new person, a few stupid questions.. Options

[beast boy]

Hey all,
I currently own a '73 914 project, it was in a wreck, has been to the the body shop and has now been sitting in my driveway for about 9 months.
Anyway, first of all, I have changed oil, put a new battery in, etc. and now I basically wanna see if she'll start.. problem is, my only key broke off in the driver side door (I did manage to remove it.) Unfortunately, I have called every place in town, and they all want over $110 to re-key it. Before I do that, are there any other options? I am just dying to see if this car runs.. any possibility of starting her w/no key? I have no idea how to hotwire and deffinately do NOT want to screw up my ignition.

Also, after I get everything in working order, I was thinking it would be nice to replace the transmission w/something a little less awkward.. any possibility of fitting a tiptronic, or even an automatic? I live pretty close to a large junkyard/parts recycler that specializes in Porsche and Audi, so finding parts would likely not be an issue.

[scotty b]

$110.00 is REDICULOUS! I just had a key made for a 968 door handle, and then had all other locks made to match the original key for $75.00. Send them to Scott (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif) As for the tranny, there is no need to go with anything different with the stock engine up to 200 hp. Calling a 901 rock solid may be a bit of a stretch but it is a decent tranny. If you have a lot of vagueness in the shifter, you might want to invest in a bushing kit (around 70.00) that replaces all of the bushings associated with the shifting linkage. One other high priced (but werth it) option is a Wevo shifter. Good luck. BTW there's nothing wrong with British racing green.......except that it's British (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)