I need to decide what I'm doing engine wise with my 75' 2.0 resto. Cost is becoming an issue...without considering the engine my estimate so far is about $16k. That said I'm not going to do something just b/c it's cheap but I really don't want to go too much higher...

I have the 62k mile 2.0 sitting on the garage floor...it has 40 IDF Webers but has the stock cam...I don't think the case has ever been apart.

I also have a 73' 2.0 that I got at a swap meet about 15 years ago.

Should I just clean up the low mile original engine and put it back in?

Should I start from scratch and build the 73?

What caused the 75' to only have 88 HP vs. the 73's 95? The compression is the same.

Can I do something to the 75 to get it back the lost HP?

If I put the 75' back in should I put in a cam to work with the Webers?

What the heck are these things sticking out of the heads...they were not on any of the 5 other 914's I've had????

I'd put the known good low milage motor in, take off the carbs and go with stockish D-jet since it is a restoration.

for HP you might be able to leave off some of the smog stuff, like air pump (and plug the air ports on the heads), and the egr valve, that will help the engine out, at the very least help it run cooler, Save these parts for later if you you need them later. Check you local smog laws for what you can leave off.

There may be differances in the later systems such as advance curve, and FI mixture that may account for for lower power. The later (1975-1976) 2 liter injectors where a different part number than the early 2 liters, for instance yet i have not heard what the differeance is, and am running them now in my other wise 1974 year injected car.

the later smog control exhaust is more restrictive than the early exhaust, so change out the heat exchangers / muffler to the early 2 liter ones for a performance boost. Stainless exchangers are very nice and weigh less than stock, something to consider, stock ones will work too


PS them things sticking out are the air injector ports, remove them if smog legal to do so. you then plug the hole with a bolt. use plenty of penatrating oil on them, it might be needed.

My mistake...not a factory stock resto...the carbs are going to stay

It looks like the PO plugged them with the plumbing attached in the pic.

The smaller injectors would expain some of the lost HP.

I don't think the injectors are smaller.

I think most or all of the power difference is due to the exhaust. Look at the 75-76 exhaust some time, it's really quite bad.

--DD

I would use the top end of the 73 to do a full rebuild of the 75 engine.

Check the 73 cylinders, have them bored to a 2056 or 96mm, get new cylinders and rings. have the crank, rods, heads rebuilt. Open up the valves on the heads and have them bore for the 2056. The crank should be good but the cam may need to be replaced. Maybe just reground. do all the usually upgrades, Type 1 oil pump, galley plugs, etc. and you should have a very low priced rebuild that will last you for a very good while.

Carbs are ok but you will get more HP with FI if you do it right. Carbs may get you low end torque but it isn't that much more than the factory FI and the FI will make it a sleeper. Not so much noise and better MPG for the HP.

Just my .02$

Oh and change the points to a optical or petronix. I prefer Crane but others use petronix

Smog equip is to blame for the lower HP.
However, I bet that an engine that didn't run for 15 years has a bit of rust on the cylinder walls. One for sure, maybe more.
I would pull the heads and check before mounting it in.

If your original engine is a runner, I'd recommend you pop it back in place and build a big motor using the other case over time. That way you can have fun driving your car and still get your big motor, buying parts and building as time allows.

If you want to build even a 2056 with new parts and rebuilt heads I think you're going to have a hard time doing it for less than $5k...that's assuming you reuse your carbs and don't go for a new induction system. But that number can come down if you really take your time and look for deals.

Have fun!

Rich

Rich,

Great advise. it's so easy to pop the engine out and put a new bullet in. That's what I'm going to do...

Now to get the carbbed 75' 2.0 running well, I would convert to an electronic ignition...what is the trick to tuning a twin carb 2.0?

I really know very little about carbs but if you're planning on using them for your 2056 then I would think synching them would be very important. If you have fab skills and equipment, check out what van svenson did. Chris Foley sells a similar set up that's fully engineered and bolt-on.

EMPI has an instructional video on youtube for syncing dual carb setups. It's very easy if you have the correct linkage.