Well obviously I don't know what I'm doing. Thought I did the adjustment right, but now my 1971 914 1.7 won't idle, hard to start, and no power at low rpm's.. I did the capn's way for adjustment. So now I'll b taking it to Vigilantes. He said I did something wrong, and to drive it over, but that's 25 Miles, so I'm going to have it towed with insurance. Got a hundred free miles before they charge me. I'm bummed

I have stated many times that the "capn's method" is a great idea for people who know how to do it the original (hard) way first.

Set the engine at TDC #1 and do #1, rotate engine 180 deg and do #4, rotate 180 deg do #3, rotate 180 deg do #2.

I can do all of that without getting out from under the car if you set it up right.

okay, I got it know, Thanks stugray...

the other way usually works

The Capn's method is by far the best for all stock, or stock-ish motors. As long as you don't have a gnarly cam in the motor, it's the easiest and most accurate way to do it, IMHO.

Rotate 90 degrees or you'll never get there....

Try it again...you either mixed up the cylinders or most probably made them too tight so low or no compression. When you space out the gap with the feeler make sure youre not opening the valve when you're slide the feeler in and out.

In general, if you use the TDC method, both rocker arms will have slack in them when you get them set up to adjust them.

You want the feeler relatively tight in the gap, with a decent amount of drag on it. Not enough to bend the gauge double, but definitely enough to feel.

--DD

Thanks for all the response 914World. I'm going to do the TDC method. Start with #1 then rotate counter clockwise 180 deg to #2, then another 180 deg to #3 and 180 deg more for #4. There two marks on the trans. flywheel, a line indention, and when I turn it 180, there's a punch mark. I'm assuming there at 180 deg apart. Well double check that before I start the Valve adjustment again. I do find a little more room to work with, by removing some of the heater stuff out of the way for my hands. And again, thanks 914 World...

oh, forgot to ask if I can reuse my 1 day oid valve cover gaskets?

as long as the snap bar is tight and you have to leverage it with a large screwdriver the gasket should still be good.

Make sure you don't put any weight on the heat exchangers (don't use them for leverage in removing the valve covers). Valve adjustment can be done without removing them. If you do remove them, don't over tighten the nuts on the exhaust studs.

Just something to check, but I believe that "free" towing on your insurance will actually look like a claim and could wind up costing you far more than a flatbed.

I know that everyone says that the capns method works fine and you cant screw up because you are on the back of the cam lobe.
However I have set my valves at exactly TDC ad then rotated the engine and watched the gap CLOSE on either side of TDC.
This is with a brand new cam and with one that has been run for a while.

SO I set mine at TDC for consistency and repeatability.
That way every time I set the valves for a particular cylinder, I am on the exact same spot on the cam

It doesnt really take any longer except for the additional time to turn one wheel three times while laying under the car.
That adds about a whole 5 minutes to a 1 hour job (and I dont have heat exchanger parts to remove)

Hi, Is it the same way using the flywheel (transmission out) turning the engine to 180 deg (clockwise)? And both intake and exhaust each #? This will be my first adjusting the valve.

Thanks!

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

and about that free towing thing.... in some cases the "free" will show up on your Carfax as an incident..........

well everything is good, adjusted using flywheel marks and making sure rotor pointing in right direction, Basically tdc for #1 and went on from there. started right up and ran good. Now I know how to correctly adjust the valves on mt 914...thanks guys for the input...

Looking at the FW from the Trans side it is Counter Clockwise

thank you!

Or simply check the gap once the rocker is free. There are many versions and they all work. Pick one that suits you. More important is developing a feel for the feeler gage. Be sure you wipe it clean between each measurement. Try to keep the feeler gage parallel to the rocker face to reduce drag.

They also make "Go-NoGo" feeler gauges.
The end is (for example): .006 and the base is .008.

If it "goes" on the .006, and NO Go on the .008, then you are at .007.
I found a set at Autozone last time I was there.

OR you can get chromemolly pushrods and you don't need any feeler gauges to set the valves.
You just adjust them so you can "just twist" the rods with two fingers (zero valve lash)

Thanks everyone! finally I was able to adjust my valve. First time for me and also first time for this 75 1.8 FI since I bought it last 2011. Bought this car after it was non-op for more than 8 years and last end of 2011 I was able to do a lot of things like fuel lines, vacuum lines, fuel tank cleaning and a lot more but not adjusting or even opened the valve cover since 2011 not until this week. Well most of the valves are not even more than .008 clearance but some are less than .003 clearance. Well i was able to drive the car for more than 4 years with those adjustment. Hoping it will improve a lot.

Thanks again!

I found my gap was almost always different,once I finally torqued the bolt down if I was not very careful.

Now I check my valves twice using Captain way,and always find 1 or 2 that are to tight.
But thats probably my error.

No! The crank is rotated 180°to get to the next cylinder at tdc. During that travel the cam only rotates 90.

This has happened twice to me too and now reading this I know for sure. I'm going to have to do every cylinder at TDC....can't take shortcuts on these engines....too many variables....