Intro thread.... New to the 'World' :), Car just arrived. Options

[gandalfthegray]

Hello all, my name is Steve and I have been a lurker for just over a month and was on the hunt for a 914. As of today, I'm an owner!

I'm not new to 914's however. My first car, (1987) was a 1975 914. I loved it! Unfortunately though my time with it was short. Only 4 - 5 months after buying my car the 1.7 met it's demise and the car was hauled home on a trailer. Being in high school and broke, it was parked for over a year and then finally sold. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) I've never forgotten my first car, and remembered how much fun it was.

Well, fast forward 25 years later, I'm back in the game. Today my 914 arrived. Most of you have seen it as it belonged to a member here who lives in Houston, Texas. The car had been for sale for quite some time and I had spoken a few times with the owner before finally coming back and purchasing the car. It's a black on black 72 with a 215 Buick V8 conversion. Definitely more kick then my former tired 1.7 motor had. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

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I've got a handful of things I plan to do to the car. Nothing against slant nose owners, but I'll be putting the car back to the 914 GT front fenders so as to match the rear flares. I just don't care for the slant nose fenders. Also, I may fit the original front bumper as well, I'm not sure. At this point I'll have that front hood adjusted so as to eliminate the rather large gap. I do have a lower rear valance which came with the car that I'd like to try to fit as well.

Over the course of the winter there are some mechanical issues I'll be working on as well. I received along with the car a new rebuilt side shifter trans as well as the JWest shifter and linkage. My hopes is to get this installed as well as fix a leaking timing cover (I think) gasket. She's leaking pretty good. I was made aware of all this by the seller however, so I planned for the project. I'm actually looking forward to the project. It'll be fun to have a car I can actually do something myself for a change. All my other cars are newer and well beyond my abilities.

Possibly going to do a five lug conversion as well. Still on the fence with this for now. I kinda like the mini-lights. I've considered powder coating the centers to black and leaving the outer brushed aluminum. Any thoughts?? Good idea??

Well, I won't ramble on for ever here. Just wanted to take a moment and introduce myself to the forum and post a few pics of the new car. Feel free to comment good, bad or ugly. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[gandalfthegray]

Hey guys, thanks for the welcomes!

Well I took the car for a 200 mile drive on Wednesday....and made it back! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) She's definitely due for some rework- lol. The linkage worked itself further and further out of adjustment during the drive that it took several tries to get 3rd or 5th gear. I finished the last few miles unable to get 5th at all. She used 4 quarts of oil! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) So needless to say, it's off the road for the duration of the winter.

In regards to the body work, I'll be leaving that up to a shop. I've got a guy here in southern Cal who did some work for me in the past, and they were reasonably priced. I'm going to go with a set of the QRS glass GT fenders. Looking at about $1200 - $1500. I'll be getting this done in Cali and then send the car home to Minnesota. I'll tackle engine, trans etc at home.

I did notice that even in 90 degree heat it kept pretty cool. Glad to see this. We don't see many hot days in northern MN as I'm assure the Alien would attest to, so I'm thinking I'll be ok here. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I'm not certain of the 215's future. I'll give it a fair shake though and see what some carb tuning and dyno have to say. I'd say power is closer to 150 hp vs 200+ that was suggested. The dyno will tell the tale though. I've always dyno'd my car so I know exactly what I've got. An aluminum LS motor could be in the future although to soon to judge. My other car is making 600+ so it's skewed my perception of acceleration somewhat.

There's much to be done though, and I work over the road so don't look for it to be done real fast. My goal is to be on the road with freshened drivetrain by spring. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)