Ok, here we go. My wrecked 74 still sits in my garage, and then i find this 75 that has been in a garage for the last 8 years that came from Idaho and is amazingly rust free, and to boot the interior is mint! So my plan is to go ahead and get this one painted, what color is first choice. Do i stick with original or go with a complete color change that will require lots more work and money? Engine and trans out of 74, both have less than 10,000 on complete rebuild, easy solution for time being. I have just about a complete 5 lug set up with brakes and rims in boxes. Parts car should fill every need i might have, then a big sale on everything else. Sounds all easy, for some this could take years, for me, once paint is complete its all down hill as long as money issues don't arise too much.
Step 1: Finalize outcome of wrecked 914 in my garage.
Step 2: Scotty B, I will need a ball park estimate of same color and one for complete color change.
Step 3: Jump in!
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Nice car!

John

Looks good. Color change = bad. But it's your car, make yourself happy.

Chris...I like that color! Don't change it.

Sell it to me before you make a color change!!!!!!!!!!!

I like the color and a good color change will cost $$$ but I'd probably backdate the bumpers if it was my car.

Nice find Chris! ...but don't abandon your other 914 - save it for the next project.

If you're going to make engine, 5-lug & all those changes, then a color change won't matter as much to back-end value, cuz it's a heavily modified car, although if you saved all the original stuff then most could be put back to original for a FO.

If you decide to keep this beauty fully original, then definitely keep it all original - including color, and maybe then just recondition the existing paint if it's still original & save-able - since all original unrestored 914s are the top dollar getters!

For mine - I far prefer the Alaska & Marathon Blue Metallics or a custom metallic blue, but mine was originally L80E & I found that color changed 914s were only getting in the range of 50-75% of the value/price of of respray to original & unrestored paint cars in my informal surveys of 914s for sale. So I decided to resto mine back to L80E.

Although I move much more slowly than you, & have a bunch of other projects taking up my time!

PS - with your 74 now being a wrecked to repair 914, and the 75 being a pretty pristine survivor - IMHO the 5 lugs & other custom goodies belong on the 74, & keep the 75 original & maybe use your old OE wheels on the 75 if they're Fuchs 2Ls or Mahle 4-lugs. But it's your cars - not mine!

You could bring those Fuchs/Mahles out with you & to drop at Al Reed's in Anaheim for a concours wheel resto (or give them to me drop off to him) & save shipping one way.

Nice looking car, Chris!

my 2 cents - i am not a big believer in changing color especially on a really clean original car. SO i say keep this color. And you will be driving it in no time at all!!

cant wait to see some pictures of the interior etc.

are you going to keep the current engine/ transmission or pull the one off your wrecked car?

That laguna blue is a great color you don't see too often! Paint work looks nice in the photo you posted. If it's original paint and it can be preserved, the car will hold more value which is something to consider.

Mepstein, back dating bumpers has been a thought also. Good reminder. The engine is a 2.7 monster, that needs to be assembled, but its just a paper weight right now and might stay that way unless I get really motivated. None issue right now.
Thanks for input, I'm leaning towards staying same color, way too much work involved.
I still need to clean both trunks out and see what I find.
More pics to follow.
Thanks to all.

Your local VA PCA guys should know of some top notch concours paint preppers/restorers who will measure the paint thickness, assess chips, etc. & advise you whether, how & how much to preserve that paint job to concours finish (vs. respray) - IF it is in fact original from the factory.

Otherwise compare the cost of that vs a respray to Laguna Blue if it's been resprayed in it's lifetime.

Also, IIRC those tiny bumper tits were only required in CA & MD, so you have a hint as to where it was first sold.

This one may be well worth getting a COA from PCNA, & PCA members get $20 off + another $20 if you have a coppy of the original window sticker sent in with the COA order (basically makes their COA work easier).

I also like that color because you don't see it and it is original. I go with the majority to back date the bumpers too.

Thanks for info Tom, it looks good in pic, but it will have to be painted. The hood is a mess. I would probably have to use my hood off the 74 to replace it. Other than that no rust bubbles and i don't see and damage, just chips and small dents. Looks to be original paint from all indications, must have been taken care off most of its life. Solid longs, hell hole and battery tray. Even the rear trunk lid shows no signs of rust where it usually gets near latch. I checked under seals and no rust in channels I saw. More investigating to follow this weekend.
Good info you provided!!

Hey Chris, I can't see it up close, but if the front lid can be properly repaired & resprayed by a true "art-teest" - or if only the front trunk lid were replaced with paint-to-match the aged original - & assuming the rest is restorable paint, then it would still qualify as "Unrestored" under PCA's rules & by most on resale price/comps valuation. Just so you know.

Assuming the interior is an original 10:10 & the paint/body can be brought back as original, it's still a numbers matching motor (& transaxle if recorded), & you restore it as an all original survivor (vs. a resto/mod with transplanted motor/etc.) -

...then you're talking the difference of an end value in the $10-15k range for a nicely done resto/mod vs. $20-25k+ for a refreshed survivor as Tod914 does with his 914s.

Even that unrestored 73 Marathon Blue 2.0 ("Grandpa's car) which needed a good bit of refresh/repair work sold to Germany for $20k as-is!

Tod is sorta near to you, so maybe he can take a look at it & tell you if it's worth saving, or can recco a NOVA CW who can do so?

I'm a keeper of cars - not a car seller/flipper/hobbist, & have only owned 5 (6) cars in my life since 1969 1st car & still own #3-5, & #6 was my brothers-in-laws then wife's & kids car that my son & I refurbed & is my son's now. So I'm not worried about resale value of my 914's resto/repairs & just want it done right & to last as best as possible, & I'm over-spending to get my long-time friend back on the road!

However, even so - the comparable & insurance values are still important in order to get enough money back from insurance once the resto is done, in order to repair/replace, should anything happen.

It's just a bastard VW. Flat black it and be done.

damn right Scotty, put some racing strips on it! Come and get it.
Tom, it won't be original in the end. Sorry. .
Someday I owe this to my son, since i was driving the 914 Iwas going to give him for graduating USMC boot camp and got wrecked. He helped me restore the last two 914's. If he wants it one day, it will be his.
Bill, do you need me to find you a 76? Let me look.

I didn't know you were going to give your son the 914 for graduating boot camp! You should give him a truck like I gave mine when he graduated. Then you would have won the collision!

You know of one?

I did my son's Honda with him as a "practice car" for the 914's resto, in the hopes he'd get interested & help me with the 914 - since he'll get it someday.

But that backfired when he said: "Dad, I'm glad we did this together & I learned a lot....but I never want to do that again!"

Oh well! He'll probably still get the 914 eventually!

Do what makes you happy Chris .... and hope your son is good with it, but if not .... you're still happy!

How about this look - VARA full race?
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Bill, your boy wanted the 996, bad daddy! Naw thats cool.
Nice pic Tom. I had some rims like those, they weren't minilites but looked the same. Should have kept those too.
I'll put my feelers out for a 76 Bill. Matter of fact I think I know one, let me check when I get home. Supposed to be in really nice shape also. Owner asked me about FI issue and I drew a blank stare. Told him to carb it and drive. Ha! Yellow car I think.

Cool...let me know. I like yellow!

I'm debating a color change myself, but my car is completely apart and on a rotisserie.

My car is originally black, so I will probably keep it black, but I like yellow and signal orange a lot.

That said, there were a lot of great colors and your car is one of them...I would not do a color change on that car IMHO.

Car has been repainted before. I found it on a couple of weather seals. I must be blind the first two times I look at the car. I did have flu the first time, but missed this the second time. Front trunk inside is great condition, rear has some surface but I don't think it requires any more than sanding/painting. Not much else to report, too cold to mess around in garage. Honestly, not much motovation either. BLAH.

New pics
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Looks like the hell hole has been worked on Possibly on both sides


I take that back. What I thought was weld looks like it might be a cobweb. But what's going on with the firewall in that corner? It looks a bit beat up

Good eye, its just cob webs, put my hand on it and looked it over. Nothing there its all perfect and solid. Maybe whatever was used to paint has a discoloration. Its good. What you think about rear trunk Scott? Are you ready to paint this thing soon? Same color!
Thanks,

That spare looks like a no/little use factory OE Dunlop SP57, which might be salable to the CW crowd for concours only use, maybe to help offset your resto costs Chris.



Nobody should rely on it as a spare - let alone drive for real on it (maybe on & off the trailer to the concours field).

Clean it & list it with a link from an O&H forum topic to the parts ad.

That area where Scotty circles the firewall in red is worth looking further too, since the OE heat/sound pads made with sisal would hold any moisture that got into the engine bay & "help" the tinworm.

It was worse on the early 914s with the flat bottomed rain trays, which would warp in the heat & then let a waterfall pour onto & behind the pads. My firewall suffered that fate all alone the engine ledge/wall juncture.

Looks like a fun project Chris, & look forward to hearing more when you get to the left coast.

Thanks Tom
Spare tire is for sale if anyone is interested.
The firewall is fine, just cob webs and illusion when taking picture.
Thanks

call me tomorrow when you have time

Nice looking car, Chris...I like the blue. Look forward to seeing this tooling around in Q-town, and I hope I won't be too far behind you with my project.

Ed

Ed,Small world, I'm here to help you with whatever you need! Can you believe we were in the same meeting at work last week??? Ed picked me out after meeting and asked if I was the 914 guy.
Scott, I will call you.
S/F

Hey Chris, just FYI & not to muddy the blue waters, but there was also a 70-72 Adriatic Blue which was a bit darker than the Laguna Blue on your 75 (& a lot darker than the 73-74 Olympic Blue) - if it's the lightness of the blue which concerns you?

It would still be a Porsche & 914 blue (non-metallic), if not the original. You can back track on the links below to see the other 914 colors on pix of actual cars.

70-72 Adriatic Blue:
http://p914.com/p914_paint_L50E_70.htm



.

Your 75-76 Laguna Blue:

http://p914.com/p914_paint_L50C_75.htm



.

Looking forward to seeing pix of whatever you decide, after Scotty does his thing!

Looks like this one is coming to South Carolina.....

I like the blue. With some better wheels and backdated bumpers, the color will look better on that car. Nice find!

It's like the 914 Ellis Island

Give me your tired, your rusty, your non-running 914's yearning to drive once again. The wretched refuse of your garage and backyard.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my sawzall and wrenches beside the garage door

Do you want me to find more fine example east coast cars for you Bill?
Although this one came from mid west at some point. About every 6 months I find a good one hiding somewhere.
So everyone knows, Bill will be taking all my 914 stuff.
Bill, engine swap is coming along already.

Chris...no more, please!

I'm good. I think 5 is enough....

Actually, I'm going to pare it down to three. The blue one will get rolled fenders, 5 lug Fuchs and either a big 4 or even a 6.

We will be watching.

Bill are you putting the 5 lug kit from Eric on that car? If so ours will be VERY similar. Mine is the same color.

I'm not sure...I have so many parts (two of Eric's kits and a couple of "real" sets of 911 parts) I don't know which way to go.

BTW...just got a lead on a potential real 914/6. This may be a bust but we'll see!

Not even one day and already looking into another one. Good gosh Bill.
I know,it might be a -6.
There used to be a real -6 in Florence SC when i was a teenager, probably a pile of rust now.

And then to scotty for tetanus shots.

Only looking because it MIGHT be a -6.

I seriously doubt that it is; however, due dilligence requires that I take a look!

My first ex-wife is from Florence. She told me that when she was in high school there were two lady teachers who were "roommates" and they both drove 914's (guess this was before Subaru's were popular). I wonder if one of them had a 6?

HUMM. My art teacher in high school had a light blue one she drove everyday. Whats funny is I had mine but never talked to her about hers. Maybe she was a dike and I never knew it. haha. There was only one other orange one that another guy had that worked at the airport, I saw it all the time. I'll ask you later your ex-wifes maiden name, maybe i know her. I never found the -6 that was supposedly there. Stopping by old foreign car mechanic shops/VW and asking about 914's is a good way to find them. Good luck in your search.
Small world.

I'm not searching. I've got enough on my plate!

Someone at work approached me the other day and said his neighbor has several in a field/shed and used to race them in the SCCA in the '80's and '90's. He said he thought one of them had a 6 cylinder. He said they were in sorry shape. In no way do I want another parts car. However, if one is a '6 then it needs to be checked out. It will be a couple weeks before I can get over there...I'll post pictures of what I find.

Damn Bill, I just read Scott's reply

Too bad you scammed Scott into working under "Marcus of Queensbury Rules", now that you are becoming a man of "British Leisure"..

I like the Blue as well