Howdy folks, I've been out of the 914 scene for almost 10 years now! Wanted to pop back in, and see what I've missed! Started my girl up for the first time since 2004 this Sunday, and have the bug to get her back on the road again. I wanted to see what major discoveries, products, etc have happened in the 914 world since I stopped hounding these forums. Particular items of interest:

Aftermarket heat exchangers/heating (cut the old HE's off as they were rusted all the way through)

exhaust (I like the dual exhaust/dual tip style, but damn they are heavy and are put together like crap!)

Ignition stuff, ie Distributors or whatnot for carbs (Last I remeber Raby was pushing a special dissy that had an advance curve set up for type 4's with carbs)

Wheels: I love the look of the Empi 8-spokes, but wish there were some stronger ones. Any new 914 compatible wheel designs?

Especially looking for any legit 914 mechanics in Austin, TX

The back story:

Back in 2004, just a few weeks before graduation, the 914 went down. What we thought would be an easy process of pulling the engine, getting it rebuilt, and then reinstalling, just kept getting more complicated. The CV's fell apart, brakes needed a lot of work, dash lights weren't working, the list went on. Then I enlisted in the Marines, and left her in my folks garage, never even hearing the motor after its rebuild by Dan Cashman at DC Motors in Irving, Tx. We found that all 4 cylinders had blown head gaskets, and 1 cylinder wasn't even compressing/firing. The compression ratio had just been too high on the 2.0, even with 97 octane gas and booster. He rebuilt and blueprinted the motor to have slightly higher compression from stock, but plenty good for pump gas. Also discovered she had a cam for carbs (which were on the car, 44 IDFs I think), so that was good.

Fast forward a bit, and while at my permanent duty station in NOVA I still haunted the old 914 Club forum and saw a meet coming up. So, after posting in the thread I ended up getting a ride from another member in his white 914 (Jim, AKA type47). Got to see Dr. Evil pull apart a transmission right there in the driveway, got a legit Imperial Sugar Dr. Pepper from a generous member, rode along on the cruise, and got dropped back off at the Metro. This was all 2005, maybe 2006 timeframe. After that, the 914 was nowhere ready to get back on the road, so I scored a 944 Turbo. That fiasco was worse than a 914 could ever be IMO, and had me wishing I had mine back! (loved the car, but it had expensive super cancer. At least I felt like the 914 was simple enough I could wrench on it!)

So, after a long time, my folks and I concocted a plan to get the 914 back on the road. My dad was working full-time as an engineer building Phoenix's light rail system, particularly the section that runs through the ASU campus while also being a full-time minister. Needless to say, they finally got the car into a shop, which may have been Patrick Motorsport. All I remember is that they said it was by the airport, and that the mechanic who came and assessed the car had huge experience with 914s. Lo and behold, he got the engine re-installed, CV's back together, most of the electrical taken care of, the battery tray area replaced, and some brake work done. The car was drivable, but not yet ready to register and have on the road. Also astonishing was that the motor, after being in a crate since the rebuild and blueprinting by Dan in 2004, fired right up! They were concerned that it had sat too long at first, but she came to life, the rings set in, and she ran good and strong. Somewhere during that time, I purchased a bunch of parts from JWest, including a Rennshifter and new trunk hinges. I had remembered seeing early prototypes for the Rennshifter back in like 2002-2003 maybe at a swap meet @ Zims Autotechnik, and decided I had to have one! I'd been so tired of going 1st to 4th!

So, after putting y'all to sleep, we come to the present. My folks moved back to Tx, in Austin, last year. FINALLY, I drug myself and my new family back out of VA for the second time in my life, and we're just about to get our house closed. This Sunday, I had a strong urge to hear the 914 again, as my wife had never heard it. So, finally, there I was back in the seat my butt hadn't touched in years, and hadn't driven from in 10. I finally found the right key (out of like 6 we've got including a set from the old 1.8 donor), put her in, and started cranking. Nothing at first, just the starter turning over. Finally, I saw the tach jump and a little kick from a piston. A little more and a quick pump of the pedal, and she started trying to go amidst some backfires. Then, she kicked over, ran for a moment, and died. SO CLOSE! I finally went for broke, and decided that this time she was going. She started, was sputtering and popping, but I kept giving her gentle stabs of gas to keep her alive. Finally, the backfires smoothed out, and she was able to idle on her own. Hadn't been started since they drove her into the garage last year, so it just took some time to get her woke up again. I finally got to sit and listen to that flat-4 tick over, the awesome sucking sound of the carbs, and smell the awesome that is a 40 year old 914! The fire was re-lit, and the wife was not happy that I called the 914 my "First Love". She wasn't happy either with the clarification that she's my first FLESHY love.

A lot has happened since you last visited.

Check out the "member vendor" forum for lots of parts.

Exhaust, triad.
Heat Exchangers, nothing has changed...used is the solution

Much more has been designed and built in the past ten years...go take a look.

Happy hunting.

rich

Ya, you got some 'splainin to do.

Welcome back to the chaos. BTW, do you know what's worth a thousand words?

Ha! Very true, I have a video on Farcebook, maybe I'll have to start her again tonight and get somthing up on the Youtubes! She's buried in the garage right now, it was funny starting her while the hood was covered in boxes and stuff. If I can break free from the wife/babby before sundown I'll try and get some pics!

Does Tangerine do any custom options on their exhaust? Or are there any decent exhaust shops that could "copy" the Ansa/Monza or whatever design, but in SS and not coated with crap paint? Mine had started flaking almost as soon as we had it mounted and that again was 10 years ago Really wish someone would offer replacement heat exchangers of some kind for stock headers, even some simple ones like the Tangerine boxes would be better than nothing.

I did see the 914Rubber site or whatnot, probably will be visiting there since the targa's seals are all crap. Actually most of them are going to need replacing at this point...

Welcome back.

I went through the search for a proper 914 mechanic when I got mine, about 3 years ago. There is Kenny Hill Autowerks just off S. Lamar. He claims to have "the type 4 guy" in Austin. I have been there for parts, not work. I have learned much here on "The World" and been able to do everything myself... So far.

That includes:
Engine swap
Dwell and timing
Dx-ing D-jet, wiring and vacuum leaks
Transmission linkage adjustments
& more

Nothing with carbs though. Can't help you there but a bunch of folks here can.
Good luck with it.

OH YEAH... Lets see some pic's.

Moneypit, I'm in Georgetown also. Been lurking here for about 6 months, but I'm hoping to get my 914 back on the road this summer as well.

Gary
1973 1.7L

Cool, that's at least 2 here in the area! The car is out in Cedar Park, it still technically belongs to the folks and will for a good while till they want to let go of it, but she's still "mine".

Things I know will be on the docket at some point are re-keying the locks (cannibalized from other car and swap meet), reassembling the interior, getting inspection/registration done, and driving her a while to get the motor broken in. The brakes are a little wonky, so those might need to be addressed. I need to look around for who does solid brake rebuilds.

Once it's on the road we need to take care of lots of body stuff. Near the passenger door handle on the body/sail area, there was rust or something that was literally plumber's puttied. Also need to replace front/rear bumpers, valences, and the rubber bumper trim. Sail vinyl and trim needs to be redone too. THEN we can figure out paint, car was a faux LM with the creamsicle pattern but no LE spoiler. Got ripped off there, but it was 11 years ago. Never did decide on paint, I like the LM pattern but I'm actually avoiding Porsche badging. More of a NARP guy now anyways. Tonight I'll check the paint code and see if it's originally white or a repaint.

I am in the Austin area, Cedar Park, and new to the 914 World. I just bought a 72 for what I feel was a good price. I runs and drives great after I worked out some of the engine kinks. I hope to see you guys around. Honk and wave if you see me around in any of my two air cooled vehicles.

Cool! I always keep eyes out for 914s, the wife doesn't understand it quite yet. We'll get her there.

One warning about 914's, that may not be your only 914. We started with a '74 1.8, but it ended up having a toasted "hellhole" or whatever we call the area under the battery. The suspension mounting area had rusted through and there was a chance the whole suspension would collapse

I'm still trying to figure out who to even take the car to down here. It seems prudent on these cars to take it to someone who really knows 914s to catch any bad stuff early. Unfortunately DC Racing is up in Dallas, but it's always an option for major long-term work.

Money pit,

Thank you for serving our country. It is not an easy thing to do. If I can help you get her going again let me know. An offer of help is not much of a repayment for your service, but is all I have. I have been redoing mine for a while and have a pretty good line one the issues you are facing. But I would suggest you check out the custom dash lights by Tim in the vendor area. Excellent upgrade.

Again, thank you.

I have to say not much has changed Qarls project is still on jack stands but he has been working on it the past few weeks.


Oh I did finish mine....

Good luck finding a 914 mechanic. Well, one that isn't retired. Weren't many good ones 15 yr's ago. Less now. Best to learn it yourself if you can't locate a 914 mechanic. This is the place to get the answers you'll need.

I emailed Dan @ DC Racing and it sounds like he's still going. He used to work on the same car back in the day, always a no-BS mechanic who did great work. Didn't sell you up the river, and talked me out of thinking I needed monster pistons and millions of go-faster parts. We'd have to use him for any serious work, like if the tranny explodes or something else exciting.

So if there aren't any "experts" down here, what body shop would you trust to do serious work/paint? She's going to need some body work and paint down the road and I'd like to start eyeballing places.

Is Dave from Triad still churning out those exhausts? Where do people get the valences for the dual muffler cut?

One cool looking bus

There may not be a lot of them in Austin, but there are a few up in the DFW area. And a lot of us are around to give advise, and sometimes help. I am only 3 hours away, and I make that drive all the time for business or to go to COTA. So if you want to do things yourself, let me know. I worked on cars for 28 years, including a stint working on 914s for Zims in Bedford.

Zims was our main parts squeeze, alongside Pelican. If we needed something right away, we went with Zims. For less urgent stuff Pelican. Not that pelican was slow, because I'll be damned if things didn't show up days early some times!

I do think it would be cool to occasionally do garage parties where we all gang up on each other's cars. I'll have me a proper garage here soon, so even though the 914 will be at the folks I might at least be able to host sometime. Granted I'm not well stocked on tools. Definitely would want to learn valve adjustments, and need someone who knows Webers.

Welcome back!

I did the same thing about 6mos ago. Saw a 914 on the road and thought "Shit...that car was a lot of fun."

I'd say a lot HAS changed in the way of member's that have started making some amazing replacement parts for these cars. I've had a lot of fun with getting mine together...you will too.

I know the subie thing really blew up while I was away. At one point one of the few major subie conversions was that one guy who had an orange 914 and steel flares, and left it raw metal for a while. The subie engines make sense I guess, just wish there was a modern H-4 from VW or someone to keep it Deutsch.

Heck, just 914Rubber and the seals alone seems like a huge deal. When I was around more the solutions were pay huge NOS premiums or go to Home Depot. They'll be seeing me a bunch I expect, between new bumper tops, window, and targa seals.

I'm also undecided on what direction to go with the car, design wise. She'll never be a Pebble Beach machine, but I don't really want to "modernize" it or lose the character of the car. I like the LM 2-tone pattern, but originally was thinking of keeping her white bodied, with maybe blue LM style trim? It was that, or blue body and white trim/wheels. As far as the interior, I've got the Rennshift to install, and was thinking of deleting the full center console in favor of a dash-mounted gauge panel of some sort for oil/temp info. I also really like the aircraft styled gauges a few other guys have used, but part of me wants to try something more like a 904/917, a spartan, racing inspired interior but not too extreme. I have the JWest teardrop style shift know, but really liked the look of the 917 balsa style someone else here had too. I probably won't autocross her, but a track day or some laps at COTA would be fun. Pretty much going for street-tune mods and stuff to keep her smooth around town. I'll start a "build" thread one of these days, but it'll be a very slowly updated thread.

I think there's a 914 in here somewhere...


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