Man, I never thought it would be this hard to even hear back from a seller. I found a 914 on ebay and a 914 on craigslist. I called and emailed the sellers several times (I still haven't given up) but its been weeks and I haven't even heard back from either of them. I guess this will be a longer chase than I had expected. Thank you all again for your input and help thus far. I'm really glad I found this forum.

 

When you never hear back, you figure it's a scam. My son was looking for a 993 a while back and found a really good example locally on craigslist- he emailed right away, never heard back, and then the ad just disappeared... have to wade through a lot of crap to find something good.

 

Spend more on a better car, there is no way to buy a cheap 914 and then fix it up for less money. It just doesn't happen in my opinion.

 

I called this guy the other day. He said it was a '73 2.0 and the only rust was around the windsheild (few bubbles he said). He said he didn't know much about the rest of the car, but he said it was solid. He said he brought it up from Florida, so it might still be good. It is in the northeast, but not in NJ. It is about 3.5 hours from Boston.
If you want information on the car you are better off calling, he didn't like that I e-mailed him.

http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/cto/2613571167.html

 

I wouldn't mind an e-mail if someone was interested in my car...

Hell, I'd even reply with a "Thank you for writing!"

 

I'd even be careful of a car from Florida if it's near the coast- that salt spray in the air is as bad as our roads in the winter... my sister lived near the beach in Daytona many years ago and a Beetle she had basically ate itself within a couple years.

 

Florida is actually the 7th worse state in the USA for salt. This isn't the case if people take care of their cars, but cars do in fact rust down there.

I was interested in the car, but I haven't even gotten out my 914 yet.

 

Good to know, I never would have suspected Florida would be so notorious for rust. I recently heard back from a guy I started contacting through ebay (now through private email) he is in Maryland and has a nice white 914 1.7 (confirmed by engine code) from 1973. Only a little rust in the rear trunk around the driver side tail light. Looks very good and its in my price range. I know it would be much easier to get a 914 if I had more to spend but since I'm going to school I really can't set aside too much money. Would if I could, but I can't lol. Anyway a 914 seemed attainable all of a sudden when a friend of mine bought a 1986 924 for $2,500, very good shape except a bit of flat paint and a leaky water pump. And while there doesn't seem to be a shortage of cheap 914's the trick is still finding a decent one that I could drive as is with a little mechanical and minor cosmetic work.

 

dave, the rust issue, aka tin worm, must always be considered. I'm about to patch a non-structural perforation on my CA car (original plates and found in the very dry Central Valley), under the right side rocker panel.

 

Dave,
Just be careful, if there is some in the truck, there is more some place else. Maryland isn't that far from you, so go down and check the car VERY carefully.

 

I will be checking for rust very thoroughly. I'm also bringing a friend who will be a second set of eyes to help inspect for rusty and give a neutral opinion. I am in no rush to buy a 914 but if a nice one comes up in my price range I'd buy it. But not before making sure that that car is in good shape. I will also check previous discussions to find out where typical rust happens on 914's.

 

just found out that the car I will be looking at has had some serious engine work done. It still has the original engine but it has been bored out to 2.1L. Thoughts on this? I'm really not sure what to think, more displacement is good but was it done well and will larger cylinders affect the engine in any other ways. Also I wonder if the 2.0L blocks were the same size as 1.7L blocks, and Porsche just changed cylinder sizes. The seller also emailed me the following description which he received when he bought the car fro its previous owner.

"Up for sale is my 1973 Porsche 914. I've taken quite a few pictures which spell out most of the story, but the rest is as follows:

The car has been garaged for at least the last 15 years (since my buddy and I have owned it). It has not been started or run in the last 5+. I rebuilt the engine about 8 or 9 years ago with a friend who is a certified Porsche technician and loved working on these little VW motors. The motor was rebuilt using a stock 2 liter crank and 96mm Pistons and jugs (punching it out to 2.1 liters) You can definitely feel the extra power in the seat of your pants.

Fuel is delivered via twin Weber 40 IDF carbs and a facet fuel pump. The flywheel was re-surfaced and a new clutch disc, pressure plate and TO bearing were installed as well. New shift bushings were installed front to back and the car shifted great and drove really well the last time I had it out.

I don't recall if the heat exchangers are SS or not, but they are not rusty. They connect to a Bursch muffler which was new at the time and maybe has 200 miles on it (it is rusty in the pics but Bursch used/uses garbage paint on their exhaust and it burnt off in about 20 mins of run time). Battery tray area has the usual rust on the tray itself, but the wall structure around it looks pretty solid--I tried to get a good close up picture of that area.

In total, the Engine has maybe 4 or 500 miles on it tops (after the rebuild). The car was parked due to my life getting busy (college and no money) and I really would forget about it for years at a time. I restore/build motorcycles now and will not have a place to store this 914 for much longer, so its time to let her go.

Tires are Kuhmo, and were brand new 5 or so years ago. They are flat in the pics but held air (as new tires should) and were driven on the last time I drove the car. They also only have a couple hundred miles on them. There is no dry-rot in them so hopefully the flat spots aren't too bad so they can be used.

Riviera rims with Porsche center caps round out the rolling parts.

The body has been re-painted (before I owned it) in a cream white color. The paint is not good, but not bad. I'd call it a 10 foot car. There are several scratches though, and a few areas where there is some bubbling under the paint, I've tried to take close-ups of those so you can see what you're dealing with. The front and rear trunk have a bit of surface rust, but it stops there. They are not rusted through.

The longitudinals (under the plastic PORSCHE side skirts) appear to be solid, but its tough to get a real good look. I don't remember them being an issue when I had this car on jack stands years ago.

The interior is in nice shape and the dash is not cracked. The driver seat mount though is broken and will need to be re-welded back into place (I didn't own a MIG when I was working on this car years ago so I never fixed it). The passenger and driver floor are solid.

The radio was removed but all wiring is in place.

That is all I can think of at the moment, but if you're bidding on this car, you know what a 914 is and what is involved in getting them back on the road. You also will know what questions to ask so PLEASE feel free to drop me a line if you can think of anything that I'm leaving out--I'd be happy to give you my phone # at that time so we can talk the car over in more detail. I'm really hoping this turns out to be a great project for someone to get running and enjoy the rest of summer, then maybe take it a step further over the winter and really do it up.

I have clear title in hand, along with OEM owners manual."

If anything comes to mind after reading this please let me know. Anything more i should know or be on the look out for when i visit the car and hopefully test drive.

 

I wouldn't be worried about it if it was done right. I had a 2.1 liter 4 banger and Romanowski has a 2.3 180 hp four banger. 2.1 is mild and I'd go for it if the body checks out. It all comes down to the body.

Can we see the pictures?

 

Well to be honest I haven't seen pics of this car in a while. There was an ebay listing with several good pics, but it has long since expired. I will ask seller for pics but at this point (visiting seller on saturday) I might just take some myself.

 

Be diligent. Motor is modded (but nicely imho - My '70 had a 2.1 about 120hp (or 50% more than the stock 1.7 was) so don't worry too much about that.

Like Jay said, BODY condition is everything on these cars.... Motors are #2 on the list Take some pics and be sure to share!