75 914 Laguna Blue Project Options

[Graydingo]

Hello everyone, my name is Duane and I love me a Porsche project. So much so that I've had five air cooled cars (mostly projects mind you) in the last few years. I've pared that down to a mere 2 911s (one massive RSR project and a pretty good little driver 75.) By fate, every single one of them was a 75, or a 77 model year.
I guess I love an underdog and a project! Any-who, here's me latest acquisition...



A 1975 Porsche 914 2.0 in Laguna Blue L50C. What a color!



It all started when I found a 76 2.7 911 motor on craigslist. I inquired and got a snappy text back from a known number. Turns out, it was a friend and the owner of the local Porsche specialty shop. I went over to check out the motor and ended up buying it. A pretty clean 2.7 core, missing a few parts, but had a set of Italian 40 IDTP carbs on it.

While there, I was shown the 914 which the 2.7 was actually destined to go into at one point but then the owner decided to go nuts and planned to put a 3.6 in it.



He had acquired thousands in parts but lost motivation in the project. He had flares, elephant suspension and all kinds of stuff. Sadly (or perhaps fortuitously,) he had sold a lot of the new parts to another 914 enthusiast, so what was left was just the original car.

Already having a big project in my 74 RSR tribute, I passed on the 914 and headed home with my new 2.7. My 75 911 has a similar motor and It's ready to rebuild. I thought I would take the best parts off both motors and make a 2.8 twin plug beast for my 75. Ya never know what condition the crank or heads are in, so I figured it was a good plan to have more parts at the ready for cheap, and then sell everything left over later.

One thing that struck me about the 914 on that first visit, was that the car was extremely dry. Here's the ....ahem... heck hole.



Though the car was taken apart, the previous owner seemed to have all the original parts (though many of them were in his storage facility and not with the car.) Another cool factoid was that the car was actually purchased in a nearby Audi/VW dealership right here in Las Vegas. Vegas in '74 was very, very small, so to have a survivor 914 in the same town that it was 46 years ago is pretty cool in my opinion.



The car was more or less stripped in preparation for a GT conversion. I remarked in my mind about how solid the car was and went home that day thinking it was a good deal but that I'm a snobby 911 guy who doesn't buy anything but 911s :-P The car was definitely marinating in the back of my mind...

Fast forward a few months later and a younger friend was talking to me about project cars, and it got me excited about the 914. On a whim I reached out to see if it was still there and bought it the next day. I think I just really liked it and I fell in love with the color. It feels like a mix between Gulf Blue and Miami Blue. I'm actually painting my RSR Gulf, so I absolutely love all the cool blue colors.

The shop had a bunch of waterpumper parts stored in the back:



PO had the original Fuchs 4 lug wheels, but no tires. the 914 was also on a pretty sweet dolly, but unfortunately that wasn't part of the sale.



I took the wheels to a discount tire and got the cheapest tires I could buy, just so I could make it a roller for the impending flatbed trailer pickup appointment.



I had to scrounge around and find some lugs to mount them. Luckily I had some open 911 lugs as well as some 996 studs to complete the temporary fix.

After getting it back to the shop I thought: "I've got a complete project build going already, wouldn't it be fun to try to build a total survivor driver with original paint, dings, dents, damage and all, but have a bit of a sleeper engine and nice interior. So mostly original, but everything works and is nice in terms of get in, turn the key, take it to the grocery and not worry about parking it. "



Stay tuned for the paint correction...

[Graydingo]

Well sometimes pretty paint makes all the difference in motivation so I hired a friend of mine to buff the paint and polish the windows.






The doors are completely apart right now as I fix years of goobered up stuff. The glass looks amazing though.





The detail job turned out pretty dang good. I can't tell if it's been repainted or not. The door sticker looks original and there's not really overspray, but some panels have some weird flaking going on.

There are also some pretty good dents. A tough to get to one in the passenger A pillar, and this guy on the passenger rear quarter.



The drivers rear quarter is the worst. Something hit pretty good here.



Part of me wants to fix everything 100% and part of me is like "you don't have time to do this car like that right now"

I thought maybe I would keep the 4 lug if they were Fuchs, unfortunately I discovered this...



American Eagle replicas... No wonder they felt much heavier than expected.

Well now I have a set of rollers for paint or something, but I really think this is going to push me to 5 lug conversion now. Can't stand fake Fuchs.

It also has these white coilovers in back that look pretty worn. Sorry not a great shot as I was framing up the bolt for the shock.



I removed the brake caliper, and was going to remove all three when I discovered the fake Fuchs. Rather than buy real wheels, I think I might invest in 5 lug hub conversion. I have 3 sets of narrow body 911 wheels, so I think one particular set of Group 4 wheels would be perfect for the car.

I also want to upgrade my 75 911S to an aluminum crossmember which I already have. I have the Boge 3" front 5 lug 911 struts with new Bilsteins, I think I take those off, put that front end on the 914 and then buy the PMB rear 5 lug hub conversion.

I have 911R offset rear 7" wheels, though they are currently wrapped in 225/50 tires which probably wont fit under these narrow flares. Maybe...