I just saw this thread http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=350102 about how to open the engine lid. It got me to thinking about things that "everyone knows" about our beloved little cars that was not glaringly obvious to me when I was a new owner.

So.. post your list of items that say "I was a 914 owner for X number of years before I found out....." Think of this as helping to educate new 914 owners.


I will start it off:


I was a 914 owner for 5 years before I found out that the left and right outer door handles are different.

I was a 914 owner for 27 years before I found out exactly what "limited edition" meant

It took me 20 minutes looking through the owners manual to figure out that the flashing red light on the gauge meant the emergency brake was on...

I was a 914 owner for 3 years days before I found out.....that the parts for a VW-Porsche are WAY more expensive than for my other Volkswagens !

With some patience and keeping my eyes open it turned out Ok sofar!

After owning these cars since the late 70’s I found out you have to cut the tab on the windshield wiper switch to get the intermittent wipers to work.
I also learned about the reset button on the master cylinder after bleeding the brakes; to stop the emergency light from flashing.

duplicate

I was the owner of a 914 for 2 years months (in late 80's) before I figured out that a 914 didn't give me as much access to women with big hair as a 944 would have.

I grew up with 914s since I was born. It took me almost 32 years though, to learn about 914world.com !

+1

It took me one year of ownership to find out that this car can make me go nuts if I don"t find an immediate solution to a problem

It took me about 1 day in my brand new '73 2.0 appearance group car to know these little cars would be in my life until the day I could no longer drive.

Took me years to realize that you could reset the trip odometer.

Turn sign stays on for parking, with out the key on!

I dont remember how long I had been swapping seats from side to side (all the while knowing about the scallop for the Park brake) before I learned the headrests were canted, Right & Left, as well.

how true! i had the same problem with my ‘69 Austin Healy i bought in ‘82, so just put the top down right? problem solved... kind of well it was that or my ‘74 bmw motorcycle so either way we had issues, i guess.... boy those were the days!

They're different? Now I have to go look!

You only really notice when you look into the back window.

I drove around for years with my front turn signal lenses installed upside down.

I was a 914 owner for about a week before I found out a 914 is light enough to push home by yourself.

25 years since buying my first teener, I've still not figured out the heater controls without having to put my reading glasses on to figure which lever to move in which direction to defrost the windscreen (sorry, windshield...).

Brad Mayeur told me, after owning these since the 70's, that the upper two slide levers adjust the cold and the lower two (slider and the floor pull switch) adjust the heat. Good to know when you're driving an early car with the hieroglyphics derived from antiquity (the Fifth Element makes more sense).

Paul

There's a driver pocket on the longs for the seatbelt when not in use.

Paul

I still can't figure that one out on my '74

Took me a year (until Sahara Beige Steve) told me that my stock side mirrors could be swiveled backwards flush with the body. Thanks Steve!

BTW- this is a very useful thread of Easter Eggs.

Ansbacher

There is?

I had a 914 in 83-84 sold it then got another in 2019, did not know LE's existed until 2019-2020. Did not know until my second car just how important is it to keep clean grounds on these cars, also did not know they were mad out of non galvanized metal.

They were only for the early, non retractable seat belts, and they were not in every car.

There is a knob under the dash to the left of the steering wheel. Make sure you are parked, then turn the knob. It will rotate the numbers on the trip odometer.

And guys.. if you post something, please say how to do it.

This will help others out.

knob could be gone, and the cable it’s attached to might not be in place, i had to go hunting for mine, it was attached to the back of the speedometer but not thru the hole in the dash knee pad, knob was gone.

I learned early on that if you need to transport something 'big' you can take the spare tire out of the front trunk along with its screw in 'hold down' and it can be put in the rear trunk and secured using the same 'hold down' giving you a fully usable space in the front. There's a threaded nut in the rear trunk and I want to say there's even a grommet in the trunk carpet for this...

No Way, the headrests too?!?!?!?!

Now I have to go look...

I had my car for years before I found out there was:

#1 - A light in the engine compartment, and...

#2 - That light in the engine compartment is supposed to stay on all the time when the park lights are on.

And how many of us wanting to add a passenger side rear view mirror searched long and hard for that "rare" right side mirror?

The knob on my -6 is on the RIGHT side of the steering wheel. No dash knee pad.

Took me several years to realize that the seat/pedals/steering wheel are all offset and nothing is square. Apparently on purpose.

-Steve

...that after 1 year of ownership; you Can turbo a 914
And...after 2 years of street driving with water/meth injection; I found out that at the loong Riverside Raceway (with the POC) that tank runs out quick, which led to an expired T4 engine. I then learned that I could convert to six cylinder 911 power & still learning things about the 914 today

I learned even in the Arizona desert a 914 can rust.

The left and right sun visors are not the same. The passenger side is supposed to have a vanity mirror.

A floppy visor can be easily fixed by tightening the screw at the center post.

This better be some sort of joke, to get idiots like me to go nuts looking for this knob.
Sounds like blinker fluid to me...

Good one guys

I didn't know how slow they were. I never owned a T4 engine.

It took me 3 years to find out that Clay can build 3, 914's out of his spare parts.

There is ??????????? Where is it????????

It's on the driver's side near the engine lid release along the wall between the engine and the trunk.

Click to view attachment

Had no idea that these cars would be so cool!

It took me a few years of tracking the LE cars to get documentation that:

The correct yellow is Sunflower Yellow not Saturn Yellow as confirmed by a factory Jubillamsmodell poster and Sebring Promotion brochure.

The existence of a factory grasshopper (white/green) car is a myth even though reported as fact on the Porsche website.

The 914 LE came to USA markets, in Europe it was the 914GT Jubillaumsmodell (with a numbered dash medallion!), and in Japan it was the 914SL

I’m am still looking for a factory 914LE marketing brochure. And other related answers to questions as indicated on the 914LE website.

Also, it took me awhile to understand that each model year 914 has a different non-interchangeable chassis harness, that there are several different ignition harnesses wired differently that connects to and uses the same relay board in different ways

Also, condition is more important than model year or engine size or even color when it comes to value.

Also Gustl’s original metallic green /6 has a gold metal flake in it that makes it a stunning color. And I don’t like green as a rule.

Also, only ~83,000 914s originally came to the USA as evidenced by the HO recall which only applied to USA 914s. Thats only 70% of total production, leaving ~34,000 to ROW markets.

It actually lights both rear trunk and engine compartment.Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

picture worth a xxxx words.. The strip of paper is next to the knob. The camera angle skews it; the knob is directly below the cigarette lighter. My mistake on the dash knee pad, I was thinking about the big later model ones...Click to view attachment

I actually screwed up.. it is on the right side of the steering column. In a car with AC, it will be removed and stuck between the AC unit and the knee pad. Oh.. and the cable is not in a sheath. Just a threaded fitting on the knee pad end and a plastic bushing on the speedo end. So if the threaded fitting siezes to the cable, just take out of the knee pad and turn it to reset the trip odometer.