Too Hot?, 914/6 engine temp & RPM Options

[boxerboy]

I just drove my 914-6 from California to Colorado and for the whole trip it seemed to run at a very high indicated temperature. I have stock instrumentation and the temp gauge was almost always in the first shaded red zone (not the solid red zone but beyond the white zone).

It didn't seem to matter if I was in the heat of the desert or in the relatively cooler mountain air. The temperature always seemed too hot. At one point, after unpacking our luggage, this luggage was still hot to the touch in our hotel room one hour after arriving.

Also, at an indicated highway speed of 80 MPH (and this seemed to be higher than actual speed) the engine was turning 4200 RPM. This felt too high. I had a 74 914 2.0 and the engine never felt like it was spinning this fast at highway speeds.

Can anyone tell me what is normal engine RPM at 80 MPH for the 914-6? And what is a normal temp guage reading at a sustained (2 hours or more) 80 MPH?

[boxerboy]

Thanks for all the good info. I'm not sure yet how to solve this problem but I know where to look. I will definitely be looking up the recommended carb guy in Denver and that should be a good start.

I don't really plan to use this car as a daily driver and I don't expect to do another cross country trip again. Most likely I will use the car as a weekend fun ride and get to know some of those other Colorado 914-ers.

The VIN number is 9141430441. I don't have the engine number at the moment so this will have to do, but I am told it was the original engine and transaxle. I am the 4th owner with pretty good records from the past owner. Overall the car is very nice. No body rust and just some surface rust on the battery tray that I have treated. Certainly not a concours example but a very usable car that is in very original condition.

Thanks again for all of your help.