Olympic Blue / Silver metallic 1972 US Import 1.7L

[LMR]

Darren

I didn't look closely at it - the sense of relief of it finally coming out led me to go straight home! Mine also has the wax crayon writing your dash had. I will look at the overspray and check the colour next time I am at the workshop. I haven't gone nap onto your thread - did you respray your dash?

[LMR]

With the Christmas festivities out of the way and the distraction of another vehicle out of the way, I thought it was time to crack on with the 914.

As I think I have explained previously, my plan is to deal with parts as I go along, rather than have a huge pile of components which are needed but are in the same condition the were removed.

So, with the dash panel out, it was mixed news. Generally the panel is okay, albeit with lots of surface rust on the underside. Also, the metal pieces behind the basket weave is pretty rubbish, and I suspect will need replacing. Are these available?

The underside of the dash pretty much looks like this



So, it was out with some tools to knock the top off the rust. I also used far too much steel wool in the places too small for power tools......



Darren - to answer your question about paint on the dash, the honest answer is I am not sure. I was stood looking at the panel with a friend of mine. We couldn't decide if the dash panel had overspray, had some primer on it, or some vague attempt at a zinc coating. Whatever coating was on there it has long since failed and allowed surface rust. Thankfully whilst extensive it is not deep. There are no rust holes, and the panel is still strong.

After what felt like many hours I have treated all of the rusty bits with Rust Converter. I will follow this up with some zinc primer. I have only done the rear of the panel for now, and will do the front face later.

[Jonny Hart]

Good job!

Could you tell me if the basketweave is stuck straight to the metal face of the dashboard of is there a backing of some kind? The dash face on mine has been reupholstered in pin stripe velour and I'm trying to get back to original.

[Darren C]

Great work, I'm surprised to see rust on the dash frame? I believe the primer was white so if there is any colour deviation then it must be over spray or "got at" by a previous owner.
Jonny, the Basket weave is stuck to its own metal panels that then fix with double sided tape to the dash frame.

[LMR]

Darren

This car is weird. The common areas for rust such as the floor are not terrible - but the dash frame was a shocker! But repairing this keeps me out of the pub

[LMR]

Happy new year

Well my new years resolutions are going okay so far, no chocolate in January and more time in the workshop with 914. I was going to crack on with the dashboard this weekend, but than had a conversation with a couple of friends. There is a lot of time required to get the dash back to a point where it it ready to spray. Instead of the time and manual labour, I am going to drop the dash and a few other bits at envirostrip. I have seen some of the stuff they go, it is amazing the transformation. I will update in a while on this.

So, with the distraction of the dashboard out of the way, I have carried on with getting the chassis ready for welding and painting. I have removed the pedal box. It was quite a faff to get out, very uncomfortable to do, took ages, but can be summed up in a sentence......

Aside from some surface rust, the pedal box is in brilliant condition. There is no play in the bushing on the pivot shafts, so it should just need a strip and reassembly (another optimistic sentence!).



I have also removed the heater lever. Partly because I had to and partly because it was seized. It was no drama to do, and quickly unseized it. My parts list is getting longer.....

[LMR]

Heater lever

[LMR]

I am still beavoring away. I am working through the wiring loom at the moment. I have decided to remove the loom so that I get uninterrupted access to complete the repairs I am doing. I was giving some thought to how best to identify the various parts of the loom. I the end I bought a cheap label printer and some clear heat shrink. In practice, if is pretty practical



I dislike wiring enormously, so anything that makes it easy suits me!

[LMR]

after a week in the sun, I decided the perfect way to get over jet lag was to have a day in the workshop.....

I have been prevaricating far too long over the wiring loom removal so decided today was the day. This isn't a hard task, but it does require you to methodical and patient. Anyway after lots of grunting and swearing I now have this.



It might look like a collection of snakes, but it is in reasonably good condition with very little damage. I haven't yet decided whether to replace the loom or reuse this one. I will most likely do some continuity tests and go from there.

With the loom out of the way I took to removing some of the other items. With the engine out and the car on axle stands, getting to a comfortable working position is relatively easy......



Taking the fuel pump out once again made me realise that this is an old car. Despite loosening the clips, instead of the fuel pipes sliding off the pump, they just snapped in my hand. Next time you are under your cars, take a look for peace of mind.

[Mr Pharmacist]

Good progress!

Looks like there's a bit of work to do in the hell hole - hope it's not too extensive!

[LMR]

Hell hole isn't as terrible as the pic suggests (but I am an optimist ) The inner wing is frilly, but the section below the battery isn't anywhere near as bad as some I have seen.

I have imported a repair kit from the USA, and will be getting around to sorting that soon.

[Mr Pharmacist]

'Frilly' - nice description

It'll be a pretty easy repair then if it just on the inner wing and hasn't gone lower down into the longs

[LMR]

More progress today. I have removed the heater boxes, wiper mechanism, sun visors and remainder of the interior trim. This leaves me without an excuse to get on with preparing the interior and engine bay for repairs and ultimately some paint - but there is still a way to go....

Can anyone tell me what the component below is called, and where I can get some. I have tried Porsche already, and they are listed as no longer available.

[Darren C]

Great progress there...

My fuel hoses were exactly the same...with the lightest touch ...."snap"

I have a whole bag of those hose clips (had to buy 50 to get 4 for my car) 2 on the blower box and 2 for the rain water drain funnels in the engine bay.

PM me your address and I'll pop some in the post to you.

[LMR]

Darren

You are a gentleman! PM sent.