To be honest I should have started this a while ago.

Background on the car (condensed version):

I bought it out of a field from a tow truck driver who removed from the garage of a house which was being busted by police for drugs. The landlord took the car for rent due and called the tow truck to store it and then he disappeared. All we know is the car sat in the field for at least a year and the grass was up to the fender.

End condensed version of the background.

I have had the car for about 3 years and I am still learning new things each day about it that deserve a or two.

Here are some early pics:

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POR 15 only works if you don't look beyond the surface...

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Okay, as some might know I did drive the car to Hallett over a year proving it could start and run. On that trip my Dad and I noticed a VERY weird vibration in the front of the car.

The Right Front fender moved up and down independently to the rest of the car movement. I mean UP and down. It was very noticeably. Also, we noticed during the same time frame that the car would drag off to the front right.

What in the world caused this? We had no clue at the time. Rennsport had no clue and the other local guys had no clue.

The car sat for several months because this was a somewhat dangerous situation and I was pulling anywhere between 15-21 hours in school. (My dad worked full-time too).

In February, while poking around I noticed something strange inside the car on the passenger side. Under a copious amount of seam sealer I might add.

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Then I went around and looked through the wheel well

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Notice how smooth that wheel well looks?

You have entered battle with the evil rust monster! Keep beating it down and you will win.

So, we left this interesting thing alone for a bit and tried to figure out why the headlights didn't work. The only lights that worked were the hazards, the engine light and the trunk light.

Apparently, it had something to do with this.

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So, we fixed it.

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The headlights still didn't work. The PO was jumping the psgr's light to the driver's light to try to get the headlights to work. It didn't. Long story short, the main power lead to the driver's headlight had broken somewhere between the fuse box and the headlight. We ran a new yellow wire to the driver's headlight and voila the headlights worked.

After this I got a new rain tray from a member here because mine was cracked out and letting a lot of water in.

Here's the rain tray

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Certified good by Bengal babies...

Some more pics

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Moar

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These were taken last year in Jan/Feb 07.

I could have sworn I had these pics on this computer...

Okay do you rememeber those suspicous holes in the wheel well earlier? Well, we finally fixed them in April 07 after the engine was dropped again. The engine was dropped because of a very loud thrashing noise it made on start-up one day in Feb. It sounded like it was going to explode.

As it turns out, the cam lobes had almost sheared off the cam and it was alerting us to that fact.

In light of this, we sent the heads off to Ham and tried to figure out how much money we had to spend to buy stuff from Raby.

At this point, we had no idea how bad the condition of the car really was. We knew it had a small case of inside-out (rusting from the inside out) and some dings, but that was about it.

That's pretty nice for a Field/Barn/Crackhouse find!

Andy

Uhhhh, I'm escared of that inner fender well, Wally. And that pic from the psgr footwell- does the side not connect?

I decided to yank the outer rocker panels off during spring break this year and it was a peta. I had to cut both screws of both sides and then tap the remaining pieces out. All remaining five bolts on the underside snapped off. The rivets were really easy to get off.

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Notice the welds rusting out?
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I am pretty sure that the jack plates and posts were replaced on this car along with the inner longs because of how stiff the car was.

Also, I discover that the sills were rusting from the inside out.

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It makes me wonder what the condition of the longs really are...

(All pics the jack/sill are of the driver's side, the psgr is worse)

Since the battery tray and support looked like this

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I decided some minor surgery was in order.

Your car looks pretty solid over all for a 914. Just keep fixing the trouble spots
one by one.

John

Hell continued...

The battery tray and support were replaced, but they rusted from the inside out too.

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The pictures were taken after I cleaned the majority of the rust flakes out.

Thanks for all the encouragement, guys

Just wait for the booby. Something make look good, but that doesn't mean that it actually is good.

Okay, this is where I am stuck. I have been going out and removing stuff off the fender and the wheel well bit by bit. I have discovered that at one point the car was creamed on the front right because a) The psgr door was a replacement, ab) the frt trunk support metal was missing, ac) the wheel well was crinkly looking under 4" of bondo/weatherstripping and ad) the shear amount of bondo used to cover up everything in the general area.

Problem: The damage was never repaired from the rear of the frt shock and back. The front of the long was damaged. The gas tank area in the right side still appears to be crunched. The PO/body shop put a used outer fender on which is not straight and had been patched. The brace/fender separator was severely damaged as shown in this picture

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In addition, the damage appears to back beyond this into the structure. What do I need to do to go about properly fixing this?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

That is exactly why I kept my money in my pocket and left the car sitting in the field before you bought it!

Eh... it's all a learning experience. Because at the end you get to drive.

So, any suggestions from the crowd about how to approach this? Pull the frame then cut away? Cut then pull? Do I need to make a jig since the damage goes back into the structure? Any experience at all with this kind of situation?

I am not sure I understand what we are looking at in your last picture. More pictures would be helpful in knowing what to do.

John

In that order ...
Andy

Okay, here are some more pictures

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Just a quick update. Since there is no room in the driveway for a rotisserie, my dad and I are building a pad that will run alongside the driveway. It will hopefully be done in the next two weeks, barring being able to rent the equipment. We've been trying to rent equipment since the first week of September.

So no 914 stuff will probably be done during this time.

Putting out plea for some metal. The first picture I need #2 & 7 for the R side. The second picture I need #6 for the R side. Also, does anyone have a L engine mount that is not rusting out?

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Are you are looking for a driver's side engine mount?

I have one that is in great shape.

It is usually the passenger side one that rusts out.

John

I've been working on rebuilding #2 and #7 on my car. I will post pictures
pretty soon. It is not easy to fix from scratch, and I think it would be a big
pain to replace. Mine was severely rusted, yours does not look that bad.

John

Thanks for the kind offer Fourblades, but rdauenhauer is fixing me up for the engine mount. I have learned my car tries to do the exact opposite from the norm.

I have another request for the board. Does anyone have the #7 for the psgr/R side that is not rotted out?

Update- After spending 45mins on the phone and getting plenty of "uh's", "um's" and "what was that again" I found 2 places in town that can pull a 914.

edited...

Today, my friend came over for Thanksgiving and to do this and lots of sanding. (lots and lots and...) Yes, we did feed him.

We also got the car pretty much stripped down. The suspension, brakes, fuel pump, dash, a few fresh air blower parts and the engine relay board is left in the car.

Did you know that the factory repair manual covers how to repair fender/wheel well and hinger pillar damage?

Neither did I till I looked at the manual this morning to find out how to remove the dash assembly. (And happened to take a look at the Body Repair Section)

The manual recommends you use a Celette Universal Assembly and Alignment Frame Model MUF 5 or MUF 5 R with ENS 153 adapter to do major repair work. Out of curiosity, does anyone know of one in Oklahoma or Western Arkansas?

The Factory Manual recommends you use VW D 17 Sealing Compound on all the seams and the welds.

I real should be doing this but f***ing BestBuy woke me up at 5am with full on pounding Bass from the music they had on 3 blocks away. Talk about dead asleep to wide awake.

Sanding 1/32-1/2" bondo away is hard work...

tough work but well worth it

Update: I went to the You-Pull with my dad today since they were running a 50% deal on everything over the Thanksgiving weekend.

After quite a bit of looking, we found our target '90-'93 Ford/Mercury with the Ford 1.9 liter 4 cylinder that did not have the ignition or fuel injection pulled. My car now has its crankfire ignition and fuel injectors. It was a hell of a lot of work though.

We're going back tomorrow to try to pull some choice parts off an old sports car that I found in the rows. Also, I want to look at the 2 mostly complete Datsuns again.

The 1.9 stuff sounds cool!

Hey,

It's a nice find you got there! i liked the color very much and hope you'll stick to that...

now, when I take a look at your pictures, I thought my reading glasses suddenly wasn't any good any more and realized your pictures are a bit out of focus and dark. Could you try shoot pictures again in a better focus and use the flasher? That would help a lot to give you a better feedback.

Based on your pictures, i wasn't able to see the issues you got other than rust holes everywhere (typical for 914) and I couldn't help you with what you need to know. How about try take pictures again, eventhough, you already start cutting it up, which is fine as you need to do it anyway to deal with the rust issues. But with the structural issues, get good pictures so we can help you...

keep on working and you will have a decent ride before you know...

j

Hijack

The classic car was a 1973 Jensen Healey that was rusted in place. We did take some parts off it so if anyone needs Jensen parts feel free to pm me and I will tell you what we have.

End Hijack

The metal and brake parts acquisition are coming along nicely. I still hope to slap paint on before the break is over. Sorry if I sound it has been a 16 hour day and it's not over yet.

Out of curiosity, does anyone have any information on VIN 4742908131? I would really like to know all the gory details. Paperwork, the missing plate from the front trunk...

An orange morning blaze
would be an early morning rise.
your solid and dry chassis
looks really fuching kind.
If you would choose to move it
on ebay or cars.com
the 914world would beat a path
right unto your door.
Some of us have racers,
some, a daily drive,
Some are up on jack stands,
some rusted in the drive.
To grab a runner "cheap"
and drive it for awhile
is worth a whole lot more than
my POS or even chassis #4

I see people working on their 914's and it's inspiring. Unfortunatly I still have other projects in front of the 914... I'm in OKC, but occasionally run to Tulsa. It seems that three - four years ago or so I saw that car (or another orange one) running around. Couldn't get around quick enough to try to catch up with the owner and chat..

Keep up the good work!

Good for you Girl, bragging rights are worth the bloody knuckles. Keep up the Good Work.

Actually, that might have been me you saw because I did have the car up and running (when the carb allowed) before the cam decided to part with one of its lobes. Or my Dad, but then he had his own he was running around in. One question, was it loud?

By the way the carb only allowed 2 settings: off and full power.

The mention of the Jenson Healey reminds me of when I worked in Germany in the 80's. I had access to US Military facilities and they had a few auto salvage yards around. I found a Jenson Healey and thought I had found a set of Dellorto carbs, but when I opened the hood the carbs had already been taken. That big 2.2 Lotus twin cam was still there and was tempting, but I had no immediate use for it and no place to store big parts so I had to leave it. Oh well.

Later I found an early 914, well striped, but I did get several useful parts including swing arms and axles, engine lid, and some interior pieces, which I still have.

Good luck with your 914 restoration.

Thank you for all the well wishes.

I have a question for the board about what to do about bumpers. The car will be non-flared painted Alaska blue metallic with sail and outer rockers painted in the same color.

I have several beat up early chrome bumpers and a front stock '74 bumper with no fangs. In addition, I have gotten my hands on an original '73/'74 2.0 front & rear valence that need straightening. The top rubber pieces are bad.

Should I rechrome the early bumpers, repaint the valences back to stock black and get my hands on better top rubber?

Or should I get my hands on the one piece top rubber & bumper, paint them body color and leave the valence black? Or paint the valence body color?

Or get 916 unflared bumpers for front and rear and paint them body color?

Or -insert- your own.

I plan on getting paint by the end of the month and I'd rather have enough to do the bumpers too, if I am going that route.

Chrome bumpers are my 1st choice. I'm not a big fan of the 916 front, but that's just my opinion. Black adds good contrast and goes well with the rockers and valences.

Unfortunately, the 916 frt & rear is the cheapest option for me at the moment. Poor college student remember? It would take a lot of time & money to fix up the bumpers and valances in storage. Besides I like the thought of being the only one in Tulsa, maybe Oklahoma sporting 916 bumpers.

I might as well tell everyone the major work I have on tap for this car. Relatively new front end. Relatively new floor pans. Relatively new complete rear trunk. And of course minor Hellhole work. Beat the rest of the metal somewhat smooth, apply paint. Then either hate the car by this point, love it or not want anything to do with them anymore.

Nothing will get done this, the weather forecast is ice, snow then maybe a mix. It's been raining ice for the past 1 1/2hr. I really can't work in the garage either because its not insulated.

To bad I can't roll the car around to the porch, remove the patio doors and roll the car inside to work on then replace the doors. It would at least clear by 4", but the problem is getting it up on the porch.

IMHO: 916 bumpers are waaaay overdone, and they don't look that good on a narrow-bodied (non-flared) car. Plus they tend to fit poorly without a bunch of work.

Paint is much more forgiving than chrome. You can use filler to get the bumpers smooth rather than having to have the metal near perfect.

To be "correct" for a 74, you would either use chrome bumpers or black, and both front and rear would have the rubber "bumper tits". The black would look OK against the blue. You could paint the bumpers body color instead, which was the non-chrome option on the earlier cars, and that would also look pretty sharp.

I would leave the valances (and the rocker panel covers) black. I think the car looks too fat with those lower panels body color.

--DD

I agree with Dave.

My bumpers were straight but wavy underneath the bumper "tits". I banged on them to staighten the waves the best I could, used some filler(bondo) and then sanded them out. I then bought some large diameter pop rivets to cover up the holes left over by the bumper tits. I rattle canned them with Krylon Duplicolor Semi Flat Black with about 3-4 coats. I chose this way because finding straight chrome bumpers is hard and very expensive, I'm not a big fan of the 916 look and now if I ever need to touch them up it is super easy. Best of all is that it turned out stock looking and extrememly clean. After 2 years of use they still look great.


Kyle

x2

Rockers and bumper being black makes the car look great with the proportions on it. I removed the tits on my front to make it lok more like the earlier 914s as i like that look more. I really dont like the 916 bumper personally but some cars look okay with them.

Have you seen what your car would look like with painted rockers? If so, and you like it, then great... but if you haven't seen it, I'd advise you to look at pics of cars with painted rockers. In most cases, IMHO, the black adds visual weight to the bottom of the car. Without it, it tends to look top heavy and "fat". If you've got a pic, I can Photoshop it to give you an idea what it will look like.

The top rubber is going to be the hard (expensive) part about getting nice looking factory bumpers. If you are okay with a glass 916 front end and the loss of collision protection, then you might also consider glass stock bumpers, which include a simulation of the top rubber. You can paint that part satin black, and paint the rest either a different shade of black, or body color for a nice stock-ish look. Bang for the buck, I'd guess that this would be the best look that you could achieve for the fewest $$$.