75 914 Laguna Blue Project Options

[Graydingo]

Hello everyone, my name is Duane and I love me a Porsche project. So much so that I've had five air cooled cars (mostly projects mind you) in the last few years. I've pared that down to a mere 2 911s (one massive RSR project and a pretty good little driver 75.) By fate, every single one of them was a 75, or a 77 model year.
I guess I love an underdog and a project! Any-who, here's me latest acquisition...



A 1975 Porsche 914 2.0 in Laguna Blue L50C. What a color!



It all started when I found a 76 2.7 911 motor on craigslist. I inquired and got a snappy text back from a known number. Turns out, it was a friend and the owner of the local Porsche specialty shop. I went over to check out the motor and ended up buying it. A pretty clean 2.7 core, missing a few parts, but had a set of Italian 40 IDTP carbs on it.

While there, I was shown the 914 which the 2.7 was actually destined to go into at one point but then the owner decided to go nuts and planned to put a 3.6 in it.



He had acquired thousands in parts but lost motivation in the project. He had flares, elephant suspension and all kinds of stuff. Sadly (or perhaps fortuitously,) he had sold a lot of the new parts to another 914 enthusiast, so what was left was just the original car.

Already having a big project in my 74 RSR tribute, I passed on the 914 and headed home with my new 2.7. My 75 911 has a similar motor and It's ready to rebuild. I thought I would take the best parts off both motors and make a 2.8 twin plug beast for my 75. Ya never know what condition the crank or heads are in, so I figured it was a good plan to have more parts at the ready for cheap, and then sell everything left over later.

One thing that struck me about the 914 on that first visit, was that the car was extremely dry. Here's the ....ahem... heck hole.



Though the car was taken apart, the previous owner seemed to have all the original parts (though many of them were in his storage facility and not with the car.) Another cool factoid was that the car was actually purchased in a nearby Audi/VW dealership right here in Las Vegas. Vegas in '74 was very, very small, so to have a survivor 914 in the same town that it was 46 years ago is pretty cool in my opinion.



The car was more or less stripped in preparation for a GT conversion. I remarked in my mind about how solid the car was and went home that day thinking it was a good deal but that I'm a snobby 911 guy who doesn't buy anything but 911s :-P The car was definitely marinating in the back of my mind...

Fast forward a few months later and a younger friend was talking to me about project cars, and it got me excited about the 914. On a whim I reached out to see if it was still there and bought it the next day. I think I just really liked it and I fell in love with the color. It feels like a mix between Gulf Blue and Miami Blue. I'm actually painting my RSR Gulf, so I absolutely love all the cool blue colors.

The shop had a bunch of waterpumper parts stored in the back:



PO had the original Fuchs 4 lug wheels, but no tires. the 914 was also on a pretty sweet dolly, but unfortunately that wasn't part of the sale.



I took the wheels to a discount tire and got the cheapest tires I could buy, just so I could make it a roller for the impending flatbed trailer pickup appointment.



I had to scrounge around and find some lugs to mount them. Luckily I had some open 911 lugs as well as some 996 studs to complete the temporary fix.

After getting it back to the shop I thought: "I've got a complete project build going already, wouldn't it be fun to try to build a total survivor driver with original paint, dings, dents, damage and all, but have a bit of a sleeper engine and nice interior. So mostly original, but everything works and is nice in terms of get in, turn the key, take it to the grocery and not worry about parking it. "



Stay tuned for the paint correction...

[Graydingo]

Yesterday I was able to squeeze a few hours into the 914.

I thought it would be best to completely remove the wiring harness and either A, pare down the existing and replace the cut ignition wires, or B, buy a Kroon or other harness for the 6 conversion.

The 6 conversion wont actually require anything more as I'll be going weber or PMO carbs on it. The existing wires, though filthy are not too bad, save for the engine bay section which feels a little hard, presumably from the engine heat.

I started by removing the dash harness which was not too bad. I took photos of the gauges to assist with the reassemble.





I've removed a harness from a 77 911 in the past and I'd say the job was about the same. The frunk took longer than expected as there were the parking lights, horns, and popup light motors to contend with.


I just cut off the boots to the side marker lights as they wouldn't have fit through the bulkhead anyway and were pretty much wasted. I think I'm going to delete the side markers anyway.

I had to remove the housing to the fuel level sender end to squeeze it through the hole in the firewall:



The only wires going to the front will be the Fogs, Fuel, the popup headlight motors, the headlights, the parking lights, the horns, and probably an automatic fan for the front cooler. I'm probably forgetting something else.

The rear was pretty easy too. PO had already removed the harness up to the rear lights and it was laying in the trunk.
The trunk is full of parts atm:



Back to the frunk, I'm at the point where 90% of the front is pulled into the cockpit and I need to research the best way to remove the rest. The 911 pulls out the back, so I'm thinking the 914 is the same way.



I received my 6 motor mount. I took advantage a labor day sale and received the part yesterday:



It still needs a lot of work to be welded to the bulkhead, and once it's smoothed over, seam sealed and painted it will be great.

The yoke is heavy duty and well done: I'll probably powder coat this black.



I also removed all the locks and reached out to our own Curt Curtis. Curt and I discussed some of the issues (such as having no keys and also having the 75 ignition which is very difficult to get the tumbler out.) We came up with a plan and I packed everything up and shipped it out to him.

The drivers door handle has a broken lifter arm, but luckily Curt had a replacement. I sent him mine for spare parts as I think he can combine parts to make one good one in the future for someone else.

I think once I get the harness removed, I'll move the 914 out of the shop and pull my 75 911 in. There I will remove the front suspension which will become the 914's for the 5 lug conversion. I've always wanted to upgrade my 911 from 3" boge front struts to Bilstein 3.5" caliper spacing. I have a set of aluminum S brakes that are ready to go on that car and I have a sweet set of Alfa Milano brembo aluminum 3" spacing calipers for the boge that I'll mount on the 914. Again, I'm wondering what brake combo I should pair in the back with this setup? I'll have a 911 vented rotor in back so maybe I can convert the 914 rear pad to fit that? More research is required...

Lastly, I have to take the window out yet again. I think I'll go ahead and patch the mirror holes while it's out, and then try to get this top fit better.



It just really fits poorly at the moment. I can't get the cap to sit flush, I think it requires internal trimming or something, I should also put new rubber on the A pillar as well.