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Posted by: stugray Mar 29 2015, 01:57 PM

In 09 I wanted to build a vintage race car to keep up with my Brother's 60's TR4.


Brant is a member of this same club, so I got some inspiration and since I had 914s & Ghia's in college, I wanted another 914.

So I bought one local 914 for $1k, had Brant look at it, got it up on jack stands and decided it was too far gone to convert to a racecar.

Bought another 71 1.8L w/ FI running, sight unseen from a SCCA racer in Arizona that graciously agreed to sell me the car (with rollcage), the trailer, and "some extra parts" for $3000.
And another $600 and he delivered it to Denver for me.

I fully expected rust, dents, and generally beat up shape, but the longs looked good in pictures.
What showed up was a nearly perfectly straight, un-rusted, "race ready" car with a paint job that had seen better days.




And the "some extra partts" was actually a COMPLETE extra 2.0L engine with FI, a spare set of 2.0L Fuchs and a treasure-trove of other parts.

Once I got the car up in the air and the engine out, the only thing wrong was a broken suspension ear on the driver's side.



So the adventure begins.

~3 years later the car was driveable, but not ready for racing or terribly presentable:


Fast forward to today (and three weeks to spare for driver's school):











I have tons of work still to do. Body panels need adjustment, new gaskets need to be tucked in here or there and glued down in places.
The front bumper is crap, but I will get a new one when I get a FG rear deck lid.
I have FG rear bumper, but it needs to be fitted a little before I put it on.
I also intend to chrome wrap the FG bumpers to maintain the stock chrome look

The green is vinyl wrap, and the black is paint.
Roof & sail panels are stock
The black shows rock chips already because the car has already seen some track time before I got the exterior done.
These wheels are my "street wheels" the racing wheels are Fuchs with hoosiers

I will document the build more thoroughly as I organize my pictures.
It has a 2056 stock engine with Webcam 86b, weber 40 IDFs, and a kerry-hunter header

Posted by: rdauenhauer Mar 29 2015, 04:25 PM

Curious about the vinyl wrap? Tell us more.
Cost? Are you happy with it ?
What are your expectations?

Posted by: brant Mar 29 2015, 05:27 PM

Nice job.

Send some 3/4 images to my email when you can and we will get the log book!

Great car

Posted by: struckn Mar 29 2015, 05:47 PM

Really a cool story. Nice to see Marvin evolving into what it has become, great job, looking forward to hearing how it goes. Best $ 3K you ever spent I'd bet.

Posted by: partwerks Mar 29 2015, 06:15 PM

I'm thinking of doing the vinyl wrap on the fiberglass bumpers, where the chrome would typically be.

Posted by: rnellums Mar 29 2015, 06:18 PM

Wow! What a difference! I love the new color!

Posted by: stugray Apr 7 2015, 08:34 PM

It is "matte apple green" 3M 1080. I was worried that I could screw it up at first, but that material is nearly indestructible.
I bought extra material assuming I would ruin at least one panel during install but I didnt waste any.
I ordered 30 linear feet (150 sq feet for $320) and ended up using 21 linear feet for all you see done in the pics.
Another 4 linear feet (20 sq ft) would have done the front hood if I hadnt already painted it black.
I expect it to last years when only taken out for race weekends.
It cleans up nicely with just IPA & water.


That's exactly what I was planning.


Thanks Brant! Your car & thread about it was my inspiration BEFORE I figured out you lived in the same town!



Thanks! BTW - "Marvin" is based on my favorite mascot - "Marvin the Martian". I plan on a sticker or two for the car.



Thanks! It's seen quite a few upgrades since you saw it.
And you looked at buying the white car that I mention above, but the subzero temps outside made it a bit of a pain to look at!
You should come out the one of the RMVR races this year.

I also got my #. it is 103, so here is the art I settled on:
Just convert orange to green in your head :-)
I already have the "Porsche" banner decals, just trying to decide - with or without the banners?

Posted by: rnellums Apr 7 2015, 09:03 PM

My vote is without the banner(so long as you plan to keep the rockers black).

Posted by: lonewolfe Apr 8 2015, 04:29 AM

I agree!

Posted by: Kansas 914 Apr 8 2015, 08:18 AM

Very cool - now go racing!

Posted by: Mueller Apr 8 2015, 08:40 AM

I love that green with the black hood!

Posted by: euro911 Apr 8 2015, 12:36 PM

N i c e . . .

I'll have to check out the 3M's color chart for wrap colors. I don't want to spend $Xk for new paint on the 'BB'.

Do they explain the vinyl application on their site? (video)?

Posted by: CptTripps Apr 8 2015, 12:41 PM

If you go to the 3M site, they'll send you a deck of all the 1080 vinyl. I have one around here somewhere from last year when I was considering it for mine too.

Google the installation. There are a lot of videos on YouTube that show it. Doesn't look that hard if you prep. I wouldn't do it in a dirty garage, but it's "amateur friendly" for sure.

Posted by: stugray May 21 2015, 11:42 PM

Got the artwork figured out and made it to the track:

Posted by: KELTY360 May 22 2015, 12:07 AM

Righteous! No go kick some TR ass.

Posted by: euro911 May 22 2015, 12:13 AM

Wow, nice transformation

Coincidental that you got 103 and your brother's is 102 ?

Posted by: wndsnd May 22 2015, 10:21 AM

That is going to be some serious fun!

Looks great, I bet it drives better.

Nice Job.