Hi 914 gurus!

I finally got the motivation to get my Dad's old 914-6 back up and running. It has been sitting in garage for the last 15 years. I parked it shortly after I inherited the car because of oil streaming out the right side of the engine.

It's been a long (and wonderful) process of trying to get the car running again. Pulled out the fuel tank to scrub, replaced the center fuel lines, pulled the engine to be rebuilt (turned out the oil leaking was caused by a couple of broken cylinder rings), cleaned the webers, re-greased all the wheels and bearings, and then put everything back together.

We're in the final stages of assembling everything (waiting on a couple of gaskets and stud bolts) but hopefully by this weekend we will be able to fire up the engine for the first time in far too long.

And I'm really nervous about firing up the engine for the first time in years and years mainly because of how much effort we've put in to get it to this point and I don't want to waste all that effort by forgetting something trivial.

So my plan is to disconnect the fuel pump and let the engine spin over a few times to get all the oil back to the places it needs to go. Then once satisfied that there's oil back in the system, hook the fuel pump back up and see if she fires up.

Is there anything else I should be thinking of doing before I'm ready for the engine to actually kick over? Besides making sure it's in neutral? rofl

Thanks!

Peter

Just make sure the brake system is in top shape before you try to drive it.

Did you do the rebuild, or did you take it to Wes?

...Your McKinney neighbor...........

Oh I'm not planning on doing anything with it after it's running besides go around the block a couple of times. Brakes are definitely on the list of much needed assurance of working order before I take to the road for reals. Plan on testing those extensively.

I did go speak with Wes about the rebuild but he was extremely tied up with another restoration project but it as great to speak with him. He basically told me everything that needed to be replaced so I dropped the engine and found another local Porsche mechanic who did the rebuild.

I will be for sure dropping in on Wes and the gang more often once I get my 914 running. What a great local resource! :-)

Best regards,

Peter

You will most likely need more than a few seconds to get oil pressure to indicate at the gage. On startup I prefer a temporary mech oil gage. What kind of oil do you have in it for the break in? Did your mech give you a run time for break in? Did you change out ALL rubber fuel lines? It doesn't hurt to have an extra body on hand to man the accelator; your going to be as busy as a one armed Cranberry Merchant for the first few minutes. Oh, one more thing. Fire extinguisher on hand, maybe two and know how to use it before you need it. i.e. read the instructions on the bottle, first. Sounds stupid but they don't work well when applied incorrectly. Go get 'em tiger.