I am working on the relationship between my new 914 and me. I have come across some items that I could not find the answers to via search. So I thought I would ask the experts for info.

First off I am wondering if my 73 914 started its life with an early targa top and later it was replaced with a late one. I need to post pics of the fitment which I believe is not great. I rarely have the top on, but it is something I need to ensure is correct. I have checked and can say I currently have a late style top. The front has good fitment, but the rear latches do not pull the top down at all. The top is not loose, but looks kinda high in the back. I also have a book that states the factory moved over to the late style targa after my vin number (book says after 473 292 6222). Has anyone seen where adding a late top to a car that came with an early top would have an adverse affect. The doors/windows/rear latch hooks are all late style.

Second question is the fresh air box/wiper. I seem to have a gremlin affecting the #8 fuse. If my fresh air is never not working or wiper blades, if I tap the fuse panel, not the fuses themselves, it seems to fix the problem. how do I go about fixing this - JWest fuse panel?? Also, if I turn the car off while the Fresh air is on, it stays on. If power is being fed to the motor via the fuse panel and the fuse on #8 only receives power with the key in the on position, how would it stay running? If I flip the wiper stalk while the air box is running and the car is off, this will stop the fresh air motor.

Third question is about tail light housing and lens. I recently purchased some Euro Hella Lenses. I removed the US Hella ones last night only to find the fitment into the housing to be poor. Am I suppose to remove the whole housing to get a good seal all around the lens? I bought new seals from 914rubber but it seems like the lens does not fit well inside the outer grove. I didn't want to force it and possibly break the lens. These should fit better than any aftermarket since they are made by Hella. I'll have to take some pics when I get home. I just figured they would be plug and play with new seals.

I also have Hella euro lenses on my car, I would describe the fit as marginal. I suspect that both the lenses and housings warp and shrink over time. If your original lenses fit better than these euros do, perhaps the housings and tight fitting lenses have aged together as a unit, so they are both warped and shrunk in the same way.

I have not tried this, so it is only theoretical - perhaps carefully heating the lenses might make them a bit more flexible and allow you to tighten them into place better? I don't know myself as I have not gotten brave enough to try.

I can vouch for the heating them up. I used a simple heat gun, and worked it back and forth, not keeping it on any one area too long. I had the corresponding lens that I had removed and checked the angle as I went. Heat it up and then GENTLY push the end in and check. The key here is PATIENCE, which I normally have in short supply but was able to get it done correctly, so obviously you don't need that much of it

Did you apply heat with the housing on the car or off?

Off, you could probably do it with it on, but I have a vinyl wrap on mine, so there was no way I could apply the heat with it on the car still and risk burning it

I formed a relationship with my car since I bought it,its been a rocky one so far .
Sounds like you have some fitment issues with your roof,are the top window seals fitted properly.if to far rearwards the back latches won't pull the roof onto the top seal.
If the roof isn't latched firmly it with make noise as it moves around when you are driving,mine did until I replaced some seals,I can't comment on the different roofs (by year) because I have the right one .
I have stock Hella euro lenses and they require heating and bending inwards @ the point where the reverse light piece is,I will heat the lense off the car ,I would think heating from the inside would be the safest option .

Ok I'll take the housing out and put some heat on.

I'll post some pics of the top on.

I would say that if you have late windows, you should have a late top. Those are the two items that must match.

I would not switch to the jwest panel to try to fix your issue. The panel in our cars is very simple and unless something is broken, it should work as advertised. I can send you a clean fuse panel that you can use to move all the wires over, one by one. Then send me back your old panel so I can clean and reuse. I would also suggest using new fuses. They are cheap. Other than that, I'm an electrical dummy. There are others here that can help further.

Good luck.

Thanks Mark.

I can pick up that and those doors at the same time

You got it.

Here is an update of the fitment and what it looks like. Thoughts?

Update - I think the electrical issue I am facing has to do with the wiper/fresh air relay. I am sourcing another but that would explain why it works sometimes and a simple tap on the fuse panel kick starts it.

Any comments about my top fitment?

Does anyone know what year starts the "late" targa top? '74???

'73 since that's when the door glass changed. Maybe the end of 72 since there was a "mid year ' door - later mechanism without door impact beams.

Something about the figment of the top seems off. I can’t comment on when the early/late top change took place. But what looks odd to me is the fitment of the front targa seal. The front targa seal goes across the top of the windshield frame and then down along the ‘A’ pillars. Where they meet the door vent window cap (the triangle plastic piece) there is what I’d call a nub of rubber. That piece on your car looks abnormally long. If that’s the case, it seems like it would be pushing the whole targa top towards the back of the car. And if THAT was the case, then the front would seem to fit fine but it would cause the back to pop up or bind a little when trying to latch the rear targa latches.

I’ll take some pictures in just a bit of what it should look like and see if my pics match your pics.

Here...

And here...

Can you show us a pic of the windshield/A-pillar seal with the top off?
Is the seal one piece or three pieces?