Hello all,

let me first introduce myself. My name is Andrei, I am in Madison, WI, and I am slowly trying to get an Irish Green 1972 Porsche 914 1.7L with D-Jet back on the road. This is my second 914, having owned for several years a red 1975 1.8L on which I rebuilt the engine.

I'll post some photos of the 1972 soon, once the rain clears and I can take it out of the garage to take some pics. I have already dealt with the brakes, it has no rust, and the interior is in great condition.

The car runs, but there are many small things that are not right with it:

1) there are small fuel leaks at one of the fuel tank hoses and at the three port pump;
2) there is an exhaust leak somewhere which makes a very loud rattling noise, but I have not figured out where;
3) there is a thick layer of baked oil on the bottom of the engine and transmission, which smells quite unpleasantly when it gets heated;
4) there is an oil leak which I am pretty sure is coming from the rear main seal, behind the flywheel (oil comes out of the inspection port at the bottom of the transmission, where it mates to the engine);
5) the vacuum hoses are 46 years old and do not seal very well;
6) the (tail) shifter is very vague, and I want to replace the bushings;
7) the rigid plastic fuel lines have not been replaced, and maybe they should.

I would like to fix all these issues eventually. The easiest way to address all of them at once would be to drop the engine, but that will take the car out of commission for quite some time. (I know how this goes, one thing leads to another... and if you're not careful it's 2-3 months till it drives again.) Since I just got the car I'd like to enjoy it while the summer is here -- in Wisconsin we can't drive fun cars past November 1st.

The biggest issues that make the car not fun to drive right now are the fact that the car and the garage stink after I drive it, and that it is very loud while driving. I think this is caused mostly by #1, #2, and #3. I could either fix these issues working under the car now, and get to the rest of the things in the fall, or I could do everything at once now by dropping the engine and being disciplined about the project.

I am looking for advice on which way to go at this point.

For reference, I have dropped an engine on another 914 once, but I am slow at these kinds of things, and stuff that some people say should take 3-4 hours takes me the best part of a day.

Thanks for any advice and insight you guys may have,
Andrei.

Welcome.

Fix the fuel leaks and replace all lines from tank to engine. the tunnel lines are the least likely to leak. If they go bad it i where they exit the firewall and are exposed to heat in the engine compartment. Replacement of the tunnel lines can be done with the engine in the car.
Replace all shift bushings. Tail shifters are marginal at best.
You can replace the main seal if you disconnect the trans but is is easier to drop the engine. It may also be a oil galley plug. Depends on how bad the leak is. The plugs can blow out and dump all the oil without warning.
Use a long hose or tube as a stethoscope to locate the exhaust leak.
Dropping the engine is not that bad and makes everything easier to work on. Get a friend to help.
Cleaning the engine and trans is a big messy job. Not one I would attempt with the engine in the car.
I would also replace the rubber brake hoses.
You may well find other issues to address when you pull the engine.
Bruce
Let the fun begin.

The issues sound workable although I'd consider not driving the car until all fuel leaks/lines have been addressed. I've had at least 3 "close calls" with potential fuel fire situations over the years. That is some scary stuff.

#2 the rattle could be a loose heat exchanger piece from a broken weld or whatnot. If it's actually a leak then maybe a broken exhaust stud or two?

Nice into. I would say you have a pretty good list going. I agree that believing you can take an engine out and tackle a few issues and get it back together in a couple months rarely happens.

Given your list, the first things I would tackle are the fuel system, vacuum lines and oil leaks. You might start by putting it up on ramps, jack stands, whatever you have that is solid and very stable, to get it as high up as you are able. Then spread a nice heavy duty plastic tarp under the whole car. Soak it down with a good degreaser and use a plastic putty blade to scrape off as much of the thick stuff as you are able. Then re-soak with degreaser and rent a power washer and power wash off as much of the remaining grease as you can so you can see what you're going to be doing. It will make working on the car a lot more pleasant.

Make sure you have all of the parts you will need to the extent possible. Tackle one project at a time. Fuel system is a major concern as leaks can cause fires. Remember to use fuel line clamps on the lines, not regular hose clamps.

Vacuum lines are pretty straight forward and you can buy complete kits to replace them all.

The oil leaks is a slipper slope, I believe you are best served to just pull the motor and tackle that on a motor stand, but I understand your desire to keep the car in service as much as possible. Maybe hold off on that until the end of the driving season and pull it over the winter and tackle the leaks.

The exhaust might be an easy fix, but you need to identify the source of the leaks first.

Well, good luck. I hope your car truly is a rust free example. I would pull the rockers off and check the longs and clean them while it is up in the air.

Cheers,
Michael

Bruce,

I just replaced the flex brake hoses in the front (one of them was leaking). The rears look good.

The tail shifter is fine for now for an afternoon drive, so I am chalking the shifter bushings as a later project.

I have replaced all the fuel lines in the engine compartment just a couple of days ago. They'll probably need to be redone (again!) because I used the wrong clamps (worm type, instead of FI type), but that seems to be fine for now.

The fuel lines up front, under the fuel tank, were replaced by the previous owner, together with resealing the tank. But the return line leaks where it connects to the nipple on the tank (I can see this through the inspection hole), so I'll need to pull the tank to get that addressed.

Also, the fuel pump "weeps" at the electrical connector. I will address that very soon.

The rigid plastic lines seem fine for now and do not leak. I was planning on replacing them in the fall.

The oil leak is small -- 4-5 drops of oil onto the garage floor after each drive, from oil that has spread out onto the transmission. I was planning on checking the galley plugs when pulling the transmission to replace the RMS.

The exhaust leak is the one thing I am concerned about, because I do not know where it comes from, despite trying a couple of times to locate it. The previous owner installed a Bursch exhaust which is itself already quite loud, but I don't think that's the only cause for the noise.