Some more Q's (Updates), Backfires and spitting through carb on 1 side Options

[Moneypit]

Okay, so I've sat down and started trying to plan where I want to go with the 914. I've got a few dillemas and questions, and could use some advice, criticism, whatever floats your boat.

Firstly, motor is a 2.0 rebuilt with slightly higher compression than stock, and has a cam set up for carburetors (I have the details from Dan around here somewhere). In the pre-Ethanol days, this would not have bothered me one bit. However, I feel like the Webers in the past were always a PITA, between throttle linkage, synchronizing, stuff like floats, jets, needles, etc. Now that Ethanol is being pushed more and more, I'm hearing these issues that it can eat away at older rubber lines and other materials, break down if it sits too long, cause rust in fuel tanks, the list goes on. So my first dilemma then is to keep the carbs, or ditch? Can I "ethanol proof" the Webers, ie replace any rubber with newer materials, brass? What about the floats themselves? I Really, Really loved the sound of the carbs, but I am wondering whether there is a better solution? Stock FI bits are long gone btw.

Following onto the question of keeping/ditching the carbs, lets say I did ditch them, would Megasquirt or something work well with the cam? If I understand correctly a carb-specced cam would have a longer duration than the stock FI cam. I'm wondering if Megasquirt or another standalone FI can take advantage of that?

Secondly, I have the Empi 8-spoke style wheels, which I really dig. How strong are these? I can try and get some pics of them at some point to verify brand and everything if needed, but I'd heard in the past the "Riviera" wheels on my old 1.8 weren't very strong, and weren't recommended for autocross or heavy turning loads. I don't plan to autocross, however I do like to drive somewhat aggressively at times, and do want to try and do a track day at COTA sometime. Are the Empi's fine for that, or is there another similar looking alternative that's stronger?

Third, I'm also hung up on paint. The car is white right now, with an attempted creamsicle LE style job on the rockers and doors. Bumpers are chrome, front valance is stock but beat up. At one point I tried to mock up some paint schemes, but with the body being white and me not being willing to strip the car completely down for painting, I am thinking that she's going to have to stay white. I like the 2-tone LM style paint, but I don't want to make a "fake" LM car. What other color combos might look good with white, but leaving the wheels white? The wheels are already white but I figured I'd strip them down and refinish them. Not sure I want the wheels to be trim color. At one point I thought of a blue, that would be somewhat unique. Also wouldn't go with the Porsche lettering in proper NARP fashion. Just 914 badging where appropriate.

Last (for now), I plan to delete the center console, but I want to retain the gauges as in the heat down here I want to be able to keep a good eye on all the vitals. Are there some good sources for mounting some engine gauges under the dash, that will still have a 60's/70's Porsche racing look? In the interior I kind of wanted to go classic Porsche racing theme, with the bare Rennshift, maybe redo the doors "RS" style with simple door pulls/latches, pull the heat/AC controls since I have no Heat Exchangers, etc. Might try a stealth or retro-look modern stereo for the longer trips. Any reccomendations for 904 style or similar gauges? Maybe a 917 style shift ball for the Rennshift?

[ThePaintedMan]

It sounds like you have your hands full. Not trying to offend you, but it also appears that you're trying to think about too many things at once. Carbs are very simple and can be easy to work with, but you need to understand the principles of how they work first, then take things one step at a time.

Start with a valve adjustment. Then verify timing. Then ensure there are no leaks around the carbs or manifolds. Then synch them with a good quality syncrometer. Move on to the air bypass screws based on the lowest "pulling" throttle body. Recheck the overall synch. Then adjust mixture screws. Finally, adjust the idle back down and verify the synch once again.

All of this is much easier and more accurate using Chris's cable linkage. There are many more variables and problems with the hex bar setup. The geometry of the whole setup is very important and some people never get them to work right.

As Rich and Kevin have suggested, make sure the jets are clean and the o-rings are sealing. With an unknown set of carbs, it would be better to rebuild them for piece of mind. But for now, your biggest problem is not having a synchrometer. Otherwise you're basically shooting in the dark.

[Moneypit]

It sounds like you have your hands full. Not trying to offend you, but it also appears that you're trying to think about too many things at once. Carbs are very simple and can be easy to work with, but you need to understand the principles of how they work first, then take things one step at a time.

Start with a valve adjustment. Then verify timing. Then ensure there are no leaks around the carbs or manifolds. Then synch them with a good quality syncrometer. Move on to the air bypass screws based on the lowest "pulling" throttle body. Recheck the overall synch. Then adjust mixture screws. Finally, adjust the idle back down and verify the synch once again.

All of this is much easier and more accurate using Chris's cable linkage. There are many more variables and problems with the hex bar setup. The geometry of the whole setup is very important and some people never get them to work right.

As Rich and Kevin have suggested, make sure the jets are clean and the o-rings are sealing. With an unknown set of carbs, it would be better to rebuild them for piece of mind. But for now, your biggest problem is not having a synchrometer. Otherwise you're basically shooting in the dark.

Yes, part of the issue is that I don't have 24/7 access to the car right now. I'm trying to do what I can in the tiny windows that I'm over there each week with some daylight. I'm trying to keep the list short as possible right now so that the car at least has tags on it, and moves under its own power. Once that's tackled, and I'm not moving houses or attending birthday bashes for the soon-to-be-1-year-old or my mom, I can set a major part of a weekend out just to get the 914 sorted. In the mean time I plan to replace the horn button and re-key the locks, since we can do those during the evenings while we sit and watch TV at their place. We also have to wait until the munchkin is down as juggling an 11 month old while trying to rebuild a carb or rekey a lock doesn't sound like fun to me.

Regarding the motor itself and timing, the motor was rebuilt in 2004, timed, and set to 32* advance, then went into storage until at least 2007, maybe longer. Since then the only times the engine was really run would have been when the shop in Phoenix put it back together and did all the carb and fuel line stuff, and the maybe 5 times since then its been run. It hasn't been "on the road" in any capacity since the motor rebuild other than whatever around the block testing the shop may have done. It basically drove onto a trailer to Tx, and was driven off into the garage. That was last August some time, so it's been a while. I'll add a timing light to the list since it would be a good idea to verify where the timing was set in case the Stuttgart Southwest team adjusted it after DC Racing built it.