Hi,

Sorry for the newby post, but I'm thinking about getting a 914 as a weekend car. I might take it to the track once or twice (since the local PCA requires driving a p-car for your first few events), but I have a dedicated non-porsche track car that will do most track duty after that. I've seen the buying guide on the Pelican Parts website, and I still have a few questions for the experts (is there a 914 world buying guide, btw?):

1. Generally, how easy is it to work on one of these? I'm comfortable doing interior trim, wiring, suspension and brake work on mid-80's and newer cars, along with minor engine work (belts, alternators, fluid flushes, etc), but I don't know how to weld, paint, or do major engine work. So if a major engine repair is necessary it would be my first time pulling off a head (as an example). I plan to do most of the work myself. Also, are parts generally available?

2. In a similar vein, if the car seems to be running well, and drives well, are they generally reliable given regular maintenance? Are there any major engine issues to look for? (Specifically on a '75 1.8 with the stock fuel injection -- I will look at one of those this week).

3. Lastly, on rust issues -- I'm really not an expert at checking rust. How can I tell if a rusty area is just surface rust that needs to be scraped and sprayed with rust inhibitor or if it's worse? Would I lightly scrape with a screwdriver or something, to see if I hit metal quickly? I'll check all the areas listed in the Pelican buying guide.

Thanks for any help, and sorry again for posting something that has probably been beaten to death!

--C

pretty easy. I've done 99% of the work myself. and I'd say I was about on the same level as you a few years ago, when i started. I knew how to weld some, and took a class to learn more. for the engine work, there's a lot of resources for helping walking you through anything. the parts are generally available, good member vendors(morph,Jwesteng, mikey914, Eric Shea), used parts and good store fronts like Pelican, Paragon-products, restoration design, Jake Raby, aircooled.net and cbperformance all have their place depending on what you need.





biggest issue with a 75/76 in Cali is the smog control, I'll let a cali member speak up on how hard it is to keep those inspect-able. generally speaking a 73 and 74 are the most desirable, because of the side shift tranny, and a few other nice tweaks they made to the 70-72 models. but if the car runs well, and is rust free, then that's the most important thing.



don't "lightly" do anything check the hell hole, longs(esp by the jack posts) and passenger side suspension ear well before making a decision. if there's rust, you need to know how bad it is... no matter how much you find, there's more, hiding that you won't find until later. being in Cali you might be in better shape than most of us... I bet before this thread ends, someone in Ca will say " I have a rust free car in perfect shape for sale" this is where to start


now... I can't stress this enough... buy the best one you can afford, you won't be sorry you did... but if you buy a cheaper one that you need to do more work on for rust, etc... you will regret you didn't wait and pay more.... it's generally cheaper to buy a nice one, than it is to fix a "meh" one... ask me how I know

also, I recommend having a club member help you do a PPI. again, ask me how I know...

I made BOTH mistakes. and I've driven my car 1 week out of 7 years... this PAST week, btw.

Take the top off ,you and a buddy stand on the seats and close the doors if they dont close nicely walk away and dont look back....Good luck....P.S listen to what people tell you,They will not steer you wrong

Lots of members in the SFBA to ask for assistance. If you wanna come by the shop sometime, I'll happily talk your ear off about what to look for and my opinions. It's always nice to be able to walk around one of the 914s here and point at things and look at examples.

I agree with what everyone else is saying. I have never driven mine.... so I have no experience, but the mechanical stuff, people can help you with remotely, but not body work. If I ever got another one, I would not worry about if the motor ran, or if it even had a motor, rust is the only thing that would matter to me. I believe (for what that's worth) most all the other issues can be dealt with in your garage.

But what do I know, mine is still in 914,000 pieces.

-Peter

Thanks for all the info!

> Take the top off ,you and a buddy stand on the seats and close the doors if they
> dont close nicely walk away and dont look back...

What's this for, to see if the frame is bent or something? So 2 people standing in the car, and see if the doors open and close?

> Lots of members in the SFBA to ask for assistance. If you wanna come by the
> shop sometime, I'll happily talk your ear off about what to look for and my

Thanks! Sonoma is a bit out of the way (I'm in Los Altos), but if I still haven't bought one next time I go to Infineon I might drop by :-)

Anyone know of a shop that has good 914 experience for a PPI on the Peninsula (say, redwood city down to san jose)?

Thanks again for all the comments,
--Carey

I don't mean to self promote, but certainly check out some of the build threads. Mine is not a good example of checking for rust because I have a desert car, but there are certainly members that are/have been in.... trickier situations.

This is my first car project and (IMO) if you do your homework you get what you put in.

As for the year of the car MOST def go for a pre-75 in California. It's worth the searching for. Also, as far as parts are concerned, I think some investigation is needed, but nothing is 'impossible' to find.

Oh, and

First off, have you had a recent mental exam, because sane people don't buy these cars.

the car will flex in this test if the longs are bad. don't stop there tho... dig into the hell hole for sure. and look under the rockers if you can.