What are your thoughts? Should I buy it?

I was towing the newest Speedster in my garage this morning and a guy approcehed with me some questions about it. After we talked for a bit, he said "do you know anyone who would be interested in a 914?" I asked him about it and he said it's a 1972 with what he thinks is a 1.7 liter engine that he put 40 or 44 (he wasn't sure) IDF Webers on He said it's been sitting for several years, but it's been covered and it is driveable. We did start it up and it ran great, but I didn't drive it.

He also said he has a spare engine and trans axel that was "beefed-up" by the previous owner, but was in a different car for about 2000 miles and had just been sitting in his garage for a few years. He said the PO said he put several thousand $$$ into it, heads, crank, pistons and he thinks it is either a 2.4 or 2.8 liter. It turns over by hand.

He also has 6 spare wheels which you can see in the pictures, 4 of them have unused tires on them, but they are 6 years old.

He said he would take $4,000 for it all. The guy seems like he is very honest and I'm seriously thinking about it.

Here's a link to the pics. What are your thoughts???

http://s770.photobucket.com/albums/xx350/vanatic99/Silver%20914/?albumview=slideshow

Troy

I don't know anything about 914s but that seems to be a pretty sweet deal that you could easily turn over for a profit! Best of luck my friend!

Troy, it doesn't have child-bearing hips!
Seriously, if there's no rust and it's unmolested it will only go up in value.
Hopefully Dave Mitchell will weigh in as he has a sweet, totally original '72 on the block for a bit more. He knows the 914 well.
Have you ever driven one? They're a blast!
The Rivieras are worth about $200 but the extra engine could generate a grand or more.
If I had the cash I'd buy it, although I'm holding out for Dave to sell me his with 30-year financing...;-)

Actually, a 914 was the first Porsche I ever owned and here's a picture. I drove that car from Huntington Beach to Jackson Hole Wyoming back in the 70s and I drove it with studded snow tires in 1975 when I lived in Tahoe.
Like I said in another post, I used to have red hair, but something happened.


Troy

It looks like a deal to me, but then again, there are a lot of deals out there. You could buy, resale the car and keep the motor and tires, but then, you'd have a motor you really don't know much about and tires that are probably worthless.

Troy, will you quit posting the big pics...it wreaks havoc on my iPad! ;-)
Bitchin' photo. Your hair matches the car.

Too good to be true.

OMG...what happened to you....Ah, never mind, like I don't know...
Father time catches up to all of us......
The 914 is a deal, as long as you don't mind putting up with the BS involved in cleaning it up, etc....

Go over the entire car for structual rust.....

Yeah, especially the areas behind the passenger side wheels and the spare tire well.

I had those same ski racks mounted on a dune buggy back in the very early 70's. Never had hair like that though - Nope, not me.... ;>)

Jump on it. You can sell the spare drivetrain for half of the asking price - probably on here!

Yep -
It could have every neato bolt on on the planet - but if the chssis in junk, run away.

There are three main areas to check. First and formost is the hell hole. This is the area undernieth the battery tray down to where the inner frame rail meets the firewall. This includes the passenger side rear training arm mount. 90% of the cars out there have rust in this area. It can be repaired (replacement panels are readily available) but it is a major undertaking - especially if you do not do you own welding. You actually need to cut away a large section of the rear fender in most cases to get to the rusted area. Most of the time this will include replace the door jamb, and the thresh hold. Again, very very common. Even if it looks good, really poke around this area with an ice pick or a screw driver.

The other main structural rust area are the longitudinals. This is the area UNDER the black rocker panels. Dirt and debris get caught at the jacking point. If not routinely taken apart and cleaned, the jsucking points will most likely be toast as well as good chunk of the longitudinal. The block outer rockers were originally rivited to the car, so many owners never maintained this area early in the cars life - causing big problems now. I just had to replace a section on my "rust free" 914-6 this year.

Another notorius - but less structural area is the rear trunk. The tail ligh seals go bad allowing water in. Pull up the carpet at the rear of the trunk and poke around with a screw driver.

4k cars are readily available. many of them become 20k cars if you are not careful. As with most projects, you will never get your money out - especially on a small displacement 4 banger.

Go to www.914world.com - tons of info. It is where all of us 914 freak shows hang out. If you do get the car, be very very wary of ordering parts from a certain Atlanta based shop.....

I thought that the 914 was a "donor car" for the Laser 917 kit(small block Chevy)?

I have decided to pass on this car, because I just don't know that much about the 914s. I think it is a good deal and if anyone else is interested, contact me off-list and I will put you in touch with the owner. vanatic99 at yahoo.com
Troy