Contracted 914 fever— is this the car to cure it?, What do you think of this ‘73 914 2.0 on Bat— pass or play? Options

[930cabman]

Funny how life leads us ,........

1972, I was 20 y/o and considering a new 914 or squareback. the squareback won out and these days I have 5 of them in the stable, 914's that is.

[wonkipop]

Leaning towards the XAS— 165mm tire width work with the Fuchs on the car?

IIRC, the wheel width needs to be 4.5

5.5

i run 165 XAS on my 74 1.8. great tyre. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
have star steelie sport rims. standard original factory.

the 4.5 wide rims were on very early 914/4s.
the tyres were 155 for those!!!!!!! as per a standard VW bug etc.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

but you are correct. you won't get a XAS on a 6.5

as to original tyres.
95% of all 914s and 911s for USA were factory fitted with Dunlop SP. 165 on the 914/4 with 5.5. (you could get wider SP tyres also back then for the wider rims).
unless you ticked a box for something else.
my car still had the original SP tyres on it when i bought it back in 89.
still kicking myself i threw them all out and put new tyres on and did not think to keep at least one as a specimen. back then you just didn't know.

closest thing to those original Dunlops these days is the repro Pirelli Cinturrato.
very expensive (At least down here in north antarctica).
the XAS are about midway between the next layer down.
next layer down is veredestien and michelin XZX or whatever its called that i can't remember.

all of them are good tyres. restore the light steering feel original to the cars.
and plenty, i mean plenty of grip, for spirited driving.
the repos are a soft compound made for grip, not long life.
logic being if you have a classic you are not putting miles on it so harder compound is unnecessary.

the XAS for porsche fitment are marked with a zero or an N or something like that.
i asked the tyre guy if there was a difference. he said there was.
there are apparently two grades of the XAS repros.
the ones i have are tubeless. that might be the difference.
porsche don't recommend fitting the tube version.
porsche make recommendations on classic tyre fitment somewhere on their vast website.

i know too much about this from when i put the tyres on a few years back.

[trylon]

Funny how life leads us ,........

1972, I was 20 y/o and considering a new 914 or squareback. the squareback won out and these days I have 5 of them in the stable, 914's that is.

Ha!

[trylon]

Leaning towards the XAS— 165mm tire width work with the Fuchs on the car?

IIRC, the wheel width needs to be 4.5

5.5

i run 165 XAS on my 74 1.8. great tyre. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
have star steelie sport rims. standard original factory.

the 4.5 wide rims were on very early 914/4s.
the tyres were 155 for those!!!!!!! as per a standard VW bug etc.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

but you are correct. you won't get a XAS on a 6.5

as to original tyres.
95% of all 914s and 911s for USA were factory fitted with Dunlop SP. 165 on the 914/4 with 5.5. (you could get wider SP tyres also back then for the wider rims).
unless you ticked a box for something else.
my car still had the original SP tyres on it when i bought it back in 89.
still kicking myself i threw them all out and put new tyres on and did not think to keep at least one as a specimen. back then you just didn't know.

closest thing to those original Dunlops these days is the repro Pirelli Cinturrato.
very expensive (At least down here in north antarctica).
the XAS are about midway between the next layer down.
next layer down is veredestien and michelin XZX or whatever its called that i can't remember.

all of them are good tyres. restore the light steering feel original to the cars.
and plenty, i mean plenty of grip, for spirited driving.
the repos are a soft compound made for grip, not long life.
logic being if you have a classic you are not putting miles on it so harder compound is unnecessary.

the XAS for porsche fitment are marked with a zero or an N or something like that.
i asked the tyre guy if there was a difference. he said there was.
there are apparently two grades of the XAS repros.
the ones i have are tubeless. that might be the difference.
porsche don't recommend fitting the tube version.
porsche make recommendations on classic tyre fitment somewhere on their vast website.

i know too much about this from when i put the tyres on a few years back.

Wow! Thanks for sharing all this great information! So helpful.
Will be fitting new tires on it this off-season and will keep it all in mind.

[trylon]

Bumper off. Trying to determine why it was low on the driver’s side.
Can any info be gleaned from what was under it?


The passenger side dogbone was missing. Original one was on the driver’s side.
Photo shows two new ones.
Oddly the bolts holding the bumper on were only finger tight!

Also will check out horns while they are exposed.

[930cabman]

Bumper off. Trying to determine why it was low on the driver’s side.
Can any info be gleaned from what was under it?


The passenger side dogbone was missing. Original one was on the driver’s side.
Photo shows two new ones.
Oddly the bolts holding the bumper on were only finger tight!

Also will check out horns while they are exposed.

Gotta wonder what else is finger tight?

[wonkipop]

Leaning towards the XAS— 165mm tire width work with the Fuchs on the car?

IIRC, the wheel width needs to be 4.5

5.5

i run 165 XAS on my 74 1.8. great tyre. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
have star steelie sport rims. standard original factory.

Wow! Thanks for sharing all this great information! So helpful.
Will be fitting new tires on it this off-season and will keep it all in mind.

there is one other tyre you can consider.
be over-tyre for a 914/4.
but 916s were fitted with them.
and f. porsche's 918 in the museum has them (possibly original, not sure).

michelin XWX. apparently available. i've never seen them.
alternative to pirelli cinturatos which are real expensive.
however ---- have no idea what the XWX costs.

comes in a 185 to fit fuchs rims you have.
reminiscent of the old dunlop SP 57.







i forgot to add, the XAS howl like crazy. esp when first fitted.
i thought i had blown the transaxle. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
driving around on modern tyres you forget that tyre roar has been supressed in modern cars with tread design etc. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
the "lower" spec michelin XZX might be quieter than the XAS.
its pretty funny.
but since i always drive with the top off and given the old VW 1800 ain't exactly turbine quiet (being a kind of enlarged lawn mower) tyre roar ain't exactly any kind of priority with me. i got other cars for serious long distance driving.

[trylon]

Size, tubeless, price, look, rating, sound seem to center on this:

https://www.cokertire.com/tires/185vr15-michelin-xvs.html

[trylon]

Looking a bit deeper into the front

Something missing here:


And replaced here:


And welded here:

[wonkipop]

re #1.





re #2
can't photograph other side at present - but from trunk side looks like

[falcor75]

The gas cap will most likely polish up quite well with a wire wheel and some effort. Its a rewarding small job.

[wonkipop]

Size, tubeless, price, look, rating, sound seem to center on this:

https://www.cokertire.com/tires/185vr15-michelin-xvs.html

i doubt you will be disappointed.
its a fatty XAS.

they are fricken good.
except i have no idea how they go in the wet.
but in the dry. worth every penny if you like to take your corners at a pace.

i still can't quite believe how mine stick and they are skinny minie 165s.
(and they are 3.5 years old now and still sticking).
progressive too. they roll over a bit on their side walls and let you know when they are doing it. its like a little slide moment. just to warn you of what might be coming next if you go a bit harder. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) but its not going to lead to a sudden breakaway and loss of grip which modern tyres actually do .......do.

[trylon]

Man, ya gotta love this forum!
It’s sooooo much more knowledgeable than Chat … and more fun as well!
Thanks for all the facts, diagrams, and insight.

Let’s continue if you are game.

Want to apply 12v from a bench source to each horn (if you recall they do not sound when asked at the steering wheel). I doubt they are both simply not working but it looks like an easy piece of evidence to retrieve at the moment.



Before I mangle them, do the wires pull out or, as I suspect, are they attached to plugs that can be pulled?

[emerygt350]

cover your ears. These are the horns of the apocalypse.

[rjames]

cover your ears. These are the horns of the apocalypse.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

[trylon]

Refurbished these 6v horns for my Karmann Ghia:



If you clamp the amps, they only whimper.

[trylon]

Look what randomly popped up yesterday!

[flat4guy]

Great little car for a good price - and it looks like it went to an owner that will take care of it. Glad you're having fun.

[trylon]

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer...aign=2023-11-22

Yikes!

[porschetub]

Great little car for a good price - and it looks like it went to an owner that will take care of it. Glad you're having fun.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) what a steal with the wheels and pretty sure an expensive repaint ,well done (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif) .