Hi, I am looking into buying a '74 2.0 that the owner says has a hunting idle- possibly a vacuum leak (hose or cracked gasket). the car needs to be kept in a higher rpm or it stalls out. Is it possible that this is an expensive fix or something that could be resolved with a simple tune-up? Also, the car is eventually going to need an engine rebuild, how much would that kind of work put me back? Where is a good place to take a 914 for service (bay area, CA)?

please email me if you have any helpful info/tips
peter71@sbcglobal.net
thanks

QUOTE (peter71 @ Feb 20 2005, 03:22 PM)

Hi, I am looking into buying a '74 2.0 that the owner says has a hunting idle- possibly a vacuum leak (hose or cracked gasket). ... ...the car is eventually going to need an engine rebuild, how much would that kind of work put me back? Where is a good place to take a 914 for service (bay area, CA)?

first, welcome !

all 2,0's hunt *a little.* yours sounds like more noticeable than normal.

yes, it's possible it's something easy - replace all the vacuum hoses and connectors. do the usual tune up stuff, especially valve adjustment. and timing. make sure the timing is spot on and the vacuum advance is working properly.

there is no upper bound on engine work, but if you can keep your expectations manageable - around stock levels of performance, figure $3500 as a lower bound. some people can do it for less because they can do all the dis- and re-assembly and can scrounge for parts, shop for sales, and do all the legwork for the machine shops. that includes 'normal' headwork but if you have cracks, it will be more...

i used to know a few places i could recommend in the SF Bay area but i'll let the people who still live there make recommendations based on their current information.

Since you're in Campbell you should check out HPH (High Performance House) in Redwood City.

My car had the same issue when I got it. I replaced all vacuum hoses and did a full tune up and the car passed smog and the idle improved greatly. Later, I took my distributor apart, cleaned and lubed it and then added a Pertronix electronic ignition module and it improved even more.

What Rich said about engine rebuilds. Figure $4K+ to drive it into a shop and have them sort everything out. Or, you can buy and engine kit from aircooledtechnolgy:

http://www.aircooledtechnology.com/store/home.php

The question is why do you think it will need a rebuild soon? Before you buy the car make sure you get a PPI (pre purchase inspection) and have the engine compression tested.

The owner said it may need a lower end rebuild at some point, but the tune-up may resolve the idle. Does HPH handle tune-ups, etc, or is there some other place that can work on a 914 (south bay area)?

QUOTE (peter71 @ Feb 20 2005, 01:46 PM)

The owner said it may need a lower end rebuild at some point, but the tune-up may resolve the idle. Does HPH handle tune-ups, etc, or is there some other place that can work on a 914 (south bay area)?

HPH does tuneups as well ... The owner (Rich Bontempi) is here on the board and he's a 914 guy himself ...

http://www.highperformancehouse.com/

Andy

QUOTE (peter71 @ Feb 20 2005, 02:46 PM)

The owner said it may need a lower end rebuild at some point,

How would he make that determination. Unless you crack the case there's no way to know. Or, if he knows the bottom end has 250K miles on it, he may be guessing that it will need a rebuild.