Question on Values Options

[BPic]

I have been stalking in here for months and I'm amazed by the information exchange here. I just purchased a 72 1.7 that I will be rebuilding. The discussion I would open is this: In looking at a full rebuild of the car above will the car be more valuable brought back to factory spec 100% original or set up with a bigger engine, say a 2.0 and slightly modified.
Not that I'm rebuilding this to sell right away. But, I always have an exit strategy with an investment like this and would like to get an idea of which route to go.
I'm sure I'll be posting a lot of questions here and I've already cataloged several posts with tips and pics of some of my questions thus far.

Any input will be greatly appreciated!

[theer]

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Welcome to the madness. These cars are fantastic.

But buying 914-4 needing restoration as an investment is probably not the right approach. Well, that's true of almost any car in this price range. Most major resto/conversion projects are underwater by the time they are done. Even if you do the ALL the work yourself, the parts do add up quickly, and you might just barely break even. If you have to hire-out the work, such as welding, body work, paint, engine build, you'll soon be deeper in the hole (I'm mixing metaphors, but you get the idea). LE's are possibly an exception and to a lesser degree '73 and on 2.0l's, as are any year unrestored low mileage originals in pretty much any configuration - but that's not what we have here.

I'm thirty years into owning my '72 (1.7l bumped to 1.9l) and probably just now approaching breakeven or "maybe" up a couple thousand (as is: two or three). But that's not why I bought it all those years ago. It's ridiculously fun to drive, relatively cheap to own, easy to work on, pretty rare & quirky (which works for me), worth more today than yesterday, but not worth so much that you'd panic taking it out everyday for a drive when the weather is nice (or not nice, for that matter).

Fix it. Drive it. Sell it later. Maybe you'll make money, maybe not.

My opinion, based on my experience. Your mileage may vary.