I bought my 1974 914 1.8 Porsche 2 years ago from a rich orthodontist in Indiana, who had 15 cars and was going to sell a few before he moved back to California. The car had 57,000 miles on it and looked great. He told me the engine was rebuilt. He lied.
After two hack mechanics and even the Stealership screwed me over, I finally bit the bullet and took it to Orion Auto in Ann Arbor, because they had the best mechanic in the state…Tim Pott. Sadly, Orion is madly expensive, and their service manager was a total fxxkweasel, and hateful and condescending to customers and delivery people. He overcharged me by 30%. Although he agreed to let me buy some of the parts at a savings of 75%, he ordered most of the same parts and charged me an arm and two legs!
Tim, from Orion Auto, rebuilt the engine, which had pressure leaks of 10/10/65/80%!!! He also went through the whole car and changed shift bushings, all suspension parts, fuel lines, vacuum hoses, and airflow meter…
I had a 270-watt Bluetooth retro radio and new speakers put in. New jugs (cylinders) made her a 1.9 liter engine now. She has lovely jugs! (Sorry. couldn’t resist). New fuel injectors…more about that in a minute… The Orion bill ended up being $11k.
The good news is this car has basically no rust on it, highly unusual for an old sports car.
Then last Sunday this happened:
My wife and I had a fun classic car cruise through Hines Park…a three-hour adventure with a dramatic stop in Cherry Hill. Then the fuel injector blew a clamp and was spraying gas all over behind us!
I was able to stop and get my wife Deb out as passersby stopped to help too. Deb is severely handicapped due to a bone marrow transplant 15 years ago, can’t walk and requires oxygen. Two passersby carried her 50 yards to a shady park bench while I called 911. A a fire truck and police cruiser were dispatched to the site.
One of the firemen discovered the gas leak and MacGivered it to stop the leak with a golf tee! The patrolman ended up giving Deb and I a ride all the way home….above and beyond the call of duty!
We could have easily burned up today…thankfully someone was looking out for us. We were only 11 miles from home when we smelled the gas and I could see it spraying wildly out behind us! Fortunately, Deb and I and the car are still alive.
My mechanic, who has since quit Orion, took the injectors out yesterday and is removing the crimp band and putting hose clamps on them. We’ll be up and grooving in a couple days!
