| What is involved in a
rear wheel alignment? I took my ‘75 914 to my local shop for a rear and front
alignment and they looked at me like I was nuts. Should any tire shop be able to do it or
do I need to talk to a Porsche shop? Most shops don’t know how to
do a rear wheel alignment, although several will tell you that they do. You need to place
a set of shims underneath the trailing arm mounts to get the proper alignment. As far as I
know, this is not a easy job. We usually have a shop around here do 914 alignments for
$80, front and rear.
Dave Darling adds:
Wayne is right, at least as far as the
rear camber is concerned. The camber is indeed changed by adding or removing shims of
different thickness. These shims go between the mounting bracket for the outer end of the
trailing arm and the body, up "above" the bracket. Toe is adjusted by loosening
the bolts on that outer trailing arm bracket (the same bolts that go through the shims),
and shoving on the arm in the direction you want it to go. Then you torque down the bolts.
There’s a good set of DIY alignment procedures around on the net somewhere—some
British-car-oriented Web page. Wish I still had it bookmarked... You might be able to find
it if you do a web search.
|
| What year 911 front suspension is
the one to get? How will the best affect the rear suspension (brakes)?
From what I've heard, the 911SC front suspension is the best one to
get. These are 78-83. Any 911 front end will work from the years 69-89.The
Carrera front ends (84-89) are also real good although the brake rotors have a distinct
tendency to wear out faster. These front ends can be expensive, in the $900
range. Since the front brakes do most of the braking, the effect on the rears really
won’t be too noticeable. I’ve had people who have upgraded their rears complain
to me that they cannot feel the difference.
|
| The P.O. "upgraded" to
Weber carbs and Web cam. I could learn no more about this conversion from him. I do not
know which cam or for that matter which carbs were used. How can I find out after the
fact, which parts were used? Could it be that the correct carbs/cam/piston might really be
a "upgrade?"
On Weber carbs, the size is engraved on the base of the carbs (where
they bolt to the intake manifolds). I believe that WebCam offers a few cams geared towards
carbs, some street, and some racing. The most popular one is the everyday cam for carbs (I
don’t have the model number here). Note that this cam won’t work well with the
stock fuel injection, and it most certainly won’t pass California Smog tests, even if
the engine is running perfectly. You could go through the lengthy test of measuring the
valve lift and timing as you hand turn the engine, but that would not be a fun or easy
job.
Paul adds:
I’ve got a set of
40’s on one of my 2.0L cars along with a 270 degree WebCam - I think you may gain a
few HP, but I don’t think you’ll get much more than 100 to 105 without doing
some other mods (i.e. heads, euro-pistons, lightened crank/flywheel, etc..)..
|
| Regarding the installation of a
96mm big bore kit in a 1.7L 914 Motor. Any hints or tips on how to improve, maximize, the
cylinder to head seal considering the narrower, reduced, surface area with the larger
bore? I’ve spoken to a
couple of people who said that they wouldn’t install the head seals in there. The
guys at our machine shop never install these shims, as they have had plenty of trouble
when they do. There is debate as to whether they are actually a liability and reduce the
reliability of the motor. I personally have no opinion on this, but my sources say to
leave the shims out and be careful that you don’t over torque the heads. You should
be fine with that...
|
| I am in the process of rebuilding
my '73 2.0 liter engine. I am to the point that I am
reinstalling the heads. Could you please tell me what
is the proper order for bolt tightening sequence and what is the proper torque? The factory manual
indicates that you should torque the bolts to 23.1 ft-lbs. I would work up to this
number slowly, and follow the recommended pattern shown below:
|
| Hi there, hope
you can help me on this one. I have a 73 914 2.0. with a complete engine rebuild and new
clutch. This is my first 914 so I have no base from which to
compare. The car shudders and jumps when releasing the clutch, there is nothing smooth
about it. Is this "normal" for the car or does it
indicate the need for a flywheel turn or something else?? The
flywheel was NOT turned at the time of the overhaul Thanks a lot for any input you can
provide. Hi
there Bill. There may be several causes to this. The first question I have for you is why
wasn't the flywheel turned down? Was it because it was still good? Had a smooth flat
surface? Unfortunately, (read our new clutch article...) the two surfaces between where
the pressure plate mounts, and the disc contacts the flywheel need to be a specific
distance. If this is too much, then the clutch won't grab too well. We recommend using a
resurfaced flywheel to avoid these problems, although the first time I did mine, I just
used a good used one off a busted motor.
The other thing to check is your motor
and tranny mounts. If they are broken or loose, then they will make the car shudder and
make shifting difficult. We have quite a bit of info on this subject on the site, except
that it's scattered among a few articles. Do a search for transmission mounts, and you
will most likely find it all...
Your clutch may need some adjustment,
although I wouldn't normally think that this would be the problem. New clutches also take
a little while to wear smooth. If it is brand new, it might be normal to experience uneven
grabbing. I would put some miles on it, and see if it gets better.
|
| I have a '73 Porsche 914 2.0 that
I have recently acquired. It has been sitting in a garage for seven years, and I can't
stand to let it sit any more. Besides all of the normal
things required to make it road worthy again, I would like to
lower and stiffen the front and rear suspension. It already has both sway bars, but the
car could stand to sit a little lower (plus, I'm a handling
fanatic!). I was wondering what the best way to lower it
would be. Is there an easier way with almost as good results?
Any info that you could provide would be much appreciated.
The best way to lower the front is to turn the little
screw that adjusts the front end height. This is a no brainer. There is a tech
article/question coming on this one. The best way in the rear is to put on tighter springs
combined with Bilstein shocks. The Bilsteins have an adjustable perch so that you can
easily set the height of the rear to match the front. This is what I have on my car right
now...
|
| I replaced the valve adjusting
screws (8mm) last year. I just looked at them carefully and was shocked at how much they
have worn down, a identifiable flat spot. Should I replace these with the 911 swivel
style?
Replacing the valve adjusting screws with the 911 type requires that you replace the
pushrods as well. This is because the 911 screws are a little bit too long.
This is not a drop in replacement as there may be some additional modifications that need
to be done. The best solution is to replace your screws with stock original Porsche
ones. Aftermarket screws have a tendency to be too hard, wearing down your valve
instead of your valve screw. Screws are much easier to replace than valves.
|
| Ok try this one on for size: I can
not find-or more likely its just my luck-anything that may even somewhat resemble a timing
mark on the impeller of my ‘74 914 1.8L money pit! : }~ I know
that it is supposed to be under the shroud and visible through the hole on top etc etc and
I have been told that the timing mark is on the side of the impeller facing the rear of
the car? my first question is is this correct so far? If so after 3.5 HRS trying to find
the elusive, invisible, nonexistent, mark(all 6’5", 240 lbs hunched over, ass
all up in the air, big head, halogen light, flashlight, 2 mirrors, cleaning agents, Q-tips
etc etc all stuffed in the engine compartment) guess what NO MARK! AND I Am too pissed off
at my Haynes manual to try to even consider what they attempt to describe as" How to
Mark the Impeller" as correct or definitive or even understandable.
Now to my real problem... I cant seem to get TDC exactly narrowed down to on
fin on the impeller. Is this wear on my engine or distributor? or me not knowing some
vital tidbit of knowledge or what? I get closer but nowhere near exact. The reason I ask
is I am attempting to install A Crane XR3000 ing. and I need to set it once and for all to
be done with it and I would really like to do it correctly. Boy it feels good to let this
all out can ya tell I'm a little po’d?
Oh yea and one more for ya I can start my little beauty with the key no problem
but try to shut if off... no way it just keeps running until I pop the clutch with the car
in gear. Real cool eh? Any ideas?
Sometimes the paint gets worn, or more likely, the ring gets rusted and
the paint falls off. It's pretty obvious where it should be. One tip, never turn the
engine with the fan blades, despite what anyone else may tell you. There is a much better
way. Drive the car up some stands, and then jack up one side. Then put the car in gear
(5th for best leverage), and turn the wheel to turn the engine. Your fan blades will thank
you. If you're nimble, you can turn the wheel with your foot while looking for the elusive
timing mark.
Ok, you can find TDC for
(stretching my memory here) for pistons 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 by looking at the mark on the
flywheel (attached to the crank, of course). Under the car, there is a notch in the
flywheel indicating TDC (you'll have to check which piston it's for). Jack the car up as
described above, then look at the flywheel through the little 'peep-hole' designed solely
for this purpose, underneath the car. You can turn the wheel easily until the mark shows.
This will give you TDC for at least two of the cylinders. You can find TDC for the others
by rotating the flywheel exactly 180 degrees (I forget how many flywheel teeth that is).
I think that will work for you. Does
your car continue to run after you pull the wire to the coil? If it does, than your car is
dieseling, and that means that there are carbon build-ups in your cylinders which are
igniting left over fuel. If the car dies when you pull the coil, then your ignition switch
setup seems suspect. These fail all the time, but I've never heard of this particular
problem...
|
I was hoping that you might be
able to answer a question for me. I am assembling my 2.0 liter engine and I have a timing
question. The text that I am using (Tom Wilson's "Rebuilding your VW Air-Cooled
Engine") states that three things need to be lined up for the timing to be correct.
These are: the slot in the distributor drive shaft (12 degrees off of the engine part
line), the distributor rotor with the mark on the distributor body and the timing marks of
the timing gear on the crank. My problem is that the text states that with everything
aligned and the number one con rod in TDC position, the timing marks on the crank should
be pointing straight down the case towards the cam. This is impossible with mine as the
timing marks are 90 degrees out and pointing straight at the number 1 TDC position.Is this
correct or do I have a problem? I hope that you can answer this or put me on to
somebody that can.
The timing dots on the crank are oriented so
that when they are aligned with the case parting line, no cylinder is at TDC. They are all
either on the compression or exhaust stroke. This is an error in the book. The
distributor rotor should be at TDC on the distributor housing, the distributor should be
aligned in the case, and the rod should be sticking out all the way (TDC) on cylinder #1.
The book says that TDC is when the two dots are facing downward, once again, that's
technically impossible...
To check your proper timing, make sure that the dots on the crank are
lined up with cam gear. Put the crank in TDC for piston #1. Check the rotor and the
housing and make sure that they are at the notch. If you align the dots on the crank
with the cam gear, you can't go wrong. Even if you put the distributor in wrong, you can
correct that later... |
