What to look for?, Looking to buy a 914 any tips? Options

[davidcalvin]

Hi all..

I am new to 914s. Dreamed about them when I was a kid but never really could afford one. Now..

I am looking at a 1974 porsche 914-4 with 1.8L engine. The owner says its got 84k miles on the chassis, and 6k on a rebuilt engine. Newer brakes. Silver with black interior. Fuel injected. He's asking 6k.

Is that too much? Should I expect to walk into a lot of work right off the bat? Any tips as to what I should look for when examining the car.

I am not a mechanic. Do I need to be to own one of these? I hope not because they are amazing and I want one :-).

Thanks in advance,

David

[redshift]

You need a local 914 expert, otherwise you need 1000 pictures of every angle, of every part so people here can see what's up.

Welcome, and g'luck!



Miles

[SLITS]

Unless that '74 is in pristine condition, starts and runs like a Rolex, walk away. 6K is a bit much.

Give us a location in CA and possibly one of the "experts" on this board can do a look see with you.

[seanery]

Some places to look for trouble:

1. Look deep as far as you can see under the battery. The battery was exposed and rain would wash battery acid into the rear suspension attaching points (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)
2. Look for sag in the right rear suspension- see reasoning above
3. Look for door gaps - this may help identify a rusty longitudenal (frame rail under doors)
4. Look for a rusty cowl-expensive to fix


There's more, but that's a good start. You'll need to be somewhat handy, not because these are bad cars, but because there is so much that can be done by a handy owner. The cars are fairly simple, and you can upgrade suspension and other mechanical parts yourself.

[Joe Bob]

6K is high for a 1.8.....UNLESS you can eat off of it, no rust and it's the original color.

[d7n7master]

Look for rust. Then look for rust some more. It's there. No question. It's just a matter of "how much" & "how deep".
Other than that, it's ALL good. I've noticed that the 4 to 5 k cars that were for sale a few years ago look a lot like the 6k cars I see for sale today. But hey, don't think about it too much, have a ppi done, and if good, BUY IT!!!
ALL 914's are potentially GREAT cars. Big fun & cheap to keep when compared to many other sports cars.
Cheers, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[davidcalvin]

Thanks for the tips everyone,

I am in the south bay, California. The car is in Palo Alto, Ca.

What is a ppi?

What is a cowl?

Sorry, I am a software engineer. Dont do hardware so well. :-)

Thanks, all, again!

David

[davidcalvin]

Oh, and what if there _is_ rust? Does that make it a deal-breaker?

Can rust be repaired? If so, how does one learn to do this?

I am looking, also, at 1975 914 for 2,500. Less info on this one. I'd rather pay a little more for something functional than less for something that needs a lot of work.

Any recommendations for 914 mechanics in the south bay?

Thanks,

David

[tod914]

You need a local 914 expert, otherwise you need 1000 pictures of every angle, of every part so people here can see what's up.

Why Miles, are suggesting you can't take someone's word for the condition of the car? Hmmmm, wonder what could of made you synical (IMG:style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif)

[SirAndy]

Any recommendations for 914 mechanics in the south bay?

yes. give brad at High Performance House in redwood city a call.
pay him an hour worth of his time to go with you to look at the car and you'll be fine.

he has worked on those little cars for the last 20 years (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

http://www.highperformancehouse.com/

oh, and he talks computers too ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Andy

PS: almost forgot, welcome to the club! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[SLITS]

You need a local 914 expert, otherwise you need 1000 pictures of every angle, of every part so people here can see what's up.

Why Miles, are suggesting you can't take someone's word for the condition of the car? Hmmmm, wonder what could of made you synical (IMG:style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif)

Naw, Miles isn't cynical - he's just crazy. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[davidcalvin]

Thanks everyone, again, for the info.

Apparently, High Perf Porsche has a 1.8L 914 for sale for not too much money. They sound pretty trustworthy, so if it looks okay I will snag it. Its not in perfect shape, but he (rich) says its reliable.

What kind of gas do you put in a 914? can they take premium unleaded or does it have to be 87?

I boost the gas in my current car with NOS, is that a bad idea for a 914?

Thanks everyone! I'm pretty excited.

[SirAndy]

What kind of gas do you put in a 914? can they take premium unleaded or does it have to be 87?

the 1.8L *should* run fine on 87 but i always ran premium on my 1.8 ...

i did have a occassional "knock" with 87.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) Andy

PS.: if the 1.8 rich was talking about is the car i think it is, it'll be a sweet ride!

[davidcalvin]

[QUOTE]

Don't tease me. I'll wet my pants.

I am used to always putting high test gas in my cars. Its my feeling that it just makes them run better with fewer problems, but then I am not a mechanic.

But I also thought that higher octane caused more.. compression or something? Is there a limit to how much octane an old 914 can take?

Thanks!

David

[SirAndy]

I boost the gas in my current car with NOS, is that a bad idea for a 914?

the only guy i know who get's a *real* boost out of NOS on his 914 is Richard Hatfield ...

but then again, his 350 SBC makes already 500hp without the NOS. that does not quite compare to a stock 1.8L.

i recall seeing a guy running NOS on his otherwise stock 2.0L.
the car was very loud but couldn't pull a sausage off a plate, didn't sound very healty either ...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) Andy

[SirAndy]

But I also thought that higher octane caused more.. compression or something? Is there a limit to how much octane an old 914 can take?

haha, no, sorry grasshopper, you got that backwards ...

the higher the compression of your engine, the higher octan gas you need to prevent premature detonation ...

basically, the higher you compress a gas/air mixture, the more it heats up and eventually self-detonates (without a spark needed).
you don't want that uncontrolled self-detonation! (also called engine-knock)
that's where high-octane comes into play.
the higher the octane rating of gas, the more it can be compressed before self-detonating ...

this also means that if you have a "lower" compression, like the stock 1.8, putting in high octane gas is a "complete waste" of your money. you won't be getting any more HP out of it.
in fact, if you go too high with the octane rating (like racegas > 100) you might end up losing HP, because now it get's really hard to ignite the gas ...

the stock 1.7/1.8/2.0 should be fine running on 87 unless the engine is modified to run a higher compression.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Andy

[davidcalvin]

I use NOS in my Celica GTS and there is a noticeable difference.

I would probably just use high test in the 914.

[GWN7]

What is a ppi?

What is a cowl?

A PPI is a Pre Purchase Inspection ....usually done by someone with no vested interest in the car and knows something about them. The second requirement is more important than the first.

The "cowl" is the area in front of the windshield. If the rust is up that far your looking at $$$ to fix it.

Best advise is to buy a Haynes book on the 914. A very handy item.

Rust can be repaired but it's more of a hardware thing.

[bondo]

I use NOS in my Celica GTS and there is a noticeable difference.

I would probably just use high test in the 914.

When you say "NOS", do you mean this? http://www.holley.com/nosnitrous/index.html

If so, I don't think there's an easy way to add that to the stock fuel injection. Perhaps you could just open the cold start injector when you turn it on, but chances are you'll grenade your motor pretty quickly.

As for octane, use the lowest octane you can without pinging.. any higher and you lose power and gas mileage.

[davidcalvin]

[QUOTE]

No.. I mean the nitrus fuel additive that just enhances the octane rating of the fuel.

Does higher octane lower performance? And gas mileage? I would think it would be the opposite? I seem to refuel less often when I use higher octane gas.

Wouldn't higher octane yield in more power? Or would that only be true for a high performance engine?

David