914 "Need to Know" items for my son, If and when he inherits my car, someday... Options

[oakdalecurtis]

I am in no hurry to go, but someday my 35 year old son will inherit my 914. He is good mechanically, but he has never spent time working on the 914 with me, for many life reasons. (He's a corporate jet pilot, always been busy flying). I thought I would write a list of "Need to Know" items to give him a good start with the car when that day comes. Here's my list. Anything else come to mind to consider?

- ALL bolts are metric.

- Only two local mechanics know how to fix 914’s properly. Terry at Kruse-Lucas in
Modesto and Keith at Eurotrends in Ceres are the ones. Only Terry at Kruse Lucas has
the equipment to smog it.

- Engine valves should be adjusted professionally every 5000 miles, by Terry or Kieth.

- All removed car parts are in a plastic bin in the garage room.

- Run the engine on 87 octane gas, do not go by the 91 RON sticker, that’s a European
octane rating, different than US octane rating. Higher octane will make engine run
hotter and your wallet run thinner.

- Use only 20/50 Brad Penn Racing Oil, order online. This oil has higher levels of ZDPP
to protect older engines. Use only a Royal Purple 20-253, Mahle OC-28, or Mann
W920/17 oil filter, also ordered online. Change oil filter from below, on passenger side
of engine block near firewall. PAN PLUG TORQUE IS ONLY 16 ft/lbs, and SUMP PLUG IS
ONLY 9.4 ft/lbs. Any more torque will cause BIG damage to engine. I just cleaned out
the sump screen, so it’s not necessary to do again for a LONG time. Just change the
oil via the pan plug every 3000 miles or once per year. Install a new crush washer
(AutoAtlanta has them) on the pan plug, with the washer seam TOWARD the bolt
head. NEVER let an oil change shop do the oil change, as they are clueless and will
over torque the plug and damage the engine. It’s an easy do it yourself job. Complete
oil change instructions are in my personal computer files under Cars/914.

- The idle adjust screw is on the back of the throttle body, if you stand on the passenger
side of the car and reach around throttle body. Only adjust the idle when the engine
is warm. The idle mixture control, done at idle only, is the “white line” knob on the
back of the black ECU box on the firewall behind the battery.

- Don’t use a K&N air filter, just a standard paper air filter. Oil in the K&N filters is bad
for the engine sensors.

- If the battery is disconnected and reconnected for maintenence, the radio antenna will
not go up until you push the radio power button several dozen times, not sure why.

- The rain tray under the engine access lid has been removed so the engine runs cooler,
and also to allow installation of the BlazeCut fire suppression system tube. Do not run
the car in the rain if you can help it, since the body steel is not galvanized and will
rust easliy from any trapped water.

- If the rear trunk release solenoid is not working, an emergency trunk release cable is
hanging under the center of the rear bumper just above sight line.

- Run stock tire size. Low profile tires will make ride quality very harsh, trust me.

- Brake pads are in great shape, and should last a long time.

- Fuses are under the dash on the drivers left knee area. Fuses are color coded for
amperage. Relays are on the relay board just above those fuses, which is accessed by
removing the two screws holding the relay board up. I recommend disconnecting the
negative cable from the battery before dropping the relay board.

- Another relay board is found in the engine compartment under a plastic cover below
the theft alarm. There is also one fuse on it controlling most engine functions. The
Voltage Regulator is also on this relay board, accessed by carefully removing plastic
box cover with snap clip on the bottom edge .