Thank You for allowing me to become a member here on 914World. Derrek Johnson is the name and I hail from a little village outside of Peoria,Illinois. My beginnings with 914s was one of a rather distaste for the little boxy cars. Now before I am banished from this page and sent back to cry alone with my old air cooled VWs, allow me to tell you what changed. I left the military after 14 years and began my civilian life and I wasnt sure what to do. I loved cars and more specifically vintage German autos. My Dad and i decided to build a shop and build hotrods for a living. He retired from Komatsu Mining as an engineer and we discovered that we work together quite well and are having a blast. About the 6th year into building hotrods a guy showed up at our shop that I have known for a long time but never worked for. Many of you may know him as he has a little shop that goes by the name 914Limited. Brad approached my to paint his copper 914 and we did. From that day on we have been doing a ton of work for Brad and enjoy doing it. Along the way he convinced me to take his Copper 914 out for the weekend and enjoy it. Nancy and I took the targa off and drove the Illinois River valley and it was instant love. That 914 handled fantastic, road great and had great acceleration. I have purchased my own 914 from Brad, its a total basket case but is one of the few that is completely rust free. Not sure what direction that I will be taking it as the drivetrain is all gone so its basically a blank canvas. A Porsche 718 drivetrain has been dancing around in my cranial bucket but so has a svx 3.3 with a turbo. As soon as I finish my 1962 beetle, I will start building it so that gives me about a month to decide. I have been devouring page after page of this forum and am excited to become a stalker here.

Hi Derrek!



That's cool that Brad got you hooked. Post some pictures of your car.

Got pics of the basket case?

Hey Derrek. You're not an FNG, you're just another guy who caught the bug with the rest of us

With Brad nearby you've got a great resource (and customer). And how great is it that you and your dad can work together well doing something you enjoy?

If Brad trusts you, you gotta be OK!

Nice car

How cool is that? Spreading the 914 love. Can't wait to see your car and what you decide to do with it.

Love that color, I had one just like that with air conditioning - it was perfect with the exception of a dent in the weirdest place, rear left quarter panel - right on the top corner. I asked the guy who I bought it from how it happened and he said he had no idea, just appeared one day.......the rust in the dent almost matched the color of the car!

Click to view attachment

Last I saw the car it was in Hermosa beach cruising around in 1981 driven by the guy i sold it to,

Great car - ZERO trouble in the few years I owned it.

Leave the Copper car alone, Rare color. Get you something else to build a resto mod.

Welcome to the madness Derrek! Looking forward to the basket-case project.

Good looking car! Skip the antique EG33 and look into the the new EZ series engines, lighter and more power.

I live about 2 hours north of you and have an EG33'd 914. We'll have to schedule a meet up somewhere when the weather gets better.

Neat color !

Welcome to the Madness!

Copper car is Brads personal car and is staying exactly how it is. That is what it looked like after we restored it.

Thank You all for the warm welcome. Basket case car is exactly that. Its not a complete car as it was disassembled and then acid dipped. Sadly,somebody shot it with cheap primer and then it sat outside so it will need a light media blast before we start. It will never be an original numbers matching car so it wont be a restoration. I have done 53 of these Porsches for Brad and his customers and friends. Also done 8 early 901 series 911s and 2 356s. Countless other German cars as I grew up building VW beetles. There is no seam sealer or sound deadener on my 914 so I can go in any direction. A Singer style 914 is what really sticks out the most.

instagram This is my Instagram page if you would like to see some of the Porsches and other cars,bikes, VWs etc

Glad you are considering something Singer style. Really like their attention to detail on their builds. Might use some of your ideas on mine.

and I agree with Chi-towns assessment. But then again I run an EZ 30D. The EZ's are plentiful, lighter and just as quick. Not sure if the EG series is high compression or not. Might want to look at that before you plan to turbo. I do know the EZ 30D is high compression.

I really want to run the 982S engine and transaxle. it would be cool to keep it all Porsche, even though my daily is an E34 wagon with an LS2/T56 swap/

basket case sitting in my storage building

floor pan

right side

longitudinals and suspension points are in great shape minus all of the flash rust. It will be media blasted and etched primed before I start.