how'd you get hooked?, your 914 story Options

[grouperalley]

Peter Gregg sebring 1971 the 917's and sunoco ferrari were freat but the image of that little red 914 coming out of the corners and passing the calloway corvette's stayed with me for 30 years

[markb]

Go here:

http://members.rennlist.com/markbs914s/


that's most of the story (only 4 years out of date now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) ). Someday I'll update it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Michael N]

Here is the story....I owned a 1982 911SC Targa and have a love for Porsche cars. I am a surfer. I went over to Santa Cruz from San Jose one morning for a dawn patrol surf session. I was skunked by flat surf and drove home wave less. While reading the morning paper, I saw a ad for a Porsche. The ad read "1974 Porsche. Runs good, Straight body. $1000." I was intrigued. What kind of Porsche was it? Did I fall on a super deal? Was it a 911 or a 914? I called and went over to the shop that was selling the car right away. I did know what to look for on a 911 since I spent a year looking for the right 911 to buy. For the 911 I spent time asking questions, reading magazines and books, and scouring the web for the what to look for when buying a used 911. This was different. This was a 914 and I did not have a clue. I was unaware or the rust issues that these cars could encounter in the engine compartment, trunk areas, or behind the drivers seat. I did not know that the 4 cylinder cars came with different size engines (1.7, 1.8, and 2.0). At the point that I went to look at the car, I had never even driven a 914 but knew that I always wanted to check one out. I drove the car that the repair shop had just completed tuning and thought it was rough. I was willing to give it a shot since the car was so reasonable. I purchased the car for $800.00. I drove the car home 15 miles on the freeway at 70MPH on dry rotted Maypop (may pop at any time) tires.
Once home I started searching about 914's. I wanted to find out more about the cars and check out more about the color scheme. I came across Jeff Bowlsby web-site and emailed him. Oddly enough the authority on 914LE's in the US lived about 5 minutes from my hose in San Jose. Jeff came over and shared a lot of info about 914's and the LE cars. He even let me drive his restored white 914 2.0 so I could compare the power and handling. He had passion for 914's and it was infectious.
The LE I bought was in decent shape but needed work. Cracked windshield, dry rotted tires, poor spongy brakes that needed to be pumped just to start to get any pressure to get it to stop. The body was rough with a cracked valance, door dings galore, dent on rear quarter panel, and cracked turn signal lenses. I did luck out though for not knowing what to look for when buying a 914. I got a complete unmolested car with a 2.0 engine that was complete and running including the original fuel injection. The hell hole was in good shape and the longs were terrific. The parts were all there just not cared for well over the years.
What I did like about the car was how well it handled. I was used to my '82SC but liked how light the steering felt on the 914. It was go-cart like and a lot of fun. I could not have two "fun" cars, but my wife liked the car and let me restore it for her. She liked the colors and thought it was fun to drive too. I started with fixing the brakes . New 205/60/15 Yokohamas were installed. I changed the front shocks to Koni adjustable sport shocks and the rear to progressive 165lb springs. With the stock front and rear sway bars the car now handled and braked like a dream. I tracked down a parts car to get some of the hard to find parts such as the front Targa top to windshield seal and expensive lenses and other bits and pieces. Rather than completely destroying the parts car I did parts swapping and took the better of the two cars parts to make the LE the best I could afford. I did have to buy a lot of factory rubber from Porsche to make the car nice again. One of the hardest pieces to find was a original front LE valance. I wanted the car to be as original as I could afford and this was one of the parts that can easily be distinguished from the aftermarket LE valances.
Most body shops do only insurance work or will charge an arm and leg for classic cars. I had quotes go in to the $10K + range and was starting to think about doing the body and paint myself. I knew that the black would be very difficult since it would show any imperfections. I took the car to Bodylines Body Shop in San Jose for a paint job. Rich and Kelly, owners of Bodylines, took the job reasonability as long as I would not rush them in the process. They were going to work on the car as time permitted. They warned me up front that they would take on the job but insurance work was the priority. They said it could take as long as 3 months to complete. They usually have do insurance work only but will do classic cars although it is not their primary business. I did the stripping of the car at home which included the removal of almost every body trim piece including all whether stripping and all glass. Bodylines did a fantastic job and made the black and yellow car glow. I reassembled the car at home in my garage over the following several months (Feb 2006- June 2006). I have two kids, 2 years and 4years old, and was trying to balance being a good dad and completing the car for German Autofest in Ventura 2006. It was the Mid-engine mania year and I wanted to show the car. The car was completed in late June 2006.
On July 3rd, less than 2 weeks after completing the reassembly, my neighbor was spraying a new coat of Cabot clear wood finish on his newly installed fence. The wood finish was a urethane. He was on the inside of his fence and when he had moved to the out side I thought to my self - Oh Crap!!! The car was parked across the street while I was working in my garage. I did not know he was spraying and he did not check the area since usually no cars are parked near. He had oversprayed the fence and a fine coat of urethane was now sitting on all of the horizontal pieces of the newly completed car. The urethane would not polish off. I took he car to a detailer and no luck. The fresh paint was ruined. I had to strip the car again for a new paint job. Bodylines stripped the paint down to metal and did a terrific job again. They turned the car out with in weeks this time and I was able to get it reassembled in time for GAF.
I have since sold my SC for an original 914/6. My 914/6 is powered by a MFI 2.4S engine from a 1973 911S. The light weight, high revving power and superb balance makes it one fun car to drive. Yes, it is an addiction!

[Mike Bellis]

When I was a kid (maybe still are?) my parrents owened several gas stations. People would give us VW's. Started wrenching on them when I was 9. I think 914's are a natural progression. Here's a partial list.
60 Bug 1500cc
66 Bug radical unstreetable 1776 drag car, dual 48 IDA
63 Baja Bug 1600
69 Bug wide body (fiberglass), 4 spoke Cragen's, 2bbl webber (lame)
71 Super Convertible, got stolen and stripped (major POS)
66 Fastback typ 3, passenger door would fly open at random intervals
67 Fastback typ 3
63 Bus, double door, chop top, panel bus with RX7 engine (This thing was wicked fast, would not stop!)
71 914, Ford 5.0L v8 EFI
69 911 Targa, converted to a C2 wide body cabriolet, 3.2L
and present car
73 914 street legal track car, Chevy V8 EFI

That's only a few of the variants I have owned. I just can't leave well enough alone... My dad would always FAIL my smog checks back in the day. Asshole!...love you man...