Just purchased 75 914 2.0

[Rubbster]

This is my second 914. This car is great! It did loose spark though. Haven't had time to check into it. To save time I was wondering what usually causes this? Cap and rotor? coil? The car was sitting since 1997 and I bought it knowing it will need work. Just looking to see if there is a problem ignition area in these cars.

Also do 69-74 bumpers bolt right up to the 75? I had the 5mph bumpers!

Thank you all and its a pleasure meeting and chatting with you all

[Pete000]

Let the fun begin !

[spoke]

Nice car.

The bumpers can be backdated pretty easily. I think there are some slight modifications to make and the older bumpers will bolt right on.

About the ignition, I don't think there are any trouble spots except you have a 40 year old car and all the electric connections may get oxidized and not make good contact thus giving unusual behavior from time to time.

I replaced the points with an electronic point kit from Pertronix. No mo points and dwell for me. I do keep a spare set of points in the tool box just in case the electronic points fail.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

To retrofit the bumpers, you will need to drill 4 mounting holes for each bumper, and remove the bumper shocks that hold the late bumpers on. You'll most likely want to plug the holes that those came through. There are lips that the sides of the late bumper covers hook onto, and one lip across the front of the front trunk opening that the top of the cover hooks onto. Those will need to be removed or ground down.

Protect any bare metal with paint, lest you invite the tin-worm to start...

--DD

[Rubbster]

Thank you all for you insight. I do appreciate it very much. I'm also lost when it comes to performance. I want to do a motor swap down the road. But for the time being I do want to get as much performance as possible out of the 2.0. Can I have your thoughts on that as well?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Bring money. Be ready to compromise things like driveability, heat, comfort, engine lifespan...

Exhaust is the #1 thing. A stock 73-74 2.0 exhaust will help; it is the main engine difference between those and the 75-76 cars, and the difference in power is 88 vs. 95 HP (DIN rating). An actual header will generally get you more, but you lose all pretense of heat (or windshield defogging!) and the cost goes up from a moderate to an immense amount. The absolute best one we know of so far is from Tangerine Racing (Tangerine Racing Home) but the quality definitely costs.

After that, you are starting to talk about tearing into the engine (doing at least a partial rebuild) and spending more money.

--DD