First post , First 914-8, Saying hello Options

[Sean_S]

Hello All !

My name is Sean and I've been lurking here for a few hours and figured I'd best register since I just purchased my first 914 V8 conversion.

I live in Coos Bay Oregon as a Los Angeles escapee.

In my former life I was a machinery dealer and thankfully this has provided me with a full machine shop (kept the cream for myself). Hopefully this will help with that trials of owning this conversion.

I also have a custom Lotus Esprit S1 and a Toyota FJ-40. I've owned and converted several FJ's to V8's so I'm comfortable with tweaking and re-tweaking. I may at some point convert the Lotus, but the engine is fresh so it will wait.

In any case, here is a photo of the 914 conversion. I haven't gotten into it yet, but basically it's a 5.0 EFI conversion...let me know what you think?

Also, I am interested in hearing from the V8 guys (and gals) about the performance of their cars and any 91(8) advice that a newbie must know.

All the Best
Sean

(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v500/twomarbles/914/DSC00714.jpg)

[Sean_S]

Thanks Everyone!

Of course it feels good to hear people say they like (or at least can tolerate) the car you just bought.

My Lotus Esprit S1 has body mod's which keep the angular look but gently smooth out the lines. It has the flavor of an S2...almost breaching the V8 look (sorry but this will only make sense to Lotus people).
Lancruiser conversions to V8 are very common (and I've done a few) but still break the hearts of hardcore keep-it-stock folks.
Point is, I'm aware of the distaste often involved in messing with the body/engine of a classic car.

Personally I'm not polarized in this regard. My criteria is that it makes the car *better* than it was going to be otherwise. I'd hate to see a super condition classic get converted, but I also hate to see a car that could get attention from someone who converts go to the junk yard instead because it really will never find a purist who is willing to invest that much money to restore *that* car. I have to say that you hear alot more purists groaning about modified cars than you see purists at the junkyard laying down cash to rescue these cars from the crusher.

For the thought on V8 owners treading lightly on this forum...I'm up for that.
For the record, I'm considering doing a V6/8 conversion on my Lotus if the engine ever dumps. The 914 guys have nowhere near the wrath of the Lotus folks in this arena...but then again, it doesn't usually cost $9+ to rebuild a 914 motor.

At least with the 914 you have the option to go Porsche-Porsche in a conversion. Buying a Lotus V8 to replace a Lotus 4 cyl' is close to impossible from almost every angle.

For me, if I were doing it, I'd probably have gone with the 911 3.0 or 3.6 conversion, but the 5.0 EFI Ford is how the car came so I'll find the positive aspects of that route and enjoy them.

Now to answer a few questions...

First, that is not my garage LOL! That is the showroom of the PO who sells aftermarket parts mostly for street racers (read "tuners") Sort of the Boyd Coddington of my town...wears plaid lumberjack shirts instead of flower print Hawaians tho' (this *is* Oregon ya know? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) He builds/customizes/restores and he built this 914 himself ground up (and it is ground up).
Don't be too disappointed, I think you will like my "garage" almost as much. It's 8500sqft with a full machine shop. No hardwood tho' (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I have not taken delivery of the car yet since it is raining and he and I are both finishing up some other projects.
Weather providing, I will have a lot more pic's and info in the next week or two.

I do know that the chop is 3" and the windscreen is moved forward and canted back to provide this...which makes for a trick in engineering the door windows to roll up. Apparently this has all been worked out. The car is in the stage where it was totally engineered, built, tested, and is now 90% reassembled after paint...owner got bored I guess.

The PO must be 6'3 and claims his head doesn't touch the top. I would tend to believe him since we now live in the same *small* town and BS comes back around pretty quick.

The Targa "bar" by the way is removeable for the complete convertable look...nicely done too, clean and not hacked.

Anyway, I really appreciate the welcome and I suppose I'll be around here pretty often, so nice to meet all of you!

Sean