Porsche 914 Teardown - Brakes and Trailing Arms [Project Bumblebee Ep. 11]

The battle of the bolts begins as I continue to rebuild a Porsche 914 from the ground up in my home garage. In this episode I remove the calipers and get them ready for rebuilding by PMB Performance. I also pull the axles, press out the hubs and bearings and remove the trailing arms so they can be prepped for powder coating.
Companies mentioned in this video:
www.914rubber.com
www.pmbperforma...
Please keep in mind that I'm not a professional mechanic and no video can replace proper experience. Don't attempt this work if you're not confident in your abilities. Please use this info at your own risk. As always, be safe and enjoy.

[@IanKarr]

If you find these videos helpful, I'd appreciate it if you'd subscribe...If I've saved you more than 3 bucks in time or parts, please click my Patreon link and join me for zoom calls, bonus content and swag. www.patreon.com/iankarr. Thanks!

[@alecjones8235]

When I took off my castle nut I had to get a 10 foot long piece of pipe and I actually picked up the car trying to break it loos. Always love your work thank you very much

[@IanKarr]

Wow...sounds scary! Glad you enjoy the videos.

[@tomcrull6832]

If I remember correctly, the “How to Keep Your VW Alive” book follows your approach with the breaker bar. But, you have to go huge and long with the breaker bar. I have a 1” breaker bar and a long heavy pipe leaning in the corner of my garage that remind me of the battle I had with my 914 - 15 years ago.

[@IanKarr]

Ha. Yep. Next time I'm gonna go much bigger with the breaker.

[@daveeddy2402]

Ian....next time??

[@IanKarr]

@@daveeddy2402 there’s always another stuck bolt:)

[@daveeddy2402]

@@IanKarr "next time" you rebuild a #Bumbblebee...?

[@IanKarr]

You never know...

[@914_werke]

Ive never had to cut off a stub axle nut! But I have had the stubs rusted into the hub. The trick I use was to create a very simple tool. 36"L 2x2" angle that I drilled for the a pair of M14 holes at 130mm apart on both ends on opposing angles. Bolt it to the hub using the lug bolts & use a your socket & breaker bar with a pipe addition of equal length to slide over the breaker bar handle , A little muscle & they break fee every time. The nice feature of this approach is it can be used when on or off the car.

[@IanKarr]

Thanks for the suggestion. I did try using a length of pipe on the breaker bar and muscling it, but the car actually moved on the lift. And the 1/2” breaker was bending to the point where it definitely would’ve snapped. A 3/4 bar or maybe 1” impact could’ve done it, but The video would’ve been delayed :). Can you maybe post a diagram of the tool you’re suggesting? Is it just to keep the wheel from spinning?

[@kneedragger5255]

@@IanKarr 914World :)

[@IanKarr]

Thanks. Saw it. Genius.

[@housepumpinpc3983]

When I did my car(which belonged to Jim beforehand) I had him step on the brakes and I used a big Snap-on breaker bar to remove the axle/hub nut. This series is really good.

[@IanKarr]

Thanks much! Which Jim?

[@housepumpinpc3983]

@@IanKarr Jim Meyers. He was a coworker that retired and sold me his 914.

[@mrGregorygchin]

Love your vids. Well scripted and informative. They wanted you to remove fittings before shipping so they don’t assume liability for stripping them. LOL

[@IanKarr]

Glad you enjoy the videos. I'd be really surprised if PMB ever damaged anything ;)

[@gnrrpreacher]

Fantastic as always. Thank you.

[@IanKarr]

thanks for watching!

[@Tmrfe0962]

Ian, another quality video....thanks or keeping in the frustrating parts, too many videos just show the final product, and make us amateurs think it’s easy! Classic cars are not for the faint of heart! Thanks again....

[@IanKarr]

Thanks, Billy. If I took out the frustrating parts, these videos would only be 30 seconds long ;)

[@cybersurfer2010]

Yes another vid from Ian... I did the same with dremel on one side...

[@IanKarr]

Sometimes you have to go backwards to move forward ;)

[@bretskiT]

I don't even have a 914 (yet) but going through all your videos anyways. lol. You do a great job putting them together and they're very clear and thoughtout. Great work! It inspires me to take on more myself

[@IanKarr]

Thanks so much. I appreciate that! Go for it...

[@davedarling4316]

With all the trouble you had with the other bolts, I was sure that you were going to break the three trailing arm bracket bolts. That's a relatively common thing to do, especially on the right side. If you can, it's usually a good idea to pry up the plastic caps on the weld-nuts on top of the console and spray lots of penetrating oil in there. Breaking them is a pain, because access is not very good. I know people who have extracted the broken bolt and then drilled the nut slightly oversized, and used longer bolts with separate nuts on top. Probably not the best way to address it, but...

[@IanKarr]

Thanks Dave. Great suggestions as usual. Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised when all the console bolts came out without a fight. As you pointed out, they're pretty skinny and I can see how they could snap with decent resistance.

[@neilbardsley]

Very useful. Thank you

[@IanKarr]

Glad you found the video helpful!

[@r.arabian3056]

Another great one.. I have to do this soon, so good primer. So confirm, all your body weight could not break that nut? I usually use a 4-5 foot pipe..... I guess I'll find out when I do it! Can't wait to see the rest!

[@IanKarr]

I put all my weight on the breaker bar and also tried a pipe extension. Two things happened...1) the bar bent to the point that I was sure it would snap. and 2) the car actually jumped on the lift. Unfortunately the camera wasn't rolling for that, but it was pretty scary. If the car had an engine and was fully weighted, I'm pretty sure a beefier breaker bar would'vedone the trick. But as a roller, the forces applied were enough to move the car before the bolt!

[@billvanderpol]

Tackling this soon on my 914 - thanks for the tips!

[@IanKarr]

Enjoy!

[@troynewman4383]

Another perfect video. Huge Thanks!

[@IanKarr]

Glad you liked it!

[@fredriethmiller757]

Ian, this video help me today. I've been struggling with the castellated nut on my driver side rear axle. It's been 3 days for heat and PB blaster. Nothing. I think it's time to get out the nut-buster or carefully cut.

[@IanKarr]

Before you do that, try a 20V impact wrench. Much more power than an air impact

[@daveeddy2402]

I got really nervous when you tackled those bolts with the open end of the wrench instead of the box end!

[@IanKarr]

Box end wouldn’t fit on the rear caliper bolts. :)

[@MikesTropicalTech]

I had the same problem with the left rear wheel nut on my 914. Penetrating fluid, torch and impact gun finally got it off.

[@IanKarr]

Glad you won your battle. I had to bring out the big gun....literally. A battery powered impact. The instant torque did the trick.

[@oceanhome2023]

I am also using a Quick Jack on my 914 !!!

[@IanKarr]

Awesome. It's a great tool.

[@pfan12000]

great videos I've subscribed but one suggestion you seem to use the open end of the combination wrenches instead of the closed end when trying to loosen the hex head bolts and bleeder valves. The closed end should be used as it provides more surface area to grip and the chance of rounding out the valve or bolt head is minimized.

[@IanKarr]

Thanks. You're absolutely right. It's a bad habit ;)

[@generessler6282]

Haha. I had a 74 2.0 from 77 to 82. Wasn't the torque spec on that nut some insane number in the hundreds of foot pounds? You may have been okay with a long pipe on a breaker bar you could afford to lose :-)

[@IanKarr]

Hi Gene. From what I've seen, the spec for tightening is about 250 ft-lbs. I tried using a breaker bar with a cheater extension, but the car moved on the lift before the bolt did. Scary. My impact wrench is rated to 650 ft-lbs...and has never had an issue getting axle nuts off. But it apparently met its match with this one. In the interest of safety (and time) I bit the bullet and cut the nut.

[@Mr10usdad]

Another great video Ian, If i still have the engine in the car do I have to unbolt the axle from the transmission to get the hub and trailing arm off?

[@IanKarr]

Thanks! Yes unbolt it.

[@wcisean]

I tried one axle bolt 20 years ago could not get it off with anything at first, then borrowed a vw tool that is basically a very thick heavy duty box end wrench 30mm about 5 pounds worth,that you hit with a 10 pound sledgehammer came right off !

[@IanKarr]

nice!

[@wcisean]

@@IanKarr similar to this! www.chircoestore.com/product/deluxe-vw-beetle-axle-nut-removal-tool-36mm/

[@robkammer3720]

Great video, I'm involved in chasing the air out of my 74LE after reinstalling the calipers and pressure regulator. I'm curious why Ian did not address the pressure regulator in the video. I had PMB rebuild it as well as my calipers. Just wondering.

[@IanKarr]

Hi Rob. I got a new pressure regulator from PMB and show the installation in a yet-to-be-edited video. Please subscribe if you haven't already...lots more coming!

[@vintage76vipergreenBeetle]

👍

[@IanKarr]

thanks!

[@jeffhammond8969]

Love your work. Since the wheels were obviously stuck, are you going to refinish them separately?

[@IanKarr]

The wheels were actually just refinished. I'm guessing that that's part of the reason why they were stuck.

[@TINKERGINEERING]

Found it Okay where is the 65mm bearing press tool from?

[@IanKarr]

Hi Frances! I got my bearing press kit from Harbor Freight

[@oceanhome2023]

Is it possible to be able to install a new rear wheel bearing with out a press ?

[@IanKarr]

Yes. The key is to get the bearing really frozen and lube the inside a bit so it slides in.