Fred's Backyard LE Restoration Options

[friethmiller]

So, I finally decided to create a build thread for my 2nd 914.

Quick Story: Last summer (6/2022), I found this car listed on FB Marketplace and it intrigued me. It was listed as a ’72 but some of the pictures were telling me that this thing was probably a ’74 and possibly an LE. Against my better judgement, I decided to call. The man who owned the car told me that it was, in fact, an LE and that the “72” was a misprint. I told him I’d come pick it up and pay him his asking price of $1000. So, I rented a U-Haul trailer for $68 (incl. insurance), and drove 4 hours from Austin to Leonard, TX, which is about an hour northwest of Dallas. Got the car home without issue and shoved it into a storage unit for a month while I got thing prepared at my house/garage. Unfortunately for me, I had promised my wife that I wouldn't restore another car "in our garage". So, I'm stuck in the backyard [for now] attempting to restore a very rusty, old car. It’s kind of a pain when it rains and have to cover everything up, but I prefer being outside.

Condition: Poor! To say that the floor pans were a little rough, was an understatement. The car had been sitting in a field with all the doors/hoods off for years. This is never a good thing. When I saw the car in person, it had about 5 inches of wet leaves in the bottom. The trunk replacement was a "hack" with no welds to the transmission support. I can’t imagine driving the thing with the backend loose like that. The hell hole was in horrible condition with about ¾ of the passenger side longitudinal ripped open with rust. The list goes on. However, it did have its original 2.0L (minus FI) + transmission, and the dealer installed A/C. To be honest, the condition didn't bother me at all. I love restoring and repairing these cars. Plus the COA (or whatever they call it now) came back as a CanAm package car. This thing needs to be saved! I’m going to do my best to bring back this bumblebee. I've got a lot of pictures to post but here are some of the initial pics.

[technicalninja]

LOL! Very impressive. Yeah, I refuse to teach my son how to drive a stick just for that reason. I want my 914 to STAY in the garage when I'm not there. I'll teach him later when he can my better decisions (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) My daughter is only 15 but has an eye for the details.

I'm an even bigger believer in teaching my children clutch/shifting.

None of their friends have that ability early on.

Found the trick to EASY instruction is a smooth-running Z car on a hill.
At the moment they can "hold" the car, on the hill, with the clutch alone you are DONE!

Zs also are one of EASIEST cars to change a clutch on as well so if they smoke it, it's not a big thing.

[Arkady]

LOL! Very impressive. Yeah, I refuse to teach my son how to drive a stick just for that reason. I want my 914 to STAY in the garage when I'm not there. I'll teach him later when he can my better decisions (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) My daughter is only 15 but has an eye for the details.

I'm an even bigger believer in teaching my children clutch/shifting.

None of their friends have that ability early on.

Found the trick to EASY instruction is a smooth-running Z car on a hill.
At the moment they can "hold" the car, on the hill, with the clutch alone you are DONE!

Zs also are one of EASIEST cars to change a clutch on as well so if they smoke it, it's not a big thing.

My first car was a 1969 Z-28. They all had Muncie M22 4-speed transmissions. After looking for several months for one of these cars, I found one in the Pittsburgh Press want-ads about an hour away from my parent's house. After taking a friend to look it over, (he had one), I bought it for $2000. That was a lot of money in 1972, especially when I only made $1.65/hour.

I had to return the next day with the money and was driven there by my Mom in the family 1967 Olds Cutlass. After a stop at a nearby notary, I then had to drive it home. The problem was that I hadn't learned how to drive an actual standard transmission vehicle and had to figure it out pretty fast.

In preparation for when I would eventually find one of these cars, I would sit with two pillows to simulate the gas and clutch pedals and a 12 inch ruler to be the shifter. I hoped that if I could somehow commit the proper sequential motions to muscle memory, it would be good enough, (yeah, I know... I just turned 18 and wasn't very bright!).

Anyways, after it was transferred into my Mom's name, (in Pennsylvania then, one couldn't own a car until age 21), I jumped in, started it up with Mom right behind and promptly put it in reverse and almost backed into her. Getting it finally into first gear, and stalling it a couple times, I started driving it back home. By the time I pulled up to the house, I could drive it (kinda).

I still can visualize approaching the house where my Dad was cutting grass. He heard the car, looked in my direction and just shook his head. When I parked it, he came over and said, "Standard transmission and no power steering... You'll have it a month."

I still have it.

I think in today's world, it's a good idea to know how to drive a car with a clutch, but don't do it the way I did!