ok....so the timing fin we have tuned to is a really thick one (like a half inch thick) and there is a white dash rite where that is, the shows up under that little notch. i think we have it right, because we drove it and it seemed fine, except going from dead stop is a little sluggish...have to give it some gas. but now wen u start it, it hella smokes (like exaust) untill it gets to regular operating temperature. wat could cause this? oil? we have a '73 914 i believe a 1.8L bcuz i dont think they made 1.7L in '73. correct me if im wrong

They made a 1.7 and a 2.0 in '73. The 1.8 came out in '74.

Did the smoking start with the timing change, or has it been doing this all along? Do you have carbs or FI?

ya started with the timing change,but it runs better than ever, so we left it. it has fuel injection (i just replaced the injectors not too long ago) because that was part of the problem. we were thinking of driving it to a shop, and having them do everything to it...timing, compression, and so on. wat causes smoking like that anyway? unburned fuel?

where are you located?

san jose california

Come up to Candlestick this weekend to see a few 914s (and tons of other Porsches) at play. The Zone 7 AutoX school is both days this weekend...

Timing procedure for a 1.7 or a 2.0 is the same. Pull the vacuum hoses off the distributor dashpot (AKA "vacuum thingie"), rev the motor up to 3500 RPM, set the timing to 27 deg BTDC at that RPM. Should be a red mark on the base of the fan--about four fins to the right of the big thick one you used.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9.../914_timing.htm

--DD