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repair and paint under fuel tank area of 914
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wildDogPizza
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:18 am    Post subject: repair and paint under fuel tank area of 914 Reply with quote

I'm working on gettin g this 914 in shape. Initially I wanted to just fix the mechanicals and drive it, but of course as I got into it, these things come up that I find hard to just let go.

I pulled out the fuel tank to assess swapping the plastic fuel lines for stainless and found this

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Cleaned up and removed inches of mouse droppings and it looked like this

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I blasted it with glass bead, revealing some pinholes. All are in the panel to the rear (top of photo here)which goes through to the pedal area inside.

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The forward panel, that goes to under the car to the steering rack area is solid, no holes through. So I'm planning to create a patch. I think I may be able to spot weld the bottom seam as factory using the access holes the factory used in the floor, and then butt weld the top.

The orange paint is original which I think is enamel.

I'm in California so certain options I have available, and I'd like to use what I have as it did cost a bit and I have a lot of the gallon leftover from another project. I have some Valspar DTM2004 direct to metal primer from a different project and I'm hoping to use that.

The spec sheet for the primer says

Quote:
SUBSTRATES
• Properly cleaned and sanded aluminum, steel, galvanized steel or sand
blasted steel
• Properly cleaned and sanded fiberglass, SMC, E-Coat and OEM Finish
• Properly prepared OEM E-Coat


I think the "...and OEM Finish" means it is good for covering the orange.

https://www.valsparrefinish.com/downloads/Valspar_TDS/DTM2004_TDS_ROW.pdf

I'm looking for recommendations, warnings etc for the job. I've painted a few cars, but not an expert.

My neighbor recommended using an "adhesion promoter" as the 50 year old paint would be dry and adding that to the ...primer(?) would help it bond (— I assume you add it to the primer idk). I don't see anything like that mentioned in the Valspar spec of compatible products.

The DTM is versatile as you can mix it differently and use it as a surfacer or a sealer. Maybe that is enough? I'd rather not go to all bare metal here as I plan to do the whole car and it's a lot. If I can go to bare metal only where I have to and scuf the rest to just remove the gloss surface, take it all to 320 grit..

I'm set to start sanding, working on the area under the fuel tank and the front trunk. I'm going to strat with 220 grit to take off the glossy surface of the oem paint and remove all the additional aftermarket coats from the front trunk

Here is before the blasting. I've spot blasted the damage from the brake fluid reservoir and the spots where rust was bubbling up, so lots of spots of bare metal that I'm going to feather into the original paint.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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viiking
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2022 5:01 pm    Post subject: Re: repair and paint under fuel tank area of 914 Reply with quote

I'm always an advocate of cutting out rust and replacing with good metal.

But on this occasion and given its location would you not be better off just using one of those hard epoxy/polyurethane fillers like POR-15 make. The stuff that they use to repair cracks in steering wheels. I'm sure there are other manufacturers.

You've done all the hard work with media blasting and the rust should be gone.

Looking at the location and access, I would think you'd be hard pressed to easily grind your welds down flat, leaving it looking worse than the before. I may be wrong as I'm trying to picture the area in my mind.
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wildDogPizza
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 10:27 am    Post subject: Re: repair and paint under fuel tank area of 914 Reply with quote

I thought about using some fiberglass to patch the floor under the driver seat as that area is a lot harder with the double layer firewall and the support piece that's welded on the bottom of the car. The fuel tank firewall is relatively easy to access and isolate — a single layer accessible from both sides.

Here is the area with some Ospho sprayed on it.

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I've been spraying Ospho on the bare metal as I reveal it in sections. Each day I have a goal to sand like an inner fenderwell on one side or the fuel tank partition front. I've still got the floor where the spare tire sits to complete later today and then the front needs some more work. There are a few areas I need to touch up with the blaster. ..coming along though.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I still haven't gone forward with a patch. Planning to look at it more this weekend.
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bomberbob
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 7:50 am    Post subject: Re: repair and paint under fuel tank area of 914 Reply with quote

Post a photo of the area you are considering fiberglassing, under the drivers seat. Please.
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wildDogPizza
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 9:12 am    Post subject: Re: repair and paint under fuel tank area of 914 Reply with quote

bomberbob wrote:
Post a photo of the area you are considering fiberglassing, under the drivers seat. Please.


A few shots of the progress there

I removed some of the tar at this point, the lowest hanging fruit...
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with the tar removed
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I blasted it with glass bead. You can see someone I think used an arc welder to attach nuts the the seat hinge brackets is why I was in there
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Brackets removed for repair
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Seat brackets from restoration design, forget where I got the hinges atm, welded them on. I welded the sides also — the factory does just the front and back but the repro pieces have more radius to the upper bend and they hang over a bit.
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So the floor, not the best shots but there are some pin holes in the rearmost indent.
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wildDogPizza
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 4:33 am    Post subject: Re: repair and paint under fuel tank area of 914 Reply with quote

I got started on the firewall repair today.

It doesn't look too terrible in this light, and I've been reluctant to start cutting. I resolved to give it my all and worked in my usual slow way, all day long, committed to trying to get as far as I could with it.

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No turning back

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It could be more accessible but it's do-able. Cut got off a little...

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I used a regular drill bit and I tried to stop short of the 2nd layer.. I find spot weld cutting bits are way too big and end up causing more destruction than they are worth. I wish they made a min size.

The removed piece

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I straightened out the cut and allowed for more at the top than the template in the patch.

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I spent awhile finagling the patch, and I still have a little finagling left to do to get the lower left to sit more where I want it.

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I'm going to have to have to plug weld the bottom seem — access through the factory access holes isn't an option here.

I fired up the mig welder for the first time today, haven't mig wleded in 25 years. I could actually tig weld it, but access and the position I'd need to be in is a bit difficult. I was practicing plug welds with the mig, and I think I'm going to go that route.
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wildDogPizza
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 4:39 am    Post subject: Re: repair and paint under fuel tank area of 914 Reply with quote

Was looking at the driver floor at the back more today. It sure is rough.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Still weighing different options. For now I'm going to focus on 1 thing at a time with the firewall.

After that there are 2 spots of the floor at the front that need work, 1 actually is the inner fender well where it meets the floor. will assess further once those are done...
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