been diong research on early 73 europeon models, V.I.N. # 4732900001 thru 4732900999 Options

[orange914]

these are the first 1000 73's reslated from europe to california for u.s. demand that year. this is the letter sent out inquiring info from the owners registered on 914club. i hope to acumulate more responses and facts for these 914's. enjoy and input welcome.
pictures may not transfer from my word document to this topic (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)



Thanks to all those who have responded and participated in my fact gathering on the first 1000 1973 Porsche 914’s. There are 32 registered owners on the 914world.com at present. generally these cars are known as “first 1000” . These cars where originally built and equipped for the European market. Because of high demand in the U.S. in 1973, the first 1000 V.I.N.# 914’s that where slated for Europe but sent to California dealers. From my findings I’m impressed with this nitch 914 because it is in my opinion a very balanced 914. By that I mean it’s got the benefits of a factory improved and upgrades that come from a few years of production. It’s especially desirable for auto crossing due to factory upgrades and is lighter than U.S. 73 and up models, but without the heavy smog equipment that comes with later models.

The below information is a collection of facts about this car from my own and other early 1000 owners (4732900000 thru 4732900999). There are 32 members in the 914 roster that have v.i.n. #’s that fall in this category and have been contacted. This info has been submitted by these club members:
1 David chapman “iamchappy”
2 John lush “johnlush”
3 Mark allen
4 Pete stout
5 Bruce alert “Bruce Allert”
6 Ray warren “Ray Warren”
7 Steve
8 “tommy914”
9 Mihai
10 Andrew
11 Kenny Miller “orange914”

Here are some of the unique facts I’ve learned, any additional info would be great!:

1 vinyl on a-pillars (around windshield)
2 front hubs non-hubcentric (72 earlier style)
3 turn signal switch/wiring harness (72 earlier style)
4 doors lightweight/non reinforced (u.s.1973 and up had 200#’s of reinforcement)
5 1.7 liter fuel injected engine
6 Side shift transmission
7 15x5.5 dealer installed “Dan gurney” wheels, sometimes called western spoke rims
8 1970-1972 headlight switch and wiring
9 1970-1972 light rain tray
10 Sold out of California dealerships

I’ve listed my letter and its responses from the owners on their cars and any pictures that they sent of their early 1000 1973 914’s! Hope this helps all.

My son Kenny’s (orange914) 1973


http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2276802

Thanks, Kenny “orange914”

The “request” letter I sent out:

>i was looking up my sons 73 vin #(4732900157), its
one of the first 1000 73's built as is yours according
to the vin #'s. from what i've learned the first 1000
73's were exported from europe to the states due to
high demand. there were several desirable features
like non-reinforsed lighter doors (in u.s. they
required 200# heavier reinforsed doors) and other
oddities like front a-pillars were vynal covered
unlike any other 914's. i'd like to talk with you
about your 914 and knowledge on these.


The returned responses:

John Lush
Hi Mike,

All I had ever heard was that things like the door beams were mid-year
model changes. I bought my car from probably the second or third owner
in '93 (I think). I bought it in Colorado but the paperwork indicates
it was sold new in California. It had been repainted prior to me
getting it and there was no vinyl on the A-pillars - but - it is a
pretty basic model with the 1.7, steel wheels and black bumpers. It has
been off the road for several years while I've been slowly doing a /6
conversion on it. Anything specific you want me to look at for you?

John

Hi Mike,

My Vin is # 473290XXXX and I do have the early doors without reinforcement and also the early window winding mechanism, which makes me wonder if the doors, even though they are the same original color, are truly the door that came on it.
I have another set of 73 1/2 doors from another car with the reinforcement which fit a little bigger in the door opening which make much tighter gaps. I have no history of this car other than I purchased it about four years ago from a PCA club racer in Ramona, Cal. the car was pretty well stripped as this was a track car but it had been correctly converted at one time using the stock 914 6 parts into a six.The wiring harness was still intact and the car came with all the goodies. I have converted it back to a street car using the parts from the 73 1/2 which I had owned since new. the 73 1/2 car had very rusty longs and I choose not to restore it. Everything else on the car was in excellent condition. I Ebayed out the parts I no longer needed and am making this car into a real beautiful monster with everything else. All new trim, and paint very soon the body shop gets it this week. I just picked up my freshly built 3.12 turbo twin plug engine that will power it. I hope its on the road by the end of the month.
Watch for my posts on the 914 turbo carrera.

David
Mike here is my info and picture of my car and engine:

David Chapman


chappy@mn.rr.com






"Mark Allen"

Hello, yes I do have an early 73 914. My car has the
lightweight doors, I wasn't sure if these were from a
earlier car or not. My pillars are the normal trim, no
vinyl.

My car has been highly modified. I have a 3.2L 911 6
cyl in it at the moment.

What else have you found on early 73 cars.

Mark

Pet stout

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the email. I can confirm that my car is
indeed a bit of an oddity. It did indeed have the
vinyl-covered A pillars (since removed for the cars
one and only paint job).

I have also discovered the following 73 model
discrepancies:

-1970-72 headlight switch and wiring.
-1970-72 rain tray and engine lid with 1970-72 holes
for rain tray
-1970-72 doors (no impact bar)
-1970-72 window tracks and lack of fuzzy seals

However, it does have the well-known and very
desirable 1973 upgraded side-shift transmission.

I feel like there is something else missing that I am
forgetting, but I cannot remember. I did not know
about the Euro cars coming over to meet U.S. demand.
Very interesting...

My car was a 1.7 with the appearance package. Besides
the chrome, vinyl trim, and the foglights, it had
Pedrini alloys with black back grounding and silver
"trimming."

Thanks,
Pete

Bruce allert

WOW! super nice 914 Mike. Mine wasn't near that nice. I changed the interior from all black to black & tan. Carpets & door panels were tan with black arm rests. Left the seats & back pad black. Turned out quite well.
It'd been repainted but with the original Phoenix red. The repaint had some nice gold metallic within it so when the sun was out it glowed!
Here's a couple at AX...

....b
"Bruce Allert"


Hi Mike,
I don't have "Punkin" any longer. Gave up on it after the 3rd engine. Just couldn't keep it running right. Went from a Calif. 1.7 (which lost its #4 exhaust valve) to a 2.0. It started knocking at an auto cross. But neither seemed to run quite right.

I always thought there was something special about that car. It had the covered pillars as you said. It also had air conditioning. I still have the original 1.7 engine with the compressor and tin that had to be cut specifically for the comp. to fit. I installed factory sways front & rear and 100# springs. Also installed some height adjustable Bilsteins. What a difference those items made in it's cornering. Really kept it flat.

I loved that car but it let me down too many times. Could've been a prime candidate for a conversion but I didn't have the money or know how. I'm looking for a conversion be it Porsche 6, American V6 or V8.

If ya have any questions ask away. My email addy is

......b
any idea who's got it or where it ended up? i guess i wonder becouse it was built next to ours (00157-00158). my son's 914 is orange too. he's having fun showing it. i'll e-mail you a few pics
mike


Ray warren
Yes it was a 1.7 and still is 4 lug.
Nice looking car you have. Too bad about the accident.
Looks like you did a great job of fixing it.
Ray...

Subject: Re: 73 914
Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2006 18:16:47 -0700 (PDT)

RAY

did yours origanally come with 1.7 and 4 lug? nice car, good job on the resto. heres my sons 914
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2276802
mike

ray warren <rayjwarren@hotmail.com> wrote:
Yes, mine does have the lighter doors and vinyl on the pillars. (very rare)
You can see some pics of it at http://www.porsche914.ca.
Any other questions. just ask.
ray...

"ray warren"


Engine
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Fuel Injection
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Hi Mike,
I'm not much of an historian on these cars but you are correct about the vinyl and the doors. The vinyl was a special but the doors were left over parts before the previous model year I think. I don't know if the europeans got the light weight doors in the later year or not. We may also be running on the early front hubs as well.

My car is in pretty sad shape. I thought the rust was minimal in it but when I stripped it down I found the longs were pretty bad. It is going to cost me $3K for a restoration specialist to fix it and that is just a little too expensive for this car. I is a bit sad though - I've had the beast since 74. Tried to sell it when the second baby arrived but that didn't work and it got lost in the garage for 20 years. I've had a lot of fun tearing it down and learning how things work. Now I'll have to either find a new best friend who is a master welder or I'll have to give the project away to some young AXr looking for a project.

Cheers
Steve


Hi Mike,
I'll tell you some specifics on mine.

-it has the "light" doors.
-It HAD the vinyl around the windshield. Unfortunately, many years ago I didn't know this was factory and thought the previous owner had added it. So when it came time to paint it, I removed the vinyl. I was very surprised to find very little paint, mostly undercoating, under the vinly piece.

-the front brake rotors were not hub centric, but I swapped those out.

-the window mechanism matches the early models

-I think i remember that some of the wiring resembles the 72 harness. At least according to my Haynes manual

- the bumpers however matched a 73, tits in front

Picture from about 1988 attached, showing the car just before it got painted. I had already removed the vinyl. I can't find a picture from before that.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I can call tomorrow tommy914

Hi Mike,
I'm not much of an historian on these cars but you are correct about the vinyl and the doors. The vinyl was a special but the doors were left over parts before the previous model year I think. I don't know if the europeans got the light weight doors in the later year or not. We may also be running on the early front hubs as well.

My car is in pretty sad shape. I thought the rust was minimal in it but when I stripped it down I found the longs were pretty bad. It is going to cost me $3K for a restoration specialist to fix it and that is just a little too expensive for this car. I is a bit sad though - I've had the beast since 74. Tried to sell it when the second baby arrived but that didn't work and it got lost in the garage for 20 years. I've had a lot of fun tearing it down and learning how things work. Now I'll have to either find a new best friend who is a master welder or I'll have to give the project away to some young AXr looking for a project.

Cheers
Steve




Hello Mike, sorry for the late reply. I'll be glad to answer any questions you have. I'll give you a call sometime next week since my dad is in the hospital so I am quite taken up by that.

Differences I noticed about the car.

Early doors with no reinforcement and early style window mechanism.
Non hubcentric front rotors, I am not sure if the ball joints were early or late.
The car had no vinyl covering on the windshield frame, only the targa bar.
The rest seemed like any other later 73.

Mihai


hello mike
my teener is one of those first 1000 you mentioned and it came with the vinyl around the windshield.I have not seen any others like this.
I am ready to re-certify the old girl and be back on the road this week.I will try to send pics and we can compare.
andrew in the Soo