few odd question for 72' 4cyl...TDC-idle with carbs

[0to60n10minutes]

hello everyone. i have ownd my 914 for a year or so and i have finally got it running after about 4 years of sitting..HOWEVER it runs horrible. the car is a 1972 with dual webers, originall dist. and is a 1.7L. before, when i first had the car running, it would idle at about 750-1000 and ran really well, but when i started driving the carbs would pop, and the car was really julty. then about a month ago the car finally would just rev EXTREMELY low, to where it would just die after a few seconds. how should i find TDC with no mark on the fan or flywheel? also can anyone help me with some secrets or stuff for the timing. thanx a bunch. ALEX

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There should still be marks on the fan and flywheel--they're tough to see, but they should be there. The flywheel mark should be visible through the notch in the bottom of the transmission bellhousing, though at that point cylinder #1 (and #3) is on BDC and not TDC.

You can look to see around where TDC is for the #1 cylinder by popping a valve cover off. Both rocker arms for #1 will be closed when #1 is near TDC; both of the rocker arms will have a little bit of slack in them. You can also try using a soda straw or piece of wire or some such through the spark plug hole to feel where the piston stops going upward. Don't use anything brittle (like a chopstick--loooooooong story) because it can break off in the combustion chamber.

I bet you'll find that there are marks on the fan and flywheel--just that they are hard to see.

--DD

[0to60n10minutes]

hey thanx your right. me and a friend earlier this week turned the motor to where the valves on cylinder one where closed and sure enough i looked on the fan and theres and oval in the triangle cut and the fly wheel has a notch at the top of the tranny.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

What I like to do at that point is to make a small paint mark on the front half of the fan across from that "0" mark. Plus go under the transmission and put a paint dab on the bottom of the flywheel. That gives you an easy-to-see reference mark on the fan, plus gives you TDC#1 and 180 degrees out on the flywheel.

If you look about 1-2 fan blades to the left of the "0" mark on the fan, you may very well find a notch in that same area. That's the stock timing mark. I painted the top of the closest fan blade red for easy reference, or you could paint the outer part of the fan.

Umm, but you have carbs. That can change the desired timing point, especially if you have a non-stock distributor....

--DD

[in10s]

0to60n10minutes you may be able to speed up a bit if you check the linkage on your carbs and make sure they are pulling identically when you give them some throttle. Also, if you are getting some backfiring you may want to open up the mixture screws at the base of the carbs. I just recently ran into something very similar to what you are describing. In my case the linkage to one carb disengaged entirely. It had no power whatsoever, due to the two lame cylinders. It did, however stop backfiring. I guess you have to take the good with the bad. Running the carbs rich helps dramatically. Also, generally with carbs you want to advance the timing about 5 additional degrees BTDC.