Not to , as this keeps coming up like a feline's hairball, but,

a long-time, respected PORSCHE dealer told me recently that the numbers on the engine tin indicate the engine (1.7, 1.8, 2.0) and application (export, US 49-state, US-Ca, etc.). A 1970 and a 1971 /4 are known to have this #. Any other early /4s have this on the engine tin?

So....what about the other years? Do they have a list (official or not)?

Inquiring minds WANT TO KNOW!

Please don't tease us!

http://members.rennlist.com/914_collectibles/PLM.htm

See above for Jeff's collection. While 022 at least looks promising, the rest do not even seem to have a pattern. Perhaps the purpose of the marking changed several times. Just need lots more info.

I would suspect they are lot numbers supplied by the vendors during production. The best way to test this theory is to have enough to see if they are basically chronologically sequential ( is that even a word?!) . But I am guessing

Yeah, but how do you find enought 914's that still have the numbers. So many have been junked or restored, without preservation of the numbers.

I know my '72 "had" 610 on it before the tin was resprayed many years ago, but what did it mean? We go over & over with this thread & have yet to find a solution.

If everyone wil post the year, engine type and numbers on thier tin ( if it is still there) and then nail the thread then it should be easy to organize the list and know for sure what the story is. If you can get just 30-40 cars trust me, a pattern WILL emerge.

<!-- quoteo(post=829662:date=Dec 4 2006, 06:34 PM:name=warrenporsche) --><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(warrenporsche @ Dec 4 2006, 06:34 PM) </div><div class='quotemain'><!-- quotec -->
If everyone wil post the year, engine type and numbers on thier tin ( if it is still there) and then nail the thread then it should be easy to organize the list and know for sure what the story is. If you can get just 30-40 cars trust me, a pattern WILL emerge.
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1973 chassis with a 2.0 motor transplant #925 Engine # GC004418

Thanks for the photo and info, Dion, I will add it to my data. Can you tell me more info from your engine bay sticker above the relay panel? Engine code (should be EA or EB)? If no sticker...do you know if your car is a CA-issue or 49-state version? The label would say and I think it is significant to what these codes mean.

Also, do you know if your engine or tin is the original to your car? Whats the engine serial number? I show a 925 tin code belonging to a 1976 2.0L GC code engine (49-state), not a 73 1.7L.

Jeff,

I'll register it here & now. As you know, my engine code ('72) is EA. The tun stamp was "610". It's gone now, but I jotted it into my records when I re-did the tin. Easy to remeber for me because it's the same as my area code.

BTW, though the number is a moving one, this was my post #914!

I have two sets of 1.7L engine tin with "610" on them. One was a "W" 1970 engine and the other was a 72 1.7l EA.
I'll post a pic later sometime....

I have a '74 S/N 4742903058, GA 2.0l.... "621" code...

-- Rob

If nothing else, we're gathering history here. Too bad we don't know what it means. We will, though, we will. Will have spent more time on this than Tod did on re-creating rocker pins before it's over

By the way - Tod whatever became of you. No posts for a long time.

Jeff here is a pic of the original decal 73 chassis with 1.7L motor

If I remember correctly, I believe #610 was on my 1.7L tin from 1973,cheers,Dion

I just finished a long distance conversation with a Porsche Factory service rep who worked for Porsche from 1959 thru 1977. After that, he transfered to the Audi division, then went on to work for the VW organization. My loose professional affiliation with a VW dealership was what led me to him. He had retired several years ago, and unfortunately no longer has any of his Porsche reference material.

His recollection of the significance of the engine tin stamping was to indicate the "origin of (the) parts location". Before inventory was bar-coded and tracked by computer (when our 914s were manufactured), the stamps on various parts were to show where (factory or parts source) that the particular part came from. Obviously, small parts such as tune up items, cables, lenses, interior bits and pieces oft times came to us, the ultimate user, with the familiar little paper tag attached to them. Without my prompting, he recalled how the "GA" designation indicated a "stocking location". From our conversation, it appearred that these obscure white stamps on our engine tin mattered not one bit to anyone after the car was assembled. These stamps didn't concern dealer service, parts or, of course , the sales department.

From what I can gather, the engine tin numbers just told the inventory control personel at the assembly plant in Osnabruck where these parts came from.

So the implication being that the engines came from more than one VW factory? Hm...

The stamped number on the engine tin would probably be applicable to the tin, rather than the engine. The engine assembly in all probability arrived on the line with a tag or sticker attached. The stamp on the tin would reference either the part source (the warehouse, parts depot or VW plant of manufacture) or the applicable vendor (i.e. BOSCH, ATE, HELLA, etc.). Different originating points would account for the various, though identical or sometimes quite similar tin #s that we have seen thus far.

It would not surprise me either that more than one VW factory supplied engines to the Karmenn factory in Osnabruck for installation in the 914.

So....we've made a big deal about just another stuek (sp)?

If it's just about the tin, then, well, that's boring

Somehow I don't think it is only about the tin. They are parts like any other. Why would every piece get indiviually marked in that fashion. I can see it being an inspectors mark, or an assemblers mark on a finished engine.

pic from a 40k mile 76.

The more I look at these markings, the more I can envision how they were probably applied. They don't look like they were sprayed on, using a template. The consistency of the paint is weak, so I son't think a padded stamp was used either.

Looks to me as if they used something like a hard paper stencil & a small, hard roller.

I think that the assemblers were playing long distance Bingo with the Dealers.

"I25"...ok, next is "O65"

I just picked up the last load of used parts that I bought, and a bunch of engine tin came with it. As soon as I can, I will take pictures of the numbers on the tin.

But some of them have the engine code above the numbers.

Yesterday, I had an all too brief conversation with a guy who worked as a mechanic at Classic Porsche/Audi on Hamilton Avenue in Cincinnati in the early '70s. When he recalled prepping 914s, I asked him about the white stamped markings on the engine tin. His reply was that they indicated the origin of manufacture (plant or division) and/or (specific) vendor if not produced "in-house".
He further stated that the stamps could/would be used to determine the origin of the sheetmetal if there was a fitment or failure issue related to a warranty claim.

Paul

There is a clear relationship of the white painted number codes to the engine type and model year, the same code occurs on all the same engines of a given type for a given model year, they did not vary. If they were identifying the supplier or the mfr plant of the tin, it would have been the same for all parts produced for that engine/model year, which would be already known so why would they do that? Skeptical...

I love this thread!

Nothing like a good Mystery!

My tin is sans any numbers after looking.

Consider this a "bump" to keep this thread going.

But, but.......how would they know in the fall of 1969 when 914 production was ramping up that the same mfg. plant or vendor would be still providing engine tin (or some other component) throughout the entire 914 models' production run? In 1969 did VW or Porsche foresee the end of production a mere six years on?

Paul

Here are my numbers off an early 73 2.0.

It is EA349 over 621 although it is smeared and hard to read.

They really smeared mine.



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