Bits and pieces done today.

Repaired and sectioned a piece at bottom of the front wheelhouse.
Crap I couldnt even find the seam when I was done.

Closed the antenna wire hole. I swear that had one purpose! To leak!
Just had to stick my finger in the wet primer. Nope not dry yet!

Lower left front wheelhouse. Not bad. Little piece to replace.

Front left floor is not as bad as I first thought. The pedal base is all good steel.
Just to the left where I cut the dead foot out is easily repaired.

One thing I did notice is two cracks in the sheetmetal where the suspension crossmember hump is. I saw these from underneath the body. This required removal of the dead foot to access the area. The cracks are clean and appear to be from the forming process not stress.

When sheetmetal is formed in a die the edges/bends need to be smooth or polished otherwise the metal will not draw smoothly and thin out at the bend. Wax or lube used during the forming process also helps a lot. This will eventually split open.

Any of you guys who reload will understand. Try sizing a case without lube.

I will need to media blast this area clean. Fab the pieces and as Shea would say "do that welding thing I do".

Water entry did not help this area. Although that came from the cowl above.

Surprisingly the steel is in good condition with the exception of what I cut out.

Cut and trimmed the front floor footwell. Media blasted the surface flash.

Easier to do the repair in two pieces (actually 3)
The piece just to the left of the pedal box is an easy part to make. Just a rectangle cut to size and burn it in.

The second piece to the left of that took some "beating". My beating bag of choice.

Cut the template

Piece #1 clamped and ready for fire.

Piece #2

Ran out of daylite. Piece #2 will be burned on Thursday.

OBJECTS MAY APPEAR CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

Nice 914 on the 5 Fwy at Valencia Blvd today

Not bad...

Jeff.

You gunna be at your house next weekend?

And do you need any help for a few hours?

Clayton

Long time no hear Clayton! Glad to know you are still lurking in the shadows. I hope all is well my friend. How is the beach life these days? I'm in cruise mode right now. Can't say I will be home or not. You never know?

(Post edited due to foresight)

This evenings fabrication.

pedal board support to replace the old rusted one I cut out.

Hi Jeff.

I was just looking at the ground control shocks setup that BradHolio said he could hook me up with.
It cost about 2K for that particular setup for all four corners..
Do you have a sense of waht are you going to run for bars, springs and shocks? (Brands, etc)

AND... Since I'm tearing into the body work and minor suspension mods. What would you do if you were going to throw some bucks at the chassis?
The Engman long kit is a must as well as the sway bar braces. What else would suggest for a flared car with 7s and 8s stickys for the street and occasional A/X?

What bracing can I do while the car is apart that creates enough rigidity and still be streetable and affordable? I am thinking a 4 point cage with a down bar that attatches right below the door hinges and goes back to the sill/long area next to the trunk release.
6 points actually.

My fear is transferring to much flex to the wheel house and front end. As they are basically stock.

I dunno... I just want to hear what you might do for a street and occasional AX car?

Note. At the proper time and the proper place........
I drive the streets like it's a track. I have all my life.
Thus it is necessary to make this car work without snapping suspension pieces because I am a middle aged nut case.

I believe I can build dam near anything given the time and money..
It just doesn't look ANYTHING like your work. I wish I had your mad skilzzzz.

By the way. I have 3 new in box intercoolers. Ya know anyone that need any ICs?

Cheers,
Clayton

I will be running Bil's front and rear. Sway Away 22mm torsion bars up front and Eibach 250's out back. Tarret bar up front.

I am not worried about the suspension pieces taking a beating. Its the chassis that needs help. Engman reinforcements a must. I am going to install reinforcements where the Engman kit stops and continue it all the way back to the rear strut towers as I am raising the suspension pickups. Weight is not that much. Plus the cage ties into the rear rails. Easy as I have not welded the lower firewall in yet.

The front is another issue. The cowl flex's considerably which with heavy t-bars may result in cowl shake. To me the best way even with an inexpensive cage would be to tie the cage into the hinge pillars (down low) and high through the bulkhead into the strut towers. If you are thinking 6 pts might as well just add two more tubes (cheap)

If you are going front coil overs the strut towers will need to be modified with camber box's or heavily reinforced.

Jeff, what size Or weight springs are those please ? Do only that size or weight come in red like that ? What use is those size springs for (racing, daily driving , to be comfortable, etc,) The reason I ask is I have the same set and shocks on my car that came from another car. Thank you.

Hi Jeff,
Can you share how you are doing your media blasting in your rust repairs? I agree with you comment about trying to grind the rust out because it removes to much metal. I want to buy some media blast equipment but I am not sure what equipment to get. Thanks

Edited. Non auto stuff removed.

Edited. Non auto stuff removed.

Edited. Non auto stuff removed.

Edited. Non auto stuff removed.

edited. Non auto stuff removed.

I use both a professional forced pressure gun (hopper type) and a cheap hand held suction gun with a huge nozzle (Home Depot bucket is the hopper). Forced for larger areas and the hand held for smaller spot areas. I do not use sand. I use Dupont Starblast ( I think I posted somewhere way back about the Starblast). Process is straight forward. Blast until the rust is gone. Wear gloves, a windowed hood and proper respirator. I lay out a big blue poly tarp under the work area to catch the spent media and then recycle it by sifting it thru a ultra fine strainer to remove the contaminants. (pain but it works)

Since I am doing this project in stages I try to work smaller areas that can be started and completed without leaving exposed metal for periods of time.

Heres my sandblasting effort............

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=87896

We appologize for the interuption. We will return to our regular programming in a moment.
No time to work on the tub until now. I feel like the Duracell bunny sometimes. Go,go, go......

Finished the pedal box and pedal board support. A few modifications to the original design but I am happy with the result.

Primed, seam sealed and primed again - done

Anyone who has worked/ repaired this area knows its tight confines.

Chris,
Really I have been working on the car. Ho Ho Ho

Its been 28 degree's at night and raining/ snowing for a week. What is the best way to stay warm? Fire - of course.. Crazy thing is i'm in L.A County...snow? well a little mostly just frig'in cold.

Welded some backers/ reinforcing plates on the inside of the firewall. The thought of the PMS mount supporting a fat six with only 18 guage sheet made me think. While I'm in there add some metal. This is an area most cannot do while in there because its inaccessible. Do it once and never have to worry. No fatigue in the firewall sheet metal at a later date.

Two reasons..I can really turn up the heat when I weld the mount in and I can also tie the plates into the cage from inside the passenger compartment. Best thing is its all concealed by the inner firewall. Sano. You get the idea. Better overkill than not enough.

lololol

A few posts ago (many- somewhere on the site). I provided a glimpse on a center pull/ tunnel mounted E Brake using a 993 E brake assembly. A few reasons......get rid of the rinky dink left side E Brake and improve the system in the process. Using two right side 914 cables of equal length and relocating it to the tunnel. Full adjustment at the lever and cables from inside the car.

Here you go completed product. No modifications to the cables needed.


Yup Shea....freak of nature. Dr. FP would be proud!



Quote:Sarah Conner from the movie Terminator. "Men like you thought it up. You think you're so creative. You don't know what it's like to really create something".

Quote: Jeff Hail "Sarah be quiet- you are annoying me. Go to your room "



Happy freak'in New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![size=3]

Front floor officially done

Cut out the area that had some rust for the access cover and fabbed a square piece to insert.

Final coat of epoxy primer on the front floor/ pedal box. Nice and pretty.

........and yes that is a dent in the floor just to the left of the cut in the trans tunnel.
Didnt notice it until after I primed it. It will easily be corrected with a piece of 4x4 and a floor jack. Few hits with a rubber mallet to raise the low area.

The left side cowl is as expected. Evaluate and start cutting out the bad metal.

Made a backer to go behind and underneath the cowl. Three reasons: First to set the cowl height to the hood. Second with all the heat it will minimize distortion during welding. Third I can get some heat in this area without burn through (cowl top is thin).

Getting dark. Til next time!

A good friend who happens to be a full time welder asked me to design a new business card and logo for him. He's having a mid life crisis as he just turned 50 years old.

His request went something like this "it has to have fire and a skull since that's been my trademark for twenty five years. It needs to make a bold statement when I am on site and EVERYONE needs to know it's me. The rest I will leave to your imagination Jeff"


Hum? My imagination? A big burly guy who's into fire and skulls, Harleys, huge BBQ's and tat's wants to make a statement because you are having a mid-life crisis. This is you pal!

If you were to replace the firewalls as well as the floor what would you do first ?

Specifically structural or ease of work considerations. Any helpful advise would be appreciated

Good question. It all depends on how the car (any car) is constructed. If I was just replacing a floor pan and a lower firewall it would be fairly simple on a 914. Remove damaged/ rusted panels and then one critical issue comes up.....The floor has to be correctly aligned to the lower firewall at welding time. Even more critical if you are installing a six mount. I would tack the lower firewall to the upper firewall and let it just swing (leaving the sides and lower loose). I would then fit the floor pan/ cut to length/ tack at the forward floor seam (lap/ few plug welds to secure). Add a few plug welds to the sides for position only. Check everything for fit and then plug the lower firewall to the floor. I would then chase the perimeter with the remaining plug welds. Finally returning to the floor seam section. I would plug and fillet weld the seam overlap completely (both sides).

One hint that a few people forget when sectioning any lower panels (floor's especially), trunks etc ALWAYS postion the forward panel below the rear panel section. The reason for this is two fold. You dont want a leading edge facing forward ever. This will allow road splash/ debris to to stream past the bottom edge of the joint and not strike the joint head on. If you don't follow this rule the joint will rust/ corode due to being blasted by what ever impacts it.

Second just picture in you mind a leading edge hitting something (example:high centering a low car in a driveway or running over an object at speed). The joint can be easily torn wide open.

I recall years ago IMSA would not pass a car in tech inspection if they saw a floor that had been sectioned with the rear panel leading edge exposed underneath. In the collision repair industry its called blaphemous butchery.

On with the fun!

Thanks for the response. Based on what I have seen being done by those with more skills I will do the following......
Put her up on a jig (I will build one like yours) and fix the hell hole first then the firewalls followed by the floor. Whew, is that a good plan or should I punt ?

I am absolutely in awe of your skills; you are the Holy Grail of metal work. As I was reading your thread and watching the progress all I could think of was how lucky is that 914 to have this kind of skillful repair work. Love the thread; can't wait to see more.

The tub is off the front jig. Prepped, primed and a thin coat of SKS in the crossmember tunnel and left front wheelhouse. It will get primed again later.

Back to the driver side cowl. Fabbed all the little pieces. Only 2 actually.....and burned them in (the gutter and the side piece) Rough metal work done.

I removed what was left of the fender gutter at the apron.

Folded down the tab on the cowl gutter to make a smooth transition and set the hieght.

Fabbed piece #3 to close the apron to the cowl gutter. More burning.

Lots of grinding and shaping

and more grinding and shaping........

I did a similar repair to my '74, and word to the wise, now is the time to check the fit of the hood.

The side view looks a little bit forward on the corner of the cowl, like the corner of the hood may have a bit less gap than the center, which is exactly what happened to me...

Nice work!

I've been quiet and for good reason.

#1: I am moving and have been packing up the home & shop which has been quite daunting. Home easy, shop not so easy. My garage is full of equipment and attic is a time capsule of rat holed Porsche and racing parts for some 23 years. I have been packing things I didn't even know I had. Some of these will go into the 914 which will be unveiled later. Surprise, surprise AND no none of it is for sale! Once I had everything out in the open I realized its a damn 401k in the making.

My escrow closes 3-26-2009 so lots to do between now and then. It's a good thing for me. Bigger, better and about the same price which in todays economic times and market is a blessing. Change is good.

#2: I am a multi-tasker (aka A.D.D ...always have more than one project going on simultaniously. I just completed a huge undertaking that started in November 2008 that exceeded all expectations. It was a rush request and I couldn't say no to it. I cannot elaborate at this time but it was worth it.

#3: New home will need to have shop organized and outfitted. So this means I will be OFFLINE for a bit. Once I am back on line the 914 becomes #1 priority from here on out.

Later for now....

Good luck with everything Jeff, looking forward to updates once you get back into it

ADD is a blessing; I would be out of buisness without it. i don't understand why they surpress it with drugs!

Congrats & good Luck with the move. Looking forward to see the next installment

Don't count me out until you see the box going into the ground!!!!!

Move completed. Dealing with house things now. Garage is secondary at the moment.