[sammyg2]

I just recently sold my 914-v8 car, and I would like to dispel
some myths.
1. added weight. a small block chevy with an aluminum radiator, aluminum intake manifold, headers, and cast iron heads will only add about 225 lbs. to the weight of the car, and it is in front of the rear wheels. Big deal.
Take a stock 914 and put a fairly large friend in the passenger seat. does that really change the handling that much? you may feel the added weight as far as acceleration goes, but it really doesn't make that much difference in cornering.
A while back Mike Z. was ripping up San Diego at an auto-x in the rocket. He took me for a lap or two, and his times were within a second of his fastest of the day if I remember correctly.
That is in a car that already had an extra 125 or so lbs. from the six conversion.
2. Brakes. If stock brakes are good enough for a stock engined 914, then they are good enough for a v-8 914 unless you take the car faster than the stocker would go, probably around 115.
I upgraded the brakes eventually, but if the stock brakes are in perfect working condition, they are fine unless you want to drive like a complete madman.
3. Chassis flex. Unless you change the stock rubber suspension bushings to nylon, they will flex more than the chassis will.
The engine torque has very little to do with the chassis flex. Hard cornering will flex the chassis much more than the engine.
4. 901 tranny. Why lock out 1st gear? If the driver knows it is weak, then is it possible to just not use it under full throttle? I rebuilt my tranny and I left 1st gear available. It is nice having it to pull into the garage up a hill or onto a trailer or anywhere you need to creep up slowly.
The 901 is strong. Much stronger than most think. I never jumped on the car in 1st, but I nailed it hard plenty of times in 2nd, 3rd, etc. I smoked the tires around the track plenty of times, speed shifting as fast as my arm could move and never hurt it. I did have the bolts on one CV joint start to come loose, but as far as I know it was close to 30 years old.
most opinions on v-8 cars are passed on through the years, and few come from people who have actually spent a lot of time behind the wheel of one of these cars. I remember reading them before I started my car project. I assumed they were all correct because they were coming from very knowlegable people.
A v-8 radically changes the character of the car. It gives it brute force, but it also takes away some of the charm.
Find someone who owns one of these cars. Take a ride. Maybe even drive it. Then decide for yourself.