Ridiculous 914 stories?, You haven't lived if you have never... Options

[Madswede]

I drove my first (and to date, only) 1973 914 from Granada Hills, CA, to Rio Rancho, NM straight through, about 850 miles or so ... while it was running on 3 cylinders.

I believe the car was originally a 1.7L and someone confusingly put in a 2.0 bus motor, I think it was the previous-previous-previous owner. As Ron theorized, the bus motor had likely been over revved a few times. Anyway, it had a broken rocker arm the day I drove it back from CA to NM. So I was making less than 75% power (of a bus motor). I figure it was about a 40-50 hp motor.

Journey took me 18 hours, straight through. Quite an indoctrination for seat time in a "first 914"! I had to stop and let it cool for an hour or so at the continental divide near Flagstaff as it just was too heat soaked and tired to go any further without a break.

That bus motor would eventually drop, one by one, all of the other rockers arms during the next year or so while Joe O'Brien and I shopped for a 3.2L six. The last time, parts wound up in the cylinders themselves, valves were broken, and oil was poured all over a quarter mile of road and into Joe's driveway (now mine) ... except the oil that landed on the exhaust manifold, it just burned and smoked up the cabin so I was driving half-blind.

The last ride for that old bus motor was the day my Phoenix Red 73 914 looked just like a Spy Hunter car, smoke screen and oil slick! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sunglasses.gif)

It's a wee bit better than that now. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/evilgrin.gif)

[lalee914]

Way back when, I took my 914 1.8 one weekday evening to get it inspected for an upcoming DE. The inspection went OK and I headed home as the sun was beginning to set. Driving down RT81 there was hardly any traffic. I was closing quickly on 2 big trucks driving nose to tail in the right lane. I passed the first one OK and was passing the leader as we were crossing a pretty long bridge. I was almost past the leader as we neared the end of the bridge when I noticed the 6x6 wheel chock laying sideways in my lane right at the end of the bridge. There was no place for me to go. Big truck on the right, guardrail on the left. I hit the brakes then hit the 6x6. BAM! It went flying off into the median and the big truck went thundering by on the right, then the other big truck.

I went into diagnostic mode. No vibrations, the tires all seem to be holding air, wiggle the steering, thats OK. No funny sounds. The car seems alright. By now I'm down to about 40 MPH so I downshift to 4th and step on the gas. There is a rest stop coming up in a few miles, I'll stop there and check everything over. Run up in 4th gear, quick shift to 5th and I'm closing on the big trucks again. I go by both at a pretty good clip then lift off the gas to get back down to something resembling the speed limit and the car keeps accelerating. That ain't right. About 90 MPH, I turn off the ignition then turn it back on when I get down to about 55. Do that a few times and here comes the rest stop.

Pull in and get out to look the car over. Surprisingly there is no obvious damage. I start the car and it immediately goes to red line. Long story short, something was binding the throttle cable and I couldn't touch the gas pedal or the clutch pedal without the engine redlining. I got the engine to idle then set the idle speed to maximum, started the car in 1st gear then crash shifted the odd gears up to 5th. Going fast enough to get close to home on the highway. One crash shift down to 2nd coming off the highway in the dark and I could make it home running only a few stop signs.

A few days later I've got the car up on jackstands and find that something from the 6x6 came under the car and hit the clutch and throttle cables. Somehow moving one of them such that when I pressed the clutch, it pulled on the throttle cable and when I stepped on the gas, it would open the throttle but the return spring wasn't strong enough to close the throttle. The clutch cable was holding on by just a few strands.

I replaced both cables and everything was OK.

[lalee914]

A long time ago I owned a beautiful 914/6. I had the engine rebuilt and at that time they also put in a new clutch, new fuel lines and were supposed to have put in new inner CV boots. A couple years later, I'm on a long run on the highway driving through western NY. There's not much at all out there. This is an area where you hit the scan button on your radio and it just does laps. Pretty boring piece of road. Almost no traffic at all.

I come over a slight rise and can see a long section of elevated roadway where there is no place for any cops to be hiding. Now is a good time to see how fast this puppy will go. Foot to the floor in 5th gear and hold it there. I go by the only car in sight at about 80 MPH and the /6 is starting to sing its song. Up to 100 MPH and it is pulling good, running strong. Here comes 120 and the car is feeling good. About 130something, we are still pulling hard and getting close to redline. A look in the mirror and, HORROR! There is a BIG CLOUD OF SMOKE behind me! Shit! I blew the motor and I'm a long way from home! Shove in the clutch and the engine goes to idle. No lights, no funny sounds, no vibrations. Wiggle the steering wheel, OK. touch the brakes, OK. blip the throttle, OK. Check the mirror and the smoke is almost gone. Down to about 60 now so I put it in gear and apply a bit of power. No smoke now. Everything seems OK.

Drive gently along to a rest stop. I pulled into a spot and stopped. Let the engine idle a bit and that sounds perfect. Shut it off and get out expecting to see a trail of oil and oil all over the back of the car but there isn't any. Whats going on here? Pop the engine lid and the engine compartment looks good. There were a few small spots of oil on one side but nowhere enough to make anything like the smoke I saw.

Drive gently home then put the car up on jackstands. Ahhh. Thats the problem. The inner CV boots had exploded and the grease hit the heat exchangers. The 20+ year old boots were never changed.

[Mark Henry]

Ridiculous 914 stories?

Many of the horsepower claims I hear at places like car shows, etc. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[ClayPerrine]

After 31 years of 914 ownership, Betty and I have a few good stories about adventures in 914 ownership.


My first riding experience in a 914 was my first official date with my wife. We met at a PCA autocross at Fair Park in Dallas (where she stomped me into the ground). For our first date, I drove 45 minutes from Bedford (West of DFW airport) to Plano (way north of Dallas, two counties away) in my 924. She said she would drive us out on the date, as she knew the local area. It is late November, and a bit chilly.

The right heat exchanger flap on her car was disconnected because the engine had an oil leak, and it would fill the cabin with oil smoke. The left one worked fine. No big deal for her, as she was in the driver's seat. But I spent the whole date unable to see out of the car because the windshield had completely fogged over on the right side, and I was freezing as well!. I also got to hear someone ask if we knew the car was smoking. Her reply was "Yea, I know about that, it's no big deal. It does it all the time."

Betty told me much later that she knew I was a keeper when I didn't freak out while riding blind in the passenger seat of her car.

Once we started dating, I helped her fix the oil leak and hook the heat exchanger flapper back up. I also helped her fix the clogged injector that had it running on just 3 cylinders (more embarrassment about getting my ass handed to me at the AX).

[Garland]

Backing my 70 out the driveway, in the 70's, using only the rear view mirror. (Always look over your shoulder) I back right onto a parked landscape trailer. Dent the rear original bumper (square) and replace it with a 71 (rounded)


Liked the round better, at the time anyway.


I can still see the 70 bumper sticking out of the trash can by the curb. With one dent in it!