I want to remove and replace my Dellortos and the instructions are to torque to [EDITED] 13 inch-lbs. Most of you know what that feels like intuitively, but I'm a newbie and don't want to screw up my new toy.

I don't yet own a torque wrench -- don't think I've even used one before. I'm wondering which one I should buy for this and future 914 stuff. E.g. my valve covers are converted to bolt on.

Foot-pounds or inch-pounds? One is 12 times bigger than the other. It's important to keep them straight.

You're probably going to want to get at least 2 different torque wrenches, one that does 0 to 25 or 50 inch-pounds, and another that does at least 100 foot-pounds. There's a wide range of torque values you'll need to work on your car. I actually have 4 torque wrenches: a 0 to 25 in-lb 1/4" drive wrench, a 10 to 85 ft-lb 3/8" drive wrench, a 25 to 250 ft-lb 1/2" drive wrench and an electronic 3/4" drive "adapter" that goes up to 600 ft-lbs (gets used with a big breaker bar). They all get used.

I like the vernier click-type torque wrenches, because they make a hard-to-miss click when you've reached your setting. And, they measure torque in both directions. But, the drawback is you can't store them at a high setting -- you need to back them off to near the bottom of their range or they'll lose calibration.

There are also beam type wrenches that don't need to be backed-off when finished, but they (usually) only measure torque clockwise (tightening for right-hand threads). I've seen a few left-hand beam wrenches, but they tend to be quite expensive.

You'll probably have to get a dial or bar type for the in-lb wrench. I've never seen a decent click-type that goes that low.

Whatever you get, first make sure to get a decent brand, since you don't really know what a cheap-o horrible fright wrench will give you or how long it will stay in spec. Second, make sure you know how to use it -- for instance, when the wrench clicks, you're done, don't keep turning or you'll overtorque the nut/bolt.

Sorry -- inch-pounds. I just corrected the original post.

I guess at the moment I only need the lighter duty wrench, hopefully one that can get into tight spaces. I'd rather spend a little more than damage the car.

The carb studs are M8 size & typical torque values form the shop manual are 14.5 Ft-lbs
For the carb mounting, you should be able to calibrate your arm close enough for these nuts.
If you're separating a case and building a short block or torquing heads on, yes a proper torque wrench is required.

Good plan. The best money you can spend on your car is actually buying decent tools.

If you're lucky, a cheap tool will just break and you'll have to buy a replacement. More likely, though, is it will damage something painful and/or expensive as it breaks.

As the old mechanics say: "Buy once, cry once."

My car came with these thick base gaskets that (according to this website) should be at 10-15 inch-lbs. http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Dellorto-DRLA...stle-gasket.htm

So I'm confused, and the previous owner also seems to have been confused. Here's how it looks as I got it from him:
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Assuming the website is correct, any particular torque wrench you'd recommend for readjustment?

Those gaskets are probably deformed from heat or age or both. I believe they are made out of neoprene which deforms from heat or age or both. Never used a torque wrench to install the nuts on a carburetor. an uncalibrated snug with a box end wrench is all it takes. If you suspect they are leaking you can spray some water or carb cleaner around the gasket with the engine running and listen for rpm change. Paper replacement gaskets are what I am running.

I find this digital 3/8 wrench super handy. Range is 2-37 ft/lbs, which is in the sweet spot for a lot of stuff. Especially the sensitive ones like the oil strainer / sump bolt, rocker assembly nuts and exhaust manifold nuts. It makes progressively faster beeps till you reach your target. It displays in .10 increments

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004VYUQI...=UTF8&psc=1

I also have a click-type 1/2" 20-150 (good for wheel lugs) and a 3/4 50-300 monster for big stuff like the axle nuts.

If you cannot operate the torque wrench you do not even have

Then if it were me

I would just bite the bullet have it professionally
Tuned or worked on so you can enjoy and drive the car in the shortest turn around possible .


I enjoy driving, not wrenching

But to each his own . All i know is some guys on here take their car apart and go decades before its back on the road .

Thanks -- yes I've arranged for professional help next week also. But working on it myself is a skill I've always wanted to have, and part of the reason for buying this project. Also it will be a few months before the weather here gets nice enough to drive.

My dad had a PhD, but didn't know how to drive a car, let alone fix it. I wish I'd learned earlier, and I'm jealous of most of the users here who seem to know how to drop an engine in the time it would take me to drive to a mechanic. The few things I have managed to fix/upgrade in the past were always more satisfying.

I’m in the same boat as you but I’m learning. Try things, ask questions on the site, make mistakes, learn how to fix your mistakes. If my kids want to learn something, they YouTube it. I’m trying to take their lead when learning new things.

I grew up with a dad that didn't know his way around a tool box too.

It's not rocket science...this place is a wealth of information if you can't figure something out.

All true guys and i respect your enthusiasm for wanting to
Turn the wrenchs


But a 914
Is not like working on a bug stock 1600 .
Thats something you learn on .

Not a big 4


And with all do respect i say this


I was a big fan of this car and couldn't believe it was for sale

But ive faced the same facts about my own big 4 914 conversion
After the switch you need to drive the car afew 1000x miles
And have everything adjusted or tightened up and then the car will be good to go

Clutch cable's +throttle
And leaky fuel line in my case

Timing /distributor, carb sync etc
On yours

, good and minor problems to have

I broke a flange on a T5 Tremec transmission using a brand new uncalibrated Craftsman torque wrench

I should have known I was pushing it more than 20ft lbs, got kind of lazy I guess.

If you get one that is adjustable make sure to set to "off/zero" or below the adjustment range before putting it away.

I calibrate my torque wrench myself at home using a vice and a scale. Very easy if you know a bit of physics.
BUT, the nuts in the picture are nylock and no torque wrench will torque them correctly. That is not a correct application for those nuts.

13 inch pounds would be like farting on a feather, so I'm sure it meant 13 foot pounds, which converted would be 156 inch pounds.
I made up a inch pound to foot pound conversion chart and hung it above my bench.

I have both an inch pound torque wrench that converted goes to 22 ft/lbs and a foot pound wrench to 25- 200 ft/lbs.
I strongly recommend you get both, to me the inch pound is important for doing the oil sump plate on a four.

BTW that dell carb gasket likely has it's own special torque value, just like 911 silicone valve cove gaskets, they can't take full spec torque because they squeeze out or deform.

I use a Snap-on torque wrench that is 5-75 ft lbs It covers most of what has to be done on both the teener and the motorcycles.

Also have a 1/2 in wrench that is a Snap-on lower end model, it goes to 250 Ft lbs. great for the stub axle nuts and wheels and generally bigger things.

I think the 5-75 range is the most useful.

Its NOT inch pounds. Its foot pounds.
Don't reuse the neoprene gaskets. Use the phenolic (black plastic) spacers with paper gaskets attached. It is okay to use a VERY THIN coat of of gasket sealer. We are talking spreading it out so its translucent and tissue paper thin layer.

The phenolic spacers are used to insulate your carbs from the heat from the heads. Neoprene also does this but it is too squishy. Don't use it! Without some form isolation, your carbs will get hot enough to boil the gas in your carbs.

You can absolutely do all the work here yourself, just keep an open mind and try to keep your patience.

Assuming that your carbs are using the old style hex bar to link them together, using the correct phenolic spacers will probably mean that you need to get a longer hex bar, or adjust the mounting screws out about 1/2 inch. You will probably also have a lot of people telling you to ditch the hex bar and go to a pully system or the bellcrank system. Both are better, but you can get the hex bars to work acceptably.

Zach

Not to intrude on the OP, but I have a set of Weber 40IDF carbs that I'm installing on a 1911 motor I procured. Where does one find the phenolic spacers Zach mentioned in the previous post? Thanks.
Jesse

The phenolic spacers for the manifold to head is common like on injection. They have a thin gasket attached to both sides. Maybe someone makes a similar gasket for manifold to carb.

I found these parts amongst the spare parts the previous owner provided. Are they phenolic spacers? Also interesting: the holes on these don't match up to the carbs or manifold, and there are marks where it appears some previous owner tried to install them.
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Those are manifold to 2.0L head gaskets. Insulates engine heat from the manifolds. I just use paper gaskets under the carbs. Did the original owner try to modify them to fit under the carbs?

The phenolic spacers for the manifold to head is common like on injection. They have a thin gasket attached to both sides. Maybe someone makes a similar gasket for manifold to carb.

The phenolic spacers with the paper gaskets attached can be found at all the usual places you get 914 parts.

They are engine size specific, but its EASY to ID them.
4 bolt holes vs 3 bolt holes. 4 bolt holes are for 1.7 and 1.8 engines. 3 bolt holes are for 2.0 engines.

Zach

I reached the previous owner (Tim), who told me he switched to these gaskets in March of this year because he was getting the "Dellorto whistle" at WOT with conventional gaskets. Since they're only a few months old, I'm thinking maybe I should first try to reseat them without the nylock nuts, then re-check for vacuum leaks?

Whistle Gaskets ....

Sounds like Snake Oil to me.....

Try them. Maybe snake oil, maybe not.

But they are still the phenolic plastic. So they will seal the carbs to the heads and provide a heat barrier. If they cut down on the whistle, even better. They are not that much more expensive then the regular phenolic gaskets.

Zach

They fill a little void with essentially a half pin at the base of each carb throat. I totally believe they would fix a whistle caused by air flowing over that void and generating a bunch of small vortices. Not everyone might hear it due to different ear sensitivity and car configuration, but there would definitely be some generated acoustics given the original hole. It's like you blowing over the top of a wine bottle and hearing that noise; the difference here is the volume and length is much smaller and flow velocities are much higher so the pitch will be correspondingly higher.

I've installed them a few times, I know they work.

If you only drive the car to shows the whistle won't bug you, but after a couple hours straight it drives you bonkers.

Someone on a 356 board said he filled the void with 2 part epoxy like JB Weld. They are pretty small voids so that would probably do it. Of course if it came loose it would end up in one of the cylinders.

I read the same thing on a bus forum.

UPDATE: I tried spraying water around the deformed squishy carb to manifold gaskets and did not detect any change at idle. I suppose it's still possible that they leak at higher engine speeds.

Due to suggestions from you guys, I wanted to replace the nylock nuts with conventional ones. But I didn't learn until driving to two hardware stores tonight that 13mm nuts aren't so easy to buy.

Previous owner also used nylock nuts to attach the intake manifolds to the heads, and for the engine case itself.

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In your first photo it looks to me like because of the thickness of the phenolic spacer the studs aren't long enough to make it through the top of the nut. There should be at least a couple of threads making it through the nut. The studs aren't long enough for the nylock part of the nut to catch thread and lock. Replacing studs in a used head should be done carefully as they are easy to break or strip. Seems like previous owner left you with some easter eggs to sort out.

on a big monster motor like that
Every thing should be just right

Being able to see that nut was lose

You got some sorta eagle eye markv

This may be the understatement of 2017.

I kinda knew I was getting into something like this at the price I bought the car. I really love the power in the big 4 compared to the two 2.0 914s I owned decades ago. With the Web cam and headers, it sounds like a race car and pulls like crazy at WOT. Too bad the clutch is too contaminated to handle the engine.

Now I've got some local mechanics to help teach me... and I'm looking at it as a 10 year project. We've got the LS400 family car and the NA Miata as backup. But I'm not planning to take the 914 off the road for more than a couple days at a time.

Previous owner mistakes are commonly highlighted around here. The nylock nuts may be making those photos look worse than they are. I just went out to the garage and looked at mine and my studs barely make it to the top of the nut. Mine have 2 washers... a regular flat washer and a thin wave washer. Maybe with some regular nuts you could get by without having to get longer studs. I think I would look around and see if you can find some extra thin flat washers.

No disrespect intended to previous owners.

This is the only place I buy torque wrenches. I use the click type. I have 1/4 lb.in., a 3/8th ft.lb., a 1/2 ft.lb and a 3/4 ft.lb torque wrenches. I torque everything. In 20 years I have had these torque wrenches, I have only had to have the 3/8ths one repaired. Of course, this is the one I use the most.
Made in the USA.

precision instruments

I learned my lessen with torque, the first time I snapped off a stud on the Type I bottom case oil plate. This was before they came out with the sacrificial cap nuts.

Greg W.

"But I didn't learn until driving to two hardware stores tonight that 13mm nuts aren't so easy to buy."


I'm not surprised you had a hard time finding 13mm nuts. Try looking for 8mm nuts.