1971 914-4 Clearance Height?, Noticed my 914 is leaning ... should I be worried? Options

[unclemoki]

My recently "partially restored" 914-4 seems to have a noticeable lean. I checked the distance from the ground to the wheel-well all around and this is what I got:

Front Passenger/Right: 26"
Rear Passenger/Right: 23.5"

Front Driver's Side/Left: 25"
Rear Driver's Side/Left: 22.5"

I don't know what's "normal" for 914's but I'm wondering if I should be worried? I want to do more work to the car (electrical, shifting) but I feel like this needs to get sorted out first. I checked some pics from 2024 to compare and it looks like it might have been like this for a while so not sure why it seems much more noticeable now.

Any advice/thoughts/suggestions?


Quick History:
My late dad was the original owner. It was his daily driver for many years and then garaged for many years after he retired. At some point he passed it along to me. I'm not aware of any major body damage. I've heard stories of it being involved in an accident in the early 70's but I don't have any details.

I like to tinker but I'm no mechanic and I don't know much about 914's. In early 2020's I started a restoration project with a local shop - body (remove rust and dents), fresh paint, rebuilt engine, new exhaust, refresh interior ... spent more than I should have but got it looking pretty and back on the road. Brought it home summer of 2024. I've driven it maybe 100 miles in 2 years.

Aug 2026 .... sorry about the orientation



Aug 2024 ... for comparison

[JeffBowlsby]

I would start by measuring to the chassis not the fenderwells. Flat/level garage floor to the corner doughnuts on the floor pan. Factory correct should be uniformly ~6 in.

[unclemoki]

I would start by measuring to the chassis not the fenderwells. Flat/level garage floor to the corner doughnuts on the floor pan. Factory correct should be uniformly ~6 in.

Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking that might be a good idea since I wasn't sure if the wheel wells were supposed to be the same height all the way around. Considering what @Jamie and @930cabman said, here is what I got measuring to the bottom edge of the 4 "donuts" (which all seem to jut out from the bottom about the same distance):

Front Passenger/Right: 8"
Rear Passenger/Right: 7.5"

Front Driver's Side/Left: 7"
Rear Driver's Side/Left: 6.5"

Which suggests only .5" difference front to back and 1" difference between the right and left.