914 Transmissions Options

[Larmo63]

More newbie questions: Are there any differences between a 1.7 and a 2.0 901 style 914 transmission? Also, since 914 transmissions are stamped VW, were they made in a separate factory different than where the "real" 901/911/912 Porsche transmissions were made? I assume Porsche didn't have the capacity to manufacture 25,000+ transmissions at their factory?

[Dr Evil]

Earlier boxes also tend to have writing on the gears, like their Porsche purebred brethren. You will find that 911/912 gears have different stampings and hand written numbers to match the gears. You can see this in very early tail shifters. I have a few 1st gears with "Ghia" written on them. The stampings are different for all the 914 gears compared to 911/912 which makes identifying by lay people a bit difficult. The problem lies in the alpha alpha system they used in manufacture; You will have a V gear, but it will also have a random W or something else stamped on it. That will mean W run of V gear. No idea whey they didnt do numeric or some other way.

Other differences are the holes in the bell housing that were round on older cases and square on newer. The bands and blocks inside the synchro bands on the tails shifters are different sizes than the ones in a side shifter. Almost all of the tail shifters had a boss for the bell crank for the throttle linkage. Newer ones can be found missing this.

That is all off of the top of my head.