914 hell hole, battery tray, trunk pivots..Before and after

[jt914]

Well this along with a bunch of other little stuff is why the motorcycle lift was needed..

[J2Hanson]

Nice work!

John

[Rods914]

I like the new fuel lines to. Where did you get those?

[Cairo94507]

Very very nice work.

[jt914]

thanks, didn't turn out too shabby huh.. i didn't plan on painting the whole engine compartment but doing one side made the rest look terrible so i had to do the whole thing.

the ss fuel lines in the engine compartment as well as the center tunnel are from pelican. the old fuel lines were in pretty good shape and probably didn't actually need to be replaced but if the battery acid over the years did that much damage to all that sheetmetal i figured the plastic lines might be suspect.

[80-911SC]

very nice .. I am starting the same repair on my 73 .. in fact the color of mine is the same a yours .. any other info you can provide on your steps would be great ...

Steve

[jt914]

hey steve,
i can't really sit here and write up all the details that went into this but here's a brief overview of how things went for me..
i had someone help me remove the engine, this was my first time doing so and if i didn't have someone who had done it before it would not have been so easy. once it was out tins and fan housing were removed and send to sandblaster, replaced leaking seals on engine, clean and degrease more than i'd would have liked to, put in shift bushing kit, stainless steel fuel lines, new rubber fuel lines, new fuel injector seals and rubber boots, painted intake runners with hi temp manifold paint, paint tins and fan housing, put engine back together. grind, chisel, cut rusty metal, old battery tray, support and trunk hinges. grind, cut, grind, por15 metal ready a bunch to convert some of the rust. i also had to have help with the welding. i don't have a welder or know how to weld (well i didn't before all of this anyways). patches, support and new battery tray welded in. i measured and drilled holes for jwest trunk hinges. prepped, primed, painted entire engine compartment. my local body shop supply mixed up spray cans of paint for me and i use aluminum foil to mask things, it works very well for this. engine went back in and there were lots of things that needed tweaking but it's running again and it sure does look pretty in there now.
i learned so much this month and know more about this car now than i ever thought possible in such a short time. there is so much more that went into this, i'm not a writer or an expert but i'd be happy to answer any questions.

[TheCabinetmaker]

Very Nice Work. congrgulations!!!!

[Pete000]

Engine removal required?

I need to do mine.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Take a look at the pictures. Then take a look in your engine bay. If you can do the welding without dropping the engine, go for it.

--DD

[dmenche914]

Originally Posted by Pete000

Engine removal required?

I need to do mine.

i have done this kind of job enough to believe that this kind of rust repair is easier if you pull the motor. Also i generally will end up wanting to paint all the engine tin pieces, spray the whole engine bay,and make a bigger project out of what maybe it needs to be. yes you can do it with the engine in the car, but it might be more work that way, and do you really want the engine exposed to all that sanding dust and grit?

Access is improved with the motor out to the point that you can generaly achieve nicer, neater welds and better finish work.


PS PeteOOO Please show some photos of your Microbus, way cool , them Busses are.

[Cairo94507]

Using aluminum foil is an old body shop trick and it works very well to cover things you don't want to get paint on.

[jt914]

i would imagine trying to do all of this would be exponentially more difficult with the engine in the car. in fact i don't see it happening at all. i spent a good deal of time where the engine normally sits and i don't think i would have been able to do some of the things that needed to be done without bending my body in places where it doesn't bend or possibly shrinking down to the size of a gi joe