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Customer Cars: Marty Stein's 1970 914-4

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 6:12 PM

We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack.

 
 
This months winner is Marty Stein! Marty is the original owner of this 1970 914-4. Originally ordered in April 1970, he had spec’d out a base model blue 914 with tan interior as he couldn’t afford the extra $200 for the Appearance Group option.



In early July of 1970 he got a call from the dealership saying 3 cars arrived on the lot and that his name was at the top of the wait list. “One of the cars is white,” the dealer told him over the phone. Previously he had been told by the dealership that they could not get a hold of any white cars.



Realizing that this vague comment may mean his dreams of owning a 914 were at stake, Marty asked if all the cars were white. The dealer replied again, “one of the cars is white.” When he got to the lot, his fears were confirmed. All 3 cars were white with the Appearance Group package.



Determined to get his car, Marty was able to borrow the difference from a colleague and picked up his 914 on July 9th, 1970. The car became his daily driver and followed him from Miami, to Vegas, and now California. It was repainted 3 times and daily driven by his son before it ended up sitting for 20 years.



In 2015, Marty started work on restoring the car with the help of some friends and a local upholsterer. What he initially thought would be a 3 month process turned into a 3.5 year project with double the starting budget. The car is once again a proud daily driver and brings its owner enough joy to forget about buying a 308 Ferrari as a stablemate for it. Thanks for the great story Marty!


Please submit your image and a brief 1-2 sentence summary to 914rubber@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you can win a 914Rubber gift card!

Mark's Corner: Seat Upholstery Clips

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 8:02 PM

Upholstery Clips in Your Seats


Sometimes when we make a new part it can be hard to see the usefulness of it until you are mid-restoration and need one. The seat upholstery clips are one of these parts.


If you have ever disassembled your seat you will notice that there are a bunch of single prong clips underneath the seat cushion.

These clips also run along the inner edges of the seat center section all the way up to the base of the headrest. These pointed clips are the basis of how the seat goes together and help the vinyl retain its shape.


There are 23 clips in total - 19 single prong clips along with 2 medium and 2 large double clips. These double clips do more than just secure the vinyl to the chair, they are actually mounting points that secure the seat rails to the seat bucket.


The Problem


Rust is one of the biggest problems that the 914 faces, and the seats are not immune to this. It is not uncommon for a bolt to break off while trying to remove the seat rails from the seat. This is a crucial step you must take in order to replace the seat back bolster vinyl, which is notorious for splitting from age and wear. If you want to avoid the headache of dealing with snapped bolts, look for the back side of the clip and soak it with parts blaster. This can be seen once you remove the inside edge of the vinyl and lift up the foam padding.


Also, if your clips have been reworked before they can easily fatigue which may lead to the prong snapping off. Prior to developing these I could not find these commercially available anywhere. I searched upholstery shops to see what they had to no avail. I did come across a few people that could MacGyver a clip out of carpet tack strip material but it was not the ideal solution.


Seat Disassembly


After removing the seat cushion/center section, if you stretch the inner edges of the vinyl down you can pull the bottom edge away from the clips. after freeing the inner surface, you will need to take the 2 screws on the back of the headrest out. This will allow the vinyl flap to come down and also reveal the 2 screws that hold the headrest to the fiberglass body of the seat.


Once the vinyl is off the seat you can get a better view of the clips. They attach to the seat using a pop rivet so removal and reattachment are pretty straight forward. Do note that sometimes the fiberglass attachment point may have some damage. Do not worry you find this on your seat, just use a small washer as a backer for the pop rivet so it has a stronger surface to attach the clips to.


The exact location of the clips is mostly relative to each seat with the exception of the double clips. You will want to use the seat rails as a guide to assure they all line up correctly.


About The Parts We Made


Currently, we are only selling these in kits per seat. We will be selling individual pieces in the future, so if you need just a single part they will be available soon. We have put the kits together with all the pop rivets you need to attach the kit. The kits will be significantly less expensive than buying individual parts, but if you just need one piece I get it. This option will become available in the next few weeks. We also have the new hardware kit with freshly plated bolts and washers that will be listed separately shortly, but is included in the kit too.

 

I have done a seat or two myself and they are not particularly difficult to complete, but do require time and patience as they are deceptively simple.


Our good friend Ian Karr has just done a video showing the disassembly side of it in part 1 of his seat reupholstery series. These will be an excellent primer for you if you choose to take this on. I would encourage all to check out his 914 repair adventures and allow him to be your Sherpa on the restoration journey.


I again want to thank everyone for their support during these troubling times as it allows us to continue making parts like these.

 

Sincerely,

Mark Whitesell

AKA Mikey914 on world

Customer Cars: Triston Kirt's 1975 2.0 914

Thursday, June 10, 2021 6:13 PM

We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack. 


This months winner is Triston Kirt. This is his all original 1975 2.0 914.

 
 

Triston and his wife were only recently introduced to the world of 914s. They previously had a 1972 which was regularly driven until rust stepped in. After an unsuccessful restoration left them without a car, they were surprised to find an all-original 1975 914 for sale by the second owner. The car had only 40,000 miles on it and came with lightened pushrods and flywheel, front and rear sway bars, and ATS wheels.


After doing a bit of digging Triston was recently able to connect with the cars original owners. He came to find out that they were integral members of the WMR PCA in the 70's and 80's. The car had also been routinely raced, rallied, and shown off while they owned it.


It's not everyday you get to find a car with such a fun history, let alone hear about it from the mouth of the original owner. We hope this car keeps bringing you smiles for miles, thank you for sharing Triston!



Please submit your image and a brief summary to 914rubber@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you can win a $15 914Rubber gift card!

We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack.



This month's winner is Richard Lewis. This is his 1974 2.0 914 with air conditioning and Bose surround sound.

 
 

Richard calls this his Orange Bumblebee. This is a 1974 model year car combining the best of both 914 Limited Edition color schemes.


The 914 LE was limited to 1000 units worldwide and all were sent to North America to be sold by Canadian and American dealers. 500 cars were made in a black and yellow combination called Bumblebee and the other 500 were a white and orange combination called Creamsicle.


Thank you Richard for sharing such a cool crossover car that we don't often get to see!

Please submit your image and a brief summary to 914rubber@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you can win a $15 914Rubber gift card!

We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack.



This month's winner is Mark McLaughlin! This is his 1974 914 father/son project with a modified 2.6 L motor.

 


Starting life as a humble 1974 914/4 1.8 L, this car saw many rough years before arriving in Mark's possession. Mark and his son knew they wanted to create something different from the many other styles of 914 GT tribute cars. They came upon the notion of a “Leichtbau” (which translates from the German language to Lightweight Design) build.



The original engine was swapped for a 2.6L Type IV Horizontal Fan Engine with a unique underbody oil cooler duct system. The decklids and bumpers were all replaced with fiberglass components along with removable fiberglass fenders. The side window glass was replaced with Lexan and a pair of repa style race harnesses were added to the leather seats.



The car is sitting on Jongbloed Modular wheels and Toyo R888 tires with 7.5x15 in the front and 8.5x15 in the rear. It features a moderately aggressive suspension and has newly rebuilt brake calipers. This is a beautiful car with a great story that has only just begun, thank you for the submission Mark!


Please submit your image and a brief summary to blake@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you will win a $15 914Rubber gift card!