That looks like one helluva ride. Very sharp. Enjoy, all the best with it.

I agree with @falcor75; the RS finish on those wheels would be freakin' amazing. But I confess I have never been a fan of polished Fuchs.

Agree, there's something magical about the finish someone just posted that Al Reed had done:

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Pays 75K for a car now you want him to change rims.............

Haha...love it.

2009 at GAF when the car was first shown. Won 1st place IIRC

I agree with the above - I think the only thing I'd do is the RS finish on the Fuchs. Spending other people's money is fun....

Wasn't gonna say anything, but since you did…I'll confess I struggle with the monochromatic look, also. This 914 reminds me so much of Ernie King's 3.8, which was silver with the same flares and overall look but had the targa bar in black vinyl with a stock roof for some contrast...and it was perfection on the same 16-inch Fuchs you've got but with black centers, plain black center caps, and toned-down polish.

There's also a silver GT running around Europe on 15x7s (or 8s) up front and 15x9s in the rear wearing Michelin TB rubber or something similar, and it looks insane—once again with the period correct vinyl targa bar and black top. But I am not sure I could give up your brakes with the engine you've got!

Whatever. You have plenty of time to make this 914 yours. The best thing you can do for now is live with it and enjoy it!

Congrats, an amazing car! Enjoy

So I guess you want me to change rims to.........
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Nope

I went through the the wheel dilemma on my 930, wheels are like coondogs, but to this day, I like them too much to swap out to RS finish.
I think the little bit of black in the background helps tone down a polished or chromed wheel.

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Although gold is my current fascination on my 914

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I knew people would think/know I"m insane, to me the execution is somewhat resto-mod, I"m more of a classic guy and actually am thinking I may re-vynil the targa bar and go back to black on the roof, switch the over the top recaros to the konig/scheel's that are in my /4 and maybe even put a 914 style dash vs the 911 getty dash back in. I have a NOS dash amongst other things in the parts stash. Black centered fuchs well, they're awesome, they don't need bling they are cool just sitting there.

I figured I'd give it time though, my wife may kill me.

@Coondog in a weird way, your car drove me to this purchase. My other 914 is a stock /4, I'm the second owner, it's a total survivor car and it's incredible, everything works like it rolled off the showroom floor yesterday. I remember when you started your project I PM'd you and asked about cost, then slept on it for a couple years. My /4 is so original is would b a crime to convert it--a 74 2.0 with all the options you wanted, SoCal survivor, I just couldn't do it and I knew the cost made it counter-intuitive. Your car, to me is the real deal for conversions, 3.2 flares, all done really well, stuck to the original look overall but improved on every level. Don't change a thing man!

I understand the targa bar and back to a black roof - and even the seats but I'd keep the Getty dash.

Thank you Eric, The Big Laguna in my opinion is the most extensive 914-6 conversation to come out of PMS. Hope we can meet up and gets some pics of our cars together.

Totally
And thanks for the compliment, the thing is insane mechanically even if I am picking at the cosmetics.

Hi Greg,

@coondog I love your car Your car is a different look because it is white. However.....I love the RS finish on deep wheels. Your car is terrific as is, but if you wanted to bump it into outstanding across the board, then yes, IMHO, do the wheels.

Cheers,
Michael

Iffn it were me (and he's glad it's not) I'd leave them rim just the way they are.
To each his own.

^ It's a matter of personal taste, and a car by car thing. I'm not a big polished wheels guy...most of the time. But there are some cars where it looks great. Andy's yellow rod-rod 6 is one where I can't see how you would improve on its wheels...Elvira, the black 6 out of Vegas, is another.

To each their own is right...

Noticed that at some point there was a significant change to the cage, guessing that it was too much of a PITA to get in and out for street use so they removed the door bar sections on both sides. What's odd is it doesn't look like there were ever there (i.e. removed and ground out)

Original:
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As it is now:
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Oh and ordered these to honor the original owners legacy:
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nice!

FUCHING AWESOME

That is an amazing car and it just keeps getting better.

Dug out some NOS special parts from the stash over the weekend, pretty sure I've had these for the better part of 20yrs:
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Because GT that's why
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Wow just realized I hadn't updated this thread in a year! Well it's been a heck of a year for Covid and lockdowns, but the 914-6 has been rollin' so I guess I'll do some updates to what has been going on with the "Big Laguna"... there's been quite a few, but mostly driving
So here's the speed dating v version of the last year

The car had sat for the better part of ~5-7 years so I figured the best thing I could do was shake the cobwebs off and drive it... Went for a SoCal drive, started great
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Made it half way to the start point and while jogging up the 5 freeway through Camp Pendleton, something caught my eye in the back window, HOLY FUCHS, I was smoking oil like a Blue Angles fly over
Threw it into neutral and shut it down in the fast lane, might have crapped my pants a little too, wasn't ready to have to deal with the 3.8 having gone south on me
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With the covid restrictions, I had to call the wife to come pick me up because they wouldn't let me ride in the tow truck.... Inasult to injury.

Got the car home, mopped up all the oil, couldn't find a root cause to the issue, everything looked fine, engine fired up, made perfect oil pressure, was still freaked out when @ValcoOscar offered up his famous P-Car Hauler and I decided the best move was to take it back to PMS for a check up and to get things sorted
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I lucked out majorly and the massive smoke trail was the result of the wrong oil and too much of it, the engine had burped oil back through the breather and spilled out on the top left of the engine, that's what caused the massive smoke plume.

"while I was in there" it got some love on things that had deteriorated over it's time sitting, all new fuel lines, changed all the fluids and checked absolutely everything... it was expensive but worth it for peace of mind.

PMS was pretty happy to see the car and that it was still in great condition as they hadn't seen it in ~10 years. They did some social media stuff and updated the build blog while it was there, that was kind of fun, 'glamor shots'
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I get all the way back with it and it wouldn't start off the trailer when I got home, the fuel pump died
No fault of PMS, just a result (likely) of time it sat etc. Easy fix...
Then onto the small details like rubber that had gotten crusty etc. I was surprised at the little detail stuff that was needing attention considering how much money was dumped into the build so I started after the easy things. 914rubber to the rescue!

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1st real project was adding a fire extinguisher, picked up a Rennline universal mount and went to town on it
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Had to trim down the tubes a bit and made a dowel shim to join them when it was all set to add some rigidity to it, easy peasy.
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Pretty slick once it was all done and back in the car
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Next up on the odds and ends was the front torsion bar covers on the A-Arms were missing, minor and inconsequential, but Stoddard advertised some take offs for a good deal so I grabbed those and got them on, they looked brand new
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While I was down there... noticed that the front brakes were all set up for vents but had the parts missing...decided that I'd put that back also so ordered up hoses and the bottom vents, total overkill and probably unnecessary but they were there so...

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The wheels were a bit much for me, I know it's one of PMS's kind of signarture things that they use the full polished Fuchs but I felt it was a little too Miami Vice flashy so I started the hunt for wheels and ended up finding a set of NOS Turbo 7/9x16's in black with anodized lips
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Then the quest to replace 12 year old tires before I had a 'bad time'
Ended up buying for both sets of wheels, two different Yokohama tires, both in turbo size
205/55/16 and 245/45/16
One set of A008-P and A-052's
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MUCH Better on the black wheels IMO
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Obligatory brake porn, still amazed at how far this build went
993 TT Brakes
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At this point the car was pretty well sorted and I started doing some local drives to keep shaking it out and learning the car, its still totally intoxicating to drive

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I 100% agree with your wheel choice.

Swapped all the signals and lighting over to LED including alll the Spoke works goodies including the fogs, held off using the NOS drivers I'd posted a year ago and went this direction
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The gas pedal was really odd with the ergonomics, not even as good as my stock 4 pedal for whatever reason so I replaced that with the adjustable Rennline pedal, much better heel/toe now, still needs some fine adjustment but worlds better

Before, 911 pedal?
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After, still 'proud' in this pic, adjusted down after
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Your car is a Monster, hope to see you and the San Diego Teeners on the May 22 mini rally run.

Started a side quest to make one of the spare black roofs I had "new again"
That was quite an adventure, still haven't put it fully back together but here's how that went, damn that texture is tricky to get right!!

Before
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Got the headliner out using denatured alcohol and a plastic scraper

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After:
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Now I'm down to just little details, swapped the momo horn button so the "Carpet matched the drapes" I like the low key badging this car is rocking so I went a step further with it, all blacked out subtly

Before:
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After:
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Because:
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And that's about it, think we're all caught up now

Thanks I like it a lot more too!


Can't wait!

I think I've put around 1200 miles on, mostly this kind of stuff, really fortunate to live in the heart of the "fun roads" in San Diego---sound on!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd9RxY1Lqts

Very cool. Thanks! Swell road too.

The black wheels look perfect on your car! Same with that horn button. Where did you get that?

Black wheels look excellent.

Also....man what a great job you did on the roof.
You've got that factory like texture pretty much nailed.
Well done.
Does that knee bar (from the cage) get in your way at all?
I'd never fit in there I'm afraid.
Your previous idea about some Konigs would be cool too if you can track 'em down.

Enjoy the car.

Very nice. I like the changes.