Should I get a 914?, Advice on buying and owning a 914 Options

[TerrySmith]

So, I just joined 914-World because I've been thinking lately I would like to get a 914. OK, so I've wanted one since about 1980 but never got around to it. Am I too late?

I have almost no mechanical skills and no facility to do much work on the car myself. I would want to use the 914 as a weekend toy and maybe a DD so it needs to be nice looking and everything should work correctly and well. I have no garage space for it so it needs to not leak rain. I don't want oil stains on the driveway, etc. I do prefer close to original (not a perfectionist) and not majorly modified or race prepped. No V8s, Subaru motors or flared rear fenders, etc. No speaker holes in the doors. Prefer pre-1974 for the Chrome bumper look.

Would like to keep the whole thing (original cost plus restoration costs) below $20K - lower the better of course. That probably means no 914/6. Preference would be for one already restored.

So, bad idea, good idea, fun, doable or PITA mistake?

Also, can anyone recommend someone (a shop) who can do PPI, restoration and maintenance work in Silicon Valley who really know 914.

Thanks,

[JawjaPorsche]

Since you live in California, here is one listed on Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...=item3cccfafc3a

It is says Rust Free but that not true! All teeners have some rust somewhere!

The battery is in the front which is odd or maybe a red flag.

Has Fuchs which is very desirable.

There is no pictures of the motor to determine if it is carb or still has FI but it something to check out maybe?

Only 150 miles from Sunnyvale!

[TerrySmith]

OK, so . . .

Since you live in California, here is one listed on Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...=item3cccfafc3a

It is says Rust Free but that not true! All teeners have some rust somewhere!

The battery is in the front which is odd or maybe a red flag.

Has Fuchs which is very desirable.

There is no pictures of the motor to determine if it is carb or still has FI but it something to check out maybe?

Only 150 miles from Sunnyvale!

I've been watching that one. It looks pretty nice and I like the color. The 3 downsides I see are:

It's a '76 and while I don't like smog, I'm old enough to remember that original smog reduction stuff stuck on, kinda like the big bumpers stuck on starting in '74 because of crash regulation.

It's got that battery thing in the trunk sitting in the spare while the description says the spare still has the carpet cover. Not sure what's up with that. I guess I could ask the seller.

It's an auction and I don't like to buy stuff that way for a lot of reasons. Still, I guess I could place a lower bid and see what happens.

So, I once had a '74 Volvo with the early Busch fuel injection that worked great and was reliable. I also had a '71 with dual SU carbs. Seems like FI was much more reliable - or specifically, did not need to be tuned up every couple of months like the SUs.

But for the 914, it seems like people prefer the dual carbs, correct? Are the Weber carbs more reliable, or do they provide more power, or??

Thanks!

[rwilner]

But for the 914, it seems like people prefer the dual carbs, correct? Are the Weber carbs more reliable, or do they provide more power, or??

In general: Stock FI ~= PEFI > Dual Carbs > Single Carb.

All 914-4s came with FI from the factory (the sixes came with carbs). The stock cam is optimized for FI so unless the engine internals are matched to the carbs, you'll lose power and drivability with them. The drivability of the single carb setup is not good due to the length of the intake runners...the vaporized fuel condenses in the runners.

That said, some of the FI parts (particularly the MPS) are rare/NLA. This makes them expensive and the FI won't work without them. That's why people convert to carbs 9 times out of 10...they either don't know how to troubleshoot and fix the FI or they can't get a part they need in a timely fashion.

Note that Chris Foley (a member/vendor on this site) has a solution to the #1 reason why MPS's fail.

Personally, I'd either look for a car with an engine built for carbs or an original engine with original FI. At your price point you should have to make 0 compromises.