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We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack.



This month's customer car story comes from Des Erasmus and his retrofitted 1971 Signal Orange 914/6.



Des works as an action vehicle coordinator in Cape Town, South Africa where a 914 is a rare sight. The car he would eventually purchase first made its way to South Africa 40 years ago, but was left behind after the previous owner emigrated. When Des acquired the car in 2006, it had sat for a number of years and was missing glass and leaking oil badly. It was more of a project than he had originally anticipated at the time and he sold it within a few days. He felt a deep regret for passing on it so quickly but life went on. In 2012 he saw an advertisement for a "916" locally and knew it had to be the same car. He bought it sight-unseen 1600 km away and had it delivered to his dry storage until he could dedicate time to work on it.




Fast forward to the beginning of 2021, local lockdowns gave Des the time he needed to begin his rebuild. The car was stripped and mounted to a rotisserie for a bare metal restoration. All suspension components were stripped, repainted, and reassembled with Bilstein shocks in all four corners. 
 




 
The interior was completely redone in custom leather upholstery and a pair of inertia belts took place of the standard non-retractable belts. Des also sourced a center console from a 1973 car and replaced the clock with an oil pressure gauge.




The original motor was replaced with a 911 2.2 T engine complete with freshly rebuilt 2.7 S pistons and barrels. An original set of 914/6 engine tin was sourced and imported and a replacement oil tank was installed. The tail-shift transmission was rebuilt using a combination of side-shift and tail-shift linkage.



When Des went to take the car on the first test drive he quickly found out the gears were all reversed and needed to be sorted out. After dropping the transmission and fixing the issue, the six is finally ready to get back on the road. We're glad to see another brought back to life, thanks for sharing this great story Des!


Please submit your image and a brief summary to blake@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you will win a $15 914Rubber gift card!

We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack.



This month's customer car story comes from Roland Schlimm and his 1974 Sunflower Yellow 2.0L.




Roland bought the car in 1990 after his first '72 914 had the suspension cave in under the battery. He had spent over a year specifically looking for a 1974 to replace it with and finally found one in Delaware.After driving it for a number of years Roland decided it was time to invest in freshening it up back in 2004. Over the course of the next decade he had pulled the motor, had it rebuilt, and completely disassembled the car for paint.




In 2019 it finally made it to the paint shop. After a couple years of reassembly it was road ready and inspected in 2021. After more than 3 decades with the car filled with persistence, frustration, patience, and of course money, it is an absolute treat to drive. Great work Roland, and thanks for sharing the story of this beautiful car with us!


Please submit your image and a brief summary to blake@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you will win a $15 914Rubber gift card!

Customer Cars: Steve Sweeney's 1973 2.0L 914

Tuesday, March 8, 2022 4:03 PM

We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack.



This month's customer car story comes from Steve Sweney. Steve is the original owner of this 1973 2.0L with the appearance group package.




Steve bought the car fresh off the dealer lot in Elkhart, Indianna back in the early 70's. He linked up with his local PCA and got into the racing scene. This quickly became his road event car and has earned him 2 second-place finishes at the PCA Parade auto cross, including 1 at Road America. The car has spent several club days at Road Atlanta and has taken on Gingerman Raceway and Grattan Raceway! 



Steve and his family now reside in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina where the car enjoys the comfort of a garage shared with his other, younger Porsches. The 914 is now adorned with a Bronze Star License plate in honor of Steve's combat vet brother. Thank you for the great submission Steve, and thank you to your brother for his service!


Please submit your image and a brief summary to blake@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you will win a $15 914Rubber gift card!

Customer Cars: Ryan Jones 1973 2.0L 914

Wednesday, February 9, 2022 6:30 PM

We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack.



This month's customer car story comes from Ryan Jones. Ryan has a very unique 1973 2.0L which was his first car back in 2005.




Per the original window sticker, it was imported through Chicago and made its way a few hours south to Howard Hembrough Porsche+Audi in Springfield, Ill. Originally a Delphi Green Metallic car, the gentleman who bought it new off the lot had it repainted in 1976 as you currently see it above. While it’s certainly not a factory color, it’s definitely period correct.




By 1980, that same owner gave the car to his brother-in-law who lived in Canton, Mo. He was a dentist, and the car lived in his garage for the better part of 25 years, mostly as a grocery-getter or occasional weekend driver, racking up only 53,000 miles by the time Ryan picked it up in 2005.



But the first time Ryan saw the car — or any 914, for that matter — was in 1999 when he was 10 years old. His uncle was a mechanic in Canton and got to know the car and its owner over the years. His uncle took him to see the 914 and they  were allowed to go for a short drive, it was love at first sight.




From that point on Ryan began to save all the cash he could get from birthdays, Christmas, and mowing lawns for a car. His parents saw how serious he was and made a deal that if he saved up a majority of the cash for a vehicle purchase, they’d help cover up to a small difference when he turned 16. Whenever they would ask him what car he was going to get, his mind would always come back to the 914.



Ryan later found out that not long after that first drive with his uncle, his parents had worked with him to help find a 914 to surprise Ryan with on his 16th birthday. His uncle initially found a ’74 1.8L in decent shape and he began restoring it. The car had just come out of the paint booth when the body shop, and everything inside it, was destroyed by a tornado.




A few months later, the dentist friend had contacted Ryan's uncle to say he was looking to sell the ’73. Fast-forward a year or two later, Ryan's parents sent him on a scavenger hunt around the house on his 16th birthday that ultimately led him to the keys of the 914 he has today. Aside from the paint and side mirrors, the car has remained mostly untouched, original motor, interior, upholstery, etc., and now has about 67,500 miles on the clock.




This was a fantastic story with some beautiful images of a one-of-a-kind car. Thank you for the submission Ryan and we hope that every tick of that odometer brings you joy for years to come!



Please submit your image and a brief summary to blake@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you will win a $15 914Rubber gift card!

Customer Cars: Steve Klima's 1970 914-6.

Monday, November 15, 2021 5:44 PM

We love seeing what exciting projects our customers are currently working on. Every month we would like to showcase a couple of cars in whatever state they are in - on the road or on the rack.



This month's submission comes to us from Steve Klima with his father's original-owner 1970 914-6.


 


This car was actually bought new from Stoddard Imported Cars where Steve's father, Dave Klima, worked as a salesman and sold the car to himself. This car is one of the Stoddard modified 914-6's which was done in the 1970s. It has a 2.8 twinplug engine along with a side shift transmission.



The car has been fitted with 15x7 Fuchs and 185/70vr15 XWX's and has 21,600 original miles on the drivetrain. Steve was able to get this 6 back on the road again with help from Chris Moore at Autobahn Extremist who dedicated many long hours to getting this car up and running again.



This is a truly special car with some great history behind it. If you want to share your car's story, reach out to us and it might just be your car here next month. Thank you for this great submission Steve!


Please submit your image and a brief summary to blake@914rubber.com. If we select your photo for the newsletter you will win a $15 914Rubber gift card!