First drive, in a truly well-sorted 914 Options

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I've had my '74 2.0 for a little over four years now. And driving it today was almost like driving a new car.

When I bought it, the engine was tired and making poor compression and a nasty noise. The trans was old and tired. In the intervening years, there have been a bunch of small projects -- clutch, starter, fuel pump, master cylinder, etc.

Over the summer, I had the engine rebuilt into a 2056 and rebuilt the transmission with Dr Evil. The car was back together just before Thanksgiving, but I was still having a little trouble shifting, and I wanted to go easy on the engine for the first couple hundred miles. Then, a couple weeks ago, the thermostat cable seemed to come loose, leaving the cooling flaps permanently open.

I suspected that the shifting troubles might be due to looseness in the clutch. This morning, I got the car up on ramps. The clutch cable nut was tightened down all the way, but there was still too much play in the cable. I found a tube-shaped piece of sturdy plastic and put it on as a spacer. Suddenly, all my first gear & reverse shifting woes were gone.

While I was under there, I looked to see what was wrong with the thermostat cable... turned out, it had jumped off the pulley. After some dexterous finagling and heating the bellows with a butane lighter, I got it back into place.

I know it's not much, but tightening the clutch cable and fixing the thermostat cable was probably my most successful DIY day ever.

So in the afternoon, I went for a drive... for the first time in a 914 with a 2056 making full power, a BRILLIANTLY shifting Evilwerks-rebuilt transmission, a properly adjusted clutch, and pretty much everything else working the way it should.

Hard to believe after 4 years of ownership I've just now had what the 914 experience was supposed to be all along.

Just wanted to say Thanks to 914World for the guidance and inspiration and tell those of you considering projects to git 'er done!

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