pete000

914world and the samba are good resources for 914 parts...

Peter Zimmermann

Once again, the hunt for a quality backpad begins, dressed in black, please.

500

(Hello from 911 forum)

Hey Peter, I noticed your name on the front page in this forum and that led me in here...

Very interesting story so far! You may have already convered this, but what is your overall plan for this car? Do you plan to keep it stock and refresh things as needed, or are you targeting a certain set of mods, or a closer-to-concours approach?

BTW, I think you should definitely consider a small MIG welder, it will come in very handy if you do encounter some more serious rust... I found a great Lincoln machine on fleabay for little $$. It was a 110V with continuous (not discrete) setting capability for both feed and current. Pretty much all you would ever need for auto bodies. As you can tell, I enjoy spending other people's money!

Peter Zimmermann

My plan for the car is to have it available as a driver/toy. It's a color change car, and I'm not a car show kind of guy, so I don't plan to go the wash & shine direction. The paint is badly scratched, but I'm working with it; a little Griots Garage polish, a little 800-grit paper, a little Meguiars, a little bottle of touch-up.

For now, the cosmetics are on the back burner, I've got the wiper motor/frame out of the car to fix the rusty area at the wiper post. I've discovered that one post was almost seized, and the motor doesn't pass the "park" test, so my engine compartment work has once again been interrupted. I can't put the gas tank in the car until I fix the wiper post problem, and maybe the motor, and put it and the fresh air blower back in the car. So...

Pictured below are a rusty wiper post (loose after way to much careful prying), wiper motor to find "park" (unsuccessful), wiper motor opened to check...(???)...

From Matt R. "It's expensive, but I saw this the other day. Fiberglass back pad support at the bottom of the page. http://www.914ap.com/products.php"

Thanks, Matt! I'm going to follow up with these guys, but first I'm going to try to fix my board. I've got something worked out with a layer of fiberglas (maybe), or a thin layer of Bondo, to fix the cracks at the seat belt inertia reels. It's also possible, if I can get the material off the old board that it might be good enough to use on a replacement. Got cold here again (mid-40s in the garage), so not much is going to get done during the next few days.

Peter Zimmermann

About that backpad...all the damage caused by someone in a hurry who didn't know how to take it apart.

Peter Zimmermann

Two problems solved!

1. Rust at left wiper post is no more. Sorry about the semi-bad picture, I tried the flash and got really bad pictures. After using a buffer and compound I'm sure that I'll be able to get a better picture, but I'm putting the cosmetics on the back burner until I hear this little car run!

2. A vibration damper, the broken piece in my hand, secures the wiper frame to the car body. Unfortunately, the part is NLA! The closest solution was to use a CIS airbox support from a 911SC, and set it up to approximate the dimension of the original part. Should work perfect, there is enough space for the larger OD part.

Now I need a couple of warm days so I can tie up all the loose wiring (finish the engine compartment mess) so I can safely hook up the battery, final adjust the wiper park position, and put the wipers, fresh air blower, and gas tank back in the car (after I repair the wire harness for the fuel gauge sender, and replace the hard-to-get-to w/washer hose sections).

racing916

Hi Peter, I have a nice late back pad black, however it has four holes about a half inch each behind the seats where racing belt bolts were attached to the firewall. Otherwise the back pad is in great shape. Let me know if you have interest I can take pictures if so.

Steve

Peter Zimmermann

That would work! Are all four upper clips in place? If it's not broken at the upper corners I would love to have it - I'm sure that I can find some tidy-looking plugs for the harness holes.

Please check on shipping and give me a price for everything!

racing916

Here is the back pad.

My father who took the pictures said he made three new aluminum brackets. It was on my car until I decided to turn my car into a full race car. Let me know.
Thanks,
Steve

Peter Zimmermann

e-mail sent, thanks, Steve!

Peter Zimmermann

Progress! Wiper motor & frame installed and tested. They not only work, they park!

Peter Zimmermann

More progress. The double relay is wired (not tidy but safe to connect the battery for testing). The harness at the relay board is repaired, the fuel lines/hoses are finished, and with a little nice weather tomorrow I might get the gas tank back in. The next step will be to R&I the fuel pump, test it and make sure there's no crud in it, put gas in the tank and...

BTW, I put the fresh air blower in this evening. What a bitch, and I don't have the pull cable hooked up or adjusted yet! Porsche let VW slide on this one, so much so that I don't want to photograph it, I want to burn it! Anyway, I've got a little time set aside for tomorrow, and I have to get the control cable connected before putting the gas tank in.

Peter Zimmermann

BTW, Steve, the above poster "racing916" was most gracious, but shipping costs were exorbitant so I am once again looking for a nice backpad, preferably much closer to home. Preferably within driving distance! Fresno, Valencia, Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, even as far south as the Torrance-Redondo Beach area, are all OK. C'mon, guys, find me a nice backpad!

Peter Zimmermann

Well, getting close. The gas tank is in, and hooked up. Last step (probably should have done this sooner) was to remove the fuel pump to bench check it and check for debris. Discovered that the inlet side of the tank is solid rust. I've come across rusty fuel systems before, but never anything like this car, almost like someone didn't like who owned the car and poured water into the fuel system. I also don't understand how it could have become so severe in the claimed eight year no-start period (in our super-dry desert climate).

I ordered a new pump from my favorite supplier (the '75/76 style pump is a bit cheaper than the earlier pump), so when that gets here I'll install it, put points & plugs and a couple gallons of gas in the car, and see if the starter works.

If only I could find out the real story about how the car got into this condition...

Peter Zimmermann

The fresh air blower is in. The gas tank is in. The new fuel pump is in. A few odds and ends are done. IT RUNS! No death rattles! Son-of-a-gun.

But now, another mess. It appears that someone has done an engine swap/exchange repair to the car. After removing the ignition distributor for servicing I did a little cleaning. Under a thick layer of crud, forward of the oil filler cap and it's base, I discovered something very strange. There is an engine number, neatly stamped on a piece of tin, and riveted to the case - over a factory number. Haven't figured out how to get my camera in there. Hmmmmm.

One of the problems I've found is that some rocket scientist PO/mechanic tried to hook up a decel valve (presumably from a '75 1.8) by making a bunch of home made tubing. The engine appears to have 1975 model heads, with plugged smog pump pipe holes near where the intake manifolds attach. So, with that, the really, really bad decel valve, and the weird engine number, I probably have a 1975 engine re-badged with the car's original engine number.

I found a hole in the intake air "elbow," tried to patch it, but there are enough cracks that I've ordered a new replacement. To eliminate the decel valve I need to re-configure the hoses between the elbow and the oil filler cap base (which I'll have to reverse in order to attach the hose). I find that all of the old hose connections have been "modified," and are not usable.

I took the throttle body off, under the dirt/grease/mud it was pretty nice. The air flow meter (sensor) passed its ohm tests, so when I get the new elbow I'll be able to put the thing together - again. For now, the car ran, well enough and long enough to know that I can't find the timing mark, and I have a running problem that I hope will be cured by elbow replacement and decel valve elimination.