Headers for a 914/4 2.0

[AaronM]

First, thaks to all who gave me help with what to check on my "new" 1976 2.0, miraculously there are no vacuum or fuel leaks and the brakes/tranny are great. Last weekend I put over 100 miles on the car and I love the thing. However I would like to know how to get a bit more power out of the engine, nothing major, just about an extra 15-20 hp. I already have the smog pump disconnected and I was thinking that a set of headers would take care of the rest of the power gain without much extra cost as the heat exchangers are pretty well gone anyway. Anyone know of a good set of stainless headers that include heat exchangers? If I can't get them with heat excahngers, it's OK, but I'd prefer to keep whatever heater function I can. Thanks again.

[jabez]

Aaron,

No such headers that I know of, maybe others can help. Seems the best way to get the power you want is to go to larger cylinders and maybe a longer stroke crank. This is expensive. I just did an overhaul on my son's 74 1.8 to 2155cc and it is going to cost $2500 when all is said and done (obviously we did more than crank and cylinders but you'll find that many other things will need to be done to yours for a quality rebuild). Also focus on heads (porting, larger valves, ect).

[AaronM]

Boring and stroking the engine is out of the question for me, the farthest I would go with the internals would be euro-spec pistons at some point farther down the road. I do not want to make major changes in the engine as it does not need a rebuild right now. I appreciate your help though. I suppose that I may just have to settle for a set of standard stainless heat exchangers.

[newestone]

Kerry Hunter makes headers for 914-4, I can't remember his website but the telephone
numeber is:

(505) 622-2803

I believe he was advertising 10 more hp on a otherwise stock 2.0

[John Rogers]

I'd recommend going with the stainless type with heater boxes and a stock banana type muffer. It's nice and quiet and several dyno tests done a couple of years ago showed it made more HP than any of the after market mufflers. I guess the extra noise is okay with some people, but I use solid transmission mounts with stock front engine mounts and I love the sounds of the gears in tranny and the internal engine parts much more. Good luck

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Ditching the smog pump and plugging the holes is a start. You did plug the holes in the heads, right??

The only "stainless headers with heat exchangers" are the SSI heat exchangers. They're not really headers, but they're better than what you've got. If you swap them in for your exhaust (you need a 73-74 2.0 muffler of some kind and a 73-74 2.0 muffler hanger as well), you should be making 95 HP, which is stock for the 73-74 2.0s--this is vs. 88 for the 75-76es.

There's some debate on the Bursch muffler vs. stock muffler. A few more people seem to think that the Bursch is better than think that stock is better. But both sides have their proponents.

More than that can be had by getting a decent set of headers (like Kerry Hunter ones, or Eurorace, or CFR). But you lose the heat. You may be able to have someone wrap some ducting around your headers, which would give you at least some heat.

--DD

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Pelican Parts 914 Tech Support

A few pics of my car: http://www.pelicanparts.com/gallery/Dave_Darling

[SteveStromberg]

like These?


www.olywa.net/triad/products/headers.gif

Steve

[This message has been edited by SteveStromberg (edited 09-13-2001).]

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Yes. Those appear to be the "Eurorace" headers. They're more expensive than the Kerry Hunter ones ( http://kerryhunterenterprise.com/ ) but are supposed to work somewhat better.

Like I said, you may be able to get someone to wrap some sheetmetal around them to give you some heat. Not sure how effective or costly it will be.

Headers should be good for anywhere from 5-15 HP, depending on too many variables to list.

--DD

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Pelican Parts 914 Tech Support

A few pics of my car: http://www.pelicanparts.com/gallery/Dave_Darling

[oredith]

15-20HP increase in a motor that only put out 95hp is a rather substantial increase... those kind of numbers are only "minor" if you had 200+hp to start with.

i had the Kerry Hunter headers.. i loved the sound it had with the supertrapp tip, and the ease of accessibility to the valve covers (valve adjustment in 30 minutes or less), but i'd honestly say it only added about 5hp, MAYBE..

Jeff - turbo 914, 140-ish to the wheels, maybe.. at 12psi!..

[Daniel Moreno]

Since were on the topic sort of, what does dissconecting the smog pump do? Does It it add more power? How do u do it?

And is there any other ways of adding power without money?

[AaronM]

OK, a couple of things. The smog pump is still there, however its drive belt has been removed (car was like that when I bought it and the Mechanic didn't flag it as a problem when he looked the car over). I am beginning to think that simply reverting to '73-'74 spec is the best option simply because it is the least trouble. As for the desired increase being a lot, I may have been operating on a poor comparison but I know that between '87 and '88 the Honda Accord (2.0 litre engine, similar output) gained 10 hp because Honda redesigned the headers. Of course, the Porsche engine was probably optimised from the beginning which would render my comparison moot. On the Bursch muffler vs stock, considering the substantial price difference, I'll have to side with the Bursch camp on that one. Thanks for all your help.

EDIT: About that smog pump, I'm not entirely certain what it did, but it is part of the emissions control system and if you live in a state with inspections, you are better off keeping it installed. However if you don't need it, it is an accessory that the engine must drive and it costs about 5 hp according to the mechanics I have talked to, which places it on par with a modern A/C compressor, according to the same mechanics. Disconnecting the smog pump just decreases the accessory load on the engine, allowing more of the power to show up at the drive wheels.

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Shifting is an art. Learn it, love it, live it.

[This message has been edited by AaronM (edited 09-14-2001).]