Restoring my first 914

[914 KEV]

Presume I have to take the Rubic's floor panel off from behind the pedals to access it?

Yes Darren the pedal cluster floor board does need removing.
These are easy to remove once the securing clamps, the clutch pedal stop is removed along with the two pedal rubbers and pull off the accelerator push rod off the accelerator pedal first!
Lift up by the front edge and pull the accelerator back to move it out of the way and it then it should pass over the two pedals at the same time!!! Easier said than done mind, as you have to get the angle right!

[JAS 966]

Your Post Office experience reminds me of when I sent my own calipers to Mittlemotor. I opted to pay the core charge, thinking I would use their packaging to return my own - which was all fine of course - Out came the lovely refurbed items and my far less shiny examples were duly repackaged, however I was astounded when the clerk quoted me £47 standard delivery! - I asked how come they could have come from Germany within 48 hours for £20 and I literally got a vacant stare back... followed by 'I dunno'.
(I couldn't resist stating I could have taken them over personally for that money!)

Sod that, a couple of minutes online and they were collected (yep!) from work by UPS and winging their way to Mittlemotor, for - yes you guessed it £20.

Anyway postage rant over - enjoying the thread - keep it up!
Rob

[914 KEV]

5. NO power to relay board in engine bay with ignition on or off?
6. Brake lights stuck on permanently

Checked all fuses ok.

Darren,
When you say you have no power to the relay board are you measuring the voltage on both fuse holder inner pins?
There are two main feeds to the relay board, both are un-fused; one is switched by the ignition switch (Pin 8 – Black wire on the 14 pin connector) the other is straight from the battery on Pin 14 – Red wire and should have a voltage on it all the time the battery is connected.
The front fuse hold inner pin is connected to Pin 8 (Voltage from the ignition switch) and the rear inner pin is connected to Pin 14 (Voltage from the battery).

Have you checked to see if you have a voltage on the + side wire feed to the coil when the ignition is on?

As your brake lights are on all the time and the feed to the brake light switch is also from the same connection on the ignition switch the problem will be between one side of Fuse 9 and the connection on the relay board.

[Darren C]

Thanks again Kev,

I was looking at the wiring diagram last night and had got as far as working out the ignition circuit feeding the brake light and the ignition switch itself is ok. I’m wondering if there is a fault in the main wiring plug that feeds the relay board, someone has been in there before as the loom is all taped up for the first 8” back from the plug. Scratch marks on the plug look like the lids been forced off it.
I think I need to do a continuity test between the +ve socket on the plug and fuse 9 before anything else.
Cheers again Kev for shortening my search for the fault.

Today I picked up the brake pads. They look a perfect match (albeit I need to file open one hole on the rear pads).

Made by TRW (a quality pad with anti squeak backing at reasonable cost) they cross-ref as 356 & 912, Saab 900 and NSU RO80!
Fronts Part No GDB101 £7.17 ex vat
Rears Part No GDB102 £12.24 ex vat

Full set for the car only £23.29 all in. Result!

Will try and match the pins and spring clips next.

[Darren C]

One step forward, two steps back.

I started this morning by taking out the pedal board to investigate the brake light switch.
Lo and behold a broken switch was found, brittle as anything, one side of it was completely missing!
So I now need to source a new one.
While rummaging around in there I notice a lot of free play in the pedal spindles. Yep you guessed it, the bushes were completely shot.
I wrestled with the assembly but just couldn’t get the clutch cable out enough to free the clevis.
Under the car I went and found the clutch cable pivot wheel seized solid and packed tightly with grease impregnated sand. I had to unscrew the adjusting nuts and take the cable off the release arm. Then the nut off the pivot pulley wheel and struggle to get the pulley and cable off. It was so jam packed with rock hard sand mix, it would have been easier if it had been mortared in place. After a good few curses I managed to get it off.
This then revealed that the very fine sand mix had gone down the cable and sheath and seized the cable solid in the car.
I had never pressed the clutch pedal since buying the car, but it must have been solid. There was no way I could budge the cable so slightly defeated I got back under the dash and after a good two hours faffing around with the help of a good friend I managed to get the clutch clevis pin and clip off working blind inside the tunnel. Not an easy task.
I could then lift out the whole pedal assembly.
There was practically NO BUSHINGS left in it at all. Totally crumbled and fell out or turned to granules inside the tubes.
Again, more parts to add to the list.
I looked on line tonight and see a few vendors have Bronze bush kits instead of the plastic. Anyone tried them
Pros & cons please…
While working in the footwell I took off the accelerator pedal. That was seized too! The bloomin hinge part at the floor was solid. I had to carryout surgery with a Stanley knife from the back of it to reveal the hinge as its encased in rubber. Working it back and forth in the vice with penetrating oil I managed to free it off. Left it to soak for a few hours and “blew” it out with the tube nozzle of WD40 and spray grease.
It’s nice and free now so at least I feel I achieved something today.

Tomorrow I plan on taking off the clutch cable clevis and lock nut (while still up inside the tunnel) and then trying to pull it backwards out the car. I reckon its only jammed for a short length by the pulley wheel under the car. Enough to stop it pulling forwards, but if I tug it rearwards I think it may come out. Well that’s the plan anyway.

[lennyhope]

Great thread.... It might inspire me to get started on some jobs in the garage if the weather gets a little warmer...

[Darren C]

Cheers Lenny. By the way I have no heating where I’m working, so a long extension lead and a small electric warm air blower plus 2 Tee shirts a jumper and coat get me by….roll on Spring.
Today was a good day; mostly spent going forwards not backwards for once!

I wrestled the clutch cable out the car. The inner wire was seized solid in the sheath, but once unclipped under the car it pulled cleanly out complete. On closer inspection it looks like the PO sprayed it with some sort of underseal/waxoil that got all the desert sand stuck into it then set like rock.
It took me a good two hours to clean up the pulley and shroud, but all done now, nice and clean ready for a new cable. As the clutch and speedo cable run side by side under the car I had a good look at that. Guess what….I need a new one of them too.
The sheath is split and damaged (possible grounding on some road obstacle) and the spiral spring is bare and full of dirt.
Two more parts to order on Monday.
Next I took a meter to the electrics and ended up under the passenger seat. Seat removed I tested the safety belt relay and plugs. I opted to make a 6mm yellow cable link wire between pins 50 and C. (as Kev had suggested).
The relay was actually working but the solenoid was not happy. I suspect that the contacts inside the relay are burnt/dirty with age or the pull from the coil inside is weak causing a bad current flow & voltage to the starter solenoid.
Ignition on (I took the brake light switch off yesterday and taped the wires to stop the brake lights being on constantly until I get a new switch, and isolated the brake pressure warning to stop the constant light and sound effects) Eureka the engine spun over freely, no more “rurr…..rurr…..click…..rurr”. Result!
I then checked power on the relay board in the engine. Very strange? I kept getting some dodgy readings a few volts then 13V then nothing? Trying again I found that if I put pressure on the meter probes while testing the fuse pins the voltage varied.
I popped the fuse out and the end cap fell off!
When it was in the holder the wire looked fine, but in reality there was a break. (So Battery off yet again)
New fuse fitted, battery back on and I tried the ignition again.

Just by chance I heard the blower fan in the engine bay run. (I must have knocked the heating lever when I was working on the pedals or under the seat).
But no fuel pump?
Ok I figured that if the heater fan ran then the power relay was good, and the blower relay was good. I’d tested the relays earlier, but maybe I had a dodgy relay? I swapped the blower relay with the fuel pump and turned the ignition on.

Fuel EVERYWHERE in the engine bay, half an injection system missing!!!!

I wasn’t bothered, as I’d finally solved the problem that had given me the run around for a couple of weeks.
Fuel mopped up (I’d put £8 from a can in the tank to check for hose leakage last week) and a celebratory cuppa was had.

So hopefully tomorrow I’d do a phone around and internet search to order parts for next weekend.

[Darren C]

Today I ordered a whole load of parts with the exception of the Brake Light Switch. The very cheapest I could find one was From Roger Bray, but it was over £47

Now I don’t mind paying good money for a well engineered item, but £47 for a micro switch? Even Porsche Centre wanted over £60.

Modified switch from Maplins is looking good for under a fiver unless anyone has another sensibly priced source?

Anyway, tonight I put the brake pad pins in my lathe and spun them with a strip of emery paper to clean them up followed by a silver zinc spray. I managed to match up new spring clips but the aftermarket pins were no where close. To be fair now the pins are cleaned up they look good as new. Afterwards I carefully opened up the size of one pin hole in the replacement rear pads with a file. Cleaned it up and painted the filed area with some heat resistant black paint to give a nice OEM look.

[myatt1972]

I'm no help at all Darren but really enjoying this thread, thanks for taking the time to post your findings.

[Darren C]

No problem Keith, hopefully the information will help others

Today in my lunch break I picked up the undertray/cover for the mastercylinder & steering rack from the Powder Coaters. Looks lovely after a blast and coat in satin black. I fitted the new lip seals to each side of it tonight and put it safe in my shed ready to go back on when the braking system is re-filled with fluid and leak checked.
I also called in at my local motor factors and tracked down the spring clips for the front brake pads.
The original design has a rivet in the centre of the cross that can fail, the clip falls apart and if you’re unlucky is lost forever. The modern design is stamped/pressed out of a single piece of metal so has no rivet.

Here’s what I found:

The rear clips x-ref to:

Quick Brake Part No 109-0905
VW Part 311-698-151 & 01D-07L08L (available from VW Heritage) for Beetle 1302
Saab 99 & 900 all models
BMW 500 series 1973-81

Front clips x-ref to:

Mintex MBA949 & MBA980 (MBA949 are made a bit better from thicker steel, but both the correct size)

Non of the above have matching pins, but they are a good source of the clips at £3.50 a pair, you can throw away the pins they come with.

When I arrived home tonight I had a nice new set of Original Porsche pedal rubbers waiting (ebay purchase) ready for the pedal assembly rebuild. Having spoken on the phone with Kev (thanks again) the other evening I opted to go for a bronze bush set to replace the missing/failed ones in my car.
While I’m waiting for them to turn up, tonight I spent a couple of hours rubbing down the pedal mounting bracket and gave it a coat of primer. Hanging on a wire hook over my hall radiator it should be good to topcoat tomorrow evening. I also cleaned up the front brake pad pins in the lathe again like I did the rears and gave them a zinc spray. I was hoping to x-ref new ones but they seem to be too long to match all those at my local motor factors. The rear pins are particularly unique to the 914 caliper with the two diameters and the shouldered sections.
To be fair my originals have cleaned up really well, so it was just the spring clips that were urgent since some were completely missing.
I also spoke to Lee at the Caliper refurbishers. All going well, he hopes to get them ready to send back to me next week.

Still waiting for my new discs to arrive, its been a week and a half. I contacted Berlyn Services and have found out that they don’t hold stock….they order them in from Germany when you buy them. I’m a bit disappointed as the website does not tell you this and makes you think they’re in stock. I’d rather they had been honest from the start. Had I known I’d have bought them direct from Mittelmotor myself and got them quicker as they’d be sent direct to me, not them, then me.
Hey ho, these things are sent to try us.

[Mr Pharmacist]

A very interesting thread Darren - you are really getting stuck in! Any more pics?

And thanks for the info below - I have been after some front clips for a while now.

The original design has a rivet in the centre of the cross that can fail, the clip falls apart and if you’re unlucky is lost forever. The modern design is stamped/pressed out of a single piece of metal so has no rivet.

Here’s what I found:

The rear clips x-ref to:

Quick Brake Part No 109-0905
VW Part 311-698-151 & 01D-07L08L (available from VW Heritage) for Beetle 1302
Saab 99 & 900 all models
BMW 500 series 1973-81

Front clips x-ref to:

Mintex MBA949 & MBA980 (MBA949 are made a bit better from thicker steel, but both the correct size)

[rhd racer]

Hi Darren

highly recommend bronze bushings - no play, they will outlive the car.

A nice indoor job at the kitchen table too!

Cheers
Wayne

Love the thread BTW, and the car looks great

[jwhillracer]

+1 for bronze bushings! Plus, as Wayne says, it is one of those really satisfying jobs to dismantle the pedal assembly, clean it all up, and reassemble it smooth and free running...........

JW

[Darren C]

Thanks Guy’s,

I was concerned about wear and noise/rattle/knock with the bronze v nylon bush, but you repeated what Kev has said on the phone, so Bronze bushes it is.

Today was a little surreal….

My day started with a mad panic at work, David Cameron PM came to visit at 9am and we’d got certain key area’s under redevelopment and refurbishment so it was a hive of activity over night and by dawn it was just plain crazy!

Anyway, all went well and I finished on time this evening to get home and carry on with the pedal assembly.

The pedal mounting bracket primer was dry so I gave it a wet & dry key and a coat of black satin engine enamel. (engine enamel resists oil so any greasing of the pedal assembly wont attack my nice new paint job).
After hanging the bracket back in front of the radiator again (too cold in my shed for paint) I started sanding down the pedals and shafts themselves. As my original bushes were non-existent the pedals had “fallen” over to the sides and rubbed on the wooden floor cover plate. So much so that there was a whole load of sawdust under it on the floor and the slots in the wood had a nice worn bow in them.
Anyhow I sanded them all down and gave them a coat of primer in my shed and brought them into the warm to dry once they’d gone tacky to stop them stinking the house out.
I didn’t get out today at lunch due to the PM visit, but I did give my ebay vendor a phone call to check on the despatch of my nice new Dansk rear exhaust box. While under the car at the weekend working on getting the clutch cable out I found a hole in the backbox opposite the RH heat exchanger connection point at the bottom of the box. Most probably where the hot gasses enter and any water from combustion would collect.
Incidentally on Monday when I was phoning around to order parts I found that the rear exchanger gaskets to back box are no longer available from Porsche, but the exchanger to cylinder head are!
Managed to track some down from Roger Bray who still has stock of both gaskets, but no exhausts.
Hopefully it’ll all arrive for the weekend and I'll take some photos of progress.

[moriarty]

Hi Darren
Congrats on your continued updates on progress, all good fun!!brings back a lot of memories some good, some not so good, although I wonder how you find the time to write lengthy updates and work on the car! a true petrolhead,
Maurice (oldtime petrolhead)