It's so much easier to destroy than to create. Taking every little piece off of a car is very time-consuming but in a really good way. It's almost zen-like removing pieces to see what's behind them, or determining how they were assembled so as to not break them when you take them apart. Then you start pricing all of that rubber trim you just destroyed - even though you know it had to be replaced anyway because it was cracked - you start getting worried about how much something is going to cost just to put it back together. And you really really hope you can remember where all the little pieces go and how they go back together.
When people buy a fully assembled restored car there are so many details that someone took care of that you don't have to worry about. I know that glaringly now. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking up your cars already restored so you can play with them right away!
For the other 99% of us it's a long process of deciding what needs replacing and what just needs a little elbow grease. In general I'm going to replace every soft item and polish or clean or repaint every hard item that I can. (That's What She Said
(TM))
Sadly some of the soft stuff costs a lot, probably because they don't make new trim for a 1972 914 anymore...
Anyway this week saw a lot of progress. I had some helpers on Friday with my work mates spending part of their day off with me tinkering with the car (many thanks guys!). We made incredible progress. If you are local feel free to drop by and take something apart.
Here are some pics of our progress:
Always start off with essential tools - flashlights, screwdrivers, pliers and PBR. Well we also had Shiner Bock and Stella in the cooler...
Oh and see that wire in the trunk? That's the entire rear wiring harness minus the engine wiring. Love the 70s! No computers or backup cameras or parking radar or subwoofers or any of those non-driving essentials.
While I had the help of some strapping young men (well, younger than me) I decided it would be good if we took the heavier pieces off . So after we got warmed up taking chrome trim off of the rollbar area, the lone side mirror, and the side markers and turn signals off the front, we focused on the hood and doors. Before taking out the doors we took off the interior side panels and all of the side window glass. Hey all these parts have VW stamped on them!
The driver's door had a couple of odd pieces missing like the little bar that keeps the door held open with a spring and cam system. It also had a stripped bolt that was a pain to remove...pretty sure this door has been taken off before.
Which brings up a disturbing part of taking apart an old war horse like this one. Someone's been there and done that and probably made a crappy repair to boot. Every piece I take off I'm afraid to look sometimes because there might be something nasty underneath.
Yarr - They took me lights!
Finally got that stuck bolt out and the driver's door off. I also got the car up on jackstands which was an effort. The main problem is that the normal jacking point (a square hole in the door sill) is so rusted out that it does not lift the car. This is a typical issue with these cars - moist debris from the road gets caught up in the exposed jack point area and just rusts it to death. Yeah they make replacement pieces for all that.
The driver's door jamb is rife with bondo and repaint too so I am wondering how far the damage goes...
Ran out of time to take the wheels off, that'll be the very next task. I partly wanted it to sit on the stands for a while with the wheels on in case the jackstand points collapse and the car could have a chance to land on its wheels.
Now that she's on jackstands I can take some pics of the underside. Note the classy exhaust strap made out of bailing (or some sort of) wire on the driver's side. The rear exhaust mounts hang right off of the transmission.
The previous owner power washed the motor but you can't hide ugly for too long.
This is my favorite - freaking hose clamps holding onto this drive axle boot. Really? Really? Really. Thank goodness those are gonna get replaced with some 911 parts along with the motor.
Quality wiring job I tell ya. What's scary is that same person probably had their way with the wiring somewhere inside the car as well. I'm going to need to get one of those sandblaster boxes to get some of the rust off of things like that brake backing plate that looks like the side of the Titanic.
The engine bay in all of its glory. Lots of missing parts, mostly hoses from the hot air blowing system. These cars had no A/C and the cabin heat was provided by blowers that route engine heat into the cabin. Factory fuel injection was replaced with a single Weber carburetor. Say, that looks like rust over by the battery tray...
Oh yeah. Another common issue is that owners let their batteries spill acid in the engine compartment that tends to eat through the metal in the floor. It's certainly common enough that they make full replacements for that too...note the not-stock battery tray that's been welded into the side wall.
The lesson is, you modern kids buy Optima or similar sealed batteries for your little mid-engine cars...
It's only a flesh wound!
The horn button came off easily - too easily. Ha. Cool gauges though. Tach in the center like a real Porsche. No the odometer is not accurate. Have you seen the rest of the car?
Not much room to work on that motor from above! Luckily a lot of the stuff is easily accessible from below. Good excuse for a lift too right honey?
Being up on jackstands brings a lot of the work closer to the male of the species. Lift? Anyone?
Removed the fog light covers. Surprisingly they were plastic. There were no foglights. The bumper and front valence appear stock though a bit beat up and look to have been resprayed with a rattle-can. With lots of coats.
Nice simple interior in need of some fixin. It won't take much to make it look spiffy though. It's a lot easier than say restoring a Bentley with handcrafted wood and leather ;-)
Happy Valentines Day! Until next time...
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