March 2007

Well, after cool, wet weather, a vacation, the purchasing of another 914, I've finally been able to paint the interior. Here's a shot from the driver's side.

Here's a shot of the rear firewall.

Here's a wide shot of the driver's side floorboard.

Here's the passenger's side.

A shot of the passenger's side rear firewall.

A wide angle shot of the passenger's side floorboard.

Here's a shot showing how I taped the areas that I didn't want paint on.

Another taped shot.

Here's a shot showing the tape and paper removed. The bag is holding all of the gauges that belong in the center console.

Another shot from the passenger's side.

Here's a shot from the driver's side.

Here's a shot of the rear firewall.

Here's a shot from the front showing where I painted the area where the windshield will be placed.

Well, I installed the interior. I began by rebuilding the pedal cluster, then installing it. Make certain that the brake shaft goes into the M/C. Also, attach the accelerator and clutch cables. Finally, install the brake electrical wires. Next, I installed the vinyl and carpet. Finally, I installed the pedal board. BTW, the white residue on the floor is the powder from the rubber pads on the pedals.

This shows the longitudinal carpet. Whenever you install carpet, make certain that you identify any holes that will be needed. Here you can see that I've placed pop-rivets in the holes where the plastic cover for the door rubber will be used.

Next, I installed the rear window. Next, I installed the seat rails, then the seats. Don't forget to grease the tilt piece and the rails.

Here's the padding installed above the windshield. This piece is held on by the sunvisor clamps and a couple of sheet metal screws.

Here's a close up of the center sunvisor clamp. The clamp points toward the front of the car.

Next, I installed the front side window chrome piece. I put a small piece of 1/4" butyl tape on the back side of the moulding to help it seal against moisture.

Here's a shot showing the inside front windshield padding installed.

This shows the left and right pieces.

Here's a shot showing the installation of the center console. The U-shaped bracket was removed and the carpet was placed over the gear shifter. The console is carefully placed over the gear shifter. It is held in place in the rear tab and the center tab with sheet metal screws. I cut the carpet 7" forward and 2" to the left of the shifter to insert the wires for the instruments. I also cut a small hole near the defroster light for the black/blue wire and the brown wire, attached to this light.

This shows the rear mounting tab, the 2 wires for the defroster light and the heater lever.

Here's a shot of the instruments.

Here's a shot of the center console in position, without the instruments installed.

After mounting the console and attaching the wires to the defroster light, I disconnected the wires for the gauges, noting the wires and their placements, I place the gauges in the center mount and rewired them. I then installed the verticle panel, then the horizontal panel. Finally, I reinstalled the gear shift knob and the red heater knob.

Here's a shot from the passenger's side. You'll also noticed that I installed the hinged center arm rest.

Here's a shot of the seats and the back pad.

Next, I installed the glove box, what a PITA... The first thing to do is mount the passenger side mounting strap. Next, mount the door and align it, then attach the springs. Now the fun begins. When you install the box, have the door closed. Push the right section in first, then carefully compress the lower left side. There's a depression on the box that will allow it to pass by the metal dash, underneath the radio.

Make certain that the edges of the box are on the outside of the door hinges/springs. Next, place the metal strap around the box and attach the driver's side to the bolt mounted on the bottom side of the dash. Bear in mind that I had the radio and vents out and the lower knee pad removed.

Here's a shot of the OEM windshield seal that is currently NLA.

Here's a close up of the sticker.

I installed the windshield seal by first positioning the center section, but not actually pressing it on. Before attaching this chrome piece I made certain that the edges are straight. Next, I started on the driver's side and slid the inside portion into the groove on the chrome trim piece. Then I sprayed silicon and hand pressed the outside section into the chrome strip. If you can't hand press it into the trim piece, carefully use a popsicle stick. After installing both sides, I then pressed the center section on, being careful on the corners.

Next, I installed the seal that goes underneath the windshield seal. Once both of these seals are in place, I attached the targa top to help finish setting the seals. The targa latches will be very tight, but keep trying until the latch securely.

Here's a front shot.

Well, I installed the fog lights and the front bumper. This shows the back side of the bumper, normally not seen.

This shows how the bumper 'dog-bones' are held in place with duct tape, prior to installation. I use the mounting bolts to help position rubber spacers.

This shows how the bumper 'tits' are held in place.

This shows the mounting bolt for the bumper top.

Here's a close up of the back section of the fog lights. The wires are routed through the hole and the brown wire is attached to this section. The fog ligths are attached to the car with large allen-head bolts.

This shows how the white/yellow wire is attached to the front section of the fog lights. It is fished into a small hole in the side, then held in place with the set screw on the top.

This shows front bumper mounted, with the fog lights and grills.

Next, I tackled the missing vinyl on the front of the dash. The first thing I did was create a template. This template matched exactly where the foam will be.

Then I masked everywhere I didn't want the glue to be.

This shows the foam glued down. The foam is 1/8" closed-cell.

Next I cut the vinyl about 3/4" larger than the foam. I sprayed glue the outer side and only on the edges, nothing in the center of the foam. I used a screwdriver to tuck the edges underneath the windshield edge and around the vent openings. I used popsicle sticks to hold the edges of the vinyl against the dash.

After letting the outer side dry, I glued the inner side. This section goes underneath the dash top. After letting it dry, I placed the dash top on to help hold it down until it dries completely.

Here's another shot from the driver's side.