dave-h

quick question, the pic at the top of this page caught my eye. What is the size of the spline on the top of the steering column? If i ever get a 914 I was considering swapping the steering wheel, I have a Nardi I pulled from a junk yard, and I was just curious if it would work or not, its off of an 89 Jag XJ6.

Peter Zimmermann

Nice looking cars! And your 924S doesn't look like a Mary Kay Cosmetics (pink) sales car - it looks great!

I'm not sure how to measure the steering column spline, but I'd have to pull the wheel to do that (count teeth, etc.). Try calling the manufacturer (Nardi) or a retailer who sells Nardi wheels, and see if they can give you cross-reference info. The Momo on my 914 worked out well, because I had the wheel and only had to buy the 914 hub (about $70), which is different than the early 911 hub that I have in my inventory. I did try the 911 hub and found that the splines were the same, but the depth was different.

whalebird

Thanks Peter. The 24 is a little shabby around the edges, but solid where it counts. After the 5 hour drive there, I couldn't find a coin car wash to clean up with. So, I pulled thru a "hand wash" where they sprayed tire shine on the wheels and I can't stand that stuff. i tried to wipe it off, but the damage was done. Maybe in the end it distracted from the really sorry paint; my poor car just doesn't look good no matter what you do. I feel like I should just let it go cosmetically because trying to make it look good seems pretentious and it's easier to be unapologetic about crappy paint. I hope the 914 shines up nicely for you. My car, and perhaps your 914, are intended to be enjoyed from the helm without any intended curb appeal.
I can't imagine that any self respecting Jag would have anything in common with a Porsche. If the Nardi has an adapter that can be switched out, there is chance you can use it in a 914. If not, hang it on the wall in the garage...pretty cool garage art if you ask me.

Peter Zimmermann

I good friend of mine has a whole bunch of old steering wheels hanging from hooks in his garage. I always enjoyed looking at them! You're right, our friend dave might have a bit of trouble, unless that Nardi uses a hub system, matching up that Jag wheel to a 914.

whalebird

I like steering wheels also. Funnt thing about the "collection" of such. In the past I've looked at two impressive wall-art collections. The first was a friend of mine who's family had a salvage yard in Chas. SC and had since the 20s. He had an impressive array of wooden wheels from early age of the auto, but they were all twisted and mangled from wrecks. One in particular was a wooden one from an A-model Ford that had two front teeth stuck in it. Another equally disturbing collection was inside the Mercedes Benz training facility in Jax. Fla. They had a dozen or so wheels with the airbag deployed and upon each bag was the "face" of the (presumably) woman that hit it. Appearantly airbags are hot when they fire and the make-up from the driver is nicely melted onto the bag in a strange way. I never forgot those displays, but it may be a good opportunity for me to strongly reccommend that everyone wear their seatbelts...PLEASE wear your seatbelts people. The only reason I'm alive today is because of a seatbelt and an uncommon Grace.
The Mille was not a resounding success as you may find in posts here and on Pelican. I had a blast, but my expectations were low.

Peter Zimmermann

That wood wheel story reminded me of the PCA dinner meeting that I attended many years ago. The guest speaker was a CHP officer, and he spoke about safety, seat belt use, ejections, etc. When the subject of wood wheels came up, he took a breath, and told us about an accident he was called to. The sports car involved had a wood wheel, and a very dead driver. It turned out that in the accident, the driver hit the steering wheel, breaking it. A sliver of wood separated from the wheel, and pierced the driver's heart. He died, otherwise almost uninjured, sitting in the driver's seat of his car.

whalebird

Who's idea was it to invite the cops to a PCA meeting? LOL
Safety is a huge issue and you have to stay alert every second, especially in a Porsche. I advocate safety above all other components of automobile 'enthusiasm'. It would be nice to have the factory present an in-depth discussion on driving safety, but also the physical dynamics in a crash and what cars do/don't do to a human in a collision. Sometimes a lesson in physics can really go a long way.
Mercedes gave us a lot of education on this in training. A cop might be the next best thing.

So Peter, forgive my ignorance, but; Have you, or have you not found a back pad yet? I can't remember but it seems like you found one, but it was not working out...just curious so I can keep my eyes peeled.

Peter Zimmermann

Actually we had a few cops over for dinner! One patrolman told us about the 911 Targa he pulled over one evening in the Venice/Marina Del Rey area. Being an enthusiast, he had a habit of looking at the digit of the VIN that indicates that the car is a Targa or coupe. It happened that the particular Targa he had stopped had coupe VIN. Whoa! Even though the owner was legitimate, the officer impounded the car. The car theft unit traced it to Alabama, where it got new VIN plates from a totaled chassis, after it had been stolen, in, you guessed it, SoCal!

And, sadly, yes, I still need a nice, black (or very nice one that I can paint/dye) backpad for my little car. I had found one, but shipping costs would have been exorbitant and it wasn't perfect, so I passed on it.

On another subject, I used wet 2,000 grit paper to sand my front lid, and I must have done something wrong because the new scratches were too deep to polish. So, the next time that I sanded it I had a hose with running water in one hand, and the sanding block in the other. I don't think, on my first attempt, that the sponge I was using kept enough water on the paint. Back to the buffer this weekend! At least there's plenty of paint on the metal...

whalebird

I suspect the rattle can enamel is too soft to get where you want to be, I'm not the most paint-savvy guy, but thats a hunch. You may be able to get some automotive grade paint mixed and apply it yourself if the rest of the car warrants such. Crappy paint is a big problem; I always like to see a car with all original paint, even if it's dead (like my Mary Kay 'RX7'). I bet you'll get it right.
I'll keep my eyes open for a back pad, but most of the 914s I see have trees growing through the engine lid. 914s are rare indeed.
A crew mate on the IMSA Super Car 930 with me was (is) a superb fabricator. Porsche sent us a Kevlar race seat and that guy took it home, made a fiberglass mold of it, then made his own seats from that. seems like a bunch of trouble, but it was so easy to him. Point is, could you fab your own backpad from the one you have?

Peter Zimmermann

Sadly, fabrication is not my strong suit! I've looked at my backpad ten ways from Sunday and I can't figure out a good way to fix it. Tried screws, staples, even duct tape, and it's now OK (well, a little better), but not really nice. A casual looker wouldn't see the defects, but I know that they are there!

whalebird

I know that nagging feeling.
One thing I keep thinking about, slight change of subject: I always appreciated Porsche's use of plywood in the 911 up to the end, and even the Boxster. They use that nice 7 layer(IIRC) plywood and even bend it in areas. I handcraft furniture in my day job and have often thought about (re)creating some components in like fashion with like material. Door cards, floorboards, etc. Bending plywood is a trick, but I would love to be able to contour some light but strong plywood into a form, perhaps like the back pad in question. Cosmetics is not an issue, I would paint or upholster these pieces. Just getting rid of that now aging fiber board stuff seems like a good idea and certain types of plywood could be the perfect material. Just a dream of mine, and not to be held in context with the CHP's steering wheel story. In reality, how hard can it be to make a fiberglass mold? I dint know. Could somebody heat a plastic sheet and drape it over the 'back pad' until it cools?
My good friend and former employer did something like this. He has a wonderful 70 911T coupe in which he has a nicely warmed over 3.0 CIS, 915, and trick updated suspension. The car does a lot of track time, but his objective is to retain the original steel front valance(not an S spoiler) and no tail.
He wanted to duct air to the oil cooler, a mocal or B&B IIRC, without cobbling up something.
He wound up cutting a nice opening in the front valence not unlike the middle vent in a Boxster S. Carried that back to through the bulkhead and started laying up fiberglass on a makeshift wooden buck to form an adequate duct that inserted from the trunk and vented out the passenger side where the battery box had been removed and welded closed. He welded a gentle lip around the interior of the valence that accepts the glass duct and filled it with a screen...the mesh is sort of "Frenched". It came out perfect and he has no oil temp issues at all and retained the gentle round contour of the valance.
I'm inspired by this effort because fabricating is not his (nor my) strong suit.
Sorry if this post is out of scope of the thread, it's cold outside and I drank coffee at lunch.
Baby steps.

Peter Zimmermann

So, I'm sitting here earlier, and thought, "I'm a vet, and today is vet's day." So, instead of the daily grind, I spent a couple more hours in the garage. The old hag is looking better and better...

whalebird

My sincerest thanks, on behalf of my family, business and community for your's and all other's service.

Looking good. Black is the hardest to get results with, but can be the most rewarding. The car looks good in pictures and it's not the paint I see altogether. It 'sitting on the ground' right if you know what I mean.

Thank you.

Peter Zimmermann

That darn backpad! You know, I thought about laying fiberglas on my pad's back side, but I didn't think it would stick. And it's not good enough to create a mold from. An idiot PO bent the upper, outboard corners forward to do (insert guess here __________), and broke both corners of the pad above the inertia reels for the belts. It's really butchered, in other areas in addition to the upper corners, but everything else on the car was as well so I couldn't expect less.

Great story about the '70 911T!

Now I've got to get to work on the engine lid. It was so dirty on the bottom that I had to remove it and disassemble all the pieces!

Peter Zimmermann

HOT-DIGGITY!!! The 4K rpm + running problem (miss-fire/bucking) is fixed! FINALLY! It turned out to be, as I had a nagging suspicion about for months, a faulty air flow meter!

Brad at 914 Ltd in Illinois, sent to me a used AFM, I plugged it in yesterday and took the car for a drive. It started perfect, and after the engine was thoroughly warm, had no difficulty pulling smooth and strong to 5500 rpm a few times. This project is now a driver! Yeehaw!

Thank you to Specialized ECU, 914 Ltd., Tangerine Racing, PMB Products, Red Line Service, Jeff Bowlsby, PEP, IMC, SSF, and the many people who helped to source difficult to find parts that helped to put a parts car back on the road.