After using stock valve springs with my high(er) lift cam, and crushing a spring.... I rebuilt her with a little less cam and a little less on the intake. Used the right springs. Also upgraded the oil control seals on the valves. ;-) People mentioned a little smoking issue... they were right. It was the valve seals.

The results are a smoother idle, stronger standing stop-starts at lower RPM's, waaaaay more mid range and more torque at higher RPM's. And throttle response that is fantastic.


***Lessons learned***:

~ VERIFY the advance curve of a used EBay distributor before putting it in a new engine.
Mine was already advancing at 500 RPM's and the vacuum advance was locked down and didn't advance at all. =-P ( It never did run "right" before. Now it does)

~ Make sure to follow manufacturers specs on valve springs/keepers/seals.

~ High RPM intakes do not make for a streetable engine, but it looks cool.
~ High RPM cams do not make for a streetable engine, but it sounds cool.

~ Component matching makes a huge difference in overall throttle response and performance.
You all knew this already but I've never personally experienced such a night/day change in the same engine as this last rebuild. Amazing.

Thank you all for your support!



I just spent 2.5 hours running up and down the east bay area highways and hills in freezing, crisp weather. A perfect non-AAA evening.

Roger

How she looks this evening after giving her legs a stretch.

Roger, Nice going...
I'd like to see it in person some day.
You have the spaced rear calipers. How are those in term of balance with the front brakes?

couldn't understand why my car never felt like it had a weak v8 versus a strong v8 in it - turns out my trottle is only pulling about half way - can't wait to get it set up properly.

Sweet!
Looking forward to seeing that monster at the next Bay Area 914 gathering. Yesterday's weather was a nice break, good to hear you got in a drive before the next storm. I had a nice 8 mile mountainbike ride through the MUD - wheee!

What's the ass end of that rear quarter look like anyway?

Rear quarter view like this one? BTW, the rear trunk hinge is fixed and Craigs pneumatic struts installed... so it looks much better now.






The rear spacers have no effect on braking per se. They allow the use of 911 vented rotors for much better heat dissipation during prolonged braking sessions. I am running Porterfield pads which have a greater friction coefficient than the local parts house pads can offer... if that's what your thinking. I'm actually doing the research on removing the proportioning valve because of the increased rear tire cohesion due to 11" wide Pilot Sport rubber. I haven't been able to break loose the rears while heavy braking YET. =) Just the fronts. I still cannot believe how hard this car stops.

LOL, Jim, I did the same thing.... LMAO....

Hey Chris, I'm absolutely looking forward to it too.
Give me a cal anytime if you're in the neighborhood. I'm looking for good excuses to drive her.

hey - if you remove proportioning valve - you might want to put one of these in - so you can turn down the heat if driving in the rain.

http://www.jwesteng.com/web_images/prop_valve.jpg

A brake follow up question/hijack: did you use the original rears with a spacer so as to maintain your emergency brake?

Which rear spacer kit did you use?

I'm torn between putting a set of Carrera rear calipers on that I have sitting in my garage (and then trying to figure out an e-brake) versus using a spacer kit and rebuilding the stock calipers. As I understand it, a rear spacer kit requires some material removal on the rotors?

I did use the original rear calipers with spacers to retain the E brake.
The rotor did need to be milled (decreased diameter) to fit.
If you have already changed over to 5 bolt then there are different rotor options if I'm not mistaken.

My calipers came used from Mar7ck. He will know the exact source but I believe it is very similar or exactly like Eric Shea's kit. Eric's spacer kit is the one I would strongly suggest you get if considering this option. I feel naked without an E brake as I have found myself without brakes twice in my life and the E brake saved my ass both times. Once in a Chevelle and the other time in my old Chevy truck.

I'm in the same spot..."A" calipers in front, I took out the prop value, and with wider tires, probably will never lock up the rears without some sort of upgrade. Throught I'd try better pads and spaced calipers, but think M's in the rears will be better. ...street car...I have to have a emergency brake setup - which doesn't looks like a quick/easy project...

Way back when I used to read muscle car magazines, I would see ads for brake line "locks" that would allow drag racers to lock the front brakes in order to heat the rear tires during the wet burnout before a race.

I have never seen anyone suggest this as a parking brake option for a 914 brake conversion. I am guessing that they do not provide a 100% (non-bleeding) lock. Is that the reason, or am I a genius who just came up with a new solution to a 30 year old problem?

Ken

That is exactly the problem; the pressure bleeds off.

I know that DD has commented that a stock proportioning valve adds to the spongy feel of the brake pedal.

Does the JWest prop. valve fix this issue?

Do I really need a prop. valve for my street/AX car, given my criteria???

No. I think your brakes and mine are close to the same. I removed the valve and it feels much better. And it is very good in the rain.