The Parts for the 1971 Porsche 914 Mechanical Refresh

PARTS FOR THE 1971 PORSCHE 914 MECHANICAL REFRESH

STORY and PHOTOS BY

DARRYL DEPPE, Pacific Northwest PCA Region

CONTRIBUTED BY DENNIS ROOD

Parts for the 1974 Porsche 914 Mechanical Refresh.

Picking up from last month’s introduction to my winter project, the subject will be about parts acquisition for the complete mechanical refresh of my first Porsche, a 1974 914 I originally restored 30 years ago. As I was finishing up the restoration of my 1964 356C last year, well into the pandemic chaos, I found myself encountering longer and longer waits on back ordered parts from my usual sources; Stoddard’s/NLA Parts, Pelican Parts and Sierra Madre Collection. As I started into the 914 it occurred to me as I saw full container ships at anchor outside backed-up ports on the evening news, the way to avoid supply chain interruptions was to make scouring the Internet for parts the critical path on this project. I did not want to be marooned on my 4-post lift with a partially assembled rear suspension or unable to install the long-block engine when it returns from Jack Morris due to missing parts to complete the assembly.

Now in retrospect, I’m glad I did because some parts took over a month to arrive and they were already here stateside.

As I refreshed my memory looking through the thick file folder of receipts from the first restoration back in 1992, parts for 914s were kind of hit or miss. Printed catalogs from vendors like Automobile Atlanta, Tweaks, Automation and Performance Products were the only “go-to” sources. Most of my parts were used, harvested from now long-gone local junkyards like Bry’s in West Seattle, Fitz European where the Woodinville Costco now resides and the goldmine hidden behind the Campbell Nelson Volkswagen dealership in Edmonds. Back then the lowly 914 was just another Volkswagen, so it was like Pick-and-Pull where you were allowed to enter the junkyard and treasure hunt on your own for those elusive fasteners, spare relays, chrome bumpers, fog light grills, door handles, you name it, if you could find it, it was yours. Growing up with my dad, a professional Mopar master technician who taught me how it’s done on our junkyard scrounging adventures made it one of the most enjoyable aspects of restoring a car! One thing that was certain, back then Porsche AG didn’t embrace the 914 so “genuine” parts were actually just NOS parts gathering dust on warehouse shelves and pretty much nonexistent for those obscure items needed to make a beat-up junk look like a jewel.

The 21st century junkyard is now TheSamba.com classifieds and eBay stores. TheSamba.com classified ads are a roll of the dice with no buyer protection but sometimes it’s worth the risk when a part must be found. As the popularity of 914 restoration has grown, so have wrecking yards that specialize in them as eBay stores. Once I discover an eBay seller that I like doing business with via “buy it now” auctions, I develop a relationship with them over the phone. You would be surprised at how much some of these guys enjoy talking over typing. Finding the complete set of front and rear factory sway bars for my car was accelerated by my ability to talk Mopar with Rich, a.k.a. “hphporschesales” in California who drag raced them “back in the day” and Porsche parts are what he does now to support his Viper habit! I noticed another eBay seller that I buy from frequently, “mattman1955” has recently started advertising in Panorama. Matt always has great communication, fast delivery with tracking numbers and what-you-see-is-what-you-get photos in his listings so he is taking eBay’s cut to his profits out of the loop. Over the 30 years of owning my 914, I noticed a gradual growth in the aftermarket with some vendors reproducing things like sheet metal pressings for rust repair and rubber weatherstrip seals. The parts did work but really lacked the precision fit and quality of genuine Porsche parts.