Olympic Blue / Silver metallic 1972 US Import 1.7L

[Mr Pharmacist]

Looks like mine was modified in the past then! Everyday is a school day!

[LMR]

Plenty of activity today. Of course I should be progressing with removing the heat shield from under the car. But instead I have been stripping out the doors (drivers one today) ready for further preparation. Those of you who have read Darren's excellent thread will know the downside of buying a car from a hot state in the USA is sand. The photos show it crusted on.





And the further complication with this car is overspray. Just when you think a component is clean, you can still see blue. The above parts are being cleaned in white spirit. I will be replacing some parts on the door strap as the plastic wheel is slightly worn. I did crack on with the door handle.



A quick clean later





There is still more cleaning to do, and will give the relevant bits a coat of waxoyl. Before that, I need to sort the lock out. My was has a selection of keys, I would like to get it down to one key. Any suggestions?

I have also been busy with the clean and strip wheel. Steady progress being made, the results are good, but photos are dull.

[LMR]

More clean and strip wheeling took up most of my time today. I did take the parts out of the cleaner and let them dry - quite a difference.



There is still some overspray to address. I quite like the Olympic blue, I just wish it wasn't everywhere......

I could prevaricate no longer, so I removed the heat shield. It was pretty simple. As shown in early photos, the rear edge is held in with spot welds, so drilled those out. On the front edge I slices through the weld, but have pilot drilled for fixing to refit when the time comes.



What was really pleasing once the heat shield was off was finding the boot floor is solid

[ThreeTwo]

Before that, I need to sort the lock out. My was has a selection of keys, I would like to get it down to one key. Any suggestions?

I find not locking the car means I only need one key....

Just a suggestion...

[Mr Pharmacist]

You can rekey your locks:

http://www.914world.com/specs/rekey.php

[LMR]

Stuart

Thanks for link to rekeying locks.

Took the day off work today. Lots of time spent with a clean and strip wheel which is progressing well. For each session of stripping rust I allow some time for sub assemblies. Today I stripped the other door, and I also dealt with the headlamp surrounds. I think I have mentioned before that there is a fair bit of overspray on this car. On some parts it is a pig to remove. I had tried a few gentle methods on the headlamp surrounds, but still I could see blue.



Today's experiment was to use nail varnish remover, which contains acetone. It worked a treat. I still need to polish the part, but definitely making progress. I would show you the after photo, but my photo hosting site is having a hissy fit tonight

[LMR]

After

[LMR]

Quick update. Lots going on with both the body and sub components. Dropped some parts off today for plating, hoping they will come back looking like new tomorrow.....

I snuck in a day off today. For the first time ever I turned the car upside down.



I am still working on getting the underside to bare metal. Hoping to complete that this month. A new jacking pad arrived today. from the outside it looked like it could be repaired.



But I knew that underneath it wasn't pretty



Getting the whole of the underside it bare metal is a pain, but knowing how easy the paint is stripping off, I will be happier with the finished result

Classic car show at the NEC tomorrow. I wonder how little I can spend.......!!

[LMR]

Weekend off from the 914, walked up Snowdon and been on Europe's longest zip wire

Before I set off, I did get to the platers. I have a box full of stuff, a couple of photos below of before and after.

[LMR]

Another day of leave today. It was a landmark day today though, the last bit of welding, which was the nut for the battery bolt, was completed

I spent most of the time in a wheel arch stripping paint and underseal, but also took the sills to bare metal.



became



For some light relief, I sorted out the parts for the steering column. Again, what I thought was a part that was past it has come up quite well after plating





The bearing is now sat in my freezer ready to be refitted. I was pleased to find Porsche still stock the bearing, circlips were cheap, as was the plating. I will finish this off on Friday, which will leave me with another component ready to fit. Happy days

[Mr Pharmacist]

Lots of lovely shiny bits! It'll be like new when its done

[LMR]

Thank you Stuart!

Removed fuel pipes out of the centre tunnel. They could be reused (they are not as bad as they look....) but I am still tempted by copper pipe or the tangerine racing stainless steel option. I will probably check with a company such as Pirtek to see if I am missing an option.



I know I have typed recently that I wouldn't bother you with photos of the underside preparation, but I looked up today and saw how shiny it is looking and it made me smile. It has taken many hours to get to this, and still a way to go. I could have been done weeks ago if I have just gone for underseal, but I am happy that I have got back to bare metal as I was concerned that I was covering up rust.



A few other bits and pieces done today, bearing inserted into steering column tube, and getting more parts ready for powder coating.

[Green Ernie]

Looking great Phil, thought you'd had the whole thing chrome plated for a moment Good solid looking car What colour you doing the underneath? Mine is the same colour as the body using "Raptor" mixed with the original Palma Green Metallic paint.
Btw I'm running one 8mm copper pipe through the tunnel on my 914, no return as i'm running carbs.

[LMR]

Matt

I so wish mine was as well progressed as yours...... Underneath will be sliver to match the final colour. before that it will have a 2 pack corrosion inhibitor, primer, and 2 pack stone chip. I might leave it on the rotisserie just to admire it!

I am definitely having a return pipe, its the 21st century (!!!), fuel injection is the way to go. Albeit I probably won't be running on the factory FI, but will discuss that again at some point.

[LMR]

Short day at the workshop today. As well as more surface prep, I did manage to drill the holes for mounting the wing mirror on the passenger door.