Just picked up a 914

[Rodsrsr]

I just picked up this 914. Its a 75 with a 2.0. I actually didn't plan on buying one but I've always liked them and happened to see this one with a for sale sign.

The seller was extremely friendly and was a car collector. He even put it up on his lift to fully examine the underpan for rust. Car is very solid and runs well. It'll need sorting since its been sitting for years. New tires, brake lines, some electrical issues but so far the worst thing is the alternator belt was flipped around and came off. I put it back on loosely by hand and it seems to be charging okay. will dive into it next week. anyway heres a few pics.

[Tobra]

Good color, looks clean

[bdstone914]

Nice looking car. I would change all the rubber fuel lines to 14R ethanol compatible hose. Gates Baracade 5/16. Get a 25ft roll from Rock auto. Will take about 18ft

[Tobra]

^good advice^

[Rodsrsr]

yeah, im definitely going thorough all the systems. Its been off the road for a long time.

[Tobra]

The blue braided lines between the reservoir and master cylinder was a surprise leak for me.

[Rodsrsr]

Good call, I can see how those might get overlooked. The brakes were actually done a few months ago as in rebuilt calipers, new pads and resurfaced rotors, but they feel a little soft. Probably still some air in the lines, but either way I'm going to replace all the rubber brake lines and install a new master cylinder which is probably ready to go out anyway after all these years.

I wasn't so lucky on the alternator, when I reinstalled the belt it sounded like the engine was coming apart lol. Loose rattling spinning, sounded horrible, disconnected the belt and the noise is gone, engine runs smooth so its obviously in need of a new alternator. Looks like a pain in the butt to get to.

Other than that it needs basic repairs. Both headlights are burned out, (they lift up but just dont light up and you can tell theyre fried because they are all foggy) left side turn signals don't work and neither does the temp, fuel gauge and horn. Shifter works okay but needs a few bushings to tighten it up. Obviously new tires. The tag on this thing says 1995! Seller mentioned the seats were recently redone as well.

A few more pics:

[Rodsrsr]

Disassembly begins. Super surprised at how solid and rust free this car is. Even still, its been off the road for years so I'm going through every system. I found with my 911 the only way to really enjoy these old cars is when everything is working like new and you know exactly what's going on with the car.


Here is the original color. It looks like the car had full glass out paint job with color change probably back in the late 90's. The jams, under hood and rear trunk are all Blue. They did a nice job.



Took apart the shift rod assembly to replace all the bushings which were deteriorated and ordered a new factory shift knob. Also pulled the pedal assembly to rebuild, new accelerator cable, and will also change all the rubber brake lines and master cylinder. The brakes themselves were just done, rebuilt calipers, new pads and resurfaced rotors.



Also fixed most of the electrical issues. Temp gauge, (wire from taco plate was disconnected) oil pressure gauge was also not wired correctly, fixed volt gauge and surprisingly the clock was already working. Got a new set of tires today and went for 195/65/15, they seem to be very close to original, just slightly wider.



Next will be rebuild front suspension, with new a-arm bushings. (I just did this on my 911 so still have the tool) new ball joints, probably go for a set of turbo tie rods, and new strut inserts. The rear needs shocks and some bushings. This should make it a safe, fun reliable car.

[Rodsrsr]

Pedal assembly completed along with all new shift rod bushings and new coupler. Nice and tight shifter now. The alternator was shot and it was somewhat challenging removing the old one and finding a replacement but one is finally on the way. In the meantime I'm working on replacing all the rubber brake lines and bleeding the system. Engine seems to fairly well sorted. The original EFI is working great, so I just put in a new set of plugs, points, wires, etc. Oil change and gearbox oil change is next. Once I get the alternator it should be ready for a beat run to shake out any bugs and than its on to phase 2.

[Rodsrsr]

The dreaded passenger side rocker removal, but all appears to be good so far.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by Rodsrsr

Other than that it needs basic repairs. Both headlights are burned out, (they lift up but just dont light up and you can tell theyre fried because they are all foggy) left side turn signals don't work and neither does the temp, fuel gauge and horn

All of that could be from a single popped fuse. I think #8 or #9 could be the one responsible (counting from the left). Note that these old-style fuses can be popped but still look OK at first. If you remove a fuse from its holder and the metal part comes off in two pieces, it is definitely popped.

--DD

[Rodsrsr]

Thanks. I’ll definitely go through all the fuses. Today I pulled the front suspension and removed the old ball joints from the A-arms. Next up are new A-arm bushings, followed by a thorough cleaning and reassembly with new Turbo tie rods. The stock torsion bars are in excellent condition, with no signs of rubbing or wear, so I’ll be reusing them, not for budget reasons, but because I want to keep this build as close to factory spec as possible. (except for turbo tie rods, that's a no brainer lol)

Still undecided on which front inserts to go with. It’s surprising how small the torsion bars are compared to the 911.

Here are a few close-ups of the front pan and mounting points, they're in perfect condition. Clearly, someone took good care of this car and stored it properly all these years.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Make sure you put the torsion bars into the same side of the car they came out of. Supposedly reversing the stress on those parts after many years can cause them to fail.

Note that flipping the bar so that the front and rear are swapped stresses the bar in the same rotational direction, so that is safe.

--DD

[Rodsrsr]

Thanks, I appreciate the tips.

[Tobra]

What does the hell hole under the battery look like

I like the bug juice green original color a lot too.

[Rodsrsr]

That was the first area I checked and its solid. There's some minor rust on the battery box but nothing underneath. Put it up on the lift to check that area carefully, and from the top down with a surgical light, in addition to pulling the rockers. The car is very solid, and yeah I like that Green too and still on the fence but I think it would be much easier to stick with the existing color since its already been painted. Fortunately its a nice shade of Blue.

A-arms are completely disassembled and old bushings removed which were completely shot. I also pulled the strut inserts to find a set of completely blown KYB's. They were blown so bad they compressed with pretty much zero force and stayed down, no recoil. Just purchased a new set of Boge factory inserts. I want this to ride like it did when it was brand new in 1975. Not looking to beef up the suspension at all, I already have a backdate 911 for that.

[Tobra]

Kill Your Back? Bilstein!

[Rodsrsr]

hahaha. I don't think I would use a set of KYB's if they were free!

[Rodsrsr]

A few updates and observations: The most difficult job on this car so far has been changing the rear rubber brake lines. Its extremely challenging to get to the top connection points and I made sure to use two brake line wrenches, because if the small nut stripped I would have to change the hard line, so you basically get one shot when dealing with parts that have been stuck for 50 years. The top line is 11mm and the bottom is 17mm. The common 3/8" line wrench will fit but its not snug enough to deal with lines that have been connected for so long.

The next tough job was replacing the heat hoses in the frunk. You need to remove the hood to get the small 90 degree vent tube out and the bolts are tough to get to.

Lastly was the alternator, which actually wasn't that bad but on this car the adjuster Allen head bolt was rounded out so the Allen socket would just spin. There's virtually no room to get anything in there so my solution was to grind off the head of the bolt and it came right out. Tough job mainly due to the bolt issue.

New bushings on the a-arms went on no problem, new ball joints, and turbo tie rod ends are ready to go. Also ordered a new master cylinder so I don't have to do it again. Its easier to get to it with everything removed anyway. Just waiting on the Boge struts and it will be ready for reassembly.


Old bushings: seen better days....



A-arms and struts ready to go:



Cleaned up:

[Rodsrsr]

I didn't like the way this inner wheel bearing looked. A few of the rollers were blueish color which indicates overheating and they didn't spin smoothly so new bearings and races are going in.

New alternator should be here next week and in the meantime I need to remove the secondary lower air pump belt assembly in order to install the alternator belt. This was a California car that came equipped with the air pump. The pump was frozen with no belt when I purchased the car so I removed the pump, but the fixture for the lower pulley is still there. It looks like removal of the front engine tin will be necessary to accomplish this. Looks like its doable but may be a pain. Has anyone else had to deal with removing the lower pulley assembly?



Installed a-arms with new bushings, ball joints and turbo tie rods. Now waiting on strut inserts, wheel bearings and new 19mm master cylinder.