BUILD-OFF CHALLENGE: Creamsicle, Extreme Budget Makeover of Daily Driver LE Options

[poorsche914]

HISTORY: purchased in spring 2010

Advertised on the Asheville area Craigslist, the pictures of this '74 914 were extremely low res and blurry. I emailed the seller asking for more info and clearer photos. He never responded with anything useful except for the VIN which fell in the range of Can Am production. Hard to tell any details but I could see it was a white car (more on that later) with no sail vinyl. Hmmm... could it be?



I had a '75 2.0 with an interested buyer. Better than that, he procurred both a tow vehicle AND a trailer and volunteered to drive me the 3+ hours to view the '74. The deal was... if I bought the '74, he would buy my '75.

We headed to the northwest section of North Carolina and met the seller. At this point the 914 was stored in a metal outbuilding. After removing boxes and other stuff, we rolled the dusty, dirty car out into the lawn. I did a quick check and my suspicions were correct... a possible LE! I spied bits of orange hiding behind the white on the wheels and the bumpers. A quick check under the front end showed the air dam mounting tabs. OK, time to deal!



The 914 had definitely seen better days. The engine had a mismatch of FI parts, the longs (and elsewhere) were rusty, the entire car had been painted white (bumpers, wheels, trim, etc). To top it off, a custom wing fabricated from a Trans Am unit had been mounted to the rear deck lid. All this had been done nearly 20 years earlier when the owner was 17 years old. He parked it when he and his friends realized it just wasn't big enough for everyone to cruise around in.



My offer was his absolute minimum so the deal was made. The 914 was loaded up and we headed back to Tennessee. Once home, the '74 was unloaded and the '75 loaded onto the trailer. I actually made a little money on this deal but went from a running 914 to a non-runner in need of a lot of work. But... I now owned a Creamsicle!



To be cont'd...

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PS: found THIS THREAD from when I first bought it

[poorsche914]

FIVE YEARS LATER...

The past five years have seen work done on the suspension, brakes, and engine (see this thread) along with some shoddy bodywork.

YEAR ONE: Found out my interior was originally cinnamon but dyed black (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
Sorted out FI system and finally got the engine running in the fall 2010. Here is a THREAD discussing some of that. And another one.

YEAR TWO: After running almost exactly 1000 miles, the original engine spun a main bearing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) This was in spring 2011.
The search began for a replacement. During the summer, I located a short block with transaxle somewhere north of Knoxville. No history on the engine. Didn't even know if it would run. But the price was right and I bought it.
I installed the engine and actually drove it 1500+ miles roundtrip to MUSR12 in Hot Springs, AR in the fall 2011. Ran strong even if it smoked a little (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

YEARS THREE thru FIVE: Been a daily drive ever since though it now smokes quite a bit more and uses oil at an alarming rate (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)
Aug 2012 - refurbed suspension, brakes, etc and cleaned up engine (see thread)
Won "Jack Stand Award" at Okteenerfest 2013 - OK, Ok... time to fix some things.
Some shoddy bodywork and paint was done (by a "professional") over winter 2013-14. It's a 20-footer for sure.
Added the "phoenix red" to bumpers, air dam, rockers in fall 2014 in time for Okteenerfest 2014.
Did almost nothing to it during 2015 and it shows (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

THE PLANS:
1. Got a Raby 2056 with dual 44s in the works. It's been a long time coming but I should have the RAT engine sometime this fall (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drooley.gif)
2. Before I install the new engine, I need to do some rust/paint work in the engine bay. The hell hole needs attention for sure. Figure I might as well take care of the rear trunk area while I am at it.
3. Interior needs major attention. I plan on stripping the paint, treating the rust, metal repair as needed, and then install new carpet, etc
4. The front end... old accident damage that was improperly repaired needs to be done correctly. Not sure if I am ready to tackle that just yet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)
5. Wheels - need to be stripped and painted Phoenix Red

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