OEM muffler color? Options

[MrKona]

Is the Dansk OEM muffler a flat gray or a satin gray? Does anyone have a good paint match? Pictures make it look almost like a primer. Thanks...

[Scott S]

I guess I would have to understand what you mean by "restored". If it were me, the car would first have to be completely taken apart, then new front and rear clips installed. Then throw it on a rotissory and media blasted to see what is actually left.

I dont know how many 73 2.0's have 72 build dates - I would guess there would be quite a few. Dont dealers usually start getting the following year cars in the fall?

Perhaps you are more hands on than me, but that looks to be a big dollar restoration. If your end result is simply to get it operational again, I guess I can see that. Just looking at the pics, I could see dropping 20k (maybe more) into a full resto.

[Tom_T]

I guess I would have to understand what you mean by "restored". If it were me, the car would first have to be completely taken apart, then new front and rear clips installed. Then throw it on a rotissory and media blasted to see what is actually left.

I dont know how many 73 2.0's have 72 build dates - I would guess there would be quite a few. Dont dealers usually start getting the following year cars in the fall?

Perhaps you are more hands on than me, but that looks to be a big dollar restoration. If your end result is simply to get it operational again, I guess I can see that. Just looking at the pics, I could see dropping 20k (maybe more) into a full resto.

What are "new front and rear clips" ???? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) excuse my 914 parts terminology ignorance!? ...do you mean new front & rear bulkheads or body panels? - vs. straightening mine?

I'd guess about half the 73 MY 2Ls would've been built in 1972 - or a bit less with it being a new model/engine, since they usually switch over MY production about June, and I've seen a 72 & 73 1.7 both with 6/72 production dates on their VIN plates. Mine is #424 GA out of 1954 total 73 914s - so that's about 20% of the total 73s up to Sept. 72 production date of mine - say in the 1st 3 months. So I'd guess-timate perhaps 800-900 2Ls were built during 72, and the rest of the 73-2Ls later.

And #424 may not represent a true 1st 25% of the total 73-2Ls built, because there was a ramping up on the early 2.0's, and I can recall waiting lists and a crush to try to get the early ones coming out during calendar 1972. Ergo, I thought mine with an early engine & VIN numbers - but past the odd "first 1000" or so with mixed pre-73 & 73 parts, might be worth saving!? ...I know, they all are!

Scott - what you're referring to as a "restoration" - I would call a "Frame Up Full Rebuild," which is NOT what I'm proposing to do with mine. You can damage too many parts in that process - forcing you to replace just about everything, thereby driving up your costs probably closer to $30k with all the NLAs today, and can undo a lot of stuff done in the factory which we have no way of replicating today - possibly leading to damage, more rust (if that's even possible), unsafe roadability, etc.

However, I keep getting the confusion over a complete strip down to bare body/uni-body as the only ostensibly "true" restoration.

In my day - and I AM an old fart now! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/howard.gif) or nearly so at 56-57 - that full strip down & redo was called a "frame up rebuild" or "strip to frame rebuild"!

Whereas, a "restoration" was leaving the car largely assembled - only removing what must be taken off to repair & restore damage &/or to ease the repaint & repair work process, and perhaps stripping the surfaces to be repainted to bare metal if necessary to get a good finish. Pat Garvey's is probably a good example of this, unless he too did a "Frame-up Rebuild"?

The latter is what I'll be doing & not for concours, but rather to maintain the originality, value & structural/mechanical integrity of the car.

Back in the 60's I helped my Uncle do a frame-up rebuild on his "barn find" (literally) 58 Vette, so I know the diff!

And when you get into "Antique Car" circles (over 50 years old) - which the 914s soon will be & some 356s are already - it is considered preferable & more valuable to have a well "restored" car with a maximum number of well kept original parts still intact & unmolested - as they say - versus a completely "frame up rebuild" where nothing much is still original from the factory.

These are 2 entirely different processes, and generally recognized within other collector car circles - so why the confusion here at 914world?

Can Pat or some other CWs weigh in here on my apparent ignorance on this terminology regarding 914s???? ...what should I be calling my project's "goal" - so I don't keep corn-fusing everybody here??? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)