Best bang for the buck mods?

crew · Post by **crew** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:01 pm

All you guys with experience in these matters - In your opinion what are the best bang for the buck buck mods to suspension, motor and appearence?

Lets use my car

for the example - 1972 1.7 completely stock in every way.

Rouser914S · Post by **Rouser914S** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:23 pm

Gosh, if it's cherry and running great, don't fart with it! With these cars, it's all about how much you wanna spend.

Suspension? It's a pretty neutral-handling car as-is, but if your front struts and rear shocks are worn, new gas inserts and rear shocks will help firm things up.

Motor? Unless you want to drop in a 2L+ engine (Again, how much ya wanna spend?), a good tune-up and periodic maintenance ALWAYS does wonders. The 1.7L isn't a speed demon, but it's the total package you're investing in, not just engine-focus.

Appearance? If you want the rice-look, you can tack on all the usual visual gee-gaws and look-at-me parts, for whatever THAT'S worth. Pick a nice looking 914 and emulate it, adding you're own distinctiveness without catering to the 2 Fast 2 Furious crowd.

Remember, it's a 34 year-old classic; with this group, it's all about class.

John Kelly · Post by **John Kelly** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:36 am

Hi Crew,

Have you checked out the forum at:

www.914club.com

Lots of ideas.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

Dave_Darling · Post by **Dave_Darling** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:37 am

Best bang-for-the-buck mods: Driver improvement, hands-down! Find an "autocross school" if you can. If you can't find a school, then start going to autocross events. Find a High-Speed Driver's Education event and attend that.

Those are almost always the best and cheapest things you can do to make your car handle better.

--DD

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 11:04 am

crew wrote:All you guys with experience in these matters - In your opinion what are the best bang for the buck buck mods to suspension, motor and appearence?

Lets use my car for the example - 1972 1.7 completely stock in every way.

tires and shocks! Good low pro's (195x50's)with Bils or Koni Yellows really make a difference.

Dave_Darling · Post by **Dave_Darling** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 3:47 pm

But the 195/50s will have you running rather high RPMs on the freeway!

195/60 or 195/65 are pretty decent compromises. 205/50 is quite a nice size, if it does fit under your car's rear fenders with your current rims. Even with the stock rims, not all 914s can fit 205s without "massaging" the fenders a bit.

--DD

Post by **Piledriver** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:52 pm

Add 1 extra quart of oil over the "full" mark before doing any "creative" driving, AX etc.

Will not cause issues, absolute best "bang for the buck mod" out there, not eating ones rod bearings and all.

(a "Tuna Can" sump extension is regularly suggested, I believe those are pretty cheap)

195-60s (BFG Traction T/As) make the car handle much more like a slot car, and the gearing is OK, possibly even preferable to stock (~3.1K @70MPH vs ~2.8K@70)

Might need sway bars to really take advantage of those, don't know, my 914 I tried them on had dual bars from the factory.

If you have D-Jet, hit the Fuel injection forum and do a lot of reading, it's quite tunable, but I feel the timing curve you have to run from the factory really sucks performance wise.

Needs MUCH more initial and less total. (This is doable in a DIY manner)

Jeff Barnes · Post by **Jeff Barnes** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 5:29 pm

Speed kills, So What If the body is in great shape add a carb that roars. Exaust systems in Stainless steel are nice.

Post by **Piledriver** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:49 pm

Jeff Barnes wrote:Speed kills, So What If the body is in great shape add a carb that roars. Exaust systems in Stainless steel are nice.

No, it's the sudden stop...

Inertia kills. or something.

Dave_Darling · Post by **Dave_Darling** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 10:09 am

Jeff Barnes wrote:... add a carb that roars. ...

"A carb"? As in the Dreaded Pinto Weber carb? As in, the worst possible way to get fuel and air into a 914 (or Type IV) motor?

Sure, add a single-carb setup to your 914. It'll roar allright! So will you, in frustration, when you try to tune it. And when you notice that your fuel economy has dropped through the floor. And so has your power....

I stand by my initial post: Tighten up the "loose nut behind the wheel". That's the best bang-for-your-buck mod you can make! (Overfilling the oil by a half-quart or maybe a full quart is also good; almost zero bucks for a little bit longer keeping the oil light off in sweeper turns.)

--DD

martinef1963 · Post by **martinef1963** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:54 pm

crew wrote:All you guys with experience in these matters - In your opinion what are the best bang for the buck buck mods to suspension, motor and appearence?

Lets use my car for the example - 1972 1.7 completely stock in every way.

Crew - I have a 1972 1.7L 914 - there are so many things I've done to it and there will be many more things that I will do to it to make it "MY" ride.

One word of advise - be careful, very careful - you will get sucked into the sickness of a 914 - you just can't stop doing this, that, or the other.

I'm doing a rebuild on mine and am trying the dual 40 IDF webbers this time around. I've had the stock D-jet and they work, however, if you don't have the right set up the D-jet can be frustating in itself.

I would agree w/ one of the post - you have a classic and it's running good - leave it alone (or get the 914 bug)....

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