So I picked this thing up for $150:

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I've spent the last 3 weeks getting it running ( it does ). Then I stripped most of the parts off the car. Here's what I've got:


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More rust (what would a 914 be without rust):

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Any suggestions for removing the jack support and tube? Do I need to cut more of the rear fender off and some of the door jamb?
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OK, this is scary. Can you say swiss cheese?
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you are very spoiled to have such a nice little rusted car for a win the lottery pirce! We would have all of that welding done in a week.

Another one saved.

Too many people would not have the time/patience/sickness to try to save this car! Good on ya for trying!

Well, I'm still picking away at this thing. I ended up removing the windshield and rear glass. Someone on this forum had posted a picture of a tool they made to remove the windshield trim so I made one and it worked very well.

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I removed some rust,

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made a patch,

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and tried my hand at welding.

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It came out ok, not bad for a neophyte.

Just curious about all of this.

What year is the 914 and which engine?
How difficult was it to get it to crank?
Was it still FI or now carbed? Did you drive it at all after cranking? How far?
Are you doing this only to develop and polish your skills?
Do you plan to license and drive this 914 when you get the metal patched?
Are you skilled in any of the trades of body works or welding before attempting this?
Why not purchase metal floor parts needed or is this just something to do in spare time?

This is interesting. Good luck.

Nice pics. Keep em coming. I wanna watch this build start to finish

It's a '74, 1.8 fuel injected. The car appears to have had no modifications performed on it (no door speakers, stock radio, motor, etc). The engine cranked right up once I put a battery in it. EJM helped me get it running. The dual relay was shot and the injectors were clogged but once the relay was replaced (and new plugs, points, and wires) I got it running and actually drove it up and down my driveway (which is 1/4 mile long).

I didn't purchase floor parts b/c only two small parts of the floor are rusted. I have purchased the inner rocker panel. I'll have to fabricate the piece behind that. I have two good, rust free fenders.

My welding and metal working skills are developing, but I'm learning. I'm not sure how much body work I'll do and how much a bodyshop will do. I don't plan on painting it myself.

I'm doing this so that I'll have a 914 to drive (not an everyday driver but to drive on nice days, maybe to work).

Fantastic reply.Answered all I asked. Not many do that. Thanks.
If you run into a tangle, keep this link handy (next line down) bookmarked:

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

It's 32 pages of tech and illustration photos others on here have done.
It's some of what you are/will be doing and it's right here on 914world.
Good luck.

Mike

nice progress Chris... keep the pics coming

Well, my attempts at welding have proved futile. I can't get these stupid spot welds to work. And if I can't weld, then I can't fix this rust bucket, so I guess this is now a parts car. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The motor runs and the tranny works. Any takers??

Don't give up!!!

You will learn.

Someone can show you.

What kind of welder do you have?

Back up the bus.
Finish it.
I am happy to come over there and show you how..
Feb , first weekend saturday morning.
Ed, Myself, and William Harris will come out and get you motivated.
I promise to drive my car, no matter how much crap is on the road.

Rich

I love this place.

Cevan: You'll be able to do it. I learned how to weld mostly from reading past posts. The learning process can be frustrating, but it's necessary and in the end very gratifying. I myself was having a hell of a time until somebody pointed out that I had the wrong tip on my welder! (I was using a tip for flux-core instead of a tip for MIG). Just keep at it and don't feel like you have to finish it all in a couple of weekends. :-)

To you Rich for offering to help. Keep us updated!

B-3 is my setting for MIG with my miller 175 (120 volt job) I BUTT weld all of it, trace the piece shape from the bottom, prop it in there and just weld spots 1" apart....keep going till its all done SPOT, SPOT SPOT SPOT worked great and only burned through a few times.......

TO give you and idea I went through 3 2lb spools doing my car (various holes drilled and other as well as full cage etc etc etc
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You can do it.
We can help.

Give us more info and we'll get your welder working right. Your patch looks great!

your prep work and patch looks great.. welding is easy once you get the hang of it ... I can stop by and see what the problem is... if the welder your using isn't up to it I'll bring mine over...

I appreciate the kind words but the patch is out b/c 1/2 the welds weren't really welds. It didn't take much to rip it out with pliers.

If I could just use some kind of epoxy, I'd be all set. The welder I'm borrowing a Solar. It has variable power and wire speed.

Don't give up! I am going through the same repair work, I'm learning how to weld as well. Here is my progress thread:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...mp;#entry850200

Only catch is that I spent 1k for my parts car, so you are already ahead! We can definitely help you get that car back on the road, keep asking questions. Does the welder you are using use shielding gas? Or are you using flux core wire? I highly suggest using shielding gas if you can. Also, is the welder infinitely variable with respect to power and wire speed? Either way, practice on some scrap, adjust the wire speed such that it isn't coming out so fast that you need to move very quickly to avoid pileup, and then adjust the power such that you are just starting to blow holes in the scrap. Then, back it off a little bit. I've had decent success using this method.

-Chris

Yay for resto threads! Keep it up

Well, I gave welding another try, thanks to all your encouragement. I switched to some 18 ga steel that I bought and practiced some more:


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Back to the repairs. I had pulled out the patches I made before (those welds truly sucked) and redid them with the 18 ga.

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This time I went around the seatbelt attachment point.
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On to the front corner. I figure I'd try easier, less structural repairs first.


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A little weld thru primer and a shot of rust converter into the longitudinal.
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First one welded:

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Second one fitted. I bought an inner rocker panel. I need to replace the back half. It took alot of going back and forth taking a little metal off and checking the fit:

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Second patch welded:

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Success!!!! Not pretty but no one will see this when I'm done. I'll do some more grinding and check to see if I missed any spots. I do notice that it's more difficult to get the molten metal to fuse to the old metal, especially where I have to use a wire brush instead of a sanding disc.

For a little welding help, I found this to be interesting reading. It may help you improve your welds.

http://www.autobodystore.com/new_page_11.htm

Looks like you're doing a good job!

Just make sure you're getting enough penetration- What's the back side of the metal in this pic look like? It will let you know if you're gettin enough penetration.

From the other side you can see where the welding was done.

I'm looking for some body parts for my rusto-ration:

- front corners, up to the fog light mounting area
- door jamb on passenger side, even just the area around the door latch, say 2 inches above and below the latch area


Also had a question. Some of the inner bracing on the trunk lids has started to pull away. How is this best repaired?

I surprised myself at being able to make strong (but UGLY) welds. Go to a body shop or metal recycler and get some scrap. I think body panals are 10 guage mostly. Cut out pieces and start trying to reattach somewhere. I'm just usig a cheap harbor frieght flux core welder. Here are the real BASICS- about as far as I've gotten so far.
When you first strick the arc, sparks and slag fly everywhere, but if you feed for a second into that initial spot, more of the wire starts melting onto the molten blob.
The magic is in getting the wire to feed out and melt at a rate that corresponds to the rate the base metal is melting and re-solidifying.
I've had some success "placing" little globs of welding material to build in missing metal, then melting that into the base byapplying the welder to the base metal a few mm away from the built up part so that the heat to melt the globs comes up from the good metal I want to fuse to.

Get one of those auto-darkening helmets from China frieght. Take some scrap, weld some pieces on, then beat the whee out of the weld with a hammer to see if it really penetrated. The metal should bend . The weld should stay strong.

edit- well, in the time it took me to write this, you got good. ALRIGHT!

The link in Bartlett 914's post above is pretty good, worth reading. I tried welding the end of 1 inch strips onto a bigger piece and then pulled them off to see where the metal would bend/break.

I think body panels are less than 18 gauge (the stuff I'm using). I'd guess they're 20 or 22 ga.

Just remember that nothing should 'break off' after it's welded. The idea is to make two pieces into one.

On the 914 you have different gauge metal everywhere, you can fin 18, 20 and 16. The key to good welding is preperation, make sure your metal is cleaned on both sides, that also prevents fires

Hi Chirs,

We've been talking about those two parts cars in the Philly area. I just found your resto thread. My story is similar to yours. Bought a car that looked ok. Started digging and found a big mess hidden under bondo, fiberglass and riveted in scrap metal (I think one piece was an old license plate!). My car's probably not worth repairing, but I'm learning a lot and having fun.

I've been rebuilding my longs in a similar way and was concerned about rigidity too. I bought an aftermarket reinforcement piece made by Brad Mayuers (sp?). It's heavy (at least 1/8" thick), but it's stiff. I've finished one side...here's a pic.

ooops! Sorry posted this on the wrong thread. Meant to post this on typ11969's restoration thread. I had too many windows open!

Finished the rest of the front corner. One part of my car is actually repaired.

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I need a break from looking at rust. Hitting the slopes tomorrow.