Hello all. Well I got myself a 1971 914 from a fellow board member down in MD, I'll post a pic bigger than my avatar when Lehighs server stops being stupid.

Anyway, she does all the things a car should do, run, stop, etc, but shes a little rough around the edges. My plans are to Megasquirt (anyone out there got a VE file I can start with?) and to use the car to teach me how to weld. The longitudinals themself look real good, but back by the jacking point on both sides there are some holes that I opened up this weekend, seems as though one of the POs decided that epoxy was a good substitute for solid metal. Hopefully I won't find any more of this, doesn't seem that way, the rest of the car seems solid (although one floor was replaced), but only time will tell I guess. I'm looking for a project anyway. Oh yeah, the pyramid around both jack tubes was filled with dirt and crap and was obviously also rotted out on the bottom.

My question is (and yes I have looked through the search feature but I am still not sure on the answer), how does one go about cleaning out the inside of the longitudinals? I'm sure there is crap in there, which will get damp in these fantastic NJ summers, and rust the metal in there some more. Should I cut access holes in the side? Then, what do I do about painting the inside? Specifically, what paint can I put in there that won't burn off when I weld either access holes or repaired rust holes shut. It seems foolish to go to all the trouble to clean and rust proof everything to only have the welded metal rust away again.

If anyone can shed some light on this issue, I would be very appreciative because I just don't see a way to get those longitudinals good and rustproof.

Thanks,

Chris

Welcome to the site. May your time, dollars, and patience be well spent!

hooray, Lehigh stopped being stupid. Sorry I don't have more pics, someday soon I will post some of the rust damage to get all of your opinions.


-Chris

Welcome to the BBS! It's good to have you here!

A good way to clean the inside of the longs is with a pressure washer. Use it sparingly, though... for several reasons:

1. There is a wax/tar small oval that is on the inside of the car. It covers an access hole into the long. If you get it too hot steam cleaning, the adhesive will loosen.

2. If that oval isn't tight to begin with, you can end up soaking your carpet.

3. Last, and probably most important, is the cardboard/fiberous heater tube that resides in the long. Part of that ducting is steel, and the part you can't see is cardboard/fiber. Hitting that hard with a pressure washer can ruin it.

Hope this helps,
Rusty

Welcome to the BBS!

Check Lawrence's website (post above)
IIRC he has an excellent write-up on how to POR15 the inside of the longs

Oh, and don't forget to post the pic of your car in the "member 914 pictures" thread

cheers,

Jeroen

Welcome and good luck. I don't know that Lehigh was the problem. It used to be you had to have 10 posts before you could upload pictures, not just 6 at this point.

DaveP

Thanks for the welcomes and the webpage. I am using Lehigh's server to host that picture, I could see the file uploaded to my FTP space, but I could not see it online. Dunno why, but it started working so great! How does one go about uploading pictures though? I'm going to lose my lehigh space when I graduate and that knowledge will be useful then.

Thanks,

Chris

when you make a reply look a bit futher down the page to "File Attachments"

And DON'T hit "preview post"

Jeff

Well, try it after you have your post count up to 10...

--DD

Chris,
there's a older thread about opening up the longs and removing the "heater mufflers" inside. it shows you how to cut the longs to gain full access.

The \"Longs\" Thread

once open, clean out any debris and spray it out with \"Metal Ready\".
it will turn any surface rust into "something else" and create a protective layer over the metal. you can also weld through it.

Andy