I don't usually show customers cars but member Warren914 from Halifax nova Scotia has a 1975 914 that will be an interesting project. His teen has never run right in the 20 years he's owned it so it's in for a full engine restoration.
His 914 arrived from Halifax this week and at first glance it's nothing special, tired paint with lots of chips and dents. But a quick check shows it has little to no filler in the body.

Warren told me this crazy story about the PO being a aircraft mechanic for CP Air, a now defunct Canadian airline.
Yeah-yeah what ever dude

First order was to get the rockers off, which turned a 3 hour job because the PO used windshield urethane to glue them on. We found the jack posts were rotted so they'll need to be replaced....but the rest of the long was in surprisingly good shape.
Hmmm...

Explain the CS bit Mr. Henry.

Typical couple pounds of sand that comes out of rockers that haven't been cleaned in over 20 years.

All in good time grasshopper.

So we started to drop the engine and transmission....what a freaking greasy mess!

What is this colour I see peaking out under all the grime????

What the fuch???

So no this isn't a creamsicle... but it has a creamsicle suspension.

Actually it has a Canadian Pacific Air (CP Air) inspired suspension, orange and white was CP Air's colours and the PO obviously painted it at work. I think it's powder coat, which 20-30 years ago was still a relatively new paint technique.

Warren914 wants to keep the colour even though it's not "correct" so I'm going to get the bottom of the teen dry ice blasted.

Ohhh and the jack posts are bad so the longs must be boned right?

And WTF is going on with the floors, WTH is it with all these bolts in the floors????

It must be a rusty bondo bucket right?

But wait a minute??

Holy Carp!

Look at this hell hole! OMG!

I think all the bolts are some sort of aircraft reinforcement, I bet you could jack from the middle of the floor. They have long strips of metal running under the bolts, looks like about 1/16" material. I don't think there's any rust issues besides the jack posts, but again we'll have to wait to see as I'm trying to figure all this out myself. All the body gaps a perfect.

So I'll update this in a week or so once we get it dry ice blasted.
Warren's car won't be correct, but it's looking like it will be super solid and once fixed up, it should be a real nice teen.
Did you notice the Bilstein shocks? I bet the fronts are billy bobs as well.

Yes I lied about it being a creamsicle...but it is for sure a diamond in the rough.

Take good care of my car!

The car wasn't red from the factory. PO did an almost complete color change. Inside the doors is red, around the fuel tank, engine bay, and even under the carpets. There's only one place where the original color may still be in place. It's well hidden...

I was told the white was used on landing gear of the aircraft. Trunk hinges, engine, transmission, and many other small parts have been plated. Don't know where the orange originated. Restoring the car to concourse is not practical. I'm not going through a full color change again, removing rear reflector, and so on. Can't explain the bolts in the floor. I didn't think anything of it given that they are fully sealed in the undercoating. It seemed original factory.

This summer's project is the drivetrain and other minor repair. I'm hoping it gets home in time to enjoy before snow flies. Next year the car will get dents and dings removed and a new coat of paint. The windshield has to be replaced. I have OEM front and rear valences to attach, center caps for the wheels, etc.

Same here

I'm looking forward to the transformation.

Keep the photos coming.

Once done, I have a special 914 Care Package for you two.

Here is a teaser photo

O




Click to view attachment

It won't be done this time around, it will still need paint and new seat covers, but at least it will be driveable.

I imagine I should I do the jack post repairs after the dry ice?

It was a silver car, wasn't hard the Karmann tag says L97A, I also checked in a hidden area as well.
It's more than you think Warren, the PO disassembled the whole car to paint it red, longs are red and under the dash is red with zero over spray.

Funny thing is it's a BC car, a colour change but real in good shape structurally and mechanically (except for the engine) that's has sat in storage for years and eventually it traveled east.
That's almost the exact same story as my 914.
.

The floor bolts are really strange.

They had me totally fooled, I thought "oh no...not a bondo bucket", then it was like what the hell? Did he bolt on new factory panels???
I think it's all pristine, original floors and panels that has been reinforced .

"reinforced"?

The car won't be complete this summer. Once Mark is done my bank account will need several months to recharge. I may consider having body, paint, and wheels done over the winter. It needs mechanical repairs complete before starting on cosmetics.

My goal is to drive from Nova Scotia to California (and home again!) in 2023 for Porsche75th anniversary. I expect there will be some sort of commemoration happening. It will be a retirement trip - no schedule or rush to get home.

When you figure out what all the bolts are for, let us know. If you can, more pics. Very interesting!

Tim bought the car and took it to Vancouver in 1980. Why he would strip and rebuild a 5 year old car remains a mystery. He sent photos of the car totally gutted and sitting on its side. Given his position at the aircraft shop, could there be rivets in the floor instead of bolts?

Appraisal from 1987 shows Bilstein shocks front and rear.

It came with a very low air dam up front. That came off and is sitting in my shed. I have a factory air conditioning system and raised letter Porsche outer rocker panels. Neither is likely to be installed.

The verdict is in on Warren's engine troubles, as expected because as soon as the car hauler guy tried to start the car I was yelling at him to shut it off.

The dreaded dropped valve seat, #3 intake this time.

Things are not torqued proper, if it didn't lose a valve seat first it would have lost the flywheel eventually.

Got a photo of what that looks like?

Yes but later I'm to greasy to be touching anything.

Thanks for sharing!

I truly hope "we" go back to silver on this one.

The original color (whatever that may be) is always the best color.

+1, I am always in favor of original colors. Great looking project, when was the last time she was on the road? Keep us posted with the updates

I'm in full agreement and ideally the car would be returned to the original color. It would have to be fully dismantled to do it properly. It is far too extensive a job that I'm not willing to pay for. The car will never be concourse and only those who know how to read the paint code number will know the difference. I really hate having a car with exterior color different than inside. It would be hideous with silver outside and red inside. Maybe my kids will change the color when it's not mine any more. Set up a GoFundMe benefit and I'll reconsider.

I bought the car in July 2001. Got married, hopped on a plane and flew to Vancouver. The drive home to Nova Scotia in the 914 was our honeymoon. I had a blast! We took the car across the border and bought an air conditioning system from Josh near Olympia Washington. Then off to Port Angeles and ferry to Victoria for the night. Along the ride towards Whistler the engine started acting up. It was getting less than 10 miles per gallon and belching smoke out the back. The entire back of the car was covered in black soot. Remnants can still be seen inside the rear trunk lid. It arrived home about 6000km / 3600 miles later. I installed a Crane XR100, replaced the MPS, and cleaned the injector triggers. It worked much better but still far from correct. The car was last really used about fall 2008. Went through separation and divorce in 2011. I told her she could have everything she wanted in the house but I wanted the 914 and all contents in the garage. Priorities were in the right place. The car moved with me in October. It was on the road occasionally to wake up, but not insured or registered. Last Spring I started to get it ready for engine overhaul and was planning to visit Brad in Peoria. Five new tires, Optima yellow battery, and a large box of brake parts were ordered. Covid changed plans and the car sat for the summer. Brakes were replaced in the fall. I wasn't aware of Mark being able to assist until a short time ago. Less than two weeks ago on I decided to get the car registered with hopes of driving it to Ontario. Covid restrictions are in place and a 2-week quarantine would be required upon return. As a result I decided to have it shipped instead. That may have been a good decision with a failing engine. 23 March I got it insured and inspected before getting a new license plate installed. It drove for only a few days. The engine was clearly not well. 25 March it went to a detailer to get over a decade of dust and grime removed. Mark seemed to be puzzled by the car and initially considered it a POS. Having it filthy would have only added to his disgust. It was driven to the shipping company on Sunday 28 March. The trailer left on Monday and it arrived at Mark's door Tuesday.

I get to fund Mark's writing of the next chapter. I have high expectations.

This is my second 914. The first was bought in 1998. I wanted to attend the Porsche 50th anniversary rally that summer, but couldn't make it work. I decided that I would do the next one in 25 years. Time is getting short. Next up is dent removal, fresh red paint, wheel refurbishing, new windshield, install valences, and a bunch of trim parts. That part should complete restoration next winter or Summer 2022.

I'm planning to retire by 31 December 2022. The car needs to be ready for its California road trip summer 2023.

i reckon that car is pretty ace.
been worked over by aircraft engineers.
no scuttle shake in that baby?
real focus on the suspension and chassis.

THIS RIGHT HERE. You're doing it right! A lot of us aspire to do the same. Cant wait to watch this project unfold.

What percentage of our +/- 50 years old 914's have a clean hell hole as this one?

Less than 5% I would bet

Dropped engine and the unfortunate dropped valve seat.

You would have never made it Warren...and you would have totally hand granaded the engine trying.

The Horror.. clack clack

It was running! Sounded like a really bad exhaust leak.

How much power could it make?

That was because the other side head was a smog head, the air pump is long gone and exhaust ports are plugged, but one of those plugs fell out.

The seat one could keep driving, it would never idle and when it finally failed the broken valve would likely pop a rod out the top of the case.
I've seen this trick done before.

It was running very poorly and I expect barely made it aboard the trailer. Surprising what will still move the car along. How does the other side look? Spark plugs were dripping with oil last time I checked them.

I'm looking forward to a solid (and clean) engine when you're finished.

[quote name='930cabman' date='Apr 3 2021, 11:38 AM' post='2905217']

It was running! Sounded like a really bad exhaust leak.
[/quote]

How much power could it make?
[/quote]

I'm in no way saying the engine was anything but ready for total catastrophic failure. It barely ran and sounded terrible. It was rapidly getting worse. I was able to drive to and from detailer, about 15km round trip. It didn't have an issue hitting 90mph on the way home. No significant power issue bringing it to the transport company. That could be a major sign by itself. Clearly much longer and the repair would have been exponentially more involved.

Keychains look good. There is a long ways before the work is complete, even after Mark is done. It needs front and rear valences installed, followed by body work and paint. Wheels will be removed for refinishing. A new windshield is to be installed.

Two years since the last update. I'm getting my car on 19 April.

How’s Mark doing? I haven’t seen him post much.

perfect season timing!

But......