[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The 74 1.8 was the first car EVER to use Bosch L-jetronic FI. So that is the stuff you'll need. (Stupid smog laws say that you have to have original stuff, even if a different system will run cleaner! Dumb, dumb, dumb!!!)

If you have a Haynes manual, there is a reasonable (if small) photo of a complete early L-jet system in the "fuel system" chapter.

The L-jet will probably not work that well with the 009 distributor, so you should also think about replacing that as well. Technically, I think only the stock distributor is legal anyway, but I doubt they'll check the part numbers--just the timing at idle. (Hmm, with what I hear about the 009, that may catch it anyway.) The L-jet use (I think) only one of the relays on the relay board--if that. They have their own "double relay" that lives near the battery and controls the fuel pump and FI. Since fuel pumps are usually replaced with carb setups (carbs want 3 PSI, FI wants ~50 PSI), you'll probably need a fuel pump as well.

I hope you didn't put anything more "radical" than a stock cam in the car when you rebuilt it, or it may have a tough time passing. If you went just a little "wilder" than stock, you should be able to squeak by. If you went pretty "wild", the car won't run right with L-jet and will probably pollute MORE than with the carbs on it!

As for reliability, the L-jet is OK if you get it put together correctly, and if you keep on top of the maintenance.

From what I hear, the "exploded diagrams" are simply the line-drawings from the factory parts book. Those are used in several aftermarket manuals, such as AA, AJ-USA, etc. I don't know if there are any on this site or not, but you can get a catalog from one of those other two to look at the drawings. (And laugh at the prices, at least with AA!)

There is a diagram of where the hoses go on a 75 1.8 available on the 914 Fan Page, [url]http://www.914fan.net[url], in the Tech Refs section. It does have the extra smog crap, plus the front-mounted fuel pump, but apart from that shows where the vaccuum and fuel hoses go.

If you simply cannot get it all together, you might consider registering it non-operational until 2004 (5 years!!) when it will be exempt. Or, you could non-op it for the year it has to be tested, then drive it the next year (test is every other year), up until 2004.

Good luck!

--DD