Believe it or not I have coveted 914's since the late 70's when a girlfriends brother would let me drive his, but I have never owned one.

I will freely admit a limited knowledge of the inner workings of cars in general although I did buy a torn down Porsche 924 in '85 and "helped" rebuild it with the assistance or a real expert.

I am now considering my middle age and the need for a toy outside of the madness of a minivan. I want to look/research now for a spring "coming out".

I have a ton of questions and would like to start the process here as it seems like the best informed site I have visited on 914's and their owners.

- Am I crazy buying a 70's car without the ability to maintain it myself.

- Should I buy cheap and have it rebuilt or buy rebuilt. I have a 914 shop within 1hr's drive that offers both services.

- Are parts just hard to come by or are they next to impossible to find.

- What should I look for and watch out for in buying a 914.

- I could go on but lets start here...any and all help would be appreciated.

I'd say that ownership requires getting ones hands dirty. Not that you need to know how to rebuild a car before hand b/c learning how do do things is part of the appeal for many of us.

Rule of thumb on buying one is to buy the best one you can find within budget.

Many others will surely chime in...

-pt

You've come to the right place.


B

Always better to buy one that is in pristine condition than rebuilding one. Costs mount quickly. I bought a very clean 1.8 and didnt spend a dime on repairs for 3 years and drove it almost daily.

1) No- Any car you buy is going to need maintenance Why not get something
you really want. Besides if you really want to learn you've come to the right place.

2) That depends on you, doing it yourself comes with a feeling of accomplishment
but it will cost you. You can buy a nice CA car already done for less.

3) Depends on what parts you are looking for, some are available as repo's
others you will find here and on evilbay. Some you will have to hunt for.

4)Look out for rust and watch for hidden rust(under bondo and paint etc). there
is a thread here for what to look for when buying.

5) Welcome to the maddness..ah I mean the club.

have the same mid-life thing going on here. bought mine in april. i would suggest buying as complete a car as you can afford. rust is the big killer with these cars. have someone from the ppi before you buy. ask many questions here, lots of sarcasm but sound advice and knowledge as well. then wait for the disease to set in. good luck

Don't mind the sarcasm , and if these early repsonses are any indication I will be spending way too much time on this site.

Thanks All.

What they said. Any snow yet?

I bought a "fixer-upper" about 1.5 years ago : no serious rust, but looked (looks) like crap, had several identifiable issues that needed fixing, and the universal list of things that probably need doing "while you're there". I like working on cars, though, and get a lot of satisfaction from learning how to do new things. Unless doing work on your own car is a big part of what you are looking for, I would definitely agree that spending more for a good car is better. One thing I would definitely do differently is to lay out more cash for a car with decent paint. Painting is not something you can easily just jump into on your own and it's not cheap to have it done. I'm waiting until I dump more money into my car before painting, 'cause I can't stand the idea of a paint job that costs more than the car itself !

Welcome to the club. Let us know if/when you find your 914.

Not of any lasting amount ...a few flurries though from time to time....although the one year I lived in Bloomington , IN it snowed like crazy. I must have brought it with me.

I can remember it snowing here in the 70's...once. In the 80's there was alot of

snow here but not the kind you can ski on.

Even living in Snow country my whole life ...I prefer the kind you can go find when you need it.

Hey , another question , I found a 74 SE , totally dismantled and painted , ready for reassembly.

I have not heard of a Special Edition before and the owner mentions one of only 500 made. Any insights

He is asking 11,000 as is or 16,000 completely rebuilt.

welcome to the club from a fellow canadian, lots a good guy around, it is a great hobby, you buy the car according to your mecanical habilities, if you can weld buy a project if you cant then mike's car is good, but if you want a project i got a cheap one for sale good running, but needs body work just call me

Yves,

Friend of mine is looking for onr.
What are you looking to get for that one.

What are the issues ???

Laisses-moi savoir

Steph

Oh also BTW,

Buzzard,




Steph,

Another fellow Cnd.

If you want to start up right, get a car as close as you would like one and wait to get it at the price you can afford. If you start doing alot of stuff yourself, it will take alot of time and money. If you can, get one that is ready for the road so you can get some winshield time and really apreciate the car for what it is. As it needs maintenance, then you can upgrade as your taste for a little bit more from the car arrises.

I think its best to drive, drive, drive fix/upgrade, drive.....NOT why won't it start, spend, it needs a paint job bad, Spend, the engine is shot SPEND!!...

Steph and Feezing14

Thanks and good to see some other 914 lovers in the great white north.

Welcome. You may find that your 914 will never be finished, always a "work in progress". Why??,because you will want to make one, one, one more improvement. Speed, comfort, braking, suspension oh no ebay, the college fund ahhh.


MSG L

Don't read the "It's a sickness" thread. It's not true.

Resist all urges to buy jackstands.

Don't read "any" of the senseless dribble posted by the following people and you should be safe:

Brad Roberts (club weinie)
Slits (club queenie)
Aaron Cox (no need... he's gone now )
Gint
SirAndy
HOWARD...
DraperJoJo -
Brant
Trojanman
Series 9
Joe Sharp
itsa914
Moron Sean
Dave Darling
JPB
Qarl (for sure)
Redshift (same as Qarl, lurks under many assumed personalities. Has a penchant for small to mid-sized farm animals)
Mrs K
Z... mikez... zios... biatch (whatever he goes by today)
Root
Scott Schroeder (drummer... need I say more?)
SharonG
/L
VegasRacer
Toast
Gustl (guy is clueless when it comes to 914 history...)
Racer Chris (can't weld for crap)
Home Depot - Ooooooops "Trekkor"
ClayPerrine
Q-tip Boy - Ooops - Pat Garvey
Dr. Evil (we still haven't figured out what's going on there..)
boxstr
william harris
MW 914
Martin Baker
McMark
Flat VW
DNHunt and
davep

Oooooooooops, forgot... ME

Well there ya go, and the only one that knows enough to be dangerous and

that is left is me, but you have lucked out sence I know everything

Ok maybe not everything that falls on a few on the list above. I will help you

when you need help and if I don't have the answer(don't laugh it's happened

before) I am sure one of the misfits above will be glad to after they take their

meds.

Well, if you're afraid of getting your hands dirty, I would not recommend buying any classic car (anything badged Porsche, especially), unless you have small fortune laying around doing nothing special, so you can pay someone else to do it. Old cars have quirks, and problems "maintaining" (fixing) an old car will be more involved than maintaining a new Honda, i.e. you basically have a mechanic put on timing belts when they're due to be changed, and make sure the Honda has oil and windshield washer fluid, you're golden, whereas your 914 will have more and bigger issues, more frequently.

It really depends on your mechanical aptitude, to be brutally honest. If the thought of getting gasoline, engine oil or brake fluid on your hands is a major turn-off to you, then owning a classic sports car might not be your thing. Look at Jay Leno. He has gobs of cash, yet loves to work on cars, even if he doesn't have a lot of time to do it. If you're inclined to get your hands dirty, but you don't know what the heck you're doing, but you have a lot of patience, and the willingness to learn, you're at the right place.

Couldn't have said it better! But would add one caveat.

The body - not that of the 914 doesn't necessarily do what it did when you were 25 & crawled under a 914. It's called middle/neuvo-old age. Yeah, you can still get down there, but getting up isn't as easy as it used to be.

I've been in, under & around mine since '72 (when I WAS 25), and some things are more difficult. And, I do ache sometimes after being under it. But the grin is still the same!

Get proper tools, advice, books and dirty. Also, buy the best car you can to start with, within budget constraints. Driving a 914 is what it's about - don't buy a basket case, fixer-upper, or "project car" for you first 914. Once you experience the driving perspective, you'll love it and probably not mind getting your hands (and other body parts) covered with dino fluids. You can always wear gloves, but that doesn't leave the macho-effect at work the next day.

BTW - welcome to the non-club of non-conformists