914 2.0 > 3.0 GT Conversion

[defianty]

So with almost everything else completed and stuffed into every nook and cranny in the house it was time to get back to bodywork.

About the only part really left unexplored was the underneath of the floor. The top was almost perfect so I was hoping the underside was in a similar condition.

Looks promising!


The brown parts are just underseal residue. The floor is again almost perfect - 99% original paint and just a tiny bit of very light surface rust.

[defianty]

Over the past few months various small projects have given me the opportunity to get my welding skills up to scratch for the main event adding the GT flares to the car. With almost nothing left on the car to restore now was the time.

I had the chance to follow James 23e Heure's build. When his arches were installed they saved the off cuts for me. This enabled me to cut them up and practice welding them back together. My first attempts weren't great but I was going to do this and my perseverance was finally rewarded.

It took a lot of confidence just to do this!


Initial fitting


It's common knowledge that the bottom of AA flares don't have the same profile as the wings on the car so a bit of fetling it required.





Slowly...




Finished

[defianty]

Moving on to the rear

The rear quarter is exposed because of the previous accident damage, I'm in the process of repairing that now but am waiting on repair panels. In the meantime I can intall the GT strengthening kit.

First to prep the area.


Weld Thru Primer


The parts supplied in the kit needed to be bent into shape and I found the needed a bit of trimming too. I made some carboard templates from them and adjusted them to fit before applying those back to the parts and trimming them to fit.

The cardboard GT sstrengthening kit


Final Test Fit



That's it, up to date again. I'll be in the garage again tomorrow welding all that in.

[LMR]

Stunning work

[Mr Pharmacist]

Brilliant work! Looks fantastic!!

[chief]

Awesome work there our kid!
Finally finding some time to crack on with Project Blue Book. A bit behind you guys though....

[jtparr]

Lovely work Stephen...impressive welding....

[Nicktune]

hi I know its a bit cheeky but any chance you could take a photo of the stiffener templates you made with some kind of scale refence I could then draw them up in cad and have some laser cut for my car I would happily post the drawings on here for anyone else who wanted them I'm just to lazy/busy to make the templates up at the min
I'm going to draw some up and have them cut for the inner cills that I would be happy to share too.

[defianty]

hi I know its a bit cheeky but any chance you could take a photo of the stiffener templates you made with some kind of scale refence I could then draw them up in cad and have some laser cut for my car I would happily post the drawings on here for anyone else who wanted them I'm just to lazy/busy to make the templates up at the min
I'm going to draw some up and have them cut for the inner cills that I would be happy to share too.

I was going to do just that but at £130 (Mittlemotor) for the set I decided it wasn't worth it unless you had a waterjet machine in your shed But I'm happy to share a photo, I could post my Kellogg's Special Kardboard templates to you once I've finished with them. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

[defianty]

Thanks for all of the positive comments guys, it's good for the soul to get a pat on the back from time to time.

[hot66]

very impressive Stephen ... also how good is your shell ! amazing condition

As someone who knows very little about 914's , the strengthening kit .. is htis basically extra plating on the inner wings / rear chassis member ? What does it achieve ? Is it reduce rear body / suspension flex when runing wide sticky rubber ?

[defianty]

very impressive Stephen ... also how good is your shell ! amazing condition

As someone who knows very little about 914's , the strengthening kit .. is htis basically extra plating on the inner wings / rear chassis member ? What does it achieve ? Is it reduce rear body / suspension flex when runing wide sticky rubber ?

Thanks James, I have been lucky with the shell. There is a little more work to do yet though in the notorious battery area. I'll be covering that soon.

Yes, the strengthening kit does just that, apparently it makes a noticeable difference in the handling characteristics. Although being perfectly honest I doubt I'll ever notice!

Having now been in a couple of well set up 914's the handling is truly remarkable and I want to at least replicate that on my own car.

[Nicktune]

hi I know its a bit cheeky but any chance you could take a photo of the stiffener templates you made with some kind of scale refence I could then draw them up in cad and have some laser cut for my car I would happily post the drawings on here for anyone else who wanted them I'm just to lazy/busy to make the templates up at the min
I'm going to draw some up and have them cut for the inner cills that I would be happy to share too.

I was going to do just that but at £130 (Mittlemotor) for the set I decided it wasn't worth it unless you had a waterjet machine in your shed But I'm happy to share a photo, I could post my Kellogg's Special Kardboard templates to you once I've finished with them. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

Photo would be great I get lots of thinks laser cut so I can tag it on a order no problem

[theorangeperil]

Great work Stephen. Really impressed.

[defianty]

I never finished off my GT style front grill because at the time I wasn't quite sure how to do it. I'm currently waiting on some panels from Restoration Design so I can get the back of the car back together so in the meantime...

I decided to make up another frame to sandwich the grill in place.


The three pieces together.


Now that was complete I could set about fitting the front valance.


The tabs on the valance were moulded in the wrong position so I cut them off and made some brackets. These would also give me some play to get everything lined up well.


Old bumper used to make sure everything fitted together and lined up.


With that complete it was time to paint the grill and put it in a safe place until it was time to assemble the car.