I need some help, advice, opinions on a longer term project car.

I have 3 914's. A pretty original 1970 Tangerine that is a driver. A 914 GT clone vintage racer I am refreshing after a long slumber and a 1972 project car I bought several years ago.

My longer term plan is to restore/update the 1972 and then sell the 1970 when it is done.

The question at hand is how far to take the project and what if anything to change. As it sits it is a low mile (80k roughly) very original (other than a repaint in different color) 1972 1.7 that was taken off the road 15+ years ago in anticipation of getting some bodywork done and repaint. The PO bought some new parts, had the bumpers done, etc. I have everything taken off the car in boxes. The rust isn't bad but it does need some help in the rear trunk area, sail panel on one side and jack points. It is very straight otherwise and the interior is really nice. No crack in the dash, perfect mostly. It has a few options, fogs, window defrost, sail panel vinyl.

I am contemplating making some changes but wanted some opinions on how wise these might be;

The current color is red, it is originally a silver car. I don't love silver and would like to do something like Adriatic Blue. I realize long term taking it back to silver may make it more valuable but I'd like to LOVE the color. Thoughts?

The original engine and trans are in the car but I have two 2 liter motors on the shelf and a couple of 901 side shifters and most of the parts to convert the car to side shift. One of the 2 liters has all of the original injection on it. The other had carbs on it. I'm considering rebuilding the carb'd motor up into a mild over bore performance motor and converting the car to side shift and putting the 1.7 and tail shift trans in mothballs. Thoughts?

I have a set of 15*6 Fuchs in storage. I'd likely use the PMB 5 lug conversion kit to be able to use these wheels. Any reason not to?

Anything else I should consider? I'd go through the brakes, suspension, etc. along the way.

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My biggest issue is the paint choice but I figure this will be a long term keeper and sticking with a factory color that is popular shouldn't be too big a deal. I love the Tangerine car but I'd like to build one and this seems like a good candidate for that.

Thanks,
Jerry

Sounds like you want a great car to drive... so build a great car to drive.

A base model 1.7 is not all that valuable as a collector.

I also have a fairly clean project 71 1.7L in metallic gold. I'm lucky in that I love the color, but I'm also going to build the car to clean out my parts stash, which includes a 2.0fi and side shift and adding sway bars and wearing cookies. I will be building a 'driver' to my minimum specs. When I have to move on someone will get a great example of a 914 to drive.

I see a 911 engine peaking around the corner.
Build a 914/6 conversion out of the best car, sell the other two to help finance the conversion and get 'er done.

For what it is worth, I saw that 911 motor and felt like Mark, put that sucker in the car. As for color, so long as you do a complete job and not a semi-complete job, you should be good. I happen to love Adriatic Blue and it is a period correct color too. I like the 5-lug conversion so you can use the Fuchs wheels. The side-shifter is a smart move. I converted to a side-shifter on my car and never gave it a second thought. Assuming for some reason you decide the 911 motor is for something else, I would build a nice 2056 with factory fuel injection and the appropriate cam and exhaust. Make the suspension street compliant and enjoy.

In the end, a 71 914-4 is not rare so make it what you really want and enjoy the heck out of it. It should make you smile every time you see it or drive it. Cheers.

Thanks for the replies. I do have a core 3.2 motor. The GT clone is a 6 conversion that is not so far gone as a race car it couldn't see some street duty and is plated. If it were to get retired from vintage race duty it would need the wiper system reinstalled and some interior bits put back and it would be good to go. I'm either going to sell the 3.2 as a core or build it into a spare motor for the race car.

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The 1970 is Tangerine and the paint is ok for a driver. It is a very original car except for the wheels which I added. I'll keep it like that and pass it along when the time is right.

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The 72 is also pretty original but obviously needs paint. The interior is very nice and is a tad updated from very early cars in that it has dash vents and pebbled door panels. Also looking at Olympic Blue.

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Adriatic

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You could build a play car. My engine was a 1.7, some porting on the heads, and 2.0 l parts inside. Balanced and counterbalanced with a 13.5 lb flywheel makes for a fun canyon runner. My suspension also got some work along with the shifter setup. My next step is wide body with some bigger shoes. But I love the reliability and low maintenance of the type 4. Looks like you have the stocker and the 6 covered