Another 914 goes under the knife, UPDATE: IT'S ALIVE....FINALLY Options

[vintage914racer]

Today was a chilling day, both figuratively and literally. You see, I dropped off my 1970 914-6 for some long overdue structural repairs in Northern Minnesota. It was both freakishly cold and a milestone in my 914 ownership.

A little backstory....




Since I was was a kid cars have been a part of my life, particularly 914s. In the early 1980's my father, who was in his early 30's, was diagnosed with cancer and endured months of experimental treatment at the U of M. Miraculously he overcame the odds and entered remission. Upon paying back his medical bills he celebrated by purchase a 1970 914-6.

This particular car brings back many fond memories from my childhood. I remember riding in between my parents in the front seat, urging my dad to go faster. I remember riding in the car as we drove up to Brainerd International Raceway to watch the IMSA Camel GT series run. I remember my school age friends looking at the speedometer in awe, simply blown away that it went up to 180mph. As a kid I affectionately referred to the car as "Speedy."

Long story short, the car fell into my possession many years later following my father's passing and would become a reminder of the great times I spent with him. The car spent the majority of the last 20-years languishing in our garage. It was brought back to life mechanically, but had a number of battle wounds that accumulated both by me as a lackadaisical kid and from corrosion on the non-galvanized body. Knowing that a car does not do wel sitting, I enthusiastically drove it whenever I could. In fact the last couple years I had it on the road I probably average 3k miles per year, which is a lot for a sports car in Minnesota where it snows 6 months out of the year...more on this later.

Deep down I knew that the car suffered from corrosion and I finally faced it head on when I removed the rocker covers just over a year ago. I soon discovered that the car suffered in the usual rust areas. So much that I was no longer comfortable driving it. The passenger side needed an inner and outer long. The drivers side needed an outer panel. I found that the rear half of the floorpan required replacement. Surprisingly, the hell hole was in pretty decent shape.

Despite having some little welding experience under my belt I knew the repairs weren't in my wheelhouse. After consulting the 914world brain trust I quickly learned that that the solution to my problems was just a couple hour drive away. Rick, aka Rick918S, has torn apart a number of 914s and after some back and forth he agreed to tackle the project.

Before hauling the car up north, I pulled the engine and interior. Upon pulling the engine I learned that the car no longer has it's original motor, rather is has one from a 68s. For the record the engine is stamped with 901/02 and serial number 4080519. Makes sense since the car seemed to have more zip than 110hp brings. Once stripped of the engine I loaded it up on my trailer in anticipation of the pilgrimage north.



So, this morning at the crack of dawn I hopped in my truck and made the 2.5 hour trip to Duluth, MN, with the car. Normally a trip to Duluth isn't a big deal, however the weather made it a bit more exciting. Earlier this week we got dumped on by snow. In the Minneapolis metro we got about 8-inches. Duluth got closer to 18-inches. If the snow along wasn't enough, the temperature brought things to a new level. When I left my house in Minneapolis the temperature read -7 degrees. As I got closer to Duluth the thermometer dropped to -19F. Soon thereafter it dropped to -26.



Part of me thought the car would break down and I would become a human popsicle. With inconsistently plowed roads part of me also thought I would careen off the road, but with a stroke of luck I made it to Duluth in one piece.



Rick and I unloaded the car quickly in an effort to escape the cold and rolled the car into his shop.



At present the car sits in good company next to a 1960s Mercedes roadster. Whereas the 914 normally hibernates during winters, this year it will partake in a makeover program. The aforementioned structural elements will get repaired. Concurrently I will be putting the engine on a stand to adjust the valves and replacing gaskets and seals as needed. I'll open the transmission to make sure everything looks good. I plan to replace the sail panel vinyl, carpet, shocks and rechrome the rear bumper. Inevitably, the slop will get more slippery. The goal is to have a stong structural and mechanical foundation come spring. Once complete, I'll drive the car for a few years before tackling the superficial cosmetic blemishes.

Stay tuned for a photo diary of the progress.

[vintage914racer]

I am very thankful that Rick decided to take on this project and look forward to watching the progress unfold. It is a great car and I look forward to it being structurally sound enough to put back on the road for many more years to come. I now have a two year old, Benjie, and look forward to spending time with him in the car.

Since the car has been in the family for about 30 years we have a lot of the service history. More impressive though is the stack of repair and purchase orders from the previous two owners.





After looking through big stack of documents I can piece together the cars history, beginning in Louisville where it was sold new and then in the early 80's when it traveled north to Minnesota.

Ownership History:

1970: Purchased by a Mr. Mike Losey at Don Corlett Porsche/Audi
1982: Carousel Porsche/Audi in Minneapolis aquires the car
1982: Carousel sells the car to Kevin Kirby of Sioux Falls, SD
1984: The car returns to Carousel and my father purchases it shortly thereafter

I find the Carousel connection pretty neat. My dad initiated a relationship with this dealer upon buying the 914 and maintained a strong relationship with them for his years thereafter. It was through this connection that I got my first real job working there. Any high schoolers dream, they hired me on at the ripe age of 15 as a lot runner. I worked there through high school, college and a couple years out of college concurrently moving from lot runner to service advisor to sales associate. Bottom line, much like Carousel was an important part of the 914s life, it was also a big part of my life.

So, back to the service history... In the file I must have 15 odd repair orders from the cars first 15 years.






It's certainly fun looking back at was done and the incredibly low price charged to do some of the work. Digging through the documents I can see that the car had persistent carb problems. They were rebuilt a number of times and ultimately replaced. There was an engine fire that likely stemmed from fuel issues.



It's also interesting to look back and see problems that still persist. Here are just a few. There is a repair order for a rattle in the passenger door panel. That rattle is still there today. A new dash was added at one point, which explains why the dash looks so nice. The odometer was replaced at 53k miles in 1982. This explains why the current odometer reads in the 18k mile range.

All in all, the comprehensive packet of records really helps to reconstruct the car's history.

This thread will start the documentation of the cars future.