I want to keep an eye on the tune and health of my engine so I am
thinking of running some additional gauges. I am getting a Raby
2270 built by McMark and want to keep it in good shape.

I am thinking of using a wide band air fuel gauge, a cylinder head
temperature gauge, an oil temperature gauge, and an oil pressure
gauge. Because this will be a street/AX/DE car and I live in Florida
I think the temperatures need watching.

There is no VDO WB AF gauge, so I will probably buy autometer guages
(or something) that are close to the VDO look. I will probably mount them
on a home brewed center console.

Any suggestions or ideas would help me out because I am just starting
to work on my gauge approach.

John

Its another beautiful day in the Sun Shine State.

Click to view attachment

Just right for working on my 914 in my outdoor "garage". I hope my 914 rocker
does not tip over, I have weighted the framework with bags of blasting media and
some paving stones. The eye is forecast to pass right over my house with 65 mph
winds. Maybe I will go to the beach instead of working on my car.

Click to view attachment

John

Stay dry and keep the wood side down!

Arms make it? 4 packages from thee arrived yesterday.

Eric,

Yes, thanks I got the arms last week. They look fantastic. I have the
cores boxed up and will send later this week. So far this storm has been
no big deal here, just a lot of rain.

John

WOW!!!! I just wanted to say thatwas remarkable....I have had two 914 for years one I drove for only a few years and the other I got as a donor car for the driver...I started to get my driver back on the road a few weeks ago and was kind of getting depressed with the rust...(Mind you nothing like what you were showing..) but still a bit...you have given me new energy to get mine back on the road...it has been setting for 18 years until a few weeks ago...Thanks for all the pic's and the inspirationto go on....

Good luck! 90% of it is keeping your motivation going, that and:

Everything I needed to know, I learned from 914World.

John

OK, I'm back. I have made a buncha progress that I will be posting but lately
I have been busy with a lot of stuff that is no where near as important as my
914. I cut out some metal from the bottom of the long that was rusted very
thin, made an 18 gauge patch and welded it in.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I replaced one of the inner suspension consoles and finally got around to replacing
the 18 guage reinforcing plates that join the inner and outer sections. The inside
and outside pieces of the pinch weld at the bottom of the long have gaps in
between each spot weld. Like the forces on the suspension console halves
have been trying to pull the long apart. You can see the gaps in the middle of
the left side of the picture.

Click to view attachment

The boxed reinforcement of the floor under my pedal area was cut off so I made
a reinforcing section from 18 guage and welded it on. Not sure if I over did it here
but I think having a pedal box that does not flex is a Good Thing.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I also welded on the seat attachments. I determined where to put these pieces
by temporarily screwing seat tracks onto them and installing the tilt adjustment
combs. I could actually put seats in my 914 now and not have them fall through
onto the ground. Not sure I can handle this...

Click to view attachment

I'm trying to finish up everything that needs to get welded to the floor, so I can
finish painting, seam sealing and undercoating it and turn my car back the way
Porsche intended it to be. I need to do this before my "rotisserie" rots....

John

Will you be available for some consultationsin the near future ??????

Sure, what do you have in mind? Realize that I am no expert, just some guy
who learned a buncha stuff by reading about it and trying it out...

John

He wants to learn how to keep termites away.

Your projects looking good.

T.C.

> He wants to learn how to keep termites away.



I am seriously worried about the wood rotting soon. I should have
painted it.

If you are doing a big build thrash and BBQ I may be able to trek
over and help out. I am sure I will learn some stuff...

John

Time to replace the rusty rear trunk.

Click to view attachment

First I need to cure a painful case of 914 trunk inner tit rot.

Click to view attachment

There are actually about six holes that need to be cut out and replaced on the
rear whatever the ass panel of the car is called.

Click to view attachment

Got five of the holes welded up and somewhat ground down.

Click to view attachment

I decided to stop grinding when my neighbor started hurling good size
coconuts in "support" of my project. While they make a good pina colada,
they leave dents that I will have to pound out later...

Click to view attachment

Test fit my replacement panel which should make a "nearly invisible repair"
as they say. See if you can spot the new panel.

Click to view attachment

I really need to start drinking more...

John

Spare suspension mounts for ConeDodger. Threads look ok.

Click to view attachment

Is this what you are looking for?

John

John,
The passenger side single one is the animal I need. The three hole jobs secure the front. I appreciate it...
Rob

Holy mother of someone getting something done!

Man, I need to get to work on my own little 914.

Great work on restoring that's what i need to do to mine.

Absolutely incredible job and a great read! I will come down and check it out in a week or two.

Don't throw that rotisserie away. Maybe I can convert it for my project. Or at least copy the design.

Steve
86 Carrera Targa
73T Targa
73 2.0 914 (Prior)

Steve,

I think you could salvage the two main "L" sections and adapt them to your
project, no problem. I'm trying to finish up the underside so I can get my car
back on its own feet again. Lets get together soon.

John

Welded in and painted the rear trunk.

Click to view attachment

Started seam sealing the trunks and bottom of the car.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Once it is all seam sealed, I am going to paint it with two
more layers of eastwood rust encapsulator and then undercoat
it. I hope this will keep it from rusting for a long time.

John

Rust encapsulator, seam sealer, 2 more coats of rust encapsulator, 2 coats of
rubberized undercoating.

Click to view attachment

Going to install brake master cylinder, some brake lines, steering rack,
front jacking donuts, then its time to flip it back to normal mode.

John

Awsome! Funny how in Florida you do most of your work in the summer(afternoon rain, storms). I grew up in M.I. , Hampton homes just North of 520. I know every road in Brevard county. You got skills, ROCK ON!
Steve

You are doing a great job. Very impressive restoration

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Big news today. I welded on the front jacking donuts and flipped the car back
to normal side down!!!

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Wow, it looks weird this way after so long on its side. Flipping it back was a little
hairy because it gets really heavy past the balancing point. I screwed a long
2x4 on to provide leverage and carefully eased it down.

I you are [A] building a wood rotisserie in your backyard [B] planning to use
it for more than a few months, and [C] pretty much considered insane by your
friends, then you really should paint the rotisserie because the plywood
reinforcements will rot and weaken in 3 or 4 months, and plan ahead when tipping
the car back because if it gets away from you it will crash down big time. You
need to use leverage and caution because without 4 or 5 friends you can't
muscle a 350 pound car body.

Now I in the home stretch, only 77 items on my to do list and $3500 more
parts on my buy list. I am so glad I saved money on my car insurance
because restoring a $500 car is not a big money maker.

It is amazing how much a 914 costs when you buy every single part
except the (rusty) tub one by one. Find a car with the vast majority of the
parts in useable condition if you want to be a CSOB.

Seriously, I am getting really excited about getting this thing on the road.

John

Once again Great job John. I am glad you were able to get it back down without any damage. It is looking good.

wow!
my hell hole repairs suddenly seem so trivial

I've watched this build from the beginning and I'm even starting to get excited! Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the good words, it keeps me motivated.

I REALLY wanted to make the Rocket City Ramble this year but it was not to be.

I'm gonna make next year's east coast event if I have haul my 914 there in a
dump truck...

John

Finishing the passenger door sills. Welded on the support triangles. Used the
sill plate to line up the triangles properly.

Click to view attachment

Added the sill plate. Now I have to close the hole between the sill
plate the door jamb. Trim off the rusty edges.

Click to view attachment

Patched it using two separate pieces of metal to avoid having to make such
a complex shape in one piece.

Click to view attachment

Weld it up and grind it. It ain't purty but it is solid.

Click to view attachment

Passenger side is done.

Click to view attachment

John

Now I have this to look forward to fixing.

Click to view attachment

The inside where the door vent comes out is almost as pretty. Anyone got
any ideas about the easy way to fix this???

For now, it is time...

John

I broke down and ordered the Auto Atlanta sail panel to fix the outside of
that nasty rust hole in the previous post.

Fixing the driver's side door sill. Still have some major rust areas to fix.

Click to view attachment

Cut out the rusty parts and clean it up. I don't know about you but I hate drilling
out spot welds, so I am using a new trick I read about in a book. First, cut away
the majority of the panel being removed. This leaves a strip of metal that is spot
welded to the other panel. Use a wire wheel to clean the strip and reveal where
the spot welds are. Then use a grinder to cut through just the panel being
removed in between each spot weld. Then the situation looks like this:

Click to view attachment

Now take some major end nippers and grab hold of each piece of the strip. By
squeezing down and then twisting it is easy to break off each piece of the strip
one by one.

Click to view attachment

The end nippers are great because they get under the ends of the strip easily.
Only the very small spot weld area is actually attached to the other panel making
it easy to remove the pieces.

Click to view attachment

I find this method is faster and less annoying than drilling out each weld. It also
really helps to cut out the majority of the panel first whether you are drilling or
twisting the rest off. Then use a grinder to remove the spot weld stubs.

Click to view attachment

Saves me lots of time and iritation.

Continue fixing the drivers door sill area. Made some patches for the holes using
left over long replacement panel. This makes fitting the patches very easy.

Click to view attachment



Click to view attachment

Took some time grinding down all the welds in this area. Made a patch for the
sill. Put back the chunk of fender I cut away months ago while fixing the heck
hole.

Click to view attachment

Carefully welded it all up. Tried to go slow and not warp the fender. It looks
pretty good, maybe bowed out a tiny bit. I'll need to grind it down carefully
too so as not to over heat it.

Click to view attachment

I think this leaves six rusty areas to fix.

Driver side sail panel.
Driver side lower door jamb.
Driver side cowl to fender joint.
Passenger side cowl to fender joint.
Front trunk rain gutters.
Rear trunk tail light openings.

Each one will probably take 3-5 hours to fix.

One more month and it will have been a year.

John

Pansy.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment



Just kidding! The car looks great.

Jim, That is some nasty sail panel rust! Did you make your own patch
for that??? Those are some interesting looking side vents...

John

Yep, I made all of my own patches (the other side looked like that too, except its entire door handle recess was gone). I'm only 20, and at that time (well, currently too) had much more time than money, and not buying replacement stamping was a great way for me to save. It was also a great experience in metal working.

The side vents were added by someone in the 80s; probably well before I was born. I'm not their biggest fan, but I do like their uniqueness. What you see is just a cutout. They have a "cover thingie" that bolts on over it and gives them definition.

Jim

Jim,

Looks like you did a nice job fixing those holes. I like to make my own patches
but I guess I am getting impatient to be done with the body work. My new
engine is collecting dust in my bedroom right now, I want to see it in the car...

John

I will not wine about the rust on my 914 ever again, I will not wine about the rust in my 914 again....

Seriuosly, great work! I love keeping up on this thread.

That sentiment is easy to sympathize with.

Mig Welding Where Angels Fear to Tread - The First Day

Started working on fixing the driver side cowl and front fender joint. This seems
like a complex part of the car where a bunch of different panels come together.

Click to view attachment

Bottom of the door pillar is also rusted out.

Click to view attachment

Cut off most of the fender to see what was going on.

Click to view attachment

Clean it up and cut away the bad parts. Hit it with some metal ready.

Click to view attachment

Rebuild the area from the inside out. I am not completely sure how these
panels went together. I was really torn between retaining the drain (rust)
channel between the fender and the cowl and just welding it all up solid.
Some people say you car will crack there if you weld it solid.

First patch going on.

Click to view attachment

First two patches welded on.

Click to view attachment

A patch made from a windshield surround a board member used to protect a
windshield they shipped to me. The irony is the windshield metal from the cut
up donor car is far better than the rust bucket I am rebuilding.

Click to view attachment

More patches for the windshield surround.

Click to view attachment

Still more patches to the rain gutter and front corner of the cowl.

Click to view attachment

Rebuilding the rain gutter had me really stumped for a while. There was nothing
left of the original metal on my car to look at as a pattern. I decided to weld on
some pieces to form the gutter and then weld the fender to them. I don't see how
Porsche ever spot welded this area together because I can't see how they
accessed both sides???

Click to view attachment

Here is how the fender will sit. It will be seam welded to the top of the gutter
pieces. I need to make sure the body lines from the hood to the fender and
cowl are all correct.

Click to view attachment

This far took me about six hours. At least an hour was just trying to figure
out how to proceed.

I think this repair might end up being a tenth of a point deduction in a concours.

I may have to give up my dream of a Pebble Beach Best of Show Trophy...

John

Fixing the cowl and fender - The Second Day

While I was in there with the fender cut off, I made a reinforcing plate for the
anti-roll bar mount, rewelded the brake line clip, and seam sealed it.

Click to view attachment

Made up some replacement hood channels.

Click to view attachment

Welded them on.

Click to view attachment

Tacked the fender pieces back in place.

Click to view attachment

Added tacks little by little until they were solidly welded, then ground it down.

Click to view attachment

After I put on 40 coats of hand rubbed bondo it will be a 10 footer.

The whole cowl and fender repair took about 20 hours spread over multiple days.

John

Keep em comin!

Fixing the driver's sail panel. This hole provides a little too much ventilation.

Click to view attachment

Cut away all the rusty stuff. Unfortunately the metal tube connecting the door
vent to the interior vent was rusted to nothing. I decided to weld up the driver
side interior vent and lose what was left of the tube. I will keep the door vent
but seal it up just to keep a little more stock look. You can see two patches I
made and welded to the interior.

Click to view attachment

Fitting a piece of the AA sail panel. This is a tricky area to get to fit right.
Somehow I screwed up on fitting this patch and left a big gap.

Click to view attachment

Welded up and ground down. Still needs some more smoothing. I also welded
up all the trim (rust) holes. I plan to glue on any trim to avoid these leaks.

Click to view attachment

The area above the door vent was pretty thin. I built it up from the top using
weld beads. I backed it up from the outside with pieces of copper sheet. This
is going to need more work to look decent.

Click to view attachment

Making these weird shaped, little patches is very time consuming. I'd much rather
weld up a hell hole or plug weld an inner long replacement.

John

I assume it's not gonna be a GT then

That is right. I was debating joining the group buy for flares but I want to get it on
the road, and I am ready to move on from bodywork. Maybe later.

I have 6x16 fuchs and was thinking of 205/50s to be sure they will fit.

I have a pair of 7x16 fuchs I could use on the rear. Gonna order tires this
week so I need to decide what brand and size to buy.

John