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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ How long did it take?
Posted by: brokenmoped Jun 26 2005, 12:29 AM
Hey guys,
I'm new here, but I've been checking this site pretty much everyday for about six months now, so I decided I might as well introduce myself. My name is Corey, and I'm a 20 yr old POOR college student.
I've been searching frantically for the perfect 1973 2.0 (of course) for quite awhile now and was wondering how long it took everyone to find their very own special teener.
And also, where do you guys look?! I use Ebay, collectorcartrader, google, and the classified section on this site. I bought the last few local autotraders, but to no avail. I'm in Orange County, by the way.
Anywho, nice to finally find a forum where people don't talk about ricerz they "PWND" in a sweet drag race d00d 
Thanks,
Corey
Posted by: messix Jun 26 2005, 12:47 AM
heres a free classified that usually turns up results
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/search?areaID=7&subAreaID=0&query=porsche+914&cat=car&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max
i found mine after about two months.
be patient and find the most rust free car.
Posted by: Andyrew Jun 26 2005, 12:52 AM
Bout 2 weeks of 914 searching... months of car searching...
Posted by: nebreitling Jun 26 2005, 12:54 AM
welcome. how long did it take? only about 3 months for me, we in the bay area are blessed with an abundance of 914s...
a few words of advice, take'em or leave'em:
-don't get hung up on a 73 or 74. the early ones are a bit lighter, the later ones a bit heavier, but they're all *about* the same. the late cars can be made lighter, and they'll all take a 2 liter (or a /6, or an /8, or whatever you can dream up)
-do get hung up on rust. i'd rather have a rust-free '76 with a tired 1.7 in it than a 73 with a rusted long....
-save your money, borrow some from your dad, sell yourself on the street -- whatever it takes -- buy the best one you can afford. paying an extra 2k upfront can save you about 5k in the first few years.
-the longer you own them, the more expensive they become. make sure that you're set up financially and mechanically to take care of your car, or else it can be a stressor.
-get a ppi
cheers, good luck!
n
Posted by: redshift Jun 26 2005, 01:07 AM
Except for us, most people buying them are paying too much.
Welcome. I've been looking... what year were you born? Longer than you have been alive, and I found a few, and wore 'em out.
WOOHOO!
M
Posted by: messix Jun 26 2005, 01:07 AM
oh yeah, many 914 members down it that area. i'm sure they will go with you to look at the prospective buys to help look for the trouble spots. root werx went with me and was invalueable in the purchase of mine.
just keep looking and watch these posts and look up the info on this site and pelican parts has a good site also with a buyers guide that explains some of the different variations on these cars.
good luck
Posted by: ThinAir914 Jun 26 2005, 01:16 AM
I fell in love with 914s in 1978 and it took me until 1990 to find my first one. Not that I was looking all that long, It just took that long before everything came together for me to get my first one. I drove it pretty much "as is" until 2002 when I took it apart to restore it and then had to put the project aside. It's still on my back porch, waiting.
In the meantime I got a new job and decided that the fastest way to good & fun transportation was a "new" 914. It took me a couple of months of looking at the 914World.com classifieds to find my dream car - like yours, a 73 2.0L that had already been repainted. I had to fly to Seattle to get it, but then again Flagstaff isn't close to any ready source of 914s.
As has been mentioned, spend the money up front. My big limitation on my 72 is body work. Mechanical I can handle. I spent more to get a car that already had done what I wanted on the body. Even though I'd had a ppi and thought the car was good, I ended up before long with a dead engine because of something I'd missed, as well as having to fix a totally broken clutch tube. So make sure that if you don't know how to do stuff that you are at least committed to learning. It's well worth it when you find the right car and it is "in the zone" and running right. There is no smilie big enough for the smile on my face every time I turn the key! 
Oh yeah, welcome! I'm glad you have introduced yourself!
Posted by: LukeD Jun 26 2005, 01:28 AM
7 LONG YEARS!!! to find a well taken care of virtually original owner of 34 years 2.0, lota mods car. I had planty of 914's before that but none as cared for as this one.
Spent as much as I could and even though the engine is getting tired it was well worth it. IMO get the best chassis you can find, everything else can be fixed with this site and a chiltons
Posted by: SirAndy Jun 26 2005, 03:07 AM
| QUOTE (brokenmoped @ Jun 25 2005, 11:29 PM) |
| and was wondering how long it took everyone to find their very own special teener. |
about 1 second ...
wasn't looking for a 914, wasn't even looking for a car. drove by a porsche shop that had the car sitting in the lot with a for sale sign on it. saw it, came back later that day, test drove it, bought it ...
i'm cursed now ...
Andy
Posted by: SpecialK Jun 26 2005, 04:01 AM
Got three.....still looking [for the "right" one].
Posted by: Leo Imperial Jun 26 2005, 04:26 AM
Just like you I started looking on Evil Bay and Collector car trader. I started looking about 5 years ago. I lived in New York at the time and could not find the "one". I moved to the Bay Area in October, looked around on craigs list and then found this sight. I looked at a coulple cars and bought the first car I found on this sight. I have found the people on this sight are honest and fair. I took me one month in this area to find a car... With no hell hole issues. 
Posted by: VegasRacer Jun 26 2005, 05:16 AM
Another potential source to check is http://www.thesamba.com/vw/.
Don't be to hung up on a 73 2.0. Figure out what is essential and what is negotiable on your dream teener. (Smog laws, FI vs. carbs, cosmetics, mechanical, rust, etc.) The only way to have the 'perfect' one is to build a tub. Anything less will require a compromise.
To answer your question - when I was looking to replace / upgrade 914's in the past it has taken 2 - 6 months of serious searching (plus a few road trips). Others (like my current car) found me.
Posted by: spare time toys Jun 26 2005, 05:45 AM
It found me 
doing a search on for odd spellings on EBAY and it popped up and I made a crazy low bid and I won.
Posted by: MecGen Jun 26 2005, 05:55 AM
Hi
Welcome to the group
If you want the most bone stock 914, then you got to find a perfect tub, mecanics are not realy a concern.
Everything needs to be there or you start 3xing the price of the car.
The best years for re-sell is a 73-74, stock 2.0l. If you are buying it for fun...pick the best body not year. If you are a collector, you would want to have a certain resale bonus.
Take my 74, #1914 Baby Blue, 2.0l. Never hit or rusted, origional longs/floors,ears. 90 % like the day it came off the floor, unmolested, I WAY overpayed for this oil pumper 15 years ago, but it was worth every penny.
This summer its going up for sale, but its a big dollar 914. A local guy is eying it, but he is not a 914 member, and its already breaking my heart....but that another story...
Great to have you aboard, don't forget to buy a digital camera, that should be included with every 914 sale 
Later
Joe
Posted by: qa1142 Jun 26 2005, 06:24 AM
I'm in Chicago area where there is more rust than teeners 
I was looking for nearly a year but found mine in local paper
She is not perfect but I love her just the same 
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Posted by: Dr. Roger Jun 26 2005, 03:23 PM
I found mine using evil-bay, samba, and craigslist. After two months I scored a real clean, almost rust free, straight '74. Low miles. No engine or trans but a helluva deal. Like the guys said above, mechanical stuff is cheap compared to the body and rust issues. I took everyones advice and I'm really glad I did. Zero regrets.
I would suggest searching craigslist in your area and surrounding areas also.
Be consistent in your searching and you will score a keeper. Hey, U are in Cali, right? =-)))))))
Good luck.
Posted by: xsboost90 Jun 26 2005, 03:37 PM
i never really liked the 914. I was never REALLY looking for one. I was autoxing and doing quite well w/ my 89 944, but i had always liked older cars, and combining the two porsche and older"antique" car seemed obvious. A friend of mine has a 912 and my bug for old cars came back. I looked at some 911/912 models but didnt have the money to touch one let alone fix one up. Found someone in toledo-300miles away- that had one fs, and noticed he also had a 924s. I jokingly sent him an email, my cars worth $8k, yours is fs for $4k, and that 924s is about 4k, ever think of a trade? Surprisingly he emailed back he had thought of that and wanted to see my car, so off i went to toledo. My gf wanted a 924s too so that worked great! I fixed up the 24s, gave it to her fresh and she helped me to fix up the teener. Someday itll get the full resto it deserves, but for now at least it wont break in half and its hella fun!
check on these websites, seems like most people on a website about their car cares for it more than someone who buys their car parts at krogers.
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Posted by: brokenmoped Jun 26 2005, 04:41 PM
Thanks for the advice, everybody. I completely forgot about craigslist. I used to use that site to look for apartments. Anyway, I found this car in Long Beach and it seems like it's had a lot of work done to it, but I'm not exactly sure if it's worth the asking price. I'm going with my dad to take a closer look in a couple days. Any input would be awesome.
Here it is: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/car/80774285.html
Posted by: merrill Jun 26 2005, 04:56 PM
5 months and $3500. Autotraderonline.com. I looked and looked at all the usual online sites and scored this car. Had to fly there and drive it home, nice adventure!
Posted by: MattR Jun 26 2005, 05:09 PM
What school do you go to? When you find a 914 (took me about a month, but I was looking for a project car), you should join us in Costa Mesa for our socal 914 events.
Posted by: iamchappy Jun 26 2005, 08:28 PM
First one was easy because I purchased it new,
Second one easy about a minute, saw it in the Sunday paper classifieds while eating breakfast. Paid 500.00 as advertised, I was so happy on getting the car I forgot to grab the brand new dash he had bought for it. It took me a few weeks before I had realized it and never caught up with the guy again.
The third one took way longer as I was looking for a 6 or a 6 conversion, I followed the trail of a San Diego
PCA club racers car for about a year as he was selling it with out any luck. I purchased it when he removed the engine and started trying to sell it as a roller, for me it was a great deal some may think I paid to much but I sold off the racing parts I didn't need, and sold off the parts from my donor car which was my first car, and used the interior and other parts from it to make the track car whole. I now had a 6 conversion roller with just about every modification listed below for about 2,800 bucks.
GT fiberglass flares, rockers, valance and custom molded in spoiler
Aeropquip stainless and blue line socketless fuel and oil lines
Front mounted oilcooler
Factory 914-6 oil tank
Factory 914-6 engine mount
Factory 914-6 rear stub axles
Front mounted oil cooler
911 front end with aluminum crossmember
944 Turbo brakes front and rear
Adjustable brake bias
23MM master cylinder
6 throttle linkage
Adjustable front swaybar
7,8X16 944t phone dial wheels
Adjustable Koni shocks in front
911 gauges
901 side shift trans with Quaife and short gears (M,S,Z)
914-6 headers
914-6 danske ss muffler
Rear end has been reinforced swing arm ears reinforced
boxed swing arms
rear camber truss
body stiffening panels
Bilstien shocks in rear with adjustable perches
180 springs
Turbo tie rods
Steering rack has been lowered for bump steer
camber truss front and rear
Full roll cage
heavy duty starter
Optima battery
I picked up a nice 3.0 SC engine with 40,000 on the rebuild for another 4,200
added a clutch and flywheel and starter ring
and a set of Yokohama es 100 tires
for about another 850.00
For a nice 6 conversion and about a YEAR of scrounging = 7,850
Since then I have spent, spent, spent, and am still spending on the turbo conversion, paint and body work, bling and more bling add somemore bling and bling me some more.
the bottom line is I dont think you ever get to the point of not continuing to spend more ( do you)?
I have purposely lost track of the extras that pile on daily.
Posted by: Dead Air Jun 26 2005, 09:25 PM
| QUOTE (redshift @ Jun 25 2005, 11:07 PM) |
| Except for us, most people buying them are paying too much. Welcome. I've been looking... what year were you born? Longer than you have been alive, and I found a few, and wore 'em out. WOOHOO! M |
[QUOTE]
Yeah, whatever Miles!
look until your tired of looking. Look some more.
Find a 2.0
Look some more...
Find a clean 2.0 '74...Look some more..
find a POS '73 2.0 like mine...
Look some more
Posted by: jet1 Jun 26 2005, 09:28 PM
I don't think I have ever found the right 914. Every 914 I have ever owned has been a complete disaster, but I learn more and more each time I buy one. I don't know what it is about 914's?? 
Posted by: tat2dphreak Jun 26 2005, 09:57 PM
everything Nathan said and more! buying the best you can affordis the best advice you can get... also, if you think you want a /6 conversion... buy a /6 that's already done, or almost done... that will save you money and heartache, assuming it was done right... same thing with a V8 or any other conversion, let someone else do the Hard work... unless the tinkering is what you were after to begin with... myself, I wanted something to tinker on, but now I can hardly wait to drive it...
bottom line: get what you want, and what you can afford... there aren't any perfect cars, just like there are no perfect women, but you might can find one "perfect for you" 
welcome to the club, it's a freakin mad house!
oh, how long did it take me? my first one I bought on a whim and KNEW NOTHING about what to look for, and it got me addicted as can be. even though the car was unsavable with my ability and space... so I started looking for a good roller, as luck happened, my buddy loved my teener too, and had just bought one off ebay, when he found the REAL car that was his dream... a Ghia... he sold me the teener and let me pay him back over time, since I was about to get married and was broke as could be... it's interior was trashed, and the engine had blown a coating of oil under the trunk... a great project... I thouroghly enjoy it.
Posted by: scott thacher Jun 26 2005, 10:28 PM
okay you asked about the car on craig list
6 grand for a car like that it should be very nice, the ad says it needs paint but the pic looks ok. but lets take what he said a the word of god and look at it this way
car 5900
paint 2 to 5 k
windsheild 250
if all the rubber is shot 2 k
so that 6 grand car will cost about 11k
if the paint is okay and you wont drive it in the rain you will be good to go. but i would say a car that needs paint and rubber should be closer to 4 grand. if it had a bunch of miles on the motor and it needed paint but ran well it would be 2 k car
grab a memeber and go look at it
Posted by: brokenmoped Jun 27 2005, 12:35 AM
That's what I was thinking as well, Scott. It has pretty much everything done to it though. Except I'm not a fan of a huge motor, especially after owning a Z28 for the past three years. It's really one of the better 914s I have found for this price; maybe I'm not looking in the right place.
Matt - I go to Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. I have a little less than a year until I transfer to NYU to major in Photography. And yeah, I'll totally come to the socal events (if I ever find a 914, that is).
Anyone else have an opinion on this:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/car/80774285.html
Posted by: Leo Imperial Jun 27 2005, 12:40 AM
Do you plan on bringing the car with you to NY?
Posted by: brokenmoped Jun 27 2005, 01:19 AM
No, I would be leaving it at my parents' house. Owning a car, especially one that requires a lot of work in NY is not a good idea I think. For Manhattan anyway.
Posted by: MecGen Jun 27 2005, 05:07 AM
Hey
Scott hit it on the nose...
Be very carefull of "lots of work" cars...if it was a rust bucket, and repaired. These are learning cars and sometimes fixing someone elses mistake can be a headache.
Later
Joe
Posted by: DonTraver Jun 27 2005, 09:19 AM
About one day.
I was standing in my driveway one Saturday, thinking what's the most fun car I ever had. It was the 71 914 I'd had in the 80's that I'd made a speed run from Alemeda, San Francisco to San Diego in 7 1/2 hours down Hwy 101. In the passenger seat was a guy that worked for me, so I've got a wittness.
Anyway, walked up to the 7/11, bought a Auto Trader, started looking. The next day, out having coffee with my oldest son, mentioned it to him, he says, "Grandpa is thinking about selling him 914-6". I go no way. But I called as soon as I got home. My mom answered the phone, I said, I heard from Rick that John was thinking of selling his 914-6, she says, "What are you smoking". I said, I'm just asking, I'm going to the movies, I'll call you when I get home.
Called when I got home, they said they'd sell it too me for $10K. It had a fresh engine/tranny with only 11k miles on it. It'd been upgraded to run unleaded fuel. In other words, pristine condition. no rust. Only rust I found during the restoration was under the passenger side door rubber seal, about as big as your small finger nail.
When I finished the restroration, I took it back to show John, gave him the keys, he looked at me, said, "I didn't let anyone else drive it for 30 years, you shouldn't either, gave me the keys back, we went for a ride. He loved the way it looked, drove, and handled. So do I. So this is a family treasure.
And I still get complements from strangers about this car, there's been a couple of jabs from jerks, but they just told me who they are, don't need them. They're the low mileage profilers, who use a Porsche as a status symbol, big phonies, you can find them anywhere, PCA, POC, etc.
Any real car nuts realize that a 914 doing what it does best (driving twisty roads, tracks) is a awesome piece of engineering machinery. Nuff said.
Posted by: Jakester Jun 27 2005, 10:03 AM
My Teener found me. I was cruising craigslist (as I do often), when I noticed a 914 for sale for $900. I wasn't looking for a 914 (heck, the last thing I needed was another project) but I always loved the look of a 914 and figured I could turn this one around a make a few bucks. I figured the guy would take $750 so I went a took a look.
The front end was crashed in and there were a LOT of little problems. It looked like a teenager had owned the car for about 10 years and just drove it into the ground, ignoring all the things that were breaking. I walked away from the deal.
Then, about 2 weeks later I see the ad pop up again on CL, this time for $700. At the same time I found a rolling parts car on CL for free. I confirmed the free parts car was still available - got it delivered to my house - then offered the guy $450 for my gem and never looked back. I was planning to just get it looking and running decent and then turning it around for a quick profit. After my first decent drive around the block - I decided I'm keeping it. This is the absolute most fun car I have ever been in. I am looking forward to the ground-up restoration I plan to do. I am even looking more forward to that maiden voyage after the restoration. Even in it's current (very ugly) condition, I still smile every turn... 
Good luck finding your new addiction!
Posted by: MarkG Jun 27 2005, 06:04 PM
Once I decided on a 914 and not a Miata, not too long. Found one right here in the club classifieds, '76 with 20k on semi-new motor w/ new Euro pistons and valve job and 95% rust free. $2500
Spent $1500 on all new FI componants and another $1500 or so plus on suspension mods (plus a $830 alignment).
Ran great for 200 miles, now wont hold idle or idles @200 RPM until hot (not warm, hot), lost power, and any corner taken above 30 MPH feels like I'm driving a Mexican jumping bean.
Posted by: Headrage Jun 27 2005, 07:15 PM
It took me about 2 months. I was originally looking for a TR-6. A friend of mine reminded me that I have always talked about having a nice 914 so I changed plans and started looking. Found a decent '75 w/2.0 in Chula Vista. $8000.00 and 1 year later I'm still wanting a nice 914.
Posted by: grantsfo Jun 27 2005, 07:21 PM
My dad gave me my first one, I bought my second one as an impulse buy in one day and my third was bought on ebay (just decided I wanted a 914 and found a clean one that night). Its always easy to find a good 914 if your willing to pay a little too much for a clean one.
If your trying to find a clean one at bargin prices, well then your likely to spend anywhere from a day to a year depending on your level of motivation.
Posted by: brokenmoped Jun 27 2005, 07:32 PM
Allan - I was obsessed with TR6s for a long time too! But I decided I want the german engineering and midengine layout more. Cheap European sports cars rule!
Posted by: anthony Jun 27 2005, 07:50 PM
It took me about 2 months. I was looking locally and then a buddy told me about the 914 rennlist email list. So I casually posted that I was looking for a car. I got 5 or 6 replies from people looking to sell. Lots of them wanted to sell for the right overinflated price. Anyway, one of the emails was from this guy Kyle who was in Reno. He had had this 3 owner, always garaged car for 7 years and was hardly ever driving it anymore. I drove to Reno to look at it and test drive it. I bought it without PPI (got lucky) and drive it home two months later after flying back up there.
Posted by: Deano Jun 27 2005, 09:20 PM
I had been wanting a 914 for about five years, but I swear to God, the day I made up my mind to seriously start looking, (even called local porsche guy and asked him to start looking for me) a friend stopped by my studio and asked if I wanted to take the afternoon off and go hit a couple neighborhood garage sales. The very first sale, about five blocks from my studio had a beautiful '73 2.0L for sale in the driveway. It was obviously meant to be, I quickly paid their asking price and have been thrilled with my car ever since. On a sad note, the expansion of my family has forced me to part with one of my toys, 911 or 914. The lack of a back seat has made my choice for me, the teener has to go. Check out my ad in the classifieds.
Posted by: Dead Air Jun 27 2005, 09:25 PM
21 years, but she found me!
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