Soul Searching no longer, What I've done with my '74 2.0 Options

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I bought my '74 2.0 about four years ago, and I've had a great time with it. It's mostly very original, except:

• Monza/Manta Exhaust
• No FI - had Progressive Carb when I bought it, now dual EMPI 40s
• Still original color, but had a mediocre overspray paint job by a PO

It's still the original ride height, and even the seatbelt-ignition interlock is still functional. I'm pretty certain that it's an original, numbers-matching engine. The PO had some decent quality metal rehab done in the longs & hellhole. A few of you have seen it in person. It's a fairly solid, fairly original driver. Odometer is frozen, but I'm guessing it's gone 130K+ miles.

For the past couple years, there's been a bad sound from the bottom end. Not loud, but noticeable to anyone who knows what they're listening for. (I was not among that group until I had a couple people point it out to me.)

Lately, it's been losing more oil -- and it seems to be losing more than what I see dripping on the ground. I'm getting compression/leakdown tested next week, even though I'm pretty sure I know what it'll say.

So I'm stuck with a tough decision:

• Park it -- I do *not* want to do this.
• Drive it til it grenades -- also, not my idea of fun.
• Rebuild the engine -- this leads to a bunch of other choices... carbs/EFI/heads/etc.
• Buy a motor -- also a lot of options here
• Sell it -- seems like a most inopportune time to do so...

I am perfectly happy driving it in stock form. It's just a fun driver. No ambitions about A/X, Concours, DEs, etc. I like the notion of keeping it very stock, but then again, the FI was gone before I bought it anyway. If I'm going to keep it carbed, is it time for a fatter cam? Resale value is a consideration, but not the only consideration.

OTOH, it might be cheaper in the short term to find another engine. Do I split up the numbers-matching engine from the car? Or try to keep it and buy a spare? I'd love to do some driving this summer/fall, but...

...I haven't budgeted for any of this. I can afford to put some money into it (although I'll be dipping deep into the spousal goodwill intangible fund).

I've got a week to decide what to do. Appreciate your input.

Am I overblowing the originality factor?
Is $5K better spent on a rebuild, or a replacement/upgrade?
Is $5K even the right ballpark for either of those options?

Help me get from (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad2.gif) back to (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) without breaking the bank...

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Just thought I'd update the World...

We are building a 2056 out of the original 2.0 engine. My stock cylinders had some minor pitting, which was enough to convince me to go to 96mms. The Ps & Cs are coming from European Motorworks - George also rebuilt the heads & rods (and balanced), and provided his G camshaft and a few other valvetrain goodies.

In the meantime, I hauled my gearbox up to Dr Evil's lair a few weeks ago and we rebuilt it in his garage. Also shipped my speedometer to North Hollywood for a rebuild, so I'll have a functional odometer to track the miles I'll be putting on the new engine.

"Excited" is extreme understatement. I can't wait to get back to driving. This will really be my first experience with a 914 making good power and shifting the way it should.

The only downside is that there are only a couple weeks left til the school year starts... which means dropping my kids off in the morning... which means no driving the 914 to work. I'll be making the most of weekends!