Buying a Porsche 914

I've looked far and wide, and for the life of me, I can't seem to find a decently priced 911 body with nothing else for cheap, so I run across this lot here (Lubbock, Tx) and see a green 914. It looks in good condition, but the lot is known for buying wreckers and fixing them up, cars with Salvage titles. After a quick walk around there seems to be no body damage, but heres my questions, if there are no porsche mechanics around town, what should I look for when doing a more in detail look at the car? Its a 1975 914, 1.9L engine, how much would be a good offer for this dealer? He offered it to me for $3000, but I'm thinking that I could go for cheaper, but if Its that low with no visable body damage, might there be damage that I can't see? Anything that I should look at engine wise? I would like to drive this for racing purposes, and I have a few projects in mind on what I think might be fun to try, but would it be more worth my while to price it as a restoration and sell? Thanks for the help.

okay listen up: main points to look for- rust/corosion on the battery tray in the engine compartment and the lower/upper suspension below that; also look for rust in both trunks; try to get the best look at the engine you can because it is pretty squeezed in there; also look for oil leakage and although most porsches leak oil it shouldn't be an excessive amount. As for the interior, the interiors varied in those cars as to consoles and such so as long as it looks okay and doesn't look like anything has been ripped out (bare wires, odd moldings) then it's cool. And then just all the basic stuff to look for in a used car..... and rust was an issue with those so do look for that.

And as for the price depending on the condition a 1.9L 914 should go for about 3-4000 so it's a good deal if it's in shape, if not it's a porsche and fixing it might get expensive so you might be able to haggle it down to between 2 and 3000 $ . Personally i love the cars and i hope you have good luck with this one. happy hunting.

Okay, I now know there are actually 2 in town, and I may try to buy the(What I think is) the cheaper of the two, It has some body denting and What looks like damage to the console, How hard are the doors to fix (as in dents) and how expensive is it normally? Plus is there a large market for aftermarket engine parts that fit the 914?How about teh console parts? I am looking to change the interrior to have an all black interrior with a few LEDs and selective lighting for the dash and console display. Should there be a bag for the stick? Does anyone have a picture of the interrior that i could compare these to? How about the emergency brake? the green one doesn't seem to catch, but I'm not sure if its broken or if its soo light normally that I don't feel/hear it. Are the tops rebuildable/refinishable? The second one seems to have damage to the top. I'm hoping that I can pick up the second one for cheaper that $1500, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Like I think I said above, I am looking to build this beautiful European car up as a 'Stang Killer here in West Texas, so any advice in that area would be welcome.

Oh, and about the corrosion in the battery tray, if there is damage, is it repairable/replaceable?

Not sure about fixing the doors, it is steel so it may be more. And as for money to keep it running it shouldn't be more than $1,000 a year. As for the engine it's better to just put either a crate 327 or 350 v8 or a 911 flat 6 in it. The interior is pretty basic so you can do anything you want with it, and there isn't always a boot on the stick. But you can definitly turn one of those into a " 'stang killer".... not too hard, if you actually do some real work you'll compete with vette's. but definitly go for and have fun.

pretty sure you can replace the tray, but if you have to make sure the suspension under it is okay, it might have to be changed too.

So it is possible to transfer one of the flat 6 twin turbo's from the newer 911's in without too much work? I was looking at that, but I wasn't sure of the work as I'm 22 and this is my first porsche. I'm trying to have everything planned and thought out before I go and start buying things. Do you know if there are any Body kits for the 914 to make the front and sides look closer to the 911? I have to say, I'm a huge fan of the 911's and I wish I could afford one, but the more I look at these 914's I become more and more in love with them.

i really doubt you can fit a brand new porsche 911 turbo engine in there without modifications.... the older 3.3L (not sure on displacment) flat 6 engines out of the 911's i know work with very little modification cause that's what porsche used for the 914-6. but you can fit in up to a 350 chevy into it but that's high modification. but definitly you can work a flat 6. and for body kits chalon(sp?) has a kit that makes it look more like a 911. hope this helps, feel free to ask any more questions or re-ask anything i missed.

Listen Up!!!!!

If you are serious about a 911 engine, there is a guy selling one with i think 32K miles on it, he's selling it for 5000 obo.... it's a 3.2 liter flat 6. it would defintly fit in there and would be a huge performance boost. just lettin you know, again it's in the 911 forum and personally if the engine is good i think it'd be a good deal if you end up buying at least one of those 914's

I already have a way to get a hold of porsche 911 engine here, but thanks for the heads up. I'm still working all the details out, but it currently looks like I might be able to get a 911 turbo 2001 engine for pretty cheap from a guy who knows my uncle. The thing is, I want to make sure it will fit before I buy it. When you say modifications for the 911, how much? cutting the truck to fit it? more work than something a guy with a small shop could do? I like the idea of the 911, I've heard the Subaru WRX motors fit pretty well, and the Chevy 350. I'm looking at all of these, but with this good deal for a 911 engine I'm leaning to that strongly.

BTW what year did the 3.2 come out of?

the 3.2 in the 911 forum is an '88. And as for the amount of modification, a 350 would be sick as all hell to have but you have to redo and retrofit, and a whole lot of stuff to fit it in there, not to mention find a way to feed the air a chevy 350 needs...... i have no clue on what it would take for a new 911 turbo engine, i think they're roughly 3.8L engines if im not mistaken, im not sure, but then you have the turbos to fit in there too, i really can't tell you the needed modifications needed for that one....... that '88 3.2L however i think is basically what porsche used for the 914/6 so there would be prolly very little modification to fit it..... now in all cases you'll probably want to make other mods, like a custom/performance oil cooler up front, better shocks and suspension maybe, and just stuff to let it handle the increase in power, for the 350 engine you'd want to make some definite changes, now that's not to say you can't just drop the engine in hook it up and go cause you could, but im just saying it might be a good idea to change/upgrade a couple things. if you want i can talk to my brother who is a porsche nut, he's had 2 914's a 924 and now is driving a 944 with hopes of aquiring a 911, he'd know more than i do on this if you want some more info. but also im sure if you e-mailed a porsche tech he could let you know the best setup to use with whatever engine you decide on. or again if you want i can give you the number of a porsche shop down here that has it's own race shop in the back of the garage. but anyway, lemme know what's up and good luck.

oh, and personally i wouldn't go with a WRX engine.... don't ask me why i just wouldn't... doesn't sound quite right or overly worth it

I HAD heard somewhere that the wrx is almost drop in to fit, and hence the reason I was considering going with it, but I would like a ton of horsepower at my finger tips. Someone here just recently wrecked their 911 (probably doing stupid, they wouldn't tell me what) but he doesn't think its worth very much as the frame is bent. It looks like he was T-Boned as the door bar (the side of the frame that the door connect to) is bent way in, with a ton of damage to the drivers side of the car. but I think the suspension looks okay, would I want to basically take everythink off of the 911 frame and use it for the 914? I'd love to have the advice of your brother or any local shops that might be able to help me know what it would take to make this car scream. =8)

I'm pretty sure you can throw 911 suspension parts into a 914. But I'm not the expert, i'll definitly talk to my brother and i'll call Black Forest and see if i can talk to one of there race division guys and then i'll post what i find.

Thanks, I can't wait to hear back.

okay, talked to my brother and all that and here's the story...... forget the WRX engine, if at all possible go with an older 911 engine and also forget the new 911 engine or a V8, and here's why....

a 914 is extremely light, a new 911 turbo engine would be way too much, you'd need to modify way too much, you do not need the power that those put out, again the 914 is very light car.... and in a couple of words a V8 is too much, it's gonna involve way too many mods, you'd need to re-work the whole car.

Your best bet is a 70's 911 engine or maybe an early 80's. I believe the 914-6 had a late 60's engine. But the bottom line on an engine would be a late 60's RS engine out of a 911, if you got that you would be god in that car. If you can't get that go for no newer than prolly '85 911 flat 6 engine. That way you won't need too many mods if any.

As for the suspension question you had, DEFINITLY... 911 parts will generally work on the 914 in terms of suspension, now i was told to get BMW suspension also, i don't knwo if that's a brand of porsche or if that's actually BMW stuff, that'd be something to look into, but 911 suspension will work on the 914 and is a great and highly sought after upgrade.

So basically to overview, what you want is an old 911 engine, and that will be plenty of power to smoke a lot of people and make them look really stupid. 911 suspension is a go. and if you find a late 60's 911RS flat-6 engine... you are god.
-also, lemme know where you're located and I'll see if i can find a good place to take it to to get the work done if you don't plan on doing it on your own.... if you can on your own find either a porsche dealer, they would probably do it for you... or if you can find a brumos in your area that would be great (www.brumosporsche.com) , brumos could also help by giving you advice or tips, they're usually pretty good about that...... good luck

Okay, I'm located in Lubbock Texas. So the older 911 is just drop in? Would I have to change mounting or anything? thanks.

Also were they sawing that the WRX engine isn't possible at all? or just really difficult? Any suggestions on how/where to find the 911RS flat-6 engine?

no idea, try to find one though if you can.... but again, any older 911 flat-6 engine should work, and im not sure about if you'd need to change engine mounts.... possibly but it shouldn't be hard other than the fact that it's hard to get around in that engine compartment.

Ok, seems a couple of things are still somewhat unclear:

1)Yes, 911 suspension parts are widely used among 914 people. BMW 320 calipers are also used very often to increase swept area.

2)No, any engine that's not stock is not a "bolt in". But there are VERY good kits for the Chev V8 as well as older 911 engines. Any flat 6 over 3.0 liters is not recommended and will require serious work. The 2.7 and 3.0 make good transplants though. The tranny will take ~230 hp stock so long as you don't abuse it (the 901 sideshift that is).

3)Avoid water-cooled engines at all cost. They require significant modifcations to hook up a cooling system. The only reason I recommend the V8 (renegadehybrids.com) is because their kit is widely known as excellent. Don't go for the EJ25. I hear the VW 1.8T hooks up well, though I can't confirm.


I just can't wait till I can find a decent 914 on my own during my co-op work term. I need money. And a decent selection of 914s.

Ha ha.. good stuff here.

The PARTS alone to install a 911 6 cyl into a 914 will run you close to 4K plus the engine costs.

There are two ways to install the engine.. one involves a cheapass bolt in crossbar and the other is the industry standard weld in mount.

You will need:
.a 9146 oil tank (580$) (all 911 engines are semi dry sump) The aftermarket Vellios tank is crap and not baffled correctly.

.engine cooling tin (have to keep the hot exhaust air seperate from the colling air for the fan) steel= 600$ fiberglass replica=450$

.exhaust will have to be purchased or 100% fabbed. factory 9146 heat exchangers will run you 1000$ if you want heat. Headers can be had for 550$ plus a muffler at 250$ or so.

.most engines over 2.7 liter will need a front mounted oil cooler (like all the 911's have in some form or fashion) figure 500-800$ depending on what you 'kludge" together.

.oil cooler. The 9146 had a special oil cooler mounted to the engine that was based on the 911 cooler. You can modify a stock 911 cooler (150$) and make it work. Stock 9146 oil coolers typically run 600$+

oil lines. the 9146 used 4 lines that where specific to the car. 1 hard line and 3 "soft" lines. Replica lines will run you 400$ Factory lines will run you 1600$

Be careful with what you spew... installing a SBC in a 914 is hell of lot easier than installing a 911 engine. The only thing that has to be cut is the front trunk for a radiator.. sometimes.. the rear trunk needs a notch for the dizzy.. but not all dizzy's require this.

I am in pretty much the same boat as dragonphreak except that I don't have hook-ups to a new engine. Nor do I have mechanical expertise. Would you all suggest that I shell out 6-10K for a 914 in very good shape or just ditch the idea of getting one altogether. Both my brother and my dad had one of these and I have been wanting one for years.

Even if I can find one in perfect shape, how much of a money pit is this going to be?

I found a nice 914 here (http://rss.api.ebay.com/ws/rssapi?FeedName=SearchResults&siteId=0&language=en-US&output=RSS20&catref=C5&sacqy=&sacur=0&fsop=1&fsoo=1&from=R6&saobfmts=exsif&_trksid=m37&sacqyop=ge&saslc=0&floc=1&sabfmts=0&saprclo=&saprchi=&saaff=afcj&ftrv=1&ftrt=1&fcl=3&frpp=50&afcj=2212781&nojspr=y&satitle=Porsche+%3A+914+914-6GT+PORSCHE+914-6+GT+7000+ORIGINAL+MILES+RAREST+IN+U.S&afmp=&sacat=-1&saslop=1&fss=0) on ebay