Restoring my first 914

[Darren C]

Cheers Dave, look forwards to you finding one!

Thanks again Kev,great archive pictures, I followed your advice on the speedo cable routing today and got it how it should be.

The Gemo cable was just over £55 from Roger Bray. I checked it against the old one before fitting to make sure it was the correct length.
Only then did I notice the two grommets were on backwards???
I had to do a double take; but yes they were fitted backwards. What a bloomin struggle it was to get them off the cable. I opted for sliding them down to the gauge end where the securing nut was smaller. Even so it was a real battle stretching the large grommet with a 6mm hole over a 20mm nut!
Once off it was another battle in reverse to fit them back on the right way around.
It was also another Desert Sand nightmare day. Getting the old speedo cable out meant getting under the centre console. I took the seats out for more space and after finding where the console securing screws were I lifted out the two insert panels and found the whole inside of the console had about ¼” of fine sand inside it.
Another ½ hour hovering and I could lift the carpet to reveal the cable and the bent over securing tabs.



Seats out there was more sand in all the creases and gaps around the centre tunnel. The ridges in the vinyl were ½” deep in sand! More hovering up.
Anyways, after getting the cable out I could see the age related damage more clearly.



It really did need changing.
What a pig it is trying to hook the cable end out of the tunnel void and into the car on your own. I ended up bending a coat hanger in a U shape to fish it out. I also noted the route it takes over the steering UJ and found metal bend over tabs to hold it clear of the steering. Not obvious first of all but there for a good reason.
Next I set up the new clutch cable. After reading the Haynes manual and speaking with Kev, I was concerned about the instruction to extend the cable 10mm into the clevis as I thought it would foul the lever. Kev advised to cut it down before fitting as new cables are too long. So after cutting 10mm off the end I fitted it with 5mm into the Clevis. Adjusting the cable under the car I found to get the required ½-3/4” free play I pretty much used up all the cable adjustment; even with it cut down.
I reckon you need to cut at least 15mm off the pedal end of the cable to give you some adjustment over the years as the cable stretches.
With still time left this afternoon I fitted the two nylon rollers to the boot hinge. Again this was another wrestle with the spring bars to hold them down enough to slip on the Roller. I used a deep 10mm socket with a 8” extension bar, slipped over the end and levered down while holding the boot up. Scary at times but I just managed to get them on.
After a cuppa I then took all the wheels and discs off again to fit the disc backing plates.
Lastly I replaced the two new track rod ends.

All I need now is those blessed discs and bearings to turn up, so that I can get the callipers back on.

[Darren C]

Sunday was a quiet day. I’d not got access to the car as my friend had to be with his mum for some reason.
Anyhow I still got up at the crack of dawn and started cleaning a few more bits up before breakfast. Afterwards I spend 6 hours polishing the coachwork of one of my other cars, but started to get a little bored so will do the other half of the car over some of the evenings next week, and maybe the brightwork the week after. 40 hours cleaning on average for 1 hours use…that’s vintage cars for you.
Anyway after cleanathon part 1 of 2015 , I started part “whatever it is now 2015”on more 914 parts from my removed FI parts tub of doom. I only managed 3 hours before I’d had enough for the day, so retired to my PC to convert some ideas/sketches I have on a new door hinge design (for yet another car) into CAD so I can do a feasibility study on manufacture (long story for another time).
So that was Sunday.
Today I sorted out some materials in my shed to make up some brackets I’ve come up with and as expected I’m short on some 3mm stainless plate so made a note of sizes before leaving for work so that I could sort it out over lunch.
I contacted Roger Bray about the incorrectly assembled Gemo Speedo cables they sell, and got a “not really interested” response as it’s a low volume sale. So if your thinking of buying one Caveat Emptor.
I also chased Berlyn Services again on my Brake discs. We’re in week 6 now since taking my money and still NO news on where they are or when to expect them.
At least I managed to pick up some clear plastic 6mm hose before the end of lunch. I plan to cut it into 2ft lengths and connect to all the bleed nipples on the callipers and into an array of jam jars for when I eventually fill the brake system with fluid. I found in the past that gravity is your best friend when first filling a completely empty braking system. Open all bleeds slightly and fill reservoir. When you see fluid in the clear tubes close off in turn until all callipers are full with fluid. Only then pump and bleed the system in the order recommended. Makes it a far less messy job when you can see and capture the fluid. Well that’s my plan anyway, if the discs ever turn up of course.
Tonight was a little busy. Just got back from a car club committee meeting at 11pm, that started at 6pm (we have managed to secure the Battle of Britain Spitfire & Hurricane to do a flypast over one of our events which is a good result!), so it was a long one tonight, and apart from taking time out to update this thread I’d didn’t get chance to do anything on the car tonight. Bit frustrating but that’s how it goes some days.

[Canarydelia]

Darren I feel exhausted just reading your daily tales - what do you do to relax?

[Darren C]

Relax? What is the meaning of this strange word?

For me working on my cars is my relaxation from a day job where I have to operate at a million miles an hour, juggling many complex engineering projects in the air at once. Fettling car parts in my shed or making stuff on my lathe is my escapism although I have to say my mind is always thinking of ways to solve some problem or another. For example this morning, during a couple of hours in my shed before breakfast I had a eureka moment on a problem at work. I left ½ an hour early and off to my 24hr Tesco to buy a gallon of white vinegar (acetic acid) to complement the iron filings from my workshop dustpan I’d just swept up, the simple way to create a ferrous sulphate substitute without the need to use hydrochloric acid that I can apply to Red Cedar to black the natural tannins with a weaker acid than hydrochloric. In other words, I have a project at work where I have re designed a fatal flaw in Sir Nicholas Grimshaw’s engineering design. To rectify it (after I have machined new metal components), part of it involves the need to quickly age some new Red Cedar wood panels to match the rest of the building. If I apply the Ferrous sulphate substitute, it’ll make the wood turn from red to silver in minutes not years.
Problem solved.
Restoring cars is great, it actually gives you more time in your day to think!
As for relaxing, I’ll have plenty of time to do that when I leave this mortal coil, so why waste precious time doing that while I’m here.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on…..
Today I had some good news…I got an email from Berlyn Services who say I should see my new brake discs tomorrow. We’ll have to see what happens.
During lunch today I visited the paintshop. My tame painter came over a few weekends ago to look at the 914, and we have agreed a glass out, panels & doors off bare metal two-pack job. It’s booked in for 20th April so I need to start prepping & stripping the car once the brakes are done.
I think I’ve pretty much decided to weld up the front side marker lights for a Euro look (plus I think they look hideous) The jury’s out on the overriders but as they are rubber and like everything else rubber on the car they are very badly perished, it would be simpler to weld up the holes (as the bumpers black not chrome) before they are repainted.

What do others think on the subject of the side markers and overriders?

I picked up a few more stainless fixings on the way back to work from the painters and tonight I did some more on the engine lid.
I stripped it down to its component parts including taking out the spring wires and hinge rubber stops ready for painting. I notice a bit of deformation in the black plastic water tray, so tomorrow I plan on getting a heat gun on it to straighten it out. There’s also a crack in it that I’ll need to “plastic weld” too. I took out a few bends in the engine lid frame above the hinges. It looks like the PO bent the steel up with pliers when the rubber limit stops had worn down, instead of replacing the stops? To be fair what’s left of the bump stops are perished, so I need to track some down.
I used a fork trim clip tool to get all the mesh securing rubber washers off (so they can be re-used) and the mesh lifted off cleanly.
There were a few dents in the mesh, and half the Porsche script letters were missing or broken, so I took the rest off and gently got all the dents out ready for repainting.
Tonight I’ve been on-line and ordered some new infill trim, and after posting here plan on going through the Parts catalogue to get some part numbers ready for a visit to Porsche Centre tomorrow lunchtime.

[milhouse914]

Hi Darren, really am enjoying your blog on the restoration. I think the overriders look great on the 914, try and keep um !

Look forward to hearing about your re-spray experience, my 914 needs paint. But I have yet to meet anyone you can recommend a paintshop.

Ta

Jim

[Bruce M]

Another thanks & thumb up for this inspiring blog

[Mr Pharmacist]

Bump stops and lots of other rubber bits are available from 914rubber.com if you haven't already discovered that site Darren

[Darren C]

Thanks for the kind words Guy’s

I think I should clarify where I am on the over riders. I don’t mind them at all, it’s the side markers that really offend the eye.
With so many cars I have to try and go with my head not my heart (which mostly doesn’t work).
In the cold light of day my 914 was a sub £4K “project car” I have already spent £1K on parts to date, and another £1.5K to go on paint. ALL the rubber on the car is completely shot and I intend to replace all door, window and roof seals plus the bumper top pieces (have you seen the price? ouch). As Stuart says you can get everything from 914rubber.com and I’ve already totalled up what I need and it aint cheap. Kev recommended original Porsche front roof seals that run down the A pillars, as the 914rubber ones aren’t great. These are more expensive too, plus I’m looking to replace the windscreen trim.
So to keep the overriders it would be another $300 + import duty + postage. (Don’t want to put my originals back on after painting the car as they are perished cracked and not pretty). To weld up the holes and dress the bumper before repaint is a cost effective option and in keeping with Euro look and at little or no cost to me. It’s also totally reversible as I can simply drill the holes again if I want to fit overriders.
That said I am quite warming in favour of keeping them.
The most important thing I think is to not go too mad on the car, do a nice job and don’t do anything that’s not easily reversible or overly modified bad taste. Some small bits can be changed at a later date. I’m just working towards a “nice” useable example, not trophy hunting, and hope to have a car I can enjoy that has added value in comparison to what I’ve spent on it.

Please keep your thoughts and opinions coming, its always good to question my choices as I like to make balanced decisions and listen to others Idea's and experiences.

So on to todays escapades…..

Guess what?………

NO DISCS to be seen despite Berlyn’s assurances yesterday.
I phoned them today and things had gotten out of hand yet again. I was told that they had the rear discs (and had sent them out) but had NO fronts! After a long discussion with David at Berlyn it was revealed that they had, had no joy from their supplier, and had tried Roger Bray who had told them he had a pair then sent only ONE and that was rusty! David tried German & Swedish, and they only had the early front version so had come to a blank.
Now, as you can imagine I was not best pleased, but here’s why it pays to keep calm and carry on communicating. I just happened to discuss the difference between the early & late discs when I happened to mention my fronts had a boss on them so you can mount the wheel and spin it to align the bolts rather than try and lift and hold the weight of the wheel to line up the bolt holes like you do on the rears. David paused and then said he thought I wanted front discs without the boss? “No?” then he sent me an email photo of new discs he has in stock with the boss on them.
DOH!!!!!!
He had the right ones all along, but never communicated that? So he assures me they will be with me tomorrow. (Hmmm, I’ll have to wait and see again, particularly as the rears seem to be lost in transit)

Last night after updating the thread I sorted out some part numbers and spoke to Porsche Centre at lunchtime.
Only 1 part in 4 was still available (the rubber bump stops that fit under the engine lid hinges, so I ordered a pair. Mine are worn off at 45 degrees and broke off when I tried to remove them yesterday. The other parts were piping and seals that fit around the mesh grille inserts. Not too big a deal as I know 914rubber do them. That said I have sourced the U trim off ebay, and I think I might have found a suitable T piping. Having owned and restored a few 911’s, the impact bumpers have a small T trim between them and the rear quarters. You can buy it by the foot from Porscheshop for a few quid. It’s probably good for the scuttle to front wing too. I’ll order some up and let you know how I get on.
This morning before work I did a couple of hours on one of my other cars, and tonight I started on the engine lid parts.
First I cleaned up everything; more SAND, I’m getting a Herbert Lom twitch now at the sight of the damn stuff!
Next I cleaned up the spring rods which were caked in sand and surface rust. Rubbed them down with wet & dry and gave them a zinc prime.
After washing out the water trough earlier it was now dry so I got my heat gun and started to straighten out the bow and distortion in it.



And straightened out.



Finally I melt/welded the two cracks up on it.
It’s very sun bleached, so tomorrow morning I plan on trying a little rubbing compound on it to see if it takes off the milky surface back to black. Last resort is to paint it with some satin black bumper paint, but I’d prefer not too.

[Darren C]

This morning started off well, I got a coat of silver onto the spring rods for the engine lid and started on the drain trough with some rubbing paste before going to work.
I was away from my desk this morning looking at a few projects and when I got back my colleague had a message from Kay at Berlyn Services.
No Discs turned up yesterday (as I had been told by David three times, both verbally and by email, would) because Kay’s message was to say NOTHING had been sent.
To say I was astonished is an understatement!
I immediately emailed a reply on to end of David’s “sincere” email from 2 days ago assuring me he’d sent the rear discs and that the fronts would follow, simply asking if Kay’s message was correct. Since it was mid morning I couldn’t phone at work until lunchtime.
The answer came back a couple of hours later in a long protracted email from Kay, that went on and on but really didn’t answer my question as why no discs at all had been sent out as David had said. Finding it hard to keep calm, I thanked Kay and asked again why am I being mislead and when can I expect to see my discs as now we are at the end of week 6 from ordering “in stock” parts
So folks, guess what. The reply is they will be with me tomorrow……déjà vu anyone?
As you can imagine I was quite grumpy this lunchtime. No fear, I thought. Lets phone Porscheshop and see about the small T piping they’re advertising on their website that might just do for the engine lid.
“Err, let me check it out and get back to you straight away” said the chap at Porscheshop.
Guess what at 10 to 5 they still hadn’t called me back, so I called them.
“Oh yeah, I was going to call you back….it’s out of stock and no longer available”
Here we go again!
“So why is it on your shop website as in stock with a price by it per foot, and why when I phoned you earlier wouldn’t it have been easier to tell me there and then, rather than keeping me hanging?”
The response was another “not really interested” “yeah we’ll have to change that”

So all in all a very disappointing and frustrating day on the parts front delaying progress on the car.

This evening I got home and spent a couple of hours rubbing pasting then T cutting the engine lid trough back to nice shiny black plastic from the grey dry thing it was.
I then got the two small grill sections that go either side of the engine lid out of a storage tub (took them off at the start of the restoration) and gave them a once over. The edges were bent badly and one side was dented. I can only presume that when the car was re-sprayed badly (that’s the surface that’s now peeling off all over) they must have wrenched the small grilles off with a screwdriver as a lever instead of removing the rubber grip washers! They obviously mangled the drivers one first, then were careful with the passenger side, but gave up and left the engine lid one on. (The evidence being the black piping I’m trying to find having a masking tape line with blue paint on it, on the engine lid but not the two side grilles which have no blue paint on)
Anyhow, last of all this evening, it took a little tin bashing with my planishing hammers and I managed to straighten them both out.

[Bruce M]

I think it's time to get a refund on those discs and go elsewhere. The rears might take a few more weeks to get but the fronts are easy enough to find in stock.

[Mr Pharmacist]

I agree with Bruce. I ordered fronts and backs from mittelmotor a few weeks ago and they arrived in about a week of ordering. And the £ to € is favourable at the moment!

[Darren C]

Bruce, Stuart,
Yep I thought so yesterday until I had an email telling me the courier had picked them up for delivery today, even though it was received as another potential "cry wolf" message, I'd give them one very last chance to redeem themselves.

This morning started off well, I got another coat of silver on the engine lid rods and left for work. After the anti climatic eclipse we had a parcel delivery.
To my surprise it was the discs and bearings. Halleluiah !
At lunchtime I called in at Porsche Centre to collect the engine lid hinge rubber stops.
“no longer available” here we go again! So to make a mends I thought I’d try them for the 911 wing beading that Porsche shop said they could no longer get. It transpires its all still available, but unfortunately cut to the correct length by Porsche. So to use it on the 914 engine cover I’d have to have 3 sections instead of one continuous length. After a bit of thought I remembered the sill trim on a 968 had a full length tiny T trim, maybe that will do as a substitute? So I’ve ordered one and I’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
It’s Friday again which is food shop evening so I got home an hour later than normal, but after putting food away in the cupboards, I opened my mail. The new U trim was here, perfect match. Great!
Next I opened the box from Berlyn services and checked the discs, all looked good.
Now I am able to fit them to the car tomorrow and finally get the callipers on I decided to fit the bearing races into the front discs this evening to save time.
On opening the first bearing box, The races were in torn open bags with dirty grease fingerprints all over them?????
They looked new but obviously someone had opened them before me with dirty hands presumably about to fit them to their car….
After double checking them for any damage and cleaning them off, I offered the outer race up first.
Then my heart sank..
It was TOO BIG



I then checked the inner race…..
It was TOO BIG



As for the Oil seal…..NOWHERE NEAR!



NOT EVEN CLOSE.

To say I’m having a bad day again with Berlyn Services is an understatement.

All I can do now to recover the situation is try and cross ref the numbers at my local Motor Factors to stand a chance of getting them on the car this weekend.

Desperate to make some progress today I have spent the last 2 hours de-greasing and painting the new disc hubs and outer edges. If one thing annoys me its taking off wheels to see flaky rusty disc hubs.

[DaveW]

You're not having much luck Darren. It will come good, I am sure. I went through a period on mine where nothing went right and I didn't look at it, never mind speak to it for at least a week....

Checked the garage earlier today, and wish I could bring some cheer...however, the spare air deflector I thought I had was the one currently missing from the underside of my own car... ...don't ask. Must have taken a short-cut on the to-do list. Apologies.

[Bruce M]

Your local ECP appears to have the bearings in stock in a Lucas branded version. If I've not got my parts mixed up :/

[Darren C]

This morning I was waiting outside the local Motor Factors for them to open at 7:30, hoping to resolve the bearing issue.
Unfortunately they only had the outer bearings and could get the inners, but not until Monday. They were very good and phoned around but only found one supplier about 30 miles away who had a single bearing, but one would not be good as I’d prefer two of the same make.
I called all the usual factors. German & Swedish (out of stock), Pro parts, (don’t keep)
Euro car parts (on the shelf in stock). Great I thought, (Bruce; thanks but I have only just seen your post, but read on) I asked the chap if he could just check physically they were there rather than relying on the computer. After about 10 seconds he said “yep” in stock.
Fantastic, I thought and drove 12 miles to pick them up. However when I got to the counter the chap said “sorry, not in stock, we can get them for Wednesday!” When I explained that I’d phoned and spoke to someone there only ½ hour ago before I set off, they denied all knowledge.
So again to recover what was left of the morning I decided to go up to the unit and get the rear discs fitted.

I managed to get both sides on, fit the callipers & pads and connect and adjust the handbrake.
The pad clearance adjusting screws vexed me for a short while, and after speaking to Kev on the phone, the penny dropped. The outer adjusters are LH thread. I’d adjusted the inners to get a pad clearance of 0.2mm easily as they are RH thread. I’d gone to do the outers and they just turned and turned with nothing happening (clockwise) so initially I was stumped but as soon as Kev said they were LH thread I knew exactly what the issues was. (Thanks for your help yet again Kev)
Anyways I managed to get the rear all assembled and adjusted, even if I didn’t get the fronts done. I’ve ordered a set of bearings for Monday and I’ve emailed Berlyn Services some pictures so will have to see what resolution they come up with on Monday too.





This evening when I got home I put a second coat of very high temp grey on the front discs and clear lacquer over the silver on the engine lid spring rods.