Member intro/pictures/Questions!, Introducing myself, showing my car, and asking for advice Options

[B3owulf]

Hello all, first post here. Been a member for a while but could not post for some reason. Its working now so here goes!

I have a 1973 I bought as a rolling chassis and pile of parts. It has a 1.7 engine and has been 5-lug converted. Been working on and off for about 6 months and having a lot of fun. So far have done a bit of rust repair, sent it off for paint, and started re-assembling. Pictures are below, also looking for a bit of advice.

About to put it on hold for about nine months (Im in the US Army and will be deploying) and plan on ordering engine parts so I can hopefully get it running on post deployment leave. which means I need to decide which course of action to take:

COA 1 - Approximately $1,000-$1200. Get the current 1.7 running and install as is - need to get the webers rebuilt or replaced, need ignition system, some fuel system components and a flywheel. Issue being 70hp will be way to slow.

COA 2 - Approximately $4000-$5,000. Build a larger four cylinder (2.2L-2.4L) shooting for 130-140 hp and have fun. Seems like a good possibility and is in the lead so far but I am concerned about the quality of the parts out there. Almost everything I find seems to be made in china.

COA 3 - Approximately $10000 (?) try doing a 6 cylinder swap. This is what I WANT to do but not sure how realistic $10k is to get it done. Advantage being a good running sorted out 6 cylinder will be worth a lot more and with 9 months of tax free income it is a great time to do it (maybe now or never type of thing)

Anyway looking for some advice from the experts and any input you might have. Thanks!

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.ibb.co-25879-1655171221.1.jpg)
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[iankarr]

Great looking car! Is it Ravenna Green? Awesome that you're working on it with your son.

I'd put COA 1.5 in the mix...build a 2056 with a hot cam for 5-7K, depending on what you're doing for heads. Lots of proven combinations out there.

Whichever way you decide to go, this community will be here to help. Thanks so much for your service.

[Superhawk996]

Great looking car! Is it Ravenna Green? Awesome that you're working on it with your son.

I'd put COA 1.5 in the mix...build a 2056 with a hot cam for 5-7K, depending on what you're doing for heads. Lots of proven combinations out there.

Whichever way you decide to go, this community will be here to help. Thanks so much for your service.

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You are way, way off on the COA 3 - /6 option. By at least double if not triple unless you already have a running six sitting in your garage. I currently have a 2.4L six that is a work in progress and I easily have $9K in machining the case, rebuilding the heads, resizing the rods, crankshaft machining. OEM main bearings are about $850 alone! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/yikes.gif)

I'll also add that COA 1 -- 76 HP isn't too slow. 914's will never be fast cars in a straight line by modern standards. Any recent Tesla is going to put even a LS motor swapped 914 to shame from 0-60 mph.

What 914's do exceptionally well is carry speed though corners. They are built for handling, not straight line acceleration. COA 1 is great for learning how to drive, carry speed though the corners, and to use momentum to your advantage.

COA - 2 to build an engine with the HP you're wanting, with any semblance of durability, you'll need a set of LN Engineering Nickies. Those will cost $4K just for the pistons and cylinders. You'll also need a decent set of Heads. When I bought a set from Len at HAM a few years ago that was $1700 or so. . . . . the costs just keep adding up. Again, off by at least double by the time you include cam, machine work, external oil cooler, etc.

Yeah -- Ian has it right. Build a 2056 - well documented, well proven, easy 100HP motor with good reliability. Shivers is also giving you another good option. My 1st engine rebuild was from a 1.7L as a 1911 with 96's, decent cam, Weber's . . . plenty of fun, and I accumulated plenty of speeding tickets.

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