1973 Porsche 914 1.7

Repair
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The Change
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Metal Shaping
Rust Removal
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Under Construction

 
 
It seemed easiest to start with the floor board repair, especially since it will all be hidden after the work is done.  The brackets were still hanging in place, but the spot welded stiffening brace created a nice home for rust.  After cutting out the rust, chipping back the undercoating and chemically treating the metal, new handmade inserts were spot welded in place as shown below.

floorrepair1.jpg

floorrepair.jpg

A new piece was spot welded on top and bottom.  20 GA mild steel was used and channels formed in to add stiffness.  The repaired area will be stronger than the original design.

floorrepair4.jpg

floorrepair5.jpg

After a light grinding of the welds the repair will be hardly noticable especially after undercoating is completed.

seatdriver.jpg

Time to start on the drivers side.  Here you can see the repair piece just before being spot welded in place.

passdoor.jpg

Welded in some metal screen to reinforce the fibreglass and now the corner is near complete.  First time in 20 years that you could say that this car has a door sill.

passdoor11.jpg

passdoor12.jpg

The missing steel under the sails is now filled in with fibreglass.  Near by steel was rust treated and is now waiting for final undercoating to keep the water away.

driverrear.jpg

driverdoor.jpg

driverdoor11.jpg

driverdoor12.jpg

passrear11.jpg

Its slow work but installing the outer rocker panel is not that complicated.  The hardest part is working around the cowling under the front fenders.  If you don't want to take the fenders off you have to notch the rocker panel to fit.

floorrepair6.jpg

These are the easiest parts to get a hold off:  Outer rocker, sill and jack support.

floorrepair7.jpg

The rockers fit on real nice and are easily spot welded in place... well pretty easy I guess it took me several hours and lots of cooling time to get them welded on nicely.

passengerinnerrocker3.jpg

passengerinnerrocker1.jpg

Of course the side joints take most of the work, here are some shots of what they look like half way through the process.

passengerinnerrocker2.jpg

Finally done, all new except I decided not to reinstall the jack support.  Seemed easier to carry a new jack than to risk damaging the rocker panels.

passrearsill.jpg

passrearsill1.jpg

passengerinnerrocker4.jpg

Making new pieces from scratch can be done with patience and working one step at a time.  The lower cover shown here was made in one piece and fit in nicely.

passfrontsill.jpg

passfrontsill1.jpg

passrearsill3.jpg

driverfront.jpg

Front panel piece welded in, looks better than the picture shows.

driverfront11.jpg

Spot welded pieces in for the headlight shields.