OEM Black Door Handles Options

[pfreiburger]

I am now quite certain that the factory did install some black door handles. I came to this determination in a roundabout (and expensive) way, starting when my inner hammer mechanic escaped and broke the driver door handle.

As no black ones exist, I picked up a new chrome (Sierra Madre) handle and was surprised to find that my old lock cylinder (after removing the black paint) would not fit the chrome handle. The length was fine, but it fit so tight it could not be turned. At all. Measuring the ID of the handle bores confirmed that the black handle was larger, even with paint on it. The used chrome-handle lock cylinder I bought on line later fit and turned in the new chrome handle just fine. And that used chrome handle cylinder definitely had more clearance when inserted in the old black handle. Measuring the cap ends of the lock cylinder confirmed it – the cylinder from the black handle was larger in diameter.

Dissimilar sized handle components are almost certainly no customizer job, and damn sure no hot rod job. The only conclusion I can draw is that Porsche had a supplier make a run of black handles, and for whatever reason some components were made a little different. This fits with what I found when I scraped some black paint from the broken handle: no evidence of chrome ever being applied to the casting. Lastly, there are factory pictures (albeit poor ones) of black A pillar cars that look like they have black handles also.

Am I missing another explanation?

[wonkipop]

anyone ever noticed something about this photo before?

karmann factory.
model year 68 or 69 ghias coming down the line.
circular indicator lights. MY 70 had type 3 style wrap arounds.
photo likely taken sometime between fall 67 to summer 69?

in the background are 914s on stands.
914 production does not start until fall of 69?

early pre production shells or batch of prototypes being prepared?

couple of red ones there, but no tangerine/blood orange.
guess with mr. piech's car the trunk carpet and shot black paint in the front disguises brutal surgery done in "the cage" elsewhere.

[davep]

in the background are 914s on stands.
914 production does not start until fall of 69?

early pre production shells or batch of prototypes being prepared?

guess with mr. piech's car the trunk carpet and shot black paint in the front disguises brutal surgery done in "the cage" elsewhere.

The 7 914 in the background would likely be prototypes on trolley carts. We know of 914006, 914111, 914114 and 914120. Actual production cars were probably first built in August 1969; the first completion date I know of is Sept 5.
As to the "brutal surgery", well yes 914114 was much modified to make the 908 engine fit, and to accommodate the larger fuel tank. However, very few parts of the car before modification were what we would think of as production parts.
I would love to see all of the photos taken during the photo shoot at the museum.

[mepstein]

in the background are 914s on stands.
914 production does not start until fall of 69?

early pre production shells or batch of prototypes being prepared?

guess with mr. piech's car the trunk carpet and shot black paint in the front disguises brutal surgery done in "the cage" elsewhere.

The 7 914 in the background would likely be prototypes on trolley carts. We know of 914006, 914111, 914114 and 914120. Actual production cars were probably first built in August 1969; the first completion date I know of is Sept 5.
As to the "brutal surgery", well yes 914114 was much modified to make the 908 engine fit, and to accommodate the larger fuel tank. However, very few parts of the car before modification were what we would think of as production parts.
I would love to see all of the photos taken during the photo shoot at the museum.

"Brutal surgery"? More like 914 artistry. They fixed a 908 engine and trans into a 914. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

[wonkipop]

in the background are 914s on stands.
914 production does not start until fall of 69?

early pre production shells or batch of prototypes being prepared?

guess with mr. piech's car the trunk carpet and shot black paint in the front disguises brutal surgery done in "the cage" elsewhere.

The 7 914 in the background would likely be prototypes on trolley carts. We know of 914006, 914111, 914114 and 914120. Actual production cars were probably first built in August 1969; the first completion date I know of is Sept 5.
As to the "brutal surgery", well yes 914114 was much modified to make the 908 engine fit, and to accommodate the larger fuel tank. However, very few parts of the car before modification were what we would think of as production parts.
I would love to see all of the photos taken during the photo shoot at the museum.

"Brutal surgery"? More like 914 artistry. They fixed a 908 engine and trans into a 914. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

tried to carefully chose the word "surgery".
was thinking "brutal" in relation to the sitting in the seat - driving, result.
but as the mechanic tells in the story linked above, they just cut into it and did it.
no drawings - ad libbed it as they went. some of that body mod stuff would be fairly "direct" and raw i'd guess.

.........the patient sure was in a different state of health after the heart transplant.

i understand "butchery" is reserved by some for rhd conversions.
though,....... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) is/was imperative. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

i saw a 908 up close about --- 40 years ago. belonged to mr. hamilton, the original porsche distributor before the factory stepped in and took over in the early/mid 90s.
quite an engine. that car was road registered then and wore plates. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
it spent a bit of time in the showroom on display. but it was taken out and run.
its not here anymore. i never heard the engine run in that. wish i had.
i'm not sure what is really left in aus these days.
(hamilton did have a 917 can am car but i never saw that taken out on track or visibly displayed). americans are fortunate in that there are these cars there and they are out run on tracks to hear and see. most i have seen is rusty french's 935 driven in anger about 10 years or more ago. mr. french didn't drive any other way.

would be nice to see more archive photos of some of the long crushed prototypes if they exist.
would tell an interesting story.
i'd read all the good info on the site here a year ago on prototype numbers.
picked up that there was 48 /4 protos and 20 /6s.
a series with a 0 as first of three numbers after 914 and a series with a 1 as first number?

another book out there for a good historian. i'd buy it.

its good the early history of the design of the cars has come to light recently.
i thought long ago it was piech's project with an emphasis on engineering.
i remember the orange audi spyder concept car from the early 90s, which had 914 door handles. like it was some hint at a homage.

[bbrock]

its good the early history of the design of the cars has come to light recently.
i thought long ago it was piech's project with an emphasis on engineering.
i remember the orange audi spyder concept car from the early 90s, which had 914 door handles. like it was some hint at a homage.

Agreed. I always thought the whole NARP thing was pretty dumb considering the lineage of the 356 and 911, but it has been a real epiphany learning how deeply Piech's vison shaped the 914. Also interesting has been learning that Porsche seemed to have every intention of continuing to develop the car but it was VW, not Porsche, who pulled the plug. Goes against the common myth that Porsche wanted to distance themselves from the bastard model. If that were true, why then did they replace it with another bastard? What is sad is that Porsche themselves seem to have bought into this nonsense and only recently do they seem willing to acknowledge the 914's existence again. Still, just once I'd like to see a Porsche official describe the Boxster as the modern day 914.