Rear Panel Patch Repair - inserting Clecos

I spent ages filing the edges of the 'window' in the rear panel to get the Patch to sit inside it neatly. That was actually the hardest and most time consuming part! My arms are aching from it writing this post! - still, the better the prep work the easier the job will be to finish and better the outcome..

Once the Patch fitted neatly, I temporarily clamped it in place with G and C Clamps.

















I drilled 2.5mm holes at roughly 8cm intervals right at the join line.














The 3/32" Clecos were inserted and closed using M2.5 washers on the inside of the patch.


I used about 20 or so Clecos for the entire patch.

Next Weld Repair continued...

...so to it. I cut out a 'patch' in 18swg (1.2mm thick) mild-steel 100cm x 8cm - making sure it was square with straight edges! Then using it as a template, I scored around it on the car itself - then cut a window to drop the patch in.

Next Weld Repair with Clecos

Cleco clamps are brilliant. They're basically tiny spring loaded clamps used for temporarily fixing panels together to be welded. Normally you use them for overlap joints - drill a hole through both pieces and insert the Cleco which will clamp them together before welding. But I've used them differently here to do a Butt joint.

The rear panel in the picture needed some love. The previous owner had half finished a nasty trunk repair with a steel sheet and some seriously bodged welding. I'm a novice welder but this guy was a real hack!

























These pics show the state of the rear most panel after I'd cleaned it up a bit. It's got some rust holes too so it needs to come out and be replaced before the new trunk floor goes in.

First Weld Job - Jan'12

After a very lazy Christmas I managed to steal a day off work and get my new welder (Portamig 185) fired up. I patched up the rear panel with a piece cut from a scrapped 914. The whole section of the panel above this small patch will be replaced with a flat sheet because it's in such a bad state..that's why I was able to cut the holes in it to be able to place the G-clamps. Proper welding clamps have been ordered online to avoid having to do this next time!

The weld aint pretty but it's sound and will be sanded away anyway so I'm happy with it...just don't go giving me marks out of ten for looks - it can only get better!

Once the flat panel above has been welded-in next, it'll be onto welding-in the trunk floor..then get the shell onto the rotisserie at last.

Engine and Gearbox Removal - Nov'11

What a bloody nightmare...if you ever need to take an engine out, best to get a second pair of hands to help. 2 trolley jacks, an old wooden pallet and 4 heavy-duty castors later and the engine is out...ahhhh (big sigh of relief!) I kept the engine and gearbox together which made for one mighty lump to shift around. I won't go into all the gory details but to say there were a few pitfalls along the way would be an understatement...onwards and upwards.

Oh, the little cut-out in the rear panel is where the car must have been reversed into a post or spike or something..it was beneath the bumper; the panel had a nasty dent in it that there was no way to beat out. The rear valence was also destroyed. I cut it out and have a small section to weld-in taken from a scrapped 914.

Cabin Floor 'Tar' - Oct'11

The cabin floor is coated with a thick tar-like mastic coating. The only way to get this stuff up is with a heat-gun, scraper and plenty of elbow grease. Hoorah!...the floor beneath is spotless. No floorpan welding required...on one side at least!














Guts and entrails....

Stripping Paint and Frozen Fingers! - Sept'11

Need to know which paint stripper to use...? I am now an expert on paint stripper having tried everything. Thinking special formula, super-strength or ultra-concentrated would surely be the way to go; turns out the best stuff by miles is good old fashioned original Nitromors...fascinating stuff eh! Heavy duty rubber gloves a must to keep the stripper off your fingers and freezing them.

So far, the metal is all looking good. Here is more paint off the windscreen panel and the headlight buckets.











And a shot of the whole car on a rare beautifully sunny day.