Hug your 914 today Options

[JeffBowlsby]

What is it about 914s in particular that incites their owners to want to ‘improve them’, ‘build what the factory should have built’, etc., or just make them something they are not because it is convenient? Talking in part about body mods, but also ‘performance’ mods.

The best quality builds – esthetically or technically - are cool to see/experience and we all appreciate them, but it’s the human element that sometimes gets us shaking our heads. Maybe it’s the fantasy/vision some have, that they either have not thought through their ‘solution’ completely or perhaps they do not have the skills/time/money to fulfill once they begin that path downhill.

Body mods – have we seen all possibilities by now? If you want a Por-Tessa or a cab-91X wide body or a front engine 914 – just buy a real one. Wait, none of those mutants are factory-produced cars.

Performance mods – You want power? A stock 2.0L is not that much different than a 1.8L powerwise, so if you want real power just find a significantly bigger lump. Making a 2.0L from a 1.7L, and doing it correctly involves lots of changes, decreases originality and will still not allow you to lay rubber down in your ‘hood.

Swaps – You have a flywheel from a Pantera on the shelf and remarkably it fits perfectly…should you use it? How about putting on the injection from a VW GTI, you only need to fab a few custom bits to mount it, and you need to find someone to reflash the ECU and use custom built injectors. Can you make a 2.0L banana muffler fit a 1.8L? You are Ok that no reputable shop will ever want to touch your 914 again with those mods (they don’t now anyway) because you plan to keep it forever. Because you can and because you want to. But we all know you won’t keep it forever – someday someone else will own it or it will be found as a failed dream rotting in a field somewhere. We are just temporary caretakers in this world.

So this post is not a complaint about poor decision making, but is intended an as encouragement to fully think through mods, and carefully consider the realities of available time/money/effort needed to fulfill a vision.

Make wise decisions and help save the 914, they are becoming an endangered species.