Have a bunch of hours to put in this weekend for work - but thanks to mobile computing and waking up at 3 am I was able to get stuff for today done early. That left me with time to work on the teener.

Had a lot of fitting to do, but finally got the outer part of that replacement inner panel welded. Still have a small section I'll weld from inside the engine bay. Here's both views.

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Got a good six hours in today. Finished grinding welds on the main patch panel and got two other holes welded up - along with filling some holes where I had to drill out spot-welds. Should be able to finish this side up tomorrow & be ready for rear firewall.

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Got started on the rear firewall. Had to tear down the used section I bought and make sure its going to work for what I need before cutting out what remains of mine. Has a lot of spot welds and a couple of layers - so a time consuming job.

I'll add a nice pic once I get it prepped and ready for primer.

Spent numerous hours this weekend getting one of the two layered panels of the rear firewall (to the trunk) removed. Required drilling out lots of spot welds - so very tedious job.

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Then used Andy's idea of welding angle iron in the corner to reinforce the connection between the shock tower and the upper part of the longs. New welder made the job a breeze. Still had to do it in 1-inch or so sections, but I'm happy with the results.

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I haven't gone through this whole thread and it may have already been discussed but will this engine cause the CG to be a bit higher? Any idea how this will change handling qualities? Like many others, I am looking forward to see how all the hard (and excellent) work will turn out.

Elliot, I'm sure it will get shifted some with the cast iron block of the 60deg V6. But the crank is right on the centerline of the tranny, and everything above the block is aluminum - so it shouldn't be terrible.

Also ,I'm not building a track car, and with proper suspension setup and wider track it should handle well enough for my driving skills to improve some.

That is one AWESOME build!

Thanks Mike. Been distracted finishing up on some projects in the house for the last couple of weekends. Withdrawal startin to kick in.

Still working on "the Wall", wife's Mini, and sons RSX. May be a couple weeks before I get back to the 914.

Well the wall construction is done - except for the shelving trim. My wife will finish up the priming and painting, and I'll get all the component wiring routed.

So next weekend its back to the 914 project - and welding. Hope I can remember how.

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Cut it, weld it, grind it, love it

Thanks, Bob.

Well the wall's done - well mostly. Started working on the shelf trim and the switch on my table saw went out. SO now I'm delayed until part comes in.

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This SHOULD buy you some garage time Gerard. Lookin' good.

Thanks, Chris. And garage time it was today - over six hours doing templates for outer long reinforcement pieces. Also dropped the rear control arms.

The pieces turned out slightly different for each side so I couldn't just flip the patterns. Also the right side is minus the jack point already so I extended the bracing there forward another six inches. Thinking seriously about deleting the jack point here too since the reinforcement piece can cover the location - and would be stronger & not a water trap.

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More time in today. Got four of the large reinforcements cut and have the templates setup for drilling holes.

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Very nice work. Keep posting please.

Thanks, Mike.

Was out of town most of this weekend but I did get some time in this morning to cut off the jack point. I started drilling out the welds then realized I'll leave the flat sections and just build my reinforcements into them.

First photo shows why I don't like these. Even though they have drain holes I've yet to have any of mine actually drain. They all seem to collect crap that adds to rust. Fortunately its not bad. and the metal is till solid. It'll get treated and protected, then covered with reinforcement.

Felt kinda crappy so decided to quit for the day. Turned out I had a 103+ fever. Not sure where that came from.

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A little more cleaning then ready for treatment.
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Strange fever in summertime might be tick bite.....just had erlichiosis last year & it did the same to me....simple course of antibiotics cured it...

Making progress this weekend. With the jack point off, I was able to put in a filler plate - and then this will connect to the reinforcement piece. Got the plate cut, fit and drilled with 1/4" holes for welding.

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Also cut, fit and drilled the right side.
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I have been making some progress over the last few weeks - while taking vacation, hosting visiting relatives, driving to cancelled car shows, etc.

Anyhow, got all the welding done on the on the pieces that cover the jack point. Got the wheel well pieces cut, trimmed, fit and tack-welded. Will continue the welding as I can.

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Wheel wells
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Took a break from welding for the last couple weekends to get my garage cabinet facings cut, fit, primered, and mounted. Hope to get back to welding this weekend while I wait for cabinet hardware.

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Still working on the car & the cabinets. Mostly grinding welds on the car - and there are lots of em. Will get some pics once I get it done and primed.

Decided how to finish the cabinet doors. Didn't want to spend an arm & a leg for hardwood, but needed something straight. My neighbor had some 12-foot 1x6s he was willing to sell so I started with those. They're kiln-dried #2 so they have more knots than I'd like, but their straight - so I'll live with it. After all they'll be painted garage cabinet doors - so I'm trying to keep my perspective and not go overboard.

The real challenge was finding 3/8 panels to fit in the style & rails. I went to one HD and two Lowes before I could find some straight sheets. I decided on these siding panels with grooves & decided to run the grooves horizontally - just to be different.

Here's some pics of the rough fit before any sanding.
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I love this car, the upper end of the engine is one of the coolest looking units.
Your craftsmanship is fantastic, looking at your garage and project screams organization / clean work & work area. Love to see it in person.
Nice work !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks. That perty intake is one of the reasons I chose this motor. Can't wait to get it on the road. They run as good as they look!

Still doing welding and grinding on the 914 longs in the wheel-wells. Also spent one whole day ripping, cutting and grooving all the panels, rails, and styles for the remaining 18 doors.

Fortunately there are only a couple pieces that I'll need to replace since they're slightly curved. The rest are nice and straight, so assembly can commence later next week. I've got training certification I need to complete nights next week - so no garage time until Friday.

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Been working on cabinet doors when I can. Been too cold to do much on the car. Laid out the scope of metal work left on the under body though:

• Inner suspension (dog-ear) reinforcement
• Model pieces and weld while on dolly
• Limit material thickness to 0.075"
• Remove Doorway supports & keep doors
• Repair small sections in floor pan
• Install engman inner long kit while on dolly
• Weld outer body patch panels - currently exposing wheel wells (L & R)
• Cement L side to FG flare

Move body to rotisserie

• Inner suspension (lower) reinforcement
• Finish fitment with body on rotisserie
• Cut, shape and weld pieces
  See image: http://www.shospeed.com/gallery/gallery/im...p;image_id=2974
  See image: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads19/7...71317748740.jpg
• Rear jack points (left & right)
  Order parts from Restoration Design
  Need body on rotisserie to complete welding
• Repair pedal cluster area in floor pan
• Close-off remaining floor pan stamped holes
• Seal under-body and wheel wells as needed with undercoating

That's like the trunk I had on my black V8 car. I didn't add the engine cover but had that on my mind. I didn't because I had my engine lid powered by a liner actuator and it came in handy to block out headlights at night. Nice unique car !!!!!

Drive-ability, Thanks. I see you have an even more radical LS1 build. That's awesome. Is it near finished yet? Would like to see some pics if so.

Haven't been working much on the car lately - been really burnt out. Getting ramped back up though as the weather starts to improve some. Decided to do something constructive and non-maintenance - so I hung up my schematics that I mounted on some thin fiber board. There are two pages for the 914 wiring and two for the SHO motor wiring.

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I expect to reference these a great deal as I rewire the car and the engine.

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Been decent weather this weekend so spent some time on the cabinet doors. Not happy with a couple of the smaller doors - they have slight warp to them. Will likely take both apart and try to reassemble if pieces aren't too bad. Otherwise they'll get redone.

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Just got some pics from my son of the 02 996 Targa he bought. Same color as his 914. Too cool.

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Finally got all the rough and finish grinding done on the wheel well reinforcements. If I take this kind of job on again, the fenders are coming off completely. Makes everything else more work with them on. I'll get some pics up once I get them primed - hopefully this week if I have any daylight after work.

Next weekend the RSX gets a 160K mile service. Gonna tear it down past the heads to check valves, replace seals, gaskets, belts, etc.

I should head down I-10 and check the progress you are making.

Guy

Guy, you're welcome any time. Give me shout when you're thinking about heading over: 480-two six six-7860

Well the RSX got pushed off for a couple of weeks. My daughter will be in town next weekend and I'm not certain I'll have it all done by then for her to use. It looks like all the valve train on the K20A3 has to come off to remove the head. You'd think you could leave it all in tact. And I may have to pull the engine anyway to get the timing chain off. So this job could turn into a couple weekends.

Anyway, got to spend time today on the reinforcement for the inner suspension. Decided to take a different approach and extend the reinforcement all the way up and over the top of the longitudinal. Pieces will get spot welds and edges welded all around.

Made up the patterns, cut them out of 14ga steel, then spent a bunch of time getting the four pieces to fit. Lots of bends in varying directions. At least the patterns I cut for the left side match the right perfectly - so that's one less step.

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Got the right side cut out and fitted. Started drilling the holes for welding also. Hope to get to the welding part Wed/Thur of this week.

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Had the day off so I got some time in on welding the inner suspension reinforcements. Sure enjoy melting metal.

Left side
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Right side
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Weldings done. Now I have the cleanup to do. Reasonably happy with the results. Got a little tight in a view places. Need to look around and see if anyone makes a smaller gun for a wire/gas welder. Of course that won't help in places where my big head and helmet get in the way!

Left side
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Right side
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Making more progress on the scope of metal work for the under body so I wanted to track what's getting done:

• Inner suspension (dog-ear) reinforcement
• Model pieces and weld while on dolly
• Limit material thickness to 0.075"
• Remove Doorway supports & keep doors
• Repair small sections in floor pan
• Install engman inner long kit while on dolly
• Weld outer body patch panels - currently exposing wheel wells (L & R)
• Cement L side to FG flare

As I look at the rear driver's side floor panel, I'm seeing more rust under the metal dust than I remember. This may be one section I need to replace as a whole instead of just a few pieces. I'll do more cleanup first to get a better idea of its condition.

Spent part of this weekend deciding how I was going to handle the rust areas on the left floor. Got it cleaned up enough to tell that it was mostly surface rust as first suspected. There are a couple of thru holes though, so I got around to cutting those out today. Couldn't cut from the inside, so I drilled holes at the corners of my cutouts, and used those as a guide to cut from underneath. Cutting, shaping, and fitting wasn't too bad - since the parts are small and relatively easy shapes.

These floors are less than 16ga, so butt-weldings gonna be a challenge - especially where they're located. I'd like to just get them tacked in and finish them once the car's on the rotisserie. I have some reinforcement panels that go in the cockpit along the longitudinals and back cross-member first though - while its still on the dolly. I'll need to sort out if there's any interference with these patches before I decide how far to take the welding.

Here's the back-left cutout.
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And the front-left cutout.
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Got the pieces fit and ready to spot weld.
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Had some time this weekend to work on two 914's. My son wants to get his running and take over to CA. It's now in the garage on stands and getting prepped for some minor maintenance, gas tank replacement, and maybe fuel lines.

I dug out the Engman reinforcement kit I bought for the inner longitudinals in the cockpit. There are three pieces that cover three sides - left, back, & right. I wanted to check the fit for the left side and see whether it would block access to the patch I need to weld. . .

Yep, it does.
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That means I'll have to do at least the side welding for the patch from the outside before I put the reinforcement piece in. I need to be able to get a copper backing plate behind the weld when working on the thin flooring material. Not what I was hoping for - but gotta be done that way.

Here's shots of test fit for left, back & right sides. I'll get all the rust on the floors along these pieces cleaned and treated before starting to weld - since the corners won't be as easily accessible afterward.

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Note the angle on the back pieces. It measures roughly 22.5 degrees and fits good if you pre-bend the piece first.
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The right side still had some seam sealer which had to be cleaned away from bottoms and corners - otherwise the piece doesn't fit right. Instructions suggest an air chisel, but I had good luck with a hand wood chisel - feel like I have more control that way.

Before seam sealer removal
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After
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Don't forget to drill out for the 4 bolt holes that the seat back has.

You mean the back pad? My firewall is all custom. I wasn't going to use a stock pad - thought I'd come with something simpler. It would be prudent to leave access to the holes though - just in case I do something in fiberglass.

OK - one more thing to cross off the list of what's getting done. I wasn't happy with the material I used for the patches - it was too thin. So I cut them out and used some 16g instead. It was barely thicker than what's in the floor and welding went better:

• Inner suspension (dog-ear) reinforcement
• Model pieces and weld while on dolly
• Limit material thickness to 0.075"
• Remove Doorway supports & keep doors
• Repair small sections in floor pan
• Install engman inner long kit while on dolly
• Weld outer body patch panels - currently exposing wheel wells (L & R)
• Cement L side to FG flare

Got both pieces (mostly) welded in - enough to get to the next step with the floor & inner longs. I'll do the finish work once the car's on the rotisserie.
Now its on to rust treatment of the floor before I start more welding.

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Had some time during the week to make some metal plates to replace the dried out rubber ones that cover the four oval openings in the longs. I spot welded the rear ones in place and ground the welds down so they won't interfere with the reinforcement pieces. For the fronts, I'm going to widen the cutouts in the reinforcements so these plugs can be cemented or screwed in. This will allow me to use these in the future if I want to route coolant hoses from the front and thru the longs.

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I also sprayed primer along the bottom edges where the longs meet the floor before I attach the reinforcements. It will difficult to get primer up in there once they're welded on. Now I just need to redrill some holes, add my cutouts, grind some edges, and clean the reinforcement pieces. I found some nice welding clamps at HF to hold pieces in place to start welding. I'll spread my welds out to tack each side down, then continue from there.

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I used TEK screws to pull the plates flush against the chassis. They also helped the pull any concave sections, especially in the top of the longs, up against the plates. If you don't have door braces, then be sure to monitor the door gaps.

Good luck,

Andys

I used a hammer and just hammered just about every bit I needed to after a weld before moving to the next one. Tek screws would work I think, but welding and hammering is a lot of fun

To clarify; The TEK screws are temporary......I didn't mention that, but I figure you guys knew that.

Andys

Yep, got it. I figure you used the type with the oversized head. Haven't bought any since the move here & not sure who carries them. If I needed a whole box I'd just get them off Amazon. FLAPS have them - or hardware store?