916 Body Modifications

Almost as soon as I acquired this 914 in 1992, I set out to destroy one more perfectly good Porsche.

I guess if I keep doing this, it will only increase the overall value of all Porsches.

Note the donor seats, rear deck lid and boxes of parts in the background.

From the beginning, this car was destined to be a 916 replica. However, in 1992, the idea of using steel flares was a rather extravagant luxury. Fortunately, today steel flares are more common and almost the same price as fiberglass.

A complete fiberglass 916 kit was ordered from Tweeks and delivered to my garage.

The fun was about to begin. I now had to cut the fenders off of a perfectly good car.

Fortunately, I had a steady hand and a lot of patience.

Note, more donor parts in the background.

The exterior of the car was stripped down to the metal during the body modifications. This was extremely painful with the discovery of the original silver under the faded yellow.

The fiberglass fender flares were not riveted onto the metal. Rather the latest greatest adhesive available in 1992 was used.

Marine-Tex epoxy putty was used to bond the flares and sculpt the remaining gaps. After 16 years, it is still holding strong.

In the beginning, a 5-lug adaptor was used to fit the Fuchs alloys onto the car. The adaptors were unusable for driving purposes. I was surprised that they could be advertised and sold by any distributor with a clear conscience.

Nevertheless, a true 5-lug conversion was on its way complete with 911SC calipers and vented rotors.

The entire front end was replaced to fix the ice-storm damage and the front trunk interior was painted black.