Hi, I'm new here and I just 'inherited' my uncles 1972 914.

Car has been off the road for about 10 years and requires the usual fuel system flush, brake system check (still has pedal), clutch plate break loose, oil change and some new tires.

Engine was built by Barry Daniels in the SF bay area in the late 1970's. I dont speak 914ese yet, so having Webers, Anza exhaust, 2 liter crank and rods with 1.7 Euro pistons is lost on me at this point, but I'm sure it will mean something when I drive it for the first time next week and read a bunch here. I assume he stopped driving it when the smog laws came into effect in 1984 -doubt he did very many miles after the rebuild.

Interior is brown, original and very nice. Steering wheel is a 'JPS' Momo -kind of 80's looking, but will do the job. Wheels are cool. No rust except a spot where a dent was poorly repaired and the repaint lifted. Rear end has a proper race developed sway bar and is lowered quite a bit. Shocks are all Bilsteins? I still have boxes of original parts/extras to go through...

Anyone know of Barry Daniels?

I'm looking for a good chrome rear bumper. Anyone have a spare?

Do I de-late-seventies it or keep it as a period piece?

What do you think?
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Nice looking car. Keep it original as possible.

Nice car! Definentely replace the fuel lines and leave it as is and drive it!

Thanks for the welcome. Not sure how original I can keep it, since it doesn't seem very original, but I'll interpret how I want. Wink mirror !?!

Go Bay Area! Welcome!

Thanks for the welcome!

Oh, and can someone either tell me which 195/60/15's are good these days or point me to the thread that goes on at length about tires? Not sure I want to spring for Pirelli's... Need some lugs to replace the locks too...
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That steering wheel is great! Want!
Nice ATS wheels as well. Don't see those every day.
You can probably run 205 tires.
Looks like a great car, enjoy it as is.

Car looks great man, nice score! I would just do the above that you mentioned to restore it to safe driving condition and then keep it as-is, because unless many mods are made, its always gonna look like a 70s time piece, but thats the point, aint it!

FYI, smog rules do not apply to this car only 76 and later cars have to be smoged in our beautiful state we call home

Welcome to the madness!

There was a time though when the Webers meant this car wouldn't pass smog. When smog rules first came out 1965 (I believe) was the last 'no smog' model year, this was eventually 'upped' to the current 1975 as last no smog model year car. I remember trying to get a 1971 Citroen DS21 to pass visual -told the confused inspector the hydraulic pump was the air pump.

Congratulations on your car!! It looks like a fun car to start with and yes, that "JPS Momo" Wheel looks really nice. Someone mentioned fuel lines...replace for sure. Welcome to the World....these guys are amazing and always have an answer for ya. Definitely check out the Member Vendor section of the website too. Really great stuff and prices are always reasonable. Grant

I'm not sure I'll run the JPS Momo -the original Wheel is supposedly like new and in one of the boxes. Can someone recommend a specific current brand/model of tire? Tirerack has a bunch of 195's and 205's. I run 155 Vredesteins on my Alfa Giulietta Sprint and like them,so 195's or 205's will seem like a lot of tire.

Very nice car and
I would do as you have already identified, fuel system and brake flush and tires. Then oil & filter and fan belt replacement. Maybe the fuel lines and rubber brake lines as well. It would be a shame to see that car catch fire when an old rubber fuel line cracked.

Good luck and have fun.

I have goodyear Eagle GT's, they are a decent less expensive tire. I think they are fairly popular here. Bilsteins or Koni's are the best for shocks so you are well set up there.

Webers are a good performance upgrade along with the built engine.

Nice look with those ATS wheels.

Haven't seen another 914 with these ATS's yet. There is a variant of these I've seen occasionally on Alfa GTV's.

Pirelli P6's are only $86 each at tirerack, maybe I'll just replace them to maintain it's 'look'.

Welcome! There are a lot of great people in your area. Go to the next meet up and see what everybody is running.
Have fun!

Welcome aboard.

Best advice, get it running and safety check things and plan on driving it for, say, 6 months for fun and grins. Meanwhile do your research. If you listen closely, the car (and your budget) will tell you what it is and where to go, whether to keep it as is with repairs, restore to original, or modify to whatever,.... like -6 conversion.

Many of us start with horror stories disguised as fix-er-up-ers. These are the best candidates for modifications because everything needs to be fixed anyway. You are lucky. Enjoy it for awhile as you think things over. Its easy to get over zealous, and after a year or two of making things "better" you realize you threw away a chance to drive a perfectly good grin machine, and a lot of money, meanwhile it is still sitting on jack stands.

Good luck. Post often.

Thanks for that eyesright. I've been bogged down by and aborted enough projects over the years to have a pretty sober view of what to do with this car. It's at a buddies shop now for the resuscitation work I described initially -if all goes smooth I'll drive it home next week, get tires and then it's going to another buddies shop for some paint touch-up.

I'll be enjoying the 'grin machine' inside of two weeks (or so I hope)!

My Alfa Sprint is going out for paint and some much needed work as soon as the 914 is happy.

Kumho ecsta is a great tire at a pretty good price, very sticky, and fairly quiet too, esspecially for the preformance you get out of them. They are great for dual use, AX and city streets-cross

We need to clear this up: "2 liter crank and rods with 1.7 Euro pistons". Because of the differences in stroke, 1.7 pistons don't work with a 2 liter crank and rods. That said, engine mods often get mis-stated as the story moves along.

The Cap'n

Indeed! think the builder passed on in the 80's and I doubt theres a receipt around. Who knows..!

Nice, another Oakländer!

Barry Daniels doesn't ring a bell, but i've only been here 15 years or so. Some of the older guys might know.

If you haven't found them yet, check out EASY in Emeryville.
http://www.easypor.com/
Great resource for parts or just drinking coffee and talking cars.
Jim has been around forever and he would probably know about Barry.

Bumpers ain't cheap, if that bump is why you want a new one, you might be able to straighten it. At least give it a $200 try. Then the bumper top will cost you about that much too, if you go to replace. And then there is the front one! The dent ads character anyway.

Have fun.

Wow a really beautiful car you inherited!!!!

Save that steering wheel in a box. Keep the momo. I'm running a 330mm momo and would never go back the the giant heavy stock wheel.

~25" tall tire is close to stock. A 195-65-15 gets you there. I would look at the Goodyear Eagle GT. You can get it in both 60 or 65 series. If you like slightly lower gearing of the 60 series you have on the car now stay with that. I had the Bridgestone RE960AS tire and it was like driving on marshmallows. Sold them on craigslist after 500 miles. Now I have a Dunlop Direzza Star Spec in a 195-55-15. It's no longer made.

A nice bumper and bumper cap are going to run about 300-400 for each part in good condition. 914rubber.com makes a after market bumper top.

Post a pic of your Sprint too.

Nice gift from your uncle, great looking car. try to keep it original.

Nice car, and I love the ATS rims! I used to own a set of those for a short time.

Another local 914!

Keep asking questions. There are no dumb ones here. Trust me, I have never ever asked a dumb question, or at least no one ragged me if I did.

Konrad

Sorry all... no more questions at this point. Went to the shop today and pulled off the long narrow 'Porsche' red lens from between the tail lights. 6 dime sized holes in the original paint panel. Oh well. I told my guy to weld them up. It says Porsche on the car too many places to have that red thing too.

I ran into a guy today (who just bought my Lancia) and he knew a Ned Daniels who raced Porsches in the 70's. Maybe Barry Daniels is another partially remembered detail.

Pic of my Sprint? Okay... you get my dad too! It's a black plate California car I've had over 10 years now. I commuted 140 miles a day in it for a while. Been nothing but a pleasure.

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dude that's sick.... In a good way.

I believe that is called the Heckblende. I'm not a big fan either. I only have one crest on the steering wheel. Stock Porsche letters on the engine lid and the rocker/door stickers were on the car when I got it.

Nice looking Sprint. I saw one at a car show last year and was going nuts over it.