Once and future owner? Options

[chmillman]

Hi all,

Once and former 914 owner – had a 1974 2.0 four cylinder back in the late 70’s - early 80’s… in California. I’m now located in Europe.

Looking to perhaps renew my 914 experience – it was one of my favorite cars. Maybe even with a modified 6, but they’re quite rare and pricey these days, a good four would be a reasonable option.

Back in the day I rebuilt or repaired practically everything on the car – including the engine (with the help of an expert friend) – I think the only part I didn’t do was the transmission.

Anyway, couple of questions to start:

Been looking at a few local examples (there are very few actually) and several of them don’t have the center console (under the dash between driver/passenger, with the clock, etc.). My ’74 did. I can’t remember now, was this an accessory, or was this just offered in the later model years? Can one get aftermarket ones if one desires?

Also the 2 liter VW engines had some of the first Bosch electronic fuel injection units. I know I had to replace mine (the "brain") once – are replacement/remanufactured units still available?

IIRC the heat exchangers were prone to leaks and rust-out – I imagine there are stainless replacements available (probably expensive)?

Let’s see – CV joints were a weak spot – I threw one once out in the middle of nowhere. I guess there are also aftermarket replacements to be had?

Mine had a hot engine starter problem – which seemed to be endemic for these cars – there was a fix-it kit available, but I still recall having to push-start the car after having driven it on the freeway for a couple of hours.

That’s all I remember for the moment… Any comments/suggestions appreciated!

Oh, and this forum does seem to be US-centric - logical, it's in English - I checked the Swiss 914 Forum (there is one actually) but there are zero posts... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) The German (Germany) forum is reasonably active, I'll be checking out that one too I guess, I do speak German. Any European residents in here? (Yes, UK is included even though you "opted out" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) )