HI all, when my new car gets here I want to go thru it for safety upgrades and eliminate as many roadside breakdown possibilities. It has led a sheltered life, a 2.0. 74 with a lot of great options (less a/c which is ok by me).It has not been driven a lot in the past couple of years.
I was thinking:
1. It has all the original red & green hoses in the engine compartment. Replace all that stuff?
2. Fuel lines replace with SS kit. (who sells?) at same time take out tank & clean it & get new fuel filter. Is there a recommended upgrade filter?
3. Move fuel pump to front. (Could not find a how to type article, any help appreciated) Any recommended upgrade pump?
4. Clutch cable
5. Fan belt
6. Check brake parts & replace/rebuild as necessary.
I want to keep the car pretty much stock so not looking for big brake upgrades or such. But should I use a bigger Mastery cylinder like the one on the early 911?
Any other recommendations appreciated. I've been reading up on the car via a number of threads here & thru the Haynes shop book.
Oh yeah, any other 914 guys/guru's in the Augusta,GA area or in nearby SC or other places reasonably close by? Couldnt figure how to search the memebr list by area.
Thanks,
George
Ok, My thoughts;
1. It has all the original red & green hoses in the engine compartment. Replace all that stuff?
- REPLACE ALL THE FUEL LINES with Ethanol friendly lines
2. Fuel lines replace with SS kit. (who sells?) at same time take out tank & clean it & get new fuel filter. Is there a recommended upgrade filter?
- Chris Foley at Tangerine sells them. Others do as well, Check the vendor section here.
3. Move fuel pump to front. (Could not find a how to type article, any help appreciated) Any recommended upgrade pump?
- Not immediately needed but a good thing to do!
4. Clutch cable
- Good move, not immediately needed.
5. Fan belt
- Yes, but not a killer as your car can run without it until the battery dies (the engine fan is directly driven off the crank)
6. Check brake parts & replace/rebuild as necessary.
- #1 thing to do. Go through the brakes and replace any original flex lines, bleed the system a few times (you'll need to anyway) and inspect it carefully.
I also recommend looking closely at your seat belts to make sure they are in good working condition.
Also, replace your wipers as many of us use our cars only in sunny conditions, but if you need them to clear mist kicked off an 18 wheeler while traveling at 85mph on the highway, YOU NEED THEM TO WORK.
Good luck!
Oh and
POST A PICTURE OF THE CAR!!!!
the rubber fuelhoses should be repalced with modern SAE rated 30R9 (not 30R7) hose, 5/16 inch works for most of them, use only solid fuel clamps, notthe serrated type. the new fuel formulations will attach plain hose, the 30R9 has a teflon like liner and is made to resist todays fuels.
the colored hoses are for vacuum signals, test them for leaks, with you mouth, or just replace them, they are not a big safety issue, but leakers will make your car run bad.
the platic hard fuel lines should be fine, they usualy only get replaced if they are damged or attcked by battery acid. so this can wait unless you find broken line
the brake hoses can clog over time, and the fluid should be flushed with at least two full quarts of fresh fluid,
check the alternator belt, if craked or such replace, else run it more, not a safety item, and ulike the VW bug, a failed belt wont kill the fan, you will simply lose the alternator output.
clean up of the fuse panels of dirt / corrosion , this will help assure full voltage to the lights. besure to test all your signals and brake lights
movement of the fuel pump to the front is hardly ever needed, I have not know any of mine or friends cars needing this, and i live in a fairly warm climate where vapour lock would be an issue, so dont bother with that, in my opinion it is a butcher thing to do.
really the main thing is to make sure your old style rubber hoses are replaced with modern hose that is compatible with todays oxygenated fuels, and your brakes are inspected and flushed.
have fun, enjoy!!!
A few last things, Automobile Atlanta is in the Atlanta area and the owner, George, is certainly known to be a 914 GURU!
The 19mm master cylinder "upgrade" is a reasonable change that will reduce the pedal travel while increasing the pedal force needed to stop the car. On Stock brakes, it is a nice "feel" upgrade but not needed. Do not go to the 23mm replacement unit with stock brakes.
AND, with a screen name like "SUPER 90" Post the picture of your 356 as well!
The throttle cable housing wears/breaks where it goes thru the firewall. It still works (for a while) but is very stiff to operate.
Keep one handy, they're fairly easy to replace.
answers after the questions:
Great site fellows and great guys giving good info. Thanks very much. Keep any comments coming---ALL information happily soaked up.
Look forward to becoming a member of the 914 group. I have been a 356'er for decades but had some 914's in the earlier years. Here are some pics in response to the requests. The S90's & the 2.0.
These are NOT trailer queens. They are driven all the time. I just did a 4400 mile round trip in the green car to Park City, UT & back to GA.
Looking forward to meeting some of you folks and driving my car. Thanks guys. All the best, George
I would replace all the rubber hose fuel line with the Porsche rubber coated high pressure fuel injection line and the clamps with the OEM style ones. I hate using the 5/16s stuff when you can get quality stuff still.
The red and green vacuum hoses I would check for hard ends and just cut off a little bit to ensure its a good tight fit. You can get the German grey colored hose at a Porsche dealer in all the right sizes, don't use some crappy rubber stuff.
Replace the big hose pieces on the intake manifold to runners.
Replace the injector seals
Pull the gas tank and clean it and replace all the fuel lines there plus the tank screen.
Replace the rubber connection hose at the fuelpump
Replace the clutch cable and grease the wheel and bearing
Replace the accel cable as they do snap with a Terry cable
Replace the shifter bushings with a kit so its shifts right and the little cone screws and order a couple extra to keep in the car as they do fall out.
Replace the alt belt
Change the oil to Brad Penn and filter
Change the rubber brake lines and bleed the system several times to get all the air and old fluid out. Pvalve is a bitch to clear out. If the brake calipers are rusty and sticking send em to Eric Shea to rebuild properly and restore.
Clean the grounds on the engine, tranny strap and FI grounds...
Go thru the heating system to make sure its all there and sealed or you will smell exhaust....best to find Stainless Steel Heat exchangers if its doesn't have em....tons better heat.
Check the front wheel bearings for adjustment, regrease and adjust.
Once you get the 914 in good driving shape, take off!
I perfer to have good shocks (Konis) and 205x50 high quality tires as it makes for a nicer driving experience especially at Freeway speeds. These cars love cornering and freeway driving.
Geoff
Pull the rocker covers off
clean out the mud that is packed into the jack points
this is an annual necessity
you may want to treat or address any rust that has already started in there.
(most new 1st owners find out that there is a ton of fram rust they didn't know about before they bought the car... hopefully you don't find that)
brant
There's a ton of stuff to go through and check, but #1 and #2 would be all new fuel lines and PMB rebuilt calipers, new rubber lines (not SS braided), and a new MC (check out the Member vendors section. GPR has http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=110763).
The concensus so far is if it aint broke don't fix it?
Would most agree then:
-To nip the ends off the orig hoses and reinstall.
-Clean tank & tank filter.
-Flush brake system & consider replacing stock rubber hoses with OE if needed.
-Clutch cable & throttle cable, fan belt - all new
-Bell crank service
-Front wheel bearing service
George, I may just bring it over after some initial checks & just have you do a full service, get a few pointers & small needed parts after I spend some time getting to know it here. I want to do some beauty work like put the Fuchs back to the alu wheel colored lip as orig, a little cleaning, and maybe a set of tires.
-Dunlop195/60's should be OK on the stock Fuchs wheel?
-I run Brad Penn 20/50 and Swepco 201 in my S90's...no problems in the 914?
Thank you all very much. Any other tips---keep them coming.
Regards,
George
My list went like this
Brakes - make sure it will STOP - just do all 4 corners
Fire extinguisher - keep one handy
Rubber fuel lines - cheap insurance
Start driving it and work from there
...& make sure you use a rubber
I mean that you are riding on good rubber!
good tire's make a big difference(on the overall ride)
Super90........some fine 356's
check your tires, and put out fires [extinguisher] on board
new rubber flexible barke lines is a must safety issue.
they are cheap.
Rich
Nice car and welcome. Post more pics. Interior; front & rear trunks; engine compartment; remove the rocker panels and get pics of the longs. Let's see your new baby.
The items mentioned are very good tips for general maintenance.
Before replacing anything, inspect the car inside and out. Find out what the car needs before replacing things.
Maybe nothing needs replaced! I bought my 74 the the needs-replacing parts were obvious: new clutch and new driver-side rear swing arm bushing. After that I drove it like I stole it.
Keep looking for things that might need service. check the gas tank by trying to peek in the top of the tank. You can remove the fuel sender pretty easy to see the inside condition. Mine was pristine inside and needed no work.
Hi Nelson, no the car was delivered new to Beverly Hills and spent its life there, garaged and hardly used by the first owner. In 06 it went to Oregon & was pretty much garaged by the second owner who I purchased the car from. It is well documented from window sticker thru the service book to current receipts. Even comes with the unopened bottle of Champagne the Dealer in Beverly Hills, under his own label, gave to all new P car owners. Nick kept the bottle and passed it to Roger, who is sending it along to me.
The second owner personalized the car by painting the exterior door mirror black and the alu outer edge of the Fuchs all black. This is easily fixed to get it back to as delivered and all else is pretty much stock.
Once I get it & go thru and check it out, service it, and apply some of the great tips given in this thread, I plan to just drive it, like I do my other cars.
TOM, you are Kidding? PCNA will honor a recall from 74...wow that's service. Ohh yeah, the yellow spray can stuff should come right off.
All the best,
George
George,
Welcome to the Party!
As you have already seen, ask a question here and get 25 answers, some of which are mutually contradictory. Never mind, the bottom line is that you'll do what you are comfortable with. You are obviously not a "newby" when it comes to old Porsches. I am no novice regarding Porsches either, having owned several over the last 35 years, but the 914 was a whole new ballgame for me.
I rescued my car from the scrapper and wanted a good, safe, solid driver. It's not a daily driver, but I don't baby it either. Here's what I did, after spending lots of time here and elsewhere that speaks "914". I ended up spending way more time and money that I planned (imagine that) but the car gets high praise from the locals.
I was very uneasy with the old fuel lines, so I replaced with SS all the way from the pump to the fuel rails. With all due respect to the Dr, 35 year old plastic, carrying highly flammable gas six inches from my butt, didn't have much appeal. I relocated the pump forward because I just didn't like the location, right next to the exhaust headers. Having plastic fuel lines in the engine compartment is insane, IMHO. They looked like they came from an aquarium store.
All the calipers were rebuilt and new brake hoses were installed. new rear springs (100#) improved the ride and handling a lot.
A mild cam (Webcam 73) and 96mm cyls gave a little extra "grunt" without sacrificing starting or driveability.
It needed a new clutch, so the seals and some bearings in the trans were replaced, CV joints repacked (they are tough to replace) and new wheel bearings installed all around.
That and about $10K of miscellaneous bits and pieces, and it's about 90% done.
Have fun, they are an absolute ball to drive.
Tim
I've been following this closely as I am in a similar situation. I've just purchased my first 914. My car seems to have many "minor" issues that need to be addressed. I'm looking at some of the same issues as op. I think one of my front calipers must be sticking as one wheel heats up even after fairly short drives. Other possibilities? I guess I need to bleed the brakes, too. Anyway, keep the ideas coming as there is at least one other following this thread. Thanks!
#1 Do NOT drink that champagne!
I find this amazing: "You can call PCNA's Customer Care dept. & check if there was ever the HO Recall done on your 914 & if not, then they'll do the cover & change out all engine bay fuel hoses for free as part of that recall - yes, even today (I've got my letter from PCNA to do my 73 2L when it's up & running again). Same for anyone else out there, since it applies to all years & models/engines (except conversions I would presume), so long as it wasn't done before." Hard to believe...
"Having plastic fuel lines in the engine compartment is insane, IMHO. They looked like they came from an aquarium store." HA ha@!
ps. Timofly's car IS gorgeous!
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