Detroit Barn Find Project, Rebuilding a '72 1.7L Options

[BananaTroll]

Howdy all!

Longtime lurker, first-time poster.

This past weekend I picked up my first 914, a '72 1.7L thats been parked since ~1982. It "ran when parked" but since then the owner pulled most things off it and put them in boxes in his garage. The jack receiver plates have rusted away on both sides along with the door sill triangles and there a little rust on left long in the front. The hell hole looks great though and overall the chassis is pretty clean.

Over the last 43 years, the owner parted out 2 scrap-destined 914s to have some spares for this car. So a lot of extra goodies to work with to get this car running and looking good!

I have a question however, I intend to use this winter to get it ready mechanically but what do you all think would be the best course of action to do so? I want to get the car back on the road, but I also don't want to accidently bite off more than I can chew.

Looking foward to keeping y'all updated!

[rick 918-S]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[930cabman]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

ran when parked, don't you love it?

what is your level of diy?

Probably a good idea to go through the engine and maybe update while you are in there

[ctc911ctc]

If you post picture inside and out and a lot of angles, people here will provide all of the guidance that you need

Start with the foundation

The longs

If the hell hole looks good - and the car lived in the Midwest, perhaps the hellhole has been repaired,

Do the doors open and close the windows rolled up?

This simple test is perhaps the best thing to start with

[BananaTroll]

If you post picture inside and out and a lot of angles, people here will provide all of the guidance that you need

Start with the foundation

The longs

If the hell hole looks good - and the car lived in the Midwest, perhaps the hellhole has been repaired,

Do the doors open and close the windows rolled up?

This simple test is perhaps the best thing to start with

I'll get as many uploaded as i can, the 5mb limit really puts a damper on nice pictures.

The doors open and close well with the windows up. Panel gaps don't look bad (i neglected to actually take a picture of those (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) my bad)

The steering felt fine lock to lock and the transmission spun freely.

[attachmentid=959
083]

[bdstone914]

The drivers side shock should have the drain hole on the down hill side.

[SirAndy]

How good are you with a welder? Both longs are toast.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

PS: (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[friethmiller]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

Welcome! Would love to see the hell hole area too. Agree with SirAndy. This will likely require some fairly extensive repairs to the longs. If you're not in a hurry and don't mind welding, this is fixable.

[BananaTroll]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

Welcome! Would love to see the hell hole area too. Agree with SirAndy. This will likely require some fairly extensive repairs to the longs. If you're not in a hurry and don't mind welding, this is fixable.

Here's the best picture I have of the hell hole area, from the outside it looks pretty clean. Definitely gonna have to take a closer look at it though.

I'm in no crazy rush (hence getting it at the start of winter) and I would say I'm a better grinder than I am a welder lol (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[krazykonrad]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[ctc911ctc]

i was presented with a similar situation where the longs were in bad shape but the rest of the car was near perfect.

My longs will be replaced in the next few years, but I used this product and it removed the near term Long need - not saying that this is the way to go for you, but perhaps an option.

https://914ltd.com/product/porsche-914-chas...only-left-side/


I was impressed that your hell hole was in such great shape, so my suspicion is that you kept the battery in a box or cleaned the battery periodically.

If the long damage is NOT from the battery acid on the passenger side, there may be a great deal of steel meat still on the longs.

Check the 'sag' of the longs by how much is the door window rubbing against the rubber seal at the top rear of the window area.

[BananaTroll]

Long time no post! I figured I would drop an update now that we're ~2/3 through 2026.



I brought the car back to NY in december of last year and worked on cleaning 43 years of dirt off the car. A lot of steam and a lot of scrubbing was involved.



The car shifted to the backburner till roughly July. I got some time around the 4th to work on it. We were able to work on sail panel areas and getting the engine and transmission back into the car. The goal was to get the side-shift transmission on there with all the accompanying hardware before I had to head back to MI. I did get a bit distracted dealing with the bondo on the sail panels, but the car came with the repair sheet metal so it was still productive. We only got the right side panel fitted before I had to head back but the fitment on the right side came out really nice! Still need to repair the inner reinforcement panels before the exterior panels can go on for good.





I neglected to take any photos of the door gaps during all that work but I was pretty worried about stuff shifting. Luckily though, they stayed pretty consistent which was a big relief.

Being back in MI, I've pivoted to sourcing parts so I'm ready to attack it once I'm back out there. Hopefully I'll have more updates soon!

[mepstein]

It’s really the longitudinal repair that can close up the gaps. These cars rust from the inside out and the bottom up. The longs and the right side suspension consoles are the biggest issue. It’s also common to have rust behind the engine cross bar mounts. The hell hole is just metal at the top of the area that has issues. It’s everything lower down that’s typically a problem. Good luck with the build.

[FlacaProductions]

That J. Geils sticker must remain.

[burton73]

That J. Geils sticker must remain.

KLOS was a station close to me growing up. Mark And Brian show was very funny.



Restore the car and the sticker. Sticker $29. on Ebay

Best Bob b