Andy's 75' 914 1.8L Options

[Aayala]

Howdy everyone!

My name is Andrés, and earlier this year I got my hands on a 1975 Porsche 914 1.8L project car. I’m new to 914World and pretty new to working on cars in general. I actually was not aware that the 914's existed until I spotted one parked on the street with a Porsche badge and had to stop to take a better look at it. I got instantly intrigued as I had never seen or heard of these before.

One thing led to another—I started reading up on 914s, watching videos, digging through forums, and as fate would have it, a 914 popped up for sale on Facebook Marketplace near me about a month later. I went to see it the next day, and despite knowing it was going to be a big project (especially for someone whose experience was basically oil changes and light maintenance), I decided to go for it.

Now I’m in it, learning as I go, trying to do things the right way, and excited to lean on this community for guidance as I bring this car back to life. I have already gotten a ton of help from some members in the community and can feel the passion everyone has for these cars.

This is definitely going outside of my comfort zone but looking forward to being challenged in a lot of areas: engine building, welding, metal repair work, interior work, etc... I’m fairly handy and detail oriented, and I really want to do the car justice but I also know how much I don’t know yet. Any feedback, advice or "dont do this" stories are also welcome.

I will do my best to keep this thread updated with the repairs I am doing to it. I am also starting an Instagram page to keep me accountable and documenting the journey. (@our914journey)

Some pictures as I picked up the car. (Has not run since 96'! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) Was sitting under a cover for a long time then moved out here for space according to the owner. Have a lot of receipts from 75' - 96'.)






And after a quick wash and back on 4 tires.




Thank you for reading!
-Andres.

[Root_Werks]

Always sad to see a 914 sitting outside and neglected. So happy you found it!

This will be a fun thread to watch. What's under the hood look like? Still fuel injected?

-Dan

[sb914]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png) there’s lots of knowledge here.
Your lucky the red ones are the fastest.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)

[emerygt350]

Well, since nobody else was going to be Eeyore, I guess I will. Have you looked in the hell hole or the longs yet? I probably would have done that before washing it...

Texas is dry, you might have yourself a nice clean example even if it is sunbaked.

[Aayala]

Always sad to see a 914 sitting outside and neglected. So happy you found it!

This will be a fun thread to watch. What's under the hood look like? Still fuel injected?

-Dan

I know, thank you!

And it still seems to be stock! I will attach pictures from when I first saw the engine bay and some of it cleared of a lot of leaves that were in there. Not great since the leaves held a lot of moisture and contributed to some rust. I have done some progress already. Dropped the engine and split the case for a full rebuild!

[Aayala]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png) there’s lots of knowledge here.
Your lucky the red ones are the fastest.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)

Thank you! Maybe not the 1.8's (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[Aayala]

Well, since nobody else was going to be Eeyore, I guess I will. Have you looked in the hell hole or the longs yet? I probably would have done that before washing it...

Texas is dry, you might have yourself a nice clean example even if it is sunbaked.

Fair question! I did check the hell hole and it is not looking too good I don't think. there is definitely some rust there and have not checked the long yet. I did poke around and a lot of parts still feel like solid metal with some surface rust, but the bottom right side of the hell hole is soft as i poked through it and eaten up. I am expecting to repair some of that and some rust spots by the passenger seat mount. I have gone deep in the rabbit hole on the rust on these cars and hell hole repairs on the car, so I am very aware of what it might need. I am preparing for the worst hoping for the best! Seeing what some members of this community have been able to do with their cars gives me a lot of hope!

Picture of hell hole and engine bay.

[emerygt350]

Hopefully you can do some stabilizing of it. That and the suspension mount. Is that an air conditioner?

[SirAndy]

Picture of hell hole and engine bay.

Time for a rotisserie!
They do show up in the classifieds every once in a while. There's also plans floating around here on how to build your own.

There most certainly will be more rust.
How good are you with a welder?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

The good news is, almost all needed metal is readily available from Restoration Design up in Canada. Not sure how prices are impacted by the tariffs lately though.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

PS:
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[Aayala]

Hopefully you can do some stabilizing of it. That and the suspension mount. Is that an air conditioner?

Hope so! I thought the suspension mount is in the trunk? This is a picture of the trunk and some parts the owner had already bought! One of them being a Battery Tray (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

And that is correct! Gotta have AC in Texas! I was thinking of when I rebuild the engine, to go with straight headers and cut out the heat exchangers since I really won't be needing those here in Texas, leave the AC in though!

[Aayala]

Picture of hell hole and engine bay.

Time for a rotisserie!
They do show up in the classifieds every once in a while. There's also plans floating around here on how to build your own.

There most certainly will be more rust.
How good are you with a welder?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

The good news is, almost all needed metal is readily available from Restoration Design up in Canada. Not sure how prices are impacted by the tariffs lately though.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

PS:
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

Thank you! Appreciate the warm welcome!
I will be on the lookout for one of those I guess! Well the fact that I will be learning to weld with this project I am gonna go with complete beginner... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) lol. I do want to do it properly so will do a lot of research before I begin cutting anything up. Fred's Backyard Restoration is awesome and hoping to get a lot of info from his thread on how to properly work on these cars!

I did see that a couple of websites offer some of the metal parts that I would need! AutoAtlanta seems to have some in stock as well. Thanks again!

[emerygt350]

Hopefully you can do some stabilizing of it. That and the suspension mount. Is that an air conditioner?

Hope so! I thought the suspension mount is in the trunk? This is a picture of the trunk and some parts the owner had already bought! One of them being a Battery Tray (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

And that is correct! Gotta have AC in Texas! I was thinking of when I rebuild the engine, to go with straight headers and cut out the heat exchangers since I really won't be needing those here in Texas, leave the AC in though!

The mount of most worry is in front of the passenger side rear wheel.

[friethmiller]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

Andrés, my other 914 is was a 1.8L engine, as well. Glad your's came with all the original FI parts. That's awesome (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) I'd be happy to stop by and have a look sometime, if you'd like. I can certainly offer my opinion on the amount of work you have in front of you. You're welcome to borrow my rotisserie but it'll be at least 6 months before I'm done using it. If you want to build your own setup, I can help with that as well. Just PM me and we can arrange a time for me to stop by.

Fred

[914rrr]

Please be extremely careful pulling the large vacuum hose off of the black plastic oil filler neck vacuum port, as they are rather fragile and an oddball filler neck only used on 74 and 75 1.8s and 76 912Es. They are rather difficult to find used. Ask me how I know...

Probably a good idea to replace the oil filler assembly rectangular-ish base cork gasket, the oil filler cap flat gasket and o-ring. I'm not sure, but there may also be a gasket between the oil filler neck and the base.

1.8 L Jet FI is really sensitive to any vacuum leaks.

[StarBear]

Lots of 1.8 info in the historic sub forum.
Indeed the vacuum leaks and support doing the gaskets at the oil filler back and cap (washer and o-ring) - often overlooked.

[Aayala]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

Andrés, my other 914 is was a 1.8L engine, as well. Glad your's came with all the original FI parts. That's awesome (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) I'd be happy to stop by and have a look sometime, if you'd like. I can certainly offer my opinion on the amount of work you have in front of you. You're welcome to borrow my rotisserie but it'll be at least 6 months before I'm done using it. If you want to build your own setup, I can help with that as well. Just PM me and we can arrange a time for me to stop by.

Fred

Thank you Fred! Yeah seems to have mostly everything, everything is just rusted haha so hopefully it will clean up well. And that would be great! I will shoot you a PM, thank you so much again!

[Aayala]

Please be extremely careful pulling the large vacuum hose off of the black plastic oil filler neck vacuum port, as they are rather fragile and an oddball filler neck only used on 74 and 75 1.8s and 76 912Es. They are rather difficult to find used. Ask me how I know...

Probably a good idea to replace the oil filler assembly rectangular-ish base cork gasket, the oil filler cap flat gasket and o-ring. I'm not sure, but there may also be a gasket between the oil filler neck and the base.

1.8 L Jet FI is really sensitive to any vacuum leaks.

I was trying to be as careful as I could removing everything! And from what I can remember that part was in tact at the top of the oil tower so all good! The bottom of the hose at the air inake boot was not haha. I did see that cork gasket and I will be getting a full gasket sealer kit when I rebuild the engine! I will be getting all new hoses as well as connectors to ensure proper vacuum. Will have to have a very detailed spreadsheet on what to order since most of the hoses were dried up and cracked before I knew where they went.

Thanks!
Andres.