How-to 914: Rear Trunk Floor Pan Install

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Ever wonder how to install a rear trunk floor pan in a 1973 Porsche 914? In this video, the guys at Restoration Design show you just how to do that.

As always, we recommend doing a lot of the prep work before starting on the installation itself. We’ve drilled out all of our welds, ground down the steel and prepped it with weld-through primer.

It’s also worth mentioning that we coated the inside of the transaxle support channel with POR-15 to help reduce any potential future rust.

We also recommend prepping the floor pan itself by punching holes for the rosette welds and do any necessary trimming to get it the size you need for you specific car.

Next, put the piece in place in the car so you can scribe your line and cut the existing piece to fit the replacement piece. Then, using self-tapping screws, put the piece in place and use your hammer to make any necessary adjustments for fit.

After this, you need to make sure your trunk support fits properly. Using the two holes on either end of the trunk support, make sure at least one of them lines up with the floor pan.

Once you have a nice fit, go ahead and weld in your trunk pan. When doing your rosette welds, make sure to leave enough space between the welds to keep the temperature of the steal down. Then, roll the car over and take care of your sway bar mounts.

You always want to make sure the measurement from centre to centre of the sway bar mounts matches manufacturers’ specifications. If your 914 didn’t come with sway bar mounts, as some of them don’t, make sure you’re installing them properly as they’re essential.

Get more details about this installation and see the finished product in the video below!

How-to 914: Rear Engine Compartment Shelf Installation

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Next up in our 1973 Porsche 914 restoration project is the rear engine compartment shelf installation. This is the follow-up to our suspension console installation video.

The part we used is customizable and none of the flanges are bent. This is to allow you to fit it perfectly to your specific Porsche. After years of being on the road, none of them will fit exactly the same so it’s important to be able to fit it snugly to your model.

Prep your part by bending the flanges and prep for all of the plug welds. It will probably take some time to bend the flanges to fit your car, as this part is very particular.

When installing the engine compartment shelf, make sure you use clamps and self-tapping screws to secure the piece in place. As always, we coated the new part with weld-through primer before installing it.

When you’re happy with the way the part is fitting and everything is secure and in place, you can start welding. Take the time to weld in the corners to get a better seal.

After inspecting your welding and making sure you haven’t missed anything, grind it and clean it up.

Watch the video below to see how we did it!

How-to 914: Seat Frame Install

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As part of our series of videos for restoring a Porsche 914, we bring you how to install the seat frame.

As usual, Adam has the prep work done beforehand, by preparing the risers and bolting on hinges to the seat frame. The hinges have to be bolted on in order to position the risers on the new floor of the car.

The seat mount adjustment should be mounted in already, and Adam sets the risers in place ready for alignment.

The first riser is easy to install: place it over top of the seat support channel in the floor of the car. Take your seat frame and get it into the height adjustment bracket on the lowest setting and push it down at the back.

You want to align it with the riser’s centre right on the seat frame hinge. When you’re happy with the placement of the first side, take a square and align the frame with the crossmember. Begin securing your risers to the floor with self-tapping screws.

Double-check that your hinges are aligning with the centre of the risers, and start tacking your hinges to your risers.

Once attached, make sure the seat frame adjusts properly. If you’re happy with it, remove the seat frame and risers to make completing the welding easier.

Find out more about how to complete the seat frame installation on a Porsche 914!

How to 914: Battery Tray and Support

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In this instalment of our 1973 Porsche 914 restoration project, we show you how to install the battery tray and support properly.

After you remove the battery box, take some measurements to be sure you’re putting it back in the right place. While it doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s nice to get it back where it’s supposed to be.

Coat the area where the battery box will go with POR-15 to keep rust at bay, and grind the area you’ll be welding the battery box to. The battery box will come in two parts, the bottom and the and the top. This gives you the freedom to replace just the top of the battery box, leaving the frame as it is.

Prep and drill the holes for your plug welds, and coat the whole battery box with weld-through primer. We welded the two pieces together using a spot welder, as we have one readily available.

POR-15 is not easy to weld to, so you’ll have to take a measurement and make some marks on the frame and grind it down to get a good weld.

Attach the battery box to the frame once it’s in place and you’re happy with the fit, using self-tapping screws.

When you’ve done all of the plug welds, give it a quick inspection and clean up some of the welds. Then, top it off with some weld-through primer and you’ve got yourself a battery tray and support.

Check out the video to see how we did it!

How-To 914: Complete Floor Pan Installation

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If you’re restoring a Porsche 914, chances are you’ll need to replace the floor pans at some point. That’s why we’ve put together this video to show you how.

Before removing any of the floor from the car, it’s important to give the rest of the frame lots of support, as it’s a lot of metal to remove from the car and can put pressure elsewhere. Also, when you’re measuring the top of your car, you’ll need to make sure the measurements are correct.

Drill all of your spot welds and remove the entire floor pan. Remove the jack points from both sides at the back, and use the new floor pan as a template to cut the front edge of steel.

We also pre-drilled holes along the centre structure and tunnel for the rosette welds. It’s also very important to remove all of the rust and prime all of the bare metal areas with weld-through primer.

It’s always a good idea to inspect all of the inner tubing from the channel to make sure there’s no major damage from rust – if they need to be replaced, now is the time.

To prep the floor pan, pre-drill your holes for the rosette welds all along the perimeter and spot weld the seat mount reinforcements onto the part.

When the floor pans are in place, you can make any final adjustments on the seam running up the centre of the floor pan. Use clamps to get a good butt weld on the seam.

When the floor pans are in place, you can continue installing the pedal cluster bracket – as long as you’ve installed the pedal cluster first.

Continue watching our video to find out more details about the floor pan installation on a Porsche 914!

 

How-To 914: Frame Stiffener Installation

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Last month, we showed you how to install the suspension console on a 1973 Porsche 914. Now, check out this video for installing a frame stiffener.

As always, the first step in any part of the Porsche restoration process is to prep the area you’re working on before doing any work on it. We prepped the area we were going to weld by grinding it down, as well as taking off the jack plate which usually rots. We then prime it with a weld-through primer.

To prep the jacking plate, prep some holes in it so it’s ready for attaching. We then attach it to the car with self-tapping screws. After screwing it into place, we weld it to the car.

When welding, you want to take your time around the perimeter so that there isn’t any concentrated heat on any one spot for too long. After the piece is welded in place, you can take out the screws and weld those holes.

Next, grind and smooth out the welds. When that’s all cleaned up, pre-fit the overlay, keeping in mind that the frame is meant to stiffen the frame and shouldn’t be laid over top of any rusty metal.

When welding a piece like this, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. If your car isn’t fully stripped and still has the glass on it, make sure no sparks are flying into the glass when you come to weld. The sparks embed and melt the glass. You should also remove the ground strap from your car whenever you’re welding, to avoid damaging any electronics.

Clamp the edges of the part to your car so nothing moves while you’re welding it and you can get a better weld. You should also put self-tapping screws into every other pre-drilled hole in the part. If there are any spots you can’t reach with your screw driver, use clamps.

Check out more tips for this kind of installation and see the finished product!

How to: Porsche 914 Suspension Console Installation

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At Restoration Design, we love to help fellow Porsche fans with their own restoration projects! In this video, we address the suspension console installation of a 1973 Porsche 914.

Up to this point, we’d done a lot of work on this restoration project:

• New floor from front to back
• New pedal cluster bracket
• New section of trunk

Before you embark on any restoration project, make sure you make a note of the new parts you have. When you take your Porsche apart, be careful not to throw out any parts that you might need to put it back together.

When we got to the suspension console, we made sure to get rid of all the spot welds and clean everything up. We also took the opportunity to put a rust-prevention product on the area that’s covered by the suspension console.

Make sure to clean up any areas that you’re going to be welding on. Then, cover these parts with a weld-through primer to prevent future rust.

We always pre-drill our holes, and we did this for the suspension console and coated it with weld-through primer.

Watch the video to see the rest of the suspension console installation.