Getting back into the 914 world, My history and next steps. Options

[vonsteigerho]

I'm a newbe to this forum and getting back into being a 914 owner.

Back in highschool (class of '83) I had a '70 1.7 liter from Florida. When I bought the car, it had high miles. The only thing good about the car was the frame that had no rust and was straight. I had to rebuild everything else. Regardless, I loved that car and dream of it to this day. Wasted a lot of time and money fixing it up before getting a '74 part car with shot longintudinals. Put the engine, tranny, shifter linkage, interior, rims from the '74 into the '70. When I was done, I had a really nice car. Sold the car in '87 when I graduated college and bought a Jeep.

I'm ready to become a 914 owner again. I have a space in the garage and a few more bucks to spend than when I was in highschool. However, I have 2 kids so not a ton of time and not a lot of money.

This time around, I know a lot more about 914's and what it takes to build the car I want. Things are starting out a bit backwards, because I'm buying the parts car first. Negotiating to pick up a '74 2.0 rust bucket in my home state of NJ. The price is $800 without the rims, but still far in excess of $800 in parts. I just was the car for the 2.0 liter and the midshifting tranny.

Here is where I need your help. Because the '74 will give me enough parts to build a road worthy car, I'm really just looking for a road worthy frame with a title. Any suspension upgrades would be ideal.

I don't plan on doing a restoration or create a show car. Instead, I want to build a lightweight roadster with highperformance 4 cylinder, tuned suspension and improved breaks. Most of the money and time will go into the engine.

If any of you guys live near NJ and own a chasis that fits the bill, please let me know. I've been reading these postings for a while and realized there are guys out there will multiple cars never seeing the road.

It is my plan to keep this thread going once I get a car so I can ask a lot of questions. For example, how can I replace the headlight motors with a manual pull to save weight? How do you balance a motor?

I will also start a build thread when the time comes.