75 1.7L 914 Build, for my own learning and project tracking Options

[Vicious]

I've always wanted to own a 914. My dad had a few before I came along and talked about it often. In high school we looked for one to build together but it never happened. In July of 2022, I was visiting my goddaughter at her grandfather's house when the grandfather and I got to talking about cars. He was talking about Karmann Ghias and I said something along the lines of "I'd much rather have a Porsche 914" to which he responded "I've got one. Its been sitting for 20 years" I jokingly told him to let me know if he wanted to sell it. When he came back and said for $1000.00 I could have it I agreed sight unseen.

August of 2022, still never having seen the car, I made the 4 hour drive back with my trailer to pick up my new to me 914. I had no idea what to expect and honestly expected the worst. It had been sitting for 20 years after all. This is the backstory I was given, as best I can remember:

In the early 2000s, he took his rusted out 1973 (i think) 914 to a shop in Des Moines, IA to be restored. They ultimately decided to pick up a shell in I believe Arkansas and frankenstein a car together. Thus why my 1975 has a 1.7L in it. Car got a fresh coat of paint and a rebuild and he drove it home. He was then unable to title the vehicle due to the body swap, stashed it in the back of his shed and never touched it again. Unfortunately, after all this time, he was unable to find any of his paperwork or keys to the vehicle.

Here's how the vehicle looked after getting it out of the shed.

[Vicious]

Gave the car a bath and dragged her home. I was over the moon at the condition of the car given the price Id paid and what I expected walking in.

[brant]

Title process is likely to be a barrier
I’d want to get it titled in my name before doing any work whatsoever

[Vicious]

Got it into my garage, and being the overzealous dummy that I was I got to work tearing it down to get it ready for the road. The hellhole was in great shape, the cylinders, pistons and heads appeared to be in great shape. Im glad i did not try to start it as there was some nests inside the tins that would have blocked the cooling flanges from opening. What confused me then and continues to confuse me now is the rust. The body had no rust, very very clean. Far from perfect but clean. Not surprising considering it had been stored inside. But the exhaust and heat exchangers had completely rusted through, The engine tins had a lot of surface rust and in some spots had begun rusting through. The jugs of the cylinders had a lot of surface rust, several of the bolts for the tins were rusted to the point they snapped with very minimal force applied, even with PB. Back to the dummy part. In my haste and inexperience, I got straight to work. Gutted the interior, dropped the motor, pulled the gas tank so I could replace all the gas lines. Dissassembled the motor. I didn't document anything well enough. I thought I'd be putting this car on the road in the matter of a few months and could operate from memory reassembling.

[Vicious]

Some more photos

[Vicious]

Unfortunately, as it does, life happened. I broke my back. Spent a lot of time laid up, then my wife and I welcomed our second child. Then new job, yada yada, excuses excuses. Car went back into storage. Now, 2.5 years later I'm finally getting serious about getting it back on the road. Some of the parts have been ordered. Working on restoring some of the tins now. Unfortunately I didn't really properly store anything so I'm nervous about what I will find. Engine was stored with the heads and jugs off.

This forum has been so fascinating and informative. There are people on here with such impressive skillsets and knowledge and I'm excited to learn all I can. I'm a young guy with BASIC mechanical knowledge, but this will be above and beyond anything Ive ever done before.

My list as of now:
-motor rebuild
-new headers and exhaust since heat exchangers are shot and i dont really need heat
-new gas lines.
-rebuild brake calipers
-interior refresh
-run through electrical since there was nests in the car

[Vicious]

Title process is likely to be a barrier
I’d want to get it titled in my name before doing any work whatsoever

Luckily, this was not an obstacle and I've obtained a title. I had done it before and so I was not overly concerned. At the time I figured worst case, it was $1000 and I could easily get my money back parting it out.

[euro911]

Looks like you have a good foundation to work from


Take a look in the classified ads for parts you might need to replace. Of course, you can always place WTB ads there as well.


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[emerygt350]

That really does look like a nice project! Good luck and take your time. I would definitely put some 96mm jugs on there and maybe some 1.8 heads or something like that.

[Spoke]

-motor rebuild

Having owned a 1.7L, 1.8L, 2.0L and currently 2.056L engines, I'd look for a good used 2.0L or greater engine. Or buy a big 4 from PMB or other supplier. The 1.7L/1.8L engines lack power.

The 2.056L I have was purchased from Garold Shaffer as a non-running engine. It too had a mouse nest but otherwise was operational and has run well for many years.

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[Vicious]

-motor rebuild

Having owned a 1.7L, 1.8L, 2.0L and currently 2.056L engines, I'd look for a good used 2.0L or greater engine. Or buy a big 4 from PMB or other supplier. The 1.7L/1.8L engines lack power.

The 2.056L I have was purchased from Garold Shaffer as a non-running engine. It too had a mouse nest but otherwise was operational and has run well for many years.

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Dumb question, what exactly is the difference between a 2.0 vs 2.056?

[brant]

2mm per a piston bore change.
same stroke.

the 1.7 heads would have to be cut and they have the smallest valves already.

to make a 2056 on a 1.7 you also have to stroke the motor with the crankshaft/rods from a 2.0

those pistons on a 1.7 crank will create a 1911cc with the short stock 1.7 crank.

putting the 1.8 heads gives you slightly bigger valves over the 1.7 heads
puttting the 2.0 heads onto the same gives you bigger valves than the 1.8 head does.

[emerygt350]

2mm per a piston bore change.
same stroke.

the 1.7 heads would have to be cut and they have the smallest valves already.

to make a 2056 on a 1.7 you also have to stroke the motor with the crankshaft/rods from a 2.0

those pistons on a 1.7 crank will create a 1911cc with the short stock 1.7 crank.

putting the 1.8 heads gives you slightly bigger valves over the 1.7 heads
puttting the 2.0 heads onto the same gives you bigger valves than the 1.8 head does.

But then you need 2.0 tin. Does the 1.8 have the same spark plug angle as the 1.7? 1.8 also will make for a higher compression.

[brant]

1.7/ 1.8 the same angle

2.0 has the unique angle

Either motor/heads can be built to any compression if the builder chooses

[Vicious]

2mm per a piston bore change.
same stroke.

the 1.7 heads would have to be cut and they have the smallest valves already.

to make a 2056 on a 1.7 you also have to stroke the motor with the crankshaft/rods from a 2.0

those pistons on a 1.7 crank will create a 1911cc with the short stock 1.7 crank.

putting the 1.8 heads gives you slightly bigger valves over the 1.7 heads
puttting the 2.0 heads onto the same gives you bigger valves than the 1.8 head does.

Thanks a lot for this info.

1.7/ 1.8 the same angle

2.0 has the unique angle

Either motor/heads can be built to any compression if the builder chooses

So I could use my existing tins if I swapped to 1.8 heads?

[brant]

Believe so

But even a hole saw and bit of welding can solve that problem
Depends if you want the hp?

[Vicious]

Believe so

But even a hole saw and bit of welding can solve that problem
Depends if you want the hp?

I'd definitely enjoy the hp. But the long term goal is to swap a motor into it later, so I think for now I want to focus on getting it on the road without putting a massive amount of money into a motor that I eventually plan to take out. But if I find a great deal on a set of 1.8 heads I'd jump on it.

[bajafreaks]

Going with 2.0 heads requires different heat exchangers/exhaust and manifolds. Stay with the 1.8 heads and have them machined for 42mm valves like the 2.0 heads.

[brant]

You can put either style of early exhaust onto any block as long as the components are matched to each other

Late style exhaust would also fit but robs HP and should always be back dated for that reason on all motors

[Vicious]

Good news! As previously stated, the guy i bought the car off of offered very little information. I was able to determine on initial tear down that the case was a 1.7case and didn't really look past that as it made sense as he said the motor came out of a 73.

Today i measured and it already had 96mm jugs on. So either the heads were machined or swapped for 1.8 heads. Rough measurement of the valves shows a 39mm intake, 33mm exhaust, which from what i understand means it is a 1.7 head. If the heads were already worked for 96mm jugs is it still worth it to look for 1.8 heads?

Pictures of heads. Need to be cleaned and probably decked, although if it has only ~200 miles since the heads were redecked, do i need to worry about that?