Restoring my first 914

[LMR]

You should be pleased, that looks brilliant!!

[Darren C]

Cheers

Yesterday I’d removed the horn push from the Steering wheel again. I wasn’t happy with the black paint. I’d spent ages getting it super smooth but it just looked too glossy against the rest of the dashboard.
With the sun shining and the temperature in double figures I lightly scotchbrited it and gave it a thin coat of satin lacquer to tone it down slightly.
This morning my body clock hadn’t quite caught up with GMT so I woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep.
After an early breakfast I decided to un mask the horn push and fit it back in the car.
Tonight after work it was my monthly car club committee meeting and I knew I’d not be home until after 11pm, so if I were going to achieve something on the 914 today it had to be done this morning.
With the horn push refitted it looks much better with the less glossy black paint.

[911hillclimber]

Picky but perfect!
It all looks great. You must be very close now and it will be a treat to roll it out on its wheels!

Really enjoy the updates and how you do things to get the right effect.

Did the cars really have that white sticker on the wheel or did it get ripped off asap after leaving the forecourt?

[Darren C]

Kev is far more knowledgeable than I on the history, but I suspect due to the wording "buckle up" it was maybe a US market elf-n-safety applied sticker, and not used in Europe?
But I agree that as a new owner it would be the first thing that got peeled off and thrown in the "trash" (see what I did there )

I only knew about the sticker as I found the old original one under the centre console; otherwise I'd have been non the wiser.

Kev confirmed the location and I got this from the Historian guy on 914world.

[914 KEV]

Did the cars really have that white sticker on the wheel or did it get ripped off asap after leaving the forecourt?

Most would have stayed on till they fell off.

On US spec 914s from the 73 model year, if you didn’t have the driver’s seat belt fastened, the 914 wouldn’t start.

Nowadays most late 914s have been modified to bypass the safety feature!

[911hillclimber]

What's more irritating, no start or start drive a short way and :pinp/ping/ping?

No start sounds a good idea to me. I see lots of people without belts on today.

[Darren C]

Thanks for clearing that up Kev.

I prefer my older cars that don’t have any belts at all, let alone all the buzzer nonsense.

Today the evening was dark, windy and wet and with the change of clocks it’s like someones flicked that depressing winter weather switch to “on”.

I retired to the shed this evening and started cleaning up the wheel bolt heads. The new bolt turned up week before last and it has a dull zinc plate. I plan to get the bolts replated but need to clean and fettle them properly first.
Pretty boring stuff, filing a few burrs, wire brushing and sanding, but preparation is everything.

[Tosh]

I've just read the whole thread end to end. I am in complete awe. I want the car too (when you've done with it like) but more than that am in awe of your skill, speed, focus, dedication and, well, OCD!
It looks stunning.

[Darren C]

Thanks Tosh,

I plan on keeping the car, after years of dedication I do regret selling most of my old cars in the past so there’s certainly no sale on the horizon. What’s nice, is that this little thread seems to be helping the 914 in the desirability stakes for those who might not of otherwise considered one. Generally though I think that over the last few years the 914 has come of age in the classic Porsche market after being overlooked for so long.

Tonight even with another dark evening it was pleasantly mild. I managed to complete a little job that was niggling me.
Working under the arches with the stoneguard I’d noticed that the rolled return of the front arch from 11 to 1 o clock is rolled tight over. This means that it was difficult to paint when the car was sprayed with the wheels on. The blue paint was a little thin on the return, and I suspect it was like this from new also as I could see the white of the factory primer through the colour.
I have about ½ litre of colour left from the respray so I carefully stirred/mixed the paint and poured a tiny amount into a mini roller tray and then with a new mini gloss roller with only a light coat of colour, rolled the paint onto the return of the arch (with the inner stoneguard masked off). Using this method there is an invisible edge of paint on the rolled arch. This was only the edge that’s rolled right over so you cant see it looking upwards at the arch, you need the wheel off and your head resting on the shock absorber to see it.
Tomorrow if its mild enough I’ll put a coat of clear lacquer over the basecoat colour using the same method.

[Tosh]

Darren
The thread title says it's your first 914. Bagsy the 2nd

[Darren C]

Who said anything about another one?
I usually eat, drink, sleep and think of nothing else but the particular car I’m restoring, then when it’s finished and I know the car inside out, I move on to something else rather than stagnate, as I have an insatiable appetite for cars that I haven’t restored before.
Today was a real bind as I had to leave early and got home late from work using the train combined with it raining again.
This evening I decided to hold of coating the arch returns with lacquer as with the cold damp air it would most likely bloom.
Instead I gave the engine bay a good clean. The garage I’m renting seems to have a real issue with dust/dirt. 3 garages down they are developing the old council estate, knocking down and building new flats so there is an excessive amount of dust generated, which seems to cover the car even when the doors shut. With no engine lid on the car yet, I keep washing off the bodywork but haven’t done the engine bay for a while. I must get an indoor cover sorted!
Anyhow after a good wash & wipe clean I sorted out a few bits and bobs including a couple more P clips to tidy hoses and wires, I called it a night as my second LED torch ran out of charge.

[myatt1972]

Who said anything about another one? I move on to something else rather than stagnate, as I have an insatiable appetite for cars that I haven’t restored before.

Ive got a 1st gen Mazda Rx7 that needs some love, as long as I can have it back when you are done

[Darren C]

Wankel

[milhouse914]

Darren, hope you're well. The 14 looks stunning !

Next project ??? MK2 gti !

[Darren C]

Sorry Milhouse, done a MkII GTi, back in 97.
Today was the first day that I have been allowed to drive since the TIA so I made the most of it and booked several customer visits so spent most of the day driving!
At lunch I called into the wheel refurbishers. Having had my wheels for over a month, they’d obviously lost the sense of urgency and had only done the back of one wheel. Hopefully they’ll get the other four done before March!
Tonight I took my son to see Spectre so tomorrow I concentrate on the car!