Starting a thread for my Squareback. I have had the car for about a year, but now I have a garage! So time to get to a little hot rodding. Here is the old girl before my oil leak repairs got out of hand (should be finished with that soon enough).
So, I picked up this 914 2.0L to add a little power from an almost drop in swap.
I am probably going to want a new transmission with some different ratios as well. The current first is a bit low for even 60hp. I am also considering the 944 trailing arm swap to lose some weight and get rear disks.
The end result should be a fun little wagon!
Oh I love these so much. I owned once as a late teen / early 20s person and miss it greatly. Watching with interest.
Another aircooled enthusiast! I have loads of 2.0 914 parts in my garage, if you want some just let me know
84FSP
Dork
10/17/16 12:59 p.m.
Always loved these and so rarely see them really done anymore. I dig your choice of OEM+ transplant. These setups with a standalone can make really ncie power and still be true to form. Add more low and any of the sweet Porsche wheels that bolt up for a really fun driver!
In reply to 84FSP:
The inspiration is more along these lines...
That is a very attractive Chauffeur though!
84FSP
Dork
10/17/16 2:05 p.m.
Nice - I like where your head is at.
Had one in high school as a Driver Ed car to teach the kiddies the mysteries of the third pedal. What a hoot! Love that thing. Two were donated by the local Stealership.
I'll be following along ....
So, when are we going to get to the part where you sprayed dry chem fire extinguisher in to my mouth?
Great cars. The first 15 years of my life were spent in a '69 Beetle and two early 70's square backs. Then my dad bought a '78 Chevette and it was all down hill until I bought myself a '84 CRX 1.5L. Things got better from there.
The 914 motor is a good idea, but first remove the fuel injection. It wasn't a good system when it was new, all these years didn't help. Find some manifolds and set up 2 down draft carbs, there are many options out there, for both new and used parts. You can use weber or dellorato either can work much better than the old fuel injection. For the cost of a new fuel injection pump and new injectors, you can convert to a low pressure pump and have a set of used carbs and manifolds.
In reply to mck1117:
Just going to skip the year of rebuilding every system on the car and go straight into the fun stuff.
Also...not like it was the first time you lit a car on fire!
In reply to TED_fiestaHP:
The plan is to run Megasquirt. That should be worth a couple HP and will be easier to fiddle with. The cheap dual carb kit on the stock motor under the floor is difficult to reach.
I am not sure how many carb and manifolds will fit on a type 4 engine under the floor anyway, there werent any applications where height was a constraint.
True if you want to keep it all under the floor you might have some limitations. I have some past 914 experience but not much VW experience, looks like a great project, should be fun.
Look up CB racing they have some options for VW stuff, although you will find limited stuff for the 914 or any type 4 engine.
Any modern injection system will be better than that OEM system. It basically worked of a vacuum signal, isn't that how carbs work....
With a fuel ratio gage, carbs are a little simpler to set up, but the injection will have more precision. I prefer carbs, just simpler.
Did that VW model come with small twin carbs? If so might give you an idea of how much room you would have to work with.
I am sure others have done something similar, so there might be examples to check.
Spent the last week finishing the stock motor install so the car is drivable while I get the new engine prepped.
I did start taking the Porsche engine apart though. This engine was stored in a weird place...one side is covered in fuzzy stuff and the other is rusted. So the intake and hoses are coming off to get fresh tins on!
Those old fuel lines were some crusty stuff, cracked to pieces as the fuel rails came off. I also got to add to my fuel injector collection!
I found a fun surprise in the dizzy! Not sure if its stock or the PO was thoughtful...but its got a rev limiter!
Stopped short of pulling the throttle body because I didn't feel like dealing with case bolts that afternoon...
Its a lot easier to manage without all the old stiff hoses now as well!
Need any rebuilt heads? I really want em out of my garage
In reply to NoPermitNeeded:
What kinda heads? I wouldn't mind stocking spares after the disaster of refreshing my type 1 engine...after the 6th broken exhaust stud I went and bought new ones.
In reply to HippieWagon:
You can look at my post in the $2017 classifieds section, but they're 2.0 914 heads that were built by a local VW guru.
Updates! ...and a house for a mouse. I bought the engine without plugs, so I am pulling the heads to make sure its not a rusty or grimy mess in there. After getting the tins off, I found a mouse had made quite a nest in the oil cooler.
Also popped the clutch and pressure plate off. More fun rust for all!
And in good news! I have a bus style intake plenum now!
That is a gross clutch. Was the "weird place" the engine was stored in some kind of lake?
In reply to ssswitch:
I will tell you when I get the heads off...should be an exciting suprise!
Well time to dig this thread back up! Been an exciting year since I moved to Michigan and started my first big boy job...experienced the time suck of keeping adult life together and my first real winter (a lot darker than expected).
Wanda has been cruising around all summer so far with normal ACVW issues (leaks, loose connectors) and a few amateur wiring mistakes that i got lucky with.
Wednesday I went to do a tune up and found a broken valve though...so the engine has to come out and i dont see much use in putting it back in just to swap it this winter. Time to push up the type 4 swap! And this is where I need hive mind help...I will not be reusing the L-Jet it used stock (dont have any of the parts anyway) and plan to do a Mega/microsquirt (negotiable, don't have an parts for this yet) swap instead. Building an fuel injection and ignition system up from nothing is a bit of a task though, so here is the list of things I know I need so far:
-crank position sensor
-intake temp sensor
-cyl head sensor
-MAP/MAF sensor (need to determine which is better/easier)
-throttle position sensor
-O2 sensor
I havent gotten too deep into this yet, so I dont know which are easiest to make talk to a megasquirt system either.
Been thinking the trans could use an upgrade while I am swapping out parts. The ratios are terrible for 60 HP, I expect them to get worse with 100+ from the 2L. Any advice or tips here would be great too!
