'76 2.0L parts car or keeper?

[The Glademister]

After Bobcat madness yesterday (pulling a Izusu motor at 11 degrees ) I jumped back on the 2.0L engine dis-assembly. The two seized pistons were a real pain. I basically had to lubricate the cylinder walls and beat the opposing piston with a hammer to get the rings to break free. But I got all the cylinders off and wrist pins out. That's when the crank starting turning freely. But the transmission was still stuck with the bell housing about 3/4" off the engine case. So I removed the clutch pressure plate bolts through the starter hole and FINALLY the tranny broke free! I appears the friction plate was corroded and stuck to the flywheel. Although that friction plate looks pretty fresh. Anyway, I then got all the case bolts out and split the case this morning. The crankshaft and main bearings look good. The camshaft doesn't have a lot of wear and the lifters all came out easily (no mushrooming). So it looks like I've got a decent GC case and 2.0L crankshaft. Those two items easily cover the cost of the car!

[The Glademister]

Yesterday I revisited this car. It's been wrapped up under cover all winter and when I pulled the tarp, everything was nice and dry. Looking into the rear trunk, there's a new mouse nest! What's with mice and these 914s? Anyway, I wanted to see how the drivers side long looked under the rocker cover so I grabbed my grinder and sheared off the bolt heads. I learned my lesson on the '73 that it's just not worth the effort to extract those. The drivers long is bad on the outside. However, the inner long looks pretty good. I poked around in the drivers floor pan - scrapping up the crusty sound deadening material and so far the tunnel sides look good. So the list for replacement sheet metal so far would be...

Inner and outer long passenger side, outer long drivers side, rear passenger side floor pan (at least) and passenger side cross member.

The rear trunk pan on this car is really good and the front trunk pan could be salvaged but probably better to replace. The longs still have the joining surfaces so that would really help me get those in properly. I've been looking at project cars for sale and it appears prices are on the rise. I think I could save this tub and not take a bath

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Careful with the cinder blocks. They have been known to suddenly crumble and drop the car on whatever is underneath it. Back them up with something--wood, jack stands, or something solid.

--DD

[The Glademister]

A day off while a replacement upstairs HVAC unit was being installed. To get this car prepared for butchery I put in some supports. The passenger door gap was definitely not correct. Difficulty opening and closing the door. You can see that the right rear is sagging by the difference in the targa top also. So I got some flat stock and turn buckles to fabricate supports. I attached the top one at the shoulder belt attachment and through the hole behind the speaker. For that, I used a large flat washer with a nut welded to it to anchor in that interior hole. For the lower support, I used the lap belt anchor and a bracket in the foot well. Although certainly not as strong as the door jamb supports I've seen, I think these will be okay as I'm going to do the outer long first - then the inner. The good thing about this method is you can leave the door on and keep checking the gap. I'm not sure I'll be able to leave the door on while I weld in the outer long but I'm going to give it a shot. This method certainly wouldn't work with the car stripped and on a rotisserie. Then out comes the sawzaw...

[mark 74 carrera]

Glademister,

So, those braces are adjustable. That is brilliant. So you can adjust the brace until the top fits and door gap is correct? Have you used those before on another car? I have a car that has the same long problems and I have been researching how to brace the car properly before I cut out the longs. I see now that your supports allow the door to stay on. Where did you attach that longest brace? The targa bar??

Have you also built braces from the door hinges to the door latch plate mount? Seems like the current set up shown here would allow the replacement of the outer but not the inner longs. Cool thread.

Mark

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by mark 74 carrera

Glademister,

So, those braces are adjustable. That is brilliant. So you can adjust the brace until the top fits and door gap is correct? Have you used those before on another car? I have a car that has the same long problems and I have been researching how to brace the car properly before I cut out the longs. I see now that your supports allow the door to stay on. Where did you attach that longest brace? The targa bar??

Have you also built braces from the door hinges to the door latch plate mount? Seems like the current set up shown here would allow the replacement of the outer but not the inner longs. Cool thread.

Mark

They are adjustable. However, mostly only effective for pulling surfaces together. The top brace worked really well by pulling the right rear quarter up and to the front of the car. It closed up the door gap which was greater near the latch than at the bottom corner. Keep in mind that the inner long is still mostly intact on this side. So that is acting as a fulcrum. The bottom brace is stiffening that inner long but can not assist in pushing out. It's too flexible for that purpose. I used the lap belt attachment point but the bolt was rusted solid into the plate that's inside the long. So that hole got wollowed out extracting what was left. If one was to make a bar out of round or square stock and weld a more robust turn buckle in the middle - that would be more effective at pushing (or expanding). My plan is to weld in the outside long segment while leaving the inner in place. If possible, I'll even leave the door on during that process to continue checking the gap. Note that if you leave the targa top on, that helps hold everything in place as well. Once that outer segment is welded in and the car has more rigidity, then I'll move to the inner long, then the floor pans, cross member, etc.

To answer your questions specifically...

The longer brace attaches with the shoulder belt bolt inside the "sail". The front attachment using the 3" hole in the inner sheet metal behind the speaker panel. I used a large washer with a 8mm nut welded to it to fit inside and grab the edges of that hole. You can make some serrations with a file or grinder on the washer so it gets a good "bite".

I have not fabricated braces for the door jambs. But I got the idea for these from photos and videos of such. You are correct, the lower support will have to be removed when I do the inner long but the upper can say in place and you should be able to keep the door closed during that procedure.

[mark 74 carrera]

Sorry I didn't read the text in the last post before I asked. I see that you answered all of my questions previously😁 I was so focused on the pictures.

Thanks again. I hope you post each step and good luck!

Mark

[ClausGraf]

I also made a pair of adjustable braces. However I found that in my case, I need to make a short adjustable brace (between the car floor and the bottom of the dashboard structure) to push it up slightly and keep the door mounting surfaces (where you bolt the door) vertical.
The section of the floor where I put this short brace was supported underneath by the wood frame I built.

Regards

Claus

[mark 74 carrera]

I'm looking forward to you guy's progress. My 914 has the exact issues that yours have. Of course, it makes sense that they would after 40 years of neglect

Looking forward to watching these projects.

Mark

[The Glademister]

Thanks Claus and Mark.

Yesterday evening had had a bit of free time and pulled off the interior door panels. A fairly routine job. All the securing screws came out without to much trouble. The window regulator handles appear to be OEM. Although the door panel coverings and backing material is in poor shape, the door handle/storage pieces are in decent condition. Once I got the panels off the rust was apparent at the bottom of both doors. Again, a case of rust preventive treatment on the inside that has dried, cracked and captured the moisture. I noted the difference from my '73 to these '76 doors in the side impact reinforcing members inside the door. I did not see a major difference in the window regulator mechanism but that might be more apparent when I pull those. Is there a physical difference in the door size from early to late 914? Can early doors be easily be put on a late car? Re-building these doors may be more trouble than just finding a set of decent early doors. That would certainly save some weight should this become another race car

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Fairly early on in 73 they added the crash beams inside the doors. Sounds like your 73 is one of the ones from before that. The windows lifters were the same from 73 through the end, the 70-72s had the cable-actuated lift.

You can swap doors between 914s, but the glass on the 70-72 does not fit against the seals on a 73+ very well. And vise-versa.

--DD

[mark 74 carrera]

Glademister,

What is your overall plan? Body first then engine/drive train? Or are you going to jump back and forth? Also, I'm wondering if there is a proper order to removing and replacing body components. I may have to replace my rear suspension mounts and I wonder if I should do that before I work on the longs.

Mark

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by mark 74 carrera

Glademister,

What is your overall plan? Body first then engine/drive train? Or are you going to jump back and forth? Also, I'm wondering if there is a proper order to removing and replacing body components. I may have to replace my rear suspension mounts and I wonder if I should do that before I work on the longs.

Mark

I'm not certain where this car is headed. Doubtful it will be a full on restoration. I'm looking at it more as a "keep busy and learn new techniques" project. There's a money factor right now also. I can say that the motor is way back on the priority list right now after paying for two engine builds in the last 18 months

Regarding proper procedure... I think getting the longs right first makes the most sense. You can't really deal with floor pan issues without good longs. The suspension mounts are technically difficult as they have to be precisely placed to get rear alignment. Therefore, the rear sections of the long has to be solid to get that done. Hopefully when you pull those suspension "ears", you'll have good metal under. It sounds like most of your issues are in the drivers compartment area. This is a 914, correct?

[mark 74 carrera]

Well yes, I have been describing the 914 but I do have a 911 that is in need of some significant metal work. The 911 needs new floor pans and some work around the front wheel wells and front trunk. It is a targa so your braces and ideas will be put to use on it as well.

The 914 is going to have to wait in line. Time and money issues there. I have it running and will get it registered and so I'm working on safety inspection items right now. Here's a picture. It original color will be returning and its Delphi green.

[TR]

Can't freakin help yourself can you. Get the hillbilly hoist out mate. Oh, and the harbor freight welder and get to it.

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by TR

Can't freakin help yourself can you. Get the hillbilly hoist out mate. Oh, and the harbor freight welder and get to it.

Thanks for the laugh my friend

Yeah, I'm a mess aren't I TR? The hillybilly lift is standing by and I was doing some welding on engine tins with the $99 welder this weekend. It brought back memories of trying not burn through rusty sheet metal (or are those nightmares?).

I'm getting quite the collection of parts which is really handy piecing together 914s. I broke the cable tab of the parking brake handle on the '73 today. So I can fix that or pull it off the '76. Decisions, decisions...

[The Glademister]

Today I pulled the front bumper and fascia. Only wildlife I encountered was a loan wasp in the bumper steel bar. Did you know that PB Blaster is an effective wasp spray? Gets them so greasy they can't fly Anyway, the rubber bumper and crash bar came off easily enough. The fascia screws even came out without too much trouble. That fascia is really rough though. The front chassis structure isn't too bad at all - except for the lower corner on the passenger side where the front, wheel well and under pan all meet. Remembering the '73 and that corner being completely smashed gives me some hope however. I wonder if that '73 had had the robust late bumper, would that damage have happened? The drivers side lower corner on this '76 looks good though. The underside of the weather seal channel is just starting to rust so that's salvageable.

[The Glademister]

Just because I love using a wire brush, I've been sprucing up the collection of engine tins from the '73 and '76. The '73 got a refurbished set I purchased from Just Porsche Parts so I have two 2.0L rusty sets. Some of which are beyond salvation. I just strip them down to bare metal, patch a little rusty spot, clean, prime and shoot with gloss black. Here's a before and after...

[mark 74 carrera]

Front end doesn't look that bad at all.

Did you use any kind of special black paint on the engine tins? That is another project I will be doing at some point.

Mark

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by mark 74 carrera

Front end doesn't look that bad at all.

Did you use any kind of special black paint on the engine tins? That is another project I will be doing at some point.

Mark

That's just another reason I think this tub may be salvageable.

No special paint. Just good ol' rustoleum enamel. I don't think temps get high enough to justify high temp paint. The hottest tins would probably be the under cylinder ones next to the exhaust headers. But if your tins are getting +400F then you've got more pressing problems than scorched paint.