Adventures of an old 914-6, Keeping it in the family and making memories Options

[vintage914racer]

As a regular lurker, and occasional forum participant (primarily when I find myself in a pickle and need to "phone a friend") I've always enjoyed ongoing build and "keeping them on the road and running" threads. So in an effort to do the same for myself, and perhaps prevent haphazardly ad hoc and disjointed threads for projects and updates, I figured I'd try to pull things together into my own, ongoing thread.

This thread is about "Speedy," my 1970 factory 914-6. The car has spent more time off the road than on, but as of late I've proclaimed it's the year of Speedy and started tackling a long list of updates. Before we get into those details, here's a bit about Speedy...

My memories with Speedy go back the the mid-80's when I was a pudgy four or five year old. Back when safety was more of a suggestion than a requirement, I'd often tag along in the front seat between my mom and dad on backroad blasts and the occasional trip up to Brainerd International Raceway when IMSA used to run up there.

Why the name "Speedy?" Well I suppose because as a kid I saw the 180mph speedy, felt my dad's right foot initiate some speedy acceleration, and perhaps because I distinctly remember my mom, in the passenger seat look up from what she was reading, glance at the speedo and shriek upon the realization that we were doing 120mph. By 1980s perspective, particularly that of a 6 year old, the car was Speedy. By today's standards? I'm not sure. But it sure is fun. And for the record, I'm not typically one to name a car, but apparently I was as a youth. And its stuck.

Here's she is, for reference...



It's worth noting that my Dad bought Speedy after he overcame a horrible battle with blood cancer (where they initially gave him 60 days to live). After paying off some truly excessive hospital bills that piled up during his better part of a year spent in the hospital, Speedy was his "I kicked Cancer's ass" celebratory purchase. He bought it at Carousel Porsche Audi in Golden Valley, MN, and perhaps not by coincidence, when I was a teenager I kicked off 10 years of employment at that very same dealership.

Stay tuned for more about our early years with Speedy and my journey as caretaker...

[vintage914racer]

So, picking up where I left off...

With the RMS replaced, and new flywheel, clutch and pressure plate swapped in it was time to move on to my next project - oil tank oil line replacement. My old lines appeared original and had a healthy weep going at each hose connection. Fortunately, Patrick Motorsports was offering a pretty good sale price on the three lines I needed, so I whipped out the AMEX and waited a few days for them to arrive. I then put off the job for a good three weeks or so.

At some point during my procrastination window I fell into "get the 914 vintage race car ready for Road America mode" and quickly learned that I had some pretty serious chassis issues on the other 914 in my stable. Fortunately Rick (Rick918-S) came to the rescue there. You read all about that adventure here via this link:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=366018&hl=

And here's a teaser photo of the work...



...and an on-track shot confirming Rick's repairs did the trick. See that vinyl face on the site of the car? No, that's not me, I'm not that vain, rather it's a tribute to my Dad. He raced this car long before I took it over. For better or worse as I've progressed into my 40s I look more and more like him.




But back to repairs on Speedy, as that's what this thread is all about. Not the orange race car (that hasn't been named to my children's dismay)

To do the job right I had to remove the oil tank. I'd done it before prior to shipping the car up to Rick in Duluth for the longitudinal/pan repairs, but it had been years. I remembered there was a trick to doing it, but that's all I remembered. So, after removing the LR wheel, rocker cover and other miscellany, I spent an hours or so wrestling the oil tank trying to get it out. It wasn't happening.

In my frustration I didn't snap any photos, but in a nutshell, when I installed the tank last time I had the lower line attached in such a way that it could sneak the tank in, however the fitting would not clear the chassis coming back out. After some thinking I broke out the dremel and cut the the darn hose fitting off. I somehow managed to do so without damaging the tank or the adjacent chassis area. I'd call that a win. Then, with the finesse of a freshman at his first homecoming dance, I spun the tank around and out of the darkest confines of the inner fender.

I reveled in my win, got distract with other life things, maybe s squirrel in the yard, or perhaps a combination for the next week or two until I resumed work on oil tank. I made quick work of installing the new lines and wrangling the tank back into it's home.

Here's a few upshots to prove I'd done my job.





And going through my photos I ran across this one I forgot to share leading up to the RMS repair. Here you'll see I'm not afraid to employ child labor, you know, in the spirit of teaching them a thing or two about auto mechanics.