Hello all,

To introduce myself - I've wanted one of those 'strange' Porsche's for a long time, and saw a 1975 1.8L for sale here in Australia on the other side of the continent. So bravely, or foolishly, I bought it sight unseen, with no PPI. I did ask how the 'hell hole' looked but the response was "What's the 'hell hole'? ". Anyway it arrived by truck then train then truck after being freighted across Australia, I arrived home and still dressed in suit and in the dark began to inspect it. At first I could not see any sign of any rust. That weekend I cleaned it and still could not see any rust other than small bubble atop front guard. So I put it up on the hoist (yes, it runs!), put a tarp all the way around and pressure washed the underside. And still no rust. Looks like I was just a wee bit lucky!

Not registered yet, so can't drive it on the road yet, but at least I know the engine runs, the clutch works, and 1st and reverse work too!!!!

To bring it up to 'scratch' there are of course quite a few things to do:-
1. Have sourced a used good condition fuel tank - mine has pin holes from sitting partially fuelled for years.
2. Have purchased a new windscreen - I could see that was cracked before I bought it.
3. Am re-patching the already patched muffler - just to get it on the road to see how the engine and gearbox are before going further,
4. Have just replaced 40 year old michelin 165SR15s (good tread, cracked walls) with 195 65 15s

I plan on:-
A. Looking for rust again - but maybe not looking too hard in case I find something I'd really rather not see
B. Replacing front and rear window rubber
C. Investigating the merits of the single webber (32/36 maybe) centre mounted system. I have read that this is not a good set up and dual carbs are much preferred.
D. Driving it.

No doubt I'll be on this site asking lots of questions.

Regards all

Dave Overington
90 928
89 944
56 356
75 914

You will find lots of useful info and encouragement here. Please post some photos!

Welcome! There are a few Aussis on the forum :-)
Where are you located?
Looking forward to the pictures! ( chuck in some pics of your other cars too!)
Cheers Marty

Consider reverting back to the original L Jet fuel injection setup and dump the carb.

Please do not make any rash or sudden decisions. Tons of information on this site and I would hate to see you spend money on something only to come to regret it (single carb) later. Oh, and of course,

Perth?

Hi all, thanks for the responses.

Yes, I know TTIWWP - I'll take some and post when I get back to home base.

The car came from Perth - previously from Darwin and originally from New Jersey. I think its been in Australia since the mid 80's. I live in Brisbane. I guess all I have to do is drive from Brisbane to Darwin and the car's been around Australia.

I won't be rushing in to 'improve' or change things too soon. The prime objective is to get it registered and see how it runs, and then tinker with it over time.

As I say, pictures to follow

Dave

Photos as promised (I hope).

It was very dry underneath - no oil leaks anywhere.

Augers well....

Dave

Looks very nice. Will look the part with a set of alloys
Are you planning to convert to RHD?
I too suggest you keep the original L-Jet fuel system.
Good luck.

Looks like a good find.

Nice find Dave! I agree with your idea of completing the OZ circuit.

As others have said, there are a few 914ers down there in OZ, so maybe you all need get together to do an annual 914 rally now! How about "OZ Teeners Rally"!?

Cheers Mate!
Tom
///////

Hi all, thanks for your positive comments.

Alas can't keep the FI - it came with the undesirable single centre mount carb with all / almost all FI components removed. Given this starting point my options are (from cheapest to most expensive and not co-incidentally from worst to best: 1. Leave as is. 2. Purchase and install dual carbs and inlets. 3. Purchase and install a perfectly good FI system that someone has removed from their car for no apparent reason. Option 2 looks promising.

No, I won't be converting to rhd. Jus an unnecessary expense since it won't be my daily driver.

Yes, I see a road trip in the near future. I wonder if I should buy an old rear trunk lid, cut a couple of nice round holes in the top, and take my dogs? And install bike holders on that trunk lid too.

I do see a 2056 - 2270 in my future. Especially if once o get it registered I find the gearbox is good but the engine needs rebuilding

Cheers

Dave



Cheers

Dave,

Welcome to the world and hope you can join our Brisbane group. We are a group of 12 or so and we meet for coffee about every 3 months. Really nice bunch of blokes (no sheilahs) and some interesting 914's including a genuine 914-6 which is perfect.

I will pm you with contact details. I have a '74 1.8 (RHD) and a '76 roller which is a rescue case and a 'project' being converted to RHD

As a personal preference, I wouldn't go carbs. My'74 has a well sorted original L-Jet FI and is really smooth to drive. You are welcome to drive it before you commit.

Hope you can join us

David

Dave,
I am a member of the Brisbane group and have a 1974 car which is RHD road registered and I use for hill climbs and sprints.
As you will be aware you can road register LHD here in Australia without converting over..
Mine is an Ex California car imported to Melbourne in 1999 where it was converted to RHD and had a trik roll cage added.
I bought it from a Shannon's auction in 2009 site unseen with the same trepidation and when it arrived in Brisbane it had a black tar seal on the under chassis with some minimal rust areas which I attended to but the body is pretty much as received now showing some pantena after 5 years of gentleman racing.
It now sports a 2400cc big bore, stroker crank, 48IDA twin carbs, MSD ignition,close ratio 5 speed, Rennshifter, 421 exhaust header system, and recent dry sump using a Patricks 914/6 side tank and 4 electric turbo werks scavenge pumps, plus many other modifications.
If you need help setting up twin carbs we have some relevant data as it is a long weary road getting them right- in my opinion if you get them about 96% optimum or better you are doing well.
Look forward to hearing from you down the track.
Cheers fatalbert.