Ok, so I thought I'd start sharing some pics of my restoration project. I'm rebuilding my 73' 2.0L.

You ask, how did I arrive at this destitute Ghetto Garage in my alley restoration situation? Well I was driving all together too fast at a speed I will not mention (95mph) one night coming down the 405 around the Sepulvida pass when my passenger side rear wheel fell off.

I managed to coast off the freeway while teatering on two wheels it felt like (never applied the brakes)... and then I let my beloved 914 sit in the alley for a few years while I cursed it and nearly banashed it from my driveway forever.

Fortunately this year brought new inspiration when Proto31 purchased 914-6 #31 and we wagered a bet as to who could get their car driving first.

With the generous help and expertise from club member Bottomend- we pulled the engine last week and now it's time to get down to business.

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Here is what was left of the Suspension Console.

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view from the engine side

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hell hole looking down




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hell hole view from engine

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Batteries? We don't need no stinking Batteries!!


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I finally saw the light... thank you Dewalt.

Hey "Driveways"! Did I send you the pics I took of your engine pull yet? I cant remember!!!! Lemme know, K?

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This after I went Ape Crazy on that


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here we are close up to hell... is it getting hot in here?


No, I didn't get them yet... send em over... time to post!!!

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Yes it's getting hot in here...

It smoked for 15 minutes and was too hot to touch for a full HOUR... I thought it was toast... but it's ALIVE!!!!!

Great picture... now put the bong away and get back to work!

Put some wd 40 or something (not paint. welding doesn't "stick' to paint) over the area you've grinded or it may start to rust again....

Yeah it already started to rust again... 12 hours later and it's rusting. WD40 sounds like a good idea. Anybody else have some suggestions? Proto31 mentioned using a weldable primer paint... anybody have experience with that? Welding is going to happen within the next month, but the rust is a fast mudder fudder. What's the best way to protect the work I get done as I do it? (that I can then weld on ofcourse)

REWIND<<<<< Day One: The Engine Pull

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Welcome to the Porsche Restoration Factory @ the Ghetto Garage

Hey!! Is that Proto31 spying on my progress, or is he trying to sabotage my efforts thinking he's got this bet in the bag?

dude, we need a timline or something. It took us like... 3 1/2 hours to get to this point, right!? Jacking on dirt is dirty buisness....

No kidding, and it didn't help that my 'driveway' is listing to one side about 15 degrees.

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Proto31 ran and hid as soon as I started throwing this at him

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The dissapointement of the family....


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Wowsers! Dr. Bottomend what have you done?

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Ghetto Garage Engine Drop Manual page 6.9 "Always use your hazard blinkers when playing with big toys"


Aren't we about 8 hours into it at this point? Time to roll it into the backyard, I mean engine vault. Notice the tree stump preventing certain disaster in the Porsche Restoration Alley.

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Check out this Egyptian Engineering marvel. We had to roll 'up' into the backyard, I mean engine vault, with about a 8" grade.


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And there she lays. If I had followed Proto31's advice... he would've had me digging a hole in the dirt directly under the car, then dropping the engine into it Mexican style. Then he suggested I'd be better off just filling the pit back in with dirt and lay the damn thing to rest. Sorry to dissappoint you Protozoa.

And lastly.....




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Here's a VW helping a Porsche. Who said they couldn't get along?

The goodnight kiss....

Yeah whatever... my car was immobolized and your bus went in for the smooch. My Porsche would never kiss a VW if it had 4 wheels...

well, about time you got off your lazy butt!


nice to see some progress, feels good, doesn't it?
Andy

PS: just remember ... we've all been there. or worse. when you get to that low point where you think "is this ever going to run again?", just think about how much fun it was to drive that thing ...

Wear eye protection when using that angle grinder!!

I don't know about weldable primer, you do need a good ground and clean metal

to arc to. The liquid in WD40 is a carrier for graphite once the graphite is in place

the liquid is designed to evaporate, you might want to use something more like

gun oil. Sirandy summed it up well, it will be worth it once you are behind the

wheel again, canyons are fun.

Yean you got it... it's the memories of how fun it was to drive that's getting me going. Gotta have a convertable! Cause I like topless cars, fast food, and good women. Er... wait a minute, maybe that's fast cars, topless food and good women. No that's not right. I like good cars, fast food and topless women. Whatever, same difference.

So hey, I want to ask if there's someone who is going to WCC that can help me out on their drive back to southern california by picking-up some wheels I bought in San Jose???? Anybody? As you can see no expence is spared on the Ghetto Garage... but I am trying to avoid full shipping costs. I could certainly help you out with some gas money and a 6 pack if someone could do this pick-up (from CarreraGuy in San Jose) and bring them into the general Los Angeles area where I'll pick them up from you. Any help is greatly appreciated.

And next question... back to stopping the rust once I grind away. Do I.....

a. use a spray bottle to apply muriatic acid- also to get down into the nooks and crannys I can't touch..

b. weldable primer

c. or is WD40/ gun oil the way to go? are you saying I can weld right on top of the oil? Wouldn't it pick up dirt and contaminants by the time I'm ready?

d. any other suggestions?

weldeable primer works good *after* you cleaned out all the rust ...

cut out all the rott, clean as good as you can, then spray the heck out of everything with "Metal Ready". put it in a spray bottle so you can get into all the cracks. spray plenty inside the long as well. let dry.

where you have access, clean off excess metal ready (once dry) with a damp cloth, let dry again, spray with weldable primer, then weld the damm thing shut!

Andy

Ruuuuuuuust!

It's gonna be a close race.
Good Luck!



p.s. Thanks for the laughs.

Acid is fun to play with but I dont know if I'd put it in a sprayer... I take that back.... I WOULD NEVER PUT IT IN A SPRAYER. it's too uncontrollable in that form. One good wiff of that stuff and you're going down... maybe for good. You know... THE LONG, UN-ENDING NAP.

Proto31 likes his Muriatic in a sprayer... says it helps him get rid of hangovers in the morning after working on his beer machine. That guy is nuts . Anyway it sorta helps keep him smelling less atrocious, since he doesn't shower every month.

I can't beleive the slanderous comments that have been thrown my way. You try to give a guy a reason to get his car done, and then, that's right, and then he has the nerve to poke fun at Mexicans. Why? Highways (or more appropriatly- driveways), where would you be on that restoration had I not removed that damp set of crotchless euro undies out of the front trunk where it had been creeping for years, sitting there, recruting more rust devils

On a more serious note, I would not use any oil or grease type substance to coat your newly cleaned up areas of metal. It will prevent more rust, for now, but eventually you will have to get that stuff off before you can paint. Good luck trying to get all the oil out of all of the rust craters.

I'd agree with Andy's approach, I can pick you up some weld-thru primer if you need it, but first you have to promise to stopping dissing Mexicans.

Hey Proto, you're missing out on all the fun man! This is SO much fun, fun fun fun! Why don't you come over next weekend and I might let do some too... Removing TAR from the floor boards so I can get to the rust. I love it. Although I think I would recommend to others who wish to go this route... DON'T. Get a pet goat. Put them in there, hungry. Goats will eat anything eventually. It's gotta be easier then what I'm doing....

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One evening per side, hammer and chissel. And I haven't even dared to touch the front floor boards. I was hoping I could leave them alone... maybe I will cause they don't look as bad. Or maybe I should just go all out... decisions decisions

This passenger side wasn't too bad I think, but the rust was starting. And being that the drivers seat bracket came off when I sneezed, I figured I had to do both.

So here's a real question I need help on. I was planning on getting the new $190 suspension console sheet metal replacement from Pelican or somewhere. But I was looking at the pic of what they sell- and it sorta looks like it's only 1/2 or only one side of the console. Is that true? Or do they infact sell the complete console? The rust in mine seems to continue right up to the longitudinal (towards the left in this pic)
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So far my plan of attack is to just start cutting back a couple inches at a time until I think I reach some decent metal. I'm worried that this could go pretty far forward and might exceed the size of the replacement console Pelican sells. Anybody have any suggestions? I'm also thinking of drilling out all the welds on the current console and removing it entirely. Will the replacement cover me? Maybe I'm not looking at it right.
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You are defiantly on the right track. The part you have pictured is from RD and the view you are seeing is up side down. To answer your question yes it will replace your entire suspension console. It is actually two pieces spot welded together. Go with your second plan and remover the spot welds from your rusted suspension console and remove it. That is the best way to see how bad the rust damage is. By the way that part will dip into your pocket at @ $200.00 US.

You might want to try a product by the name of Ospho. It is a phosphoric acid solution that preps the steel for painting. It not only etches the metal but forms a thin layer of iron phosphate that will slow surface rusting in the short term. You should be able to find Ospho at your local Ace Hardware or go to http://www.ospho.com/ for other retailers.

Nice work Driveways! I didn't think you had it in you... Well I'd say the best plan at this point is to douse the entire bird flu infested carcas with gasoline, let it sit for a few minutes. This will help it soak into all the nooks and cranies, and then drop a match on it- the best 4th of July fireworks show on your block, guaranteed or I'll reimburse you for all the gasoline you use.

My car is not a Buddhist. It is finely tuned Vertriebsgesellschaf.

Ospho sounds good. Thanks for the tip. Is it safe for welding?

And just cause I'm shopping around, anybody know where I can get 'Metal Ready' and Weldable Primer? I wanna buy my supplies tomorrow to do some work on the holiday... worried that specialty suppliers wont be open.

I have heard, thru the grapevine, that smearing cocker spaniel fecies on the rusted areas actually turns the rust into gold! We all know that gold is a soft metal so you should remove it, but at least you no longer have any rust left, rights?

Ospho, Metal Ready, Rust-Mort, etc are all phosphoric acid solutions. Same shit. Works great for stopping rust, but you'll need to grind to shiny metal just before you weld. The better you clean the metal (bright & shiny) the better your welds will be. Looking good so far. Keep up the good work and the momentum.

Once you have the replacement suspension console in your hand you'll know exactly where it goes. Drill out the old spot welds and drill holes in the new piece and then plug weld the holes. The trickiest part is on the underside of the long. PITA. You'll see. Take measurements off the drivers side to double check your positioning before you do the final welding.

Looking good so far...keep up the good work...

Here's a link to my website that show's how I removed and installed my suspension console....

Good luck...

-- Rob

Stop talking to your dog so much and start fixing your car! It's not going to fix itself, despite what your dog says...

BIG News! Check it out....
Old Supension Console....
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New Suspension Console...
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Thanks you DSRIDDLEIII for selling me this with the fast shipping so I could get this project moving!

Example of my welds: ok I know it's not the Mona Lisa, but I got good penetration and I'm smiling
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AND DRUM ROLL PLEASE


Old Hell Hole:

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NEW HEAVEN HOLE, wait there's not a hole....Click to view attachment

good job man,, that looks like tough worki!!

Here's another pic of the suspension console with paint. "Zero Rust", thanks Proto... I'm laying all my faith in that name man. Cleaned out the longitudinal best I could inside the hell hole area and sprayed in there as well before I welded back up the hell hole. It was actually in great shape inside. Here's the console;
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Looks great!!