CUDA 911's 914 Thread ! ! ! Options

[Cuda911]

Re:

Thanks, Dave. I just now ordered from FleaBay a set of the black ones that are the style in your second image.

The Rennlist guys recommend POR15 to deal with the minor rust in trunk. I need to find where I can buy that, and also order some OEM spray paint somewhere so I can repaint it. Hmmm... now I gotta find that paint code. Anyone have it handy?

I just now insured it through American Collector's Insurance. Not bad rates at all. The policy doesn't start until 1:00 am tomorrow. I also have to go to AAA today to get the DMV paperwork filed.

Mepstein, thanks, I will check out "tweet" and see if I can find him.

Brant, for some reason, the rockers are pop-riveted on. I need to drill out the rivets and replace with screws. I'll get to that soon.

Re bumpers: I am really glad it came with that earlier front bumper, I hate those tits on the original '74s. I'll leave the rear ones alone for now. But, eventually I'd like to get rid of those, too.

Re: "You CAN'T remove that big cassette player though!!!"

You are right, look what I found in the side door pocket!!! And, the first tune on it is "My Way".... rather ironic don't you think?
.

[rhodyguy]

the paint code should be on a tag on the front drivers side door jam. L96D is on my original silver 73's tag. i've found a auto body supply that will color match and load the paint in cans. when treating the rust consider removing the seam sealer. with a heat gun and a small putty knife the sealer comes out easy. it's the rust that may be, and prob is, under the sealant that complicates the fix. Mar-hyde is a very effective rust conversion/treatment product that is sand able. a little goes a long way and the bottles seem to last forever.

[SirAndy]

The Rennlist guys recommend POR15 to deal with the minor rust in trunk.

Don't ... Tried it several times, never worked as advertised.

For now, clean the area with a wire brush and use naval jelly (or similar product) to convert the rest and seal the surface.
Eventually, you'll probably want to weld in a patch, but for now, that should stop the rust from spreading.


As far as rust goes, you really need to get a better look at:

- The hell hole under the FI brain/battery tray

- The rockers. Take off the covers and poke around the back with a screwdriver near the jack posts.

- The floorboard. Move the seats forward and remove the carpet behind them. Then do the "crunch" test on the tar on the floor. If the tar moves and you hear the crunch, you have rust underneath. They painted over the tar, so it will look OK even with rust underneath.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[rhodyguy]

remove the pedal board and have a peek there too. improperly prepped the eastwood product peels off.

[carr914]

The Rennlist guys recommend POR15 to deal with the minor rust in trunk.

Don't ... Tried it several times, never worked as advertised.

For now, clean the area with a wire brush and use naval jelly (or similar product) to convert the rest and seal the surface.
Eventually, you'll probably want to weld in a patch, but for now, that should stop the rust from spreading.

I've used POR with no problems, but you do need to Top Coat.

Eastwood makes a good product.

I know that you can buy POR on Amazon, I'm not sure about Eastwood

[brant]

The factory used nylon rivets. I think white ones. Metal rivets are a good sign that someone has had them off before. That's a good thing as they pack with rust killing mud if they have never been off. They need to come off periodically as maintenance

[SirAndy]

I've used POR with no problems, but you do need to Top Coat.

Por15 is advertised as being able to stop rust without any additional steps by simply brushing it over the rusted area.

That simply does *not* work, it will not stop the rust. It will only hide it for a while.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[jmill]

Very nice. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

All it needs now is a 6 and some flares. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

[Dave_Darling]

Brant, for some reason, the rockers are pop-riveted on.

The tops were riveted on. The bottom of the rocker cover should be held on by screws. If you remove those, you can pull the bottom out far enough to get a screwdriver up and knock out all the dirt stuck to the inner rocker.

--DD

[KELTY360]

What do 914 folks think of those "steelie" wheels? None of the other cars I have looked at had them. I get the impression it was at the low end of the various wheel options?

The steelies were not an option, they were standard equipment. IMO they look really good if you paint the centers satin black and leave the rims silver.

The dash on that car is gorgeous. Don't often see an original dash without cracks, especially in SoCal.

I heard you mention in Mahles in your other thread. If you're interested in putting those on shoot me a PM. I've got a set I might sell.

[Cuda911]

(I'm not very good with the "multi-quote thing)

I pulled up the carpeting everywhere, and don't see any sign of rust anywhere on the floorboards. Battery tray has minor surface rust on a very small area. I'll hit that with some naval jelly, wire brush, and Rustoleum in the very near future.

The POR15 can NOT be used to just brush over rust.

Here's a great You Tube video that shows how to use it properly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuDcvwEIkPI

Great info on the rockers. I will check for the bottom screws.

Attached is a pic of the door tag.... is that the one you mean? If so, the part with the paint code is missing.

Kelty, I'll PM you on the Mahles. Probably I should wait a bit though, since I want to get this car into a shop right away and have a good inspection and replace anything that looks like it needs it. There is a minor transmission fluid leak at a rear seal that needs to be fixed. The steel wheel rim rings are a bit rusty on my car. I may get them rechromed.

Today I cleaned up the car and waxed it. Amazing... not even one single scratch or door ding anywhere! I thought there were some scratches, but they were minor scuffs that polished right out.

I just got back from my first drive... I took off the targa top and went about 40 miles or so on the back-country twisty roads... I LOVE this car!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) It is an absolute blast to drive. In my other Porsches, when I am going 90 it feels like 40 mph. In the 914, when I am going 40 it feels like 90! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Another question for you guys: Does this car like to be driven at lower or higher RPMs? I like to drive more in the "power band", so my tendency is to keep the RPMs up in the 3500 to 4000 range rather than upshift. But, different cars have different characteristics. If I should be keeping the RPMs down, I will get myself accustomed to using a higher gear more frequently. Do these cars like to get up to 5k rpm between shifts? I admit, I drive my cars hard, but I do want to be reasonable.

When I was shopping for a 914, I was afraid that the 1.8 would seem to "weak", and really wanted the extra 19 HP of the 2.0. Honestly, though, the 1.8 seems MUCH better than I had hoped. Of course, I still wouldn't mind more HP, but I am plenty satisfied.

If you guys recall, a "colorful" 914 was one of my "must-haves". But, after owning this car for all of one day, the silver color is sure growing on me!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

As you all can probably tell, I am super pleased with this car!!!

[mepstein]

the floorboards have a thick tar over them. hard to tell if rust is underneath.
Pulling the rocker covers will tell a lot about the rust condition of the car.
The engine seems to do best at 3-5K.
The car is a bit lighter with the early bumpers.
The door tag is on the passenger side door
Street legal go cart is often used to describe these cars. They are fun to drive.
Congrats.

Por15 is just a rust cover up, not a repair. I would suggest a proper repair for this car.

[914_teener]

Nice find.

Great to see it is still in California.

Do you still have the front plate? I was lucky enough to have found my car with both original plates. A rarity.

I think the steelies are cool, and also came with the car.

As for POR 15...I have had success with it for 5 years no issues. There is a dealer for it in Orange CA, sort of out your way.

I would keep everything as is...IMHO.


Nice Cayman tooBTW...great garage mate for your new joy. That'll be my next car.

[Cuda911]

Mepstein, I looked on passenger door too... no tag of any sort. I'll check out those floorboards and rockers some more.

I was just telling a friend today that it felt like driving a go-cart! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

914teener... hmmm... you are right! I didn't even realize that I don't have a front plate!!!!

Crap... I want to keep the rear one because it is the original 1974 blue/yellow. But, there is no way DMV will re-issue one plate.

Ah well... I guess I will be getting a "no front plate" ticket someday soon. You will enjoy the Cayman... a blast to drive!!! It's the modern version of the 914. I would recommend a Cayman S over the base.

['73-914kid]

Mepstein, I looked on passenger door too... no tag of any sort. I'll check out those floorboards and rockers some more.

914teener... hmmm... your are right! I didn't even realize that I don't have a front plate!!!!

Crap... I want to keep the rear one because it is the original 1974 blue/yellow. But, there is no way DMV will re-issue one plate.

Ah well... I guess I will be getting a "no front plate" ticket someday soon. You will enjoy the Cayman... a blast to drive!!! It's the modern version of the 914. I would recommend a Cayman S over the base.

I've been driving around for the past 5 years in my car with no front plate.. and I have a white rear plate. I have the second plate on my tool box, and choose not to install it. I think LEO's tend to not care as much about the front plate thing on classic cars..

I don't think you're going to have much issue in North County.

[Cuda911]

^^^ Maybe so. I bet this car hasn't had a front plate since 1987 when the front bumper was hit.

I "thought" I found a solution, but no go..... there's a company in Irvine, CA that has a web site for plastic reproduction plates. I went though all of the ordering process, and when I got to the end to pay, Pay-Pal rejected it. I called the listed phone number and it's disconnected. I think it was an illegal business and they got shut down.

Maybe you are right about the classic car thing... I do know that recently they've been handing out more no-front-plate tickets. Revenue generation I guess.

I bought a car in 1988 and sold it in 1994, and never put on EITHER the front or the back plate in all that time, and never once got a ticket.

[dlkawashima]

Thanks, Dave. I just now ordered from FleaBay a set of the black ones that are the style in your second image.

That should look really nice. Here's another image (for inspiration)
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-8979-1217137977.jpg)

Hmmm... now I gotta find that paint code. Anyone have it handy?

The paint code *should* be L96D. That's the paint code for silver for the '74 model year. BTW, the paint code will be listed on the Karmann plate, under "KUNSTHARZLACK" ... the plate itself is located on the driver's side, where the door hinges are located. There's a chart you can reference here:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act=colors

I didn't even realize that I don't have a front plate!!!!

I don't think I'd worry about it too much, but one solution might be to take your rear plate down to a FedEx Kinko's, make a color photocopy of it on good card stock, trim it to the right size and then simply slide it into the front license plate holder.

[Cuda911]

Ahhh... THAT tag.... yep.... L96D. I didn't realize that was a paint code.

[I took German for 6 years, but they never taught us that word. I looked it up: Kunstharzlack = kunst/artifical, harz/enamel-resin, lack/paint or varnish.]

I'll get some paint ordered right away.

Yeah, I thought of that plate idea too... just using my color printer and some photo paper. I imagine that will fade pretty quick though.

[KELTY360]

I don't think I'd worry about it too much, but one solution might be to take your rear plate down to a FedEx Kinko's, make a color photocopy of it on good card stock, trim it to the right size and then simply slide it into the front license plate holder.

You could probably go to a digital sign shop and get the same thing done in plastic that would hold up to weather better.

[matt5596]

I just got back from my first drive... I took off the targa top and went about 40 miles or so on the back-country twisty roads... I LOVE this car!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) It is an absolute blast to drive. In my other Porsches, when I am going 90 it feels like 40 mph. In the 914, when I am going 40 it feels like 90! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Take it easy until you get it all checked out. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/slap.gif) I too was very eager to drive my first 914 and did so several times on some local roads. Once I got it up on the jack stands and began replacing the brakes and fuel lines I quickly realized how stupid that was. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif) The fuel lines literally crumbled in my hands and covered me in fuel as I started moving them around and the brakes were shot and I'm still not sure how I didn't drive off a cliff.

Nice find!