1973 Porsche 914

1973 Porsche 914 1.7

I am relisting this vehicle as the previous winning bidder backed out. So if you missed this the first time, don't let it pass you by this time.

This 1973 Porsche 914 is in running condition and is tagged, insured, and street legal. It has a rebuilt 1.7L engine with dual Weber 40s, carb cam, 009 distributor, electronic points, and new fuel pump and filters. Fuel tank has been removed and flushed with new fuel lines front and back. New brake lines all around, new 19mm brake master cylinder and new 195/50/15 tires. New battery, new ignition switch, new turn signal stalk, new relays, and a new engine wiring harness. Brand new CV joints on each side of the transaxle. Over $3500 of parts and labor have been put into this car in the last 18 months to make it drivable and street legal. The odometer says 30156, but is only five digits and I don't know if it has rolled over at some point in it's 47 years.

This is a wonderful car and runs pretty smoothly, and would be a great weekend car to drive to the park or take out on date night for someone who likes a car with a little patina and enjoys tinkering. Or it's a great car to do a rebuild, as most major parts have been replaced already and you could put them right back on after body and paint was done. This is a strip down and a paint job away from being a $18000-$20000 914. I just don't have those resources or time anymore. I need to move on to my next stage of life that includes a reliable daily driver that can take me to work 30 miles each day.

Buyer is responsible for picking up the vehicle and/or having it shipped.

A little history…

I bought this car around 2002 to fix it up. It was drivable but lightly wrecked on the front right quarter (not salvaged). We straightened the front trunk area, replaced the hood and bumper, and cut off the front right fender and replaced it with a front quarter from a parts car (from door to bumper, including the headlight bucket) The car was originally Bahia Red (L30E), the replacement front quarter was from a white car, and it was painted 2004 Ford Mustang yellow in 2004. I chose yellow because a the time, my dad owned a red 914 and I didn't want another red one.It was my daily driver for about a year and a half.

In 2005 I purchased a new daily driver and this car sat unused for a few months. During a short drive the engine slowly died on the road. It was determined that a field mouse had made a new home of dirt and leaves around one of my cylinders while it was siting and it overheated and seized up the first time I drove it. When we removed the engine, we discovered the block was cracked. I decided to replace the engine and change it over from fuel injection to carbs.

I purchased a rebuilt 1.7 engine from a 914 enthusiast in the Los Angeles area who had rebuilt his wife's engine for carbs but ended up putting in a 2.0L and had this rebuilt 1.7 engine left over to sell. He had an extra dual exhaust that he threw in as well. I bought a set of used, rebuilt webers and brought the engine and carbs to a friends shop where he would work on it periodically over a year or so. Unfortunately, while it was part way finished, one of his dogs chewed up and destroyed the engine wiring harness. At that point, life just kind of happened for both of us and it sat at his garage, unfinished for over 10 years.

In 2017 I brought the car home, bought a new wiring harness and proceeded to finish the car to get it running. In that process, I was thwarted at each turn with new problems that kept the car from running and it sat on jack stands in my garage for another two years. But after installing the new wiring harness, flushing the fuel tank, replacing the ignition switch and fuel pump, it finally started last year.

So it's a rebuilt engine with rebuilt weber carbs that have been sitting unused for over ten years. The engine oil still looks good. A VW friend of mine did the valve timing, and distributor timing and now it runs pretty smooth.

It has developed some surface rust under the paint on the hood and one of the lights, and there's some bubbling under the paint at the lower corners of the front windshield. But the “hell hole” under the battery is clean and it still has the original battery tray in good condition. And the B-pillars are clear of rust as well. The worst rust area is the rear trunk which has some Swiss cheese spots. Plus I had to drill a few of my own holes back there in order to remove the heat shield under the car so the aftermarket dual exhaust would fit. (The original exhaust, along with the original fuel injection parts and brain were lost at my friends garage over those ten years).

The interior was tore up when I got it and I covered the front seats with my best attempt at doing my own upholstery 15 years ago. I have since removed my old work so you could see the original upholstery. The drivers seat back and sides are pretty bad, but the cushions are nice. Most of the back panel and center cushion are cracked, as is the dash. But it has the original carpet, pedal board, and carpeted open center console (not shown). The doors and door panels were cutout for speakers before I got it. I had an aftermarket stereo and speakers in there at one time but they are long since removed. The parking brake handle lifts up and down, but the brakes don't seem to engage. The heat exchangers under the car are in good condition, but the ducting to feed the interior heating vents is gone. And I have no idea if the fan works or any of the levers on the dash. 

The turn signal stalk is brand new and the turn signals and hazard lights work. The headlight motors work great but the headlights only light up when high brights are selected. And the windshield wipers are new, but the windshield wiper motor is very slow and the wipers barely move. The speedometer recently began to make a loud wirring noise above 30mph so I disconnected the cable. I discovered that a previous owner had simply used a hose clamp to tighten down the speedometer cable to the back of the gauge after the locking nut had cracked and broken.

I stopped driving it recently after it started popping out of first gear. I've read this is a common issue that can be resolved by removing the rear portion of the transaxle and replacing the first gear mechanism. I don't have the facilities at home to make that repair myself.

I've always loved the 914 and have owned two of them in my life (my dad also owned three different ones as well) I owned a '71 before this (which was the first car I bought with my own money) and my dad had a '71, a '74 and '75 over the years. I consider the 914 to be one of the greatest Porsches of all time. It's small, nimble, fun, and looks amazing. I know that I will probably never have another chance to own one as their value keeps going up. But at this time, it just no longer fits in my life and I hope it can be a blessing to a new owner.

You can view more pics of the car on my flckr page here: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/192214386@N03/

I included a few pics of what the car looked like when I got it, before I replaced the right front quarter and had it painted. These are the pics of the car when it was red with the grey hood, before we replaced the right front quarter.

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