Raspberry 914 finally getting some updates, Exhaust, suspension and 5-lug Options

[Stratfink]

I bought my first (and only) 914 about 2 years ago from TDSkip after skulking around in the background here on the forum for a couple of years. I've really enjoyed the car and done a few upgrade and maintenance items (123 Dizzy, new TPS board, stereo, and some cosmetic stuff like Coco Mats). But I have been acquiring parts to backdate the exhaust, update the suspension, and to go 5-lug for quite awhile and finally got into the project. Between work and other projects it is going slow, but the deeper I get into it the more questions I have (and the scope of the project grows of course...).

Starting this thread to share some progress, but more importantly to call on the wisdom of the amazing 914 community for help since I have not done any of this work before.

Thought a good "before" pic would be a good way to start this off...



First step was getting the Monza exhaust and '75 Heat Exchangers off the car...



Generous amounts of PB Blaster were applied to the fasteners for several days before pulling this apart. Luckily no exhaust studs snapped - however in 3 locations the studs came out instead of the nuts coming loose.



You can see the condition of the threads in the picture. Also shown are the new nuts I purchased (although the copper lock nuts are the wrong thread size). I have not tried to remove the old nut from the stud now that the stud is out of the car - perhaps best to get new studs for these 3 locations. I also plan to use some anti-sieze for the re-install.



After getting the exhaust out I could see that there had been some oil leaks that should be addressed. More on that in the next post (as well as the start of the 5-lug work that I got into while stressing about the oil leaks...).

Thanks in advance - Joe

[Stratfink]

Got the SSI heat exchangers in and the muffler on yesterday with some trial and error to get everything lined up (and still have work to go on some of the warm air duct parts - the passenger side s-tube was not quite lining up...). Also figured out that I somehow ordered the wrong exhaust gasket (oops) so that will need to be remedied.

I was quite excited to get the car back on all fours after being in the air so long. I am almost at the max height on the adjustable perches and she seems to sit pretty low and mean. I may have to pull the passenger fender just a bit as the 205's clear but just barely.







Tomorrow’s plan: Reinstall the AAR and airbox, crank up the 2.0, and hope it fires up without issue. If all goes well, I’ll back her into the garage, get back on the QuickJack, and dive into the front suspension.