What do realistically think is the percentage of 914 owners that work on their own cars? I am sure it is dwindling. We most recently saw an uptick of 914 prices and then saw a big changing of hands and now I see weekly if not daily someone that is new to 914 ownership looking for someone to work on a 914. This is mostly the 914 FB pages but I am really surprised that you get new owners of these cars and have very little hands on experience. On the flip side many 914 owners are aging out of doing their own work.

To me hands on I work on my 914 criteria is change oil, fuel filters, change brake pads and adjust clutch cable and maybe some fuel hoses.

Less are like myself that are rebuilding engines, body work, painting etc and I understand that but what surprises me the most is for the most part I enjoy working on my car.

I should have started a pole I guess Ok I did

There's a big range of potential DIY jobs. From my own experience:

Things I've worked on myself

• Changing light bulbs
• Upgrading headlights with H4s
• Adjusting the brake light switch
• Replacing window crank handles
• Changing the battery
• By-passing the seat belt interlock
• Occasional oil change (I didn't know the crush washer wasn't reusable so screwed up the first time)
• Tightening/adjusting the thermostat/flaps cable

Things I probably could do myself but haven't yet

• Replacing the fuse panel with the JWest kit which I've had on my shelf for 10 years
• Brake Pads
• Upgrading all lights to LED

Things I typically hire someone to do

• Carb tuning (I've discovered I usually make it worse)
• Brakes
• Fuel system
• Valve adjustment

Since the car typically needs some other service at least once a year, I don't typically change the oil myself, I just have that done while it's in the shop.

For what it's worth, I have no training in anything automotive other than watching youtube videos and reading a bit, but I occasionally perform oil changes or winter/summer tire swaps on my own cars besides the 914. And I'm not a "new" 914 owner; I bought mine in 2009. But I definitely bought it because I enjoy driving it, not because I enjoy working on it.

I don’t let anyone touch my wife either.

Yup, just like you Ben. Strip, clean, replace, weld, assemble....just can't paint.Click to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment[attachmentid=892
435]Click to view attachment

Nice poll!

Maybe I would have added a category.

- I do routine basic maintenance: oil change, etc.
- I do mostly everything and will keep my car alive with the generous help of this forum (very hands on)
- I have someone/shop maintain my car. (I pay someone)

Personally the pleasure of owning my 914 is 100% linked to the pleasure of doing all the work on it.

I pay the race shop for the motors and transmissions.

on the street car I build my own trannys.

everything else in house.
although I've paid a painter before to do final spray after I have done all of the body work, primer, guide coats, and bought the paint.

I do most of the work, excepting a /6 engine (have been successful with several /4's) and trans. Metal work, paint, etc. I jump in

Hell, I pulled the drivetrain out yesterday during lunch...

A lot of people are trying to go concourse and boutique and hard parking with 914s, but I strongly suggest the community is solidly DIY. - GA

I do everything except for welding, engine and trans rebuilding. I built my own six, suspension, brakes, engine swap, cooling, minor rust repair, etc. Hard to find a shop that will even work on our cars and the labor rates are crazy.

I’ve owned my car for 41 years and the only time I took it some where was for an alignment. I think it’s time to do it again since I went through the suspension last year.

Oh yea, paint !!!! I had that done also

I do pretty much everything on all my cars (except those jobs I don't have the equipment to do). That includes building motors/transmissions, some machine work (small lathe), welding, electrical, hydraulic, maintenance, etc. Even built a vapor blasting cabinet to restore engine and transmission cases, carbs, suspension components, etc.

Will not let anyone even change the oil on the 914 because I don't want someone over-tightening the strainer nut and destroying the engine!! Never.

I can use string and tape measures or other methods, but really take all my cars to one shop I like for alignments. Do not own an alignment rack.

I can do body work and small paint jobs, even powder coating. But, would rather wrap the car versus painting it. Do not own a proper paint booth.

Yes, I enjoy working on the 914 (not always, there are some jobs that really aren't enjoyable, like laying under the car wire brushing rust). But also, there's the problem that too often when others have worked on my cars, they damage something. Nobody needs that.

Learn to work on them at your leisure, or learn to work on them by the side of the road

After paying for work that the shop never did, I don't really let anyone work on anything anymore. Sans a transmission that I would send to Dr. Evil, but I would pull it, pack it, send it and install it. Alignment I can't do. Major rust repair I can do, but wouldn't really want to tackle (wheel houses etc..) Everything else is fair game at home.

DIY to save money then use the savings to buy tools and parts.

I can't even get people to work on my mustang. The reason to own a 914 rather than some other Porsche is that you can actually do the work yourself. And easily. I have other people mount my tires....

I don’t do windows

I do not do paint or body work, have pulled a few engines and rebuilt, even did a trani albeit years ago before I knew anyone else that worked on these. Now days I pay for a valve adjustment. It's getting harder and harder to get up off the damn floor so I try not to have to play under car.

Come on any more girlies in here do alot of work on their car????

Lol 914 windows aren't that hard either, just sayin'

Over the years I've done quite a bit of DIY-ing on my various cars, including some basic metal and fiberglass cutting/fab, wiring, fuel plumbing, exhausts, suspension, interior, rattle can painting, etc etc. but I farm out big stuff involving welding, body/paint or engine/trans innards.

With my 997 I definitely have been farming out a lot more due to the added complexity of the vehicle and more limited spare time these days, plus not having a lift makes some jobs really painful and/or impossible.

Hey guys, Reality check!
Every single customer of mine that is also a member of a car forum works on his own stuff.
All of them!
They might bring their AC stuff to me as they don't have $$$ recycling machines...

I LOVE them as customers!
They tend to have their shit together; they've researched their problems before they come and see me and it's easy to sell work to them (or give them tips that allow them to DIY).

They are really valuable as their friends respect their advice and once they understand I don't BS any of my customers they send me FAR more references than any other customers.

I would expect car forums to have 95% DIYers as the members...

I PREFER educated customers...

I might not sell an entire system to them, but they will send me 5 references that will need systems...

Have my -6 for 46+ years now. Auto Atlanta did a fair amount of work on it 35 years ago (hell hole, trans, misc engine work, etc). I think the only other shop to touch it since was alignment when I got new tires back in the late 90's.
It doesn't need much because I don't drive it a lot, but I did rotors, calipers, pads and master cylinder last year. Muffler last month. Pull the heat exchangers and do exhaust valves, misc small stuff.
Probably do a lot more if I had a nice shop like I see in some pictures. One half of a two car garage, unheated in winter, with a bunch of other stuff in it not really condusive to long projects.

I don't do much of anything. I do employ some good techs and I'm learning how to rebuild engines, trans, etc. Not so much to do it myself but more to be able to talk (semi) intelligently to customers.
I am setting up my home workshop to reasemble my 914-6 and 912-6 when they come back from paint but realistically, I'm hoping I can entice one of my guys to do most of the heavy lifting. There's no room and no time at the shop for personal builds.

Our best tech is a kid in his early 20's. He never worked on a Porsche before our shop but grew up helping his dad restore cars. College grad and very smart but not afraid to get down and dirty when the need arrises. Engine and trans rebuilder has 25 years of experience and trained by Peter Dawe.

Pretty much everything but paint.....and race engine building. Track car swap trannys, drop & install engine, troubleshoot & fix ignition system, convert brake system to Wilwoods, etc. etc. It's great therapy & escape from reality....

This 914 has taken me further into things I did (or at least tried to do) myself. In the end that was pretty much everything except engine machine work, trans rebuild, and paint.

Tried welding on my 356 and figured it was better to leave that, and painting, to the pros.
Don't do transaxles, but pretty much everything else mechanical. Pretty sure I could take the 914's apart in my sleep, though I've had a bit of practice over the last 52+ years....


Swallowed a valve on my '66 beetle a month after I bought it, and a good friend (Porsche mechanic) said he'd help me rebuild it. Have never looked back since then!

I pretty much do all I can.
I have only taken one of my Porsches to have work done (alignment) in the last 20 years. I did my best to get the alignment as close to specs as I could at home. In the end the shop only needed to change toe on one rear corner by 1/32 to get it into the specs i specified, should have trusted what I did at home as good enough.

If i don't have the correct tool I purchase and practice. As a result I have accumulated lots of tools. Welders, Stick, mig, Tig and oxy acetylene. Have a collection of most of tools needed to do precision measurement on all the parts. Also ended up with a mill and a lathe. As a result I now have fixture to machine heads for my lathe and have machined many parts and tools I need for projects. Most of my Porsche engines are flat 6 so very expensive to have others work on.
My one non-6 engine is in a Cayenne Turbo. I have pulled that engine to change a turbo and done lots of electrical trouble shooting (its my winter beater )

Bodywork and painting is in as well. Starting on a GT project soon so I will get to use the welders and purchased a rotisserie so I don't have to work in odd positions. I also have a lift in my garage which helps as well.
I had some machine work done on rods locally last year (Connecting rod bushings) as I needed them somewhat quickly and the normal Porsche machine shops were 6-12month out at the time. In the end I have the most expensive stock 3.0 rods ever (long story partly my fault). I could have purchased the equipment to do it myself for the cost. Live and learn.
I plan on having project until I am no longer around. Currently have three total restorations and six -6 engines in the works. I like working on the cars as much as much (or more) than I like driving them.
I do like to have my daily driver be a newer car under warranty that someone else is going to fix and I am going to have a loaner to use. I usually only keep daily drives 2-3 years.

I send very specialized work out. I have heads at Xtreme for CNC porting and rework, Cylinders and Millennium for plating and a crankshaft at Marine for machining. Otherwise I do as much as I can myself and am not afraid to learn new skills.
So I am fully in the do it yourself camp.

john

Both of my 914s I did everything except the transmission and paint job.

I do as much work as I can on my 914s. Every time I try to take my car to somebody they end up making the problem worse or have no clue. (except for Jack’s German automotive in Fountain Valley, California) (https://jacksgermanauto.com/)

It all started for me when I was 15 years old, my neighbor across the street was 16 when he bought a Volkswagen Baja bug. As soon as the Tri-mil exhaust system was cold we had the motor sitting on the ground in 15 minutes.

Click to view attachment

I pay for the work to be done on my DDs, I sometimes get frustrated with their work, but I let it go.

I do everything I can on the fun cars, once upon a time I paid lots of $$$ for someone to work on my 930, I have a hard time paying anyone anymore as I like to do the work as my hobby.

I do it all, from oil changes, brakes, suspension, body work, and just rebuilt the engine last March to a 2056. I have worked on cars since I was 15. Worked in an auto body shop during high school and college. Built an Era Cobra replica in 2008 and painted it in my garage, Everything but the engine. Sold the Cobra and bought the 914. They no longer teach shop classes in H.S.and today's cars are all electronic. Us older guys and old cars are a dieing breed.

I am 75 years young and still wrenching on cars.

At this moment, I am in the do very little work myself. The only reason is lack of confidence. I have high expectations. I am mechanically inclined, have done some suspension work, exhaust, brakes, some light engine work in the past, cars/trucks, race go karts, dirt bikes.
I lack confidence and some technical knowledge (particularly on engines)
I have been a member here for a while, a lot of you give me hope.
My local guys that do my work are in their Late 60’s and and early 70’s and have developed some pretty serious health issues and are going to retire. I have no one else that I trust. So I am in the situation that I feel I will have to learn to do all the work myself… I guess no one cares as much as I do, seeing it will be done on my own car.

As things pop up…..I will be trying to get as much info and advice as I can here.

On the growing fleet of toy cars I do nearly all the work myself. Sometimes... it shows. For that reason I had PMB build my last engine. I'm still not a great painter, though I've now painted about 5 or 6 cars. A lot of the fun in the hobby is working on things, and being who I am I like to tinker with stuff. So taking apart an old car and changing it around is just part of the hobby for me.

I have a feeling that the people that post on this forum are more DIY. And the people that don't aren't. Meaning that DIY people are doing research and find us, and the ones that don't are just taking their car to the local shop for work.

I will say, since i've gotten a "little" older, my preference has swung more towards driving then working. And I try to protect my 914 and keep it roadworthy. But I still have a rabbit on the lift and a bus that needs the electric finished so I have plenty of other projects as well.

Zach

I'm a "Monkey with a Wrench"
This journey of learning the workings of a 914 is fun and challenging and will feel great when I have one that runs down the road...

I can do everything on my 914s. I don't have a tire machine or balancer, so that has to be farmed out.

However, I choose not to do paint and body work. While I can do it, I am god awful slow, and I really don't enjoy it. Rick Ollah impresses the hell out of me with his metalworking skills.

This isn't a contest, it's a hobby. Do what you love and enjoy, and farm out what you don't like to do. Or find someone that loves what you hate and form a partnership. You build them a motor, and they put the flares on your car. That way everyone wins.

If you're unsure about a repair, search you tube, tons of videos.

I did not build my 6, that was Kent, Jim, Bob and Andy. But, since retiring, we now do a lot of the work on it ourselves with the help/guidance of a couple good friends. I am very much looking forward to our next project which should be starting in about 2 weeks.

Ditto baby! 1961 burned-engine Beetle (6V!) with a partially-installed Baja kit. Dad's wrecked Type 3 Squareback at the end of the driveway. Dad gave me the Sqaureback, bought me a ~100-piece Craftsman tool set, and said "figure it out". Several Claude's Buggies orders later, I had that Type 3-powered Beetle running nice.

Wish I knew where that car was now. It turned out really sweet.

You are selling yourself short. You sold me a core engine GA000099/trans back in a 2019 that you salvaged from a parts car. If you managed to get that out, you can do anything you set your sights on!

I can’t wait to rebuild that engine once I finally have a garage again!

Everyone is here to support you on the occasion that you run into something you’re not sure about doing!

@“Freezin 914”

Yep; just like @flipb though did do all the lights to LED (easy instructions from @spoke ).
I don’t classify myself as a “gear head”; More of a “gear ear”.

i do almost everything, but paint on the body, and my short block engine build, but i want to do that and i will on my next one . i have done the transmission 2x , seals etc, and now a lot of electrical, I dont do tires so easy to have someone else do that , but
i am really excited i just got a new to me full set of Porsche factory repair and maintenance manuals!!!!
I started with this car 15 years ago at age 42, it had been 20 years since i had had my project car and motorcycles('74 BMW, '69 Austin Healy and '71 Duster) and jumped back into wrenching with my son and daughter on this car, no 15 years later ive worked on every car i own including my jag and my Maserati!
- next step is to buy a welder get re-learning how to do that and some body and paint experience and i want to get a shell i can rebuild from ground up as a retirement project, do the stuff that i farmed out on this current car . just this week i pulled front tires to get new ones and ended up doing new dust shields, new retainers and put new flex brake lines on and bleeding and flushing the system , repacked the bearings, in stalled the new pads (calipers were new by PMB 10 years ago). ready for another 10 years lol.
BUT had it not been for the Club site 15 years ago and then World here i could not or would not have been able to get going on all this stuff that i have done .

I know not every one can or has time to do all this but it is very rewarding, even if you can afford to pay someone else i encourage those that have not done any work on their car to roll up their sleeves and get dirty!

I agree, but another reason I no longer have others install new tires is they once crushed coolant lines on another mid-engined sportscar when they put it on their lift. How many times has your 914 been abused by being lifted improperly?

Right. So, I always take the wheels to the shop for all my cars, have them mounted and balanced & then I install them.

Interesting results. My question is directly related to the folks buying the 914s right now that are not wrench turners but buy a 50 year old car. That would give me an incredible amount of anxiety

Back in 1975 I had to do pretty much everything so I had to learn new skills. I can do brake caliper rebuilds, transmission rebuilds, alternator rebuilds, and suspension rebuilds. I don't do bodywork & paint. Built my own wire harness as well. I am a data obsessed guy as well, so I have a ton of research on parts, paint & serial #'s. The Kardex / CoA thing sort of happened, and now I can assist almost everyone worldwide. So if I am not working on my cars then I am helping others with theirs.

I suspect those folks would fall into a three very general cubby holes:

Fans that may want to get in before they're unattainable. I'd expect they already realize what they're getting into and are reasonably prepared for the experience. You know: us.

Halfway-in-betweens that get into a good driver-quality car because they like them and see that they're no longer depreciating (honey, I can't lose money!) Things are good now but at some point they'll have to decide to either buck-up and work on the car themselves, or start working to find someone else to work on it (those someones not being particularly local and/or easy to find). We run the risk of losing these folks because they either can't/won't do the work, can't find someone to do it, or it's too expensive to pay someone to do it.

This ^^^ is where this community comes into play for support.

Speculators/collectors that are buying cars that are already built with the intent to flip later. Not much need for repairs services and/or have someone already to maintain their collection.

Just my observations from watching other marques go through similar situations. The 914 is not unique in this regard; pre-war cars went through it before (what's a De Dion tube?), I suggest post-war cars are starting to experience it now (what's a carburetor?), and soon the 70s/80s classics will have that kinda fun too (what's a piston?).

Damn, just realized my car will be a half-century old next year. No wonder kids look at it funny, same as how I looked at pre-war cars when I was a teenager...damn. - GA

Edit: Greg said the same thing while I was typing this...

I see one of three outcomes for the type of buyer you're referencing.

They've already experienced the troubles of 50-year-old car ownership and will not be surprised by what happens.

They're newbies and will quickly learn what the above folks already know.

They're stupid rich, buy a 50K+ 914 and drive it less than 100 miles a year.

I have customers like this. The 1970 Chevelle SS on my website has had less than 100 miles put on it since I reverted back to R12. 6 years ago...

These people are "collectors" and not really enthusiast IMO. They see their cars as "investments" and not as something to be enjoyed daily.

It's the guys with no wrenching experience that have tight budgets that will be the most discouraged.

If they're smart, they will spend some time on a forum like this and the knowledge that is available (for FREE!) will reduce their costs by at least 50%.

Having experienced folks "back stop" you is one of the most important steps for people in this last category.

yep weird to think about 50 year old car- when i was in high school that would have been a 1930's car!!!! we called anything over 25 years old "antique" !!!

As a retired automotive engineer I tend to do most of the work myself and I appreciate the simplicity of these cars. I've had the car for about three and a half years. I don't do sheet metal and paint but over that time I have compled the following:

Removed single barrel carb
Fabricated a new FI Harness
Installed all FI components
Installed new Fuel Level Sender
Installed new ECU
Installed new manifolds
Installed new Plug Wires
Purcheased and installed 2056 Long Block
Installed new Clutch Cable
Installed new Accel Cable
Change Trans Gear Lube
Installed new Distributor
Installed new Flamethrower Coil
Installed new SS Fuel Lines
Installed new Master Cylinder
Installed new Brake Flex Lines
Installed new Air Deflectors
Installed new Thermostat Cable
Installed new Thermostat
Installed new Clutch Disc
Installed new Fuel Pump
Installed AEM UEGO
Installed new Voltage Regulator
Installed (5) new Relays
Installed new Pertronix Ignitor II
Installed new Bosch Coil
Installed new Headlight Relay
Installed new Visors
Installed new Bronze Shift Bushing at Trans
Installed new Brake Pads
Installed new Rear Wheel Bearings
Installed new Heater Lever
Installed new (3) CV Joints
Installed Rebuilt Rear Calipers
Installed Derale Oil Cooler
Installed new OEM Pilkington Windshield
Installed new Window Trim
Installed 2.1L Throttle Body
Installed new Inner Door Trim Panels
Installed new Dansk Muffler
Installed new Dakota CHT Gauge
Installed new hydraulic oil cooler lines
Installed new ignition switch and lock
Installed new turn signal switch
Installed brass bushings in shift coupler
Installed nylon shift bushing in bulkhead
Installed new IMI-101N Hi Torque Starter
Rebuilt transmission
Installed new Throw out Bearing
Installed new Trans Mounts
Installed new Reverse switch
Purchased new Michelin Tires (5)

And by the way it is now a reliable car and I try to drive it as much as possible.

We’ll done.

I used to and still do certain tasks, but there are some things I'm either not equipped to do (special tools and special skills), or just don't have the time to do them - so I let the pros tackle those tasks these days


Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment