Curious if anyone could tell me if there is a difference between 1.8 and 1.7 cases if I were to use a 1.8 case on a 1.7 engine?

All the cases are pretty much the same.

Saw this on google, and noticed that the case im looking at is EC0049…



Anyone know if this Is accurate ?

i don't think that is entirely accurate but it may be..
according to PET the 75s start at EC037552.
i don't believe they built 12,000 75 1.8s. could be wrong.
but pet says 76 1.8s start at 045....(ie which is where 75s end).
and as far as i know there were no 76 1.8 (but what you posted implies a handful)
and nothing else VW had the engine in 75.
so on that basis it ends at approx 45,073 engine units



either what you have posted is wrong or the PET is wrong.

which still leaves a mystery. a 49K engine number?

mis-stamped at the engine factory?
or - are you sure it says 49 and you are not misreading 45.

wouldn't be the first time someone has come across that sort of mis-stamping/numbering.
been detected in VIN sticker recalls for instance.

What a trip! Heres a photo of the case in question- looks to definitely be an EC0049
Im stumped! Wonder if it came from a non 914 type 4 case? Hope there is an answer out there somewhere!

http://www.volksbolts.com/faq/eng-codes.htm

yeah well that list isn't worth the electrons its printed on.
doesn't even list the EC as 75, when we know full well it was.

@Sm914650 .
definitely trippy mate.
great you posted the photo. yep thats a 9.

i really don't know.
by 1975 the only car the EC is in is the 914. i'm 99% on that.
it was in the VW 412 in 1974 along with the 914 - hence the high engine number count.

(the even rarer version is the AN, twin carb 1.8 for europe in 75. off the top of my head the number is 101 units. or maybe its 99. but thats all there was and thats all the 75 euro spec 1.8s that were made.).

the only thing i can possibly think of is maybe its an industrial engine case.
but i know nothing about those. there were type 4 industrial engines.
but somehow i doubt they were EC engines.
the EC is very specific, it applies to the 1.8 low compression engine for unleaded fuel.
its USA market only. and its only 74 and 75 to the best of my knowledge.

actually i am looking closer and i just figured it out.
should have thought of this before.

they don't put the O in the ECO on the engine number stamps on the case.
its something i remember and then forget again.
thats actually a really early 74 EC engine. its not 49,000 its 4,900.

a lot of lists show that extra 0 right after EC. its on the PET list too.
but the stamped engine numbers have one less digit than the list numbers.
i think VW optimistically reserved an extra digit in case they made it past 1,000,000 engines. they never did so the engines never got to have that extra digit.
but it got preserved in the parts lists and other documentation.

yeah.
so the engine number in mine is EC 015941. its a jan 74 car.

but all those engine numbers on lists above contain 7 numbers.
for instance last engine of 74 is listed as EC0037551.
if you found the actual engine the stamp on the engine would be EC037551.

so that engine above is 4,900.
if its not from a 412 1.8 which did start production in aug 73 - 3 months before the 914 1.8 in late oct/early nov 73 then i think its from a very early 74MY 914 1.8. probably amongst the first.

Click to view attachment

If Sm914650 doesn’t mind I have a quick question. I grenaded my first case, a Porsche mechanic I knew got me this case. It has no I D # at all. Any idea was it a factory replacement?

Doing the lords work! Thanks
. That’s really interesting. Sounds like this engine is a bit of a frankenstein, its a 1.7 with the most random 1.8 case on earth it seems

@shivers is it maybe a 2.0 case? I think the 2.0 engine code is in a different location than the 1.8/1.7

There are no stamped numbers at all. The case looked new in 1993

i can see one more number after the 9.
looks like a 7.

but you are right, if there is not one more number after that it is freaky.
usually 6 numbers.
so that one is 5 numbers qualifies as a weirdo.

so either there is something after what looks like the 7 or maybe that is one very very early case. take a close look and see if there are not more numbers there.

There are no real functional differences between the 914 crankcases. There are actual differences, such as the thicker webs under the cylinder spigots in the early cases. I think (but am not sure!) that the 1.8s had the thinner webs like the 2.0 cases had. Or possibly an intermediate between the early 1.7 cases and the later 2.0 ones.

Some of the VW cases did not have the 914 dipstick tube, nor the hole for it next to the oil chimney. They had the boss on the front-bottom (914 orientation) of the crankcase drilled for an oil filler funnel. Some did have the 914-style oil filler and dipstick, though.

--DD