Had a decently warm day today so was able to get the wiring & under-dash relay panel pulled, along with the gauges, steering column, lower dash, etc.
All that's left is the dash top and the dash facia. I'd like to get this painted body color and just leave it metal, but I'll have to see how things will fit.

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Was able to get the upper dash off today. Just required locating the 9x10mm nuts holding it on. The two visible from the gauge area are the hardest & require a open-ended wrench. The rest can be done with a small 10mm socket wrench. I could get to everything form the doorways and didn't need to get upside-down!

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Now it's down to the inner dash. Aside from the two screws on each end, there are four 10mm nuts in the front trunk and one under the dash in the center. However, I'm not sure there is enough clearance to get it out with the windshield still in. Gonna have to search or post about that.

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The dash face has a thin metal cover (off in this pic) that the plastic material is attached to. The material is going and I don't intend to replace it. The metal cover may be needed to make things fit properly. You can see the raised areas where switches go. With the thin metal cover this all looks smooth & flush.

Dash will come out no problem. The dry rubber seal between it and the windshield will be destroyed.

Gotcha, thanks.

Been watching this one for years. Nice progress.

Thanks, Rick.

Got some time on the project this last weekend, but mostly mocking up pieces for closing off the trunk firewall that was cutout for the SHO intake and TB.

Did get to spend some time with our A-10 crew chief building a shelf unit she wanted for her bedroom. Nice having someone with an interest in this kind of work.

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Doing mostly maintenance stuff on other cars this weekend. Should get some time Sunday to cut metal for the 914-SHO project.

Got some time to finish mobilizing my work bench. Now I can get it out, use it, and put it away with ease. The wheels are mounted to some scrap pieces and hinged to the base of the bench. When in storage, the wheels are down so I can roll it around. When in use, they are swung out so the bench sits on its wide base - that way it doesn't move when I'm pounding on things.

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Took some time this weekend to try and close off the rear firewall to the trunk. Since I'm trying to reuse some of the original panels - its been slow piecing things together.

Also getting to use the new work-bench. This is the first metal-work/welding that I've done on a flat surface. Everything else has been welding in-place, on the car.

First I had to add a piece to close off the ribs.
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Then had to extend the lower section so I can cut-off the excess.
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This is where it will go. The gap just off right-center is how much the whole piece is lowered, marked, then trimmed.
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Gerard, some technical reference if you need:

1989 Shogun



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
3XR9SoQU16c

Bryan, nice to hear from you. I saw this on Jay Leno's channel on YouTube. Was even considering once to name my project ShoGun2 - but since the first one didn't really take off, thought that might no be the smartest choice. Awesome car though - would love to take it for a spin on the track.

Haven't been spending time on the 914-SHO for over 6 weeks. Been going through some tough stuff with my brother, but I think we got him through it. My son was home on leave so spending this weekend with family. Got some time planned for next week and the weekend though. Keep watching.

I know I haven't been on in a while. After getting my brother squared away, I was having difficulty getting back to the 914. My garage had become unmanageable, so I did what I thought I'd never do - buy a shed.

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Well this is more like a small barn - 10x16 and lofted so that it has storage under the roof. Once I put my son's 914 in I built another loft a few feet lower - giving me more storage space that was easier to access.

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And just when I was ready to get back to the 914, my LS400 starter took a crap. SO while I'm in there, I'm going to do a 150K mile service on it first.

So nice to have my garage back though.
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Made some progress this morning before it got too hot. Got the side pieces for the rear firewall extension fit, trimmed, and bent.

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The sides have 90deg tabs front & back to reinforce the extension. I'll also be adding a tab at the bottom. What remains is to add the L-shaped piece (seen on the center extension) at the top where the molding is mounted. The trunk will also get the rib added so the molding fits properly.

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WOW, thats a shed?

It's 25% bigger than my UK garage!
I wish I'd got that amount of space to work on my 914. I can't even open my 914 doors in my 8x16 garage.

Looks really great and very well built, love the storage space above too. Very nice.

Thanks, Darren. Yep, that's what goes for a shed over here. In fact I believe that would be considered mid-sized. Some are garage-sized, others are small 8x8x7ft high.

Do you have to work on your 914 outside then?

Another hot day, but I was able to get the firewall insert mostly roughed out. Still have a bunch of welding to do on the parts and to put it in. Here's the hole with the motor in so you can see what's getting closed up.

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Here's the parts spot welded together.

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Left and right installed temporarily.

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Tried to take a pic with the front camera, but not very good. Will get a better one later.

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Your new firewall looks awesome!!! It really looks just like a factory piece; very nice!

If I want to open the doors then yes! Otherwise I’ve become something of a contortionist squeezing down the sides and under My 914. I have no power or light, so depending on the weather (which has seen the wettest June in a long while, and the garage flooding each day) I have to push the car outside each time I want to work on it which makes for hard work in this Build off Challenge. I know the USA has a reputation for everything being bigger, but here in UK an average shed from the hardware store is 6 x 4. Modern Houses and Garage size here are a real joke. With most barely 16 x 8 with a 7’ wide door, and cars getting bigger, the minute you put a bicycle, washing machine or vacuum cleaner in it the car wont fit and you have to climb out the sunroof.
Anyway less of that….your bulkhead looks great!

Like your insulated garage door. A necessity where you live, huh? I clocked a 50 degree difference between O/I surfaces w/ an IR gun.

Thanks guys. I wasn't sure how this was gonna come out. But I've found that doing stuff on the bench yields better results than trying to do it on the car.

Got to spend a couple hours doing some of the finish welding and cleanup. I'm anxious to get it welded in place, but need to do more finish work before that happens. Once it's in I can move on to getting the rest of the body ready for primer & paint.

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76, I've not measured it, but I can feel a big difference. Door faces east, so opening it only a few feet in the mornings for light keeps it from getting too hot also.

Looks like fantastic metal work! You going to notch your top as well

Wow that is a big engine! Looked so much smaller out of the car. Cool.

Andrew, I'm still undecided about the top. Going to either go with a soft top that will be smaller to store, or I've even thought about making a two-piece top. So many higher-priority issues - I haven't thought it out fully.

95% of the time in my last 914, which was driven in Phoenix, I went without the top. I used a custom cockpit cover to shade the interior when parked, so the top was always in the trunk. It's cooler out where we're at now, so may not need the top at all except to take trips.

Rick, yeh it is. I really like it though. The intake runners and chamber are huge, but the effect is equally cool. Should look killer under the black wire mesh engine lid. I'm expanding mine to increase cooling - but differently than the GT. I know there's any earlier post where I was mocking one up.

Thanks for the feedback.

Haven't spent much time on the 914. Spent a couple weekends with my son home working on his bike & his 996. Mostly been working on concreting posts in between all the rain, and finishing up work on the LS400.

The LS400 turned into one of those - while I'm in there . . . jobs. Started with a failed starter, then a dripping water pump, stuck fan clutch, and a leaking power steering pump. Water pump is off and power steering pump has been resealed and haven't even gotten to the starter yet - which just happens to be buried at the back of the top of the motor underneath all the intake stuff.

Gotta love it.

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The SHOguns where never meant to be more than a coach built car. Originally they where only going to build two of them. They would go to the Ford Dealer purchase and SHO and a Festiva. Mate the two, take the SHO body drop a run of the mill V6 into it, and sell it. Then box flare the Festiva and sell them. Beck was the creator of this little monster, and more than likely sold as many as he wanted to sell. Been hard to sell 1000s of them due to the logistics of multiple car purchases, etc.... Thats how I remember the story going down. Details might be a bit fuzzy, as it was a long time ago, and I got it second hand from a friend of Randy Beck.

Thanks for the detail Stephen. Here's vid with one On Leno's Garage.

Finally took some time on this three-day weekend to work on the 914-SHO. Spent a couple of days finishing up a fish tank stand for my daughter.

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It was my plans to get the 914 into paint by now, but other priorities pushed it back. I did however get around to getting part of the underside in primer. Now I feel a little bit better. Hope to finish up the front this week. Got some metal cleanup to finish before primer.

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Got the front portion cleaned up and primered. Once I decide on the undercoating, I'll get a paint that contrasts in color so I can make sure I get the undercoating where it needs to go.

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nice work. Epoxy primer?
Your custom metal fab skills are great!

Thanks. I'm just using SEM high-build primer in a can. I can go directly to undercoating, but may decide to paint it before doing that. I've been using self-etching primer everywhere else.

Getting ready for the 2017 Build-Off Challenge, so I decided to put my outline of work here. It's more accessible and I can review and mark things off as I make progress.

Rear Trunk

• Complete firewall modifications
• Seam seal trunk
• Build filter box & support frame

Trunk Lid

• Complete lid customization (NACA ducts, raised section)
• Complete lid reinforcements
• Build rear-hinging framework

Engine Lid

• Hinge lid to trunk lid
• Build shelf, guides, & lock pins for lid
• Complete cutouts for mesh

Body Panels

• Weld panels cutouts (L&R)
• Cement & fit to FG flares
• Undercoat inner panels & wheel wells

Dash Modifications

• Custom fit SHO gauge cluster
• Modify mid-dash for body color-matching

Interior

• Fit & build custom seat rails

Primer & Paint

• Complete paint removal
• Prep body for primer
• Send body off for finish work, primer & paint

Electrical

• Build custom engine harness
• Install fuse & relay panels in front trunk
• Rewire front trunk
• Rewire cockpit, rear trunk
• Rewire engine bay and connect to engine harness

914 Parts Inventory

• Inventory & clean all parts to be reused
• ID & order new/used parts

Install & Assemble

• Locate Battery in front trunk
• Install interior & exterior parts

Engine Install

• Fabricate exhaust
• Fabricate cooling system & housings
• Install engine, cooling, & exhaust

Finally got the rear firewall section welded in. It will get some finish work, primer, and seam-sealed - hopefully before the end of the month.

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Got some time to mockup the air box based on my CAD data. I already have the plastic, so this just verifies dimensions and fit. I'll also use it to position pieces for cutting on the plastic sheets I bought.

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Looking good, I love this build.

Thanks, Stephen. It looks like yours is moving quicker than mine, despite your recent mishap. I sometimes think I should have gone the EG33 route, but hey - there's always the next one right! Keep up the great job you're doing on yours.

Spent the early afternoon doing ignition service on the LS400 - new wires, plugs, caps, etc. Even doing it with my short-cuts it still took longer than any car I've worked on before.

Spent the rest of the afternoon positioning the NACA ducts and filter box on the trunk lid. The ducts get quite a bit of trimming, but I wanted to make sure they would clear the filter as planned. I also need to fabricate the cradle that holds the filter box. I think I'm going to design it to act as the mounting point for the trunk lid hinges as well.

So here's the NACA ducts positioned. They'll be trimmed up and formed slightly curved so they fit the curvature of the trunk lid. At final assy they get cemented in.

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The filter is centered and angles toward the bottom of the box, and the ducts are to each side so there is no interference. Since the ends of the ducts get cut off - they just dump air into the box.

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Here's the box as it sits on top the ducts. There will be rubber seals that seal the air box to the underside of the trunk lid. Part of the seal will likely end up mating to the back side of the ducts.

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Finally, I've placed spacers under the air box mockup to represent the ducts and the seals. Tomorrow we'll put the trunk lid on and measure the remaining space to the floor of the trunk. From this I can fab the framework to hold the air box.

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My son's home so we spent the morning replacing motor mounts on the 996. We did get the trunk lid on the 914 and I got some dimensions. Gonna post them here for reference.

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Spent some time this weekend checking the design for the trunk lid opening in the opposite direction - hinged at the back. Now that I have the mini hinges I can verify dimensions and fit. I'll need to extend the end of the hinge by six inches and decrease the bend angle for the arm by a little more than 11 degrees.

Here's what it looks like in CAD with the modified Mini hinge. The thick portion under the sheet metal is the support webbing. I'll be adding additional webbing from spare trunks so the hinge can mount to that.
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Also had some time to prep & fit the right side body panel to weld on. Should have some daylight Friday while I'm off to finish the welding. Have other things to prep for welding during the week.
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Working on closing up the left quarter panel - right behind the driver's door. Started cleaning the used panel I bought and removing paint - only to find some damage in the lower-left corner. Aside from the damage in the corner the panel's in good shape.

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So this section will have to get cut out and I'll make a patch to go in its place. Then it will get cut with the rest of the panel to fit between the door and the flare.

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OK, got the lower-left corner repaired and the panel pre-cut.

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Then got it trimmed & test-fitted so I could mark it for cutting. Marks came out good on the back, but I'm going to refit it tomorrow and mark it again to see if they come out the same.

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Great progress. I like this build.

I think going with Bosch on the air box was a good decision.

To all you guys who cut large chunks off your cars as part of your build:

Great progress, keep it going!

Thanks guys, I appreciate the encouragement.

mbseto: Nice catch.

tygaboy: Cutting good panels out to gain access was one of the most agonzing parts of my build. I'll be much relieved when they're back in and finished.

I'm with you on that. My panels are uber straight but I REALLY want to get better access for some of what I have planned. I just can't (yet) bring myself to put cutoff wheel to that nice steel...
Please post in detail as you fit these panels: tips for panel alignment, welding process, etc. We're all watching closely - and rooting for your success!

Thanks tygaboy,

I spent over six hours this weekend just working on the fit for this panel. That's on top of helping my daughter with her car, working with my wife on the pond, and getting a little chill time relaxing with my wife planning our bedroom renovation.

I don't have a lot of experience with this other than what I've gained working on this car for the last (I'm embarrassed to say) eight years. I don't have all the time-saving tools a regular body-shop would have either. The typical challenge fitting panels on the 914 is all the curves and radii. In this case I had the door handle pocket to act as a guide at the upper left of the panel, and the alignment along the bottom of the door for another. There were two more alignment references needed; a dimension from the front quarter-panel seam (under the door) to the lower-rear edge of the fender; the other a dimension from the back side of the lower channel to one of the fixed suspension mounting points.

Because my patch panel overlapped my cutout edges (see pic above), and with these four references, I was able to start at the front curved edge and mark it on the back of the patch - using the edge of the cutout as a guide. All marking occurred after checking each of the four positional references. I then would cut half the material off up to the mark. So if there was 1/4 inch of material, I took off an 1/8 inch. That allowed me to creep up on the mark. I didn't have another panel on hand - so I was careful not to botch this one.

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Next I worked on the door handle pocket. The patch was different than mine, so I had to spend some time reshaping and getting the two to line up properly. I continued to do this all the way up until the final fit. As I completed fitting each edge, I would re-verify the four reference positions.

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I then moved to the top edge. This was a little trick because I didn't have a good way to secure the bottom channel and every time I wanted to adjust the panel at the top, the bottom would move also. Finally I started using the support bracket that connects under the back channel to the inner body. Mine was pretty beat up, but I was able to reshape it and make it usable.

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The next section to fit was the back edge along the hip of the fender. I left this as an overlap because it gave me one less loose corner to have to deal with when fitting the panel. Now with the others fit and the four positions verified, I was able to mark this on the back and cut.

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Then I was able to use a couple welding clips to fasten things and verify the fit and all dimensions. This is also when I did additional sanding of the patch edges to provide a small gap for welding. I generally use a black marker to mark the front of the panel where the edge needs to be sanded/filed.

The final cutting needing to be done was behind the FG flare. I've already cleaned it so it will be ready for panel bonding cement - which I'll do after all the welding is finished.

Here's the final fit with the level as a straight edge - carrying the line from the door backward along the panel.

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In addition to getting the left panel fit, I was able to get it tack-welded in and had time to tack the right patch in also.

Left side
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