Hi all - I've been on 914World for a while now and don't really post much. I purchased my 74 914 in May of 2010 from Pasadena, CA. It previously belonged to Jim Thorusen,
perhaps some of you old timer's remember him from the PP board?
Jim had sold the car in 2009 to Juilan Bunn and I bought it from him. Jim had made
some observations about this car's valve issues, particularly the shifting of the #4 intake valve. He had said that the valve lifter was mushroomed in the case and that
valve had to be set larger than spec. I knew of this when I got the car and since I got it for a good price, I figured I'd have a go at fixing it. I recently dropped the motor
and disassembled it to find that indeed the lifter was stuck in the case but was not
mushroomed at all. The real issue is the camshaft and cam bearings are totally trashed! The case is in good shape, the crank, rods and P & C look good also. I am
now sourcing parts to make a stock rebuild. I decided that I will put this engine back
to stock to see what kind of power I was missing and then I will put together a
modified one using a spare 1.7L case I have. So far, it's been fun and I'm looking forward to getting this one back together and then in the future building a 2056 or 2270....
Anyway, just wanted to say hello and wanted to share some photos of the car
and engine.

Camshaft and bearings.....

More closeup of cam bearing damage....this engine is from a 1975 car and was installed by Jim T. He also added Mahle euro pistons...
I don't know if the engine was overheated and oil starved or what; I don't know the history before it was put in the car so who knows. Also, the lifter that wouldn't come out of the case was being held back by a slight ridge or burr in the lifter bore.

Interesting to see the actual cause of Jim's problems.

I remember that Jim took me for a ride in that car the one time I visited him. Very nice guy, BTW.

Those bearings look, umm.... Not good. The cam lobe wear looks to be of the typical kind, but there's a whole lot of it. And if it's not a funny reflection, that journal on the cam has a piece completely missing!!

--DD

Hi Dave - actually, what you see on the cam journal is a hunk of bearing metal!
The cam, other than hard wear on the lobes, is surprisingly unscathed considering
the wear on the bearings. I guess that's how it's supposed to be though....
I'm glad I broke it down when I did though, I can imagine the meltdown that could
happen with a failing camshaft, etc. I never had any contact with Jim but Julian had
several emails from him that he shared with me so I had some ideas of what was
happening in the motor. Never know until you rebuild though!

McMark has a 2270 crank sitting on the shelf...

Oh trust me, I'd bet McMark has a ton of parts I'd love to get my hands on!

No, I mean cheap...

Not to go off topic of your motor build, but that's a nice looking car. Is that true Light Ivory? I still can't decide if I want to stay L80e as what I can see of original paint on mine (98% exterior cheap respray in "whiter" color, inside hoods and trunks stock L80e) I'm not real happy with Light Ivory. But I keep thinking a total, really nice job in L80e may look good.

It's not the original paint, it was resprayed. It was done at a Maaco shop so it's not a quality paint job; it's not terrible but attention to detail in masking isn't a high point.
I'm not positive how close it is to the original L80E though....it's possibly a bit lighter
than original. I'm a fan of the light ivory color though and if I repainted again I'd
likely stay original to the L80E.

Bad news: going through my heads over the weekend, I noted the #1 exhaust chamber has some metal erosion around the area where the valve guide comes through. I'm not completely sure how this happens
but perhaps too much heat? I haven't been able to get any real good pictures of it but I'm not sure if this is fixable and if it IS, should it be?? I sent some crappy photos to Len @ Ham, INC for review.....
I'll try to post those photos here later as I don't have them with me at work. I only found it because I
felt it with my finger in the exhaust port and then took a flashlight to it. Overall, the heads look pretty nice but I'd be afraid to put them back on the car as is. Hopefully, I can get the money up to buy a new set this winter!