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I have an opportunity to pick up a 1973 Porsche 914 for a good deal swapping a vehicle I want to get rid of.

Here are some pictures:
http://trscott.smugmug.com/photos/sspop ... mKey=Csbko

The rear trunk lid seems to have been flattened. When the middle of the trunk lid bottoms out on the latch, the left and right rear corners are about 1/4" high and the whole lid will rock left to right. There is a subtle lateral crease line, left to right for about 18", centered about three inches forward of the rear edge of the lid. It is hard to see, but at night if you hold the light at just the right angle it is very clear.

One consequence of this ill fitting lid is that the rear floor panel of the rear trunk is badly rusted and will need to be replaced. For now it has been treated with rust encapsulant and hasn't spread to adjacent panels. The front half of the rear trunk is fine.

My primary question:
Has anyone ever re-shaped one of these trunk lids? Or am I looking at a new one? I was thinking maybe I could carefully cut a wood beam to have the correct trunk curve, or just a bit of over-curve, and then clamp the trunk lid carefully with padding to see if I can return it to the right shape. Or would I be better off to take it to a body shop and ask them to do it? Maybe that sort of thing is pretty routine for them?

Rest of the car just for the curious:
The front trunk is near perfect. No rust, all parts intact except maybe the toolkit.

The floor of the pan is near perfect, original undercoating still 97% intact, and where the undercoating is chipped away, it reveals clean original body paint, no rust at all there.

The jack points are absolutely solid. No evidence of rust there at all.

The battery tray and metal immediately under it need to be replaced due to rust, but for the time being the battery is in no risk of falling out. It is certainly drivable as is, but it needs to be rebuilt

There is some surface rust under the paint at the seam between the right front quarter panel and the windshield strut. Not a structural problem yet, but ought to be cleaned out, treated and repainted.

I don't mind doing some MIG welding to replace the trunk and battery sheet metal problems

The rubber around the targa top ought to be replaced, front strip is real bad, sides are poor. Probably most of the door rubber could profit from replacement.

Interior is pretty fair to good, the original dash pad has cracks but has a plastic dash cap over it. The carpets are worn but intact. The seats are good. A few small problems, like the rear view mirror came unglued, etc.

Door sills are rust free. large 1.25" rock ding in one fender well and the front body skirt. Taillight lens rock cracked, one fog light broken, bumpers fair.

Basically the body seems to me certainly worth saving.

It runs, but kind of just barely starts, runs rough, coughs a little at rpms all the way from idle to 2500 rpm. I drove it and once it warms up it is driveable, but not what you would call powerful of course.

1.7L with dual weber IDF 40s (I didn't confirm the numbers but that's what they look like). Carbs look pretty stained with fuel. I am sure a re-build is in order.

Unknown mechanical advance distributor (did these use the 009?). I have a picture I could post later if that helps. I don't expect it is a Mallory.

A lot of oil on the bottom of the crankcase as is common on these, some oil film on top of the block too.

The engine pan gasket on the right side has fallen out of the channel and hangs down. The whole engine has some litter, leaves and stuff to be cleaned out.

I am told that it has the stock exhaust from a 2.0 liter.

I would like to turn this into a driver for now with the possibility of a Jake Raby kit rebuild later.

Boy these 914s are really awkward to get at the engine compared to say a K. Ghia or a Bug! Is the mid-engine handling really worth all that extra work? <grin>

Thanks for any advice!

Yes that is probably an 009 dizzy. And yes it is the INCORRECT DISTRIBUTOR FOR THAT ENGINE.

I highly suggest you tool over to either www.914world.com OR www.914club.com and post up the same pics and data.

There are hundreds of threads that address each one your questions.

I would love to answer all your questions on this forum. But I would have to write a book to explain all the data you need.

Hence I suggest you post this up at the other sites devoted to this wonderful car.

I will see your posts. And support you in any way I can.

By the way... Thats a dam good post you put up.

Twystd1

AKA Clayton Clark

The trunk usually rust because the taillights leak. There was a sound/heat pad on it at one time which doesn't help. There is a rust panel available to fix it.

Check the trunk hinge cups, they often break causing trunk alignment problems. That being said, the trunk it pretty thin and can be warped by pressing to hard on it to get it to latch, especially if the top isn't placed just right in the trunk.

Check your crankcase venting, it looks like the valve cover vents are connected to the PCV instead of everything connecting to an air cleaner.

Nice car, have fun with it!

Dean wrote: The trunk usually rust because the taillights leak. There was a sound/heat pad on it at one time which doesn't help. There is a rust panel available to fix it.

Yeah, in this case it is definitely leaking around the side seam because the trunk lid is warped and has a 1/4" gap at the sides when the latch is closed.

Dean wrote: Check the trunk hinge cups, they often break causing trunk alignment problems. That being said, the trunk it pretty thin and can be warped by pressing to hard on it to get it to latch, especially if the top isn't placed just right in the trunk.

It is definitely warped.

Dean wrote: Check your crankcase venting, it looks like the valve cover vents are connected to the PCV instead of everything connecting to an air cleaner. Nice car, have fun with it!

Yeah, the whole engine needs to be gone through, I will check that though. Thanks!

Twystd1 wrote: Yes that is probably an 009 dizzy. And yes it is the INCORRECT DISTRIBUTOR FOR THAT ENGINE.

I probably wasn't clear, It could be the correct original disty for all I know, but from where it sits in the engine, I could not read any part number to identify it. All I really know is that it is not a vacum advance distributor as might be common on a carbureted engine. Knowing how ubiquitous the sucky 009 is, I thought that might be it. I probably won't know for sure till I pull it out. Given how bad this engine is coughing and sputtering between idle and 2500, timing advance is suspect.

Twystd1 wrote:I highly suggest you tool over to either www.914world.com OR www.914club.com and post up the same pics and data. There are hundreds of threads that address each one your questions. I would love to answer all your questions on this forum. But I would have to write a book to explain all the data you need. Hence I suggest you post this up at the other sites devoted to this wonderful car. I will see your posts. And support you in any way I can.

Done...

Twystd1 wrote:By the way... Thats a dam good post you put up.
Twystd1 - AKA Clayton Clark

Thanks!

No US-spec four-cylinder 914 ever had carbs from the factory. All had distributors with vacuum dashpots on them. No 1.7 liter 914s ever had carbs, either, for that matter. So you're dealing with a conversion of some kind, and it most likely has the 009 distributor on it.

"All of the metal below the battery tray" includes the suspension pickup points for the right-rear wheel. Rust in this area is common and Not Good; some cars have literally had the right-rear wheel fall partway off the car!! The rocker panel covers can hide rust in the main longitudinal members of the car, so it's a good idea to check behind there--even if the jack points seem solid.

Your pic #4 is at least a little bit scary. The area in front of the battery is known as the "hell hole", and for good reason. Check carefully for structural rot in that area; it is an important one!!

You may be able to re-work the lid, but it would likely be easier to replace it. Depends on parts availability in your area, of course.

The exchangers look like they might be the stock 2.0 ones, which isn't bad but isn't that much of a benefit on a 1.7 motor.

Pedrini wheels are aftermarket; some cannot fit wide tires under the stock fenders. (Particularly those with Bug offsets.)

In my area (N. Cal), that would be a real project car and not worth all that much...

--DD

I know that hoods and lids are very available...in fact I have 4 of each...

Well, we picked up that signal orange '73 914 today from Jamie, along with a red '72 914-shaped "potted plant" (<grin>, pics to follow), and a spare Type 4 long block that may be rebuildable.

We've got our work cut out for us, but we'll have fun.

First order of business is to give the '73 a tuneup and do a leakdown test to see where we stand with it. I'd like to drive it a while before we need to tear it down, so we can begin with one of the other two blocks.

There are several other nagging problems that will need immediate attention. The battery isn't charging properly, probably the entire electrical system needs to be sorted out a bit. One tail light wouldn't turn off once and I had to unplug a wire from the light so as not to run the battery down, by the time we got home, the lights were so dim we could barely drive in the dark.

Another problem is the tranny sometimes doesn't want to shift into first gear or reverse without grinding. Several times I had to start in 2nd. First we thought it was because the thing has to idle so high, like 1500 RPM or so, but a few times even when I could get the idle to drop down to 700 or 800 RPM, it still didn't want to shift without grinding. Felt like there was no synchro at all. Might be just the clutch not throwing far enough, but I think I should also check the gear oil.

Good news is the car drives very nicley, tracks real straight, you can do 65 with just your little finger on the steering, and when I let go on a straight stretch it was happy just running right down the middle of the lane quite smoothly.

I will post some more as we dig into it.

Cheers!