Evening 914 World!
I’ve been gathering parts over the past few months and have finally reached critical mass. So, let the project thread begin!
After working on the FI through the winter, I’m satisfied that the engine remains in good health with it’s original 53k miles. However, the rubber and plastic holding everything together is a different story.

Which brings me to the scope and objective of this project. In short, I am looking for what I will call, “Improved Original”. What the phrase means to me is that I want to maintain the character and feel of the original car, but still take advantage of any and all modern improvements that will either, improve reliability, safety, operability, or any combination there of. This will include a suspension and chassis rebuild, power train reseal and refinishing, brake system rebuild, and fuel system overhaul.
When I’m done, I want to have a car that drives like it’s nearly new, but doesn’t look over restored. Because the car is a survivor, I think it’s important to keep the stories and history of the car intact.

Finally, I’d like to post my thanks to the community and vendors that make it possible to enjoy this hobby. Stay tuned!

Van

Day 1: removed the engine

Anxious to follow your exploits, Van, particularly the original but better improvement choices. These have been tough to make but safety (fuel pump to front, 3rd brake light, 19mm MC) and reliability (warm start solenoid changeout, modern bushings) are always good choices.
Let the fun begin!!

Good luck van! Everytime I dig around in mine I say to myself "well, it's lasted 50 years already..." And cross my fingers.

Thanks guys! @StarBear most of those choices have already been made. But I’ll do my best to document the choices on this thread. You might see the first choice I made bolted to the transmission. I went with the firmer 911 mounts and was very pleased.

Might be doing trans rebuild this winter. Which mounts did you use? Trans mounts or the engine mounts?

These guys: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/porsche-en...man-91137504307

you and your car will enjoy those bilsteins i see on the table of goodies.

I will watching this for sure! This is very much the philosophy I've followed on my build which is still a work in progress. Some thoughts from my own journey down this path:

For the most part, I decided to restore the car to like new condition because it was so well engineered to begin with. Suspension and brakes remain stock but I did upgrade to Bilstein shocks and turbo tie rods. The engine (2.0L) was rebuilt to european stock specs so displacement remained stock but compression raised. The exception was an unfortunate decision in the late 1980s when bottom end of the engine was rebuilt to install a carb cam. A mild one, but not a decision I'd make today. As a result, the car is currently carbed but I'll return to that later. Other than the carbs, I don't regret any of this. I've taken several 300+ mile trips this summer and the car as Porsche designed performs and handles fantastic. It is just a wonderfully balanced package and I have not wished for more or less of anything.

Now for the mods. First, my rule on mods is they should be as stealth as possible. Invisible is even better. Visible mods should look as if they came from the factory down to the wiring. Mods also need to be non-destructive so no drilling allowed. I want them to be easily reversible in case someone wants to go purist some day. With that philosophy, here are mods I did or plan to do in order of priority.

Safety First - I wanted to leave no compromise here within reasonable limits. Nothing crazy like adding airbags or anything, but there were a number of mods.

• LED lights. This was LED lights all around. Headlights, of course, but also all indicator, tail, and brake lamps to brighten them.
• Porterfield brake pads. No compromise when it comes to stopping.
• Enhanced visibility. I added a third brake light which is a must have on a car that sits this low, and stealth side markers to compensate for deleting the ugly warts to bring the car to Euro spec. Actually, there was a practical reason for deleting the markers, but that's not important. The lights I chose are ultra low profile LED strips most commonly used on motorcyles. They are so low profile nobody notices they are there until turned on and they do enhance visibility substantially. I violated the non-destructive rule with the side marker delete, but I did make a paper template to allow drilling the holes exactly where they were if some future owner has a wart fetish.

Reliability - Like you, this is important and is an ongoing project. I think there is potential for substantial gains in reliability and longevity by modernizing the ignition and fuel systems on these cars. At the top of my list was ditching the points and condensor. Right now I'm running a Pertronix which is nice, but I have higher goals. Here is where I'm hopefully headed this winter.

• Ditch the carbs and go Megasquirt. I can run this with the carb cam and also add a lot of modern fuel management features like sequential injection, real time barometric correction, closed loop fuel mixture adjustment, etc. I'll run this with the stock intake manifold and air cleaner with electronics hidden away in a stock ECU box.
• Upgrade ignition with full sequential coil on plug spark management. Full sequential is a bit over the top but I like a challenge and there are some gains to be had there for efficiency. It is also helpful for the next reliability upgrade.
• Switch to iridium plugs. I love being able to get 50K-100K out of a set of modern plugs. IMO, the less time spent with my head in the engine bay where swear words are invented, the better.
• Synthetic oil. I've read all the debates about synthetic oil in vintage and/or flat tappet engines. I'm convinced it will improve longevity and there are high zinc synthetic blends out there.

Creature comforts - There are some things you've just gotta have, but you don't have to be flashy about them. Here are mine:
[list]
[*]Tunes. I've gotta have decent tunes with bluetooth capabilities so I stuffed a modern Blaupunkt in the dash. I tried to install it in a very factory way so it doesn't draw attention to not being factory correct. Having a period correct radio converted to solid state is tempting, but a little too spendy for me, as is the new(ish) Porsche single DIN radio/navigation system. I've also hidden an amplifier in the center console and a subwoofer in the passenger kick space where the foam block goes. Still waiting on 914R to introduce their subwoofer box to complete the mod. Other than the radio itself, there is no visible hint of a non-stock system.
[*]Cup holder. It's a must have. I don't smoke, but I drink so I converted the ashtray into a pop-out cup holder. Total stealth when closed. Last week I was riding with a friend and popped out the cup holder while making a comment that people think Toyota invented the in-dash cup holder but my 50 year old car had one. He looked at me and asked, "is that stock?" That's the level of stealth I was going for so it made me happy.
[*]Charge ports. Let's face it, we need to be able to run and charge stuff these days. I built a little console that fits inside the center console that contains an extra 12v accessory plug, a USB-b plug, and a USB-c plug. I like to open the console and brag that 914s were so far advanced that they had USB outlets decades before USB was invented

So that's were I've been and going with this "make it better without changing it" concept. I can't wait to see what you do!

Great! Direct fitment, or mods needed?

Bolts right up like the original part. But I still used new hardware.

Yeah, that’s good to know. Current suspension was completely gone so, I knew literally anything would be better than what’s on there. But I still looked into what folks here thought about the B6 setup.

@bbrock I’d say your plans are an order of magnitude beyond mine. I’m loving the L-Jetronic now that I’ve got it working so, that’s staying.

I’m going with LEDs too, but that’s not within scope of this round… daytime VFR for now lol…

Audio is also beyond scope for this phase, but it is in my crosscheck. To that end, I’ve been eyeballing these for a while: https://www.retromanufacturing.com/products...4-hermosa-radio
Will solve Bluetooth and charging requirements.

I would do the same. Truth is that if I didn't have that carb cam in the engine, I probably would be restoring the original D-Jet. I'm kind of glad I did it though because it forced me to take a look at Megasquirt. It will probably cost no more than a thorough refurbish of my D-Jet parts but I'll gain a lot of modernization in the bargain. But that doesn't change that the cam is the only reason I'm going this route.


I looked really hard at those too. To be honest, I don't remember why I went a different direction. Must of been missing some feature I thought I must have, but they looked like a good option to me.

Got the right PET diagram now. Think I'm going to do this - they're still the originals IIRC.

Van; Rats. Looked under there and the center bolts are upside down (nut on bottom) - must have happened when engine out at 70k miles. So, no way to change out mounts without dropping trans?

Do one mount at a time with a little support for the transmission if you're uncomfortable.

The problem now, with the center bolts upside down (heads at top, nuts on bottom) is that there’s not enough clearance above to remove the bolts and slip the new mounts in. Or am I missing something?

You only need to loosen it enough to slip the mount and long bolt out of the channel on the transmission support bracket. Remove the two bolts/nuts holding the mount to the chassis, loosen the long bolt from the mount to the transmission and take out the whole thing. Then install the same way.

you can do it.
one at a time.

its tricky finding the torque setting for the 12mm bolt through the centre of the mounts.
i have to remember where that is again in the manual or where i found it.

they give the torque settings for the 2 smaller M8 bolts on the rear mount.
and they give you the torque settings for the front engine mounts.
but that one in centre of gearbox mounts is somewhere else and is obscure.
Van B might know since he has just done it.

anyway if the gearbox is coming out for a rebuild do it all then.

@Van B

are you going to install sway bars?

Ah, but I think (?) the problem is that there's no headroom to slip the center bolt up that far - only an inch, tops. Mine looks like the pic below, from another current thread.
Click to view attachment
Haven't planned to hijack your build thread out of confusion and need, Van, so I apologize.
Yes, @wonkipop - but I'm not planning to do that anytime soon. Needs to be done (120k mi), but not urgent though may be the source of the little hum/vibration I get in 4th/5th gear on the highway, hence the idea to replace the mounts as perhaps a faster/cheaper solution attempt as they're the original mounts.

@StarBear - you undo the 2 smaller M8 bolts on each mount as well and slide the whole thing out towards front of car. you loosen the centre bolt only enough allow it to slide through the forked mount and get it out.

then you can take the mount out and take it apart. take a photo. get all the washers and everything back in correctly in sequence with the new mount.

install reverse order or removal.

thats why you need the torque setting of that big central bolt.

normally when you drop engine and trans as unit you just undo the 2 M8 bolts either side and leave the central bolt alone and leave the mounts on the gearbox.

the nuts would be down on yours (as they are on mine) because whoever did it wanted to torque them up with a torque wrench from the bottom. (i realise there are contrary views on that - would be interested to know how the install was done with the nuts up ).

I have the OE sway bars from my 996 taking up space in the shed. If I can fit it in next to the steering rack once I mount the two port fuel pump, then I might go for it. Otherwise I’ll leave it all loose and out of control lol… 76hp feels faster with no sway bars anyway

No worries @StarBear . You’re over thinking it. Get under there with your wrenches and it will become clear real quick. @wonkipop I did find the torque value and I remember that it was in an odd place. I’ll look it up again.

Ohhhhhh. I can see clearly now! SLIDE forward. Will await the torque setting. Still learning, thanks to The Wise Ones.

[/quote]
Van; Rats. Looked under there and the center bolts are upside down (nut on bottom) - must have happened when engine out at 70k miles. So, no way to change out mounts without dropping trans?
[/quote]

one more thing @StarBear
i don't think Van B minds me expanding on esoterica - cause he knows i am a sceptic and contrarian (ie trouble making upside down a-hole )

it is my firm opinion your bolts aren't on "upside down".
its a myth that someone has come up with based on the PET diagram?
i'll explain why. its coming back to me because i ghosted these forums when i was recommissioning the wallaby 3 years back and read it all in some long lost thread here were a bunch of guys went at each other about those mounts.

1)
mine were on apparently "upside down". ie nuts at bottom bolt facing down.
photo before we started work. you can see them.

Click to view attachment

2. here is the top of the mount we removed.
still liberally goobered with original undercoating that got sprayed all around in there by some kook toking on a stoobie back in 74. it had never been off. the evidence was fairly compelling.

Click to view attachment

so the mounts before we started where "upside down" and had been so called "upside down" since the day it was built. 99% certain on that.
granted. some stoned german could have screwed it up the wrong way on the assembly line. or they dropped the motor in the workshop before they sold it new or sent it off to the undercoaters for some reason. but i very much doubt it.

additionally if you look through the factory manuals there are photos of the mounts in question in situ in the car with the nuts on the bottom.

so.....if you ask me yours are not upside down at all.

------
i think where the myth comes from is the early cars up to 73. they have forward engine mounts for a solid mounted cross bar. similar or identical mounts to gearbox. and if i am not mistaken the only way you can get the bolt in is from below and do the nut up on top. but i could be wrong. don't have an early car to know. i think they just followed the same convention for the rear mounts. but i can assure you its academic. it makes no difference to the rear mounts because you slide them out through the forked transmission casting. and we don't have forward mounts on our later cars. they are smaller rubber mounts in the centre of the bar where it is joined to the engine.

---------

i also now remember the factory manual is real skinny on the engine mount issue.
seems to have been written for the 70-72 cars with different mounts.
probably the manual i have was supposed to have a revision and its been lost.

we might have just tightened up the transmission mount centre bolt firmly.
i can't remember but i can ask mike next monday for you.
i left that to him. he knows 911s backwards so he probably didn't think twice about it whatever he did.

--------

this might also give you pause to think @StarBear before you fret to much about those bolts.

from the L jet files.

44 K mile car we pulled down material on from BAT last year that was a big clincher for the 1.8 L jet research. sold back in 2016. just about one of the best most original 1.8s i've come across documented. Big Len would probably agree with me. you would be hard pressed to question this one.

to me don't look like anyone has been near the trans mounts since abba entered eurovision. they are "upside down" according to 914 myth. or are they?

Click to view attachment

this is from the alleged 29K mile blue car.
don't think it was 29K miles but along with Big Len i don't share everyone's else's scepticism about it and dismissing it as a 129 K car either. not as compelling as the green car.
but......they are "upside - down".

Click to view attachment


i didn't give ground on the charcoal can plumbing and its not that i was right about it.
but my car (as an artefact) was right. same with the plumbing on throttle bodies and dist vac cans. not saying i am right 100% here, but i'm not falling for the "rules" either.
i'm calling this one as problematic in terms of what the "experts" say.

have hijacked enough, but i think Van likes it when we get into a bit of heresy at his expense. those cold start threads he started up were some of the best explorations of 1.8 misery ever.

by the way @Van B thats a pretty clean looking engine you got there when its out of the car. tin ware looks to be in outstanding shape. tends to verify you got hold of a real good car, just getting a bit creaky in the joints after half a century.

If it’s good enough for @wonkipop , it’s good enough for me. I’m sufficiently convinced. Onward!

Van; would these be the torques you mentioned? #2 Not specific to the center bolt?
Click to view attachment

Steve, for the life of me, I can’t find the M12 bolt reference. But, I use charts like this when I need a standard spec for grade, size, pitch: https://www.fastenermart.com/files/metric_t...ten_torques.pdf

So, ~40ft-lbs is a safe bet for the long bolt unless you can confirm the grade as higher than 5.

The small M8 carrier bolts for the transmission mounts are listed in the engine section attached.

Oh and Wonki, I can’t possibly complain about one of the few guys who responds to my cries for help lol!

Onward! Thanks and back to the real thread…..

So the theme of today is: Better lucky than good any day of the week!

I saw some rust chips under the firewall pad when I pulled the engine so I knew that needed an investigation. But while assessing that, I also saw some inclusions in the coating in the hell hole. Unbelievably, all of the metal is still solid!

I have a lot of grinding still to do before I can phosphate and seal… but man did I get lucky.

Another lesson for folks: Don’t use spray adhesive on your firewall pad! You’ll just trap moisture and cause unnecessary and avoidable rust

car gets better the deeper you go.

the fatal flaw in the 914 is not so much the battery location as the unresolved engine lid.
they couldn't get it right across to the targa bar junction so they put fixed extensions of the grill band in there. then didn't bother with a catch tray in that portion and could work out how to do a water draining joint between the two either. its real aesthetics over engineering, or form over function stuff. surprising for germans. it does look good and very resolved stylistically but they just pulled up short on engineering it.

ever looked at a fiat X/19 - the eye tal yuns did a much better job. (but its not very pretty).

the original owner of your car got smart when he sprayed all that waterproofing in those areas of the engine bay. guy was probably an engineer? took one look at those side panels and went no no no.

It’s original zeibart coating and it was sprayed all over the car when new. But to me the hell hole looks like it started rusting and was given a casual derusting and then another thick coat of water proofing.

When I got the car both sides were filled with acorns so, there was at least a year where moisture sat down there and couldn’t drain.

yeah i think mine was the same, but not used in engine bay. it was covered in the stuff underneath. a thick kind of goo stuff. still is. i am sure it saved it for the first 2 years it was in use as a more or less daily driver. then it got retired to summer use when the original owners moved to the mid west. from there i don't think it ever got too much, if any, moisture - apart from that hellish mid west summer humidity. i don't know how you guys put up with it!!!

which is just as well as that undercoating starts to break down as it ages and admit moisture into cracks. and then in some ways its even worse than if it wasn't there.
a bit like you and your car. in my case pure luck.

mine had surface corrosion all in that gate to hell area 30 odd years ago. i cleaned it up and hit it with rust convertor way back when i got it. still holding up.

Electrolysis for the win. Only had a couple hours to work today, but I made the most of it. So glad I took out the home made kit, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to expose that inclusion.

still a lucky man.

have you taken the sill rocker panels off yet to look in around jacking posts?

Haven’t taken the rockers off yet, but I’m reasonably confident they are fine.

However, I did take the day off and I guess if yesterday was the hell hole, then today was spent in purgatory… turns out, purgatory is worse lol!

I made sure to take a pic of the electrolysis magic today. Gotta love science!

Bottom line, for the engine bay, I have a few pinholes to deal with. Nothing bad enough to justify cutting metal, but they still need to be plugged all permanent like.

there is one place left after you look behind the rockers.
you will see it after you pull the fuel tank.

You mean that little box section reinforcement down in the tank cavity? I've already spotted some surface rust there... I may have to get a bead blaster to clean that up.

yes

they designed in yet another moisture trap. a V joint more or less that does not drain.
moisture can get up in there, condensation too i suspect.

it was the one area i found doing the recommission where rust was just beginning to take hold - and it was not in the area where we did the rhd conversion, it was over on the left hand side. not too hard to do while the fuel tank was out.

quick question for you @Van B while i think of it.

what colour are the plastic headlight motor guards in the front trunk of your car.
black of grey?
tracking back the change to grey and have it all the way to very early jan 74.

Black on my car.

thanks mate.

the change is between 10 Dec 73 and 9 Jan 74.
puts it back a little further in time than spring of 74.
actually winter 73/74.
humble 1.8s are proving to be the key information.
classics as starbear would say.


think mr. b knows when they flipped back to black.

been finding out all sorts of stuff trawling back through the L jet files looking at things other than the EC-A/B question we answered. lot of subtle little changes through time period nov 73 to may 74.

My only gripe about the 74 1.8 is that emissions forced so many changes in the L-Jet that results in a lot of NLA parts for us that would otherwise be simple parts to replace.

though its just as hard if you own a 924. i think for some 928 parts as well to do with L jet.

while i think of it.
one more question if you have time.
what kind of pad do you have in the rear trunk under carpet.
soft foam or the more solid thinner pad (heat insulation?).

same question for @StarBear if he reads this.

both of you have cars made in 73 so could be of interest.