Hey everybody, I'm new here and wanted to tap your expertise on everything 914. I've been looking to find a car I can maintain myself and have always wanted a Porsche. I should humbly mention I currently know nothing about fixing cars, but am really interested in learning, so I thought I'd ask some experts!

I recently stumbled upon a 1974 914 for sale across the street from my parents. the guy was asking $3500. He says it has a 1.7L fuel injected engine, 57k original miles. He and his brother work on cars, so he says it's about 90% restored and was probably garage kept the entire time (he's the 3rd owner) Says it needs a valve adjustment and might have a bad plug, but no significant engine trouble. No rust, but needs a new paint job.

I'd really appreciate anybody's input on what I need to look for when I go evaluate this car, especially anything specific to 914s I should know when I check it out.

Also, if you guys could fill me in on owning a 914. My brother-in-law has told me to be wary of the difficulty in working on the car, as well as the great expense and rarity of parts. I know nothing, but figure if I'm gonna learn how to work on a car, it might as well be on a sweet one. I'm not looking to completely restore it (yet), but I'd love to get it purring, paint it, and have a fun car to tool around on the weekends with. Am I getting in way over my head heere with a 914 as my first project car?

Thanks!

see your local Porsche mechanic and have them look it over for you first.There are a few 914 nuts in Ohio maybe you can talk one of them into look`n at it with you .good luck

Very cool! You will get an amazing amount of help from this board. I was in your place about 18 months ago. Due to the support from the "World" members, I now do all of my own maintenance.

I have a '74 which is my daily driver. My operating costs, including all of my gas, oil, parts, repair costs, and insurance, costs me about the same per mile as my Hyundai Tucson.

Pelican Parts has a very good primer on what to look for when buying a 914:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/914/How_to_buy_a_914.htm

Parts costs are as inexpensive or as expensive as you want to go. I have chosen to keep my teener as stock as possible, so I post requests on the "Classified's" and "Member Vendor" forums, as well as check out eBay from time to time.

"How To" articles are easily available through this BBS, the Pelican Parts BBS and the "Automobile Atlanta" web site.

If you really want to know about the type-4 engine, check out Jake Raby's "Air-Cooled Technologies" web site, or search this BBS for "Jake Raby".

Post lost of pictures and you will get back some really excellent (and sometimes what passes for somewhat humerous) advice.

Good luck!!!

Thanks, this gives me some great reading for the weekend! I'm currently trying to get pictures to post (the car is actually in detroit, which is why I haven't been able to eye it myself). You mentioned that you keep your car as stock as possible. Stupid question coming, but seeing as this is my very first attempt to work on a car, and I'm probably more concerned with just having it run sweet than being 100% original, can I still easily find engine parts that work but aren't neccessarily "stock" or "original" parts?

Welcome!

I got a car in pretty bad shape for the same amount he's asking.

i've had to replace some fairly significant things in the time i've owned mine just because of the previous owner... that being said. they really are simple cars to work on. the fuel injection may be a bit of a hassle at first, as i've heard. I wouldnt know, i have dual carbs and all you need is spark and fuel and it'll run.

you may want to check for rust. you can do this easily (as far as major structural rust is concerned) by taking off the targa top, sitting in the drivers seat (if you're a heavy guy, you probably dont need a friend to sit next to you) and then close the door. if it's a royal pain to get open, run away. I sat in a 914 with the top ON, and you had to slam your body into the door to open it. i looked underneath and these big structural parts call the 'longs' were completely rusted through. these cars will break in half if those are rusted...

check under the battery tray in the engine compartment, otherwise known as the 'hell hole' and in the trunk and frunk at the bottom for rust. also at the firewall behind the seats. if you see daylight in these places, see above for running instructions. you dont want to start working on a car that's rusty. it sucks.

everything else is easy to work on with interchangeable parts. rust requires finesse and tools, everything else requires a BFH

hope this helps.

try posting some pics

Be careful. I grew up in Michigan so I'm allowed to say R-U-S-T never sleeps.

People like to baulk at $1000 shipping costs from say San Diego but, $1000 does not go very far when you're paying a great welder to fix your chassis.

The longitudinals that Patrick is referring to above are the back bone of the car. Look for rust in and around the jack-post area on the longs. Also look for rust in the engine compartment under the battery tray.

Good luck. Lots of help here!

Fisrt of all, Patrick and the others are exactly right. The three major issues are rust, rust and rust. The longs, Hell hole and under the rockers. Get pictures of the floor pans, and from below the vehicle. They will sometimes show rust indications the shiny pictures won't.

However, any car with zero rust is automatically suspect. Our little cars rust. It only becomes an issue if the rust becomes significant.

As for parts, they are easily available. Some people consider them expensive, but I don't really see it that way. Check out Automobile Atlanta and download their new PDF catalog. I feel it's the best parts reference out there. Pelican Parts is also very, very good, eBay has parts avaiable, but any item with the word "rare" in it's description is probably overpriced. If you decide you want a 200+HP engine in the stock 4-cyl case, check out Aircooled Technology (Jale Raby's site). If you decide to go for a V6 or V8 upgrade, they are all detailed in this forum, try the search function. Also check out the "Member Vendor" forum in this BBS. There are some really cool upgrades there.

Most importantly, If you don't know, post it here. You'll get some great advice, and of course, some lame advice (usually posted by people like myself )

The members here have everything from Concours level stock vehicles to turbo'd cars with stoopid wings and atrocious paint jobs.

But above all, drive your car. That's the fun part!!!

Hey thanks again for the help. I was able to get some pictures of the 914 in question. Taken by my stepdad, and we weren't sure exactly what to shoot, but here they are. Would love to hear (read) your comments, suggestions. Of course when it rains it pours as I found out this weekend my cousin is also selling a 1972 914, but the previous owner had taken out the original 2.0L and replaced it with a mustang V6. My cousin said that the 914s overheat easily because they are air cooled. I just can't imagine they would overheat on a normal day just tooling around (quickly...he he). Anyway, here's the pics:

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On of the biggest problems our cars have relate to acid seeping from the battery. As you can see from the batter tray picture, it's been eaten up. You really need to take a look under the battery tray in the infamous "Hell Hole" to see how much damage has ocurred.

I advise that you see if anybody in Detroit from this board that can perform a pre-purchase inspection for you.

It sure looks pretty!

As for the aircooled engines overheating, to my knowledge, a properly tuned and serviced 914 engine is pretty reliable in the heat. I can say this because on even the hottest days in Los Angeles I don't have an overheating probelm on my 2.0L. However, in my situation the problem is self correcting. Since I have no air conditioning, if it gets really really hot, I don't drive it. (hasn't happened yet)

Do a search on Jake Raby and overheating. His contention is that the more efficient the engine runs, the cooler it runs.

buy it! drive it! break it! then do want you want with the engine.have fun with the car before you rip it apart and want to modify everything because it will be a long time before you can drive it again once you start that process.but other then that it dont look all that bad ...get the battery tied down or you will lose it ...............have fun with it .....good luck

If I were selling a car, I would certainly adjust the valves and replace that "bad plug" before I put it on the market. Shoot, I might even do an oil change and a tuneup!

There's something fishy here. At the VERY LEAST, I'd have the valves adjusted and a compression check done before I bought it. Well, besides a real careful inspection for rust. The Cap'n

There is some rust under those bubble spots in the trunk area as well as what others have mentioned. As Krusty mentioned, something fishy selling a car that "needs a plug" as an excuse for not running right. Geez, they only cost a buck.

Beware of people that can't spell what they are selling especially after owning it a long time......
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That is a 1974 1.8, not a 1.7. Or, at least, the rear bumper is off a 74 as is the engine.

The bubbles in the rear lid are not uncommon; a new used lid might be the easiest way to fix it. The bubbles behind the right-side door are a potential source of worry. Under the doors are those black covers; rust loves to hide behind them...

Still, it looks quite decent for a midwestern 914.

--DD

aircooled cars are far less likely to overheat than their water pumping brethren from road debris.

A pinhole can make a water cooled car overheat

a serious amount of time and effort has to be put into making an aircooled car overheat. e.g. setting the timing wrong, screwing with the engine tin, removing engine tin, removing the cooling flaps, jamming a screwdriver in the fan and breaking blades trying to improperly set timing, valves out of adjustment, crap in the fan shroud, leaves in the cylinder head.

you know how i know this? because ALL of it was done to my engine...it still powers my car today

people just dont understand how ducting/airflow works. hence the misunderstanding that 'aircooled cars overheat easy'

i have a boss with a 993 and he says that he's far less worried about overheating that car than any water-pumper. hell, his girlfriend's miata chunked its engine because of a pinhole leak.

That car has L-Jet fuel injection on it, and that year came with a 1.8, not a 1.7. Check the VIN number (driver's side windshield frame, door jamb, passenger fender). A 1974 should start with 47429xxxxx.

with everything these guys are telling you. This is a great place to come for advice. In fact, if you have a question about something, chances are good that if you run a search for it, you'll find there's an answer waiting for you in an older post. There's few, if any, topics that haven't been discussed on these boards; and if you can't find it somebody here knows something about it.

I didn't come here completely clueless how to work on cars, but I did come here completely clueless about Porsche's. About a year into my restoration and use of these boards, I'm no expert by any means but I know enough to be able to do this all over again and have few, if any, problems.

Again, welcome, and good luck.

OMFG

dbgriffith...your avatar has me

Nice!

this picture didn't make it on there for some reason

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So if the battery tray is all that's corroded and there isn't much damage underneath it (i'm assuming you mean to the body underneath the tray) is the tray easy to replace? Since the pictures seem to check out, i'm going to arrange to get up to michigan to look it over myself. We have another neighbor who specializes in engines and parts, so i'll have him look at it as well, and make sure the 'bad plug' isn't something more. thanks for the input! i was wondering about if the motor was a 1.8 or a 1.7. he said it was a 1.7, but i though the 1974s had a 1.8....again, i could be wrong. -m

Even trying to take culture into account (you're in Michigan, I am in California) that looks like a $1500 car teetering on the edge of being a parts car.

Why has that trunk been sprayed with bed liner? I would bet it is because the trunk floor at the trailing edges was rusting through.

That battery tray is being eaten up. I would bet the "hell hole" is going as well. That leads to the passenger side suspension console and the passenger side long.

The door bubbles are more concerning than that rear trunk but they are both rust.

And, it doesn't run.

I would increase your budget to 5-6K and look in California Oregon or the Southwest. Plan on a trip to tow it back or paying a transport service.

Eric is right. I am from Minnesota and there is a very good reason you don't see old cars every day in the summer in Minnesota Wisconsin Michigan and the likes. They're gone. This one might be all but gone.

Good luck... If you are married, look your wife deep in her eyes and ask her if she loves you right before you write the check for any old project car...

Restoration is expensive and time consuming. Divorce is more expensive and time consuming.

Oh...

This just may be the post of the year, I say.

dodger sure has his finger on the pulse....

He's got his finger on "something"

The respray has me suspicious. Sprayed over the springs and camber adjustment plates etc. The black respray in the trunk has me thinking the floor has been replaced. The rust on the lid has me thinking there's a lot of rust on this car... or there was.

Take a long hard look and look in all the places these people are telling you to look.

My finger doesn't stink though...

I think what people don't realize is that if you see a little rust on a 914 or a 240Z or any car of that era you probably are looking at the tip of the iceberg. Rust prevention wasn't really a priority until sometime after our cars were made. A buzz word in the business world at that time was "planned obsolesence". How can they sell you a new car if the one you have is still nearly perfect? Anyone ever see a Vega? You can go deaf listening to one rust if you stand too close...

Midget, I would move along. Even from 1700+ miles away I think something is wrong with this deal. Cars with that few "original" miles (I hate that phrase, what the heck does it mean?) should be in better condition. Mine had been stored for 20+ years in a dry clean garage and it had rust in the battery tray area. Damn tray support was completely collapsed. Battery was leaning toward the engine. Not much other rust but still, this is a 70K mile California car. Your prospect is a Michigan car that doesn't look like it spent winters stored properly. I would EXPECT a logrythmic increase over what I saw.