I've owned my '72 since for 20+ years and have lost count of the money I've spent on it. I gave up on her for 11 years and parked it after a '89 944 Turbo S caught my eye.

Anyway, the the 944's gone and it's time to get the 914 back out there, but I really don't know where to start or if it's even worth doing or even if I'm capable of seeing the whole thing though to completion.

I've done a lot of work on it and I love the car but the issues are many and not cheap. Also finding parts locally is virtually impossible as is the expertise and special knowledge required to keep her going reliably.

Some of the problems include: Car requires full re-paint. Needs re-wiring. Fuel tank has rust flakes that always blocked fuel filter. Transmission linkage needed adjustment constantly even after rebuild. Cracked windshield. Broken door handle. Half finished tubing and chassis stiffening (rear half done front section requires finishing). Some trim missing.

Some things that it has are: 2.4 E on Webers, GT flares, rust free metal, Fuchs 7's and 8's with 911 brakes, Turbo tie rods and front struts, Bilstien rear shocks and 180lb springs, rebuilt rear shift transmission, rear chassis stiffening kit.

I really don't know what I should do or where I should start although I do have the rear suspension out waiting for the Polybronze control arm bushes that I ordered. They needed replacing when the car got parked.

So,what should I do next? I need help, inspiration and parts.

All comments advice would be most appreciated, thank you

Phil

p.s. : pictures of car

pull the tank and get cleaned out and treated. then make it go and stop. drive it and you'll get the bug again.

Just do it, you are starting with a better base then i did... and I also have owned mine for 20+ years

... the main thing I see wrong with it, is the driver's set-up is on the wrong side!

Get 'er running & pretty, then you'll have a fun eye-catcher to cruise around in!

Mine's been sitting in my garage collecting rust & waiting for me to fix 'er up for longer than you've had yours, & yet yours is closer to running than mine!

Cheers Mate!
Tom
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You're right. There's way too much work to be finished by one man in a somewhat isolated land. The simple solution is to sell it to me.

Just Kidding.

That car looks awesome even in its unfinished state. Isolate the work into small jobs starting with the most important jobs to least important. Make a list of things to do and prioritize them. As messix said, make it so it goes and stops and work from there.

From the info you provided, get the gas tank cleaned and coated or buy another one from someone here. Get the engine running, then make sure the brake system is functional.

What needs rewiring? Rodent damage or dryrot?

The paint doesn't look that bad and anyways, paint would be one of the last jobs to complete. You do want to get some more primer on the flares. Heck if you want it to look uniform, get a couple of rattle cans of flat black and just shoot a quick thin coat on the whole car.

How's the rust in the hell hole & longs?

You can't go wrong leaning on the network of experience on this site. No matter what problem you encounter, someone here has been there and has a solution.

If you need parts, check the classifieds here, on Pelican Parts, and The Samba. Someone is selling what you need.

I'm told treating the tank is a short term solution. I would replace tank if a new one was available.The problem is that the tank was modified as part of rhd conversion so any replacement tank requires same mod.

Your car and the level of commitment you have for it are inspirational..I often refer to your pics as motivation.

Yeah funny!

Thanks mate. Had some minor rust issues around battery tray and the long rail directly below, that have been repaired properly, also tubes for cables were replaced.

The wiring harness was patched up when doing the rhd conversion and I had a couple of near electrical fires..smoke coming out from under the dash...so I just want to have it done properly now.

The Samba? What is this? Pelican are good? I need things like RHS door handle, half the windsheild trim. Small stuff, rubbers etc.

Thanks

Hi welcome to the world!!

Nice looking car! Looks actually not that bad, probably better than some other cars I have seen.

You think its hard to get parts for your car,...dude I am in Japan...almost nothing here and that is with me searching for years.

Basically your story is the same as mine and many others here too. You came back to your roots and got that 914 itch again. You have a decent starter car there and its not that bad, believe me. You should have seen my car 3 years ago and I have had mine close to 20 years too (also a 72)

Have the tank taken care of by a pro shop or maybe a radiator shop and start fresh again, make sure you change those fuel filters and rebuild the carbs if you have not done so already or at least pull them apart and give them a good cleaning. You would be surprised what a begineer with non mechanical skills can do, it just takes a lot more time and mistakes arise but there are lots of helpful people here on this site. If the engine is not running make sure you let it sit a bit with some penetrating fluid in there to loosen things up before you crank it over.

Electrical diagrams are in the Haynes manual, I used these to go through my car and am still going through it even now...its hard and time consuming but can be done.

Wish you all the best and cheers

Jamie
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I'd say make her safe, then make her reliable, then make her pretty:

Bleed brakes, replace hoses if needed.
Pull the tank, flush and treat as above
Replace fuel hoses / filter
Rebuild carbs
Need to isolate which electrical circuits are giving you troubles. I would go 1 fuse at a time until you find your culprit wires.
Not sure how old the tires are...

At that point you have a driver and can attend to the chassis, paint, trim issues as they bother you .

Good luck!

RHD!

Phil,

All the work is possible, but you do have to break it into smaller tasks, as Spoke said.

You can pull the gas tank and clean it. Dispose of the old fuel left in it any way that is legal where you live. pull all the crap off the top of the tank - easy job, its all held on by 7 or 8 little bolts around the filler. Then have the tank hot dipped. You will need to repaint it right after the dipper is done, but the rust will be killed, and you will know if you have any holes in the tank, which then can be patched unless the entire tank is just too thin.


The wiring is a pain, but it is not impossible. Pull the harness out of the car. Do not cut it! Search for threads here on pulling the wire harness, and pull it gently out. From that point you can evaluate it. You may need to source a doner harness to replace the bad stuff on yours, or you may be able to just fix a few wires with supplies from your FLAPS. Lots of great wiring threads are here, all you need is time to read.

Paint. Have it painted. I don't know what your laws are for painting. But you can save a LOT of money if you do the body work and prime it, and then let someone with skills shoot the color and clear. I did all my paint, and I wish I let a pro to the color coat.

The windshield - ask around at the glass houses, get the best price and let them install it. Again, I did mine single handed so it can be done. But I also used a modern rubber surround and glued it in. People here have had issues with the trim being finicky and cracking new windshield if placement is off a little.

Chunk the whole task into little jobs, and tackle those. It took me 3.5 years to totally tear my car down to bare steel and rebuild it. It takes time and effort and at times you want to just burn it down. But its so worth it at the end when you get to drive the thing.
Zach

Hi, Thanks Jamie and everyone. I'm going to pull the tank out tomorrow and get it cleaned at the very least and maybe even coated. Jeez, I thought it was hard owning one of these here in Australia but I can only imagine what a challenge it is for you.

I knew coming here was going to be good..I'm feeling inspired already, thanks again.

Phil

Phil,
Agree with the above posts, you can do this.
Make yourself a list of what needs to be done. Study the list and see which items interfere with another one. That way you can plan on doing them in a logical order. Did you ever hear " I wish I had done that when I had the XXX out?"
Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.
Tom

Make a list... do a little bit each day...

I'm coming to the end of my restoration and spent a couple hours yesterday treating a stock 2.0 muffler...

You've got a good base to start with, and obvisouly some talent ot get it as far as you have. barring any major rust issues, there's no reason you can't have an awesome car!
Depending on how fast you want to get it done you can "sub out" the jobs your not comfortable with (gas tank, wirring, paint...ect). Just a matter of budget, and time. Sounds like a very respectable project.

Happy 914ing!

Drive it and fix it as it breaks. Except maybe the brakes.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I'm going to this and I'll definitely be posting my progress. You're right, I don't want to do the " I should of done that when I did the" thing.. that's what happened too often in the past. I just want do it in the right order without duplicating tasks with a steady progress through to completion.

I'm sure I'll be prevailing on a lot of members experience here and perhaps I'll be able help someone also.

Phil