Build Thread - 73 restoration/learning project, Rust repair time Options

[Tilly74]

Hi, my name is Blake and I'm new.

This is "Betty" my 84 944, with some Fuchs wheels I wish I had now...This is the car that started it all. And yes that's Mid-Ohio, near where I'm from originally - Columbus, OH.



I live in Springfield, MO now, and work at a Yamaha motorcycle dealership right off of Classick Route 66.

By some miracle I traded an old Yamaha motorcycle for a 73 914 as pictured below.



I've been browsing this forum and have viewed what I believe to be a good majority of the threads, and I'm ready to get started!

Here are a few more pictures of the car and what I do know about it:







Engine: 1.7, aftermarket exhaust, single carb, used to have a/c. Starts and runs great. It's my first 914, but I was expecting a lot less than what this motor can do! My first time on the freeway I caught myself approaching 90 before I knew it. It's leaky though. It's almost ridiculous.

Transmission: all gears work, some grinding between, but can be avoided if you're careful.

Body/Frame: Sigh...it's a rebuilt salvage title, so it's been re-done post accident. I inspected it to the best of my ability prior to purchase and found no major issues, but upon closer inspection, may in fact need some rust repair. I'm hoping to learn to weld on this car, so bring it on.

Suspension: Not terrible. A little soft and boat like for my taste, but overall impressions were that it wasn't needing anything drastic immediately.




After an entire summer of putting it off, I finally got started. Ripped the interior out, found some homemade floor stiffening metal work, but overall not too much rust. We'll see what it looks like after I wire wheel everything. Pictures to come.

And I finally worked up the courage to tackle the motor pull. I felt completely crazy pulling a good running motor out of a vehicle, but figured it would be good for me and would help me learn the car a lot more quickly. It was a lot easier than I thought and I only needed a little help from my fiance.

Up went the car and in went the creeper:



4 hours and one trip to autozone for a 12pt CV Joint tool later, and out came this:









Plans for the car right now would be to clean up and seal up the drive train, address electrical issues, rebuild interior, new wheels, and paint someday, but ultimately its gonna be a daily/fair weather driver. I don't want to sink too much into something with a rebuilt salvage title. I may use this one as a donor vehicle for a clean title 914.

That's all for now, but hopefully this turns into some sort of build thread.

ANY information you can give me based on what you see is greatly appreciated!!! I'll take all the motivation and help I can get. I have ADHD that's untreated right now, so don't feel bad about bugging me for updates as I don't really have anybody encouraging or motivating me.