What upgrades/safety things does a new owner do? Options

[Super90]

HI all, when my new car gets here I want to go thru it for safety upgrades and eliminate as many roadside breakdown possibilities. It has led a sheltered life, a 2.0. 74 with a lot of great options (less a/c which is ok by me).It has not been driven a lot in the past couple of years.

I was thinking:
1. It has all the original red & green hoses in the engine compartment. Replace all that stuff?
2. Fuel lines replace with SS kit. (who sells?) at same time take out tank & clean it & get new fuel filter. Is there a recommended upgrade filter?
3. Move fuel pump to front. (Could not find a how to type article, any help appreciated) Any recommended upgrade pump?
4. Clutch cable
5. Fan belt
6. Check brake parts & replace/rebuild as necessary.

I want to keep the car pretty much stock so not looking for big brake upgrades or such. But should I use a bigger Mastery cylinder like the one on the early 911?

Any other recommendations appreciated. I've been reading up on the car via a number of threads here & thru the Haynes shop book.

Oh yeah, any other 914 guys/guru's in the Augusta,GA area or in nearby SC or other places reasonably close by? Couldnt figure how to search the memebr list by area.

Thanks,
George

[brant]

Pull the rocker covers off
clean out the mud that is packed into the jack points
this is an annual necessity
you may want to treat or address any rust that has already started in there.
(most new 1st owners find out that there is a ton of fram rust they didn't know about before they bought the car... hopefully you don't find that)

brant

[Super90]

The concensus so far is if it aint broke don't fix it?

Would most agree then:
-To nip the ends off the orig hoses and reinstall.
-Clean tank & tank filter.
-Flush brake system & consider replacing stock rubber hoses with OE if needed.
-Clutch cable & throttle cable, fan belt - all new
-Bell crank service
-Front wheel bearing service

George, I may just bring it over after some initial checks & just have you do a full service, get a few pointers & small needed parts after I spend some time getting to know it here. I want to do some beauty work like put the Fuchs back to the alu wheel colored lip as orig, a little cleaning, and maybe a set of tires.

-Dunlop195/60's should be OK on the stock Fuchs wheel?

-I run Brad Penn 20/50 and Swepco 201 in my S90's...no problems in the 914?

Thank you all very much. Any other tips---keep them coming.

Regards,
George

[realred914]

The concensus so far is if it aint broke don't fix it?

Would most agree then:
-To nip the ends off the orig hoses and reinstall.
-Clean tank & tank filter.
-Flush brake system & consider replacing stock rubber hoses with OE if needed.
-Clutch cable & throttle cable, fan belt - all new
-Bell crank service
-Front wheel bearing service

George, I may just bring it over after some initial checks & just have you do a full service, get a few pointers & small needed parts after I spend some time getting to know it here. I want to do some beauty work like put the Fuchs back to the alu wheel colored lip as orig, a little cleaning, and maybe a set of tires.

-Dunlop195/60's should be OK on the stock Fuchs wheel?

-I run Brad Penn 20/50 and Swepco 201 in my S90's...no problems in the 914?

Thank you all very much. Any other tips---keep them coming.

Regards,
George

first off you have some sweet cars there!!!! I got a C Coupe myself, but had the 914's first, (actaully a Bug first, did you ever have a Bug?)

yeah wheel bearings, test for tightness look for dirty discolored grease, if the grease looks fine and adjustment is correct, I'd not fell the immediate need to relube them, unless I had some spare time, else it can wait. if they are too tight of loose, or grease looks old, then for sure time to do them.
Rear bearings are sealed, maintanece free, plus they are near impossibel to remove without destroying them, and they are expensive, so leave the rears along unless you know there are bad.

For nipping off the ends of the hoses, ok for the vacuum lines, that often works, and since the colored hose is hard to find, if only the ends is bad, then thats a good idea (I have done that many a times on my cars)

For the fuel hoses, if they are original, forget, it, replace them, you want this to be a driver, the new fuels will rot out even new hose unless it is of the lined type (30R9) and it will rot out old original hoses much faster no matter how pretty they look on the outside, get rid of the near 40 year old original lines for safety sake!

the plastic hard fuel lines are often fine, unless physically damaged or contaminated with battery acid (reason for an early factory recall)

since this is a driver and will be getting wet, be sure to have an Optima sealed battery installed, these 914's make the 356 battery tray rust seem like a nice dream, the 914 battery induced rust can be a nightmare car killer. the acid flows into the lower portion of the enigne bay (the hell hole) and eats into the firewall and rocker soon the car falls in half! an Optima battery will prevent this from ever happening. Since it is unknown if acid is already down in the hell hole or not, rinse that area and everything below the battery in a baking soda wash.

note the nylon hard fuel lines under the battery. if sulfuric acid hits them, the nylon is quickly weakened, very suseptable to cracking under low stress.

Brakes, well same rule for any old car, at minimum on a new to me car, i flush them, if black gunk flows out, i know I will need to dig deeper, if the fluid was maintaned by prior owners, then a full rebuild is not warrented failing to find any leaks or poor braking perfromance. the rubber hoses are an item that age, inspect for cracks, replace if any exterior defects, note they can (like on the 356) swell on the inside, acting as a check valve when brakes are applied, dragging and over heated brakes are a symptom of this.

I would not bother cleaning the fuel tank if you got clean fuel filters and inspection with a flashlight shows no problems, if the filter is full of rust, AND subsequent new filters rapidly fill with rust, then that is a thing to do, why make more work if it aint got a probelm? I have run cars that had rusty tanks, I go thru a half dozen filters each taking longer to fill up with rust. I would periodicaly run some of the gasoline dryer (anhydrous alchohol) in that tank to remove any water, hence stopping further rust. So if it is not bad rust, you can still live with it for some long time so long as youremove the water that is causeing it and keep he filters clean. the pump is after the filter, so the pump is protected.

check all your lights for function, specially brake lights, the switch is at the pedle cluster, not at the master cylinder like the 356, clean the fuses much as you would on the 356 note two more fuses are in the engine bay in the black box behind driver firewall


clear drain holes for water in the headlight buckets, often clogged with leaves.
remove the lower outerrocker screws to allow outer rocker to swing away so you can remove any debries caked up mud that is caught there this is a rust issue, a few times a year run the hose up behind the outer rocker to keep it clear of mud buildup.

Lube all the hinges and locks, graphite in the key holes.
make sure you fans work, dash and engine bay heater fans) if noisey or is speed control dont wwork (dash fan only) then report back and we can assisst in repair advice.

these cars are really pretty reliable, and short of the fuel lines going bad or brakes failures, i would not worry too much, they are fairly well made.

Of course on a new used car, an oil and filter change is a good idea and get the valves adjusted, plugs and plug wires checked, timing checked, all basic tune up stuff.

but as for any old car I highly recommend an emergency kit containing at least the largest fire extingusher you can fit, flashlight, flares or reflectors, jump suit or carpet to lay on, spare bulbs, fuses, oil, the round relays used through out the car, the Haynes 914 repair book, gloves, basic metric tools, wire and jumper cables, Vee belt, abiling wire, tape, spare scews and nuts, etc... I even carry spare gas. and remember channel 9 is your emergency channel. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

DRIVE IT!!! and HAVE FUN!!!

ps those tires will fit fine, and I run 20W-50 brad penn in my 914's and VW's and 356, redline in my tranny.