After much deliberation, plotting and planning, the decision was made to strip the car all the way down.
Since the M3 is pretty much done and the $2001 Vee is finished in its new coat of shiny yellow paint, all GRM project car efforts will finally focus on the Porsche 914.
After much deliberation, plotting and planning, the decision was made to strip the car all the way down. Our car is so clean that we could have done the project as a rolling restoration, but since the engine and transmission are already out of the car, it became clear that a more extensive restoration would be fairly simple.
There is only one right way to restore a car, and that is to completely strip it down to a bare shell, make repairs, paint and then begin the reassembly process. With our able assistant, seven-year-old son Tommy, we took the plunge two days before New Years Day 2001.
Disassembly has been pretty straight forward. So far, nothing has been found that is rusted or destroyed, other than typical things such as rubber seals and taillight lens.
Once completely stripped, we will sand, prime and paint the front and rear trunks. We will also make the minor repairs needed in the engine compartment. Yes, we do have a slight touch of the dreaded battery-box rust, and then once this area is painted and the car is completely stripped, we will take the body to our buddies at the Body Werks, a local shop that has painted virtually every project car in this publication’s 17-year history.
While we do have the skills and the tools to paint project cars ourselves, we would rather leave paint work to the pros aside from simple jobs like door jams and inside engine compartments. Painting inside a home shop is extremely hard on your lungs, the shop itself and the environment.
Stay tuned as we detail the rust repair, repaint and reassembly.
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