Need 914 Race Car Suggestions

[Charles Freeborn]

Apologies in advance for my lack of knowledge - I'm a 911 guy (so far).
Short of helping a friend restore a 914 in High School Auto shop MANY years ago I know very little about them.
That said, I've got the itch to build a conference car. Must be 1972 or earlier to qualify for vintage status. Somewhat stock, but since I'm not interested in accruing points (yet) I can get away with some performance modifications.
Who here has gone down that path, what were your choices in engine / trans / suspension / brakes and what were the associated costs?
Car will never see the street.
Thanks!
-C

[TheCabinetmaker]

car wont see the street!!! the 914 's are a blast on the street. handling is where they are at.

not sure what you are looking for. you can go total race with huge tires, big flares, gutted cockpit and a 911 motor. you will want the latest suspension, grafted in form a 911 and such to be competitive in racing.

however even in mild form these are great cars.

if your going stock, the 1.7 motor was all that was offered for the four bangers thru 1972 in 1973 they introduced the 2 liter.

the early 1.7's had the most power over the later 1.7s (low compression verses higher compression) there are over bore piston kits that fit in these motors for an increase.

the four wheel discs are great for street use, gets some Porterfeld racing pads for beat results. lower the car from stock, maybe add 50 series tires, a fat front sway bar (NO rear bar, I hated them!) stiffer springs help too.

the old soft rubber bushings if original likely need replacement, consider poly bronze by elephant racing for these.

main thing is look for a RUST FREE body. rust kills these cars quick. so be very selective with rust.

[Charles Freeborn]

Outstanding. Thanks. Track only for this one - gotta remain pretty much stock to qualify for the conference class I'm interested in. May be able to sneak a 2.0 into it, but definitely not a 6 cyl.
I anticipate a full suspension re-bush and sticky tires.
-C

[John Rogers]

I would suggest going to some vintage races in the north west to see what people are running and take lots of notes. Generally if you are building a car for a specific class in a specific race organization you are severely restricting what you can do. Remember that Porsches and 914 in particular raced with SCCA, IMSA, POC, PCA, Mexican Federations and some 911s even raced in NASCAR. They had 4's, 6's, turbo sixes, FI 4's (#22 Wayne Baker car) and as many other mixes as you could imagine.

As an example, back in 1998 I wanted to race my 1973 914-4 with VARA but they said it was a year too new, even though it had already won over 10 POC and PCA class championships, they did not care. So I signed up with HSR-West which was just starting up out here and had a blast! VARA only wanted the SCCA "production" cars and when they had their first big event at the CA Speedway and Ron showed up with the #22 914 which is a pretty famous car they nearly had a fit but let it in, in the "X" class!

So my point is, take some time, look around to see what you can do. Since spring is here and racing is starting up, used cars will be at a premium until next fall I imagine. Good luck.

[Charles Freeborn]

As it stands now I'm thinking G Production in ICSCC events. The sub category is Vintage, hence the '72 or older. Not likely that I'll do anything about it this season - great advice on fact finding first. My boss runs a '67 Healy in this class, so I'll have ample opportunity in the Pits to gather info and opinions. He's very well respected, so my association with him will go far.
-C

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Step Zero, as always, is to RTFR. Are you allowed to swap gears, or only R&P? Do you have to use parts that originally came in some 914, or can you use parts from other cars?

The 1.7 engines are much the same, except for the 1973 CA-only motor which was low compression. The other 1.7s were high compression and made 80 HP DIN spec, with a torque curve that was basically flat from 2500 RPM to 4500 RPM.

Can you change the fuel system? All of the US-spec 914s, and all of the 914-4s up through 1973, had D-jetronic fuel injection. That limits what can be done to the engine, especially the cam selection. If you are allowed to switch over to carbs, you can pick pretty much any cam you like at that point.

The stock exhaust is OK but not great. An actual tuned header setup will pick up some noticeable power, even on a stock motor. (Note that 5 HP is noticeable when you only have 80 to start with.) The least-expensive tuned-header systems that I know of start in the $600 range, and the best ones can easily be double that. The effectiveness generally goes up as the price does--the Tangerine Racing headers are the best, and cost the most.

Suspension options are pretty vast. We sell a few of the more common upgrades, but there are more out there. The 914 uses different splines on the front torsion bars than the 911 (sad to say!) but the bars are otherwise identical. Most aftermarket suppliers can get 914 bars, though demand is a bit lower so prices are often higher. If you swap in 911 A-arms, you can use 911 torsion bars.

The rear suspension on a 914 uses coil springs. There are threaded perches available that use a very commonly-available size of spring, so you can pretty much go to your local circle-track supplier and get springs in any weight you choose at that point.

The through-body sway bar in the front of a 914 is basically the same as used in the early 911. There are kits to mount bars in 914s that don't have them; cost and quality both vary. Weltmeister is a popular budget option; Tarrett is generally better and more costly. Rear sway bars were a factory option; some people like them and some do not. I liked mine with stock suspension (and both sways) but not when I started upgrading the suspension bits. The stock sway bar can bottom on the trunk floor on a significantly lowered car, which will cause problems. The bar can also unload the inside tire, which makes cars without a limited-slip lose drive.

LSDs were a factory option, but very rare. The factory ZF LSD is going to be very pricey if you need one, and may be hard to find. You can use one from a 911 (up through 1969) but that's still not common. Installation can be a lot of work (read: $$$) too.

Brakes are a subject that can spawn a lot of discussion. Swapping in 911 front brakes is easy; just use 911 front struts and you get the five-lug wheels and brakes with them. Rears are harder to swap over; we have a Tech Article on going 5-lug which details some of the options.

If the stock brakes are in top working order, they are pretty good. I know someone who uses stock brakes on the track and regularly out-brakes M3s. Good pads and fresh fluid are musts for that.

The proportioning valve on the firewall behind the driver's butt is difficult to bleed and often a source of sponginess. Some like to replace it with a Tee, but that defeats the purpose of a proportioning valve. It can be replaced by an adjustable valve, which is good if you know how to adjust it.

The 914 can be a real hoot to drive. You can also sink a whole lot of money into it...

--DD

[Charles Freeborn]

Many thanks Dave! I'll have to ease my way into this due to financial constraints.... so my strategy will be to work with used 911 parts wherever possible, and upgrade as able. I don't think that I'll be restrained to stock injection, and certainly not CA standards, so carbs and cams should be fair game.
I have no delusions about winning races (not likely for some time), so my initial concern is a car that's fun and more importantly safe. Considering that I'll be running in the same class as my boss, who is a former Indy driver, the best I could ever hope to do is a second...
Thanks for the comprehensive info. I'll print out and add to the notes on this project.
-C

[Patrick3000]

Great post as usual Dave, one more thing to add is to start with a rust free car. Rust is the achilles heal of the 914 and will take time and $$$ to fix. If you are not familiar with the rust issues take the time to educate yourself. They make a great vintage track car enjoy!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

You can start with a rusty car, you just have to do a ton of work to de-rust it to the point where you can trust it on track. See the "Yet Another Rescue Porsche" for one rust replacement saga. Not for the faint of heart--and it is certainly easier to start with a 914 that isn't rusted to heck.

--DD

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by Dave at Pelican Parts

You can start with a rusty car, you just have to do a ton of work to de-rust it to the point where you can trust it on track. See the "Yet Another Rescue Porsche" for one rust replacement saga. Not for the faint of heart--and it is certainly easier to start with a 914 that isn't rusted to heck.

--DD

Hey, I resemble that remark! It is nice to know that my thread has achieved saga status.

Dave is correct and has been most helpful on my journey!

[Charles Freeborn]

I've heard back from the Sovren organizers and I'd fall into the Group E Production class.
They seem to pretty much follow SCCA rules:
SOVREN » SCCA Production Car Specifications

It appears that there are gear ratio alternates allowed. I need to learn a bunch more to know what that all means....

I'll report back.
-C

[65rsr]

I'd consider starting your project with a ex SCCA / IMSA or other current 914 race car or roller rather than a stock 914. Probably be much less expensive in the long run, and you'll probably get a bunch of spares in the deal too. Something like this?

Porsche 914 race car complete roller for sale

[Charles Freeborn]

Originally Posted by 65rsr

I'd consider starting your project with a ex SCCA / IMSA or other current 914 race car or roller rather than a stock 914. Probably be much less expensive in the long run, and you'll probably get a bunch of spares in the deal too. Something like this?

Porsche 914 race car complete roller for sale

I've seen that ad. Neat car, but well out of my price range for now - especially considering there's no driveline. I have no delusions about being competitive - I'm just out for fun. I have full fabrication facilities at my disposal, so this will be an ongoing project which will have to start from "humble beginnings"

Thanks,

-C