About a year and a half after I got the car I decided to have this repaired and also have the engine compartment detailled. There was a lot of glue from an insulation mat that wasn’t pleasing to the eye that needed to go.

This image shows the firewall after we had the engine dropped at H&H in Plano - now that’s one big hole! I am sure it did not do the car any favors in terms of rigidity.

The piece out on the ground, with glue-gunk and all. Next step is to weld it back in:

There we go - all better and patched up done with such excellence that you could not tell it had been out when seen from the engine compartment side. Finish behind backpad still reveales some scars. For the avid reader these last few pics are somewhat of a tell-tale - more to follow.
 

The car was found to be as advertized and there were no unpleasant surprises. I did have the car checked out at a local shop in CA but you never know how things turn out and how thorough people are on your behalf.

In fact, except for two new Yokohama AVS Sport 205/55/WR tires (and of course the exhaust I just had to change right off the bat) the car was worthy of a decent roadtrip. So we decided to go to Oklahoma to participate in the US Mid-West 914 Ramble organized by the PCA SIG.

Packing up Silver was a pleasure - like the first feeling of ownership really sets in when you are about to go somewhere with a purpose. Tagging along with lots of other 914′eeners from Mid-TX, we had a great drive.

I am a tall guy and although it does look cramped, it really isn’t at all. The 914 has plenty room to stretch even long legs for both driver and passenger.

The event coincided with Halloween and some people took that quite serious. I still remember our neighbours the first night - a vampire in the form of Dennis Carter It is his and Linda’s car parked to the right of Silver, BTW. Well, old car - Dennis and Linda also owns a six now, maybe I have some pictures of it for later. Lots of other folks had gone a long way to make it a festive night, too.

We can’t really say we had great weather - some showers during the day, and quite foggy during the evening drives towards dinner and pleasures. Coming and going to the event saw some great driving in great conditions.

Several photo albums exist from this event such as:

Pelican Parts 914 SIG Ramble pics, 2002

All in all we had a great trip and a great first experience with Silver. Zero issues of any kind, just turn the key and have fun. What more could I possibly want?

Meet Ole Yeller. A trusted companion of 914′eener Rich Johnson since (I believe) 1976. Rich bought the car in his youth in Little Rock, AR with only 35.000 miles on it from the original owner.

Like most, Yeller has gone through phases in her life. For instance, from ‘83 to ‘89 the car had the 914 Empi replica alloys, front and rear spoilers and twin black center stripes running the length of the body. Lower rockers were the ABS plastic type with the raised PORSCHE letters yellowed to match the body color. Now, thinking at how Rich may have looked to complement Yeller is what really brings a smile to my face

Since then, Yeller has matured - a lot! Besides being one of the nicest stock looking 914’s anywhere, the car is mechanically sorted like few others. Since the mid-nineties, a carbureted, ‘78 SC 3.0L engine has been residing in the engine bay. A few of the engine tweeks include a Web Cam 2021 cam set, 40 IDA 3C’s on tall PMO manifolds with watershields. Power is estimated at 230 HP. Zero to sixty times are in the low 5s.

A few of the many mods include:

- Stock CD ignition with a recurved centrifugal advance distributor.

- 930 pressure fed tensioner kit.

- An internally regulated alternator is used to add some charging power which also allows the relay board to be removed adding space in the engine bay.

- Powder-coated factory 914-6 sheet metal.

- A custom oil system plumbed to the factory 914-6 oil tank and is connected to a twin fan cooled Earl’s auxiliary oil cooler for the extra oil cooling need in Texas.

- 914-6 heat exchangers are coated with a thermal barrier to keep the exhaust heat out from under the car and provide warmth when needed.

- A polished, twin outlet, stainless steel sport muffler rips that wonderful boxer six engine sound.

A ‘73 901 side-shifter is connected to the 3.0L six.- Porsche’s ZF limited slip differential keeps the car hooked up.

- The gear selection is set for street use. First and second gears are stock. Third is just slightly shorter than OE “N” gear with 4th and 5th setup as highway gears. Final drive in 5th calculates to 155 MPH at 6,000 RPM! I doubt I’ll ever know if the car will go that fast.

- The clutch package is a ‘70/’71 911 setup. It uses the OE 225mm disc with an aluminum 225 pull-type diaphram pressure plate.

- Hydraulic master and slave units operate the push style clutch fork and eliminate the cable problems associated with HD clutches the early style system.

I have many, many pictures and even video (with a great sound track) of Ole Yeller which I will be posting as time permits.

The Dansk muffler is very, very nice and it installed quickly. Aahh, the sound it makes, and I was happy to have made an improvement to the car.

Yikes - glad to have it go!

The car is equipped with headers and thus has no heat. Whatever, I can wear a sweater if needed. So far I have not had problems of the windshield fogging up even during rainy days.

The new muffler looks 1000 times better, sounds better and was a drop-in replacement - $1000 was all it took

The original 4 to 4 conversion that started it all is also going well - my 2.0L engine has now been completed and is ready to be installed. This project will get interesting in 2009 as the car after so many years of sitting  will be en route to an active road life.

Speaking of road life; I have been blessed me with some very entertaining 914′ning since my last update (heck, it’s been 8 years - would be sad if it wasn’t so! :-)  For instance, I have attended the Midwest Porsche 914 Ramble organized by the Porsche Club of America 914-Special Interest Group (PCA 914-SIG) twice and enjoyed great opportunities to meet with old and new friends.

Well, enough talking - please revisit the site as there is and will be a lot of new stuff. Due to popular demand, I have opted to retain a bit of the data from the old site which will flow over here slowly.

To everyone who has been visiting the old site for 8 years without a single update: THANK YOU for being here! I hope I can entertain you with stories from those past years that has accumulated inside me.

Enjoy - I’d love to hear your feedback!