I've been going through my pics to organize them and found these and figured it might be werth posting for those who haven't experienced a console going south. First pic is for clarification of what you will be looking at

Next pic is after removal and sandblasting. Believe it or not this piece looked fine on the car,all of the rust was actually fused together forming a solid chunk and the paint had not come off. This is a result of the metal rusting from the inside out. This will also give you some idea of how important it is to check these areas and just what sandblasting can do for you!! This console also was NOT collapsed, I had no idea it even needed repair until I began to fix the hell hole!

Pic of the inside . More pics of the hell hole/console/upperwall/long repair can be seen here

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?show...1&st=&p=&#entry

youch! I've given mine a thorough looksee a few times but you are scaring me again.

This is a good shot of what happens inside. All three of the "support tubes" should be even all the way through but rust has clearly eaten away at the bottoms of all 3. Had these rusted through the whole area would have then pushed upward causing the console to collapse. I didn't actually measure but would guess the thickness to be about 3/8? wall tubing to give you an idea of how much is missing.

For those of you who bitch about your welding skills this is a pic of the factories welding job and yess they all looked that bad

Now for the fun part fixing it all. I must first say that this car is not a "restoration" but will be a nice driver for my dad so I am trying to keep costs and time down. Therfore many of the repairs won't be as nice as what I do at werk but will be done using materials i already have and quickly BUT solidly so there is no need to worry about the safety or return of rust. That siad here we go. First shot is a piece of 1/4 thick flat stock bent to the shape and welded at the ends of the tubes as well as along th shaft on both sides creating a stronger than stock repair. I also sandblasted everything again and took a piece of 40 grit to the tubes to get them nice and shiny.

This was done with some 16 gauge sheet I had, simply make a template from construction paper and transfer to the metal and cut!

Last pic I took here. I have since finished welding the pieces together and now it sits.......If I ever find time to werk on the car again I will take more pics of the finished console. Obviously there are still a few things to take care of before it is reinstalled but th console is pretty much done Before installation I wil be painting the inside with a coat of etch primer then a coat of sealer to give it uber protection

Just to go along with this, here is the engine mount after removal and sandblasting

Yeah this is something that all 914's need checked but east coast cars MUST be checked. I have scrapped WAAAAY more 914 than I have kept because of hell hole/susp console rot. This car was saved only because I had put floor pans and a sail panel in it about 7 years ago so I couldn't really see not fixing it now I also have a feeling I'll be doing a few more of these repairs in the future as the popularity and values seem to keep rising. Plus I still have 2 of my own to do

excellent pics/write up and nice repair!
do you have any pics of the finished console?

Still haven't finished it yet. As stated I have welded the pieces together but have yet to weld it back on the car. Istill have to finish the inside of the engine compartment and then I can put the console back on. I'll be sure to post some more pics whenever i get there. I've been plagued with "other" projects with more importance for almost a year but I hope to get back on this in another month or two

Scotty,

Thanks for the photos and explanations. Good stuff. Very helpful.

I apologize, but what is the suspension console? Even with your clarification picture
at the beginning my mind can't figure out where the console and the suspension meet.

Skip

Dammit.

Now I am going to have to go home and beat on mine with a screw driver and see if it breaks through in any of those places.

I want to get beyond my hell hole...

Zach

Great thread Scotty. There's some eye-openers. Once rust gets going, it's usually worse than we think. Thanks for posting.

Take a peek underneath your car, just behind the rocker panel, right in front of a rear tire. You'll see the three bolts in that first photo, but from the bottom side. Where the front of the rear trailing arm bolts to the car.

the comsole mentioned in this thread is the outter one - here is a pic of a an inner one that we are putting on my car.

This thread is awesome!!!

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=16748&st=0

I can weld like factory, sweet.

Old but good thread.

As is the mantra w/914's ALL these cars have rust in those locations.
Its just to what extent.
The factory provided "drain holes" at the bottom of the inner & outer console that you can see just just fore or aft of the scab plates that tie the two sections together, and obviously at the bottom of the ear.
Water invariably gets in there and ugliness ensues.

Damn has it really been 5 years ?

So has it been welded together yet?

I don remember Pretty sure I got that part finished, and stopped when I was ready to weld it back in ......I think.............