914 purchase, opinions.. Options

[Schnell944]

ok, I may be trading my old BMW 2002 (1976) for a '72 914 1.7 w/ F.I. ...would get the 914 and $1000 in trade. Im having it checked out by my mechanic for rust and such.....i intend to use this to just have some fun at the autocrosses....intend to beef up suspension and such. I know this isnt the best year for this car. my question is,if structurally the car is ok, would it be worth my while to use this on the track? i was a little discoraged by my mechanic in this regard, but i dont know, what are your thoughts? P.S....it had this funky after marketwhale tail looking spoiler on the back if never seen before but kinda like...anyone hear of this? thanks all

Ryan Z

[vortrex]

what did your mechanic say about it not being good on the track?

[Schnell944]

he jsut seemd to have a pessimistic attitude saying the shifter design was horrid and jsut the design in general wasnt nearly as good as the latter cars, making it seem like it was worth my time

[Bleyseng]

The 72's have the tail shifter trannmisson which if the bushing are worn out ,are hard to shift. Pretty easy to fix em so the shifting is just decent. The better setup is the sideshifter which can be retrofitted. Everything depends on how good of condition is this car? The 72's are 82hp and lite weight compared to the later cars so that is going for it. Lots of things can be done to the car, sway bars, shocks, springs, that you would have to do on another car also.
Is this a good enough car to start with because it cost some money to set them up and once you get started most people don't stop.

Geoff

[vortrex]

you mean he was comparing the '72 914 to later 914's, or to later cars in general? the 914's throughout the years are going to be about the same except for these significant changes.

the '72 is a model I am not totally sure about, can't remember if that is "early style ('70-'71) or "mid style ('73-'74). the late style is '75-'76.

side shift or tail shift transmission - you want side shifter style for more accuracy, can change this somewhat easily if need be. tail shifter in "early" style.

reinforced doors with side impact beams or not - reinforced are good for street, without are lighter for the track. impact beams in "mid" and "late" styles.

bulky heavy plastic bumpers or metal ones - metal ones look nicer and are lighter. bulky bumpers in "late" style.

passenger side seat moveable or built into backrest - can't use aftermarket seats in pairs without modifying the floor pan. non moveable pass seat in "early" style.

motors - 2.0 D jet FI, 1.7 D jet, 1.8 L jet. most people like the D jet motors better, and obviously the 2.0 if possible. later motors had a lot of extra emissions equipment and less HP. 1.7 D jet in "early" and "mid" styles (maybe late too?). 2.0 D jet in "mid" and "late", mid has less emissions crap. 1.8 L jet in "mid" and maybe "late" style also.

also some other little things like window regulators, trim packages, etc...

I might be missing stuff here, but someone will chime in and let you know what category the '72's fit into.

[Dave_Darling]

The 72 would originally have the tail-shift transmission mated to a 1.7 engine with D-jet EFI. Made 80 HP DIN rating. Metal bumpers, no door beams, early window regulators. It did come with the movable passenger's seat, and many/most came with inertia-reel seat belts instead of the "adjust-to-length" belts the earlier cars came with.

--DD

[GWN7]

72 is a great car ( I have 1 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) only bad thing about them was mentioned is the lower HP and that can be fixed (along with everything) with a little time and money. If your mecanic say it's ok...go for it and have fun (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Jeffs9146]

For $25,000 we can get you some mega hp 300++ its all about the money!!

I liked the BMW2002 I used to have a Tii

You can trick those out too!!

Jeff

[mightyohm]

I have a 72 with a sideshift. No 73-74 bumper tits for me.