I'm a male model or anything but my legs look better than the reflections.

Spoke

OK, I think its time for the paint shop.

The back panel is very straight now.

Removed battery, trunk hinges, relay board, and torsion springs. I'll paint the engine compartment side walls and back wall.

Finally, some paint, even though its just primer, the car looks a lot better now.

WOW! I am very impressed with your progress

Hard to believe that is the same car......you should be very proud of yourself.....Well Done

Great job, keep the pictures coming.

Wow! New thread for me and can't express my amazement enough in words. Thanks for the inspiration!


Awsome work!

Fantastic reading, skills and results. I spent the better part of 2 hours reading and following links and think this is quality time. John Kelly is an excellent teacher as well as metal artist. Spoke is headed that way too.
Thanks for sharing.
MikeCool
Oldfield, TN

Paint is on now. Had a little trouble with the paint as I was using a reducer for temps 65-80F. I think it was about 88F outside and probably 95+ in the garage. I'm painting the steel wheels black and the lugnut covers silver.