914-4 Engine ID and Vac Line Help Identification

[pheasant1894]

I need some help identifying my 1972 914-4 engine and carburetor set-up so I can figure out how to route the vacuum lines.

I bought this 914 about a year ago and have been steadily going through it replacing parts here and there. The engine has a mild cold start issue that I think is due to the vacuum lines, or as the pictures show the lack of vacuum lines! (Take a look at the last image of the distributor.)

I have reviewed the Pelican fuel injector and vacuum line diagrams (Pelican Parts: Porsche 914 Technical Forum) but my engine just does not look like these illustrations.

I would appreciate help with the following;
(1) What type of carbs are these?
(2) Can someone tell me how to route the vacuum lines?

Thanks!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The carbs are aftermarket; they all are (with a couple of exceptions that we basically do not see in the US). They are single-throat carbs, maybe Solex? Look for writing on them--names like Weber, Solex, Dell'Orto, Kadron, Wecarbras, and so on. Also look for numbers or letter/number combinations; those will tell you exactly what the carbs are.

Vacuum line setup for a carb kit on a 914 is: Whatever the converter felt like doing. There isn't any "correct" way to do it, so a converter has to figure out what they think will work, and you get to figure out what works for you.

The distributor lines aren't strictly necessary, but they may help some. The fitting that is obvious in the photo is the vacuum advance fitting; you want to connect it to "ported" vacuum. That is, vacuum from just at or just above the closed position of the throttle plate, which will see a very high vacuum when the throttle is just barely opened, and little or any once the throttle is wide open, or when it is closed.

The fitting you don't see in the pic points back toward the distributor body. That gets hooked up to manifold vacuum, so something that is "downstream" of the throttle plate, possibly on the manifold or possibly from the bottom of the carb.

Most carb setups have cold start issues; it's par for the course when you don't have a choke or when whatever choke you have is not hooked up.

--DD