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A few things to know before stealing my 914

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Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#171

Post by BizarroLand »

bshep wrote: post #115
rob74 wrote: post #108

Great article! Makes me wonder if in 40 years people will write about how to (not) get an old Tesla Roadster or BMW i3 going again? Although, rather than pumping the acceleration 4 times to get enough gas into the engine so it will start, that will probably begin with hacking the car's system so it allows you to start it...

as a guess it would go something like this: step 1. prepare a usb with files needed to jailbreak the car and be able to connect to your wifi step 2. setup a home network with dns/ntp and a reverse engineered tesla server that will authorize the car to work step 3 set date to reasonable values that the car will accept step 4 do some button dances to start the car from the usb … ill leave the rest to your imagination

You will also need a Raspberry Pi 19 and a GSM transmit module to impersonate the old-timey cell towers they used to use. You can purchase one for about $3 or so and run this script...

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#172

Post by ChuckMcM »

Ah yes, the much maligned (legitimately!) Porsche 914. In high school a friend of mine "scored" one of these "for a steal" from a used car dealer. It managed to wear out the enthusiasm of even a testosterone fueled high school car enthusiast! He sold it his senior year, for not quite as much as he paid for it, and had invested probably $8,000 in various repairs and improvements over the two years he owned it. Quite the legacy.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#173

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

legitster wrote: post #155

> Norman Garrett was the Concept Engineer for the original Miata back in his days at Mazda’s Southern California Design Studio. hahaha. This whole time I was thinking "I know the car is lovely, but this is why people love Miatas"

Miata stands for "Miata Is Always The Answer"

Reliable, fun, and economical. The only thing they lack is practicality, being a two-seater with a small trunk. But if you don't have to worry about carrying kids or cargo, they're great cars!

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#174

Post by colanderman »

__david__ wrote: post #169
distortedsignal wrote: post #153

Earlier 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…

"Note 7 situation"—I don't understand this reference, can you explain?

Lithium-ion battery fire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_Note_7#Battery_...

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#175

Post by todd8 »

There wasn't very good public transportation to Wellesley College from Boston in 1970 so I borrowed a friend's car to pick up my date. The car was old enough even then to have a crank handle stowed behind the driver's seat for starting the car when you weren't parked at the top of a hill. That date didn't go so well!

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#176

Post by wlesieutre »

gambiting wrote: post #166
EastSmith wrote: post #147

Earlier 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).

>>none of the new electric car offers that Eh? I literally got a brand new electric VW e-Up last week, it's exactly that. It even still has analog dials, and VW provides a mount for your phone instead of an "infotainment" system. The height of sophistication is DAB radio and heated front window and seats. I highly recommend it, it's a hoot - and with 150 miles range and rapid charging capability it's more than enough…

Not in the US I don't think. Even manufacturers that have been generally anti-touchscreen (read: mazda) went and stuffed in touchscreen HVAC controls because "people expect that in electric cars" or something.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#177

Post by legitster »

agloeregrets wrote: post #159
legitster wrote: post #155

> Norman Garrett was the Concept Engineer for the original Miata back in his days at Mazda’s Southern California Design Studio. hahaha. This whole time I was thinking "I know the car is lovely, but this is why people love Miatas"

Seriously, same thought. The Miata is this but without anything after the first paragraph. It starts and runs instantly, is fuel injected, brakes well, and the transmission is notably direct feeling. It is the feeling of a good day in the 914 every day (and thus worse, because you do not know the bad days). I guess this guy went though hell to define such a great car.

It really goes to show what makes the Miata so good. Even through this satire, you could tell this guy really loves his 914.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#178

Post by KennyBlanken »

distortedsignal wrote: post #153
EastSmith wrote: post #147

Earlier 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).

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 you're doing. There are few interlocks on automotive fuel systems beyond "if the engine stops spinning, turn off the fuel pump" or in some vehicles, there might be a crash/rollover fuel shutoff switch.

People think working on EVs is super scary when reality is that you can usually pull a cover in the rear passenger area, find and pull a bright orange plug, and the HV system is rendered completely safe. EVs don't have a billion places you can scald or burn yourself, their "engine" compartments generally don't have much or any spinning objects that could deglove your hands, there's no fuel or oil to catch fire, no high pressure hydraulics...

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914

#179

Post by dugmartin »

quadrifoliate wrote: post #24

> Depress the clutch as you would in any car, and pull the knob from its secure location out of first gear. Now you will become adrift in the zone known to early Porsche owners as “Neverland” and your quest will be to find second gear. Prepare yourself for a ten-second-or-so adventure. Do not go straight forward with the shift knob, as you will only find Reverse waiting there to mock you with a shriek of high-speed g…

That part of the story reminded me of the 1978 MGB I had as a teenager. If you had just a little leftward pressure on the stick going from 1st to 2nd the gearbox would happily announce "welcome to reverse!". The throw between gears was so small I ended up just using my middle finger to push down from 1st to 2nd and 3rd to 4th and then hooking my thumb around the knob to go from 2nd to 3rd. 5th gear was electric - a little switch that seemed to break every few months.
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