observations on previous owner, 1974 914 1.8 Options

[brcacti]

I bought this from a younger guy who's relatives had the car so it was in the family for a good amount of time. He DID take care of the car BUT I noticed he did or at least tried to do some maintenance on the car himself. He was not mechanically inclined, less than me even (IMG:style_emoticons/default/slap.gif) . When putting the stock steering wheel back on I noticed he did not have the momo aligned right so one direction light did not cancel. I put the stock wheel on aligned so they both cancel. Also he must have at some point tried to set the timing as it was retarded causing it to run very rich. My mechanic advanced it 5-8 after the electronic ignition was installed and now I don't get that massive rich gas smell. I heard it was not always easy to set timing on these for beginners unless you're a mechanic. He MAY have not even used a timing light. My Mechanic told me to set the idle down if I wanted was 16, just did to about 11. I might set it down further in the next couple of days, want to drive it tomorrow and observe.

[mbseto]

I HAVE to take that attitude because at least half of the DAPO stuff on my car that I've had to fix were done by 35 years ago Me. ...

It all just becomes part of the history of the cars. Life stories.

All of life is like this. Much of the trouble I have with anything is due to 30 years ago Me, or 20 years ago Me, or 10 years ago Me. Or yesterday Me. Restoring a 914 is an analogy for all of life.

[ClayPerrine]

I HAVE to take that attitude because at least half of the DAPO stuff on my car that I've had to fix were done by 35 years ago Me. ...

It all just becomes part of the history of the cars. Life stories.

All of life is like this. Much of the trouble I have with anything is due to 30 years ago Me, or 20 years ago Me, or 10 years ago Me. Or yesterday Me. Restoring a 914 is an analogy for all of life.

I see things that I did to our 914s 20 years ago, and I just cringe. It works fine, but I have to fix it because I know better now. But those marginal repairs represent the history of the car. The cars "scars" if you will. The scars on my skin represent my personal history, and I can tell you where I got each one. Consider the scars on your 914 a source of pride, representing the fact that you have kept that car running for 30, 20, 2 or even a few years. A 914 with no scars doesn't exist. They all were scrapped years ago.