I bought this car to restore in about 2015 from a seller on eBay. I selected it because of its low mileage, the body was straight with hardly any rust, it was quite complete and lastly, because I love the original signal orange color. It was a non running restoration candidate.
I am selling it not completed because I have other projects going and I find finishing them is getting more difficult as I get older. My loss will be your gain if you can put a couple weeks into the final assembly and get it running. The starting bid is much less than I have spent on it!
When I started taking it apart, I did find some rust. The passenger floor rear half was weak, the spare tire well had a few holes, the battery tray was shot and there was relatively minor rust below the box. I bought a floor and spare well panel from Restoration Design. I chose their panels because I had used them on both a 356SC and a 911E and was pleased with their quality and fit. I cut out the old metal and butt welded the new pieces in. I made a battery tray out of stainless steel and welded that in after fabricating sheet metal patches for the area below- 914 owners call it the "hell hole" because it is hard to see, hard to repair unless the engine is out (it was) and mostly caused by dripping battery acid.
As far as the external sheet metal, there were no rust holes, just minor dings and scratches. The original paint was very sound, so I sanded it well and covered it with a 2K surfacer and blocked until I was satisfied with all the surfaces. I then painted it with a PPG Omni basecoat in signal orange and a PPG clearcoat, I do not remember which one. Extra basecoat goes with the car. It was then flattened and polished.
I had decided to not use the 1.7 EFI engine. It was seized and I would like more power. I bought a new engine, 2.3 liters from SCAT engines in CA. I also got dual 40mm Weber downdrafts and the manifolds along with a Pertronix distributor and coil from them. I stripped the old engine cooling tin and the heat fan and painted them with the same signal orange. I bought a Holley electric fuel pump and attached it below the gas tank. It can either be wired from the ignition or the relay panel in the engine compartment. Instructions on doing that are on the internet.
I rebuilt the calipers, installed a front sway bar, had the bumpers rechromed, rebuilt CV joints, and bought new Goodyear 195/65/15 tires and put them on aftermarket "gas burner" wheels I got from Auto Atlanta. I still have the steel wheels and some VW hubcaps that came with the car, the buyer is welcome to them, though shipping may be problematic. I made an exhaust using the original heat exchangers as they were in good condition. I bought a header on eBay and fabricated tubing into a new glass pack muffler with a single chrome outlet in the stock position. All of it was TIG welded.
The seats are in good condition, I assume they were redone at some point although there is a small tear (approximately 1 .25 inches) in the driver's seat back. It does have a third seatbelt, although I can't figure out what size of human could ride on the console in comfort and not interfere with the driver. Many of you already know that the passenger seat is nonadjustable and part of the rear trim panel on the earlier cars. I replaced the multi cracked upper dashboard with an expensive new piece. The original lower piece is fine. The stock instrument panel covering is the weave Porsche used even on 911s in that era. I made panels out of leopard wood veneer to fancy it up a bit; at this point the buyer can decide which they prefer to use. The weave material is inexpensive and easy to find. I also made thin panels for a "console" that will house a Porsche VDO voltmeter, clock and oil temperature gauge (with sender). If the buyer wants to use it, it will need to be assembled and fitted after the lower dash is installed. All 3 gauges will run from a single hot wire and a common ground. I bought replacement carpeting. The targa top is in very good condition. It was dirty when I took the pictures because it has sat for so long, but it is quite usable as is. I am including a Becker Europa period correct radio and speakers in new correct housings.
I have what I believe is a complete original tool kit in its bag, the jack and a water damaged owner's manual.
Here is what it will need:
The brakes will need to be bled.
Crankcase vent tubing needs to be run for each valve cover and the crankcase to a breather box that will be with the car. It can mount simply on the firewall.
It will need a battery and hold downs, I think I have the cables ready.
The fuel pump will need to be powered and plumbed (I believe the existing gas line is still there).
The carb to gas pedal cable will need to be hooked up, this might require a bit if finagling.
The power from the key will need to be found and hooked to the coil.
Set the timing and carb mixtures and synchronization.
Ride height will need to be set. Right now, the rear tires hit the fender lip. Auto Atlanta assures me that if the ride height is correct, they won't rub. I know the front is way too high, that may be causing the rear to squat. I will put steel wheels on the back so it will
roll without damaging the perfect fender lips. The 914 has massive storage space- front and rear. I know I can put at least two wheels in the front trunk for transport.
The dash and the interior along with rubber sealing gaskets need to be installed. I bought and will include an entire seal kit I got from Auto Atlanta.
There is undoubtedly more that I am forgetting, but that is at least most of it. A word of caution, I have never driven this car, there may be issues you will discover when I would have- when you try to put it on the road. unfortunately, I am not able to represent it as a perfectly driving car. The only thing I haven't checked is the transaxle, but they are pretty bullet proof as long as the shift bushings and the clutch are new (both are). Given how good the condition of the rest of the car is, I have always been optimistic that once the list is done and fluids are added, it will be ready to run!
Ask me whatever you want. The title is clean in my name and I have the keys. When I started this, I expected to be driving it in a year or so. I worked on it like it would always be my treasure, not skimping on anything. Life gets in the way sometimes