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Posted by: notbobvilla May 8 2007, 10:25 PM

Hello all, my name is Ren'e (male) and my dad who is 76 years old has given me (38 years old) his pride and joy.....1974 Zambezi green 914. It has 74000 miles on it and is basicaly stock. Excellent condition, darn near perfect interior and a very clean body. I have visited several different forums over the last 2 weeks and decided to join here because everybody seems to want to help in any way possible. I am sure I will ask more questions than I can ever answer but I will be willing to share everything I learn along the way. I will post pics in a few weeks when I get time to set up camera. My first question is this car has been stored (inside) since 1993 with a FULL tank of gas. I have drained the gas and cleaned the tank already.Plan is to change oil this weekend and give it a once over before I start it. What should I look for or do before I start it for the first time? Thank you all for having this GREAT community!

Posted by: drewvw May 8 2007, 10:28 PM

Welcome! I'll leave the long term startup methodologies to the gurus....

Posted by: Trevorg7 May 8 2007, 10:30 PM

T

Posted by: skline May 8 2007, 10:31 PM

Load it up on a truck and ship it out here to me so I can dispose of it properly and forget you ever heard of 914's

Just kidding, they are great cars and if you look at it and think about it, there really is not much to them that you cannot fix yourself. You are on the right track, I would replace the plug wires and plugs, drain the oil and replace the filter and new gas and fire it up, watch for leaks in the fuel injector lines, you may want to replace all of them and the vac lines as well one at a time so you know where each one goes. Good luck and keep us posted.

Posted by: skline May 8 2007, 10:33 PM

Oh, before you drive it too far, check all brake linings and rotors, look for cracks in your brake lines too, a fast car is only as good as it's brakes.

Posted by: jimtab May 8 2007, 11:24 PM

All good advice...and what ever you do don't change the paint color....Zambezi forever....and welcome to the asylum...

Posted by: SirAndy May 8 2007, 11:48 PM

replace the fuel filter and make sure your brakes are working ...
also check the tires for cracks etc.

Andy

Posted by: orange914 May 8 2007, 11:51 PM

make sure you inspect ALL the aged fuel hoses-replace with QUALITY high pressure hose. leaking lines+914=no fun

Posted by: So.Cal.914 May 9 2007, 12:35 AM

Hi Ren'e, First thing I'd do is chuck the Fuel injection into Lake Michigan.

(If I were you I'd duck) Kidding (not).

All good advise from the others, let me get this straight, it has sat 14 years

in a moist place.

1) I would change the gear oil in the trans.

2) I would evac the Hydrolic system and replace with a quality brake fluid (after you inspect the other components), it has a nasty habit of absorbing moisture.

3) I would lube the P/B cables and check that the Parking brake portion of
the rear calipers is funtioning (Eric Shea(member) for caliper rebuilds).

4) CV joints are N/A so I would sudjest you drop them and clean and relube them.
(replace the dust boots while your there)

They are too much fun, Welcome to the jungle.

Posted by: BiG bOgGs May 9 2007, 06:31 AM

Posted by: seanery May 9 2007, 07:17 AM

good advice from just about everyone but Big Boggs!

Welcome to our little slice of the world! Sounds like you've got a great car!

Posted by: jimkelly May 9 2007, 07:25 AM

that is great man

if you sign the back of your title and mail it to me - i will enter you into the raffle for a brand new oem 2.0 liter type 4 : )

when you win - oops - if you win - i will instruct you on where to leave car with keys in ignition - so i can - steal - ooops - have the shop install your brand new 2.0.

yeah that's it - new motor.

good luck : )

jimbo

Posted by: notbobvilla May 9 2007, 10:24 AM

Thanks to all of you!! I now know this is the PERFECT place to be, perfect mix of great advice and comic relief!! I will post pics ASAP and I will keep the questions coming!