about to buy my first 914 Options

[iankarr]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to buy my first 914 and thought I'd say hi and see if the group has any pointers.

I've been doing lots of homework and am pretty familiar with the big things to look out for. I'm wondering if you guys could tell me the top 3 or 5 things you've learned about these cars that you didn't know when you bought your first one.

Do you guys have any thoughts about 1.8 vs. 2.0, specific model years being better than others from a reliability standpoint?

I have a 65 mustang which I've taken apart and reassembled twice. Pretty comfortable doing my own work, but I've never wrenched a german car. Any thoughts on how hard/easy it is compared to american cars from the same era?

Thanks! Looking forward to contributing to the group!

[orthobiz]

I bought a 1.8 from California a year and a half ago. I love the car now but had to put in about as much as I paid for it to have it "sorted out." Little things will add up fast, I had Brad Mayeur do all of my work (he's fantastic 914ltd) so I paid "retail" when it came to the work. So some quick things that my car had/needed that got fixed:
Turn signal did not click off on return
Accelerator pedal stuck like crazy
Roof seal (the big one) was missing (take off the roof!)
Other missing seals
Front hood seal in pieces (pick it up and look for rust in the track)
Front hood gap with bumper not perfect (bumper bent)
Jack up each side and look around (prior rust repair on chassis, done well)
New windshield (will make you feel like a million bucks driving!)
Heat supply (passenger side out)
Windshield washer didn't work (it does now!)
And so on...

Also, I learned a lot when I drove it back to Michigan, so it's "not enough" to just drive around the block, but you won't typically have the luxury to take it for an entire weekend. But then you'll find out if the ventilation fan works and which bulbs need replacing and all the little stuff. It all adds up! Gary BSchairman introduced me to this concept and boy did I have a list of nitpicking things to fix when I drove it into Brad's 914 compound on the way home.

So right now it's my daily (sunshine) driver and I am absolutely loving it!

Also, you can't have too many pics and you need to post them here. People on the board will tell you all kinds of little things that you might not notice. Important things! My hell hole had a ton of surface rust, none of it perforated through where water could get into the longitudinals, but the original pics didn't show it well. Overall, the car had very very little rust, but I did have the engine dropped and the compartment resprayed. Like everyone here, I hate rust!!

Paul