Green 914

[Tykes]

Good point - I think my rims are Rivieras although I am happy to be corrected..

Apologies for going off topic on your thread Dave!

[DaveW]

Your car looks very nice Dave.

I notice that you have the same size tyres as one of mine (I have Dunlops) but on my car the tyre is very close to the rear wheel arch whereas yours appear to be slightly less tight. Have you rolled the arches slightly?

The rear arches have been rolled by a previous owner - though rolled is an exaggeration. More like hacked about... it does however have clearance.

[lennyhope]

My arches aren't rolled yet I manage om with 195 65 15 on 5.5j wheels.....Probably ET42

[DaveW]

My new custom made wheel nuts and washers have arrived. Nice quality. Made by a cottage industry car enthusiast I met through another car club. This is the second set he has made for me. Machined from billet in stainless.



If anybody else is interested in having some made, he can pretty much make to order / spec. I needed flat head nuts for new extended studs but with the correct shaft to locate the alloys I have on the 914 centrally. He has however made me ones with tapered heads for another car in the past too.

Dependent on requirements cost is circa £65-£95 (including washers) a set delivered. This compares favourably to off-the-shelf options elsewhere (that in my case didn't fit!). I don't have any interest in marketing his services however he has done an excellent job.

You can reach Bill Brighton on brightoncc@hotmail.co.uk, otherwise PM me for his number.

[DaveW]

Today was spent fitting the replacement reverse type PORSCHE scripts to either side of the car...how hard could it be

Actually a lot harder than it looks. Watched various youtube videos by experts that seemed to complete their jobs in minutes. Used plenty of masking tape and soapy water. Lost count of the number of times I measured everything. Spent most of the day doing it, and even then alignment was 1.5mm out one side and 2mm on the other. However once committed there is no going back...

Still, car now looks as it did when it left the dealership in the States again....

[shandyhaggis]

Looks really nice Dave. I bet your really chuffed.

How did you get your bumpers nice and black?

Andrew

[DaveW]

Looks really nice Dave. I bet your really chuffed.

How did you get your bumpers nice and black?

Andrew

I used some old back to black bumper cream (not the spray). To seal it I then used a couple of coats of Swissvax Tyre Pneu, which worked well. The UV discoloration of the bumpers though could really use a bumper paint. Considered Wurth and a few others, though most are designed for plastic bumpers rather than rubber mouldings. Will make do for now.

[shandyhaggis]

ah ok

difficult to know what to do. I think if they clean up will then thats best as Im no sure paint would work longer term.... Ill ask my paint chap what he thinks

cheers

Andrew

[DaveW]

Paint was probably the wrong term. They are actually 'bumper dyes'. Wurth do one and I found two others which cropped up on a google search.

[DaveW]

Finally got round to fitting the gas struts I had acquired to replace the rear trunk lid torsion bars. Quite pleased with the result, though ended up having to re-order from SGS Engineering (http://www.sgs-engineering.com/) as the original ones I had were too powerful. SGS really were excellent. They offer an extremely fast service (they make them to your spec and send on a next day basis - received them within 48 hours). The struts required some of the bulkhead lip to be cut away allowing for the strut to lie flat and the boot to close. Other than that it was really straight forward. I now have a lid that opens and closes properly! I will post pictures in due course.

Car is currently at my spanner-man having my new gear linkage bushes fitted, trailing arm bushes fitted, gearbox main shaft seal replaced, and a new clutch. Also getting them to fit new L-Drive and seals for the speedo whilst they are at it.

So, list of things to do steadily reducing.

[DaveW]

Determined that I need a speedo cable too. Just picked myself up off the floor having spoken to Porsche..... £128 plus shipping for a speedo cable. Has anyone sourced a new one recently from non-OPC suppliers as I am struggling to find anyone that carries them in stock?

[Mr Pharmacist]

Wow! is that just for the cable? Not including the drive? Roger Bray lists them at £55, but thats where mine came from and it broke a couple of months ago after only a few hundred miles of use - no idea why it failed.

For now i'm just using my iphone and an app as a speedo!

[914 KEV]

GEMO - does an aftermarket speedo cable for the 914 (part number 61043026)
Mittelmotor sell them for 34.00 €
The boots GEMO use on the cable are wrong and in the wrong place… but it is priced more realistically.

When a speedo cable breaks a lot of the time it is not the cable that caused it to break in the first place.
The angle drive on the gearbox is usually the culprit as well as the speedo itself as the input can cease as it rarely given a thought of lubrication.
The speedo cable is often damaged by heat from the heat exchangers or the outer sleeve comes away from the cable end connector at the gearbox end if the angle drive input angle is too sharp.

[DaveW]

Thanks Kevin. I have ordered the very same part earlier today from Patrik Hess. I already have new L-Drive and seals. UK suppliers only seem to be able to supply genuine Porsche cables (best price @Porsche Centre Bolton £100+vat).....Only question was around the late cars having a black box (EGR?) in between. I am pretty sure mine has been removed already so hoping that the replacement cable can be fitted without too many issues.

Cheers,

[914 KEV]

Only question was around the late cars having a black box (EGR?) in between. I am pretty sure mine has been removed already so hoping that the replacement cable can be fitted without too many issues

The Californian 75 -76 914s were fitted with a catalytic converter and had an EGR counter in the passenger foot well under the wooden panel in the foam block under the front carpet.
It used two short speedo cables.
If still fitted just remove the two cables and replace with the standard long cable which runs straight along the centre section.