Hi all,

I am new to the 914 world... in the process of restoring a 1973 914 2.0 all original with fuel injection.

Rust and body work almost complete. front end rebuild complete. Rear on deck.

Engine seems to run well and idles and responds with pep.

But the car kinda sounds like a lawnmower... Is this normal? Could I potentially have some type of exhaust issue based on the description above?

Or is this what a stock heat exchanger and muffler sound like on these cars?

Please advise as I do not know anyone in my area that owns one of these so I have nothing to truly compare too.

Ideally if it is is just a heat exchanger or muffler swap that is required to change the sound, then I am all ears for recommendations as well.

Thanks in advance,

Gary

Gary,

There are tons of 914 folks up in the Bay Area near to you for both fun & this sort of advice. They get together for AX & pancake breakfasts & such too.

Hopefully some will jump in on here now.

Rich Bontempi at HPH (High Performance House) in Redwood City has a shop & parts warehouse, & he used to race 2.0s & a 1.8, so he's a close by resource/shop which actually knows 914s for you.

I'm not sure what you mean by "sounds like a lawnmower".....

It should sound like a hopped up Bug or Bus flat 4 - a bit more throaty than the typical stock VW engines of the day, but you can always tell an aircooled flat 4 .... one just went by my street outside as a matter of fact, & I didn't even have to look!



Cheers!
Tom
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It is a lawnmower! Different exhausts have different notes. Show us what you have. Congrats on getting the car together!

RoadGlue (Randy) is up that way....

Ha! Lawnmower... love it.

Show us a photo of your exhaust. A sound clip would be good too.

I won't have a running 914 for a few months. I'm using a Triad muffler too.

Krieger, BuddyV and Mikey914 are all up here in Sonoma County as well.

Welcome to the group!

My lawnmower sounds better than my 914 and runs better.

Oops, hold on, the same can be said about mine...

But seriously, a sound clip would help.

Here's mine with a MagnaFlow muffler, pardon the video quality...

And I can't get the video embedded for some reason, but here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aak8QVkMcko

This video shows what a stock 2.0L should sound like compared to two different sport exhaust systems. The sport exhausts are from SCART in France. I hope this answers your question.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uxtS9bhUGxU

maybe it has an exhaust leak ..... put put put

Yessssssss............Or intake seals?

I think if you're unfamiliar with how aircooled engines sound, the closest approximation is a lawnmower. Which is also air cooled. I remember when I got my first Karmann Ghia I used to call it 'The Devil's Lawnmower'.

I just had a Bursch loud muffler put on my 914- it sounds great! Makes it more fun to drive it.

likely has a exhaust leak.

Lawnmower? Not so much.
More like a sewing machine on steroids.

At least your lawn mower runs....

Awesome fellas,

I rarely see. 914 in the north bay. In fact I have only seen three in three years
File is to big to attach so I'm going to link to YouTube. This will be my firstcarrempt at that in the meantime here are a few pics of the project

Hope this link works

Thanks for taking a look.

Gary


http://youtu.be/GBRTw8Brm7g

i
i am not able to view it--it says the video is private

I did not get the loud Bursh muffler but it definitely makes it more fun to drive.

O.k. Sorry fellas. I am new to the posting of videos via youtube. I just clicked an additional button which said "publish". Hope that does the trick. Thanks for the feedback.

Gary

I always find it so hard to tell the real sound from you tube clips. You can get a sense for it, but not like in person.

I suppose it could be an exhaust leak, like loose HE's at the head, but I'm certainly no expert. I am assuming you haven't had this out on the road yet, right? With an exhaust leak you'd probably get some light (or not so light) popping on overrun/decal. I

Maybe basic tuning including checking timing and valve lash? Or maybe that's just the way your exhaust is on this car. As others have said, T4 has a distinct sound.

yes it looks like just need valve adjustment, tuning and a good muffler is what you might need.

"I rarely see. 914 in the north bay. In fact I have only seen three in three years"

I cant remember the last time I saw a driving 914 in years, the last time was a V* one maybe 7 or 8 yrs ago - except for the one in my neighborhood in Pleasant Hill - maybe he's on this board - red w Riviera's. He may have a VW thing too. In fact, I had just sold off my 911 project but kept my 912, wasn't on the 914 kick yet but rapped with him a couple of minutes.

While shopping for Porsche's w a buddy who had access to a 914 when we were growing up, I fell back in love w 914's. he was shopping for a 914. He didn't buy, I found a couple before prices started to escalate.

My $0.02: Head Gasket resulting in the aforementioned exhaust leak.

put it up on jack stands and get under it with the engine running and identify which exhaust port is leaking, then you can loosen and snug the exhaust pipes at the head and you might be able to get it to seal up.