Hello all,

member and owner of a 1974 1,8l since a few months, I still did not introduced myself.. now correcting it

First about myself: I am a french guy living in Stuttgart, 32 years old, mechanical engineer but my real passions are metalshaping and aircooled VWs and Porsche

After dreaming about a 914 since years, I decided end of last year that it was time to fulfill the dream and after seeing a few 914s, I bough that one.

About the car: originally from the US (sadly I know nothing about its history there), it is a 1974 1,8l 914 originally phoenix red. It was sometimes repainted, before 1991 when it was imported to the UK. It ran there until 2009, where it found its way back to Germany. And since october with me!

It is far from perfect but a good driver, which was my goal, as I want to enjoy it on the road during the restoration of my karmann ghia (for the curious: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic...&highlight= ).

my plan:
-drive drive drive drive (made 1000miles the first month with it )
-in the future: repair the rust, paint it original color back, improve the handling (it still has no sway bars, shocks are quite old, frame stiffener will be ordered,..), some interior modification,.. goal is to keep it usable on the street, while lightening it where possible and putting some more power (I am in love with the sound of a 6 but might keep it a big 4 for weight and legal reasons..).

Some pictures:






















cheers

Antoine

Nice looking 914 Antoine. All those mods are a slippery slope. Maybe just enjoy the car for what it is for awhile after maintaining it to factory spec.

You are so right ! That is why my plan is just as you say : first enjoying it, correcting what is necessary on the way (car was driven maximum 300 miles a year the last 10 years..), learning how it is and what I feel I need in the future.. but let’s first enjoy!

Cheers

Antoine

My 72 came without sway bars, and it was fun. Then I joined this group and the next thing I knew I had sway bars, front torsion bars, rear springs, brake mods, and shifting mods. The slope is slippery... But dang, it is a really freaking fun slope.

Congratulations Antoine @TRS63!
Nice start with 914! Looks nice and clean. Yes just drive it and enjoy while doing some upgrade one at a time!

Welcome aboard, another fine craftsman in the ranks. Your work on the Ghia rocks!!

yes drive drive drive enjoy!

nice car TRS63

love the bug in the background.

surprised it does not have sway bars.
i once got told all 74 1.8s & 2.0s came with sway bars.
(source my old mechanic way back in the early 90s in chicago).
an old wives tale?

wouldn't worry about the colour. $.
though i do like phoenix red since i got one, same as yours in that colour.

sway bars/shocks make a difference in the here and now.
not too hard to install. front one might need some holes drilled in the wheel wells or they might be already there. just redid all the suspension / sway bar bushings on mine and had the fuel tank out so eyeballed it all again. having all that back in order has made a night and day difference to the car.

Thanks to all of you for the kind answers and the warm welcome

@930cabman : thanks a lot, that's the kind of feedback that motivates me even more! I am only doing it as a hobby but enjoying it a lot

@wonkipop : Thanks, the bug was my dailydriver for the last 4 years, and might become it again, well half time with the 914
it has no sway bars and no holes for it in the front, so I need to order all the parts and then plan one long weekend to remove the tank, clean everything, weld the sway supports front and back, and then mount everything. But no emergency, I learn to know the car as is and will improve it when time comes!

Speaking of what, I will share what I did in my first 2 months of ownership

I had once some water in due to the front seal being in bad condition.. so I changed the seal:
-before:




-and after:




and then I had the suspicion that water came under the "noise isolation" of the floor so startet to check:


and of course water under it:


so I removed it all (was already planned, to save some weight..):


but luckily it was in good condition under it and only with some surface rust. So I just cleaned it, treated where there was surface rust:




and then a fresh coat of paint:




and the last step was removing the engine bay isolation, as it's so heavy and prone to keep humidity. It was indeed not so nice:


so cleaned under it, remove the glue and a fresh coat of paint:


Cheers

Antoine

Bonjour Antoine,



Hope to see you on the autobahn this spring!

Looks like you have a real solid 914 there.

Arno

Looks like a great car, congrats!

A lot of my family lives in Korntal.

Konrad

Nice find! That is a clean 914 and you are doing well to preserve it.

Antoine-
To an outsider, you just bought a used car. But to us here on 914World, you bought much more than a car. You bought an addiction. Ask me how I know.

Congrats on your new 914, it’s a beauty.

Thrilled when a young fellow like you takes the plunge.

Oscar

Stuttgart? Well, you picked the right town to be a Porsche fan in!

Beautiful car. Congratulations & enjoy!!

Looks pretty good congratulations on your purchase mine is also a 74 1.8.

Great looking car! Congratulations!

thanks to all of you for the warm welcome!

@Arno914 : sure hope to see you! But I avoid the Autobahn, too boring..you can find me on small curvy roads

@ValcoOscar : you are right, I already feel it..can't stay one week without driving it.. I am jumping in it every day without salt on the roads

@FRUNKenstein : you are right about the city..and it's not a coincidence I actually first moved here when I had to choose a city for the end of my study because of Stuttgart being the city of Porsche

Well, next step on the 914: all shifting bushings, as they all are terribly destroyed/never been changed

Antoine

interesting you are a mech engineer.

certain cars are engineer's cars i have noticed.
not than i am an engineer, but i sort of wanted to be one a long time back and deviated slightly. so instead i have just collaborated with one in my work for 30 years.

my engineer mate's taste in cars is interesting in a monocular sort of way.
SAAB, SAAB, SAAB, SAAB.......and now he doesn't know what to do since its all over.
he started with a SAAB 99 EMS way back when.

when the renault clio 172s and 182s came out in aus, it was engineers who picked them all up. that was how i found out how good those things were. went to lunch with an engineer in brisbane. that was a great ride to lunch that one. went out and got a 172 straight away. still got it.

a lot of engineers also drove citroens. how i got my intro to those cars.
have a citroen xm v6 stashed away thanks to an engineer.
a 914 is a walk in the park to work on compared to that.
but when it goes,....its an engineering masterpiece.
i've notice these days that a lot of ex mechanics now own the xm in its late middle age phase. you need to be very handy with a spanner and have time to keep one on the road.

as is the 914.
a 1.8 914 in american spec is a radical piece of kit on all fronts.
forward thinking stuff. maybe not fast (in a straight line). but its german thinking at its best.
apart from the rust problem.
(back about 30 years ago when i first had the 914 in australia, the only folks who offered me enthusiast comments were.......engineers - the rest of them were telling me to park my vw somewhere else).

you are going to enjoy this car.
its got everything that is good about a bug and its got everything thats bad about a bug fixed. not that bugs are bad. i had one just like yours as my first car.
powder blue 64.

whats the vintage on your bug mate.

Welcome, Antoine, glad you found the Mecca of 914 forums . . . I bet the clean look of that black 914 really "cuts the rug" in Stuttgart!

Thanks all for the welcome !

Two days ago snow was on the fields but the streets were dry and without salt.. so I enjoyed a winter ride:







Cheers

Antoine

Looks like a great car. My 73 that was converted into a GT Jager tribute by a previous owner started life black and I love this color on a 914.

Further on my way to improve it while driving it
This time I took care of the targa fixation in the trunk:
-before:






And after:






Stay tuned

Antoine

Parallel to driving it, I continue to improve what needs to be done, for example the gearbox mounts:




Shift bushings arrived and are next on the list

Ah, and that also showed up:


Cheers

Antoine

So, I did work more on the car

Both (old, porous) gearbox mounts are changed:


Then I starte with the bushings. First the firewall one.. Or what was left of it yes, it wasn't in the firewall anymore, but hanging on the rod:


It was quite worn :


So I tried to replace it with the one from the set I bought:


But no chance. Boiling, grease, oil, violence,.. Nothing worked. So of course I came back here, made a research and.. Tadaaa:
http://914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=345742

Thanks to @Frankvw I had my answer so one more order and go:


Boiling, 15sec later it was in

Then I continued with the next ones:




And the cover that needed a change


And that was it for the worn parts :


Car is back on the roads, and seems to shift better (but still room for improvements..). Let's enjoy the spring, I took it directly for a small ride with my 5 years old boy that helped for all the changes, giving me the tools or moving things when 2 hands weren't enough :


Cheery

Antoine

The car looks great! I love the red car carpet and nice work on the floors. New mounts will definitely make a difference.

Got a nice surprise from a friend:








Some more news are coming soon, as I am making another improvement on the car..

Until then.. I am driving it.. A lot


Cheers

Antoine

Welcome Antoine, and congratulations on your new 914.

My 76 did not originally have sway bars. I added front and rear sway bars and Koni shocks. Major improvement in handling. You will really appreciate the front sway bar and good shocks.

In your shift linkage bushing photos I did not see the two shift rod coupler bushings (located just past the firewall). These are very important. Years ago these failed on my car and it was impossible to shift the transmission properly. I hope you check those.

I would love to have a set of the Porsche factory 914 repair manuals, but I would prefer English, as my German is almost nonexistent.

Hi Mike,

You're right, I did not change them. I bought them, and there was no play in mine so I did not change them. But I will check them again in a couple miles, as they might fail being now the new "weak point" after changing all the others

For the document, I am lucky being able to read them in German..but hey, that was exactly my motivation to move to Germany 10 years ago

Thanks for the Feedback on the sway bar, I will keep in touch when it's mounted

Antoine

When the shift coupler bushings in my car failed, it was as if the black plastic bushing material had disintegrated. The rubber boot was full of black plastic chunks and particles. These were the original factory bushings. At that time my car had about 100,000 miles and was 16 years old. The replacement bushings appeared to be polyurethane.

Since you probably don't know how old your bushings are, you may want to replace yours as a precaution while your shift linkage is apart.

I see Ludwigsburg plates on the car. Are you there or in Stuttgart proper?

Ansbacher

Mike that's a good advice

Ansbacher: both I live near Ludwigsburg, but my (hobby-) shop is in Stuttgart

Antoine

Well, my shift coupler bushings seems quite recent, maybe done by the PO?

Anyway, I finally took the big step and made an order by Martin Bott for its short shifter. It is now mounted, and I did in the same time repaint the tunnel and removed some more isolations/carpet.. I am a lover of the "light is right" philosophy" and this car will be such a built. Radio delete will follow when I will apply some more plans I have for the car. But enough talk, here the pictures:








Feedback : I don't think I can be positive enough about it. Shifting is now precise, easy, fast, it took away the only big issue I had to appreciate fully the car.. Now I am 100% in love. I took it on tuesday for a spirited drive on small curvy roads and had a hard time coming back home.. I really love this little car

Antoine

Nothing special here but I am enjoying it a lot on secondary roads with lots of curves.. What a car (and yes I know slippery slope.. I am starting to collect parts during this driving time.. Stiffening parts, suspensions,.. Let's see ! )
Couple pictures:






Cheers

Antoine

@TRS63 So glad to see you enjoying your car and doing what they love doing- driving.

Thanks a lot

Took it out yesterday for a local Cars&coffee with my 5 years old boy, enjoyable time with him




Cheers

Antoine

Only the best cars are allowed to park on the brick pavers! Nice car!

the white wart look is pretty good.


is that a 912 plain shifter knob?
i think i might have to copy you (except i'm sticking with the peterbilt truck gear shift).

Thanks guys!
No 912 shift knob, it's the one delivered with the short shifter from Bott but that will change soon with a surprise there

Antoine

Well, nothing really new here.. Just driving it a lot


And got myself a nice book for inspiration.. I know slippery slope..


But no big work yet, I need to move forward on my crazy ghia project!

Cheers

Antoine

I just figured out the Ghia in the old stone and timber garage on the Samba is you
Some great metal fabrication.

Yes it's me, thanks!

About metalwork.. Well, looks like the slippery slope is about to start

The previous owner had the car more than 10 years, but drove it 100 miles a year, only with perfect weather and always garaged. The black paint (at least 20 years old) was not perfect but not bad too..and it's normally a good sign after so many years..

Then I came.. And what did I do.. and
Which revealed some not so nice things.. Paint is showing some bubbles in some places.. And on some places more than just bubbles.. Small examples:




So... Let's remove the rockers

Driver's side:


And under it no surprises, looks good






And the passenger side..


Well, under the door sill is not that bad:


But under the long.. Well fiberglass was well hidden:




And on the inside under the belt fixation was also nicely fiberglassed


Due to the access I have no pictures but of course the hell hole is with fiberglass..

So... I have no choice than taking care of it seriously, I love metalwork and I am not the type doing things halfway/hiding stuff..

So the plan:
-first finishing the heater channel I started on my ghia to avoid stopping something in the middle of it and moving it again in the back of my shop

-repairing the necessary on the Porsche. No extra fancy stuff (I want to have it on the road as fast as possible again to enjoy it and work again on the ghia) but all the necessary: frunk sealing channel, sail panel on both sides, hell hole and right long. What is open is if I am doing in the same time the inner long stiffening/GT stiffening/outside repaint. We'll see

I read a lot here on the forum to get it as good and efficient as possible.
I will have a lot of questions but for now:
-I will put of course doors bracing, but how do I handle the tube for the hell hole welding? On the lift, without all suspensions, wheels,..? On the floor on its wheels ? On jackstand but positioned where ? I would love to hear your advices here!
-would you build a "frame jig" or with the door braces and if necessary a couple other braces/jig (like trailing arm mount to get the position if rusted) that should be OK ?

Thanks a lot and stay tuned, things will move here!

Antoine

Hi guys,

What do you recommand for my repair on the long/hell hole?
-door braces and Body Dolly like the one from Jeff Hail ?
If so, how do you put it on the Dolly ? I don't own a 2 post lift, "only" a scissor lift, which means no way to get it up with it and put the dolly under it.. If with jackstand, where would it be safe to position them to have the car high enough to be put on the dolly but not in the way?

I want to prepare it the best I can and look forward to your advices!

Thanks

Antoine

I thought a lot about it yesterday.. I think I will do it like that :
-put door braces
-remove the engine, tank,..
-put the car on jackstands using long wood to get the jackstands out of the way
-remove the front and back axles
-make a frame like this one (it's my ghia) :




that will be fixed to as many points as possible (front suspensions points, engine mount, gearbox mount,... to be both stable and usable as a jig for the long/eventually suspension console. Bonus will be to be able to mount it on my rotisserie

Sounds like a plan or ?

Antoine

Hello Antoine,

depending on the amount of welding necessary on your 914 you might want to borrow my "Celette".

I wish you success

Arno

thats a plan.
you are going to need to spin it.
good luck and you did the right thing driving it and enjoying it first.

Thanks a lot I started to measure everything to make my frame jig.

Arno you've got a PM

Antoine

Hey Antoine, I‘am realy sorry about to see the issues on your car. These are nearly the same issues then my car had. In dont think there is a way for a quick repair
In your case I would make a patch to the rustholes at the long big enough to stiffen the area and Drive the car until your Karmann is back to road.
I'm pretty sure you'll find more to do at the 914 while your're at work on it.
For a propper repair you have to build a frame like that
Click to view attachment
This is combined with a rotisserie. I dont think there is a need for a celette bench.

You‘ll need to replace the inner long in the enginebay and as far I can see also the outer long. If you have to repair both, this can be done without cutting or removing the quaterpanel. But you have to remove the engine mount and the suspension console.
The panels from Restoration Design (they do a great Job for the 914 community) are a good startingpoint. I have highly modified them to meet my requirements.
If you have to replace the inner long in the passenger bay, Mittelmotor is a good source. They made good panel with the right dimensions for a reasonable price.

Tenner

Hi Tenner,

Thanks a lot for your answer!

The frame you made is exactly what I had in mind.. Thanks for confirming it!

About the strategy: that is more or less my plan I want the car to drive safely but would love to wait after the ghia to restore it fully.. So that's how I will proceed:
-bring the car in my shop, remove the interior/the engine/gearbox, scrape where it seems rusted to get a good overview of the damages.
-if it can be safely made as you said, means patching the long+seat Belt mount+hell hole, then I will do it after bracing the doors and put it back on the street, driving until I am done with the ghia. Then it will be fully restored
-if damages are too important, like suspension consoles,..Well, the ghia will have a longer break and I will have to go deeper on the 914..

Let's see, I will keep you all in touch!

Cheers

Antoine [b]