As a new 914 owner I’ll have numerous questions about the mechanical’s of my car. I’m a long time Porsche enthusiast and owner.
I have owned (2)1977 911S’s, a 924 Turbo and “Best Car Ever” a 1996 Carrera 4S. I currently own a 1986 928S, a 2013 Cayenne GTS and a 2017 Mac S.

I grew up through my teenage years working on Volkswagens and have a fair amount of knowledge about them and their inner workings. At age 16, I built a Laser 917 kit car on a completely refurbished 1966 VW chassis. I built it from the ground up, so I’m pretty well-versed in Volkswagen technology and engineering design. I have also converted 1979 VW that had an automatic stick shift and converted it to a standard transmission. I also took the engine that I built for my Laser 917 and installed it into a 1974 Super Beetle at one point in time. I do not know the inner workings and engineering of a 914.
I am attaching a photo of an area the engine compartment (driver’s side) and I believe that the components I’m looking at mounted in there are part of the fuel injection system that was originally on this car The car is currently carbureted. Am I correct? Are the superfluous and therefore can be removed?

Dup post, sorry.

Looks like you have a 74 1.8L, CA model. The round vertical can looks incorrect, what does it connect to? It’s not stock.

Sort of looks like an aftermarket cruise control...

If so, somewhere on the car you will have a magnetic pick up or some other way to determine speed.

Might be an extra coupling in the speedo cable (will have wiring to it).

Super common is a mag sensor reading driveshaft speed.

In a 914 it will be on one of the half shafts. I would expect inboard towards/on the inner CV joint.

My money is on cruise control...

What does that cable hook up to?

If its cruise it will connect to the throttle.

Glad to have you aboard

That's an aftermarket cruise control. I have the exact same canister on my old Jeep. My father installed it. I removed it, but I can't get to the mounting points for the canister, so I just cut the cable off and left it.

Welcome to the World.

Welcome to the 914World.

I also have an 1986.5 928
You are for sure at the right place for information on 914s. Plus more

Best regards Porsche-VW brother

Bob B

Click to view attachment

The box in front of the round thing is the relay board. It is useful as a way to connect the main wiring harness to the engine wiring harness and to hold the relay for the heater blower fan. Also the relay for the fuel pump, if one is used in this particular conversion.

A few people like to get rid of it, but I feel it's nice to keep it around. It's not like that space in the engine bay is that useful for other stuff.

--DD

Thanx Everybody for your input!
I'm quite embarrassed... Doing a bit more research on my car I now realize it is fuel injected, not carbureted. I mistook the throttle body for a carburetor. So the components I was asking about are part of the EFI system. Luckily, I enjoy learning experiences.
MONACO

Click to view attachment

Ditto. Looks a lot like the cruise actuator that I installed on my Beetle back in the mid-80s. It was a Volkswagen parts dept bolt-on kit for a VW Bus. The Hall Effect sensor was a pickup mounted against a CV joint with four magnets glued and taped the periphery. - GA

It's a learning curve, but given your background you'll be up to speed quickly. I personally prefer FI, but there are different opinions. I've had both carbureted and FI 914s, and I found that the FI system just runs cleaner and better. The L-Jet system you have on your 1.8 was also used on the 1975-79 Beetles. I found the well written description of the L-Jet system in the Bentley manual for my prior 1979 Super Beetle to be a concise and accessible explanation of how it works. If you haven't already found it, Jeff Bowlsby's site has lots of resources to help out as you figure things out on your 914. I'll attach links to his site, as well as a link to both the factory manual as well as the PET (parts catalog with diagrams). If you need parts, posting a "WTB" ad in the classified forum usually yields good results. This forum is a great place to post questions. Lots of people here with experience and knowledge. Post lots of pictures, they really help. Your background in VWs is a great basis for what you need to know, but in many ways the 914 is a different animal. Think of it as same genus, different species. My love of VWs led me to the 914, and I now I can't imagine having at least one of each. I can see you you ended up with a 914. You have a nice looking car, but if you haven't already, check it over thoroughly for rust issues. That's the killer, especially in areas of the country where they are exposed to road salt and inclement weather.

Jeff's site:
https://bowlsby.net/914/Classic/

PET:
https://www.restoration-design.com/pdf/PET%...201970-1976.pdf

Factory manual (the link is from Jeff's site):
http://p914-6info.net/Manuals.htm

agree certainly not something in ANY 914 engine compartment

Pretty blue!

Nice looking car!

That nose cap is a reproduction of the 916 nose.

The poor-quality ones change width of the upper surface.

The decent ones (like yours!) do not.

I've got a "proper" one too...



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