Anyone else in Kansas City?

I acquired a 1974 914 1.8L a few weeks ago. My father bought two when I was in high school, tore them both totally down and built it into 1 car (picking the best parts). This was done about 15 years ago. He stopped driving it and left it in the corner of the garage for 3-4 years until we pulled it out 3 weeks ago. We changed all the fluids, new battery, etc... Fired right up!

Now it's in Kansas City, sitting in my garage. As far as I know, it's relatively stock expect for a CD player. Speakers behind the seats are no longer there, I'm thinking of getting a few good bluetooth speakers instead of re-doing the whole system.

I'd like to find someone locally 'compare' the little things on my car to yours.

For example - my gear shift seems to have a lot of play and the clutch seems really loose (haven't driven a stick in years though so could be my imagination).

I also can't get the car above 65mph because I can't get the shifter over into 4th & 5th gear ... I'll try to climb it under this weekend and poke around.

Also - I should mention, I'm not very 'car literate' so ... should be a learning experience!

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I'm not local but:

Sounds like your shifter bushings are worn out.

I'm not overly handy, but typically can figure things out.

I replaced the ignition cylinder the other day after a broken key mishap...

I'll check it out this weekend and see if they look worn,

Thanks.

Also forgot to mention that it idles really bad. Doesn't shake or anything, just dies.

Anytime I pop it out of gear and into neutral for more then a second, it starts to sputter and unless I feather the gas it dies.

So... i assume I need to adjust the carburetor...

Carburetor? As in one carb? Right in the middle of the engine?

I think you are making assumptions about my car knowledge that are... over-reaching!

Uh no. It was a legitimate question. Does it have one carb or two?

Oh sorry, I thought you were cracking a joke at my expense!

I haven't a clue.

I'll get some engine pics tonight and post them.

anyone else just flashback to this?

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welcome to the "world"!

Yeah an engine bay picture will help. Ton's of smart guys on the site here. We can be a little sarcastic at times so have a thick skin to start. After you get to know the sarcastic guys you'll see most are pretty funny. Some are just pricks

Engine bay pics!

Well, there's your problem. Single carbs only MIGHT work in ambient temps of about 90 degrees.. . maybe. . if you have a heat source for the inlet air/fuel mix.

(and I have a single carb set up that works down to about 65 degrees, but it's gonna go when I have bucks)

Time to spend some bucks.

It was 90 here in KC yesterday when it kept dying

But I should look at replacing with dual carb system huh?

Of all the induction systems for a type 4 engine, that is the least desirable. It can be made to work ok but will always give poor performance and rob horsepower

I completely understand there are more efficient ways to get the car to run, for both performance and horsepower, but I'm ok with a little constant tinkering considering I'll pull it out of the garage about once a week.

For now I'm leaning towards the "made to work OK" until I actually drive it more often

If your prone to tinkering you'll be just fine. I've actually gotten almost 40mpg from a holley/Weber in a 2L.


Btw, welcome to the 914 world!

Idle fixed! Doesn't die in neutral (knock on wood) after a few trial runs to Home Depot for a sink issue. The nut ok the throttle cable (correct me if it's called something else) was completely loose. Gave it a few turns and we are idling at 2,000 RPMs. Probably a little high but better then nothing.

How ever - upon backing out of the garage I noticed the dreaded oil spot. Need to change the oil anyway so we will see what happens when I jack it up.

Next time see what is directly above the oil on the floor before you drive it out the door. Hopefully it will be something simple like a valve cover gasket. See if you can get the idle closer to 1k.