1974 914 - restoration&lightweight project

[TRS63]

Hi all,

After some years of dreaming about it, I bought myself a porsche 914.. Light, low, fun on curvy roads, love it..

So the car: originally from the US (sadly I know nothing about its history there), it is a 1974 1,8l 914 originally phoenix red. It was sometimes repainted, before 1991 when it was imported to the UK. It ran there until 2009, where it found its way back to Germany. And since october with me!

It looked like a good driver, which was my goal, as I want to enjoy it on the road during the restoration of my karmann ghia

my plan was:
-drive drive drive drive (made 1000miles the first month with it )
-in the future: paint it original color back, improve the handling (it still has no sway bars, shocks are quite old, frame stiffener will be ordered,..), some interior modification,.. goal is to keep it usable on the street, while lightening it where possible and putting some more power (I am in love with the sound of a 6 but might keep it a big 4 for weight and legal reasons..).

Some pictures from the start:

I made some changes, mostly removing all sound deadening material, changing old bushes, mounting a short shifter,.. A pleasure on the roads!
The short shifter:

And well.. The previous owner used is for less than 1000 miles in 10 years, only on sunny warm days..and as I did differently and drove it a lot and hard, some old "hack fixes" came on the surface.. I don't want it to become dangerous or too bad to be fixed..

So decision has been made, a few months break from the ghia and I fix it correctly to have a safe and reliable car. Start has been made yesterday:
First checking.. Under the long.. Well fiberglass was well hidden:

And on the inside under the belt fixation was also nicely fiberglassed

So.. The 914 is in my shop

And I made some more disassembly, and checked the B-pillar behind the sail panel where I expected a lot of work..
Passenger side is quite a good surprise, except this hole that could be foreseen:

And is real:

The rest is good

Driver side had developped some.. Let's say waves..

And here there are a bit more damages..

Well, I know the condition now, and nothing that really scares me

Then I built the necessary door braces, made to be able to keep the doors, in order to always be able to check the gaps

And mounted:

I made them in order to be able to keep the doors to always be able to check the gaps:

And I check further the inner firewall.. Holes on driver's side, bad repair on passenger's side..

Well, all in all I know more about the work to come, it has been a good first evening

Cheers

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[Starbucket]

The poor Ghia will have to wait years now. What you see on the outside of a 914 will always have a lot more on the inside. Better finish the Ghia first then tackle that nightmare. The 914 is a great driver but had zero rust protection.

[TRS63]

So, I removed more of the undercoating and it appeared to have some "fix" from the past on the long.. Well, let's see after cutting:

But before I go further there after engine removal, I started to remove the tank to be able to weld safely. I will also mount the sway bar in the same time, as well as change all fuel lines.
Here we are :

And because it's always good for the motivation, I made a first repair on my driver's sail panel, all TIG-welded

Cheers

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[TRS63]

So, already a lot happened to the 914 this week!

I started upfront by pulling out the frunk seal to check the condition under it..

And I found holes after holes. I cut each of them and replaced with metal, I won't bore you with every single picture but here are a couple of examples, like here :

Or here:

Or here :

One last example:

Afterward I put some primer and some paint for complete protection:

As I was already working on the front, I removed the side markers and the antenna (no radio on a lightweight project !) :

And started the first part for my B-Pillar:

The next update comes as soon as I have some time to post it!

Cheers

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[TRS63]

So, some more work happened!

I put the rear up in the air:

And removed the engine :

And the started to investigate..

Found some rust here at the bottom of the firewall :

And what looked like a "sh**ty fix" for the clutch cable tube:

Is worse than that..the tube just moves freely like that!!

And the big question.. The hell hole.. Well, when I bought it, I couldn't disassemble much so I checked with my hand - no holes - and tried with a screwdriver-everything robust.. So I thought to be safe..
Then I checked after engine removal:

And after a better check with my screwdriver..

Here is what I found:

A real disaster:

But I am not a guy that let something like that discorage himself. So I need to remove my battery tray to check further and make my plan.. But before that, and before probably destroying the old one by disassembling.. I built the replacement one:

Check with the battery and the fixation sandblasted:

And the bottom part:

Ready to go after the hell hole repair:

Stay tuned!

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[[email protected]]

wow a lot of work, we can identify as we do it here all of the time at autoatlanta. Hopefully you will refinish in the original color phoenix red

[TRS63]

[TRS63]

So, I did some more work on this toy and an update is long overdue!

As I already did start the work on the front, I decided to make sûre nothing is hidden there under the paint..

Well of course some (bondo-) surprises were there...
Here a big dent, that I took care of using dolly/hammer:

And here.. There was a lot of bondo and under it a "fix", by the way of a plate under the rust hole.. Here to see:

So I of course couldn't let it, so cut this bad work:

And TIG welded a real patch:

And put it in primer:

Same on the other side :
Big dent here was hidden under bondo:

So dolly/hammer:

And in the back there was also a surprise:

Yes, again a plate welded quite behind the panel.. And on the bottom not welded :

So.. Patch prepared :

And welded:

Now we are flat:

Stay tuned, work is ongoing here!

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[TRS63]

So, that was the next logical step..primer on the passenger side fender (and all around the windshield after taking it also to bare metal) :

And I took care of a few holes on the driver's side firewall:

For the bottom part, I will wait to have the body on the cart/body frame as not only the bottom of the firewall but also the floor is affected. More on that later

Before starting the body frame /hell hole fix, I wanted to check how the quarter is (part of me knowing I might have to cut it to repair right the right long).. Here the result, quite impressive..

So now I know it.. I will build from scratch that quarter panel and cut it, repair the long, weld my new panel.
Just for fun I made a small test panel to try the shape of the wheel opening:

But I hadn't a large enough sheet metal piece to start on the quarter panel so I starte on my body frame..
Fresh metal came:

Welded the long part:

Rest will follow with all the fixations I planned (bumpers, engine, gearbox, front axle, back axle,..) to keep the body square du ring welding.

Stay tuned !

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[TRS63]

Life got in the way the last couple weeks but I got a couple hours for it (and plan 2 days free of work next week to work on it!)
What I did in these couple hours:
I know I can buy the B-Pillar from RD but I love a challenge so.. Here we go:

The first steps:

And then it got worse:

And it's starting to take shape:

And it's ready to weld:

Stay tuned, welding it next time and then I will work further on my body frame !

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[TRS63]

Well, apparently no interest here but I will continue to document my work, maybe it will help someone one day

I finished the B-pillar, first with these small reparations:
Before:

During:

And finished:

And here:

Then I welded my part on the top of the door latch but not before cleaning/fixing/painting behind it:

Adjusting:

And welded:

Then the top part, made in two parts:

Adjusting:

And then welded:

Metal finishing will take place when I prepare for paint.

Stay tuned, I have load more to post !

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[TRS63]

So, I made my body frame to ensure nothing moves during welding:
Every fixation is screwed to be able to remove/reuse all after.
Front:

Back:

Under the gearbox: (pic during tacking, fully welded after)

Engine mount:

And suspension console to have the exact position to put it back after hellhole repair:

And the car is up:

Stay tuned

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[69BahamaYellow]

Wow! love the car and the shop! Looks like that place is 200 years old I always appreciate seeing these cars repaired properly, and you're doing very nice metal work with fairly simple tools. My dad accumulated several 914's over the past 30 years, and I'd love to bring one of them back to life the way you're doing with this one.

[TRS63]

[TRS63]

So, now that the car is solidly anchored in the frame and we can go forward.
Before starting on the hellhole, I made one last repair on the driver's B-pillar.
The bottom had some holes:

So I built the repair part in two parts as original:

Adjusted:

Tacked in position :

And welded:

Stay tuned, hellhole repair comes next!

Cheers

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[waxhead]

Fantastic work!
_________________
Mike B.

[TRS63]

Thanks a lot Mike, that is really appreciated!

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[TRS63]

So, before removing the paint on the right rear quarter panel, I was'nt sure how to deal with it while repairing the hellhole. I knew cutting it would allow me a better access but cutting good metal is always a hard decision..
Well, from that point of view I got "lucky" because there is no good metal
Here without paint:

And I have a habit that I built(or make sure I have it) the part before cutting, to ensure I won't miss any measurement/positioning. So here we go !
Making my template :

And starting :

And after a couple hours:

I left the front part undone to be able to make a good door gap when it comes to that time.

So, now that this is done..cutting!

Stay tuned, the work on the hellhole is going to start!

Cheers

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[TRS63]

I made some more progress !
I removed the 47 years old fuel lines:

Stainless steel replacement is on its way!

Then I looked further on the outside part of the hellhole..which doesn't look promising:

And after checking a bit inside (quite a lot of layers in this badly repaired jack point..):

There were some findings:

And a lot of rust falling through:

I did not want to fight forming too much thick metals so I made a small order to save me some time:

So..time to cut really into this repair..
But before that, I took a bit of time investing in my future partner in crime..my 5 years old boy already wants to learn how to weld!

Stay tuned

Antoine
_________________
Antoine
My 62 ragtop daily driver:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728873
My 914 restoration&lightweight project :
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9698432#9698432
Resurrecting a 60 ghia : https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713906

[Starbucket]

You hold the torch and let him work the peddle so he gets the feel of feathering in the power.