RHD 914, what's value of a rhd 914 Options

[9146-racer]

Hi, I haven't been on here for ages, sorry to have missed you all.
I have just been reading an article on the RHD Crayford cars and really would appreciate a value for one.
My car is a 1969 Crayford, in fact I understand it to be the first one ever.

I've owned it for about 30 years and now am considering parting with it, but what's it worth?

[wonkipop]

the angst about the pedals is real.
if any of you ever got the chance to drive a lhd 911 and then hop straight into a rhd 911 you would instantly understand.

it all feels right in a lhd 911. you stretch out for the gas pedal left hand drive and you punch the clutch straight out in front. the pedals are skewed but it suits LHD.
(same goes for a 914 lhd).

imagine stretching your leg to punch the clutch where the gas pedal is!

a 911 is narrower than a 914 and the skewed business is "manageable".
its even more skewed in a 914.

study some photos of the pedals in lhd 911s compared to rhd 911s.
you will see what i mean.

in a rhd 911 the brake and clutch pedals are really close together.
in a lhd they are spread apart and the brake pedal is close to the accelerator pedal.

so its not good to just stick a rhd 911 pedal cluster into a rhd 914.

crayfords cut the brake pedal as far as we could tell and welded a piece to extend it across to the right and get it closer to the accelerator pedal.
the porsche factory should have taken a close look at what they did.
it was a bunch of right hand drive country engineers making a critique of the job the lhd drive country did producing rhd cars (ie their rhd 911s).

even today i see rhd 911s in aus that guys have done all sorts of work to the pedals on to try and get a level of comfort that suits their style.

converting to rhd was not simply a matter of reproducing the lhd dimensions.
things change when you go to the other side of the car.
and somehow crayfords got it right and they did this by adjusting things.

i've sat in a few rhd 914s down here.
i've sat in some that just make you wonder what was going through the head of the person who did it. and what went wrong?
the crayfords cars feel natural and right.
because of that they are the template.
not that anyone is ever going to do it ever again.

[Tom_T]

the angst about the pedals is real.
if any of you ever got the chance to drive a lhd 911 and then hop straight into a rhd 911 you would instantly understand.

it all feels right in a lhd 911. you stretch out for the gas pedal left hand drive and you punch the clutch straight out in front. the pedals are skewed but it suits LHD.
(same goes for a 914 lhd).

imagine stretching your leg to punch the clutch where the gas pedal is!

a 911 is narrower than a 914 and the skewed business is "manageable".
its even more skewed in a 914.

study some photos of the pedals in lhd 911s compared to rhd 911s.
you will see what i mean.

in a rhd 911 the brake and clutch pedals are really close together.
in a lhd they are spread apart and the brake pedal is close to the accelerator pedal.

so its not good to just stick a rhd 911 pedal cluster into a rhd 914.

crayfords cut the brake pedal as far as we could tell and welded a piece to extend it across to the right and get it closer to the accelerator pedal.
the porsche factory should have taken a close look at what they did.
it was a bunch of right hand drive country engineers making a critique of the job the lhd drive country did producing rhd cars (ie their rhd 911s).

even today i see rhd 911s in aus that guys have done all sorts of work to the pedals on to try and get a level of comfort that suits their style.

converting to rhd was not simply a matter of reproducing the lhd dimensions.
things change when you go to the other side of the car.
and somehow crayfords got it right and they did this by adjusting things.

i've sat in a few rhd 914s down here.
i've sat in some that just make you wonder what was going through the head of the person who did it. and what went wrong?
the crayfords cars feel natural and right.
because of that they are the template.
not that anyone is ever going to do it ever again.

Wonki -

It's nice to have another member with the passion for sharing info & details and for sharing them on here! Thanx & keep up the info flow!

You may have noted my "TMI...." at my avatar. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Now if you were also a fellow Rugger.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_bump.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/teef.gif)

Cheers Mate! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
///////

[wonkipop]

the angst about the pedals is real.
if any of you ever got the chance to drive a lhd 911 and then hop straight into a rhd 911 you would instantly understand.

it all feels right in a lhd 911. you stretch out for the gas pedal left hand drive and you punch the clutch straight out in front. the pedals are skewed but it suits LHD.
(same goes for a 914 lhd).

imagine stretching your leg to punch the clutch where the gas pedal is!

a 911 is narrower than a 914 and the skewed business is "manageable".
its even more skewed in a 914.

study some photos of the pedals in lhd 911s compared to rhd 911s.
you will see what i mean.

in a rhd 911 the brake and clutch pedals are really close together.
in a lhd they are spread apart and the brake pedal is close to the accelerator pedal.

so its not good to just stick a rhd 911 pedal cluster into a rhd 914.

crayfords cut the brake pedal as far as we could tell and welded a piece to extend it across to the right and get it closer to the accelerator pedal.
the porsche factory should have taken a close look at what they did.
it was a bunch of right hand drive country engineers making a critique of the job the lhd drive country did producing rhd cars (ie their rhd 911s).

even today i see rhd 911s in aus that guys have done all sorts of work to the pedals on to try and get a level of comfort that suits their style.

converting to rhd was not simply a matter of reproducing the lhd dimensions.
things change when you go to the other side of the car.
and somehow crayfords got it right and they did this by adjusting things.

i've sat in a few rhd 914s down here.
i've sat in some that just make you wonder what was going through the head of the person who did it. and what went wrong?
the crayfords cars feel natural and right.
because of that they are the template.
not that anyone is ever going to do it ever again.

Wonki -

It's nice to have another member with the passion for sharing info & details and for sharing them on here! Thanx & keep up the info flow!

You may have noted my "TMI...." at my avatar. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Now if you were also a fellow Rugger.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_bump.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/teef.gif)

Cheers Mate! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
///////

aussie rules down here in oz-mexico, old game is played north of the murray river. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

[Tom_T]

aussie rules down here in oz-mexico, old game is played north of the murray river. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

I had played your Footie Cousin - Gaelic Football, a few times back in college 1970-74 when playing Soccer (Football) with the Irish Rovers Athletic Club in the LA Area.

But they frowned on too much contact, as did Soccer & your Footie.

So I was never inclined to try Footie - although there is/was a local Footie Club here in Orange County CA, nor to continue playing Soccer nor Gaelic Football after college.

But I did continue playing Rugby Union for 26 years from collegiate thru our Div 1 Club & Grad School, then Old Boyz 1970-96.

I just preferred the more physical XVs - even over our American Football that I'd played age 7-17 high school.

Your post info didn't say where in OZ you're at, but SW-OZ makes sense for Footie.

Gotta love those all too serious about themselves guys in white coats & hats pointing for scores! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
///////

[wonkipop]

aussie rules down here in oz-mexico, old game is played north of the murray river. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

I had played your Footie Cousin - Gaelic Football, a few times back in college 1970-74 when playing Soccer (Football) with the Irish Rovers Athletic Club in the LA Area.

But they frowned on too much contact, as did Soccer & your Footie.

So I was never inclined to try Footie - although there is/was a local Footie Club here in Orange County CA, nor to continue playing Soccer nor Gaelic Football after college.

But I did continue playing Rugby Union for 26 years from collegiate thru our Div 1 Club & Grad School, then Old Boyz 1970-96.

I just preferred the more physical XVs - even over our American Football that I'd played age 7-17 high school.

Your post info didn't say where in OZ you're at, but SW-OZ makes sense for Footie.

Gotta love those all too serious about themselves guys in white coats & hats pointing for scores! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
///////

live in home of aussie rules, melbourne.
supposedly a mixture of gaelic football and indigenous game of marngrook.
there used to be a lot more biffo in it in the old days when it was a slog fest played out in the mud of suburban ovals -- the old hip and shoulder etc. games been cleaned up and post modernised. not sure if for the better.

gaelic footy has the round ball - slightly easier to control than the oval ball.

the goal umpires are part clowns. all fun.
indigenous players are the stars of the game....so they should be - its their game.

i don't mind watching rugby but was way too lightweight to ever play it.
way too skinny, but suited to field positions in aussie rules where you had to be fast.
when i did play footy in high school i was out on the wing. run fast, bounce often and stab kick/punch it in to the full forward (you have to slow down to punt kick at higher altitude) and stay clear of getting run down and tackled by anyone bigger than me. once you got rid of the ball no one could touch you.....theoretically.
though a few times i got cleaned up in the sort of equal of whats it called in american football....getting sacked? used to happen about 1 second after i had disposed.
you would get a free kick out of it, if you could see between the stars.
tackles could be pretty hard in aussie rules, esp when there was a mass difference because you were usually going flat out when you were brought down.

ps - i know/knew a few maori boys who played the old game in NZ.
big units.
you would not want to run into one of them out on the field.
haka etc.

[Tom_T]

live in home of aussie rules, melbourne.
supposedly a mixture of gaelic football and indigenous game of marngrook.
there used to be a lot more biffo in it in the old days when it was a slog fest played out in the mud of suburban ovals -- the old hip and shoulder etc. games been cleaned up and post modernised. not sure if for the better.

gaelic footy has the round ball - slightly easier to control than the oval ball.

the goal umpires are part clowns. all fun.
indigenous players are the stars of the game....so they should be - its their game.

i don't mind watching rugby but was way too lightweight to ever play it.
way too skinny, but suited to field positions in aussie rules where you had to be fast.
when i did play footy in high school i was out on the wing. run fast, bounce often and stab kick/punch it in to the full forward (you have to slow down to punt kick at higher altitude) and stay clear of getting run down and tackled by anyone bigger than me. once you got rid of the ball no one could touch you.....theoretically.
though a few times i got cleaned up in the sort of equal of whats it called in american football....getting sacked? used to happen about 1 second after i had disposed.
you would get a free kick out of it, if you could see between the stars.
tackles could be pretty hard in aussie rules, esp when there was a mass difference because you were usually going flat out when you were brought down.

ps - i know/knew a few maori boys who played the old game in NZ.
big units.
you would not want to run into one of them out on the field.
haka etc.

G'day Wonki -

I wondered if it were Melborne, since I have some PBS/ABS shows that I like to watch set there in Vik & SE-OZ; Dr. Blake, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, as well as having some Mates here over the years from the deep dark south end of OZ. One Rugger teammate went back to OZ in the 1990's, & was a Civil Engineer, but last I heard he relocated up in Sydney for the firm doing large projects. Our Irvine Coast RFC had a string of Ozzies coming through & changing out every few years when their visitor visas or work visas ran out, then went back to OZ.

I appreciated your "their game" indigenous comment, being one myself of ours (Cherokee/Seneca). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Size was why I never played our football beyond High School, but Rugby XVs offered more sizes & positions to still play full-on contact ball. Being "vertically challenged" at 5-9 myself & playing weight of only 150-170 during my years, but played at Scrumhalf - so I was always mixing it up with the Scrummie "big units", & have played with teammates & opposite Maoris, Samoans & other of the large unit Islanders. You just learn to be tough & try not to get hit blind sided, nor Dance on your head" when caught in the bottom of a Loose Scrum. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

So back to things 914 - I saw on your own topic for your 914s recommissioning that it's riding high up front, & on tires (tyres).

What most of us do is to adjust (turn) the front torsion bars adjustments to pull the front ends down 1-2 inches - then the handling gets much better & weight distribution goes to dead-on 50:50 weight distribution. Your 914 will handle much better at level to 0.5-1" lower up front.

Also your SP57 tires were Da Bomb back in the day before they went to hard rubber with age - if anything too soft & therefore piss-poor wear of 10-20,000 miles if you baby them. I had better luck with Semperit M401/M501 with the same dog-bone tread design, but lasted 40,000+/-, which was important in 1975> on a tight budget.

Today they are repopping the Michi XAS that you have & some period correct look with modern rubber compounds Pirelli, and a few others. Look on Longstone Tyre UK website for some ideas, then see if they have an OZ affiliate or similar vintage tyre seller down under.

There is a Tires & Wheels nailed topic in the Originality & History Forum which posted some of the OEM size tires - if that's the direction you're wanting. Otherwise, the Garage Forum will get you better feedback on modern wider lower profile tires that work.

However, since your 914 is so low mile, & you won't want to use any tire which will give you "ghost mileage" (e.g.: 195/65R15, 205/60R15, etc.) - nor that will cause rubbing damage to your wheel wells.

The same would apply to the OP's Crawfords in here, it being so unique.

If you don't mind less mpg & a bit harder turning at low speed - they're still repopping the old school racer favorite Michi 185/70VR15 XWX with the , but they're pricey, and will look good on an all stock car (RHD convert aside).

While not the old school dogbone SP57 look - Dunlop Classic does have Sport Classic in both 165/80HR15 & 185/70VR15 flavors. But it's tread pattern reminds more of the Michi that came OE on my `85 BMW 325e E30 coupe - where I may use them.

And for the more economical end of classic size tires - Vredestein's Sprint Classic also comes in both of those sizes, but the tread is more of the Brit Tyre look on XKE, MGB, etc. to me.

Hopefully this will help you get your 914's feet sorted.

Ian the OP on here is probably well acquainted with Longstone Tyres, and may be able to offer other classic choices to shod 914s in the UK & Commonwealth.

Hope this helps mate.

Cheers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
Tom
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