Cuda 911's 2nd Thread: Bought another 914 today! '73 1.7 Survivor Car! Options

[914_teener]

About the Riviera wheels- I remember they were popular because they have a 5 spoke pattern on a 4 lug hub to kind of look like the Fuch's without having the 5 lug hubs etc.

Lots of the aftermarket wheels back then had the wrong offset. I had a set of American Mags for a while in the early and mid '70's before I put on OEM 6 suspension. Looked good (or I thought so at the time) but offset didn't allow wider tires without fender mods.

They made the Rivieras with the correct offset. I am not sure what year they made them. I used to have two.....

They had a different lip on the rim as well.

[Olympic 914]

Thanks, all!!

So, I get the impression that people don't much care for the Riverias. Should I swap 'em out? It isn't clear to me... were Rivs a dealer option? Or did people just put them on because they have the proper offset?

I do like the looks of that quad exhaust.

Anyone know anything about the plastic front valence or the plastic side-view mirrors on this car? Were they a popular mod back in the day?

If I can find some good OEM chrome mirrors for a good price, I'll eventually swap out the ones on this car. That's assuming the screw holes line up, and that they painted the door sill so that it doesn't have Alaska Blue showing around the mounting plates.

I remember a couple of the 914's that I had in the 1980s had that front spoiler with the rubber chin spoiler attached to it that is in the front trunk. Lots of racers were using those in the day on their race cars, also the quad exhaust was a popular "upgrade" then. Not that many aftermarket parts were available back then and they were both available and pretty cheap.

Bought mine in 79 and its Olympic Blue, Put on the Monza Quad exhaust. and the Fiberglass / rubber front air dam. defiantly period.

So I really like your car...

I will still run the air dam when I put it back together, I have a NOS Monza quad exhaust that has never been install and been in storage for about 20+ years. I will probably sell that though.

With mine being an eastern car yours is probably in better shape than was it when I bought it in 79.

Congrats on your find.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Cuda911]

Took the "new" '73 to Cars and Coffee in Carlsbad today for it's first public introduction. Then stopped by TC's Garage in Vista and picked up some parts. Then spent the rest of the day removing paint overspray. The car was painted in 1986 by the previous owner, and nothing was masked off. I have quite to project to clean this car up. Today, cleaned the paint off the latch cups, the front hood latch, the rear trunk latch, and lots of little other misc items. Also, replaced the plastic and rubber targa top holders with brand new ones.

The pix with blue paint on the parts are "before," the cleaned up ones are "after."

[Cuda911]

For the metal parts I could take off of the car, I used Klean Strip Premium Stripper (from Home Depot). It's amazing how fast it works! I used an approx. 1/4-inch wide paint brush dipped in it, and painted it on. Then used a small plastic scrub brush, and it took off all the paint. Small parts like washers and bolts I also cleaned with acid, them polished on a buffer wheel mounted to my bench grinder, using red buffer compound.

For parts I couldn't remove from the car, I used acetone. But, there's overspray on some plastic and rubber items, and I had to be extremely careful, as the acetone was too strong a solvent on some types of plastic. I'm going at this slowly, because I don't want to do more harm than good cleaning off the overspray.

[SKL1]

Hard to believe someone can just paint everything without masking at all!! If they do like that, why even bother??

[lonewolfe]

That is incredible! Are you sure it was not an Earl Sheib paint job? They paint over everything!

[Cuda911]

Yeah, when I said the PO painted it, I meant the PO had it painted. I'm sure that's what he did... took it to Earl Scheib or similar. Amazing to me that they couldn't even spend 5 minutes masking stuff.

So, overall, it's a pretty good paint job. The exterior still looks good 30 years later.

But, there is overspray on all the hardware inside the front and rear trunks, and also overspray on some of the rubber seals and other places. Over time, I think I can get it cleaned up pretty good.

[SKL1]

Cuda- is that you in the picture with the college kid and his blue 914 in the latest Pano??? The silver 914 looks familiar...

[Cuda911]

Ha! I haven't gotten my issue of Pano yet, but yep, that's me!

I'm the newbie here, but figured I'd bring some National coverage for us 914 bunch. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[SKL1]

Figured that was you as the location seemed right too. Pete is doing a great job with Pano, and there is now a lot more 914 content.
When I get the '73 done and down to Arizona, may have to drive it over to SoCal get togethers. Went to the Festival of Speed last year at Fontana and it was definitely worth the drive over from Scottsdale, even though we did it in my son's Jeep at the time..

[Cuda911]

Foo, mail came, but no Pano yet.

Ya got me curious. They took tons of pix (Pano sent down a photographer from Oregon), so no idea what the went with for the article.

I was at Festival of Speed in Fontana this summer, will probably go again next year.

[Cuda911]

Drove the silver one to Irvine Cars & Coffee. Then spent the rest of the day detailing the blue one. Used my Porter Cable RO buffer to cut off the top oxidized layer of paint, then multiple polishings and waxings.

Top two pix (nice shiny!) are after the paint correction was completed (note dull paint in the lower pix). Used most of the cleaning products arsenal today!

Then polished the Rivieras, the chrome bumpers, and the chrome exhaust tips, cleaned the targa top, and fixed a rubber window seal.

Then, replaced rear shock tower caps, jack straps, and cowl moldings. Fabricated a metal jack strap bracket too (one was missing).

As I was finishing up, the Fed Ex guy dropped off another box of stuff from 914 Rubber, so lots more to do!

[Cuda911]

Added side stripes today. Before and after:

[914Next]

Added side stripes today. Before and after:

Very nice. Love this color.

[Cuda911]

^^ Thanks.

Today's projects:

Replaced the rear window seal. The "rubber" was like a rock. It just kept breaking into small shards.

I quickly realized that the only way I was getting it out was to remove the engine cover first. 5 min to take it off, 30 min. to replace it, trying to get those bolts in upside down where I couldn't see them. The new one (from 914Rubber) looks great!

Then, got rid of the Mickey Mouse Fan Club that had apparently set up a clubhouse in the front trunk.

Then, more paint over-spray clean-up. Cleaned the washer bottle, the release cable (it was all blue before I cleaned it) and one of the headlight motors (didn't have time to do the rear knob or front part).

The plastic shroud next to the motor.. what's that called? Rather than clean, I will replace, since it's cracked.

Some pix.

[veekry9]

Just got home with my new 914!! It will keep my '74 914 company.

Another Southern California Survivor car... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Saw a Craig's List ad this morning... it had no pix and described the car as a '73 1.8 (of course, it's actually a 1.7). The seller said they knew nothing about the car.

So, I drove out to see it... way down some dirt road out in the back wine country of Temecula (CA).

The seller turned out to be a very nice 87 year old lady who's son owned the car since February of 1986. Unfortunately, he passed away recently. He had been ill (cancer), so the car was garaged since 2005, other than taking it out periodically to give it some exercise. A total of 800 miles driven in the last 10 years.

This is a Southern California car. Spent its entire life in Orange County, other than the last 10 years when it was garaged in Temecula. The car has always been garaged and is extremely rust free. I poked and prodded, and poked some more. All I could find was some rust inside of the rear of the rear trunk floor that had been painted over in 1986, and appeared to have not spread since that time.

When the guy bought it in 1986, he had it repainted at that time. The paint is in great condition. Unfortunately, they really didn't mask off things very much when it was painted, so there are things like the headlight motors and other hardware that have been painted.

I drove the car home (about 60 miles), and it performed flawlessly. Feels like it could use some new shifter bushings, though.

They were asking $7,900. I paid $6,500, which I think is an extremely good deal.

Here's some pix. I'll post more when I clean the car up.
.

Turquoise in '86,looks terrific and a great deal too for 6500.Only in California. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
I love these stories,so I keep looking for the next deal.

[Cuda911]

Turquoise in '86,looks terrific and a great deal too for 6500.Only in California. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
I love these stories,so I keep looking for the next deal.

Yep, I troll Craig's list a couple times a week. Looking to add a third 914 to the stable. Either a 2.0, or some conversion with an LS motor or something crazy like that.

Last weekend, put on new tires. The old ones looked great, but when I had the date code checked. they were from 1996! Yowza!

Today's progress:

More paint overspray cleanup off of hardware. Then, finally got around to pulling the rockers and cleaning out the dirt.

Then painted the exhaust pipes with high-temp black paint, and polished the tips.

After that, went for a drive along the beach.
.

[raynekat]

Looking great.
What's your method for cleaning the overspray off of everything?
Like the washer bottle, headlight motors, etc?

[Cuda911]

I've been using a combination of methods.

For things like the water bottle, I've found that acetone works well. For other plastic parts, I've found that Flitz cleaner/polish works. For hardware that I take off of the car to clean, orange-based paint stripper works well. For wiring, the headlight motors, and misc. stuff that I don't pull off, I've been using a combination of plastic razor blade-type scrapers, a utility knife, and steel wool. I'm finding that the paint flakes off pretty well, especially from metal parts like the door jamb catches. Takes a lot of patience, but I'm enjoying seeing the parts reveal themselves. Some parts, I'm just replacing.

Here's some clean-up, in progress:

[Hank914]

Car is looking great!

"Last weekend, put on new tires. The old ones looked great, but when I had the date code checked. they were from 1996! Yowza! "

What brand and tires size did you go with?

I have 165s on aftermarket wheels. And I bought some 4lug Fuchs that came with 205/50s, which I'm running now. Not sure I like the lower profile, but I do like width. The ride seems very harsh, I can feel every bump and crack in the road, so much jarring that the engine lid pops open sometimes. But I might have too much tire pressure. I think the stock size is too skinny IMHO, but not sure I want to keep driving these 205s/50s either.