pictures of my new car, the 3.6 and 1.7 together... :) Options

[siverson]

Hi - thought I'd quickly some photos of my new [to me] 914. I've been casually watching eBay for quite a while for a nice, stock 4-cylinder 914 and this one popped up almost 2 months ago. The reserve wasn't met, but I eventually negotiated with the seller and bought it for a high premium for a "normal" 914-4 1.7, but given the mileage and condition of this car, I now actually think I got a good price. It would best very expensive to restore a car to this level (I know, I've tried), and many of the parts you simply can't get anymore.

Here's the old eBay ad:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...item=4572344565

I flew to Denver on Saturday, checked out the car all afternoon with some 914 folks, and then met more CO 914 people for dinner. Thanks again for coming out again guys and nice to meet you!

The car is truly a time capsule. It had just under 25,000 miles when I bought it, and it shows and drives like a new 25k mile car - not a 32 year-old 25k mile car. EVERYTHING works and is basically like new. The color of the needles isn't faded. The "fasten seat belt" light works, including the passenger sensor. All the paint is original, and there are only 3 or 4 rock chips. The spare has never been used. The trunks are perfect and have never been repainted. I spent a lot of money repainting my signal orange 914 a couple years ago and the 32 year-old factory paint on this car is much nicer. The rear chrome bumper is perfect, and it's original - 32 years old - how did that happen?! The front is near perfect, and you can only see minor flaws on close inspection. The bumper tops are straight, solid, and original. The factory radio looks new, and works perfectly - it's fairly loud and doesn't even sound half bad. Obviously I’m pretty excited… 

It is very slow compared to my 3.6, but still really enjoyable to drive. I've seen an indicated 110 mph on a flat road, and 120 with a nice downhill. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif) (the farm pictures are about 5 minutes from the house I bought it from). The car feels solid and there are no rattles. I've since put several hundred miles on it, and it's perfect. Starts perfect, shifts nice, idles, and no leaks...

How a 914 survived in this condition is beyond me. The guy I bought it from drove it 800 miles total in the last 5 years. I plan on keeping it original and in top shape, but I doubt I’ll be able to limit myself to less than 200 miles per year!

Some things I'd like to change:

- As you can see, I had to put new tires on immediately. The old ones were shot. I couldn't quickly find correct 155 or 165 tires, so I reverted to 185/65/15. I really like how it handles and drives with these tires, but it doesn't look quite correct. See the outdoor pictures when it still had 165 tires, and the parking garage pictures with the new 185/65/15 tires. What do you think, find the right 155 tires?

- The black paint on the front, side, and rear valences is original and pretty faded. This was obviously just lower quality paint than the body paint. What do you think? Keep it original (it's pretty presentable as-is), or re-spray the black so it looks as good as the body paint?

- It does need some new clips and rubber boots for the fuel injectors.

- I'm going to replace the "sears" battery with something looks more correct. Or just pull off the ugly stickers...

- I think the rear springs are sagging, and the ride height is too low. It's level, and looks nice, not isn't the factory height (I don't think). I may replace them with new stock springs...

That’s it. It got a little grungy from the miles I put on and needs to be cleaned up, but here are some pictures anyways…

-Steve

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