Home  |  Forums  |  914 Info  |  Blogs
 
914World.com - The fastest growing online 914 community!
 
Porsche, and the Porsche crest are registered trademarks of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. This site is not affiliated with Porsche in any way.
Its only purpose is to provide an online forum for car enthusiasts. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
 

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

> Optimusglen's build off challenge, 6-cylinders of goodness. Ready for my next cross-country trip.
Optimusglen
post Feb 26 2016, 09:35 AM
Post #1


Senior Member
***

Group: Members
Posts: 901
Joined: 26-February 16
From: Minneapolis
Member No.: 19,709
Region Association: Upper MidWest



Hello everyone, it was recommended I come here by a member on another forum I'm a part of. I'm new to the 914 world, well... the Porsche world really. This will be my first life-size Porsche.

A tiny bit about me: I'm a mechanical designer at a major Medical Device company, I've owned roughly 30 cars in the 15 years I've been driving, the majority of which were VW, Audi, BMW, and Volvo. I am a major DIYer, I do paint, welding, bodywork, upholstery, glass, mechanicals etc. Only had a few carbeurated cars though, and one motorcycle. I'm also an artist and create high quality vector based and 3D rendered car illustrations as a hobby and to help pay for other hobbies. I wrote an article a few years back for a contest sponsored by Porsche and won a 2-day driving school trip to the Porsche Sport Driving School in Birmingham Alabama, this further cemented my goals of owning a Porsche.

Most notable cars/projects: I've had a few MK1 VW Rabbit's, two were major builds including engine swaps. Just recently sold a 2001 Audi S8 that was wonderful.

Current stable: 1998 Jeep Cherokee DD/tow/winter truck, 1974 BMW R90/6 cafe racer, my wife drives a 2014 VW Jetta (manual too!) and tonight I will be picking up my newest project and the reason I joined here, a '71 914.

On to the meat and potatoes.

I had been missing having a project car, something old that I could work on and drive in the summer. That lead me to selling the S8 and buying a DD plus a project. I was interested in 914's, 924's, and 944's and even had a few 944's lined up that fell through only days before I found this 914.

On the morning of the 25th I saw a message from a friend in my inbox, with a link to a 914 that had been posted locally around midnight. Price was very low, and details put the car right in my comfort zone. It's a project for sure, but not too much of a project a'la a past Locost build. I emailed them immediately, toothbrush dangling from my mouth. Explained I have cash ready, would like to see it at their earliest convenience, etc. I imagine at that moment several others were doing the same, they got a lot of interest.

QUOTE
This was a California car for most of its life, and was my daily-driver during the late '80s. When I moved to MN I garaged it every winter, it is rare (for a 914 in MN) in that the frame is not rusted out. The original Targa top still mounts without trouble/binding! It has surface rust in a couple spots. There's a little bubble where the driver-side fender meets the apron in front of the windshield, and there's some where the passenger-side jack mount is. Oh, yeah, I still have and can use the weird/creepy jack that came with the car.

The way I bought it the car's fuel injection had been removed in favor of dual-webers and a more aggressive distributor. It also has a stroke/bore kit on it that took the standard 1.7L up to a 2.0L. This was a fairly common mod to these back then. I still have both the fuel injection+input manifolds and the original distributor.

My brother got it in a fender-bender that last year that I drove it, and the driver-side fender needs replacing or some serious TLC. The interior is pretty old/dried/cracked. The exterior needs a new coat of paint.

I parked it in the winter of 95/96 planning to do my normal thing of starting it monthly all winter long. (I never "put it away" entirely, opting to go this route instead.) However, life intervened and pretty soon I'd let it sit several years without starting or anything...so at this point it's safe to assume that it'll need some TLC to get it running again.

This car really deserves to have someone bring it back to life, one of the most fun cars I've ever driven! I've had to face facts that it's just not going to be me.

Don't pass up this great deal!


The sellers wife replied later during the day, said that I could come see it around 6:15 if I wanted, but warned that there was a lot of interest. I expressed my interest as best as I could, I was super excited about it and was in love with the prospect. I went against all of my conventional car buying wisdom and offered to send a deposit immediately to lock it down for me and save them from having to schedule a bunch of showings. My thought was that if it was structurally too far gone, that I could probably weld it up enough to drive, put GT flares on it, and make it a rat. Or part it out, or sell it again. It was a risk I was willing to take at that price.

They agreed to the deposit, and were very happy that I was so enthusiastic about it. That evening my wife and I drove down, I got to meet the sellers and look over the car. If you've ever played the Forza Horizon video games where they have these "barn find" cars, there's a cut scene where some character comes and opens the garage or whatever it is to see this dirty faded car with a few dents. It was exactly like that, to a tee. I got to check the car over, could have dug deeper but honestly didn't feel the need. We went inside and exchanged money for the title, and arranged for me to return tonight (Friday) to pick it up and tow it home.

In all there were about 2 dozen inquiries on the car, and after they accepted my deposit there were 4-5 offers with several hundred above asking price. They were great people though, and were true to their word. They knew the car was worth much more than their asking price, but were just happy that it was going to someone who was ecstatic about it.

For now I only have the pictures from the ad, but once I get her home I'll snap some better ones.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/c2.staticflickr.com-19709-1456500948.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/c2.staticflickr.com-19709-1456500948.2.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/c2.staticflickr.com-19709-1456500948.3.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/c2.staticflickr.com-19709-1456500948.4.jpg)

The ad claimed it was a '70 but upon inspection of the title it looks to be a '71. Not a big deal, there weren't any major changes between those years as far as I can tell.

Plans depend a lot on how much rust is hiding in there. If it's stuff that I'm comfortable welding up or replacing sheetmetal to stock, then I'll lean more towards restoration. I'll do wheels for sure, but otherwise focus on replacing old seals and rubber bits, see if I can get someone to bring the luster out in the paint again but if that fails I would paint it and keep the original color. It will be a driver, but aiming for a clean, OEM driver. Very unlikely it'll get GT flares at this point, don't want to bastardize it if it's a good example.

The 914 was $1,100
Yes, eleven hundred.

Ok, that's it for now. Looking forward to spending a month looking through old threads trying to learn as much as I can. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
 
Reply to this topicStart new topic
Replies
Optimusglen
post Feb 27 2016, 09:40 AM
Post #2


Senior Member
***

Group: Members
Posts: 901
Joined: 26-February 16
From: Minneapolis
Member No.: 19,709
Region Association: Upper MidWest



Color code is L-21E Tangerine

There's a full seat set with back on eBay right now that I could upholster, wondering if I can use them.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post

Posts in this topic
Optimusglen   Optimusglen's build off challenge   Feb 26 2016, 09:35 AM
76-914   :wttc:   Feb 26 2016, 09:38 AM
LowBridge   :wttc: nice to see a new teen owner, welcome to th...   Feb 26 2016, 09:47 AM
Optimusglen   :wttc: nice to see a new teen owner, welcome to t...   Feb 26 2016, 09:49 AM
stevegm   Welcome! I think you will find a lot of useful...   Feb 26 2016, 09:49 AM
Jeff Bowlsby   1970-Early 1971 were the same. Some wiring change...   Feb 26 2016, 09:50 AM
Chris Pincetich   Great to hear there are still some good deals out ...   Feb 26 2016, 10:01 AM
iwanta914-6   Welcome! There was a little discussion the ot...   Feb 26 2016, 10:02 AM
maddog   :wttc: tons of info here   Feb 26 2016, 10:20 AM
Optimusglen   Welcome! There was a little discussion the o...   Feb 26 2016, 10:26 AM
iwanta914-6   The downside is I feel like everyone else that co...   Feb 26 2016, 11:42 AM
napasteve   Optimusglen, your 914 looks like a great deal and ...   Feb 26 2016, 10:38 AM
PanelBilly   I was looking at that ad and thinking that the car...   Feb 26 2016, 10:50 AM
Optimusglen   Thanks guys! I've tackled a fair share of...   Feb 26 2016, 10:54 AM
falcor75   Nice find and I hope it turns out to be a gem. Re...   Feb 26 2016, 11:37 AM
DCJosh   That ad caused quite a stir amongst us MN locals. ...   Feb 26 2016, 11:40 AM
aharder   :wttc:   Feb 26 2016, 11:41 AM
Shadowfax   :wttc: Looks like it's in good hands. Congrat...   Feb 26 2016, 12:04 PM
rick 918-S   :wttc: Duluth :assimilate:   Feb 26 2016, 12:21 PM
Big Len   awesome find...best of luck!!   Feb 26 2016, 12:32 PM
Larmo63   :wttc: I saw that ad and knew it wouldn't las...   Feb 26 2016, 12:36 PM
Coondog   Great price....congrats   Feb 26 2016, 03:56 PM
Tom_T   :wttc: Oddly enough, ever since they were new, 9...   Feb 26 2016, 05:47 PM
Optimusglen   Hi guys, got it home and dug into it a little. Gra...   Feb 27 2016, 12:16 AM
KELTY360   What many of you were wondering about, the hell ...   Feb 27 2016, 09:29 AM
Cuda911   Congrats on the purchase! Sounds like you are ...   Feb 27 2016, 01:02 AM
rick 918-S   Looks good so far. Pull the rocker covers and let...   Feb 27 2016, 07:39 AM
The Cabinetmaker   Nice find, and welcome! The "teen" ...   Feb 27 2016, 08:29 AM
Optimusglen   Looks good so far. Pull the rocker covers and let...   Feb 27 2016, 09:01 AM
RobW   :wttc: :wttc: :wttc: Looks good so far.....   Feb 27 2016, 09:08 AM
Optimusglen   Quick one for you guys, to swap in adjustable seat...   Feb 27 2016, 09:14 AM
napasteve   By the look of your passenger seat in post #24, I...   Feb 27 2016, 09:17 AM
PlantMan   Welcome!!! Nice find! Have a great...   Feb 27 2016, 09:33 AM
Optimusglen   Color code is L-21E Tangerine There's a full ...   Feb 27 2016, 09:40 AM
green914   :wttc:   Feb 27 2016, 09:44 AM
rick 918-S   May have a nice set of black cordaroy seats if you...   Feb 27 2016, 11:03 AM
Optimusglen   May have a nice set of black cordaroy seats if yo...   Feb 27 2016, 02:23 PM
Larmo63   Tangerine is a great color. The passenger long doe...   Feb 27 2016, 03:00 PM
bigkensteele   :wttc: I think that you have made the buy of the ...   Feb 27 2016, 06:11 PM
Optimusglen   The fixed passenger seat is really unique and cool...   Feb 27 2016, 08:19 PM
malcolm2   The fixed passenger seat is really unique and coo...   Mar 15 2016, 09:45 AM
gunn1   Great find, great color... Don't be worried a...   Feb 27 2016, 08:39 PM
Larmo63   It is nice to be able to have a separate passenger...   Feb 27 2016, 08:50 PM
iwanta914-6   Local late back pad! http://minneapolis.craig...   Feb 27 2016, 08:55 PM
bigkensteele   Local late back pad! http://minneapolis.crai...   Feb 27 2016, 09:21 PM
bigkensteele   Hard to tell from the pictures just how badly your...   Feb 27 2016, 10:07 PM
vintage914racer   Congrats on the Craigslist score. I too saw the a...   Feb 27 2016, 11:48 PM
Optimusglen   Thanks guys! Did some more prodding in the he...   Feb 28 2016, 04:57 PM
JmuRiz   Welcome to the club, great to see a Vortex TCL mak...   Feb 28 2016, 09:05 PM
rudedude   Nice find! You beat me to it. I've parte...   Feb 28 2016, 09:34 PM
iwanta914-6   Nice find! You beat me to it. I've part...   Feb 28 2016, 09:37 PM
Optimusglen   Big thanks to Rudedude. Met up today and got to se...   Mar 5 2016, 07:23 PM
rick 918-S   I may have a kit for the driver seat laying around...   Mar 5 2016, 09:57 PM
Optimusglen   I may have a kit for the driver seat laying aroun...   Mar 5 2016, 10:11 PM
Cracker   welcome to the World...good score and will be look...   Mar 6 2016, 07:05 AM
Puebloswatcop   :wttc: Great find...and heck you got almost ...   Mar 6 2016, 07:46 AM
Optimusglen   Thanks for the warm welcome guys, everyone said to...   Mar 7 2016, 08:24 AM
jd74914   Currently debating sending it in, or using the PO...   Mar 7 2016, 08:36 AM
Optimusglen   Thanks! I'll give them a look. Also decid...   Mar 7 2016, 08:59 AM
Optimusglen   Also grabbed this wheel off the bay. Leather is in...   Mar 8 2016, 06:48 AM
rick 918-S   I used the washing soda and battery charger method...   Mar 8 2016, 07:20 AM
Optimusglen   Hmm, good to hear. I'll have to do some more r...   Mar 8 2016, 10:05 AM
malcolm2   Hmm, good to hear. I'll have to do some more ...   Mar 15 2016, 10:05 AM
mbseto   Electrolysis method worked really well for me too....   Mar 8 2016, 10:56 AM
Optimusglen   hile I'm waiting for parts I thought I would s...   Mar 10 2016, 08:16 AM
JmuRiz   I wish I knew how to do upholstery work....good st...   Mar 10 2016, 11:31 AM
Optimusglen   I plan on keeping them kinda rustic and used, won...   Mar 10 2016, 11:40 AM
Optimusglen   Some good and some bad news for the project. Good...   Mar 15 2016, 07:45 AM
iwanta914-6   Also found a rusted through hole on the drivers s...   Mar 15 2016, 08:18 AM
Optimusglen   Obviously it depends on the extent of the rust. ...   Mar 15 2016, 09:28 AM
malcolm2   If I don't have some sort of reference point...   Mar 15 2016, 09:57 AM
Mikey914   More than happy to check on your order. The websit...   Mar 15 2016, 10:19 AM
Optimusglen   Thanks! I should have updated the thread, the ...   Mar 15 2016, 10:22 AM
Optimusglen   Did some more work on peeling off the old floor ta...   Mar 29 2016, 02:21 PM
Optimusglen   http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/c2.st...   Mar 29 2016, 06:38 PM
JmuRiz   Wow, you work FAST...I wish I had that drive and c...   Mar 29 2016, 06:42 PM
7TPorsh   :bump:   Mar 31 2016, 09:50 AM
Alapone   :bump: off topic but in your first post you ment...   Mar 31 2016, 10:11 AM
Optimusglen   For sure, here's the motorcycle. http://www.9...   Mar 31 2016, 10:42 AM
Alphaogre   For sure, here's the motorcycle. http://www....   Apr 4 2016, 01:15 PM
Optimusglen   Started looking at the wiring over the weekend, th...   Apr 4 2016, 10:10 AM
Optimusglen   Thanks! It's been fun, had it for about 6 ...   Apr 5 2016, 02:57 PM
Optimusglen   http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/c2.st...   Apr 9 2016, 05:31 PM
tomrev   Got the new wheels some new rubber. Went with 20...   Apr 15 2016, 08:57 AM
Optimusglen   Thanks! Today I made a completely random purc...   Apr 15 2016, 01:00 PM
Optimusglen   On a side note, those car dollies work great on su...   Apr 11 2016, 06:58 AM
Optimusglen   Sent in another 914rubber.com order today, this ti...   Apr 15 2016, 08:23 AM
Optimusglen   Rear suspension bushings came in yesterday, along ...   Apr 19 2016, 07:58 AM
KELTY360   I'd vote for "B". Body colored bumpe...   Apr 19 2016, 08:11 AM
Optimusglen   Radio delete panel complete . http://www.914world...   Apr 24 2016, 12:11 PM
Optimusglen   Great news! I got the title in the mail. On m...   Apr 28 2016, 05:58 AM
Alapone   Great news! I got the title in the mail. On ...   Apr 28 2016, 08:55 AM
Optimusglen   Nice bike! How did you find those clips for t...   Apr 28 2016, 09:13 AM
iwanta914-6   [quote name='Alapone' post='2337105' date='Apr 28...   Apr 28 2016, 09:16 AM
Alapone   [quote name='Alapone' post='2337105' date='Apr 2...   Apr 28 2016, 10:29 AM
Optimusglen   Good deal, thanks iwanta914-6.   Apr 28 2016, 01:46 PM
Optimusglen   I did some work for Scott over at RenownUSA and sc...   May 5 2016, 03:48 PM
Larmo63   Chrome bumpers look best.   May 5 2016, 07:24 PM
Optimusglen   Decided to skip C&C with the motorcycle and in...   May 7 2016, 04:00 PM
Optimusglen   Little update time. Went to the MN C&C this p...   Jun 6 2016, 07:18 AM
4 Pages V  1 2 3 > » 


Reply to this topicStart new topic
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:

 



- Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 28th March 2024 - 10:15 AM