1974 914/4

[tykes]

I have just purchased a 74 914 here in Dubai and am trying to figure out what engine it has. I believe it to be a FI 1.8. It appears to have a catalyst and a lot of smog equipment/charcoal canister.

Can I remove all this anti smog equipment and if so is there anything I need to change in the engine to make it run properly.

How can I be sure what engine I have? Does the engine number give this info and where is it located?

Thanks
Richard

[Joe Ricard]

Intake runners have 4 bolts connecting to the head = 1.8L
3 bolts = 2.0L

74 should not have catalyst.

What is the VIN number?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Pictures would help identifying the engine, and the bits on it.

I don't know the laws where you are--there may be legal consequences to removing or altering emissions equipment. You will have to research the local laws to see what is and is not allowed.

Joe is quite right; a 74 914 (VIN starts with 47429...) should not have a catalytic converter, EGR, or smog pump. At least, not as the cars were delivered to the US markets. The 75 and 76 model year cars did have some combination of those in some markets.

Removing EGR, air injection, and exhaust catalyst is pretty straight-forward. The only problems they can cause are:
- Air injection removal will leave holes from the top of the head into the exhaust ports. These can be capped by the appropriate-sized plug, or supposedly even by a VW Bug valve adjusting lug. It's good to make sure that the plugs cannot back out, there are many ways to do this.
- The 75-76 exhaust (the one that can have the catalytic converter in it) is a fairly horrible design with uneven runner lengths and tight bends, even when the catalyst is removed. Replacing the whole exhaust (muffler, muffler hanger, heat exchangers, and heater parts) with those from a 1970-74 914 should free up some power, though maybe not a lot in a 1.8. It also cleans up the underside of the car, and probably dumps a little less heat directly under the engine.

But again, a 74 shouldn't have any of those.

--DD

[bowlsby]

A 914 in Dubai! Wow...I assume it was imported in at some point? A factory 1974 car never had catalytic converters, only the 1975-76 California market 914s had them. Yours were either added or the engien was changed.

Post photos of your car!

[tykes]

Hi,

Yup a 914 in Dubai - probably the only one but it came from the USA!

Vin is 4742910628 and manufactured 12/73.
Car is yellow

The attached picture is as I found it parked on the side of the road. Basically it seems sound but I am going to strip it and rebuild - labour is cheap here!!
The engine is very dusty with lots of leaves which explains why I cannot see the engine number.
There isn't a catalyst afterall but there seem to be a lot of silencers (mufflers) - 3 across the back - 2 big and one small in the middle with a single pipe out on the left. Is this stamndard?

Thanks for your replies and more photos to follow when it is a bit clener
Richard

[bowlsby]

The exhaust sounds like the late (1975-76) exhaust. Its a muffler-catalytic converter-muffler, standard for a California market 914.