So after 2 years of ripping down and rebuilding my 74 2.0, I finally got it back in this past week and started up. Turns out I need new heads/current heads to be rebuilt. I've done a little research and made some calls and it looks like I may have to dish out the 3 grand to get new ones. Does anyone on here have any advice or anyone on here selling 2 liter heads? I'm beyond frustrated as this has been a very length project but at this point I'm willing to do anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

These guys rebuilt my heads and do a good job. Unfortunately they are here on the left coast. If shipping is not an issue I can recommend them. http://www.europeanmotorworks.com/

If you think your heads are due for a rebuild give these guys a try : http://www.mcquilleneng.com/

They're located in Leroy, NY so about 1 hr drive for you.
Ask for Carl he's the owner and should be able to give you an idea on cost.

wow 3k for just the head? you can buy a used running 1.7 or 1.8 engine for that price.

Do you just need valves, seats, guides and a grind? Are there cracks spider webbing from the spark plug holes and other areas?

I will check thanks!


This is huge if they can do it. Where in Western NY are you? I'm in West Seneca and I haven't seen any 914's on the road in years!! Would love to hook up!


I called Auto Atlanta and the guy was telling me their prices. $1400 per head plus $500 for each for the core charge if I don't want mine rebuilt. I thought he was joking.

He wasn't joking, he's just nuts.

Funny prices. Weird, not haha. That's for rebuilt heads or cores needing refurbishing?

http://www.autoatlanta.com/Porsche-Rebuilt...2101351CMS.html

There's your problem.... AA.. shop around I'm sure you can find some for a hell of a lot cheaper.

I was not aware len still did OEM head rebuilds.

Brothers Vw, would be my first choice these days. Buy some brand new amc castings.
http://www.brothersvwmachineshop.com

DRD can do it as well if you want a CNC cut.

They can relocate the sparkplug for 2.0 arrangement. They have done a ton of heads,

I have a few pics of there work.

Exactly what got me started on my 6 conversion a couple years ago. Picked up a rebuilt 3.2 for $4k. I know there's a lot mor to it than just an engine but these 4's aren't cheap.

I am confused.
You spent two years rebuilding an engine and now you believe ou need heads?

What did you do when you rebuilt the engine?
What makes you believe now that you need heads?

Rich

Also courious why you believe you need new heads/head work But, if you do, I used Brother Machine to rebuild my 2L heads for about $1,200. This included welding cracks, new valve seats, valves and springs. You could also check out DRDRacing Heads
http://www.drdracingheads.com/xcart/Type-4...-and-Parts.html
The offer completely new heads in various configurations for $1,200 - $1,600 and for an additional $350 will relocate the spark plug location to the 2L spec.

^yep...almost gave away my 1st 914, this was right before the internet and I saw their ad in a mag (European? ) , called and got an obscene price for a replacement 1.8.

Shop around...it still won't be dirt cheap.

Agree Type IV heads are crazy expensive when you really think about it, but as you see from above there are plenty of quality shops out there charging less.

Also, I haven't talked to Len at HAM in a few years (referenced by AA as doing there work), but unless he has upped his prices quite a bit, you could go straight to him for less .

http://www.hamincgroup.com/main.php

And for AA prices I'd go to the Type IV store:

http://type4store.com/cylinder-heads.html

And to add another to the growing list:

http://fatperformance.com/home/?page_id=81

keep searching the World, Craigs list, Pelican adds, I got a complete 2.0 engine less FI system with good heads for $400.
DO NOT re-use 40 year old sodium filled exhaust valves, they're very fragile.

For what AA charges for their rebuilt heads, you can get new Ham RS+ heads from the type IV store for $2900, and no core charge.

If you want to cross the border you can ship them to me, with the exchange rate $3k worth of work will only cost you about $2400.

In any case you are best off having your heads rebuild. May cost upwards of $1K depending on how much work they need. Go with a supplier that has experience in air cooled head rebuilding.

Try to clean up between the seats and the spark plug to the seat on all the chambers and look for cracks.
If it is a northern car you may get lucky as the heads often don't have the crack issues of southern cars.

Also did you snap off and/or strip the exhaust studs?
Exhaust stud repair is time consuming, in fact studs pulled out or stripped out of the head are great, it's prefered over drilling snapped off studs.

Once you're into huge welding (all new seats) and stud repairs the HAM heads are likely a better choice.

Ok so full disclosure, this is the first car I've ever worked on. I'm doing this with my father who has owned several 914's in his life. While we were rebuilding he had mentioned that the heads may need to be redone but after a quick search in the local area and not finding anyone to do it, he thought they would be good enough.
Went from FI to Weber carbs and when we finally turned it on for the first time he explained that the never ending smoke (60 minutes later) was due to the heads. We didn't have any other issues with anything else. I didn't want to take shortcuts but he said what we had was good enough.
We got together yesterday and made a list of things we need to get the car where it needs to be and this is the list..

New heads/ rebuilt current ones (Huge thanks to LukeM who directed me to a guy an hour away who claims he can do them)
Complete gasket set
96mm pistons for 71mm crank, 2L case
Heater bellows
Screws for transmission axle (2 of them completely stripped)
Head seals
Optional parts:
New sheet metal
Clutch and disc


I know I probably sound like an idiot but to be honest, I am. I'm learning on the fly here so any help would be appreciated. Many of you have reached out already and I greatly appreciate it all.

Hi guys. Just wanted to clarify my T4 head policy. I stopped working with used T4 heads the end of 2014. We still maintain a high quality T4 cylinder head program that's based on new heads, and distributed for us by www.type4store.com.

With the overwhelming demand for our time focused on modern Porsche and BMW something had to go. And given the overall state of used T4 cores now being in the tank it was a no-brainer.

In 2014 only 3 pairs met our strict minimum condition requirements, but accessing the condition of an endless stream of used up T4 cores took a chunk of our very limited time for which we cannot, in good conscious, charge.

Some time ago I asked AA to stop offering our reman heads on their website. Not sure why they didn't. I haven't done T4 heads for them in years.

Not here to flame AA. Just stating facts.

-Len Hoffman

stay away from AA

Last I heard he does not anymore. I got mine done by him in 12 or 13, right at the tail end of his service of OEM heads.

For that price you might spend a bit more and buy new... as Len states. Good as gold for 40 more years.

do some research on your line item "head seals" not exactly sure what you mean, but word is lots of folks don't use cylinder head seals anymore.... something about a VW factory posting....

It has been too long since I knew all the details, but they are out there.

Did I miss it, or did you state what you were going to do with this car and new engine? Makes it easier to weed thru the comments if folks know you are making a daily driver, as an example.

not making it a daily driver as I have a company vehicle but after 5 PM I'd love to be able to reliably take this out whenever.

So, when you rebuilt it, what did you do?

Trying to see if what you have may indeed have more life left in it before it needs a cashectomy.

Rich

unseated rings can be a big source of smoke on a rebuilt motor.
what all did you do to it?
you really would be better off running a warm leak down and inspecting the heads before the rebuild

otherwise you may bolt on fresh heads and still have a smokey car for other reason...

may not need the heads rebuild?..... or maybe they do, but they are not the source of what you are trying to fix?

Hi. I was looking for new heads a few months ago after dropping a valve seat and found two really nice rebuilt heads on Samba. In the end the logistics didn't work getting the old ones to the USA and the rebuilds back here but they may still be for sale. If you are interested either PM or email me and I will give you the seller's email contact.