Two seater, targa topped bus restoration (914)

prices are climbing .. that one looks like it would yield very little ... they have a habit of rusting through the hell hole into the longs and bending in half ...

 

It had a rear 1/4 badly fitted at some point in the 1980s/90s and sat for years outside with no windows in so its probably been a pond for years before it rusted through.

 

Let there be lights.

Some expired critters had to be exhumed first from behind the headlights.

Whole mechanism cleaned, lubricated and a few bits of surface rust treated, followed by stripping and repainting the eyelids. Ages spent getting the alignment with the wings and body as straight as possible, but all popping up and down nicely now. Converted to RHD lights of course
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When this 914 was built it left the factory without the front fog lights - I’ve always thought it looks a bit insipid without them so I managed to source at last a pair from eBay at a reasonable price. Putting them on was a joy - all the wiring was already in place, just needed untying and cleaning up. Even the relay has been sat there for 45 years waiting to be used for the first time, and it did work first time too. Original Hella fog light switches are well over €/$100 so I made a Frankenstein one out of three other Hella switches. The fun bit was taking the knurled fixing nut and grinding it down, shaping it and polishing up.

Front bumper has been de-dented and painted satin. The rubber trim piece was very rough and misshaped - I’ve rubbed it down straighter and finished with Plastidip - not brilliant but will do for now.
Now also given its new British identity - getting close to first drive!

 

Wow really like your thread.
Would love a 914 but probably missed the boat now.

 

I find it really interesting as we have very similar cars but we both have different ideas and priorities.. I bought the cheapest stainless fog lights but spunked on a NOS switch . I’ve also gone for yellow /white number plates ...

 

Project cars are still coming through from the States and I don’t think prices for those have really shifted...

Funny that. I thought long and hard about which plates to go for - if the car was any colour other than white I’d have or had chr0me bumpers then I’d have had white/yellow plates with period raised plastic letters.
Your fog light switch is something to cherish!

 

Replacing the cracked windscreen leads to refurbing the fag lighter. Here’s how...
With the old windscreen removed there no option other than to clean up a few scabby bits of paint in the corners and spray the whole cowl and windscreen frame panel.
The outer dash to windscreen seal can also be replaced, but the outer dash needed retrimming which means taking out the main dash top and bottom - which were also recovered.
With all that out it’s a great time to redo the basket weave on the facia and tidy up the electrics - clean up all the contacts and replace the bulbs and fuses. Oh, better brighten up the old 8 track and the fag lighter too then... no wonder it took weeks and weeks!

 

Love it .. I’ve waiting to find a few more things to order from 914rubber as I also need new wing to cowl trim .... I need to put a few pics of my own up
Great work

 

Lovely new euro-spec lenses for rear clusters have arrived. The cluster body had been glued in place into the rear valance in vain attempt to stop water ingress, so a little damaged now but good enough when cleaned up given fresh silver paint. Photo taken before realising the white piping fits in the lens- doh.


More doh - this was supposed to be just the reverse lights being on...

That’s better - all working after deciphering the the wiring diagram...

 

Small steps continue.
The pedal cluster is the same as an early 911. It was pretty stiff and grindy from seemingly having been operated by a Colorado farmer in his dirty wellies in its first life, but a new bush kit was readily available. However the clutch pedal refused to let go of its shaft, so had to make do with a blast, spray and thorough lubrication which seemed to the the trick.

 

I’ve been through the electrics now and recommissioned everything- it all now works. My favourite is the handbrake-on warning light that not only looks like a Buck Rodgers hypnotic laser beam, it flashes and ticks through the indicator relay;
..it’s going to drive me nuts hopefully one day soon.

 

So inspiring to finally read through all of this thread. I can’t wait to see it on the road.

 

Another circuit that’s been recommissioned is the ‘Fasten Seatbelt’ light. It’s not just a light, it interlocks with the starting circuit so if you’re sat in the driving seat the belt must be fastened otherwise it won’t start and the light comes on and a buzzer squawks like a strangled rat. It has already driven me crazy....

 

Really slow progress lately - and seem to be going backwards!

After getting the rebuilt engine idling reasonably nicely, I set about doing the final adjustment on the timing. Once adjusted to 27 degrees at 3500 rpm it became harder to start. And then really wouldn’t start at all from cold - it would crank, catch a little and die. Nonetheless after a lot of cranking and false starts it would actually fire and run, albeit like a sick dog.

It ran enough for me to get it to move under its own steam for the first time since 1988 and I drove it out of its lock-up and up and down the driveway - which was a real thrill if brief. Pictures curtesy of @Chrisd .


I’ve always been suspicious of the aftermarket injectors I had to buy (one of the originals was leaking and replacements are unobtainium). I’d lowered the fuel pressure to compensate for a greater flow rate from the aftermarket ones and then read that the pressure shouldn’t be altered. So I put it back to original spec but made no difference. Drat.

But when I saw an original injector on eBay I jumped at it and put that and three good originals in - still no difference. Double drat.

So now I’ve started going through the D-jet system methodically. From all my fannying about I thought it was running way too lean. First port of call was the cylinder head temperature senor. Sure enough it was reading 750 ohms instead of 2500 at ambient. I’d bench tested a while back and it was fine but I guess it didn’t like the first few heat cycles for thirty years. Anyway - new one on order from Heritage and fingers crossed.

Meanwhile at least I’ve finished the targa resto…

There’s an excellent article on CHT sensors on Ratwell, btw…
https://ratwell.com/technical/TempSensorII.html

 

Love it …. I’m still plodding along with mine but seem to do more for mates Turbo bug and other stuff .. you can see why peeps swop out the FI and go twin carbs …..

 

Time for some science class experiments.

The new CHT sensor has arrived, but the manufacturer is unknown - all I know is that’s it’s not Bosch.

I popped the new and the old ones side by side in some hot water and took resistance and temperature measurements as they cooled. Not done with any great controlled conditions, and nothing is calibrated of course, but good enough for comparison purposes.


I’ve added the plots to the bunch-test that Ratwell did;





So what does this tell me? The new CHT sensor isn’t perfect - but assuming that Ratwell’s mean is pretty close to true then it’s still within about 15% as specified in the Bosch Djet manual, so should work ok.

The old one was way way off and thought the engine was almost up to temperature when actually stone cold. What I’d really like to understand is how the resistance of the sensor maps to extending the injector pulse time - if anyone has any gen on this I’d be really interested.

Is the old sensor the culprit or is there something else going on? Time to bang it in and find out. Tune in next time folks…

 

Right, so….

New sensor popped in (I say ‘popped’, but a fair bit of dismantling was needed to get at it).

First attempt to start failed - then I remembered I hadn’t reconnected the MPS.

Second attempt took a little cranking but then the engine burst into life. Yay! But the starter motor was stuck in the engaged position and its clutch was making a horrible noise. After a few seconds it released leaving the engine running under its own steam. Idle was fast, helped by the Auxiliary Air Valve, but I’m not going to be able to set the idle right until it’s had a proper run and warmed up thoroughly.
The good news is that the engine now responds properly to the throttle. In the limited driving in first gear I did up and down the drive it felt it had lots of grunt, for the first time.
The bad news is when I stopped and attempted to restart to engine all I got was a clunk from the starter. And the gen light is stuck on so the regulator or alternator is capput. Or both. Hey ho, more work to do before the maiden voyage on the open road.
No photos so here’s some contemporary 914 porn to make do.

 

Flat battery or bad starter?

 

With engine running how many volts you getting at battery, bad earth maybe or regulator?

Failing that a refurb is required.

 

Well, I can’t get it going now to find out!

I’ve got a spare regulator somewhere so will swap over and see if it cures it. Or borrow @Chrisd ‘s.

I did bench test on the old regulator and it was fine, but like several other components it doesn’t like being put back into service after 30 years.
I’d already stripped the starter and cleaned/greased the bendix, but I guess the solenoid is shot. I’d better check the engine isn’t seized too!