unearthing some old goodness

[airman67]

Gentlemen, let me introduce you to my father's car while he was in college, a 1970 Porsche 914-6

before i was even born, dad was getting a few little rust holes in the (i want to say driver's side) patched, when the retard working on it cut a fuel line and lit the car on fire, about half the interior was torched, the fiberglass roof lid was destroyed, the dash, driver's seat, gauges, and a couple other items were screwed, and the wiring harness was effectively shot
but, most horribly, the weber carbs were destroyed by the corrosive properties of the dry extinguishing agent that they used to put it out
this, coupled with a person of dubious ancestry that "borrowed" a couple things and then left town made the car into a shell

so, dad mothballed it
over the years, he's picked up a part or two, nothing big, and certainly hasn't found a new engine
however, two weeks ago, i saw an ad on craigslist for a 914-6 engine for $1000, i immediately called my dad and started talking to him to try and get him interested, happily he was
i went and met with the guy, and started talking to him to get a feel for the engine, find out the condition, when it had last been ran, how many miles, whatever. while i was doing this, dad was calling a buddy at a local Porsche rebuilder/restorer and mechanic
we found out that my dad's friend, had all the parts necessary to rebuild dad's engine (he still had the case, everything else, the cylinders, heads, intake, etc all got "borrowed"), so we decided to go that route as we'd have the engine with dad's serial number on it still
so i went out to help dad dig everything out and see what exactly we have, and what we'll need


this is gonna be fun


there are a couple little rust holes in here, as well as one or two in the trunk, other than the one that's about two inches long the car is straight and has nothing more than some surface rust



machine make it go VROOM goes here

[airman67]

serial number of the block and car, there's another number there that i'm not really sure what it is (yet, i'll find out later on), looks to be "901/38"


and yes, the tires still do hold air





a couple concerns that have come up, what areas are the structural members? i'm mildly worried about the possibility of the fire weakening a few areas which would cause problems down the road

also, has anyone installed the chassis stiffening kit from Pelican Parts? i ordered one for dad a couple christmases back, and the instructions were a bit vague considering the bending and welding necessary

[vwporschegt3]

i believe Excellence did a build up of a 914-6 with that stiffening kit.. got a welder and LOTS of patience? then you should be good to go!

-Trevor
69 VW Fastback

[airman67]

would that be Editor@Excellence?
i wandered through his posts, and i'm still looking, but this was the only one i could really find that mentioned a stiffening kit and a 914
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?p=4243058#post4243058

do i have the right guy, or do i need to keep looking?

[Drew_Dye]

airman67-
I don't have personal experience with any such kit, but had plans to get a set in the not-too-distant future, but I'm an "Excellence" subscriber (have been for years) and would like to volunteer some information I hope will be helpful. "Excellence" has been doing a build project 914 with a 3.6 liter engine. Considering I have a '75 914, I've been following this series with interest. Check out the article in issue no. 158. They discuss their experience with a stiffening kit, though not in every tiny detail. Interestingly, they also installed a factory-style longitudinal reinforcement kit from Engman Parts (they list cost as $260), which is installed on the longitudinals inside the passenger compartment. This seems like a good idea. The series may be good reading for you to go over.
Part 3 -- issue #156 Jun. 2007
Part 4 -- issue #158 Sep. 2007
Part 7 -- issue #164 May 2008
Part 8 -- issue #166 Aug. 2008
Part 9 -- issue #169 Nov. 2008
Part 10 -- issue #171 Feb. 2009
Sorry I didn't list parts 1, 2, 5, & 6. I couldn't find all of my old "Excellence" issues.
Additionally. Automobile Atlanta has a nice restoration series on their website at http://www.***********.com/service/914makeover/makeover-intro.html. Check it out.
Good luck with your restoration. Any 914-6 is well worth it IMHO.

[Drew_Dye]

Sorry. I forgot to mention that "Excellence" back issues can be obtained for $8 each by calling (415)382-0587.

[airman67]

excellent, i'll see what i can do about ordering 'em, thank you

[bandjoey]

That's a wonderful find and a worthy project. You might also cruse over to 914world.com or 914club.com and you'll find hundreds of rebuilds like this with lots of pictures and extra advice! Enjoy. I just posted on club the same car...I just found pictures of my NEW 1970 914-6 and put them online yesterday...print them off and put them on the garage wall for encouragement when you're deep in the middle and think...will this EVER get done?! it will. Bill