i have a 72 914 1.7 liter 5-speed. i bought it as a non running project from someone else. the starter that was on it didnt work and i bought one from the local parts store. the one he looked up was different than the one i removed. the one i removed was for an automatic he said and he sold me one for a manual and it wont spin on the car like its in a bind. so which one am i supposed to have? the automatic one is part number: 16450 and the manual is: 16300. i think it shows the 16300 for later year 914's with the 1.8 and 2.0 engines and doesnt specify manual or automatic. maybe the tranny was swapped at sometime, but it is a tail shift tranny, but doesnt have the hole for the starter bushing up in the mounting hole by the engine.

Don't buy a none Bosch starter and this is important ONLY buy a REBUILT BY BOSCH STARTER or NEW BOSCH STARTER. Go to a german parts store not your local parts store.

I speak from experience. I had to turn my key like 10-12 times before it would work (that is if I didn't flood it first) when I bought one from my local auto parts store. It read Bosch on the outside but was rebuilt by Autolite or some other company. This may sound weird to you if you have previous mechanical knowledge. I am not one of those "only buy original guys either".

It shows you the knowledge of the people and their computer systems.

There were NO 914's with Automatics. OK there was like 1 made and it is in a museum in Germany or something or is no where to be found (can't remember).

thanks for the info. so its likely the starter i took off is the right one for the car. i may have it rebuilt by a republe shop nearby. the parts store asked me if it was auto or manual, i have never seen an automatic either.

The only non-Bosch starter I would use, and do, is a high torque starter........

Those "high torque" starters are building a substantial track record for damaging flywheel ring gears. The Cap'n

The Cap'n speaks truth (as usual). I had to make a .060 shim to move the starter back to keep the non-toothed section of its gear off the starter ring. They are light and do spin the motor quite well, but not a bolt-in-&-forget.

Thanks for the heads up Cap'n. I'm using a Patrick Motorsports ring gear and have had no problems so far....

The parts books that most auto shops use have the wrong entry for the 914 starter. SR-17X is the Bosch part number for the right one.

--DD