Thought I would introduce myself here, My name is Colin.
This is one of the first and most informitive 914 forums i found.
Having grown up with the automotive forum culture i figured i would show you all what i bought.
I just picked up a 1976 914 2.0
for

500$ seriously.
Problem is as you can see in this picture.

It needs a bit of work.
the previous owner used this car as a daily driver till the clutch delaminated. he then removed the motor took the trans appart and well, lost interest.
his mess is now my problem
However it could be worse, its a clean straight car and its got most if not all of its paint on it.
While the trans was apart i took it to my local and trusted trans shop but came back with a bill for 1725 to replace all the bearings and synchros. Ouch.


then started tearing the motor down to clean the tin and probably powder coat it.
this car will bankrupt me.
The previous owner said that it ran great and had no leaks.
Right.





Also came with these wheels


My friend bought one also (A 71) for 500$
heres the two of them together


Ive read so many threads to inspire me to get off my ass and do something with my car so hopefully i can take the things i have learned here and really apply it.
I only have a few questions i cant find the answers to so ill just throw it out there.

Should i bother keeping the stock fuel injection if i want to have some sembalance of performance.
and will the stock fuel injection take to being modified say, headers maybe a mild cam?
How will the car perform stock ish,
while the motor is out is there any must do jobs?
Ive been looking at re enforcing the trailing arms and potentially the brackets for them.
as well as adding the J west shifter stuff.
the shocks and such will need to be replaced, any recommendations for a road car that id like to just handle well, I have one car on race suspension (Ast) and i don't know that i want another one.
And what material is the fan housing, is it aluminum or magnesium, can i get it anodized to protect it?
The car has been sitting for 10 years so the brakes are slightly borked, worth it to keep the stock calipers or do they need an upgrade.
other than that the car only has mild rust here and there ( the hell hole is good the battery tray is mediocre) and it appears that i might have wound up with a decent car.

Thanks for all the help in advance i look forward to getting this poor car back on the road.

Welcome to the site. Great people here. You will enjoy it.

If you are going to register the car in California, you will need to pass smog. 1975 model years and older are exempt. Dave Darling told me that for SOME 1976 models (they were ALL built in 1975 but sold as "1976"), people demonstrated to the state that their cars were old enough to be exempt from inspection.

If you don't have all the right smog gear, let me know. I've been accumulating it for spares and for people who need missing components.

Welcome, it is a great site.

Get in touch with Dr. Evil about your transmission. I went to his clinic in Canada in June and got my tailshifter 901 rebuilt with a lot of parts for $650.00. Might be easier to buy another one.

The consensus on this site is to keep the FI and learn how to keep it up. Carb changeover apparently is not as simple as it seems at first. There is a thread running right now styled "I Hate My Carbs".

Again, welcome, I've met a bunch of nice people here.

Walter Olin

Welcome...what part of SoCal?

If you didn't let the mechanic do the job on the tranny yet, out great dr evil here will rebuilt it for maybe half of that. He used good used parts from salvaged transmissions but we don't have any complaints he will do a great job. Shipping it to him is about 80 bucks if you follow his instructions.

welcome to the madness!

besides what's already said, ask here before spending more than $100!

let's revise... ask here before spending anything!

If you need specific pictures as to what goes where, or what you are missing, I can send pictures. My '76 is bone stock, and I've owned it since day one.

Let the "fun" (read work your ass off) begin.

Dave

And from what I've seen you got a steal (Given the fuchs wheels are worth more than the $500 you paid).
Take your time, ask LOTS of questions and here is my advice;
1. Go find a core transmission and rebuild it using the video (you have spare parts with the other trans)
2. Stick with the FI as it will make your car smoother and much better on gas mileage than carbs without lots of work.
3. Stick with the FI as it is likely you will legally have to to drive it on the road. A 76 2.0 is a fun car to drive!
4. Take pictures of the hell hole, the longs, the pedal area, the rear firewall (behind the seats) and post them. You should attack the rust first as all the rest is relatively easy comparatively. Plus if you have a solid chassis, the rest is SO much more fun.
5. Enjoy having a friend with another 914 that you can swap parts, and rebuild them together. I bought a 75 basket case (like yours) in 1987 and still own it. It will be part of you.

HAve fun, welcome and we are here to help (yes you'll take some abuse, but it is worth it!)

Toluene is your friend come smog time.

He should come to the G&R and be insulted!

Toluene....Pray tell???

I've always passed just by adjusting the valves even though my converter was totally empty. Since then I've moved up in the world and have my "Sunday" catalytic converter installed with genuine Platinum inside.

Does the Toluene reduce NOx?

Or do you just pour some in the smog guys coffee when he's not lookin'

How much do you add?

10% by volume .. alcohol works too!

what part of the longs do you want to see?
I can take pictures of the rest of it.
Also thank you for the offer but the Previous owner did include the apparently somewhat rare and hard to find working air pump.
I should have all the smog stuff to keep it legal. (kinda neat) Though i don't care that much.... I want to try to petition it to not be smogged.
its ridiculous that CA wants to emissions test a 37 year old Vehicle A Holes....
id prefer to have the factory injection working but
at the same time i want to know if its only ever going to run the car in a factory configuration.
thats my key question here.
Ive been around aircooled Vw/Porsche stuff my whole life.
(dads first car is a 70 beetle with a 1907 (92x74) with dual DCN14's)
So i know what it takes to run carbs.
Would prefer the fuel injection though.

For the person who asked I am in South Orange County.

My friends car has the carbs on a 2.0L bus motor. not sure if this is a good thing to have, its just what it came with. It might wind up with a new motor as the oil looked dubious when i drained it. its got Webber 44 IDF's on it.
I found a complete 1.7/1.8 motor for 300 the guy who has it says that it wont stay in second gear however.
My wheels I am unsure how to proceed in re finishing them. From what i read they are Anodized, I have a friend who can strip and re anodize them so i might do that if thats what we confirm here they are then re paint them.

As far as the trans goes, I am not real comfortable putting used parts into my trans, Id prefer to have all new parts. and thats where most of the cost has been generated.
He did my dads bug transmission and it came out fabulous so i could think of worse things than spending my money on something that will only need to be done once.
I know that Jim at Der Transaxle will stand behind it should it ever have any problems.
However Ill suggust the Dr.Evil route to my friend about his car as hes got less of a budget than I do.
After finding this website i dont feel so bad about my car not being a 911...
or a 914-6... though the guy i got my car from has one and apparently wants 15k for it, not sure how good of a price that is.

Your transaxle may not need all new parts, and some parts, like first gear, are almost unobtainable - so don't discount rebuilding with some used parts.

There are several guys out here that can rebuild your trans for a reasonable price. $1700 is plain outrageous, and that price may include some 'used' parts as well.

I agree, keep the FI system intact, especially if you plan to keep the car in CA.

Remove the side rocker panels and check for rust where the longs swoop down from the engine compartment to the cockpit area, especially the passenger side, below the battery ('hell hole') area.

Stock brakes are adequate for low HP (stock) cars. Porterfield pads are good.

If you plan for 150+ HP, you might want to think about larger, vented rotors and 911 'M' calipers up front.

look on the rear of the wheels. if there is a fox head and/or the #914 361 011 01 they're the real deal. tread lightly on stripping the paint. the one pictured looks to be in nice shape. hate the stick on weights on the outer lip.

Ill get some pictures when i go up to see my car today.
Addtionally ill try to take pictures of the slight bits of rust i have found on the car.
As far as upgrading the brakes its a moot point if its a California car and I cant uprate the motor right....
the wheels i have a better picture of ill get that up here in a second.

That SIR, is the real deal wheel...

I love assonance... Yup, I'm a dork

For picks, I think Euro911 had it, but just look for rust and post pix of the worst areas. in the corner in front of the battery is a critical area.
Agree that used parts in a 901 trans rebuild are almost a given now. Plus, some parts, like synchros are the same 1st-5th and the upper gears barely wear on them so you may as well reuse them.

Don't buy new unless you have reason or it is an obvious end of life situation.

ANyway you slice it, you have lots of work and a GREAT time ahead of you with this car. Where are you on the motor? Given your tear down, you may as well pull the heads, check the condition and re-ring the pistons (If the motor has sat very long) and then put it back together and start working on the FI.
Replace ALL the fuel hoses with the latest ethanol friendly stuff.

Good luck and post questions, we are here to help (wish it was available when I was doing my first 914)

They are indeed the real thing. But the real wheels were not painted at the factory. They were often painted at the dealer to imitate the five-bolt "windmill" Fuchs wheels, or by an owner who liked the painted look better.

The paint will have been applied over the stock anodization, unless someone removed that prior to painting. The black stuff itself is almost certainly not the anodizing.

--DD

I have a question for you, do you know how to get through this requirement ?


(This is from http://www.bar.ca.gov/80_BARResources/02_S...ns_Part_1.html)

"Question: What vehicle model years are required to get a biennial smog check?

Answer: For gas-powered vehicles the 1976 model year is the earliest model year vehicle required to participate in the biennial Smog Check Program. Vehicles six years old and newer are not required to participate in the biennial Smog Check Program.
For diesel-powered vehicles 1998 model year and newer 14,000lbs and less are subject to the biennial Smog Check Pragram. The six year exemption does not apply to diesel vehicles.

Question: My 1976 model year vehicle was built in 1975. Why isn't it exempt from Smog Check?

Answer: Many 1976 model vehicles were built in 1975; however, the Smog Check exemption is based on model year, not date of manufacture, so these vehicles are not exempt."

Welcome Colin, your car looks to be in amazing condition. Great find!!!

Wayne

This is my current problem with my wheels.
I took some wheel polish to it but no dice.



Heres some quick spots of rust i could find, however i did not get to investigate more fully.
I also pushed out one of my axels. the drivers side however will not budge.
Ill need to come up with a solution for that.....


http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz135/S...zps7db2f31e.jpg

Also this might not be the best picture ever but this is the race set from one of my trans main bearings


looks pretty borked to me.

Got a chance to work on the car some today, Took quite some doing to get the drivers side axel out. So much so that i need a new stub axle. If anyones got one let me know.
it was really stuck. anyway i got pictures of most of the stuff you all were asking about so ill throw those up now.


Drivers side rear suspension pick up


Passengers side rear suspension pick up

Hell hole looks pretty good, actually

Remove the sound deadening pad from the firewall in the engine bay and check for rust behind it especially near the bottom.

While the drive train is out, inspect and replace (as needed) the flexible brake hoses, e-brake cables and fuel lines (SS are highly recommended)*


* Two members here manufacture SS fuel lines: Robert (Rotary'14) is local in So Cal and will be at the G&R Swap Meet (you should try to attend this event if you can), and Chris (Racer Chris) of Tangerine Racing.

I am surprised that no one noticed.....those transmissions are for a bug. Not 901, not Porsche. You gonna need to buy a core and start there.

Did your shop note what type of tranz those are?

$1725 from a shop is not outrageous.
Latest parts costs and usual wear items:
1st slider - $500
1st teeth - $150
1st band - $88
2nd teeth - $140
2nd band - $88
2nd/3rd slider - $185
Small int plate bearing - $250
Large int plate bearing - $315

Without labor, for new parts, you are looking at a total of = $1716 before labor.

This is only one sites prices, and there is a little variation. Using inspected and verified good used parts saves you a butt load. This is how I keep build costs down.

Maybe I should have said, $1700 is outrageous to some of us. I'm sure some folks fork that kind of $ out, then again, some of us are spoiled by folks like you, Doc, or THOMAS, etc. who rebuild our trannys for pennies on the dollar

I know that they have Vw trans in that picture. That case is my 901 case though.
its a side shift as it should be.
Anyway when and where is the swap meet?
Ill pull the insulation when i get to it. I just wasent in any real hurry to pull it off then have to buy new ones.
I did plan on the brake lines and new wheel bearings after what i just had to do to get the stub axle out.
I know i need a new drivers side parking brake cable also, only two wires are holding it out of the whole cable.
The fuel lines.... is that a pain to change?
I can make them myself but id love to find a way to change them.

Ah, ya.

I have never made $1700 off of a non-modified rebuild, and that includes some really messed up ones that needed work, but were stock. Cheaper without sacrificing quality, that is the way to go.

As I said in my first post the Previous owner had a clutch disk delaminate
so he took the motor out and the trans appart and then left it that way for 10 plus years.
I get to re assemble it now.

Took my motor apart.
Its bad news folks.
I found a few quarts of water in the case.
and that the lifters were showing signs of going away.
the rods even have rust on them.

I was considering going to a crank with counter weights and if im going to bother to do that why not add some stroke to it right?

anything i should know.
from what i have gathered i need to either do new pistons with a type 1 22mm piston and run those rods or
get arp rods for my 2.0L rods
My dad worked in a machine shop in college and says I cannot bore the stock cyls i have to 96mm i would need new cyls also.
and ill have to pick out a cam but ill probably just call engle and ask them what they think.

A good machine shop can bore stock 94mm (2.0L) Mahle cylinders out to 96mm, no problem.

IIRC, this is a '76, right? If you plan to build it larger than 2056, the stock FI may not work well at all. Also, you may not be able to smog it with an aftermarket FI system

I would stick with stock T-4 components, but others have built some awesome engines utilizing some exotic parts (for pre-'76 cars). Again, you might want to think about the smog test aspect before going down that road

Lets just say, im not too worried about the emissions stand point.
my Cyls are marked KS on the inside of the pistons so they are not Mahles
Ive got one of the pistons fully cleaned up.
Im semi considering keeping the piston and barrels i have now if they look ok.
my dad seems really suspect of cutting the extra 2mm out of the existing ones citing problems with cooling, warping and head sealing surface.
I see his logic in that reliability should not be sacrificed.
What bore/stroke makes 2056 its 96x71 right?

fwiw, CMUs, also known as concrete blocks aren't the safest substitute for jacks stands. be careful.

Good catch! Go buy some jack stands...they aren't expensive

Lets just say, im not too worried about the emissions stand point.
OK

my Cyls are marked KS on the inside of the pistons so they are not Mahles
Kolbenschmidt, another OEM part, good quality

Ive got one of the pistons fully cleaned up.
Im semi considering keeping the piston and barrels i have now if they look ok.
my dad seems really suspect of cutting the extra 2mm out of the existing ones citing problems with cooling, warping and head sealing surface.
I see his logic in that reliability should not be sacrificed.
The 2056 is quite reliable, no overheating, warping, etc., but it's your call. Stick with rebuilding it to 2.0L and drive it for now. Spend a little extra time and $ and have the rotating assembly balanced and you have a reliable peppy engine for a reasonable cost.

What bore/stroke makes 2056 its 96x71 right?
Yes

Third try now.

If the KS stock Cyls are good quality why swap to a larger piston?
I want a counter balanced crank so why not add stroke to it.
usually thats a bigger bang for the buck then a set of pistons.
im happy to do new push rods and re do the geometry to make it all work.
but if you guys think i need to do pistons ill give it a shot also.
its just my stock crank is pretty maingey looking.
and the 78mm crank is a staple in the Rat motors as well as with the type 4 guys.
I fully plan on balancing everything for the motor that turns.

Went to the swap meet today, saw some really nice cars
Nifty 912, really spotless silver 911 and the PMB car was nice.
I also liked the two 914-6s i saw a black one and a tangerine one.

thanks to Bruce for the stub axle i needed.
I may need a relay board cover also.

Is their anyway that i can fit a early bumper to a late car? I am just not a huge fan of the late bumpers.

Bumper back-dating instructions right here:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...c=8404&st=0

Going to a 78mm crank is a more complicated thing than you might realize at first. At least one of the cam lobes interferes with at least one of the rods at that size. So you have to use a reduced base-circle cam, which also has some complications.

It's all doable, but it's definitely not a bolt-in process.

--DD

Ah, so much for that.
If its dealing with a reduced cam then ill step down to the largest i can get away with before that becomes a problem
you dont know what size that might be do you?
76 or down to a 74?

Also thanks for the bumper info. I Appreciate it.

Tuna Can is another good T4 reference site. Here's their displacement chart: Click here

read this a few time and still not sure the route you want to take.

you're looking at a 2270? with a 78mm crank you'll encounter the issue(s) dave mentioned and i believe there are case clearance needs as well. plan on decking and prob align boring the case.

the rest are iirc,

you'll need some sort of aftermarket exhaust/header system. i don't think stock heat exchangers will get the job done. bring money. lots of it.

figure out NOW how you plan on feeding the engine. carbs? individual FI throttle bodies and aftermarket fi management(bring another big $ pile)? stockish djet wont get the job done. at a minimum a set of carbs will need to be redone and all components sized correctly for your engine's EXACT needs. that is going to run you $700 + after the dust settles.

perhaps additional oil cooling.

head requirements. more $$$$.

lots more tricks for sure. not for the faint of heart.

going BIG is going to require a substantial investment. more like the equivalent of the new suspension you're going to want, brake renew, rust repair and paint, tranny work and all that's required to get the power to the asphalt. things most if not all roller projects have in their future.

Thanks for raising those points.
I know I'll need more fuel. I have a set of 44 IDF carbs that I have all new gaskets and supply's on the way for.
I was hoping to use the stock distributor that should work ok.
However it may take some playing with the curve.
At any rate what I would prefer to do is drive some injectors off of a spare Vipec or mega squirt board I have around with the factory inlet hardware.
Plenum and runners. Hopefully that will flow we'll enough but if not ill figure something out.
As I posted earlier I do have a fully gone through trans ready to go.
I just might need to upgrade the clutch.
It's really nice to know you guys are looking out for me before I spend money.
However if theirs a combo with a stroker crank you reccomemd please let me know.
I just sort of want to stick to stock pistons for now.
The heads I have are being ported and I think I'll run stock valves for now.
They seem plenty big but I know I'll need springs.

a local guy (dave h) tried the stock plenum, a opened up throttle body route, and mega squirt with 0 success. i hope jake raby sees your post and will offer insight. the webers will need tweaking and the stock Djet distributor isn't going to work with carbs without a vacuum signal.

I emailed Raby, asking if he sold part, he just emailed back that he only does complete engines.
Im not sure how much he would want to share as its sort of his business to know how to do it and sell it rather than spred the word you know.
That said im grateful for any of the help i can get.
I knew mines vac but if the plenum wont work ill just run a different distributor.
not too hard to do.
I just want it right and I dont want to do it over.

The simplest engine upgrade is the 2056 using Djet or dual carbs. Plenty of hp depending on the cam 115 to 125hp which really wakes up a 914.
Forget the Counterweighted crank if you stay stock stroke as its just tons of weight you added that you don't need. CW a stock crank is what you do to type 1 motors and type 4's don't need it as the crank is big and super strong.

Going to 78mm stroke is a can of worms that costs lots of $$$$$ and if you have lots of $$$$$ its just better to install a 3.2L 911 motor with 200hp.

After the swap meet I had that thought. Just stick a 6 in it.
It would be more money.

PM me about the smog thing.

I took my motor appart and brought the heads to Fat performance.
Greg is a nice guy but as it turns out my heads are cracked and destroyed.
while he cut me a good price on them being refinished it still wound up being more money than i wanted to spend on getting a set of heads refinished.
Anyone know of a good set of heads for sale that i can buy and use?
In other news the trans guy still has my trans and has no finished it.
I guess hes too busy doing stuff for Gene Burg. Normally that would be frustrating but i dont have a motor to put in front of it so i guess its ok.
I also bought a sand blasting cabinet so now i can bead blast and sand blast my parts to make them like new again.
If theirs anyone in the area that needs to clean something up or would like me to do it for you, shoot me a message and ill be happy to lend the use of my tools!