'76, 2.0 Cali car with all the smog stuff, I finally got the engine bay arranged the way I want it. The motor has a Crane Fireball ignition mounted on the firewall, Nology HotWire spark plug wires, K&N air filter, Optima battery with external trickle charger access port, a relocated carbon canister for easier idle mixture control access, and a BlazeCut auto fire extinguisher tube under the deck lid. All electrical wires are loom wrapped. And the engine deck lid opening is controlled by a restraining wire so it doesn't pop open and damage the hinges. The engine runs flawlessly and passes smog every two years with ease!

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Congratulations of getting it done to your satisfaction. You are lucky you get to drive a 914.

Looks good!

Working on mine now. I know what a difficult road this is.

I replaced the stock air filter assembly with a K&N rig. It really opened up the engine bay & made working in there much easier.

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Looks great! Glad you posted, always good to get things how you want them. Enjoy!

How did you add the external charge for the trickle ?

Hi Frontyard. I used a single positive wire from the battery terminal, running it behind the bulkhead rubber to the driver's side rear wheel well. I drilled a small hole, with rubber grommet to protect the wire, through the engine bay side of the wheel well sheet metal to the external wheel well for the wire to go through to the external port. I installed a female 2 pole phono plug in the wheel well just inside the fender, with the battery's positive wire connected to the plug's center positive tip. I made a U shaped metal bracket to mount the female plug in the wheel well just behind the front lip of the fender, see pictures. I put plastic wire loom over the positive wire where ever it is exposed to the elements. I recommend putting the plug on the driver's side for convenience and to make it harder to drive off with it plugged in! The body of the plug is grounded to the car body for the negative pole. I also put a small flip up cover on the phone jack hole for debris protection. I know some folks in here were concerned about dirt in the wheel well effecting the connector, but I NEVER drive in the rain or dirt and I have not had any issue with that. The whole job was easier than I make it sound, just giving you a lot of details.
I hung my trickle charger overhead with an on/off power cord switch and a long loom covered charging wire lead with the male phone plug on the end. When I pull the car in, I simple pull the charging lead down (I drape it over the charger support wire when not in use), plug it in to the car port and turn the trickle charger on. Reverse the order when leaving. Easy peasy, no more opening the engine cover all the time to keep my Optima battery optimally charged!

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I have an internal K&N, but being a '76 Cali car, I can't modify anything that would effect my bi annual smog checks.

I had a customer with a 76 914 that kept his original smogged engine and transmission but had a second engine and transmission. The second was a bit hopped up and what he kept in the car normally. Then every two years we would install the original engine for smog testing and swap it back latter. Not that bad every two years.

Jim