Mark the group buy king, dropped his car off last week. I will get a good run at it next week, but for now I will post the beginning pics. I pulled his tank to take to the refinishers and OHHHH BOY what 20 years does to gas More pics to come next week Since there seems to be very little rust to deal with it will allow me to spend more time than usual on the body and paint work

Tank will be geting a full cleaning and sealing job

Semi related threadjack, ScottyB magical 914 master. I am going to do the chassis work to my car and get it stripped to bare metal and sacrificially primed me thinks.

I want you to make her pretty.

What is the best way to get a hold of you and chat about this?

PM?

Bat signal?

I have his phone number, but he is like my brother so I am special that way

Caller ID spoof from some 1-900 numbers for fun.

I will ask for digits via PM I guess. Texting that sort of communication takes up way too much time and effort.

telegraph, definitely under-utilized in these modern times... and can be used even when 3g service is out on AT&T's network.


the car is going to look amazing, but it's very nice already!!

The pictures of the tank.

How many Scotty the Cats can there be in Richmond?

Good start Mark!

Carrier pidgeon

Where did those tools come from? I didn’t know I had them.

The paint looks good in the pictures but only from 20’. It’s bubbled on most of the body panels, the doors are rippled and the driver sail panel has rust at the vent.

Paint will be the same color but this time around I will add the vinyl sail panels and leave off the Porsche side stripes. No bumper tits. I’m still looking for the right wheels to fit the flares. Might go for the Superlites.

The majority of the cost of the restoration will be for paint and bodywork but I’ve been buying parts from the vendors and members on our board. Motor will be replaced once I’ve gotten the chance to drive it a bit. Car was purchased in ’85 and last registered in ’88. 21 years is a long time.

Too nice. You need to sprinkle some rust pellets on it before you get started, then let them germinate for a week or two. After all, we east coasters have a certain reputation to uphold about saving rusted out hulks.

zach

I dig that color. Nice base. Scary gas tank...

I've never noticed a vent like that one in the middle of the dash... gauges say the car is a 73. What year and engine?

A/C car?

Nope, stock on early /4 cars ...

Andy

DOH! I see now, it doesn't have the side vents, I missed the dead give-away

Andy is correct, my '70 has one of those vents.

Car is a '74 2.0 that was restored in '85 so it could have been pieced together with an odd selection of parts. I paid $8,500 in '85 and it ran perfectly for 4+ years. It was a complete stripped, bare metal retore since i was very "rust phobic" from an earlier 914 that had a pretty paint job that hid lots of rust. Bought a jeep and tried to sell the 914 in '89 but nobody would pay $4,500 so I parked it. Then forgot about it.

That's not a '74 chassis ...

The front trunk is missing the '74 reinforcement piece and the rear trunk doesn't have the '74 jack mount.

The complete dash plus dash-subframe is from a '70/'71 as is the steering column.

Andy

Rear bar mounts are bolted in also. The 2.0 rear bar mounts were welded in.

Mark, your dash is missing its cracks.

I'm sort of shocked. Title says 1974. It's vin is 4742903428 side shifter trans, 2.0 I don't read vin so could someone tell me what it means. I bought late model calipers from PMB so I'm hoping the parts that matter for the calipers are late model as well.

Scotty B has the car so maybe he can look and figure out this puzzle.

What are rear bar mounts?

I'm thinking the car is stolen and it's a VIN swap...

Rear sway bar mounts. Yours are not original, someone bolted the rear swaybar to the trunkfloor (rather crudely i might add) as shown by the rear trunk picture.


Is there a VIN number stamped into the top of the passenger side front fender, inside the trunk?

If so, does it match the 474xx VIN?
Andy

I'm in PA and car is with Scott in VA. Hopefully he will chime in.

It looks like early seat belts.....

If he can get some pics of the rear firewall, we will know for sure.

Early cars did not have the recess in the firewall to mount the retractable seat belt receivers.

No recess = early tub

Andy

Not sure when they switched to the late dash with the bottom vents, but I thought it was '73. If so, doesn't that alone date it as an earlier shell, unless someone went to the trouble to convert the whole dash assembly to the early config.

It doesn't have retractable belts. Question is, why would someone vin swap a 74 to a 70 shell? Car was restored at Carranza racing in NJ. 914's were plentiful in '85. They also worked on 911 and 356 so I know they weren't getting rich off of me. Strange...

This could be your answer. Maybe it was Jimmy Hoffa we were looking at in your gas tank.....

I saw Mark's name on my phone consultation list for next week... So that makes me VERY glad to hear that the fuel tank is being properly treated for Cancer.
Dirty fuel tanks have killed my engines in the past!
Talk to you Wednesday, Mark.

Tank cleaned, sealed, ss fuel lines, new fuel pump, ect.
Hopefully Dr. Evil checking trans
planning a rennshift and jwest shift kit.
Trying to put the motor in a happy place

Makes me scared to think of what's in my gas tank, yikes.

What's the best method of fixing it? Take it to a radiator shop or something else?

Maybe that's why my car got the idle jets all f-ed up (at least that's my guess as I haven't torn them apart yet).

I require fuel tanks to be professionally restored with any turn key engine sale, I even ask to see receipts.

thats since an idiot with a 356 didn't clean his and left 2 year old fuel init.. The engine failed in one mile, when he sent the engine back it still had a dirty fuel filter and dead gas in the carbs.

Just saw where this thead has gone, and Mark you need to check your title. Your car IS an early car. 2 piece handbrake, tailshift trans, dash vent etc. I will check the VINs tomorrow to make certain they match each other, and take a couple more pics

I have the title in hand. Lists as a 74 with vin 4742903428. I always thought it was a side shifter trans but I didn't even look at the car for 20 years so my memory must be failing. I wonder if it's even a 2.0 liter?
I was 18 when I bought the car so I guess I didn't know any better - still don't.
Will the late model brakes that I bought from Eric fit or do I need early model ones?

What a pain!

Anybody have a good side shift trans and linkage for sale or conversion parts?

Nope, engine is a 1.8 block with 40 IDAs on it. Lot of carb for a 1.8

Oh boy, what have i done?

Andy

Bummer

Wow... I know when I had it built it was supposed to be 2.0 with side shifter. So I guess its an early shell , dash and trans, late 1.8 motor and interior. Unless the 2.0 and trans was switched when I took it back to the place that built it when the had it for sale. Sat in their shop for almost a year so they could have swapped motor and trans? I never drove it after shop had it for sale and it was towed to my parents house. Not what I expected!

Helped me figure out the truth. I appreciate it.

I have a side core I can build for you. PM me and we can talk. I do not have the other stuff, but I may have access to them. I need to check my two local sources.

Sounds like maybe the guy in NJ got mixed up and gave Mark the wrong car, a loooooong time ago.

Scotty, you have the answer, what do the numbers on the car say?

Will do. Thanks, mark

Same car I purchased but not same motor and trans. When I left car at shop to try and sell, they added side stripes, painted rockers and valances black (used to be body color) and changed to stock sized tires. They said it would sell better that way. But I did drive the car for 4 years and it is the one they sold me origionally. I know it also had ss heat exchangers so I wonder what is on car now since 2.0 and 1.8 dont mix and match.

I guess we just have to wait and see what Scott says about the vin.

Could it be a 1.8 block with 2.0 pistons or whatever combo makes a 2.0?

A 1.8 is just bigger pistons and cylinders on a 1.7. I know there are other differences such as Fuel Injection, but a 2.0 has a bigger crank and better heads.
2.0 heads have 3 bolts on the intake, the smaller engines have four bolts on the intake. This is the easiest way to tell if you have a 2.0.