Pictures of my 914/6 project

[siverson]

Pictures:
http://www.streamload.com/steve/914_update

I thought I'd share some pictures of my progress on my car, and ask a bunch of questions at the same time. A little background... I've owned the car for about 12 years now, drove it around with a 2.0 four for about 7 years, then converted to a 6-cyl 3.6 liter engine, drove it around for about 2 years like that, and now about three years ago I started to take it all apart (again) and do all the things with the conversion that I didn't have the time or money to do the first time (I did the whole 3.6 conversion in about 3 weekends the first time, and was still about 3 days late getting back to college!)

Anyways... The "re-version" includes:

- factory steel GT flares

- carbon fiber front and rear lids

- extensive chassis reinforcement

- 13" front rotors, 993TT front calipers

- Vellios trailing arm adapter, carrera rear wheel bearing, carrera e-brake, 930 rear rotor, C2T rear calipers

- 964 3.6 engine, rebuilt by Andial with Euro RS cams and a couple other fun things

- rebuilt '84 915 w/ factory LSD (Vellios adapter)

- and that's all I can think of at the moment...

(And yes, just to be clear, I agree with all the Vellios bashing that occurs on this board. The parts are pretty nice once you get them to work, but they are far from complete and George Vellios is an extremely difficult person to work with. I wouldn't purchase them again...)

Questions:

- Any problems that you can see from any of these pictures? I'd appreciate any critique. In particular, do I have any of the rubber installed backwards or incorrectly? For example, the front rear trunk (if that makes any sense) is asymmetrical, but seems like it would function fine either way, but I'm sure there is a correct way.

- At this point, it seems like it would be just as easy to run braided -3 or -4 line for the brakes, or reinstall the factory hard lines. Any reason I should choose one of the other? I'd like to also install a cockpit mounted front/rear brake bias adjuster.

- Do I need those back metal "dust-cover" things for the rotors? I currently don't have them on the front or rear. Am I going to really regret not having them after the first couple hundred miles, or is it no big deal? If so, I'll have to figure out how to adapt some sort of 13" cover from a C2T or 993TT, because the early 911 covers that fit on my struts or rear trailing arm now are way too small for the rotors.

- All the rubber is OEM Porsche, but the rubber on the door (long piece) seems to fit so fugly. I've got to be doing something wrong...

- What do you think about my cheesy plastic "grommets" I made from the plastic wire loom stuff? Anyone have a source for something better? Some nice, smooth, high-temperature resistant rubber would be nice. It's primary used to protect braided oil lines where they pass through the body.

- Anyone have a Bosch Hammer (KTS-300 or KTS-500) (aka Porsche tester 9288) for sale?

- What's the best way to remove super glue from chrome? (Sigh... don't ask.)

Thanks for any tips!

Pictures:
http://www.streamload.com/steve/914_update

[tat2dphreak]

looks great man! very sweet!

[jtf914]

Great Project!! Make sure to keep us updated.

[dc914guy]

Very Nice!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I'll echo the above sentiments--SWEET!! I was wondering where you were, Steve. Glad to hear the car is making progress.

Originally posted by siverson
Questions:

- At this point, it seems like it would be just as easy to run braided -3 or -4 line for the brakes, or reinstall the factory hard lines. Any reason I should choose one of the other? I'd like to also install a cockpit mounted front/rear brake bias adjuster.

Hard lines. The SS braided lines will be thicker and won't fit through the factory openings. They also do not like to bend on a radius as tight as the brakes will need. And finally, the braid makes a really nice file...

- Do I need those back metal "dust-cover" things for the rotors?

Nope! The brakes will cool marginally better without them, but they will be a little worse at first in the wet and have a slightly higher risk of getting gravel stuck in them. No big deal.

- What do you think about my cheesy plastic "grommets" I made from the plastic wire loom stuff? Anyone have a source for something better?

They're kinda cheesy, aren't they? I recall seeing a bunch of grommets at the hardware store. You'll have to measure the sizes of the holes, as they come in different sizes.


No clue on the other questions. Hope this helps some!

--DD

[M. Hendrix]

It looks awesome! I like the orange undercoat, what color is it going to be?

They make superglue remover... look around Home Depot.


M

[siverson]

That's not the undercoat - that's the color! It's factory signal orange (L20E) and the original color of the car.

It's funny how often I get this question when I'm working with the garage door open. People always stop and have seen me working on it for years, and can't believe that I've put this much time into an orange car. Whatever, they don't understand 914s, and I really like the color.

[zymurgist]

I love the color!

Then again, my Glacier Blue 911 shares a garage with an orange '77 Vette.

Orange... if you have to ask, you'll never understand...

[scg]

THAT is one great near-no-holds-barred restoration! Inspiring.

[M. Hendrix]

I did it, I made you freak out..





M

[Bleyseng]

Great looking pics and the color is prefect!! Gotta love orange!!
Geoff

[Conrad W Peden]

As far as the color goes...

I have two L20E 914s a 72 and a 73. I think the color is great, when its in good condition. Once it starts to fade and oxidize it looks like SH%$. That would be my 72 daily driver, aint been washed in 2 years. 'Fraid somethin might fall off.

I've had comments like,"Look at this honey, someone has put the ugliest color in the world on the ugliest car!" Buddy didnt know it was my car and i was standin right beside him.

Do you have any before pics?

[mikester]

orange you glad it isn't light ivory?

[siverson]

> Do you have any before pics?

Before pics and what it used to look like are here:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/motorcity/siverson/914/36/

These old pics make it look nicer than it really was. The paint was pretty dull and chipped, and the drivers door had a big dent! Oh, now I'm using early 73 doors (no reinforcement [lighter], but late window mechanism - and no dents!).

[kellzey]

What size rims are you running front and rear and what profile tires do you have on them?

[siverson]

I was using 15x7s front and rear with 205/50/15.

With the flares I'm using 16x9s in the rear with 245/45/16 plus a 3/4" spacer. In the front I'm using 16x8s (944 offset) with 225/50/16 plus a 1"spacer.

When the flares were welded on, the fender was pulled and streteched a bit to fit with this configuration. It looks nice and will also let me put really big Autox/Track wheel tires on. (probably 17x10.5 and 17x9)

[kellzey]

Cool. In my stable, I've got 16x9 (930) and 16x8 fuchs (944 offset) for my conversion project.

They look really meaty! Yum!

My car goes off to the body man on Monday, so I soon we be able to post similar pics!

Regards,

Karl

[ein 6er]

weeeeeeeee are nooooot worrrrrrrrrrthy!!!!!!!!!





aaaaaaaaaaawesome!!!!!

doug

[kellzey]

I agree, Siverson is doing it right!

[Scooter311]

Looks great!
Thanks a lot by the way, now I hafta go re-rub my paint or polish my frickin wheels or something instead of cutting the grass this weekend.
Jeff