Where to start with sitting 914?, 914 has sat for 16 years, where to start? Options

[Planeswalker33]

After 10 years I was finally able to convince my Mother-in-Law to let me buy her 914. It has sat in her garage since 2004 and only been rolled out twice. I had always thought there was an overheating issue and something wrong with the steering. Once we got her cleaned up and started talking I found out the only issue was CA smog rules at the time. She parked it at the time thinking she needed to wait a few years to be grandfathered in and simply turned it into a surf board rack.

I have some decent experience working with Honda's and Chevy's but this is a first for me. So far I've cleaned and inspected the car as best I can. I removed the battery and though the battery pan is rusted, it's fine underneath. Two spots of rust just below the windshield and it's otherwise in good shape in regards to rust. I've started my list of small parts such as taillights, but I'm really trying to find something that can help guide me through some of the more critical issues I see.

First and main issue, is that the car was simply parked and then not used. It's got about a half tank of gas in it and nothing was done other than deflating the tires a little about 5 years ago. I've started researching parts and assume I'll replace the fuel lines and tank. That doesn't seem exceptionally difficult from what I've found online.

If anyone can point me in a direction of steps to get a car going again that has sat full a fluids it would be much appreciated. Hopefully I can get her running by the end of the Summer. Thanks!

[wonkipop]

@planeswalker - i have just recommissioned my car (74 1.8) after an identical period of storage.

if the car has been dry stored in a closed garage you might be surprised by the internal state of the engine. vw motors can be amazing. so-cal is very close to identical climate with a lot australia where i am. there are stories of vw motors down here that might have been the inspiration of woody allen's sleeper movie scene?. even in the 80s people were pulling 50s vws out of garages and firing them virtually straight up.

likely the fuel system is shot from tank to injectors even if it doesn't look it. esp if the car is with original fuel system intact. the lines to look out for are the plastic ones through the centre tunnel. these will be brittle towards the rear of the car, even in the rear most portion of the tunnel. strangely the ones that came out of my car were still flexible and clean and clear through the middle sections of the tunnel even after 46 years.

the lines from tank to top end of tunnel lines, the fuel pump, the filter, the lines from the pump to the injector fuel rails and from the there to the injectors along with the injectors themselves were all replaced. the injectors were shot and would not come to life even after several cleans. managed to get hold of a set of unopened bosch 75 beetle injectors out of a guy in colorado just pre co vid chaos. these are becoming hard to find, no longer manufactured. pulled the fuel tank and washed it out and treated the interior. was not too bad.

the only fuel system item that still worked was the cold start injector.

i had a harder time than us owners with the centre tunnel fuel lines. in the usa there are kits. i have a rhd converted car so ...thats another story.
had to fabricate my own.

all vacuum lines in the engine bay - though may not have needed to do that. most were still very good with tight fits. redid the oil filler cap seal. an important one.

push rod tube o-ring seals had dried out. can be replaced in type 4 engines easily. will leak oil after an engine has been hibernating.

did a full service on the engine. which dealt with rocker cover gaskets, sump plugs etc.

i was working with a trained mechanic (benzes and 911s his speciality). the motor turned fine by hand. he was in charge of the reawakening. the usual methods were applied. a lot of hand turning. then spinning it up for oil pressure. it started. straight up. and ran.

its been gently driven back into life - there are other seals that can blow in a vw engine. oil cooler. etc and so on. time will tell. but the engine is running beautifully for the moment.

still working away on all the odds and ends that perish and go hard. no matter how you store the car.

ie - have rebuilt the entire windscreen washer system. "worked when parked".
not after awakening. only thing that still functioned was the line from the spare tyre to the pressure bottle. everything else replaced to coax it to come to life.
had to clean out the valve in the steering column. full of calcium deposits. but got it working again.

oddly brake system was fine apart from replacing all the flexible hoses.
the calipers themselves operated just fine and had not seized.
you should be as lucky if your car has been garage stored.

test driving it for last month or so reveals a back wheel bearing has dried out and will have to be replaced. clutch is slipping very slightly despite adjustment.
for the first time in its life of 46 years the gearbox is going to be dropped for a clutch and rear wheel bearing replacement. engine is staying in. never dropped.

had to get in and lubricate door locks. all had dried grease. crc did the job.
discovered factory glued plastic behind the door cards. guess no-one had ever had the door cards off in the 15 years before i owned the car. certainly i had never been in there before 3 weeks ago.

what else.
suspension was rebuilt.
might not be necessary in every case.
orig shocks were shot in mine. they deteriorate anyway just sitting.
new shocks, new bushings through out.

new tyres.

a new muffler. still orig muffler had quietly finished corroding inside.
standard kombi van muffler for a type 4 engined kombi (van in american).
we did a bit of surgery on the inlets, flipping them. the muffler will then mount as per standard 914 1,8 muffler. all a 1.8 muffer is - a variation on a type 4 vw muffler.
more affordable option for me than shipping repro stock muffler from usa.

been a bit in bringing one back from a long sleep.
its taken me a leisurely 7 months.
more than i thought, even though i believe i was being realistic when i set out to do it last october.

the wiper washer system was the last thing to do in my head. but got through it.
almost defeated by the steering column valve. but persisted.
had to keep walking away from it. repeated frustrating moments.
who would have thought that harmless looking fred flinstone tech would be such a pain.


be paranoid about the fuel system is my advice.