914 anomilies, model year overlaps? Options

[Pat Garvey]

Well apparently (according to "World" information) some early '72/4s were delivered with non-inertia seatbelts, while later builds had the retractable belts.

'72/6s appear to have the ignition switch on the steering column, as do all model year /4s.

So I wonder, did the factory produce any 1972 model 914s with a fixed passenger seat, or conversely deliver any '71s' with an adjustable passenger seat?

Or, are there any 1971 914s that had fresh air vents on the outboard ends of the dash, or 1972 models that didn't have these vents?

My own '70/4 (build date 01/70; delivered 04/70) had the "appearance package" w/leather steering wheel, chrome bumpers, vinyl rollbar trim but did not have factory installed fog lights. The fog lights and their requisite grilles were installed at the dealer @ delivery. My car also was not equipped with the tethered "footrest" that the '70 and '71 models came with. My early car also did/does not have any headliner material on the f/g roof.

I was just wondering just what sort of other trim and equipment variations from spec have been noted.

Paul

From the info & visuals that I've encountered through the years, '72 fours had a fixed passenger seat and non-retractable belts through May 72 production. June & forward production fours had the new belts and adjustable pass seat.

According to my information, '72/4's passenger seats were all moveable. Most with the non-retractable belts. Check your '72 sales brochure. It's quite clear in the pics. Also, read the R&T article from Feb '72 as well as many other books written on 914.
Don

I am also doubtful about the cutoff being May/ June 72. I have a very original 4 built April 72 that has both adjustable seats and retracting seat belts.

I find this VERY interesting. Does your doorplate decal indicate an April manifacture?

Does your car have a dashboard upper center vent?

[nathansnathan]

I find this VERY interesting. Does your doorplate decal indicate an April manifacture?

Does your car have a dashboard upper center vent?

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.914club.com-11782-1291418830.2.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.914club.com-11782-1291418831.5.jpg)

Yeah, born April 20, 1972, 72 model year, appearance group. I don't have any pics of my seats, actually, but this one you can see the rail at least. It has retractable belts. It has side vents, (or the holes for them, in the pic), no center vent on top. I'm almost sure it's original, it's like no one ever took this car apart. I think it had the original sparkplug wires. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[SirAndy]

I find this VERY interesting. Does your doorplate decal indicate an April manifacture?

Does your car have a dashboard upper center vent?

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.914club.com-11782-1291418830.2.jpg)

I've said it many times before, but i think we need to be very careful using those decals to identify the real build date.
Remember, those decals were US only and from what i could gather, they were put on the cars after they were picked to go on the container to the US.

I think it is possible that in some instances the date on the decal is not near the actual build date of the chassis.

Nathan, can you get the chassis number off the little plate in the forward door jamb and decode it? That might help with the real build date of the car.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

[nathansnathan]

I find this VERY interesting. Does your doorplate decal indicate an April manifacture?

Does your car have a dashboard upper center vent?

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.914club.com-11782-1291418830.2.jpg)

I've said it many times before, but i think we need to be very careful using those decals to identify the real build date.
Remember, those decals were US only and from what i could gather, they were put on the cars after they were picked to go on the container to the US.

I think it is possible that in some instances the date on the decal is not near the actual build date of the chassis.

Nathan, can you get the chassis number off the little plate in the forward door jamb and decode it? That might help with the real build date of the car.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

It's chassis # 1749532
-Meaning the chassis was built in the 17th week of the year, and, starting and including Monday, the 4th day of that week, Thursday April 20th, 1972. -actually, I'm not quite sure if it's April 20 or April 27, depends how they do the cutoffs on the weeks, but either matches the sticker, in April.

[Pat Garvey]

Well apparently (according to "World" information) some early '72/4s were delivered with non-inertia seatbelts, while later builds had the retractable belts.

'72/6s appear to have the ignition switch on the steering column, as do all model year /4s.

So I wonder, did the factory produce any 1972 model 914s with a fixed passenger seat, or conversely deliver any '71s' with an adjustable passenger seat?

Or, are there any 1971 914s that had fresh air vents on the outboard ends of the dash, or 1972 models that didn't have these vents?

My own '70/4 (build date 01/70; delivered 04/70) had the "appearance package" w/leather steering wheel, chrome bumpers, vinyl rollbar trim but did not have factory installed fog lights. The fog lights and their requisite grilles were installed at the dealer @ delivery. My car also was not equipped with the tethered "footrest" that the '70 and '71 models came with. My early car also did/does not have any headliner material on the f/g roof.

I was just wondering just what sort of other trim and equipment variations from spec have been noted.

Paul

From the info & visuals that I've encountered through the years, '72 fours had a fixed passenger seat and non-retractable belts through May 72 production. June & forward production fours had the new belts and adjustable pass seat.

According to my information, '72/4's passenger seats were all moveable. Most with the non-retractable belts. Check your '72 sales brochure. It's quite clear in the pics. Also, read the R&T article from Feb '72 as well as many other books written on 914.
Don

I beg to disagree!

In April 72 I drove a new TR6 and a new 914/4. I was leaning towards the TR6, but the floor heat was too much. The 914 was much better, but had too little airflow into the cabin, and the passenger seat was fixed. Porsche salesman told me to wait (really?) for a couple of months because there would be side vents, moveable passenger seat, and retractable belts.

Waited until early August and the salesman was correct. My car is July production (according to the sticker). Has all the aforementioned updates.

Don't have it in front of me, but I think Doc Johnson's tome would agree.
Pat

[tod914]

x

[sixerdon]

Well apparently (according to "World" information) some early '72/4s were delivered with non-inertia seatbelts, while later builds had the retractable belts.

'72/6s appear to have the ignition switch on the steering column, as do all model year /4s.

So I wonder, did the factory produce any 1972 model 914s with a fixed passenger seat, or conversely deliver any '71s' with an adjustable passenger seat?

Or, are there any 1971 914s that had fresh air vents on the outboard ends of the dash, or 1972 models that didn't have these vents?

My own '70/4 (build date 01/70; delivered 04/70) had the "appearance package" w/leather steering wheel, chrome bumpers, vinyl rollbar trim but did not have factory installed fog lights. The fog lights and their requisite grilles were installed at the dealer @ delivery. My car also was not equipped with the tethered "footrest" that the '70 and '71 models came with. My early car also did/does not have any headliner material on the f/g roof.

I was just wondering just what sort of other trim and equipment variations from spec have been noted.

Paul

From the info & visuals that I've encountered through the years, '72 fours had a fixed passenger seat and non-retractable belts through May 72 production. June & forward production fours had the new belts and adjustable pass seat.

According to my information, '72/4's passenger seats were all moveable. Most with the non-retractable belts. Check your '72 sales brochure. It's quite clear in the pics. Also, read the R&T article from Feb '72 as well as many other books written on 914.
Don

I beg to disagree!

In April 72 I drove a new TR6 and a new 914/4. I was leaning towards the TR6, but the floor heat was too much. The 914 was much better, but had too little airflow into the cabin, and the passenger seat was fixed. Porsche salesman told me to wait (really?) for a couple of months because there would be side vents, moveable passenger seat, and retractable belts.

Waited until early August and the salesman was correct. My car is July production (according to the sticker). Has all the aforementioned updates.

Don't have it in front of me, but I think Doc Johnson's tome would agree.
Pat

Pat, Is it possible you drove a left over '71 dealer test vehicle?
Doc Johnson says, "A third version of the dash was used on all models from 1972 on." (this is in reference to the two earlier versions of the '70/'71 models /4 & /6)
"This corresponds to the wiper/washer system controls being moved to the column on four-cyl cars, disappearance of the center defrost vent and the appearance of fresh air vents on the ends of the dash board." Page 59 of the revised edition.
In addition, I have an early '72 owners manual printed VIII/71 which shows a detailed picture of the new '72 MY dash.
Don

[nathansnathan]

It's been a bit on this thread, but I was just looking at it again and noticed that my door sticker is itself an anomaly!

I was looking at the same time for something about engine tin rubber stamping and had Jeff Bowlsby's site open to the page on stickers stampings. It says there that silver door stickers only went through December of 71 and shows a silver sticker from 09/71.
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/bowlsby.net-11782-1340848718.1.jpg)

So then he has this sticker from 1/72 that is black
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/bowlsby.net-11782-1340848718.2.jpg)

This below is my sticker again
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.914club.com-11782-1291418830.2.jpg)

http://bowlsby.net/914/Classic/PLM.htm

Also weird is that the number written on my dash doesn't match anything else


and my rear trunk floor, same as my door pillar paint code number


Could it be someone switched the dash? It seems so unlikely to me as it was so umolested. .. well like not by someone that adventurous.
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.914club.com-11782-1340848718.3.jpg)

[dlkawashima]

Read further and you'll see that Jeff has on his website a silver sticker from 03/74 and even one from 10/75. Jeff also shows a black sticker from 10/75. There really doesn't seem to be any pattern or explanation why a car would have a silver sticker instead of a black one.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/bowlsby.net-12234-1340873850.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/bowlsby.net-12234-1340873850.2.jpg)

[nathansnathan]

Not saying it's any big deal, but it does go outside any of the stickers listed on the site there. He has listed 5/73 as the first silver sticker with a weight listing and mine is a year and a month previous. Seems like they used silver and black throughout.

[Pat Garvey]

Well apparently (according to "World" information) some early '72/4s were delivered with non-inertia seatbelts, while later builds had the retractable belts.

'72/6s appear to have the ignition switch on the steering column, as do all model year /4s.

So I wonder, did the factory produce any 1972 model 914s with a fixed passenger seat, or conversely deliver any '71s' with an adjustable passenger seat?

Or, are there any 1971 914s that had fresh air vents on the outboard ends of the dash, or 1972 models that didn't have these vents?

My own '70/4 (build date 01/70; delivered 04/70) had the "appearance package" w/leather steering wheel, chrome bumpers, vinyl rollbar trim but did not have factory installed fog lights. The fog lights and their requisite grilles were installed at the dealer @ delivery. My car also was not equipped with the tethered "footrest" that the '70 and '71 models came with. My early car also did/does not have any headliner material on the f/g roof.

I was just wondering just what sort of other trim and equipment variations from spec have been noted.

Paul

From the info & visuals that I've encountered through the years, '72 fours had a fixed passenger seat and non-retractable belts through May 72 production. June & forward production fours had the new belts and adjustable pass seat.

According to my information, '72/4's passenger seats were all moveable. Most with the non-retractable belts. Check your '72 sales brochure. It's quite clear in the pics. Also, read the R&T article from Feb '72 as well as many other books written on 914.
Don

I beg to disagree!

In April 72 I drove a new TR6 and a new 914/4. I was leaning towards the TR6, but the floor heat was too much. The 914 was much better, but had too little airflow into the cabin, and the passenger seat was fixed. Porsche salesman told me to wait (really?) for a couple of months because there would be side vents, moveable passenger seat, and retractable belts.

Waited until early August and the salesman was correct. My car is July production (according to the sticker). Has all the aforementioned updates.

Don't have it in front of me, but I think Doc Johnson's tome would agree.
Pat

Pat, Is it possible you drove a left over '71 dealer test vehicle?
Doc Johnson says, "A third version of the dash was used on all models from 1972 on." (this is in reference to the two earlier versions of the '70/'71 models /4 & /6)
"This corresponds to the wiper/washer system controls being moved to the column on four-cyl cars, disappearance of the center defrost vent and the appearance of fresh air vents on the ends of the dash board." Page 59 of the revised edition.
In addition, I have an early '72 owners manual printed VIII/71 which shows a detailed picture of the new '72 MY dash.
Don

Don,
Here's my plate.

[dlkawashima]

Not saying it's any big deal, but it does go outside any of the stickers listed on the site there. He has listed 5/73 as the first silver sticker with a weight listing and mine is a year and a month previous. Seems like they used silver and black throughout.

I think you're right in that it probably isn't a big deal. Here is a '72 that's being sold right now on ebay with a silver compliance sticker, number is just a little lower than yours.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-PORSCH...a#ht_500wt_1175


There must be a range where silver was used instead of black (or vice versa) but it does seem rather random when looking at a small sampling of stickers.

[JeffBowlsby]

Misunderstandings on those dates...the dates refer to the sticker 'style' - graphics/text arrangement only.

Silver and black safety compliance stickers were used throughout production as far as I can tell, and were used in coordination with the body color as appropriate. You'll never see a black sticker on a black car or a silver sticker on a silver car for instance. The sticker colors appear to have been selected to contrast with the body color.

[nathansnathan]

Misunderstandings on those dates...the dates refer to the sticker 'style' - graphics/text arrangement only.

Silver and black safety compliance stickers were used throughout production as far as I can tell, and were used in coordination with the body color as appropriate. You'll never see a black sticker on a black car or a silver sticker on a silver car for instance. The sticker colors appear to have been selected to contrast with the body color.

ah, I see. All this time I'd thought black sticker was late, like the black gauge buttons, black door thresholds and black headlight surrounds.

[nathansnathan]

I was looking back through this, contemplating whether my dash is original or not, and an anomilie has come to me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

As above, this is the stamp in the trunk of my car
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-11782-1340848499.jpg)

1749532

and this is my dash from the same car
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-11782-1340848480.jpg)
1729556

To recap what this is supposed to mean, I'll quote a post from the bird here

First two digits = These are the weeks of the year that your chassis was put into production. Your car started production during the eight week of the year. 08 So, your car started production in mid-February.

Third digit = This is the day of the week that your car started production. Your car started production on a Thursday. 4 (Monday=1, Tuesday=2, Wednesday=3, etc.)

Fourth digit = This is always 9. This was meant to identify the factory the chassis was built in. The number 9 refers to Osnabrueck (where the Karmann plant is). Karmann was considering building 914s in other plants but, the plug got pulled on the project. Hence, this digit is always 9 since all 914 chassis were built in Osnabrueck.

Digits 5, 6 and 7 = This is a recurring counting number that always began on Mondays at 001. Your car was chassis number 519 produced that week.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914...ber-plates.html

So if you look at the numbers, they are both from the same week 17. The odd thing is that the car then has a '4', the dash a '2' (Thursday and Tuesday respectively). The thing is that the number from Tuesday is higher than the number on Thursday, and it's supposed to be cumulative for the week?

The one solution I can think of is maybe the dash is from a different year entirely - would there be any way to tell?