Once in a while something about this hobby is sublime and rewarding and notable:

 

▪I suck at welding, but:

•the battery tray mod came out fantastic.

•the bottom of the passenger corner panel at the door came out fantastic.

•the jack receiver on the passenger side came out fantastic

•the hell-hole came out fantastic

▪Some time back in 2001 I could not get the high-beam indicator to illuminate on the 74'.  The bulb was good (new) and the light came "on" when I pulled the plug socket from the gauge and applied the juice to it.  Hmmmm?  So I removed the gauge, pried-back the bezel to open-er'-up and inspected it.  It was a blue plastic lens, not much bigger than your middle fingernail and the [packing] tape holding it had turned dark-brown from 225,000 miles of heat exposure and time.  I cleaned it with alcohol, a razor and my nails and then cut a strip of 3M packing tape to put it back where it was intended.  Put some light in there to check it, reassembled and... "the nicest blue glow you ever saw" was right there when I hit the high beams.  Life can be so-so good sometimes!

▪In 2002 a trip from Maryland to northern New Jersey for a client had me on the NJ Turnpike at speed for half an hour.  No vibration, no shimmy, just a sweetheart of a ride.

▪Replacing all engine hoses and cleaning out years of sludge while in there... to finally have it purr like it was intended to.

▪Welding the engine tin to repair the spark plug holes that were screwdriver peeled back and of course welding in a patch and new nuts for the coil in the original location.

▪Finally getting the black tar-like potting compound off of the engine relay board and soldering every brass rivet to the traces.

▪Removing the knee pad on the 75' and then removing the toggle switches used for the carb fuel pump and power cutoff to see a mostly untouched wiring harness that needed no splices or de-hacking.  Nice!

▪After removing the suspension and powder coating all parts, new bearings, bushings, Turbo Tie-Rods, ball joints, all new bolts and then dong the string alignment process and correcting the strut caster and camber, even the old tires hooked up.  The right-rear corner "dip" on acceleration was gone (new bushings and related pivot axle).  A tighter ride, but the famous 914 handling was right there.

▪I could go on and on.  Rebuilding stuff is 100% computer off, work-off, rewarding.

 

Hmmmm, it might be cool as 4WD: