Have any of you ever suffered with the paradox of choice? It’s an interesting concept of having too many choices when making decisions…I’m at the tail end of my resto with my car and buttoning up the more cosmetic details..shifter (Rennsport of course but which finish? All black, polished aluminum tower/black base polished rod egads which knob?) Seats what insert to put into the Vintage seats I had made after my initial fabric choice did not turn out well…thinking woven leather? Pedal/footrest board..Thorotek, Rennsport..polished aluminum or anodized black? Same with pedal covers? Were do I put my auxiliary gauges? In a pod by ashtray? In the dash..holy Christ I need a shrink…I’m losing sleep over this…I’m not sure anyone can help out there but I felt like venting! If anyone has pics of these items show em! It might help…

I just wait for inspiration to come and be open to ideas.

What started my interior plans was a BBS electric adjustable driver's seat and an exquisite 930S turbo steering wheel I purchased from a member last summer.

The previous owner of the wheel had a nice 356 emblem inset into the center pad.

Looks like it BELONGS...

All the badging on the car will be either early 914 or 356 because of this. Silver emblems change to gold because of the wheel. The wheel changed multiple "trim" choices because it looks sooo good!
I actually prefer silver or titanium colored trim...
Bob Burton's wheel changed my course (added extra expense to the project as well)!

I found a used J-West shifter (silver) inexpensively which doesn't match the theme.

I can get CNC machined black anodized lever from J-west that will fit later.

My interior will match "bespoke" stuff that came to me easily as I have patience.

I have a 916 clone as well- full blown basket case. This will end up something like Tygaboy's V8 car. I'm sourcing neat stuff for this car. This is a long-term project.

I hit the mirrors for it on the classified section on the 26th and paid for them this evening.
I wasn't actively searching for mirrors, just kept it in the back of my head.
4 min after they were posted I PMd...

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=368539

I like those just fine! I've been watching for a set of old school "turbo" mirrors, and they have gotten expensive. I remember when they were $50 a set new!
I think those mirrors are off an FD RX7, come with all the goodies to make them work and the guy has already figured out a mount specifically for a 914...
No brainer!
I like his taste and his color.
I was already toying with the idea of pearl white for the car.

Those mirrors will alter my final "picture" of the 916 and might influence the some of the body mods...
They are equally "bespoke" as the seat and the wheel IMO.

Calm down, keep your options open and here's the best tip of all.
Don't worry about upgrades to already functional things until you have put a bunch of mileage on it. I've never seen a restoration just flat work perfectly from the get-go...
You will have some de-bugging ahead for you. Concentrate on that!

calm the f#7k down man.

the 914 was designed by a geniue,
one f piech.

just copy him.

and if you deviate think about it before swerving.

and everything will be ok.

I don't think you can go wrong with a JWest Rennshifter, but Thoretec makes some pretty cool shifters as well. Personally, I like Thorotec's pedal boards too. Another recent thread dealt with where to put aux gauges, ....if you're willing to go without radio, a blank plate with a hole saw will accomodate 2 of those aux gauges. Somebody mentioned possibly mounting them at an angle toward the driver?

I couldn't find the thread but somebody modified a Numeric Racing shift knob to fit on a shifter and I thought it looked pretty slick. Just a simple black round knob, with white shift pattern. I'm not sure you'd even have to modify it with an aftermarket shifter. Numeric Racing also makes some pretty cool shifters. Here's a link to the Numeric Shift knob.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/acl...HEBY&adurl=

https://store.numericracing.com/products/g-...ob-and-extender

I personally think you pick out two or three items to showcase and build the rest to fit around those items. The Singer interior theme is too much for me because it tries to showcase everything. Way too much going on. I’m surprised they don’t do neon running lights. Pimp my ride style. You can still do some neat stuff but I like things that you discover rather than jump out at you all at once.

Less is more; these cars are small and I agree with Mark in regard the Singer interiors.

I am biased on interior as I try to keep a stock in appearance theme. I had the RennShifter in my car and could not warm to the look as my interior is mostly stock. I went back to a mostly stock shifter with a stock knob.

It's all fun and easily changed too.

Having a choice is better than none.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpypTXccG2I?si

I too have suffered from the paradox of choice thought about turning Morman but they outlawed it too

Paralysis by analysis is a common illness.

Cruise some of the finish builders sites and look through some galleries. Bob Burton's comes to mind, he has plenty of pics here to see what can be done. PMB, Renegade, PMS, tygaboy, giggle (sic) search, utube video channels have plenty of 914 content.

I have a terrible overall design sense and can go down rabbit holes quite easily. I try to keep it simple and classic.

When in doubt, stock never goes out of style.

Black goes with everything, aluminum stands out. I have an aluminum rennshift with a black shift rod. I also have a black rubber shift boot so I can cover things up if I want to.
I would stay classic unless you want to make a statement and go wild, but you have to be all in at that point.

Yes! Less is more. Keep it simple

I agree that while options seem like the boon of modern life- they do make it harder to make progress. My own lesson has been that the (insert noun here- car, house, etc etc.) is never “finished.” That has taken the pressure off and allowed me to just try stuff. Selling stuff that I didn’t end up using has not been hard and not to great of a loss- especially if it at on the shelf for a while as prices have not been going down.

Pete

I agree. I have been playing with these cars for 50 years now and back in the day they were our drivers and were mostly stock. Most of the mods that we did was to make them perform better, be a better autocross car or track car. That never goes out of style.

The common theme of pepita or houndstooth inserts in early 911 seats frankly drives me nuts. Most didn’t come that was or at least none of mine did. By the way, stock, early 911 seats suck as far as comfort and have no lateral support. Also, none of us ever put a roof rack on our 911’s or 914’s for everyday driving. There is the tendency today to over restore. That’s nice if like to show it or never drive it or do it for resale, but it is difficult to maintain here in the northeast. I did that to one car and we never drove it again and then sold it, very disappointed 30 years later.

Look at the way hot rods evolved thru the years. They went from pure performance to hot street car to styling statements which, in itself evolved thru the decades. Now we have rat rods which started from using up the cast offs from our old projects.

Basically, it’s your car so do what makes you happy. I finally got that off of my chest!

Charlie

I’m at a total loss when it comes to roof racks on sports cars.

Singer with roof rack

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Every time I see Geezer's shift knob I hear "I KIIILLL YOU"...

It's Achmed the Dead Terrorist in a Nazi helmet!!!!

Would be EVEN creepier is the jaws opened when you got close!

Don't get me wrong, Geezer. I like it.
It's Geezer "chic"

That knob might influence my interior theme...

Machine turned dash inlays would work.

Think German Bomber parts...

Seats with exposed aluminum framework; nicely dimpled holes.

Proper "militaristic" steering wheel.

That's how a theme can develop for me off of a single bespoke part.

That one is definitely "bespoke" in my book.

Use your imagination!

Mine may have pissed Geezer off!

I hope not...

If I sense decision paralysis coming on I try to remind myself most of these bolt-on parts & details are changeable later, though at some cost/loss. On my current 914 over the years I've switched exhausts, seats, steering wheels, shifters, wheels, gauges, decals, etc multiple times and IMO that's part of what makes the journey interesting.

The thing is you can be driving your car and change out your interior parts as you go. I had to have the vision as I was going along and had the help of the interior man Dale Hancock and Eric at PMB Performance. The problem with weaved leather is the cost of the material is super high and the minimum buy-in was enough to do a couple of cars, so I used it as a headliner and as a front cover for gas tank to cowl did 3 seats and door panels and still have some. I am kind of a leather freak as I love the smell of it in a car. I put leather on everything in the interior. From dash, all back panels, posts, visors even the back of the 2 drivers seats.
Enjoy this part of the journey, it can be fun and rewarding.

Best Bob B



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No offense taken, that shift knob is supposed to crack a smile on people's faces!