Hi All,
I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and solicit your collective advice. I recently inherited my grandfather's 1973 2.0 that he bought new from the dealership in Southern California. I am proud to continue his 914 legacy and excited to get the old girl back on the road. It has sat for quite a few years (10-15).

So here is the question, what all should I do? After changing the fuel filter and cleaning the carb, she is running pretty strong. Minor problems exist like the gas gage doesn't really work, only one headlight comes up, and the mirrors and fog lights are broken. But other than that, I can't complain!

Should I try to find a fuel injection set up and return it to the original 2.0 set up or just drive it and have fun and not sweat the fact it is now carbureted? I'm living in Northern Michigan, so I'll probably at least drive it for this summer and wait until the white stuff (snow and salt) trap the 914 in the garage. But I'm open to advice and excited to hear what y'all think.

Leo

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Hi Leo,

that is a really nice looking car, really worth keeping and driving it.

Regarding the first things to do on that car , i would take care of the safety related things first. You should exchange the brake fluid, brake pads and carefully inspect the fuel lines. After sitting that much time it is not uncommon that the rubber fuel lines come porous, which may lead to an engine fire.
The headlight motor features a relay on the motor mount. Try to exchange it with the one on the other side and see, if it is a defective relay.
While inspecting these items, you should have a look at the typical rust nests, which our little cars typically show. E.g. under the battery tray, and so on . .
On a long term perspective i would backdate to the original mirrors, get the fog lights and, depending on your skills, money and patience, install the original FI.
From my experience, if you’re not aiming for a full resto, try to keep the single projects on that car so small, that the car remains drivable.
Try to plan the work as little weekend projects and drive it afterwards.
Take your time and enjoy driving it !

Beside these hints, maybe the really first thing to do, is to get a repair manual. My first one was a haynes manual, which is very comprehensive and as much infomative as the original porsche repair manuals.

Benno

love the flame paint job.

...........scary thought (for me) that a 914 has entered grandfather car in the inheritance stakes. i thought it was still dads did that.
proof anyway grandfathers were cool guys in the prehistoric age!

guys here will help you if you really want to enter the horror of the first era of fuel injection. lots of options there. meanwhile ---- .

In addition to the Haynes Manual, get a copy of "Tech Tips 700" by George Hussey, lots of good ideas on keeping our 914's running.

High five to Grandpa by the way.

I live in Kazoo, have driven many miles in the Torch Lake area, beautiful area, great roads.

Hi Leo- That's a great looking '73 and I am sure your grandfather would be proud that you plan to return her to the road.

By all means do all the safety stuff referenced above. In no particular order, I would replace the tires, replace the fuel lines in the tunnel with stainless steel (Tangerine Racing sells the kit), replace all other fuel lines and remove the gas tank and have it boiled out and replace it if necessary - new ones are available for a good price.

Consider having all 4 brake calipers rebuilt (PMB Performance does this spectacularly) look at the rotors to see if they are still road worthy, flush all the brakes and replace the soft lines at all 4 wheels as these tend to swell and close up and then calipers stick. Also check the master cylinder located near the steering rack for leaks.

Check all the various ground wires on the car and clean them to make sure they are all making good contact. Check all the lights. You may have to clean the light sockets and bulb connections. Check all the fuses and refer to the owner's manual to make sure the correct fuse is in the various spots.

Drain and replace all the oil in the engine and transaxle. Lubed all the hinges on the car. Probably need to replace the battery. Then just clean everything top to bottom.

In the engine compartment look for evidence of mouse habitats. If it were me, I would definitely try to locate the original FI system and return it to the car. The carburetor is less desirable by a fair amount in my mind.

Have fun and try to take small bites so as to not overwhelm yourself. These cars seem to love to stay on jack stands for years so you don't want that. Good luck and enjoy.

Its the right color so you are already winning!

With any old car, and especially aircooled cars - CHANGE THOSE FUEL LINES! All of them. Like before you drive it again. Too many bugs, busses and 914s have been lost to old fuel lines and engine fires.

Aside from that - do your usual old car tune up stuff.
Brakes need to be bled and pads and rotors inspected.
Give it a valve adjustment.
Oil change
replace the old spark plugs/plug wires/cap and rotor.
Check the timing.

Fixing the headlight is an easy thing, but that needs to be secondary to the list above.

Doing the fuel lines will take a day. Doing everything else will take another weekend. And then you should have a cool car to drive around.

You will find there are lots of improvements that you will be able to make to the car if you want, but once the basics are done I'd just clean it and drive it and enjoy it!

Zach

Pull off the rocker covers below the doors and clean any debris and accumulated crud from around the jackpoints

Not only is this a good thing to prevent water retention and associated rust, it is also a good indicator of how much rust might already exist in those critical areas.

If you don't go back to the original FI, maybe consider going to dual carbs where they sit right on the cylinder heads. Long intake runners with a single carb setup generally don't do well in real cold weather.

If it was me, I think I'd be looking for an old box containing all the Fuel Injection parts. If not, consider dual carbs.

Like any older car you should check the basics, fuel tank/lines, brake system and most of all have a great time with Gramp's ride. A couple years ago I came upon a similar 914 with a single center mounted carb, it didn't take long to change it to twin Weber carbs and looking back I wish that I should have left things alone. With the single carb she started good cold or hot and ran out nicely. Either way, great score

That looks like the old 36/36 (?) Weber I had on my opel gt. Great carb and I would definitely leave that alone till you get everything else done. Look for the fi in the meantime but don't rush that. Save it for last.

drive it like you inherited it..What part of WA state ? Kool Flames

Congratulations! I'll echo what's already been said a few times:

1) Fuel lines
2) Brakes
3) Rust repair and abatement (battery tray and below - aka the "Hell Hole," longitudinals, pans, frunk, trunk
[...]
X) Revert to factory fuel injection

I'm not saying don't plan on reverting back to factory FI, but if that rock solid reliable Weber is working well, I'd put plenty of other things ahead of it. IMHO and YMMV.

If your 73 came from the factory with the 2.0 then it's likely fully optioned out with front and rear sway bars, the highly desirable Fuchs wheels, and fog lights. You could even start a feud here and refer to it as a 914S as the PCNA literature did in early 1973. It's a pretty desirable year/option if you're considering restoring it to a collector car.

With that said I hope you do take it out on the road often, drive it and enjoy it, because these cars weren't meant to be collector garage queens - they are authentic sports cars that will "entropy" in the garage if not taken out every so often and exercised. All the best to you!

-Rob

Thank you for all of the warm welcomes and the great ideas.

I completely agree with the fact that cars will entropy if left neglected in the garage. It feels like this car is smiling every time I drive it. I drove it about 40 miles yesterday and it did great. It is the only car I have ever had fix itself. Things that aren't working, are coming back to life like the gas gage and the fan motor for the heater. But it sounds like the fuel lines certainly aren't in that category, so that will be my next project with brakes and other assorted safety items close behind.

To answer Sixnotfour's question, my Grandfather lived in Port Townsend on the northern part of the Kitsap peninsula. Beautiful country up there!

914-Kazoo, I'll have to check out the Torch Lake area. I'm a new to Michigan guy and it is beautiful, but the roads are too darn straight! Finding curvy roads is a challenge, so I'll take all the recommendations I can get.

Where are you located in Michigan?

This is a nice authentic looking 914!

Defnitely look into the rust of the structural elements. No matter what you find or issue you might have, the members on this forum are extremely generous with their time and will gladly help you!

Not only are these cars a blast to drive, they are really fun to learn and generally easy to work on. Definitely agreed on the small weekend project comment in order to keep it on the road. These little cars quickly become VERY addictive!

Welcome to the madness!

I'm in Traverse City.

Leo,
I’m in Kewadin, just up the road, and have a’75 with a ‘73 2.0!

Let’s connect. PM sent

-Triston

Welcome to Michigan - land of perfectly straight roads generally laid out on 1 mile grid pattern. Once you've lived in Michigan for a while, it's not a stretch of the imagination to know why domestic land yachts and muscle cars were never very competent at steering and handling.

Traverse City area has some of the best 914 driving roads in the state but that isn't saying much.

M-22
Multiple fun drives and curvy roads out on the peninsula.
Supply Road out to South Boardman
Roads around the various lakes

Three main tracks in Michigan all have track days via various car clubs:
1) Grattan
2) Gingerman
3) Waterford Hills

And if you hit the lottery there is the M1 concourse in Pontiac but the track is smallish and track days are quite expensive relative to some of the other options available.

you can take apart the fuel sending unit and repair it yourself, and should certainly find the fuel injection and reinstall it

Once again, great new ride, was your mom/dad a 914 enthusiast? or did it skip a generation?

Cabman,
It kinda skipped a generation. Though my father was generally an enthusiast of anything with an internal combustion engine. Certainly passed on the itch for turning dinosaurs into noise.

Great to see you show so much interest in Grandpa's car. There are a thousand things you can do to these cars and it seems most never stop "tinkering" with them.. . I agree with doing the safety things first, especially the fuel lines. No one likes to watch their car go up in flames.....

Do those things first and enjoy this beauty as much as you can. Then in the down months you can tackle the other little things.