haha,,,its at 2 stations near me in UT...no city

I don't know how close you are to McChord Field but you could try Too Quicks German Auto Shop. When I asked them if they could help me tune my carbs I specifically asked if they could show me how to do it also. I haven't been able to take my car to them but they were open to doing what I asked only after the technician did a diagnostics on them and then tuning them before showing me.

Thanks for your help everyone. I have three appointments now:

1. Tuesday (tomorrow) -- Gerber Motorsports in Ballard for safety inspection. This is about all I want them to do since their air-cooled expert retired. They said I could watch from a distance, but not participate due to insurance reasons.
2. Thursday -- consultation with Chris Powell. They have a backlog of 914 work now, won't be able to actually touch my car for over a month. If I brought my car there, Chris would not actually be doing the work and it's iffy whether the technician(s) would let me observe.
3. Boxing Day -- Franklin's VW Werks to inspect and synchronize the carbs. They seemed more flexible with letting me learn from them.

He had at least one 911 in the shop when I saw him. While he seemed to feel bad for turning me away, he said "I don't usually work on 914s. Maybe if it was a stocker...." Previous time he expressed his opinion that Dellortos are a pain in the ass. I can't blame him since I also own a business and the same day turned away work that I didn't want to do because it would involve flying to Florida.


The service manager told me they hadn't seen a 914 in years, and now all of a sudden they have a bunch of them in their queue.


That does sound perfect. I didn't call them because I'm pretty far away here in Seattle and reluctant to expose what's left of the car to too much rain.


I've got (in my opinion) good idle, good WOT (those rare moments I can use it), and lousy part throttle. Right off the stops, it feels like the carbs disagree with each other. The previous owner did a lot of things strangely, so I'm hoping it will be possible to improve at least a little. I'm also going to put in a 123 Ignition distributor because I want to fiddle with the ignition timing. Oh, and the fuel tank overflow some previous owner left off... spilling gas everywhere.

So here's what that looked like. There are some things on their list that I didn't know about. I marked the ones I think should be handled immediately in red. Feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree.

One issue they didn't notice: the fuel overflow tank and charcoal canister are missing. I've ordered those parts from a list member.

While I'd like to learn how to work on this myself, I'm thinking I should have them (or some other real mechanic) fix the safety-related things. Unlike Chris Powell's shop, they seem to have availability next week. They recommended using a VW shop (so Franklin's VW Werks I guess) for the bluetooth distributor and carburetor tuning, but were willing to do most of the other stuff.

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Question: Would you guys prefer I start a thread just for the stuff I do on this car? While I'm hoping to connect with other locals, I don't want to hijack this thread.

There's a new cars and coffee group and their having a meet on Saturday ( the 6th at Pacific Raceways. Times are 10-2 and they plan to have a coffee shop set up for those who don't bring their own. It a free event and a diverse group of cars. The weatherman says rain but who knows.

I would say "Yes". Everyone on the forum likes to follow along when someone is working on their car and you'll get lots of good input from others that might not be in this area.

I thought of another shop you could contact: Matt's Greenwood Auto Care. They do not specialize in Porsches, but they do sponsor and maintain a 914 and 944 that run in the PCA autocross series.

I definitely won't have the 914 out on Saturday as the fuel injection system is all apart. But I might run over in the Mini to check it out. It would be nice to get a C&C event started in our area; Redmond and Tacoma are long hauls from Maple Valley.

I’m in Graham and I would be down for a C & C meet up at a place that is convenient for as many people as possible in this region of WA

Maple valley is a long haul from Tacoma and Redmond with no direct route. No heat exchangers? A long, COLD, haul....

Yeah, great place to be once you’re there. But my commute to Kirkland is not fun. I console myself by talking to me neighbor who commutes to Mukilteo.

CORRECTION!

The cars & Coffee is on Jan 13, not this weekend. I should have double checked before I spoke

Thanks for the update. It would have been cold and lonely out there tomorrow by myself. :-)

There’s an event at Griotts tomorrow but this weather sucks

I meant to post a followup about Seattle-vicinity mechanics. I'll repost photos I've put up before for context.

As you may recall, after I got my car but it was running badly I dropped by John Walker's shop twice and was sent away because he doesn't usually work on 914s, and especially didn't want anything to do with my Dellorto carbs. Then I went to Gerber Motorsport in Magnolia and got excited because there was a 914 parked outside. It turned out to be a car for sale, not one they were working on. They were willing to do some stuff on the car, but didn't want to touch the Type 4 engine. They did point out that one or both carburetors seemed to be leaking fuel. Also the engine and probably transmission were leaking so much they couldn't tell where the leaks originated.

PanelBilly suggested Franklin's VW Werks in Kent. Franklin looked at my car and immediately pointed out some issues I didn't know about: milky condensation in my oil filler suggesting I wasn't getting the oil hot enough, and worn out hex bar linkage ... explaining why I was having so much trouble synccing the carbs. He suggested ordering a CSP linkage online. One thing I liked about Franklin's is that he let me do the work with him. I hate that most mechanics don't let me see what's going on with my own car. While I was there we dropped in the 123 Bluetooth distributor I wanted to fiddle with. Franklin seemed to have an intuitive sense for air-cooled motors.

When the CSP linkage arrived I installed it myself and synchronized it perfectly, and also tried to clean up the carbs a bit while they were off the manifold. In the process, I noticed the vacuum ports were wide open, not internally sealed as I'd thought.
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But even with those closed off, the car ran even worse than before! Also I noticed a large discrepancy between two throats on the same carb, which could have been a bent throttle plate. Here it is at idle, though it was proportionally worse at speed.
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So I drove it back to Franklin's, coughing and backfiring all the way. Franklin did everything he could think of, short of disassembling the carbs. We even tried the old 009 distributor. But the problem persisted. I guess he usually sends carburetors to another shop that has a flow bench and stuff. He did have *another* pair of DRLA 45s on his shelf, new old stock without a scratch or a stain. Franklin and his assistant put those on to see what would happen. We were all tired by now, and they had skipped lunch.
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Right away everything improved. It idled better than I'd ever heard it before! No way I wanted my old beat up bent throttle plate gas leaking carbs back after that. After calling CB Performance to ask what a good price would be for the Dellortos, he asked $750 for them, and I happily accepted. I'm 80% sure the old carbs could have been gotten working, but wanted the shiny new ones.

Fast forward a month or so: a thief ripped out the custom center console a previous owner had built, one of the features that charmed me -- as well as the crazy assortment of unnecessary gauges. This left my heater controls dangling because they'd been relocated there.

I'm not going to post those photos again because I've gotten enough sympathy. But I would like to know who you'd recommend for interior restoration work?

The car is currently at Chris's German Auto. But Chris said they don't do interior restoration. It's something I'd probably like to learn to do myself except that I've got a business to run and two small children I'd like to spend time with before they outgrow me.

Sorry... one more post. Here are the cars I saw outside Chris's German Auto today. The Phoenix Red looked better in person than these photos.

Are these owned by forum members?

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Ignition on the left side, Like A Real Porsche:
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That's one cool shop.
Is the green 914 for sale by any chance?

i just posted this on the pnw pelican site -

Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in Issaquah

2018 Show Schedule - Music at all shows

Feb 11 11th ALL SWEDISH CRUISE IN 206-434-9482 9:00 am

March 11 VW Family Cruise Meet 253-841-2037 9:00 am

March 18 CUSTOM 4X4 RIGS 206-356-1505 9:00 am

Apr 1 ALL JEEP SHOW 206-356-1505 9:00 am

Apr 8 VINTAGE MILITARY VEHICLES 206-719-7267
9:00 am

Apr 15 ALL ITALIAN SHOW 360-731-8758 9:00 am

Apr 22 ALL PORSCHE SHOW 425-647-3739
9:00 am

Apr 29 Northwest C10s Classic Truck Show 425-xxx-xxxx
10:00 am

May 6 Issaquah Spring Electric Vehicles 253-xxx-xxxx
9:00 am

May 13 Sunset Hwy Cruisers Spring Opener 425-766-3514 9:00 am

May 20 Pre-1970 Vintage Travel Trailers 425-xxx-xxxx 8:00 am

May 27 BMW's & BURGERS 425-644-1446 9:00 am

June 3 CONVERTIBLES ONLY CAR SHOW 206-282-5603 10:00 am

June 10 FENDERS & FINS 206-349-3467 8:00 am

June 17 FENDERS ON FRONT STREET 425-391-1112 9:00 am

June 24 CADILLAC & LaSALLE 206-799-6585 8:00 am

July 1 NW HOTROD HALL of FAME SHOW 206-948-2063 9:00 am

July 3 All Ford Meeting @ 6 pm 206-xxx-xxxx 9:00 am

July 8 Rat Bastards Rat Rod Show 206-xxx-xxxx
6:00 pm

July 15 ALL CAMARO SHOW 206-948-2063 8:00 am

July 22 ALL MOPAR MEET & GREET 253-273-6037 8:00 am

July 29 CLASSIC SWAGGER CAR SHOW 206-949-0476 9:00 am

Aug 5 OLD RIDES (Roger Jackson) CLASSIC 206-214-8318 9:00 am

Aug 6 MIATA CLUB (MEETING) 360-631-1854
6:00 pm

Aug 12 NW GTO LEGENDS MUSCLE CARS 206-243-3390
8:00 am

Aug 19 Tri-5 Chevy Show (Guest-Dennis Gage) 206-xxx-xxxx
8:00 am

Aug 26 CORVETTE MARQUE CLUB SEATTLE VETTE SHOW 206-478-2346
8:00 am

Aug 26 VCCA Meeting @ 6 pm 206-xxx-xxxx
8:00 am

Sept 2 Olds Club of America Show (Buick/Pontiac) 360-xxx-xxxx
8:00 am

Sept 9 Serve First Feed the Children Car Show 425-xxx-xxxx
8:00 am

Sept 16 NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK SHOW 310-926-9070 9:00 am

Sept 23 V.W. FALL FLING 253-841-2037 10:00 am

Oct 14 MAGNUM ,CHARGERS, CHALLENGERS-300's 253-273-6037
10:00 am

Oct 27 PT CRUISERS PUMPKIN BASH 253-221-0719 10:00 am

Dec 2 17th JINGLE BELL CRUZ/TOYS 4 TOTS 425-766-3514 10:00 am

I'm looking to contact the owner of a black 914 who lived in Kirkland, WA in the early-mid '80s. I've been on this forum for a few years, but only just now thought to ask and see if he is here too, or if anyone knows of him. I think his name was Doug.

When I was a 16 year old kid just learning mechanics, he helped me with body work and other repairs on my first car -- a '73 Capri. He gave me a ride one night in his black 914 with the targa off, which was really cool for me. I had admired 914s for years as a kid, so it was really cool to get to ride in one! As it turned out, this was my only ride in one, until finally buying one 25 years later...

Doug, if you are out there, thanks for all your help with my Capri, and teaching me some of the foundation of my mechanic skills! Would love to say hi and hear from you...

Steve Shepp at Classic Interior Restorations (Ballard) does phenomenal work, has a great reputation, and is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Unfortunately, he hasn't been doing well healthwise and he may not be running the shop anymore, so I cannot give a full-on endorsement. I'd give them a call to find out who's running the show now, and ask a few of the better local paint shops who they'd recommend.

- MR

The "Red" car is actually Tangerine 2323 on the home stretch of what's closing in on a 4-year restoration effort. Steve Shepp did the interior, fwiw.

- MR

It's gorgeous.... hard to forget.

I'll call Steve tomorrow.

Steve Shepp at Classic Interior Restorations (Ballard) does phenomenal work, has a great reputation, and is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Unfortunately, he hasn't been doing well healthwise and he may not be running the shop anymore, so I cannot give a full-on endorsement. I'd give them a call to find out who's running the show now, and ask a few of the better local paint shops who they'd recommend.

- MR
[/quote]


steve did great work including my 914 seats - my understanding is that he sold his shop to a highly respected guy on the olympic pennisula - there may be more info on the pnw pelican site (i think that's where i saw this info) - hope this helps, bbk

Some background on my 1970 914: It came from California without good rubber seals anywhere, and without a rain tray over the engine compartment.

Monday morning I dropped my car at Chris's German, parked it outside his shop since it was a sunny day, discussed some stuff with Chris, and left the key with him. I expressed my anxiety about leaving the car outside, but he assured me the cars come in at night.

I think that shop is pretty busy, since I didn't hear anything back. My 914Rubber door handle rebuild kit arrived in the mail today, so this (Wednesday) evening I drove back there in the Miata to give it to them.

As you know, it didn't stay sunny this week. When I arrived, I was surprised and dismayed to see my car parked outside, soaking wet, in the same spot I'd left it. As far as I could tell, no work had commenced. I was tempted to just leave the Miata there and drive the 914 home, where it would at least be dry. (Also note the green 914 I'd seen before was also outside, but the Tangerine 6 was inside.)

I asked the service manager about this, and he said they'd just temporarily moved it outside so they could push a race car in. He wasn't sure when they'd actually be able to start the work on the car, so I went in to talk to Chris, who was working on a 944 with a technician. (I cannot overemphasize how nice most of the cars there were, including a 356 in apparently great condition.) Chris indicated that they *would* be able to start work on it.

If it were any other shop I think I would have just taken my 914 home, but Chris's German Auto comes highly recommended... and so many beautiful car owners clearly think it's a good shop ... so I didn't.

I'm having flashbacks of being a kid in the 1980s and not being able to get Porsche mechanics to take my 914 as seriously as their other cars. And a part of me is thinking maybe I should put off this whole thing until my kids grow up and I've got time to learn to do all this work myself.

Tried reaching Steve Shepp when I got back. Phone number went to Rich's Auto Upholstery -- the same guy who did our custom motorcycle seat 10 years ago (yes, he is hopefully the only other expert at my wife's butt). The motorcycle seat was great, but isn't that different than restoring a 1970 Porsche interior?

my recommendation would be to settle in. Servicing an air-cooled car is not like normal repair work. Well, technically it is, but its enough of a specialty that the shops that do it well will generally have a backlog. You can't expect that cars sit inside at all times, though you should expect them to be rolled in over nite.

Personally, I'm surprised that Chris would take on work for a 4 without you being an existing customer, but good on you if he will.

I think its important to have a good and trusting relationship with your shop. Up to you if you feel you have that or not. If you're in this for the long haul and not doing all the work yourself, you're going to be there enough that you should like the experience and feel good that you're shoveling your $$$ there.

I've been going to Chris's long enough that I've developed a quasi-personal relationship, so I don't want to sound like I'm blindly defending the place.

1) I can't speak to your car being outside in the rain, but I'm very sure that *none* of the cars are left unsupervised outside overnight.

2) Chris does get pretty busy and work that's outside the standard tune-up or repair items can be harder to accurately predict, time-wise. I too have been annoyed a few times when it took them longer to complete (or start) the work than I was told it would.

3) I don't think your 914 is being discriminated against. Last time I was in there they pointed out the number of 914s and said something like: "We hardly ever see a 914 anymore and all of a sudden we have a bunch to work on." They seemed genuinely stoked about it.

- MR

Perhaps moot if Steve has retired, but perhaps this will reassure you:

From Ferrari Chat https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/i...le-area.468239/

"Also, I am having the interior on my other Dino, a 246gt, completely redone - this time by another shop that is much closer to where other mechanical work is being done on my 246gt - Steve Shepp at Classic Interior Restorations. Steve has done full interior restorations on several Pebble Beach Concours cars, and 6 Dinos, now 7 Dinos, along with list of other collectible and important cars that stretches off into the horizon."

Thanks guys.

Yeah, I do have my own baggage from the experiences with mechanics I had when I was young.

This morning I spoke to Rich, who confirmed Steve in his late 70s now is no longer healthy enough to do the work. Even though I never met Steve, I'm sad about this. Evidently he did the original Batmobile and other top notch original work.

"Rich's Custom Upholstery," the motorcycle seat shop on Aurora is no longer Rich. I surmise that he may have sold it around the time he merged with Steve's business and took over Steve's unfinished projects. Evidently they've known each other and worked together a long time. Rich has a new shop in Kingston he intends to focus on automobile interiors in the winter and motorcycle seats in the summer. He's done classic Porsches already (912 in progress now). He suggested rebuilding something like the custom center console my car had, if the cables were actually working properly before (which I don't know since I never had a heater). I have reasonable confidence in Rich because we'd used him for our motorcycle seat way back when.

No website for the new business yet.

When I first got my 914 over 10 years ago, I brought it to a couple of different high-end specialty car shops, including a place known for working on classic german cars. My experiences were either neutral or bad. Most of them bad (which = costly). That included the treatment both me and my car received. From that point on I started toing all of the work myself, despite not having any experience working on cars, save for changing a tire and doing oil changes.

Unless you've got a ton of cash that can move you to the front of the line at the shop, get the Haynes manual, use the wealth of knowledge that's on this site, and the tech articles on Pelican. I think that just about every repair you'll ever need to do is documented in detail somewhere on this site. Also, there won't be anyone that will put as much care into the work on your car than you.
For most things, you also save a bunch of $ doing the work yourself.

That's what I've always wanted to do... in fact dropping a 914 motor is on my bucket list.

Here's my challenge: I've got a 6yo and 8yo daughter we're partially homeschooling, and every parent I've met tells me they wish they'd spent more time with their kids when they were this age. Also living in a condo where it's hard to do a lot of work in the garage.

My previous experiences with mechanics in the 1980s would have been OK if they were just expensive. It was the not doing good work part that bothered me.

I hear you. I have a 9 year old and did most of the work on my car in fits and spurts over long periods of time. Or in the middle of the night.

The car will be there for you when you have time. The kids will only be kids once. If you want something you can drive without having to ever work on it, a 914 isn't the best choice in cars unless you have deep pockets.
With the little time I have to work on my car when something goes awry, I try to enjoy that experience, too and not feel like I have to get it done right away. Too much stress.

Let me know when you get around to that engine drop. Happy to help if I can!

If you are swinging by Walker's without stopping in at Matt's Greenwood you are being a bad person .

I work at Matt's. No, we do not work on 914's but we have a few guys here that know a lot about them and can lend a hand if needed.

Dropping the engine is not that big of a deal. If you post a thread asking for some extra hands I'm sure you'll get offers. Pick a Saturday or Sunday and see what shakes out. Weekday traffic is impossible. Is the trans going east after the drop?

You should be putting your seals and the like in your self. Swing by a riteaid and pick up a bottle of glycerin. Makes rubber bits easier to install and cleans up with water

Wow! Thanks for the offer to help with the tranny replacement.

10 years ago some of us from a motorcycle forum got together to work on my bike at one of their houses, since living downtown I don't have any tools or facilities. There was so little I could contribute that they wound up doing nearly all the work. We didn't work on their bikes at all. I think my only contribution was the beer. I felt so guilty afterward I didn't ask them for any more help.

Doug Chase, a mechanic (and Fiero 2M6 owner!) in Duvall I met went I first got the Miata, has looked over my 914 and is willing to let me participate in the work (as Franklin did). He doesn't have 914 experience, but I'm thinking it's still better than me trying to do it all on my own, without a nice lift and huge set of tools. So I've asked Dr. Evil to ship the transmission to his Duvall shop. Still need to dispose of the one that's in the car now. (It works if you don't mind matching revs, which I guess good drivers are supposed to do anyway, along with double declutching.)

Off and on, the clutch has been slipping a bit. Previous owner replaced the clutch disk a year ago, but not the other parts. So it's been suggested I buy a full clutch kit. I see that Pelican has one for $1K (ouch!) if the flywheel option is selected. Dr. Evil (who has a real name, but let's call him Dr. Evil) thinks he might already have a full clutch kit.

Ordered a rear main seal from gowesty, per advice on this forum.

Oh, I noticed the engine to car air seal rubber is dried up, like most of the rubber on my car. I guess that's easy to replace when the engine is out. And then I think maybe I should just order the full rubber kit from 914Rubber while I have the chance?

Here's how the "while you're in there" syndrome goes.

I’ll help too. Not this Saturday. The local PCA has a meet at a race shop in Auburn and there’s going to be a bunch of formula1 cars.

Just a thought: Check out the clutch cable before diving into the tranny. They get worn and "stretchy" causing the clutch to not completely disengage, which leads to shifting problems, etc. Especially inspect for broken and frayed strands at the rear pulley which is partially exposed to the elements. I had one fail on me at a very inopportune time. I managed to limp it home 75 miles in third gear without stopping or shifting. Quite the adventure having to blow at least one red light and several stop signs to do that. One directly in front of a police station.

Clutch cable probably wouldn't explain your slipping clutch, however.

- MR

For better or worse, two mechanics have concluded that the clutch is properly adjusted. Third gear goes in like a charm, but 4th and 5th in particular are like threading a needle in high winds after drinking three martinis ... unless the engine speed is right.

Previous owner seems to have been confused about a lot of things. Inop brake lights (fixed now), reverse lights, license plate light, trunk light, seat pad light ... and the horn is a button attached to the dash. The carbs had both vacuum ports wide open, among other problems. 2366 engine delivers less than 2366 power because he chose the wrong camshaft and exhaust. I'm afraid to roll down the passenger side window because I think it will fall into the door and break. I knew I'd be spending some money on this when I bought it for a relatively low price. Body is pretty straight and I only know of one other 914 with the same Australian wheels. Front mounted oil cooler!

You live in downtown proper?

Engine pull Sunday March 11; pizza for all.

My 914 has been idle for too long and it's time to do something about it. Primary goal is to get the engine on the ground for a tranny rebuild and replacement of the rear main seal. Clutch replacement is a real possibility also. First step is to pull the engine/tranny so I can determine what's needed. I have a lift in the shop so that part should be pretty easy. After we've got my car out of the way, anyone who wants a look under their car or needs a quick fix, we can put it up on the rack.

Let me know who's interested and we can flesh out the details. Looking forward to some garage time with 914 guys. It's been awhile.

I would love to join and help. Maybe I could get my 914 down there also and see if someone who knows about zenith 40 TIN's or just carbs in general can help me...

There's a possibility I'll be on a business trip then. If not, I would love to attend and try to help with my limited abilities.

I'll probably only have the Miata available... I'll park it around the corner to avoid embarrassment.

On a business trip on 3/11, would have loved to come and help!

No one is going to squeeze your shoes about the Miata.

I need to be drinking wine and eating fancy food in Seattle at 2:00. I can help in the morning. If we start early enough I can make it.

James - look forward to seeing you again; it's been a few years. Tell Jon he should bring his tail dragger down.

Michael (98101) - Don't worry about the Miata, we can hide it in the trees. Look forward to meeting you.

Juergen - sorry you can't make it; we'll have to catch up soon.

Kevin - are you going to be there?

I'm thinking to start around noon. How does that sound?

Going to try Marc. Get the car on the lift and the rear tires removed before hand. You going to rebush the linkage 'while you're in there'? Do you have a spline tool for the cv bolts? Drain the gear lube before the drop. I have the correct hex socket for the plugs. Want me to mail it to you so you have it on hand? Get a can of brake cleaner.

Put me down as a 'maybe'. I've only pulled the transmission (about a dozen times) but haven't done the engine yet. Would love to witness/help with an engine removal.
PM me your address and time you want to start when you get a chance and hopefully I'll be able to attend.

Its been a long time Marc and I would love to help! That happens to be my birthday so unless my wife has ideas its my mine to decide
If I am free I shall be there!