Jumping back into the 914 scene, got a lead on a 1 owner signal orange 73 - 1.7 that has been sitting outside in Central Valley California uncovered for about 20 years ("ran when parked"). Went and looked at the car yesterday, little surface rust on the battery tray, no visible rust under it, passenger long has no visible rust. Seems complete but obviously weather beaten. He only wants a couple hundred dollars so I'm not going to pass it up. Looking for a checklist of absolute musts to attempt to get the car started
Must;
- Remove fuel tank, clean and check for rust
- replace all fuel lines and filter
- replace injector seals
- soak injectors? in what?
- change oil with what type?
- clean all contact on relay board and fuse panel
What else?
Anyone point me to some threads of those that have done this before? I've searched for "resurrect" "revive" "sitting outside" no good hits.
Thanks!
-Luke
Brakes: hoses, calipers and the MC.....! And let's see it. Sounds like a good find.
tires too
Vacuum hoses.
Steve
After some of the pictures I have seen recently about old cases being drained of oil and getting a really nasty looking fluid come out, I would:
Dont even crank the engine but drain it first, fill with the cheapest oil you can get.
Put in a known good battery that is fully charged.
disconnect the Ign wire from the coil
Hook it to a good batt charger with cranking assist and crank it for as long as it takes to register 'some' oil pressure ( I use a mechanical pressure gauge installed at the pressure port near the dist.)
Repeat the above if you have the patience.
You should only get ~3.5 quarts each time you drain the engine.
Then drain it the final time and replace with Brad Penn or Valvoline VR1 racing oil.
All before trying to start it
This is what I did to get my 1974 914 1.8 started:
1. Put some fresh oil in the engine.
2. Changed a broken hose.
3. Didn't have spark, so I removed, cleaned and gapped the points inside the distributor.
4. Put some fuel inside the throttle vane. It did start and ran a few seconds. GOOD!
5. Removed and cleaned the gas tank. (it had gummy residue inside and the lines on the bottom were plugged). Put the tank back in and poured a gallon of fuel and a bottle of injector cleaner.
6. Removed the injectors from the engine but left the connected to the fuel supply line to see if they would squirt fuel while cranking. They did not. So i got some carburetor cleaner spray and did my best to clean them.
7. Connected the injectors (4) back on the fuel supply lines and cranked the engine. They were now squirting some fuel. GOOD! Put them back in the engine.
8. For the next month or so I ran the engine a few times (parked) a week adding more fuel and injector cleaner to the tank. Each time it ran better. After a few weeks the engine would run to redline and idle back perfectly.
9. Next I put the rear on jackstands and changed the transmission oil. Removed the wheels and ran the engine and changed gears to see if the gearbox worked. Gearbox GOOD!
Hope this helps
Claus Graf
Hey Claus,
How long had it been since your 1.8 last ran?
Steve
Sounds like a solid project. Rust is always the biggest deal. The others are much easier to work through. So good to hear it is solid. Looking forward to the pics & good luck
come to find out the car has sat in this location for about 8 years and 12 years at the previous location. Tow truck driver had the car nearly loaded before I got there and took pics
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In my opinion I would pour Marvel Mystery oil down the spark plug hole and or PB Blaster sprayed into each cylinder to brake the rings away from cylinders. Then take an air lines and put a little air to move the oil around wait two days and do it again. After about a week hand roll the engine over or put the car in 2nd see if you can roil it gently. Now drain the oil and ad new oil ( 30 weight ) put the injection together start it and see what you got??? It will smoke allot for about 10 minutes, keep the RPM way down, And don't forget to adjust the valves before starting the motor. Good Luck.
I just did this for a 73 914 2.0 that was sitting for 33 years I drove the car within 5 hours of getting it home with a single carb. It ran so good I did not rebuild it I just pulled it & resealed everything returned it back to F.I. and its been great.
safe at home, just needs new tires, fresh gas and its ready to go right?
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Don't paint it..... if that the original paint. buff it out you will be surprised.
FYI I would have paid about 2k for that car. I would say you got a great deal. 1.7 sell very well IMHO
have fun getting the wheel locks off PB blaster everything under the car brakes every bolt you can see
You daggone Californians.
Doesn't anything rust over there?
Looks promising. Don't forget to add the VIN to the database.
Nice car are you in the Fresno area I saw your from the Central Valley . If you Ned anything let me know . I have a stash of parts .
Damn, I would love to spend a day massaging that paint. So much potential there.
same car with Corey in Seal Beach except the mahle wheels and interior color.
A really nice find you got there!
Great find! Keep the thread going as you bring it back to life. Interior pix?
Phoenix Red is an awesome dark orange color.
Nice find!
front trunk and engine
rear trunk is locked so I dropped off the front trunk tumbler at a locksmith, the key is ready to pickup so when I get home I hope to find some golden eagles from the same time period to pay for all the work this is gonna need
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Very nice find.
don't think fix a flat will take care of that rear tire????
That should be a fun project- at least in pix, no bad bubbles around the sail panels...
nice
hell hole area
Nice Score Luke!
I'm very glad to see that you have a 914 again, I look forward to a mountain twisty tour again.
Pretty much everything about that car looks like a clean it up and drive it project. So cool
Dude. Please post one more time. 999 is killin' me.
What a great find. Replace everything that might cause your car to burn up and take it for a spin. I know you know these cars are fun. Enjoy it!
Sweet. You got a great deal.
There is a lot to work with there. My car was way worse, (still is) and I drive it every day. Good luck with it, we are here to help and keep in mind that these are SIMPLE cars. Frustrating yes, but simple. Everything I set my mind to do or fix has worked out well, it just takes time and being clever.
Passenger front and rear brakes, driver side looks the same
I'll be ordering rebuild kits and rubber lines from PMBPerformance and then flush the system.
Should I attempt to save the rotors and have them lightly turned or just replace?
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Those longs look great...
Is that the definition of "run flats"?
Bet that paint will be WAY soft cooking in CA sun so go easy with the buffer.
That's a great looking set up longs.
That right there makes it worth buying.
Had the chance to meet Luke today really nice guy I dropped off parts for him and took him for a ride in the 914wrx put a smile on his face . Luke can't wait for you to get the that car running . I was really surprised by the condition of the car and the lack of rust really clean Central Valley car .
Your longs look great!
let the cylinders soak a couple days in some marvel mystery oil, changed the engine oil and filter
This doesn't look like 20+ year old oil but then again I haven't seen 20+ year old oil before
Hooked up a battery and it turned over, put a compression tester on each cylinder and got around 140 psi on #1,2,4 and a little over 130 psi on #3
shipped my injectors to Mr Injector and getting ready to order all new fuel system components including; SS tunnel and engine compartment lines, rubber hose, injector upper/lower seals, relocate new 2 port fuel pump up front. Pulled the tank to drop off to radiator shop to get cleaned. Who knows, maybe late next week she'll run!
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That oil looks like it was never run.
Great looking car, at least the longs are in good shape, good luck on your project.
Thought I'd update the thread
After a crap ton of work this little guy is back on the road, to work tomorrow
Terrible pic more to come
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Wow, you really scored!! That thing looks good. Doing carpet is easy too!
Just take your time. New carpet makes a big difference.
Congrats on getting your car on the road so quickly. That's the hardest part!
incredible find! Very nice work
Very nice save! More photos when you get a chance.
Good work! Way to get it done. How's it driving?
The original paint on my pure-German 300D was similar. I applied three coats of Maguiar's #7. First the clay bar treatment then the wax. I let the first coat of #7 soak for 24 hours so the paint could absorb the oil. Then applied two more coats per instructions, then two applications of Mother's Carnuba wax. I liked the results. That 914 should clean up the same.
All hand application, NO buffer involved.
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Change the transmission oil too. I've taken apart transmissions stored for years in a hot climate and found the oil deteriorates and leave a waxy coating on all the interior parts.
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