You have a 72, rebuilt engine and trans , new shocks-struts, good rubber, rebuilt brakes, stainless fuel lines, converted fuel pump, solid body. basicly a stocker in good shape. You're gonna take a trip from Phoenix to Birmingham. And back. Days of slightly illegal speed. What would you bring? What would you do to prepare besides oil change , valve adjustment, the obvious stuff?? In search of the dream. After all , a teener is nothing if not a touring car, is it not?

Have you done a few local shakedown runs and then a bolt check and torque of critical items?

Click to view attachment

Or you can do the spare parts thing and try to bring one of everything that could possibly fail. Don’t forget all the tools you might need. Car will be 300 lbs heavier, slower, and will have to work harder to get to your desired speed. Might just as well tow the spare parts car with you.

Shake it down we’ll with lots of local mileage and you’ll be fine.

My road trips are 1-2x a year
Thousand miles each

An alt. Distributor. Starter. Spare fuel injection
Including ECU injectors. Fuel pump. MPs. Cht. points for fi

Regulator board and regulator
Plus drive axle wheel with 2 cv’s
Rear wheel bearing
Front bearings
Ignition switch
Alt harness
Lots of Tools. Hardware. Timing lamp
Cables
Jack and stand
Full size spare
Battery charger
Extension cord
Etc
Etc

Everything

Get the 200mi AAA plan. Bring along a few light parts and basic tools.

Share you route here so that members are aware of your travels. Chances are you might be within a 200mi reach of friendly support if you ever needed it!

Get on the road mind free, take pictures and share here as you drive along!

I took a shakedown last fall, about 800 miles total. Near the onset I was hearing a rattling in the drivers front corner, it go so bad I pulled into a Lowes parking lot with basically no tools. Got her up in the air and noticed the drivers front caliper was being held on with one (loose) bolt. Luckily Lowes had what I needed and got on my way quickly.

My advice is check all major bolt on components for tightness, basic tools and plenty of room on your plastic.

Top off trans fluid.
Bring a chair cushion !

If you have done several shake-down trips and had no issues, I would just crawl under the car and check everything for tight, check all 4 tires for nails, etc., check brake fluid, check transaxle fluid, top-off oil and bring a couple extra quarts, alternator belt, throttle cable, clutch cable, check all lights, spare fuses, electrical tape, flashlight, road flares, some wire, cash, 200 Miler AAA card- (worth its weight in gold) and have your route well planned out and try to ID Porsche shops along the way- just in case. Oh, and have a great trip.

A nice empty CC for an emergency hotel.
AAA

Ya I got AAA.

Ya .. while traveling in my CJ 5 with "race seats" we stopped at an ACE and got some gardeners knee cushions. Worked great.

Map out your route, then ask what teeners are close if you need help (Lift).

Already mentioned, but full nut/bolt tightening, and make sure you have the AA card.

Sounds like a blast

BMW Motorcycle Owners Association used to publish a book for members that listed other owners and available capabilities in case you needed someone to call for help. Something like that would be awesome in the 914 world. I would gladly lend any support to a fellow teener in need.

I had the motor and transmission out of my car for a total re-seal last year. Got the driveline reinstalled on a Sunday, got the car running Wednesday evening, jumped in it the next day and drove to Okteenerfest 7 hours away. Car ran flawlessly to, during, and from the event all the while getting 30mpg. My thoughts on carrying lots of tools, I'm usually close to a u-haul dealer anywhere I go.. I still carry the basics, i.e. handtools, a good jack, flashlights, etc. Part of owning these cars is the actual road trip adventures.

Chris

Besides the AAA card and basic tools, I would bring a tire plug kit and a small air compressor.

Earplugs.

Voltage regulator and some basic tools.
Enjoy the drive.

Yeah, a small tool kit, canoair, and just go. You should know if the cars gonna make it. I would cross the country in mine without a second thought, but I know it pretty well by now. It also wasn't recently rebuilt (or ever, that I know of). That's the only thing that would make me nervous. If you have done your own brakes, know your suspension, your tires are good, the rest should be fine. Truthfully, this era of electronics do better with use. I have a 1973 fender twin reverb, all original. Playing it every couple of days is what keeps it happy.

That said, this is exactly why I have more gauges than God in my 914. I want to know if it's starting to do something outside of normal before it becomes a triple a moment. I know, in most cases of something happening it will be triple a, but at least with good info on temp (cht and oil), oil pressure, and voltage you can glance down and know all is good and relax and enjoy the drive.

Ear plugs.
A cooler with some ice, a bunch of water, maybe some caffeinated drink.
A hand towel or dish towel.

In the summer, toss the towel in the cooler with the ice--some of which will be water. Put the wet towel around your neck to cool off. Recharge the towel when you start feeling warm again.

That setup (I used a washcloth and wanted a larger towel, which is why I recommend a hand towel or dish towel) is how I got through the Nevada desert in late June.

--DD

right size socket/rachet to get the front bumper off and screw driver to pop the latch (put them in the rear trunk) in case your front trunk cable breaks and you have all your tools there and have nearly run out of gas.

Or,

Use the old trick from the 356 era.
Run a second wire to simply hang underneath the drivers fender.
I used some heavy guitar string.
When the main cable breaks you reach under the fender and pull a loop.
It’s a straight line, so less stress.

oh thats good.
i'm way behind.
now i will be figuring out how to get that emergency guitar string in.

Make certain your cigarette lighter will charge your phone.
Check that your insurance, license and registration are up to date.

Do I hear the voice of experience speaking here?????

Thia is all good stuff. Keep it coming!!!!!

Good point. Not even sure the lighter works. Haven't smoked in decades.

Great tip, thanks for reminding me of this (was somewhere in the cloud between my ears)

For all of my road trips I don't bring much "what if" stuff. Throttle cable, clutch cable, a set of stubby metric wrenches, and a set of 1/4 inch drive metric sockets. A reversible phillips/standard screwdriver and a roll of electrical tape. Thats it.

If I break down and need more then that, its AAA. But seriously, my tools fit into a 50Cal Ammo can, the cables wind up into the spare wheel. Extra quart of oil behind my seat. Enjoy, and pack, for the trip, not the breakdown. No need to fill your car with enough tools for a modern shop.

Zach

I actually found the PO installed a second cig lighter thingy under the dash to the right of the heater controls.... Very nice for plugging in a phone. The dash lighter is kind of in the way with that stuff hanging out.

some experiences you never forget.
but i'm going to rig up the guitar string r bowie suggests. idea is too good.

So, I just did NJ to Tennessee, to Atlanta (stopped to see George at Auto Atlanta) to Daytona for the IMSA race, to the Villages, and home via Savannah, and back up to Rte 81 to NJ. 2956 miles, 32 MPG, and just over a quart of oil. Not a hiccup or burp mechanically, but developed a rattle in the glove box! Folded a map, shoved it in the back, and mostly took care of the rattle!
I took:
Maps, blankets, Alt belt, valve cover gasket, set of points and condenser, CV joint and grease, wheel bearings, clutch cable, fuses, assorted bolts, CV joint gasket, 4 quarts oil, tire plugs, can of air, tools of course, which would cover most repairs, set of brake pads, a new fuel pump, hose clamps, Windex and paper towels, confidence in the car.
Pre-trip inspection included a tune up, oil change, check air in new Pirelli tires (we won those at the Porsche Parade last June, what a great set of tires!). I know the car well; I do all the work on it myself.
Besides the damn glovebox rattle, all systems worked as they should, freezing temps to 85 degrees. We even slept in it during the 24 hour race...world's smallest motorhome!

In conclusion, if you know your car, take whatever you are capable of repairing, keep your maintenance up to date, and have a good time. I've always found 914s to be reliable transportation.

Enjoy the ride!
PS - Bruce is the mechanic, Ellen is the typist!

Ensure the spare tire is sound and holds air. Fill it up and recheck the pressure in 2 days. A breaker bar with the appropriate lug socket. A couple of wheel chocks. A smallish floor jack might come in handy. I learned this lesson the hard way on I-5 in southern Oregon. Lucky for me there wasn’t much road grade where it happened.

+1 on the floor jack or bottle jack… I must have blown a brand new tire on the same stretch of I5… Friday at 2PM and 85 degrees, was the scariest tire changes but luckily the bottle jack allowed me to lift the rear from behind the car… only had to dodge trucks to get the hub cap and lugs off. Yeah I forgot to bring the little tool to get off the hubcap and scratched the powder coating using a screw driver. Got a new set of tires and off to SFO and back, with no other issue. Tire rack online sold us a 30 year old set of tires and the folks that put them on did not catch it, but neither did I. At 70mph for one hour in hot weather the tire delaminated and started to bump then blew, luckily the few seconds of bumpiness got me to slow down and get to the right lane.

Check your tire’s age!

Did that happen about 20 miles, south, of Drain Oregon? It was a tread failure. Sounded like a shotgun went off in the rear trunk. The tire went flat quickly.