New 914 owner

[johnnym]

Hi all,
I've recently bought a 914, fitted with a 3.0 SC engine
It's an interesting car: RHD with a build sheet from Porsche saying it was built as such and I assumed it was one of the Crayford cars but the Crayford register don't have the chassis no. on their list. Anyway, I love it and it is an amazing drive!

One problem: the brakes are crap. I have adjusted the rear calipers but it's not made much difference. Fronts are Boxster and should be good. I now need some professional help as I'd love to take it to Holland at the end of September. I live on Sussex/ Hants border: anyone know of somebody in the area with experience who can help?

[Bootsy]

Sounds interesting, be good to see some pictures of the 914

[johnnym]

Side view... interior shots to come.

[Nine One One]

This might help?
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=63063&hilit=BRAKES

[davep]

Well, I would love to see some documentation that the car was built as a RHD; that would be a very important document. Rear brakes on a 914 are generally limited by a brake pressure regulator up near the front engine mount. Generally the front brakes do the stopping, and the rear brakes help maintain control. What rear calipers do you have? With larger front calipers the rears may need to be enlarged as well to keep the balance. You say the brakes are crap; please be a bit more specific as to the problems you experience. What pads are you using? Condition of the rotors?

[jwhillracer]

Hi all,
I've recently bought a 914, fitted with a 3.0 SC engine
It's an interesting car: RHD with a build sheet from Porsche saying it was built as such and I assumed it was one of the Crayford cars but the Crayford register don't have the chassis no. on their list. Anyway, I love it and it is an amazing drive!

One problem: the brakes are crap. I have adjusted the rear calipers but it's not made much difference. Fronts are Boxster and should be good. I now need some professional help as I'd love to take it to Holland at the end of September. I live on Sussex/ Hants border: anyone know of somebody in the area with experience who can help?

Send a pm to 914-6 on here. He's near Andover, and has a Crayford 914, so would be interested to see your car, I'm sure.
He will know someone nearby who can help.
Cheers!
JW

[Darren C]

Hi Johnny,

I'm Emsworth if you get stuck

Regards
Darren

[johnnym]

Hi guys,
Many thanks! Darren; I have a feeling we'll see each other soon

Dave; front brakes are Porsche Boxster callipers with 3.2 Carrera front discs. Rear hubs are 914/6 and I haven't measured them but I assume they're 914/6 callipers. All pads OK; rears nearly new. Front discs good, rear NS showing some light corrosion but not bad.

What do I mean by crap? I also have a 1976 Alfa Spider with original single-pot solid ATE discs with servo and it stops much better than this. At slow speed the 914 is OK, and it just passed an MOT without comment, but at speed it just doesn't slow as effectively as I'd expect with the brakes it has. It pulls up in a straight line, just slowly. I'd just like someone's professional opinion who's used to dealing with them: maybe it is pads or discs, maybe a setup issue.

In terms of the paperwork, the Letter of Origin from Porsche states: 'The vehicle is to C16 UK Specification. The vehicle is right-hand drive. The vehicle was subsequently delivered to Porsche Cars Great Britain.'

The dash certainly seems made to a good quality; the firewall less so, and the pad behind the seats has been cut up and re-fixed in quite a basic manner, but having restored other 'factory' specials in the past I know this doesn't necessarily mean anything. The previous owner trhinks he has something linking it to Crayford, which he's trying to find.

Thanks again!

John

[davep]

914/4 rear calliper
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/po ... 560569.jpg
914/6 rear calliper
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/po ... 548881.jpg

[rhd racer]

Welcome John

Couple of Qs to try and diagnose the issue from afar....

Can you lock the fronts if you are aggressive on the pedal? - as Dave says, the Boxster fronts are an upgrade to the rears so if working effectively should allow you to lock the front fairly easily, especially as the front end is light

If you pump the brakes several times does the pedal get firmer or stay the same? - just wonder if there is any air in the system. Boxster fronts have two lots of bleed nipples (inner pistons and outer) and it is quite common to get air trapped in the caliper between the two. Other than that they are pretty reliable and very effective, certainly better than 3.2 calipers etc

Where is the bite point on the pedal - high up or near the floor? - the 4 pots require more fluid to operate, so usually require a master cylinder upgrade. I have a 23mm Merc one on mine (a pretty normal conversion, they are sold by Design 911) but have 4 pots all round, so I would expect yours to need a 911 MC with 19 or 21mm pistons.

The brake balancers are known to cause issues. You could delete it completely with a Wilwood or Tilton bias adjuster with M10 x 1.0mm threads and set your car to do exactly what you want it do, and dial out some of the effect of the upgraded fronts. It might just cure the problem too.

If you decide you want to upgrade the rears to Boxster calipers, I do have some which I would happily sell, but you would need to do a 911 handbrake conversion within the rear hubs and it is quite a lot of work. There are some good guides to doing it on 914 world.

Hope that helps
Wayne

[oldtimer]

Re the brakes , it is worth checking what master cylinder is fitted , as someone said you usually have to upgrade it in line with upgrading to bigger brakes . I had a look at that car because it was a rare beast and cheaper than an early 911 ! I did not get to drive it though as owner wanted comprehensive insurance cover in place. Good luck and happy driving !

[gulf908]

I am also very interested in another 'original' RHD 914.
I will be doing a story shortly on the 3 'RHD' cars here in AUS to send to CP.
My understanding is that all Karmann made 914s were in LHD.
More pics pls

TIA
Dennis