Okay, I really do not want to pay someone $400 to replace my flywheel and I live at an apartment where you can not work on your car.

So I have a fast solution. The fan has an Allen Bolt. I know this sounds crazy, but drill a hole in my firewall (yes, I know having a hole in the firewall in not a great idea) but anyway, drill a hole in the firewall, get a foot long externion with the correct Allen Tool (greased up so it can come out when the engine ignites) and have a Socket Wrench on the other side so you can turn the engine to start it.

Ideas, thoughts. I know I am crazy, but I miss my 914.

Interesting idea... but have you thought about potential second and third order effects to your action?

When the engine starts, the socket goes where? Into the fan blades? Violently slung about the engine compartment to break some carb or FI part or perhaps the battery? Or merely denting your engine lid?

It's just food for thought.

If the underside if your car is pretty clean, swapping the flywheel is a job that can be done in an afternoon. if you plan in advance and have all your parts and tools laid out, it shouldn't be too bad.

You shouldn't drip significant oil onto anything... perhaps you have a buddy with a garage that would shelter you for a day in exchange for a case of beer? If you were closer, you could use my garage... I've been there doing the apartment gig.

Not to mention getting your hand ripped off when the engine starts!

There are three allen fastners that hold the impeller to the impeller hub ... they are not centered. The hub is held on by a hex headed fastner and is to weak to be used as a crank .... it will snap.

An experienced person can drop the tranny, replace the flywheel and have it back together in less than 2 hours. Yeh, I've done it.

Engine does not have to be dropped.

Anyone remember starting VW's by giveing the Altenator Pully a spin by hand?

Dave

Nope ... push started.

Maybe he could wrap a rope around the impeller and start it like an old outboard motor*** .... Yup, I am old.















*** Another really bad idea

Which is the bad idea? Getting old or starting an outboard with a rope?

I remember those ropes, my dad had a collection of old outboards....fun for a 6 year old to try to do!

Doooh .... starting a 914 with a rope around the impeller.

sheeeeesh

Science and Technology magazine just had an article on the electric start button. They went into great detail how hand cranks fell out of favor.

Google hand cranking model 'T's.....

Seems that once the engine starts, the hand crank is spun by the starting engine and can result in a good whack to the hand and arm.... Model T's also had adjustable spark ignition that kept engine RPM's low.... Crank the engine, it starts (poorly and slowly) and then you run to the adjustable ignition to reset the ignition to the faster idle speed.

In the late 20's hand cranks rapidl fell out of favor with the invention of the electric starter.

Yeah, fixing a broken arm is gotta be cheaper than replacing a flywheel....

A scrap two by four and some duct tape to set the arm in place, and you are good to crank it again.

Ken

On one episode of Top Gear, they had an old hand crank car... I think it was a DeDion-Bouton. They said that every person on the staff of the museum had their wrist broken by that thing at some point.

A guy I knew in College had an electrical problem in his '65 Mustang, so he parked at the top of a hill...

Just park it on a hill and roll start it before you cut it up to do a hand crank on that front pulley. That idea sounds like a sure fire Darwin award recipe. I don't know about you but I've broken enough limbs dickin around with 914s.

There has got to be somebody close that can lend you the space. I'd gladly help you if you were close to me. Even an inexperienced guy can do it fairly quickly with a little help. I'd sure consider replaceing some of your clutch components if you are pulling it apart

Corpus Christi is flat. No hills or mountains at all, until you get into San Antonio 3 hours north.

But you're close to our southern brothers ... you can hire a gaggle to push you when needed for not many pesos.

Jeff Duncan is in Rockport .... maybe he has room for a couple of hours.

Well, instead of breaking my arm making a hand crank, I have desided to take out the tranny. I have started taking off my axels.

Anyone know where I can get a step by step process of a transmission removale?

jack up car.

Remove the following items.
Drive axles.
Muffler.
Tranny ground strap
Starter motor
Shifter rod
Speedo Cable (disconnect from tranny, move out of the way)
Clutch cable (ditto)

Put a jack under the rear of the motor.
remove the rear tranny mounting bolts.
lower motor a bit, rear of tranny will now drop.

Unbolt the tranny to motor bolts.

Now, the tranny weighs about 60-75 lbs.
I can do this on my back...but you may want to use a jack to help.
Pull the tranny off the motor, but never NEVER rest the motor on the flywheel pilot bearing. So when you start pulling, always hold the wieght, never let it hang.
It needs to come out about 2-3 inches to pull the drive shaft our of the motor...then all the wieght is yours, so be prepared.

Lay it down on the floor.
Remove the pressure plate and clutch
remove the flywheel.

Reverse direction for installation.

Rich

I had a Triumph TR-2 that could be started with a hand crank that came with the car. It worked great the 2 or 3 times I had to use it because the starter took a shit....and it disengaged automatically when the engine caught so no broken bits....but it was a hellova lot of work to crank that MF tractor motor over I can tell you, and I was a young pup then.....

I'm getting ready (in a few weeks) to perform a clutch job on my tranny. This may seem like a pretty stupid question, but how do you ensure you are not placing any weight on the drive shaft/flywheel pilot bearing while removing the transmission? Or, as you pull the transmission out, is some weight OK as long as no substantial weight rests on the pilot bearing?

Eric Read

OR you could find an abandoned bicycle, remove the pedal assembly, seperate it so that you now have one arm and one pedal. Now take the pedal and arm assembly, make a bracket on the side of your car to hold it firmly in position but allow it to rotate. From there you will ned to fabricate an extensive yet simple set of arms and levers up to the bellhousing. Remove the starter and run your final piece of linkage straight to the flywheel teeth. At the end of this piece of linkage will be a spring loaded mechanism that will engage the flywheel teeth upon you depressing the pedal and when you release the pedal the teeth disengage. For the teeth you could possibly use and old flywheel section, cut and rebent in the opposite direction, or possibly your neighbors dentures.

Congratulations you know have a kick start 914

I've got pix's of my dad starting a B17 with shotgun shells. first they spun the motor with something like the bicycle crank idea..then fired 6 shotgun shells attached somewhere to what we would call a flywheel. So why not Wiretie 3 - 12 guage shells to the pully, in a peace symbol sorta position, and fire them with an electrical charge? Not only will it start, but you might bring down some dove for dinner at the same time!

Here's what happpens when you use a hand crank to start a 914:

Click to view attachment

I think they even made a movie about it:

Click to view attachment

When you take off the CV's make sure that you engage the 12 point hex into the bolt, and tap it in good with a hammer, you don't want to strip out those bolts.

I came home all the way from Alabama to Toronto, in my '78 VW westy with a trailer and my '67 bug on it with no starter.

I was a bit younger then...