914 Factory Service Manual?
 

Hey all,
New to the board and the porsche world. I just obtained a 73/74 914 half finished resto job. The problem is that the previous owner removed everything from the car, and labelled nothing. Would you recommend buying the $330 914 factory service manual as seen on this site? Would there be a better/cheaper alternative to for someone that is just cutting their teeth on 914 design and assembly?

Thanks for all the help.

-- Steve

Welcome to the board!
Depends on how much has been disassembled. If it's something like the engine is out and the doors and hoods have been removed you may be able to get away with a Haynes manual.

If "everything" has been taken apart, than a factory manual is probably a good choice, although I've haven't seen one myself.

Think of it this way, the doors are on, the trans is in one piece.. the engine is in pieces, the axles are only on the car so its a rolling chassis, no trunk, no hood, no interior, no wires.

Thanks for the welcome :)

The Haynes manual contains about 85% of the info of the factory manual. It's less than $20, and much more easy to carry. (And when I say it contains the info, I mean the exact words and photos from the factory books!!)

Tom Wilson's "How To Rebuild Your Volkswagen Air-Cooled Engine" contains sections on the 914 engine, and is an excellent resource. One or two bits are confusing (come back here when you try to get the cam gear timed to the crank gear) but it's very good overall. Jake Raby over at http://www.aircooledtechnology.com has an engine rebuild video that shows what goes on in an engine rebuild that has no "gotchas".

--DD

The Factory 914 Parts Catalog is also good for the exploded veiws on parts to see how many items go together.

I bought one 20 years ago. Don't know if there still available.

Ralph

74 2.0

The exploded views will be very nice to have when putting things together. Especially with not having taken them apart in the first place. Dave, I'm going to pick up a Haynes/Chilton to have as a quick reference. You are correct, the haynes is much lighter and more manageable