Early Christmas Present...

Christmas came a little early this year with the arrival of the ultimate..or at least, my ultimate 'boy's toy'!

I've been keeping an eye on the 914World website classified section for a 914 with a more powerful 6 cyl 911 engine. After much deliberation and soul-searching I realised if I am to stand any chance of creating my dream car I needed to buy all the bits in one go. Buying components individually, mostly from the US, is so expensive. The solution of buying it all in one go, in one complete car, makes LOADS of sense.

My goal has always been to make a powerful 914, with the emphasis on the driving experience over whether or not it was concourse perfection. 

So I didn't want a 'finished beauty'; I've always wanted to make my own car. In all honesty, (and Alberto, I'm sorry if this is a disappointment), I will most likely transfer the mechanicals of this 'new' car into the shell I am modifying in my garage now - I really can only afford to run one car. I had toyed with the idea of Subaru power but it always felt like a compromise when I really wanted true Porsche 6cyl power; and this car gives me that opportunity.

I bought this car from a really nice guy in Lake Forest, California, USA. Alberto, thanks for all your help with the sale. It took over 12 weeks to arrive and is currently laid up in my Father-In-Law's garage about 10 miles away. I'm in the process of getting it registered and making it road legal for the UK - then, come the Spring, I'll get it out on the roads - I cannot wait! I'll basically drive it for as long as it takes me to complete the shell in my garage before doing the swap. 

"Why not restore this 'new' car?" you may ask..well it's a good question! The answer is simply because I have done so much to the other shell. The 'new' car is in great shape and is a dry Californian car but it would need all of the modifications I have done to the other shell…chassis stiffening, suspension re-inforcement, paint stripping & re-painting, trunk floor, any and all rust repair etc etc. I've put nearly 4 years grind into the 'old' shell which I don't want to have to do again.

I don't know what I will do the with orange shell once it's off the road exactly. It'd be nice to hang onto it for 'insurance'…but I will likely sell it on to another guy like me who can restore it - it's a solid shell like I said. I also have a decent 2.0L 4cyl that can go back into it…anyone interested?!

Forward Cabin Clean-Up and Paint

Time to get the cabin cleaned up and first coat of epoxy on. I stripped off the original floor tar coating and paint more than a year ago. It had been protected from surface-rusting with a layer of cheap rattle-can solvent primer. So for this job, I needed to clean off that primer with thinners and then de-greaser. Again, vapour mask firmly on, I got to work and used up a couple of bin bags full of cheap kitchen roll.

The Thinners got all of the cheap primer off and then I wiped with degreaser prior to spraying the 2 part  Epoxy Primer. Gotta love that bright shiny steel…shame to cover it up really.

Then came the Epoxy. First pass was with the car right way up…then I let it dry. I sanded any drips, de-greased again, turned the car over and sprayed on a second coat of Epoxy. It was a good idea to do it both ways up as it's easy to miss undercut areas when you spray from one angle alone.

Job done… I plugged screw holes with rolled up electrical tape to stop the thick primer getting into them. If they get clogged with paint it can be difficult to screw back whatever it is that needs to go back!

Time to

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!