Front Trunk Wall Clean-Up

Paint-stripped, wire-brushed and thoroughly cleaned the Front Trunk Wall…I had already done this some time ago and sprayed a rattle-can etch-primer on it but I wanted to get it Epoxied having discovered the stuff since. Epoxy Primer, particularly the Lechler stuff is fantastic!

Removing the old etch-primer was a matter of wiping it off with thinners and degreaser on kitchen roll...VAPOUR MASK FIRMLY ON!

Here's the wall cleaned-up, ready for primering…

..and here it is painted.

Fuel Tank Compartment Clean-Up and Paint

I often forget to take pics of jobs before I work on them..believe me, they can look a bit of a mess! And the clean shiny metal or smooth paint does little to show the grind and sweat gone into getting it like that!

Just cleaning the Fuel Tank Compartment here took the best part of 2 solid days work… First slapping on the heavy-duty paint stripper, then scraping it off by hand with a number of stainless steel scouring pads. You do that all over 2 or 3 times to get as much of the paint off as you can…and remember this compartment is full of little crevices and overhangs and is a bit of a bl**dy nightmare.

Next, onto the wire-brush on the angle grinder. It spins at super high speed so little bits of wire from the brush fly off and embed themselves in your clothes or sometimes in your face! Always wear goggles and ear-guards!!!

The cup-brushes often catch and kick-back so watch out for that…all takes a bit of practice and you never really master it.

I also cleaned out the mastic seam sealer so I could brush out any rust and also make sure the epoxy paint readily filled the seams. The factory seam-sealed before primer and paint so if water did get under it, it wreaked havoc. I figured this was the best way but I'll be sure to re-seal later.

Here are some detail pics under the cowling.. (top - passenger side : bottom - driver side)

So after a properly thorough clean with firstly thinners and then de-greaser (and I mean properly, at least 5 times all over!).. it's ready to paint. Remember to wear a good Vapour Mask!!

I had read on 914World that one guy applied an acid-etch to the metal like Phosphoric Acid or other branded acid solutions before applying the Epoxy Primer. The goal being to create microscopic pits for the paint to key to. So I experimented with this in the engine compartment. The Phosphoric Acid fizzed and gassed (keep that Vapour mask on!!) and left the metal super shiny. But it started to rust almost instantaneously..it went a light reddish colour all over. So I'm still not sure about it to be honest. I've not had problems so far when I haven't acid etched and I'm not convinced the surface rusting is a good thing..

Other folks have said not to acid-etch before Epoxy as it can create more problems than benefits through chemical reactions upsetting the adherence. I think in future I probably won't do it…

So here's the Fuel Tank Compartment epoxy primered…

tags: acid etch epoxy primer wire cup brush porsche 914 world vapour mask fuel tank compartment

Firewall Patch Repair and Paint

The Firewall is the flat metal panel that separates the cabin and the engine-compartment - called a Firewall for obvious reasons. It comes out of the factory covered in glue and padding on the cabin side and sound-proofing foam glued to the engine side. Moisture gets trapped in the foam and can rust it from the engine side mainly.

The area behind the driver's seat although largely intact was badly surface rusted on this car and had gone through in a few places. The metal was so thin that there was no chance of just welding up the holes so I got a repair patch from a nice guy in the US (thanks Kevin! 'Rhodyguy' on 914World).

You can just make out the holes in the Firewall on the right of the pic..

Here it is from the engine compartment side..much more pitting on this side.

So cut out the bad bit..

Clamp in place the repair section..

…and weld it in and grind it 'smooth-ish'.

Now for the worst part! Loads and loads of elbow grease, paint stripper, wire brushes and carbide discs on the angle grinder, thinners and de-greaser...

..and bada-bing! Lovely shiny clean metal ready for paint.

Lots of Epoxy Primer. I'm still getting the hang of the Spray Gun and the settings but it's getting better - fewer runs and drips than usual!

Jack Triangle and Primer

I've been busy with work over the summer but I'm going to be getting back into the car over the next few weeks and months… I missed this little bit of welding and painting from May so I'll get that posted.

Here's the Jack Triangle welded..there's one on each side.

Then it took a while to clean up the whole driver side ready for a coat of epoxy…

Then finally…PLENTY of epoxy all over.

Rear Suspension Console Reinforcement

I've heard horror stories of rear suspension consoles tearing  - especially on higher horsepower cars, or in competition especially with slick tyres. I've had advice from the guys on 914World to beef up the 'arms' that connect the rear suspension ear to the main chassis as this can be prone to failing so here's how I did it...

Here's the area in question..

I fabricated a plate with cuts in it to fit around the larger arm..

This was then tack welded along one edge..

Then the plate is carefully hammered and folded over the arm..

...clamped and welded down..

You can see I did the same for the shorter arm nearest to the camera in the pic above. I also added the regular plate to the chassis itself and welded it all up. Again, I was really careful to weld around the suspension so I didn't build up too much heat in any one spot. I also cooled each weld with compressed air.

Here it is after all the welding's done..

You've got to be aware that the Trailing Arm will need to clear all the added metal so I was careful to grind the welds flat where the Trailing Arm is bolted.

Job done...hopefully it won't break and I won't have to eat my words!

Tangerine Racing - Suspension Ear Re-Inforce - Drivers Side

Super quick then as I've done this before for the other side of the car. Here's the reinforcement of the Driver's Side rear suspension ear..

Here it is paint free and cleaned-up. I was relieved this one was even better than the passenger side ear. I guess the inside has surface rust but it's fine on the outside.

Here it is with the Tangerine Racing reinforcement welded into place..

I was very very careful to weld a bit at a time and cooled each weld with compressed air to avoid warping the Suspension Ear.

tags porsche 914 rear suspension ear tangerine racing chassis reinforcement upgrades

Spring Garage Clear Out

After stripping all the black stone-chip off the bottom of the car; and the various floor pan repairs, the garage was a royal MESS!

We've just about finished a large extension to the house which has given me a large piece of Lino that had been on our kitchen floor. I laid it out on the stones in front of the garage and merrily wheeled the car out on the Rotisserie. Now I can get rid of all that crap in the garage without covering the car in 'too much' dust.

Floor Pan Fixes

There were a few spots on the bottom of the Floorpan that needed fixing - the rear section of the centre tunnel was crushed and a corner of it was rusted through.

I also decided to replace the seat-mount reinforcements on both sides. They weren't rusty but were pretty beaten up. So off they came..

This is the 'Short Rear Floorpan' section from Restoration Design. I'm only going to be using small sections from it...

So I cut out and cleaned up the rusted floor corner..

 ..and fitted and welded in the new section.

I did the same for the centre tunnel..

..and welded in the section from the new RD FloorPan.

I ground off the tops of the weld. It doesn't need to be beautiful as ultimately it'll have heavily textured undercoat on it.

This is the new RD Seat Reinforcement strips welded in (on both sides).

Once the repairs were done, I did a bit more cleaning up and lightly sanded the first primer coat so the next layer could key to it.

Floor Pan Clean-Up and Inspection

The Floor Pan is in pretty good shape all round fortunately. OK there are a few scrapes and a couple of rust spots but otherwise really good for a 40 year old car with pretty primative rust protection.

First job was to remove the underbody jacking points which were toast on both sides. I have new Restoration Design(RD) replacements.

I ground out the spot welds and chiselled it off...

It's pretty rust-pitted underneath these jacking plates; but I'm reluctant to start chopping into the Longs and replacing these sections as I don't think it's that bad.

So then I went to town on removing the cr*p from the bottom of the car. The tar came off with a scraper and Heatgun, the wire cup brush took care of the white mastic sealer while paint-stripper took off the.....paint ofcourse. Oh yeah and a whole bucket load of elbow grease!

From this...

..to this.

Here are the problem bits. the firewall end of the centre tunnel had been crushed and one corner of the floorpan had rusted through but no big deal, I'll fix those next.

This bit's fine though; this is the reinforcement for the pedal cluster.

And here it is after the first coat of epoxy.