New to me 75 914 1.8 in Copper Metallic, Former Texas car in storage for 20+ years then another 5 or so Options

[914rrr]

I recently purchased a 75 1.8 in Metallic Copper L99K.

I wasn't really looking for a 914 but my wife alerted me to it on FB. I'm usually skeptical about teeners for sale online and I'd pretty much given up hope of finding a relatively rust free 914 that didn't require years on jack stands to be roadworthy for a reasonable price. This one met all the criteria and then some.

The seller posted some fairly good pics including the underside. It looked surprisingly clean in pics and even better in person. It started, ran, and drove reasonably well in sellers' backyard.

Story was, it belonged to the sellers brother who purchased it of Texas 20+ years ago. He drove it for a couple of years, it developed some oil leaks, he parked it and he had health issues. It was acquired by his son or grandson who had the engine rebuilt by Tony Proasi (who took 1.5 years to get around to rebuilding it), but decided it was too small for him and turned his attention to a Miata, hence the sale.

Here's the first pic:

[914rrr]

OK, so I was able to open the rear trunk, but now it won't latched closed. I tried pushing the solenoid release button and the solenoid doesn't seem to move much when the trunk is open.

Long term I'd rather not have the rear light panel and do back to stock with a key lock push button.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

[rjames]

OK, so I was able to open the rear trunk, but now it won't latched closed. I tried pushing the solenoid release button and the solenoid doesn't seem to move much when the trunk is open.

Long term I'd rather not have the rear light panel and do back to stock with a key lock push button.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Make sure the latch and receiver are aligned when you close the trunk.

The PO of my car installed a reflector and electronic solenoid, which promptly failed a few months after I bout the car. I drilled a very small hole in the trunk and attached a bike brake cable to the latch and ran it down through the hole. Pull it and and the trunk opens. I'd recommend installing a similar cable pull (others have done it more elegantly) or getting rid of the reflector. You don't want the mechanism to fail when the trunk is closed.

[rick 918-S]

OK, so I was able to open the rear trunk, but now it won't latched closed. I tried pushing the solenoid release button and the solenoid doesn't seem to move much when the trunk is open.

Long term I'd rather not have the rear light panel and do back to stock with a key lock push button.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Make sure the latch and receiver are aligned when you close the trunk.

The PO of my car installed a reflector and electronic solenoid, which promptly failed a few months after I bout the car. I drilled a very small hole in the trunk and attached a bike brake cable to the latch and ran it down through the hole. Pull it and and the trunk opens. I'd recommend installing a similar cable pull (others have done it more elegantly) or getting rid of the reflector. You don't want the mechanism to fail when the trunk is closed.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) 7 of 9 had a reflector. I like them. But if the battery goes dead you can't get in the trunk. Add a backup cable you can reach from under the rear panel. Nice find!