Restoring my first 914

[John_F]

Darren wrote:
"I got to the post office too in my lunch break and sent out the soundproofing to John, so hopefully you’ll have it for the weekend."

Many thanks Darren. Payment sent by PayPal this morning.

Kind regards,

John.

[Darren C]

I had to do some head scratching on mine (with the help of Kevin and a mate who is an electronics whizz). Oddly, two relays went on my board at the same time, so swapping them round might not fix it if the same has happened! I also had to replace the MAF.

The same happened on mine - 2 relays had gone so nothing worked and neither did swapping them around!

Are you guy's in kahoots, playing on my conscience, to get me to buy more parts?

[Mr Pharmacist]

Yes. I have shares in a 914 relay manufacturer. Make sure you buy loads of spares too just in case you need them

[Darren C]

very good Stuart.

Tonight I have mostly been....

Shopping in Tesco's (its Friday night pay day food shop night)

Then afterwards I sat and worked through the Relay board and ECU wiring diagrams (in the Haynes manual) and after drawing a flow diagram out on A4 paper I sort of figured out that pin III of the 4 pin connection block to the ECU makes to earth when the ignition is on (it's linked to fuel pump relay pin 86). (pulsed or not) This allows power to flow through the relay coil, making the relay contacts 30 & 87 putting power on the pump and supplementary Air Valve.

Hopefully tomorrow I can test this with my meter, once I get the Relay Board back in. I have bench tested the relays tonight using a spare battery, and the fuse is good and I gave all the contacts on the connections to the board a good clean. I have also made a link wire up tonight so I can leave off the ECU plug and put ECU pin III to earth and see if it runs the pump, proving all is good on the Relay Board.

I also picked up some new stainless rubber lined P clips to aid tidying the wiring loom over the engine which seems to be just draped over the tinware to the coil? (or am I missing a genuine clip or two?)

Bedtime reading tonight....the latest Porsche Post, came today....it has a nice 914 cover feature

[914 KEV]

I also picked up some new stainless rubber lined P clips to aid tidying the wiring loom over the engine which seems to be just draped over the tinware to the coil? (or am I missing a genuine clip or two?)

The engine main wiring loom and the fuel injection wiring loom are just draped over the tinware when it makes contact with it.

There are three plastic clips on the tinware, one on the near-side and two on the off-side which are used to hold the HT leads in place.

I have bench tested the relays tonight using a spare battery

For those reading this and would like to bench test their own relays, pin 85 and 86 when connected to a battery or battery charger will be heard switching if working.

Darren when checking to see if you have a voltage on the relay board with the ignition on, the front outside fuse holder terminal gets it voltage from the ignition switch, while the rear used fuse holder gets its power from the battery.

Bedtime reading tonight....the latest Porsche Post, came today....it has a nice 914 cover feature

"914 rebuild will make you want one, too!

Darren it is also Alaska Blue, showing how yours will look with a new coat of paint.

[jackstowers]

There's a nice little pic of a lovely green 914 inside too!

[Darren C]

Thanks for the good advice again Kev.

Nice write up on Brooklands, especially like the little pictures of the two green 914’s

Today I have mostly……

Been putting bits back on the car.

My second set of HT leads (the 1st were too short) are a perfect length but the rubber grommets on the plug end were moulded on to the leads in a set position. This gave me a right old struggle. In the end I had to turn them inside out and very, very carefully (with a scalpel type craft knife) cut the grommet free from the lead without damaging the plug sheath. 2 hours later I had the leads finally fitted to the car with the grommets seated correctly in the tinware. It’s important to take time to get a good seal as it allows better cooling over the barrels without leakage around the plugs.
The three clips Kev mentioned were fitted and the leads neatly clipped in. I had one original and two missing so these were sourced from VW heritage.
I then fitted the new coil and connected the wiring loom to it and the head temp sensor and Oil switch. Not happy that the loom just laid across the engine I fitted some nice stainless steel rubber lined P clips to various original bolt & tinware screws along the route. I’d had the distributor out last weekend (undid the nut to block NOT the clamp so that I could lift it out and put it back without messing up the timing) to replace the points and condenser. Its much easier to work on and get at the condenser plug clamp screw where it goes through the dizzy body.
One point of note is that the new set of Bosch points was difficult to fit. The vertical pin that the points hinge on extends down by about 1mm and locates in the vacuum advance plate. I tried twice to fit them before I realised (only because I had the dizzy out and it was easy to see) that the base of the new points was about 2mm wider than the old one. The vacuum advance diaphragm has two screws holding it onto the dizzy. The tip of the righthand screw extended about 1.5mm into the dizzy when tight. Because the replacement points were marginally wider on its base than the old set, the vertical hinge pin of the points wouldn’t locate properly in the hole. They were being pushed into the centre by the screw end. This if I hadn’t of noticed would have also stopped the vacuum advance working! The solution was to remove the diaphragm screw and put a second washer on it (or file it down so it was shorter) I opted for the latter. With this done I could locate the new points correctly and set them up before refitting the distributor.
I also fitted back
The Blower Fan and hose today.
New Oil Breather pipes (with stainless hose clips)
The New Battery
And the relay board.
Last night I cleaned up every pin/connection and the fuse holder on the board. I used a loose Stanley blade to gently push down in the cross slots in each and every pin on the relay board connections just to carefully “open” up the pin diameter to make it a tight fit in the wiring loom plugs.
I then found out why my old relay board cover was all smashed at the front end….you cant get the bloomin thing on and off very easily. It hits the bulkhead before you can get it over the regulator….great design eh!
For fear of breaking the new cover I had to take off the regulator (two screws) fit the cover then put the regulator back on afterwards.
After a little more fettling on the car I eventually ran out of daylight.

[karmann]

My favourite colour on a 914 is Alaska Blue, but I'm biased! Yours will look spot on I'm sure once it's done.

[karmann]

And this thread is very informative, your doing a great job, top marks!!

[John_F]

My 914 must have been built during the same week as the cover car. Cover car VIN: 4732915153. My VIN: 4732915447. They probably sat in Karmann's despatch yard together & caught the same boat to California. Ahhhhhh!

Mine may have to wait until a sugar daddy comes along to give her the full face lift treatment although she's wearing well. No need for Botox yet!

[Darren C]

John, your car looks very nice to me, no "sugar daddy" required

Today I had a quiet day. Charles (Shoestring7 on here) came over to meet me and take a look at my cars. Very good to meet you, you certainly know your stuff. Can’t wait to see your 911 in the flesh!
After two interesting hours with Charles, I set about putting another coat of paint on the new master cylinder. Next I popped out to B&Q and bought a set of large plastic storage boxes, ready to place all parts I will need to strip off for the repaint.
I then started to strip down the removed engine lid. Followed by starting to clean up/degrease the old FI components, and remove all bits of induction hose and seals. Testing the ECU briefly with my meter today has thrown up more questions than answers. I think my next move is to take the cover off it and check the loom continuity of each cable. It does look a bit "crispy"
This evening I’ve been through the PET parts catalogue and made a full list of all the hoses, seals, bits & bobs I need to refurbish the FI. Tomorrow hopefully I can phone around the suppliers and get an idea of prices and availability of the last few parts I can’t find online this evening.

[914 KEV]

I then found out why my old relay board cover was all smashed at the front end….you cant get the bloomin thing on and off very easily. It hits the bulkhead before you can get it over the regulator….great design eh!
For fear of breaking the new cover I had to take off the regulator (two screws) fit the cover then put the regulator back on afterwards.

Back in the 70-71 model years the 914 only had static seatbelts fitted.
From the 72 model year the bulkhead was modified so retractable seatbelts could be fitted.
The left new seat belt mount ended up just above the relay board.
The original relay cover would not fit the relay board anymore so it ended up being modified with a slopping front edge.
Shame the repro covers are poorly made as the originals late covers would be removed by just lifting and twisting anticlockwise and fitting back on is easy if you twist it into place!

Darren while you had the distributor removed from the engine did you remove the fuel injection points and clean them and re-grease the cam?
Also did you check the vacuum advance and retard by sucking on the inlets to see if they hold a vacuum and twist the point plate?
The vacuum advance and retard canister don’t last for ever and I often come across 914s where they have failed.

There is also an earth connection between the up twisting part of the point plate and the lower frame or the distributor body. If this earth connection is broken it will cause the points to go open circuit when the plate twists and cause a miss firing problem.



The ECU doesn't fail that often and the problem is more likely the fuel injection wiring harness.
Remove from the ECU by sliding off the side cover and then pull the plug out using the centre strap.
Each white wire has a number printed on it, some in red ink and others in black.
The numbers corresponds to the connection on the main ECU plug.

[Canarydelia]

Kevin - the depth of knowledge and level of detail you bring in helping 914 owners through this forum is quite incredible - thank you so much for that, we are all the richer for your contributions.

[jackstowers]

Kev's our nations favourite 914 geek for sure.

[karmann]

Kev has helped me out with very detailed solutions, I don't think there's an area of the 914 that he doesn't know in great depth.