73 2.0L Progress Thread, Engine Teardown Options

[dlee6204]

Its that time of year again so I'd thought I'd start a progress thread to help keep me motivated. I bought this car last summer as a nicer project car for me to work on and eventually be able to drive. My goal for this summer is to repair all the rust on the car and to get it running. I'll end up painting it down the road either the original Marathon Blue Metallic or Ravenna Green. I've been collecting parts all winter so hopefully I should be good to go. I've done a little work on it already but I'll bring everyone up to date. Feel free to comment, ask questions, make suggestions, tell me what I'm doing wrong or anything else for that matter. Enjoy!

Here is the car when I first picked it up. The car came fully optioned and even came with SS heat exchangers and a running two liter engine. The car was wrecked at some point and had a crappy repair done to it but I am still trying to figure out what happened. Both the driver's front corner and the driver's rear corner had damage but the door and rear quarter seem fine. I will find out more once I start stripping some paint and bondo. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)




The interior was about a 4 on a 10 scale however the dash is crack free! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)


The rear floor pan is shot and I knew that before I bought the car. The previous owner patched the floor at some point and installed three new seat brackets over the bad metal. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) I ordered a new floor pan and a fourth seat bracket from AA today.

[dlee6204]

Well this past weekend was a complete whirlwind. On Friday afternoon, I called and finally got insurance for the car. I then got my registration and plates from the DMV which meant my car was finally street legal. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

Before I could drive it, I had to do a few things. I fixed the brake and reverse lights. I also installed the seat belts and passenger seat and buttoned up a few other things. Finally the car was ready for a test drive! I took a few shorts drives, stopping to make sure nothing was on fire or anything and I gradually worked my way to longer and longer drives. Needless to say I put over 100 miles on it over 1.5 days without going more like 10 miles from my house. I even managed to take the girlfriend for a nighttime drive.

After hearing how the 914 is underpowered for all these years, I was actually surprised at how much power it DID have. The car accelerated beautifully and handled great. I don't know why no one told me how much fun these cars are! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) I became addicted to 914s when I was 13 and for the past 7 years i had yet to drive one of them until this past weekend. I had a blast driving all the back roads and I am just glad that now I finally have a car to drive. It might not be a looker but it sure is fun!

Two things that I noticed need work is the driver's side rear wheel bearing and the shift linkage needs minor adjustment. The wheel bearing was actually pretty bad so I didn't go above 60 when driving the car. The car is parked this week until I can replace the bearing this weekend. I will also replace the front wheel bearings and seals too. There is still a countless number of things left to do on the car but as least now I can enjoy it some!

The only pictures I took are of the interior after I got almost everything in. Speaker panels and sill pieces still need to be installed.


-Notice the big fire extinguisher