My first 914 joys, woes, and discoveries., My newly acquired 914 saw pavement for the first time in four years Options

[dvid3k]

I'll be updating this post as I work and learn my way around my first 914.

I posted an introductory thread back when I joined, this is for my updates and observations. I've received quite a warm welcome and I've learned a lot from this forum already. I'm amazed at how helpful members are, I definitely appreciate any advice I have received thus far.

A week ago I purchased my first 914 project car (72 914 Chalon) and during the past week I've been getting it back up and running, a task that has involved a little blood, sweat and possibly a few tears. (thanks to a pry bar to the finger) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

The car had been sitting for several years, at least since 2009, possibly longer, several inches deep in mud it sat at the corner of a mechanics garage where it seemed to have been dropped off several years ago.

I installed a new fuel pump, replaced rubber lines, removed and cleaned out fuel tank, repaired the accelerator bracket, changed the oil cleaned up the floor under the seats. I've now got the car running and today I took it out on my road for a test drive to see what else needed attention.

So far I've found the following:

1. Tach does not work
2. Odometer does not work
3. Front suspension feels very loose and bouncy when going over bumps.
4. Throttle cable is a bit rough
5. Shifting will definitely take me a while to get used to, (tail shift)


I will be thrilled to get the car back in good working order, but I've got my work cut out for me. I washed it up once already but It'll take a few more washes to get 4 years of gunk off.

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[FourBlades]

The front shocks have dust covers on them. If there is oil leaking down from under the cover you have a problem. If you bounce your weight on the front fender over each shock it should compress and spring back but not oscillate.

Your tie rods have bushings that are probably shot making your steering wander. These are pretty easy to replace.

Replacing the ball joints is harder because it is hard to get the big nut off holding them on. I just cut them off and buy new ones to save a lot of grief.

Can someone suggest a good thread showing how to rebuild the front suspension?

Make sure your brakes and fuel lines are good before doing anything else.

Most "normal" mechanics are clueless about how these 40+ year old cars work.

Get help from a world member or Porsche mechanic and save a lot of grief.

I think your car looks very solid (i.e. not too rusty) which is a huge deal as these cars are usually swiss cheese by now. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

If you do need some parts, get used ones from 914 world members and not ebay (much better prices here). I have bought lots of good parts from bdstone.

Get new parts from pelican parts or other Porsche specialist and not generic parts places.

The stuff the generic parts places sell is usually low quality and sometimes plain wrong.

John

[dvid3k]

The front shocks have dust covers on them. If there is oil leaking down from under the cover you have a problem. If you bounce your weight on the front fender over each shock it should compress and spring back but not oscillate.

Your tie rods have bushings that are probably shot making your steering wander. These are pretty easy to replace.

Replacing the ball joints is harder because it is hard to get the big nut off holding them on. I just cut them off and buy new ones to save a lot of grief.

Can someone suggest a good thread showing how to rebuild the front suspension?

Make sure your brakes and fuel lines are good before doing anything else.

Most "normal" mechanics are clueless about how these 40+ year old cars work.

Get help from a world member or Porsche mechanic and save a lot of grief.

I think your car looks very solid (i.e. not too rusty) which is a huge deal as these cars are usually swiss cheese by now. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

If you do need some parts, get used ones from 914 world members and not ebay (much better prices here). I have bought lots of good parts from bdstone.

Get new parts from pelican parts or other Porsche specialist and not generic parts places.

The stuff the generic parts places sell is usually low quality and sometimes plain wrong.

John

Those are all excellent suggestions, I got my accelerator pedal today and I've got everything put back together and running.

I'm pretty familiar with working with suspension and steering components but I'm very unfamiliar with carburetors. I refreshed all the rubber hoses, eliminated the second regulator, relocated the other regulator the the line coming into the engine bay and relocated the fuel pump up to the front trunk area for now. I've made good progress but I'm still not quite there.

I'm not really sure where to go next, the car will run now but it likes to stall out very easy, some back firing, poor idle. I can take it out on the road and it will do okay but the throttle response is still a bit sluggish. The carbs were rebuilt carbs that were installed after the engine was changed by the previous owner, would they need rebuilt from sitting all that time?


Also, the car will sometimes puff some blue smoke when revving, not all the time but every so often. The engine is practically new so I'm guessing something like valve seals or something like that but I'm not to sure, I've also read that just running the car for a while may help take care of that problem.