How to Restore and Modify Your Porsche 914 and 914/6 (Motorbooks Workshop) [Paperback]

Patrick Paternie (Author)

Book Description

Series: Motorbooks Workshop | Publication Date: December 31, 1999

This information-packed guide tells you what to look for when buying a 914, and helps you decide what to do with it once you have it! Whether your goal is a restored stocker, a modified street car or a club racer, this book covers both restoration and modification to body and trim, interiors, lighting and electrical, suspension, brakes, engines, fuel systems, transmission, wheels and tires, and detailing for concours participation. A history of the model traces the evolution of the VW/Porsche collaboration to its demise in the mid-1970s.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; First edition (December 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760305846
• ISBN-13: 978-0760305843
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,593,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 176 Pages of Fluff with No Substance, September 5, 2001

By 

Gill Paszek (Santa Maria, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Restore and Modify Your Porsche 914 and 914/6 (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

"How to Restore & Modify Your Porsche 914 & 914/6" doesn't tell how to do either. Its best section describes the many places to look for rust when buying a 914. Most of the rest is filled with generalisms and pablum, much of which is not even specific to 914s. The book is filled with annoying technical errors that individually seem minor, but are collectively inexcusable and indicate insufficient research. Example: the author claims that compared to the stock 17mm master cylinder, the larger (19mm) master cylinder's "main advantage is to increase the brake pressure of the system." In fact, for a given force applied to the brake pedal, it does the oppposite. Another example: the author cautions us that the terms "backspacing" and "offset" of wheels are often confused, then he gives an incorrect definition of "offset." Thanks for muddying the pool of knowledge!
On modifying the cars, we are advised that certain components can be replaced with better ones, but the author does not tell what parts to buy, how to install them, or what gains in performance we can expect.
There are many better books on 914s available. "914 Tech Tips 700" by George A. Hussey, IV, gives practical maintenance advice. "The Porsche 914 & 914/6" by Dr. Brett Johnson gives an excellent model year history and shows what parts are original. Neither of these books was mentioned in Mr. Paternie's list of suggested reading. Neither of these books goes into modification in any depth. For that, buy "Up-Fixin der Porsche" (11 volumes) from the Porsche Club of America, or subscribe to Grassroots Motorsports magazine.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY!, March 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Restore and Modify Your Porsche 914 and 914/6 (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

I thought I was getting a book that explained modify my 914, like technical info on big bore kits and engine swaps. NOPE! The whole engine chapter is an article about some guy who talks about where he took his engine to get it rebuilt and and he thinks about some parts on the engine. When it got to the section about 914/6 and engine swaps basically it said GOOD LUCK ! I feel outraged that I spent money on this book. If you are looking for good basic reading on what people think about the 914 this is a good book for that. Other then that this is not a technical book. I dont see how there is any modification info in this book!...Dont waste your money, get the haynes manual.

27 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally...a hands-on Book!, February 22, 2000

By 

Strombeckerguy (WISCONSIN, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Restore and Modify Your Porsche 914 and 914/6 (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

At long last, a how-to book that shows you "HOW TO!" Paternie, along with technical photographer Wayne Dempsey, do a really good job of how to do tons of mods and restos to a 914. A lot of books promise this, but few come through. This book is like a hundred great tech articles all under one cover. Would highly recommend this to anyone who owns a 914 or is even thinking about buying one. ALSO, folks that are into air-cooled Volkswagens may also benefit from this one.