Took the '73 for a drive this afternoon... actually rained here in the morning but doesn't take long to dry out in the desert!

Click to view attachment

Wow, great looking car!!!!

Thanks. Almost as sentimental as my '71. One of my best friends owned it from 1974- we used to autocross together and went to many races at Road America in it or my car.
He died of a rare illness in the early 2000's and his widow said he wanted me to have it. He hadn't driven it for neary 12 years and it needed a total restoration. It's now better than new and a nice tribute to him- I think of him and all the fun we had over the years every time I drive it!

Great to keep his memory alive. Makes it even more special. Again it is one of the nicest looking 914 I have seen.

Gorgeous cars! I'll have to keep an eye out for you.
If you see a dark grey 914 around North Scottsdale, honk

Exactly why I want to keep Dad's car around.

Actually I saw a darker colour 914 going north on north Pima a couple days ago- may have been you! I was in our white Q5 though...

BTW, my dad got his bahia red '71 914 six months after I got mine way back when. Wish we'd kept that in the family!

one more...Click to view attachment


Had a local detail shop do a paint correction and ceramic coating on the paint - I usually do my own wax etc but my son had done his GT3 with this treatment and it looked so good I decided to let them at it.

Turned out fantastic- paint feels and looks like glass!

Sweet love the color

Yes, it's a Porsche!

Installed a negative side decal.Click to view attachment

Will do other side tomorrow.

Thanks Mikey for the stickers. It's easier to handle this one than the one from ebay.

kkid

Got a small parts delivery from GPR.
Man, what service (and prices). Needed a couple things to finish up Mark's car. Ordered Sunday afternoon, arrived Tuesday afternoon.

Finally after 5 years of ownership/driving it and 8 years non-op from previous owner, 1st time I did check the oil screen retainer. 1st time using the green oil-Brad Penn.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Finished removing the tar on the passenger side, driver side was done previously.
Got my version of the Engman kit screwed in place for welding.
Started thinking about the build off as this car needs to be done
by September since my son will be getting his license. Click to view attachment

Almost there Sir Mark!

Talked to the machinist and the final parts bundle for the 3.0 is completed. Rods resized, measured balanced and new pin bushings pressed in. I also rebuit the bearings and VR in the alternator before bead blasting the housing and fan. Not spending too much time on that non-visual beast but i did get in on the plated straps offered on PP 911 parts FS..

Assembly might begin shortly.

Nice. Did you clear-coat the fan components before reassembling? Remember you live near the ocean, and you know what happens to aluminum in the salt air

Polished my engine tin.......

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

We evacuated ahead of the storm (Hurricane Matthew )
Could not take the 914, so just hoping we don't get 25 foot storm surge at high tide- not too worried about rain really, but that's why I have insurance I guess.
1.2 million people evacuating from coastal SC! It was made mandatory - so just hoping and praying that we come back home next week not having to clean up too much debris- the last storm only had 50-60 mph winds and there was a lot of tree and leave debris, branches etc.

Take care Phillip and your family too! Hoping this storm will change direction!

Insure correctly / a 914 is no longer a POIUC. (Piece Of Insignificant Crud) I grew up in Louisiana and we were hit many times.

My dad was a prof. at LSU head of the dept of Anthropology until he retired / so we had no effective insurance and no real money growing up / Baton Rouge was far enough from the surge but you guys in Florida are in harms way. Get away and come back strong - the 914 doesn't factor

I have agreed value $$# Hagerty , for an email from them today just because we are in the area of a storm path and the know it- I am calling tomorrow to discuss increasing that coverage from $15k after reviewing client sales and the Haggerty numbers , and having documented repair work of over $7500+ in past year, now structurally sound and full interior restoration too replacement costs would be a bit more- they told me back in the spring to call once the current work was done and they would re-value it. So- calling tomorrow, thanks for the advice.

Noticed that those little "dimples" where the wiper arms attach were looking rusty, and saw that those metal "caps" were shades of orange, so I decided to remove them and do something with them. Removed the wiper arm bolts, pulled the wiper arms off, removed the large nuts on top of the caps, then removed the caps. Used some home-made windshield washer solution that has vinegar in it and a toothbrush to clean up the dimples, and they cleaned right up. The caps had a good amount of rust on them, so I decided to let them soak overnight in a vinegar / Dawn dish soap solution.

Got up this morning and took a wire brush to those caps, and they cleaned right up, the vinegar did a great job in loosening / removing the caked on rust. I took the caps with me to work, and painted them up with some clear fingernail polish, on both sides. I was going to then paint them with some black fingernail polish, but decided I liked the "patina" on the caps, and left them as is. I've used clear and colored fingernail polish on numerous vehicles I've had, for the simple fact they have a small brush inside the bottle. Works great!

Started to put the wiper arms back on after work. Put a little bit of grease on the inside lip of those caps, where they meet the rubber grommets, so they wouldn't be as difficult to remove next time. Got everything back together, and life's good again!

Then took some 0000 steel wool and Mother's polish to the PORSCHE letters on the engine lid, and the 914 and 1.7 on the tail. Cleaned them up, then painted the 1.7 with black fingernail polish, and it looks good, stands out next to the 914 badge.

As much as I really want to tinker with this 914, like a 5-lug conversion, wheels and tires, different exhaust, center console, steering wheel, gauges, etc., I think I'm going to leave it pretty much alone. It needs a paint job due to all the spider-web cracking under the clear coat, but it's a decent 5-foot paint job as it is now. Once it's resprayed, she'll be "cars and coffee" and "cruise-in" ready!

Good luck Philip!!

I dropped-off 914R at TLG today for some basic maintenance/prep and track tech inspection for racing in 2 weeks - woohoo - life got crazy and I've been off the track for nearly a year already!

No real work, started to order parts for the motor so I can start to put it back together!

I did start to model a P-car motor, plan to make a running scale version of it, 1/4 scale or so. Once all drawn up I'll offer the plans to others, who knows maybe someone with more money and talent than myself can make a full scale version (if I did the math correctly a 2/3 scale version would fit in the stock 914 engine compartment since this motor is 37 inches long)

Click to view attachment

Got it back from the shop and it to work ...

You know better than to drop bits of info and leave the room, Andy! Maintenance or repairs.

Thought my clutch was going bad, took it to the shop, they found the clutch cable was breaking apart at the pulley wheel, replaced it with a new one, all is good again.

This happened during the last AX, my guess is i picked up some dirty/pebbles that got stuck between the wheel and the cable and wore it down.

All gud now ...

Purchased a 215/60-15 tire from Discount ($65 including shipping via eBay), bought a used 15x7 cookie cutter alloy ($85 + $29.84 shipping) from eBay), had my local Discount mount and balance the tire ($18). Bought a a M10 coupling nut ($2.20), M10 threaded rod ($1.90), and two M10 jam nuts ($0.90), to extend my spare tire hold-down screw to accommodate the thicker rim center of the 15x7 wheel. I now have a correctly-sized, usable spare tire for the first time in the 33 years I've owned my car. $203.25 total including tax.

That reminds me, i already bought a 6" cookie cutter wheel to do the same albeit narrower. Gotta get me a tire for that.

My current spare is a 225 on a 7" cookie cutter and it's just a bit too high for the rear trunk.

Isn't that why you have that rack on the rear deck-lid - for your Paris to Dakar runs?

No, the rack is for my luggage ...

Yeah, I remember ...

I'm going to assume the polka-dot bag is Amoy's

It's a requirement when traveling with the fairer sex.

Click to view attachment

No, It is Andy's. it matches the car.

It's on the drivers side of the car. Just sayin.

*That is a bad ass car if that helps me any....

I found a almost perf steelie and it fits perfect.

The lid sits down flat now!

Drove it for the first time in about three months since I got back from Europe.

Ran great but it is hot here ........again.

Car still has a stumbling problem, even after replacing the fuel pump. It's not as bad as it was, but still has a terrible flat spot. I took the car to this section of road that I could accelerate thru to 4th, hold it steady, speed up, slow down, etc. I tinkered around with the settings on the knob on the ECU, and kept track of how many clicks I adjusted, then turned that long adjusting rod with the red handle by the TB to set the idle around 1K, plus or minus.

When left unchanged, the car would buck terribly at the smallest throttle opening, then smooth out once it started to accelerate. I adjusted this knob from 1 to 5 clicks clockwise, with varying results. The "best" result I got was with the knob 3 clicks out, it only seemed to stumble a little bit around 2400-2800 rpms.

To experiment, I adjusted the knob the other way. Set it back to "zero", then went two clicks counter-clockwise. Car popped and backfired like crazy when slowing down, so I went back to the 3 clicks clockwise setting, and left it there. It's far from being a smooth ride, and I'm getting very frustrated with trying to figure it out.

I realize the FI system on this car is over 40 years old, which I'm thinking is a big part of the problem. I'm probably going to take it to the shop that replaced the fuel pump, and see if they can get the car sorted out. I installed new plugs / wires / dist cap / rotor / coil, and after fiddling around with that ECU knob and red-handled rod it's still not running the way I want.

If the shop determines it's the FI system, and it needs parts, I'm going to cut my losses and junk the FI system and replace it with something like the dual 1-barrel Webers and a new hi vol/low pressure fuel pump. I probably should've done that instead of having them replace the FI fuel pump, but it is what it is. I won't go down that rabbit hole again...

Before you junk the FI, if you haven't taken a look at my D-Jet page (link in my sig), you might find it helpful. After you've made sure your mechanical (compression/vacuum), charging (battery/alternator), ignition, and fuel filter/supply/pressure are in good shape and operating properly, use my page to go through your FI system. Check that you have all the components, that they're correct for your car and engine, that they're connected correctly (electrically and vacuum), and that they pass basic tests I describe. Note that the ECU knob only affects mixture when the throttle position sensor is in the fully closed (idle or overrun) position. It doesn't affect your running (part or full load) mixture at all. Good luck, and remember that cars with good FI are generally worth more on the open market.

One more thing I did today, I updated my 16 year old head unit to a new Kenwood KMM-BT515HD digital media receiver. It's got built-in HD Radio (awesome sound), Bluetooth, Aux, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Android and iPhone control, USB, and gobs of other features. Installed super easy and was only $107 from Amazon, including a handy remote.

Click to view attachment

Good spot for the BT microphone

Click to view attachment

And there's only one song to play in your 914.... "914" by Liquid Tension Experiment!

Click to view attachment

Drove to Canepa for the last cars and coffee of the year. Incredible show and shopClick to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment

The yellow 914 is not mine but very sexy.

Installed new front sway bar bushings, replace front bearings and brakes. Also bled the brakes using the new power bleeder.
Now working on installing the tuna can and oil change.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Finally put all of the car's records and receipts in a binder!

Click to view attachment

That looks expensive $$$. Is it written in code (wife)

Ha!

Most of the records are from the PO. The wife actually helped me organize everything by date. I married well.

God, I love modern day electronics. Went to the grocery store this AM and noticed a flat spot during acceleration and twice it cut out. Connected the OBD2 reader and found the error code, P0113 (intake air temp sensor). The voltage wasn't there nor did it have continuity. Peeled back the wiring loom and found a wire had pulled out of the butt splice connector which was crimped, and I use this term loosely, with the red handle tool. It is excellent for cutting and stripping wire but not for crimping. At the time I did not have this tool. Which brings me to this:

This is crimping tool:

Click to view attachment

This is not:

Click to view attachment

I didn't actually do anything to my 914 today, but I did get a new license plate to add to my collection.


Click to view attachment

Got my 2017 Build off Challenge project on the rotisserie!

This is EXACTLY why I want to junk the FI system, and convert to carbs! This is WAY too complicated compared to a carb system. I'm really starting to have buyer's remorse with this car...should've bought the 1991 Alfa 164S instead...at least that car would be expected to have issues...