A year of planning, Smashed in day Options

[TheCabinetmaker]

Last years Musr was just about the best time I've had in a 914 in my 30 years of 914 ownership. 25 914's on the highway in line was one of the most awesome sights I've ever seen. We've been planning the return trip since we got back last year.
Today my dreams were shattered. I lost # 2 cylinder on Monday. Fire is good, injector has good spray, valves are adjusted right. All the basics were checked and rechecked. Purchased new compression tester today(damn I hate it when tools disappear), and the news is not good. 1 thru 4 read like this; 135,30, 90,135. Checked # 2 first. Read zero. Freaked out. Checked the rest and came back to # 2. After about 5 revs, it jumped to 30, but that was it. Gave a squirt of oil in all cylinders and no change. I have two heads in the shop that are supposed to be ready next week. If I'm capable of a monster garage thing, The 914 will make the trip. Besides intake/exhaust, and head gaskets, what parts will I need on hand to do the head swap? Can I get them in a week? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

All info will help.

Heart broke in T town, Curt

[Dave_Darling]

Well, sometimes when a valve seat drops, it sounds like "THWACK!" That's the sound of ~1/8" of valve clearance from having the seat be out far enough to keep the valve from closing.

Sometimes when a valve seat drops, it doesn't sound like much of anything at all. The occasional "soft" sounding backfire through the intake, as the burning charge gets past the leaking intake valve... But you'll notice the thing is only running on three cylinders. The starter will crank unevenly as well. "RR-RR-RR-..-RR-RR-RR-..-" That's the "poor man's compression test", there.

Every once in a while, a dropped valve seat will make a "thump! bang-bang-BANG-BANG-WHAM-WHAM-WHAM-CRASH!!!!" noise, as it pops the cap off a rod and then uses the flailing rod to make splinters out of your crankcase.

Note that all of these different types of dropped seat have noises that are made afterward that are identical. "OH GOD NO NOT AGAIN YOU STUPID ****ING PIECE OF ****! I AM GONNA BLOW YOU UP WITH DYNAMITE AND ...." Usually followed by the sound of tools being thrown around the garage.

BTW, you can strip a complete engine down (from complete FI'd motor to bare engine with the heads off it) in 3 hours by yourself, cursing the whole time, and never repeat yourself once. I have a witness to this fact.

--DD