After acquiring the car last October and driving it around a bit. I'm now ready to go through the engine and see what i'm willing to do to refresh it.
The car was running fine but I still wanted to go through it progressively.

Before I started (after convincing my wife to let me "rent" the patio space)


As I've started to do the work, so far I've dropped the engine and started dissassembling it. Will be posting pics as soon as I find a friendly sharing site

Any thoughts on the items I should definitely consider replacing on the 76 2.0L besides the obvious worn out gaskets and seals?

The car has a big heavy AC compressor which I will probably have to rebuild as the AC was not working.

So far i've identified the following to be replaced:
- engine mounts
- the air distributor (long metal bar) PICS coming is well rusted on one side. Will need sanding and rust protection.
- Air cooler appears fine and normal
- several electrical wires could be replaced

The mess has started


Engine out


Considering the car was in running condition, anything else I should replace or look into with a limited budget and planning on doingh it myself as much as possible?


So far, I haven't split the case yet. Soon.

Thanks

MORE PICS:

Engine OUT
Will need to clean the engine bay and replace heat shield. Any suggestions?




Separation continues



Junk










Wrong way to secure a Porsche


Safer way to secure it!

If the engine was running fine before I wouldn't split the case and go any further. If it wasn't smoking and has plenty of power I would just clean everything up replace hoses and vacuum lines and get it back on the road. Did you do a compression check before you pulled the engine? These cars have a bad habit of jack standing once taken apart. Ask me how I know and how many years it took to get mine back on the road. I'll let other guys chime in with more experience.

Wow. How many miles on the engine? Compression and/or leak down numbers? I'd hesitate to tear down a running engine especially at the beginning of the driving season. Clean all the stuff off the cylinders and heads, yes. Your car, you do what you want to.

glad to bring another TX teener into the fold
good looking car I'm by no means a mechanic you've already gone farther than I'd probably dare. do what makes you happy. I think there are plans for a hill country meet & drive in the fall so get it put back together by then and join us.
cjl

Don't split the case if you don't need to. I think a good clean, some paint here and there, new parts/hoses, keep it simple. Those jackstands can spell trouble and a never ending project if you let them.

Also add tranny mounts while you're there, go with 911 mounts.

Replace cheesehead screws with stainless allen-head screws from 914Rubber

Flush brake fluid and inspect the system - good time to service if need be. PMB Performance is a great place for brake parts, especially if you need calipers.

I'm sure you have general tune up items on your list.

Might want to throw in a new throw out bearing and clutch fork bushings.

Shifter linkage bushings, and order new cone screws to re-assemble the linkage.

As for rebuilding, I too have to wonder why if she is running well? Perhaps get her back together with the routine items we've mentioned, then spend some time getting her all sorted out - you might find other issues as you start driving her frequently.

Keep us posted please.

Thanks for all the responses. You put the doubt in me.
Ooops, I've already gone farther before reading all your responses but I've reached my stopping point. Hopefully I didn't mess anything.

It was running but I the power wasn't great and it was rough at times (I know I said "fine" but I'd being used to worse). I didn't, unfortunately do a leak down test.
I'll be cleaning it thoroughly and putting it back together.

I'm not used to the jargon but I'm guessing "jack standing" means breaking down a lot?

Now i'm scared....!!!! Just kidding. It's all right. I'll do the cleaning and re-assembly and we'll see how many issues I've created.

Thanks for your input.

I've done the brakes and fluid flush first and got some rebuild kits from PMR.

Is there an issue with reusing the cone screws for the linkage if they are ok?

Thanks

96K miles plus. I've cleaned the stuff off the heads on the exterior.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

Thanks for the reply.

Ooops.

Well, by the time I read and posted my responses to your replies, I had already gone farther. My goals was to examine and clean the valves, heads, and cylinders and take care of what's needed in between.

I guess I rely on my stubbornness and "can try" attitude to make sure that this doesn't become a life long project. Hopefully, I won't have to eat my words very soon.

This is where I plan on stopping. I now move into cleaning, polishing, and then re-assembly.

When removing the head, one of the cylinder actually came out with it and pulled one of the pistons out.

More scary pics:













Questions:
1)Any special consideration when re-inserting that piston into the cylinders and reassembling the heads?
2) On the transmission side, my reverse and 1st gear were problematic: they require the clutch pedal to be pushed completely down and the 1st would often have a brief noise (grinding, squeaky) when I engaged it?

Any suggestions?


I'll keep you posted.

Try adjusting the clutch once back in, that might help getting into reverse and first, also adjust the linkage - not really following if the issue is difficult getting into gear or grinding also in reverse. As for grinding going into first, common issue with the old trannys - mine required rebuilding to cure it, but did it via a Dr. Evil clinic.

On the last head photo, is that a crack on the spark plug hole?

Was she smoking before you dropped the engine?

Yes, cone screws can be reused, but they often get trashed with removing - I like to keep them on hand.

Thanks again.

It's hard getting into 1st (I have to "Play" smoothly with the clutch pedal to make sure it engages. It grinds when it doesn't engage properly.

No cracks, just spark plug hole.

I don't recall much smoking.

Heck, you got it that far, might as well remove all the cylinders, remove the pistons from the rods. clean the pistons, hone, re-ring and install.

Also check the cam while your there.

With the engine out, now is a good time to replace the rubber brake lines to the rear brakes.

If there was spacers on each cylinder you want to keep them with each cylinder because they are used to set the proper deck height for the head so it is parallel with the case. Do a search on setting the deck height before you assemble the cylinders and heads. When I mentioned jack standing I meant that once these cars go up on the jack stands they tend to stay there for months or years! Good luck and keep posting your progress.

Jsaum

Thanks Jsaum.

As much I like learning while working on cars, I love driving them more. I'm hoping to stay focused and pending budget and unforseen events, the car would be back on the road in weeks time and not so much months.

Thanks Cvan and Toon1 for your suggestions.

This is what I did last night.

One question that comes to mind: i realize my car doesn't have the adjustable flaps that are mounted on the fan housing. Should I be concerned?

Every other schematics of 914 2.0 seem to show that piece.

thoughts?

In my opinion, you should be concerned. Maybe the previous owner thought it was a good idea to have full cooling all the time; I don't know how the climate in Houston affects the need or deletion of the cooling flaps. I have read many times here that if the factory didn't think they were necessary, they wouldn't have them in the design. Also have read that it helps bring oil temp up to running temp on a cold engine.

Thank you. That's one of the reasons I often like to go through the cars I acquire, especially when I don't know much about them.

I'll continue to search and ready on here to see what the implications might be.

If you still have the original plastic fuel lines you should replace them with metal lines. It's much easier with the engine out. You'll save yourself from a fire by replacing those old plastic lines.

Hmmm, the fan is a balanced unit and disassembly is not recommended...

Oooops!!! How do I ensure,proper reassembly? Is it by the mounting position that the balance is properly restablished?

I noted how it was mounted on before I removed it. Is that's enough to to restore the proper balance if I put it back as it was or am I SOL?

On the fan, it is not the mounting to the engine it is more the assembly of the fan. IIRC there is a hole and a pin set up on the crank and the fan to install it.

Maybe someone will know about re-assembly. I got lucky and one of the bolts stripped while I was taking mine apart. In the effort to find a bolt, I was told about the balance and ended up just replacing the bolt.

One thing you mentioned was about the firewall pad. I took mine off, cleaned the wall and painted it and just left it off. Lots of folks just leave it off. It caused rust and sagged into the engine. Do a search and see what folks say.

Here's what I would do:

1. Depending on how the connecting rods felt and end play measurement...don't split the case.
2. If good, replace front and rear main seals.
3. New clutch and pressure plate, re-surface flywheel if needed.
4. Clean-up heads and or head-work for performance.
5. Cylinder and piston set...go bigger, euro-spec.
6. Put it back together... check end play, deck height, etc...
7. re-build injectors, new seals, vacuum hoses...
8. pertronix ignition and set the timing.
9. Go have fun with the car!!!
10. 2.0 should last another 80K, Use good oil... do a little research here and you will know which one.
11. victor reinz gasket set will have most everything for sealing it up.

I'm more or less at the same stage as you are. I dropped the engine last Wednesday and started dismantling it. Only to find the complete Sahara desert under the tins and -mixed with oil- the Athabasca Oil Fields... So with the help of an industrial steam cleaner, lots patience and enough time, I was able to get the most of it off.

My phone ran out of juice, so I didn't take a lot of pics. But I will try to catch up later today.

My car hasn't done lot of miles since new (less than 50K miles) so I will not take the engine apart. I'm only making a list of parts that need to be renewed or are now easy to renew, like the belt, all sorts of senders etc. Clutch is still pretty good, there's only a groove on the fly wheel, but I'll keep it as it is.

On my car, the clutch cable was pretty worn at the end, so that needs replacing as well!

Menno

As for the fan, if that's the worse mistake you made, you are in good shape. Take it to machine shop and have them balance it.

If you don't have one, get a Hayne's manual and this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Volkswagen-a...+engine+rebuild

And unless the late engines were different, the flat top pistons are not original. Measure them, they might be 96mm...

Thank you for the follow up Malcom.
I've been debating about what to do with the pad. Replace it or try to reattach it after cleaning. Hadn't thought about leaving it off. With TX heat, not so sure.

PLEASE DELETE THIS ACCIDENTAL DUPLICATE





Thank you for the follow up Malcom.
I've been debating about what to do with the pad. Replace it or try to reattach it after cleaning. Hadn't thought about leaving it off. With TX heat, not so sure.

Thank you for this list Larry. I didn't plan on splitting the case. I wanted to get to the head and cylinders, do the cleaning from there, and re-assemble.

My budget being limited, I don't know if I'll upgrade a lot of parts to Euro specs quite yet.

Thank you.

Clutch cable is starting to get worn out on mine as well and it's on the list.

Was reinstallation a pain, in terms of phising the cable through past the engine bay? Haven't looked into yet.

If they are 96mm,that's good right? That means they had already been upgraded.

I'll look more into it.

Thank again.

I haven't looked yet. One thing at the time. Anf before I try, I will ask here. Like you, i have found out that most members like to share their experiences.

Well yes and no. If they are 96mm PCs that brings you up to a 2056 which is a common step up. But with D-Jet injection, that means a little tweaking to make it work better with the added displacement - I believe that entails bringing fuel pressure up a little and a tweak to the Manifold Pressure Sensor (MPS), but I'm not an expert here as I have a 2056 running dual Webers. Jake Raby also makes a cam that works a little better with 2056 D-Jet engines; I believe that is the only aftermarket cam to support that configuration. There are others on the "World" who can better speak to this topic.

Has anyone recommended looking at the cam lobes while the engine is down to a short block? W/ the P's and C's off, you should be able to see the wear on the cam lobes w/o splitting the case.

Looking back Toon 1 did, but kind of buried on the first page. Good reminder though.

Did your fan have a spacer under it? Just found out that I need one, curious.

Dave

No I didn't see a spacer under the fan! I don't think so.

Thanks for the reminder.I did look inside briefly once I remove the pistons but I'll inspect inside the case again and hopefully I can see if there is major damage (hope to be able to evaluate properly).

Cleaning pistons and cylinders:

Close up of the pistons with Carbon build up.





Action: Mineral spirits, elbow grease, soft brushes, elbow grease, light fine sanding, elbow grease, towels, elbow grease!

No, it's not the new crepes maker!!!

One cleaned, one 1/2 through cleaning.

spacer
Click to view attachment

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...=0#entry2182445

Back after a few days of radio silence.
I don't recall having a spacer on mine but I'll double check.

Project is still going.
I've been cleaning parts here and there (engine tins, small parts,etc..)
I've ordered an engine gasket/seals set, new rings, some replacements nuts and bolts, and a few other parts as suggested.

Haven't decided what to do with the backpad in the engine bay yet. It's off for now, it's worn out. Previous owner must have tried to glued it back in. Didn't work and now I have surface full of glue remains. Tried to start sanding it, it'll be another project in itself.

My thought was sanding the engine compartment a bit then a light re-spray of the factory color.

Bummer...!
Was starting to put engine back and wasn't careful. I broke one of the piston's "wing" when I forced it while it was stuck at the bottom of the hole from the crankcase.

Now I need to source a replacement one or order an entire set.
Should I go 96mm since my current ones are 94mm?

I can't seem to find many listings for single 94mm piston.

After the piston incident and the kids starting their summer vacation, i'm getting back in business. Re-assembly is near completed.

I did have a spacer on my fan hub.

A few pics of where things are:
Before


NoW

Correction - I did have the spacer and retaining bolt. It was still on the fan hub and didn't remove it so hadn't realized it was a spacer.

Sometimes i wonder that leaving carbon build-up on pistons isn't a good thing, this coating provides some measure of a thermal barrier, plus a very slight compression increase.
Thoughts ???

Update, it's been a while.

Engine is back together. Started the car last week end, runs but troubleshooting 2 issues:
- idles ok but dies after a while (about 20-30 seconds) if I don't rev it.
- does not get into gears, it's as if the clutch is not engaging.

Some latest pics of the engine:

wow beautiful looking engine! I hope sir you can find the right 2.0 HE instead of that 1.7/1.8 HE.