Post away! We want them all. Always good to have an original point of reference.

Okay, the only useful Bahia is on the sail panels (targa bar sides). It's subtle, so if you *think* you see the difference, then that's it.

To my eye, Bahia is oranger, deader, and brighter all at once.

pete

more

original sill, now with Engman kit next to it...

And Toronado, by itself, shot at the same angle/same light

door to sill experiment, not so successful

Walk around at differing lights to get an idea of the sail panel's color against the rest of the car...

And another...

Pete,
Your car is one of the relatively rust free 914s out there, and the sail panels show that.
As far as color, I'm probably in the minority here when I say I have a very strong preference for OEM paints...period correct for the 914 production era .
Below is a good photo of a '72 in Bahia Red.
Paul

Walk around, continued

Keeps going (McMark made me do it )

More...

And another!

Getting to the end...

And two indoors, at different exposures...

Last one, which I think really shows off the difference in low light...

Hey Paul!

Thanks!

This IS a nice photo, but the trouble is it looks like Coral non-metallic on my screen. It also looks like an old photo. Other photos I've seen of Bahia make it look almost pink, which it does not in person.

So I decided to take a bunch of photos of factory-original Bahia with the same camera on the same day on the same car in the same light (though body contours make it tough to call it a perfect excercise). Anyway, even then it's only so helpful because judging reds on screen is at best a flawed exercise. That said, for some people (myself included until I took my car apart) it may be the only exercise available to them!

Cheers,

pete

From the photos on my screen (acknowledging the flawed color of computer screens) I think the Bahia looks WAY better.

Pete,

Beautiful workmanship. I like what your doing about color matching. You view the original paint in all types of light & different times of day. That's the only way to get a true color match.

Tom

Can't claim any credit for the workmanship. That goes to John Rock, Genoa's fabricator. ALL that I have done is disassembly and then things any idiot could do, like scrape the factory sealer gunk out of various places.

Have to say that, in person, I think I prefer Toronado to Bahia. I like oranges and I like reds, but I don't like reds that tip towards orange, which is what Bahia seems to do. I'll have another look in early light if I get the chance. This decision has kept me up nights!

I appreciate/like/love the originality thing, but this car will never be an original anyway. It's more of a mild mod-rod.

Thus, I think it's gonna be Toronado.

pete

Go Tornado!

FWIW, It's actually Tornado Red. It replaced Mars Red for the 1986 model year. And I agree... it's one of the nicest reds out there.

Ah, thanks for the correction...

pete

I vote for Tornado Red. It looks a little deeper to me. And in your pics of the car before the body work, it looked great! It's obviously a colour you like alot, so I'd stick with it.

P.S. Great thread Pete!

Cheers,

Well, since others are giving you their opinion, I'll add mine....

I'm partial to bahia red.... BTW, both are original bahia red '74 2.0

Click to view attachment

Here's a better shot of the finished bahia red driver...

Click to view attachment

Whichever color you choose, you're doing a great job....

-- Rob

Long before there was a Boxster limited-edition by the same name, there was the 914 "RS60 Spyder"

With its unusual formula car Momo wheel, complete with electrical tape to cover up the horn button hole-related failure...

Getting close to ready for the paint shop. All that remains (this side of sanity) is windshield removal and a little adhesive removal on the firewall and front trunk bulkhead.

I may also make a deeper check of the previous rust treating (ca. 1991) at the back of the rear trunk floor. Or not. A cursory inspection showed it worked very well...

pete

Finally, just for fun, we decided to weigh the car as is, with all mechanicals (it's a running, driving car but for its lack of a 15-pound driver's seat), both windshields, steel wheels, tar over most of the floors, the engine sound pad, the headlight assemblies less the lights themselves, and about a half tank of gas. Engine lid and headlight bits were in the back trunk.

To my surprise, it came out at 1,591 pounds.

My guess is that, with a light battery, alloy wheels, FG decklids and bumpers, Perlon carpeting, Plexi side windows on 356 GT/911R style strap adjusters but with seats, a top, all rubber seals, lights, and steel sides (fenders and doors), you might be able to build a streetable 914 in the 1650-1750-lb range.

Very tempting, but not what my car is.

pete

I'll let ya know

(P.S. Your steering wheel is bent)

Need some advice:

I taped off the wiring and and headlight assemblies, then covered them in plastic bags with tightly taped ends to seal them off from getting wet during the inevitable bodywork soakings. Good idea?

And, more importantly, how should I prevent moisture from getting into all of the dashboard/gauge wiring once the windshield is out? Am I being paranoid? Is it better to let this stuff get a little wet and dry out in the open, or to bag it as best possible and hope for the best?

Thanks!

pete

Any good body shop masking paper taped in place of the missing glass will hold out several washings as long as you use good (3M or American brand) masking tape. Don't use cheap tape you pay for it later.

The reason the masking paper will hold back water is the solvents used in modern urothane paints will soak through the old standard masking. Todays masking is designed to resist this.

So is the bottom of the one in my GTI...

pete

Pete,

Knowing what is going to happen at the body shop I would tape and cover "everything" that you don't want a layer of dust etc. on.

Looks pretty stripped already, but I'd completely tape up that dash and gauge/wiring. Water proof? That's a little paranoid.

Windshield removal on my car = no fun.

Butyl tape is everywhere and holding the trim in well enough that "the tool" ain't doin it.

Luckily, I have new windshield trim and mine was only so-so. I got the two two pieces out, but I'd like to save the bottom piece because the new one arrived nicely bent from GPR. (To his credit, Dave offered to take it back, but I never got around to sending it back.)

Ideas to get that bottom piece out? Is there something that dissolves butyl, or am I dreaming?

pete

can you add a little heat to the butyl with a heat gun might soften it up some. Not sure if that'll do a number on your glass tho (the heat that is).

Well, many months later, my car has returned from paint. I have to say that while it took far longer than I had hoped or planned, I am thrilled with the results.Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

...

straighter than I've ever had it, and I've had it 20 years now...

lots o work to do...

trunk!

open wide...

the "other" trunk

NICE! Can't wait to see it in person.

and tucked in for the night next to its new(er) roommate. notice which one has the bigger oil leak!

It's been home for a couple of months (or at least a few weeks+ ) , so I feel like I've been leaving my family out by not posting.

They decided to take it down to bare metal. Interestingly, they found no more rust ANYWHERE, so this is a counterpoint to other advice about the stuff you may not see. On the other hand, I think I'd go with that advice rather than following my (intended) path. Was nice to know we identified all the rust spots before they stripped it down. The paint has some peel in it, more subtle texture than peel. I really like it, because it looks a little more "original" this way. It's nicer than it would have been in 1973, but it doesn't have that "Pebble Beach" paint feeling, which some love but leaves me cold.

I've done a lot since these photos were taken. The outer longs are now all red (just cuz, I guess...), the area behind the front bumper is done in Wurth high-build black, as the fenderwells will be, the dash vents are re-blacked, the grill underlays are blacked, the front strut bolts and plates are back to their correct cad plating, much of the lighting is in place, etc. Still a lot to do. The level of paint is making me do stuff I never did back in 1991, like clean every bolt before reinstallation, get rid of the 1991 overspray on wires etc. It won't be perfect, but it will be a very nice driver -- though my wife teases me that it will never see a freeway again.

I have some more crappy phone pictures (like the first three) from the car in primer and in process at the body shop. I'll see if I can resize some of them. They're not that interesting, though...

pete

Hurry up you slacker.

Love the color, looks fantastic.

I am sure you can't wait to be driving it again.

The easiest way to resize photos I have found it to email them to yourself (if
you are using ms windows). It will ask it you want to resize. This will make
a 500K picture into about a 50K picture.

Great project, keep the pictures coming.

John