[deleted]
A few things to know before stealing my 914
241–250 of 428 posts
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#242Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is the electric conversion still a thing? I want an eclectic car with no monitors, no software updates, no surveillance (none of the new electric car offers that - they are calling home for updates and god knows why way too often, and they have bigger monitors than my 14" work laptop).
The inverter/regen braking, and charger units do have some firmware, but once everything is wired up and working, should work indefinitely without future OTA updates. If the national charging standard changes at some point in the future (or gets exported to another area (europe) that uses a different standard) you'll need to swap out the charger. Companies like EV West in California and Swindon in the UK offer bolt-i…
Engines like the VW typ 4 in the 914 are probably not going extinct anytime soon, you can order a ready to go longblock fairly easily [0]. For larger cars, a GM gen IV V8 can be had with CA-compliant emissions out of any parts catalog [1].
[0] https://scatvw.com/product/2-0-liter-long-block-24-875-779/
[1] https://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet-Performance/809/19421057/10...
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ford will sell you an electric crate engine for $4k [1]. At that point, I think it's up to you to supply the other parts of the system. I assume that at this point there are enough wrecks of Model S/X/3/Y that you should be able to pick up electric motors from them at junkyards. The thing I really worry about with electric swaps is battery. You could have a Note 7 situation on your hands _real easy_ if you're not car…
Production EV battery packs almost always include some sort of BMS and have lots of interlocks and safeties. You don't really have to do much to work with them other than to talk to the BMS and not exceed voltage and current limits. If you do, the BMS will trip the pack's internal HV contactor. Safely installing/modding/repairing automotive fuel systems is likely just as, if not more, dangerous if you don't know what…
Do any of those BMS do cooling? The parking lot at work hits 115F regularly and that is bad for batteries. I'd love a conversion, but I worry I'd get nissan leaf battery life vs tesla s battery life. I'm thinking something like an old mazda bongo import. For that matter, do any of the kits power the ac compressor?
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#244Just put it on a flatbed lol
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the flip side, I know a ton about cars and actually own a german sports car of roughly this vintage and this rings incredibly true (and also hilarious). My car can't be locked due to fear of it never opening again, starting the engine requires a delicate balance of the right amount of throttle and prayers the battery has enough charge, and selecting first is a preposterous mixture of a delicate ballet and sledgeha…
On the actual flip side, there are plenty of people who properly maintain vintage sports cars instead of just talking about how much they know about them. I get that door handles and lock cylinders are often made of easily-broken pot metal, but most owner communities have figured out solutions, or just live a little and recognize that a locksmith can easily get you into almost any vintage car if necessary. The starti…
The locks are stupidly expensive, like $1000 a door. I'd rather just not lock it. The starting issues are due to the carb needing a rebuild. It's on my list, but there are bigger fish to fry. The battery is due to it being a former race car with a tiny, super light battery. It's only designed to crank the engine a few times before it's dead to save weight. 1st gear in non-syncro, so it's for sure not that. It's likely the linkage, but that's a big job and won't be worth doing for a few years along with a few other things at the same time.
It's a cheap vintage car that isn't worth spending any real money on. I could pour $40,000 into getting into concours shape, but it would only add 2-3 grand worth of value. Instead I drive and enjoy it.
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
My father had one of these just sort of gathering dust in the garage when I was growing up, utterly shocked when I turned 16 and he handed me the keys. I still like to casually drop "oh yeah, I used to have a Porsche back when I was 16." Although I must say it was in immeasurably better shape than this one :D I still dream of finding an old 914 and giving it an electric conversion… I'd have to do something about that…
Is the electric conversion still a thing? I want an eclectic car with no monitors, no software updates, no surveillance (none of the new electric car offers that - they are calling home for updates and god knows why way too often, and they have bigger monitors than my 14" work laptop).
> they have bigger monitors than my 14" work laptop
Unfortunately, though you might find one with a smaller screen, you won't find ANY new car with no screen these days -- backup cameras (and, by implication, a screen to see its feed) have been required on new cars in the US since 2018.
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#247very Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Loved it.
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#248Earlier quoted context omitted.
My father had one of these just sort of gathering dust in the garage when I was growing up, utterly shocked when I turned 16 and he handed me the keys. I still like to casually drop "oh yeah, I used to have a Porsche back when I was 16." Although I must say it was in immeasurably better shape than this one :D I still dream of finding an old 914 and giving it an electric conversion… I'd have to do something about that…
Is the electric conversion still a thing? I want an eclectic car with no monitors, no software updates, no surveillance (none of the new electric car offers that - they are calling home for updates and god knows why way too often, and they have bigger monitors than my 14" work laptop).
People do electric conversions. I've been randomly watching someone on YouTube convert an old Jaguar: https://www.youtube.com/c/superfastmatt
Being an automotive engineer that worked for Tesla seems to be helpful, though.
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
The inverter/regen braking, and charger units do have some firmware, but once everything is wired up and working, should work indefinitely without future OTA updates. If the national charging standard changes at some point in the future (or gets exported to another area (europe) that uses a different standard) you'll need to swap out the charger. Companies like EV West in California and Swindon in the UK offer bolt-i…
Engines like the VW typ 4 in the 914 are probably not going extinct anytime soon, you can order a ready to go longblock fairly easily [0]. For larger cars, a GM gen IV V8 can be had with CA-compliant emissions out of any parts catalog [1]. [0] https://scatvw.com/product/2-0-liter-long-block-24-875-779/ [1] https://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet-Performance/809/19421057/10...
Agreed; I suspect the reason why the VW has been targeted by EV makers is largely because the tuner/enthusiast crowd is quite large, and also it's an extremely well understood/documented platform. I haven't seen the EV West stuff up close in person yet, but it looks like as a platform to develop a set of standard equipment for other cars, the VW is a good initial choice for those reasons.
I have a similarly size/weight prewar french car, and when the engine finally gives out, will probably pull out the petrol engine and swap in a VW kit, but with a custom bell housing adapter. A 70-100hp electric motor meant for a VW is not a lot of power, but can provide enough low end torque to keep the car driving in modern traffic for 100-130 miles, which is probably enough for the use classic cars get.
Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914
#250> The dual Webers don’t have chokes and you’ll be squirting fuel down the barrels with the accelerator pumps for the necessary priming regime. The engineering Puritan will want to know that the Webers are a retrofit, a hack for escape from the factory's refractory -- but cutting edge tech in the 70s! -- VW electronic fuel injection. The EFI "brain" was a box the size of a small modern laptop, stuffed with individual…
I think EFI overstates it a bit, while I guess true compared with the mechanical fuel injection, it was an entirely analog system.