Hey all. I'm starting this thread to keep anybody who cares up to date on my 914 progress. To start out, I'll just tell you how I wound up with the 914 bug. I think I was like 12 or 13 when my father came home with a little flat, white car. I had no idea what it was until I went around back and saw the PORSCHE lettering on the engine lid. Of course, I immediately found that very cool. My relationship with my father wasn't anywhere close to perfect, but I always liked his taste in cars. However, between his Carmengia, Datsun 280 ZX, and fiat 124 spyder, the Porsche was my favorite. Maybe it was the fact that it was so low. When it's swallowing pavement 3 inches under your butt, it's quite a feeling. Or maybe it's the fact that you always get the strangest looks driving around in it. Especially in the redneck land that I live in, where all people know about are Harleys and lifted trucks. Or maybe it's the fact that you may feel like the underdog against a big V8, until you get to the twisty bits or a mountain road. Whatever it was, I fell in love. I only rode in it four or five times, but I WANTED ONE!!
Well, my father liked it too, but it wasn't in the best shape, and he had recently renewed his love affair with motorcycles. He was looking to do a strait trade with a guy... the Porsche, for a newer motorcycle.. (a Goldwing of all things) Needless to say, this didn't make me very happy, but what could I say about it. Well, as fate would have it, the guy he was going to trade with blew the transmission on the test drive. The deal was off obviously, and the car was sent to the backyard.
Jump ahead about 6 or 7 years to modern times. I want to roadrace.... always have. To get into it, I wanted to buy a second car that could be driven to solo events and enjoyed as a weekend car(I have an eclipse that's a commuter). I was looking at Mazda miatas, when my brother reminded me of the flat white car sitting in the backyard. We talked a lot about going in half and half to get it running and modifying it. Well, he lost his job and ran out of money. Intimidated by the work it needed and the technology that I didn't understand, I went back to plan A to get a Miata. I worked 16 hour days at UPS for 2 months to buy one. When I finally did have the money to buy one, I couldn't find any. They all just seemed to disapear. Meanwhile the teener was calling me. To make an already long story a little shorter, I finally decided that I shouldn't be intimidated by the work, because I've got the time, and tools a my disposal. I shouldn't be intimidated by the technology because A: it's simple, even though I didn't understand it yet, and B: between my father, brother, and all the helpful folks at the 914club, I've got all the expertise I need.
I jumped in and offered to buy the teener, and told my dad to name his price. He said 600 so he could buy the mufflers he wanted for his bike (Triumph Sprint triple... Much cooler than a Goldwing). He said it needed a lot of work, but I knew that was still a great deal. Plus it left me with $2600 from what I had saved to put into it.
That was about 4 weeks ago, and since then I've spent all my spare time doing research, ordering parts, and unsticking stubborn latches. I just today got everything open. I look at it like a gameshow; "Let's see what's behind door number 3?" I've prettymuch got all the parts I'm going to need to get it running here, or on their way. This week I'll work on the brakes, and if all goes as schedualed, then my brother and I should get the new tranny in this coming weekend. I CAN'T WAIT. I'll post pictures on here as soon as I can get them uploaded, and keep it updated as much as possible.
The one last thing to say is that, I know I'll enjoy it when it's running, but I never expected how much I would enjoy just working on it. There' some amazing feeling that comes with bring something as unique as the 914 back to life. And though I hope to be diversified in my life and move on to other things, as well as other project cars, I think that the Teener is an excellent place to start. Looking back, I'm glad everything worked out as it did.
Mark D.
P.S. I'm not spell checking this.... it'll take to long to read.