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]

Well it's a little dark outside for photos. I just wanted to see what in particular I might try to shoot.

I did learn that the dist' is next to the firewall...plenty of clearance.

The whole engine is in a very nice cradle...even the mufflers and such are integrated into the cradle design...pic's to come on this.

The wheels are 12's in the rear and 10's in the front. The rear tire size is 345... exact numbers to come.

I think you guys will enjoy how clean it is as a full convertable...again...pic's tomorrow. Hard to believe that the top still fits with the 3" chop done by canting the windshield...you'll see soon.

The trunks (hoods?) are both glass as are the external door skins. This wasn't grafted onto the exterior of the doors but instead the doors were "split" down the middle so what the panel screws into is metal and the exterior is also glass (does that make sense).

The PO put in "painless" wiring for most of the car, but it has a Ford harness for engine management which I have to figure out. This would be a piece of cake for a FI experienced person to get on the road, but I'll have to suffer a bit of a learning curve to do it.

At 5' 10", I have an inch to spare with the factory seat sat in place. Not gonna be a bunch of room for those sofa chairs I'm so fond of unless I wear a helmet.

More soon...
Sean