I have been working my way from the front to the back of the car. I finished up the removal of all of the front end stuff and a good portion of the interior. The good news is that there is nothing in the front that requires welding and all rust is on the surface.

My Father and I just wrapped our visit to this year’s Twin Peaks Festival. Like a lotta fan-fests, you have some obsessive people and lots of other folks who are just interested in the memorabilia, the history and lore of the show. Twin Peaks is a unique for it’s locations and ties to North Bend, Preston, Fall City, the Salish Lodge, Snoqualmie Falls and the Kiana Lodge where most of the interior shots occurred. We met some nice folks, ate donuts and had damn fine coffee. Click here if you are interested in the all the places associated with the filming of the show.

Me and the boy managed to get in a couple late hours after dinner tonight and we made progress on the front of the car. I removed the front bumper (which looks not worth saving, but they are so expensive to replace), the hood and the totally useless and never to be used again… GASTANK! The rust in the front is all surface with a little more invasive rust around the pillars, but there will be no need to do any welding or structural work here in the front and I am so relieved.

I have procured two cars now and I am ready for starting my EV-AC/DC Porsche 914 projects. Each car has it’s own challenges which is so typical for these cars as they are pushing 35 years out in the elements. When you purchase a “project car” you have to be prepared to deal with it. The blue Porsche is a 1972 1.7FI with 38K original miles. It has been parked under a carport since 1993. It shows rust damage in the “hell hole” and it is mostly contained, but serious enough to require a right inner longitude replacement. The sails on both sides need to be replaced and the front and rear trunk pans. The yellow one is a 1974 1.8FI and many years ago had the battery moved to the trunk and the hell hole repair done. The badness is that the rear floorpan is shot and this also implies the longitude and a right rear suspension console and the firewall. Most everything is doable but skills I will need to build.

I have the blue car ready for the engine drop, it may take me past the weekend as I am only fitting in about an 1.5 hours a day with my work schedule.

I have had the idea of getting a project car for a couple years. I was a bit of a gearhead back in my HS and Post-HS years mainly out of necessity as I was poor and had terrible cars, but also because the father of my best friend owned a Porsche repair shop and we lived next door to the shop for many years. The best part of course was sneaking into the shop and driving the cars at night. I ended up driving and surviving with Jon many crazy drives in 911’s all through the south end of Seattle. Ahh the folly of youth!

I always had a soft spot for the Porsche 914 which was much maligned by Porsche enthusiasts because of it’s VW engine. I liked driving the car because it was lightweight and drove like a go-cart, your butt was only 10 inches off the ground in the thing. Plus it was manageable compared to the other cars, easy to drive and super easy to service.

Another attraction for me was that the 914 has complete kits on the market dedicated to converting them to pure electric cars. I started putting the plan together after finally seeing one up close in Portland last weekend. I talked to the owner and there is some hassle involved, but nothing anyone with mechanical aptitude should be intimidated by and so I decided to go for it.

Everything starts with a good project car and I started hunting Seattle for the right car. My rule was to stick to a conservative budget on the initial purchase of the car because basically every aspect of the car would need to be touched, restored and upgraded. So I wasn’t even interested in anything more than a solid shell with minimal rust and no history of wrecks. The 914 is a uni-body car and so even a small fender bender can cause the car to be useless.

We found the car and closed the deal today. We bring it home next weekend and start the process of stripping it down. The good news is the body rust is minimal on the surface, the engine runs and the integrity of the car is good. Better yet, the price was right!

Soon to be vilified Arthur Skolnik proposes historic status for the Viaduct. To be clear my position is that we tear the whole thing down and eliminate all vehicle traffic through the Seattle Waterfront and create a people only zone for walking, biking and parks.

The Viaduct…

• Is built on unstable ground fill. When Seattle leveled (regraded) in the early 1900’s, it was a combination of dirt and sawdust from Yesler’s sawmills.
• The design has been discredited as proven in the Cypress freeway collapse in 1989 in San Francisco.

Look at these shots, they could be Seattle!!!

So Arthur, please go away as you are not helping the people of Seattle!