Nice try Tosh, but I already ogle Nigella on iplayer in the early hours of the morning; judging by the price of that 914 in the Leeds dealership you’ll need very, very deep pockets and Nigella in person to count out the cash (while telling me I’ve been a naughty boy………………. for selling it of course) to even tempt me to part with this little car.
As for the first test drive, I’m itching too. Just being held up by these damn wheels! Oh and please dont mention the s-a-l-t word
Anyways, today I did call the blasters and would you believe they told me they were in the middle of working on the wheels and they should be blasted (between the area’s to polish) by the end of the week. Hmmmm, I’ve heard that before somewhere?
During the engine lid rebuild I wanted to fit the rubber “L” bracket to my car to prevent the boot hitting the engine lid. I’d purchased the rubber part from 914rubber way back in the summer with the other bits but had no metal bracket to support it.
Searches had thrown up the part as discontinued so I thought I’d make one.
Not having the part and only some low res pictures off google, I spoke to Kev who did me a smashing drawing with photo of two brackets he’s hoarding.
Kev, thanks for taking time to send this info, but I need two crucial measurements still.
1, The thickness of the steel used
2, A reference measurement to the start/end of the slotted hole in the bracket.
This morning I got up a few hours before work and with the aid of a warm air blower spent a couple of hours in my shed before dawn and started to fashion some heavy duty spare metal plate in to a form press to make the missing bracket.
Now I guess at this point someone is going to tell me they have one that I can have; but to be fair the fun and satisfaction for me is in making one. (sad I know)
After work this evening I carried on with filing and checking, welding and dressing the form press parts in my new Imagineering quest.
To be fair this evening I was only going to post a couple of sentences in this thread saying “spent 5 hours in shed filing” or something similar, but hey, I thought post a picture because no one ever realises when I explain something as mundane as an angle bracket, the sort of effort that goes into it.
So with the two parts of the form press roughly measured and made, the next stage tomorrow will be to machine a locating dowel (for the hole to hold the metal precisely in the die while pressing) and a strongback with matching dowel hole for the other plate to lock upper and lower forms together while pressing.
Eager to see how things would work out and to understand the press “shrinkage” I was going to get (so that I could make the actual plate that forms the bracket wider to start with so that when pressed it will be the exact size) I trial pressed a piece of scrap Zintec sheet.
I’m quite pleased with the result as a first trial, there’s maybe another few hours refining the form press but it’s pretty much where it needs to be to make a nice “pattern” bracket.
Kev, just need those two measurements if you’d kindly oblige.
