Air Cooled Engines Explained - Porsche 914 VW Type 4 Engine Teardown - What Did He Actually Buy? 

I'm curious why you had to do emissions on the car. After 1975, I'm guessing. Regarding driving, is the 1.7 as fun to drive as the 2.0? Thanks

@@Christoph-br2ui I live in California. Any car that is mandated to be emissions tested is required to have an absolutely stock and originally equipped engine. It doesn't even matter if a modification actually reduces air pollution emissions. The idea behind that mentality has to do with cheating as well as the reality that smog test technicians are not all technically equal, and are in the business of making money, not trying to figure out if someone is cheating. The state of California has what they call "Referee Stations" that are staffed by state employees that are "supposedly" technical experts in emissions control. They have the power to say a particular engine is "permitted" or not. However they can outright say no too, or they can mandate other things related to the engine/vehicle combination, and that little interaction between the state and "you" is forever stored up to force you to comply with the order, and to prevent you from searching for a different, possibly more lenient referee. . . In regards to cheating, it has made major headlines and resulted in billion dollar fines that various vehicle manufacturers have produced vehicles that had the ability to detect WHEN they were being emissions tested, and to adjust the engine operational control (de-tuned) to appear to be within permitted specification. . . As for emissions testing, California had a "stock engine" requirement in 1983 when I bought my first 914, a 1970. If you know your history of the 914, you know that in 1970 there were only two models produced: the 4-cylinder D-Jetronic fuel-injected VW type 4 engine equipped one, and the 6-cylinder Weber carbureted Porsche 911-T engine equipped one. The guy that sold me that first 914 told me that I wouldn't be able to register the car in California because the engine had had the fuel injection system removed and replaced with a single Holley-Weber carburetor, and that it wouldn't pass the "Visual" inspection of the emissions test. . . I had no clue what that was all about. I was just excited to have my "dream car". . . Needless to say, when I went down to DMV to register my new car, they told me that "on change of ownership" vehicles had to be emissions tested, so just go to any SMOG test station and get your car tested. My car was never ever hooked up to an emission testing device because the techs would simply look at the engine and say: "It's not stock. I can't test it." Oh and by the way, I was NEVER able to register that car in my name, in eleven years of ownership. Oh I drove it all across the United States and back to California before 1986, including interacting with law enforcement on four occasions with only one ticket for not having a current registration, but never registered in my name. I finally gave the chassis (no engine) away to some Porsche aficionado. The right side trailing arm support had rusted away, so it needed structural help. That trailing arm support had started to collapse on my way back to California. . . So in regards to emissions testing, understand that what the rules are today are not what they have always been, and not what I had to deal with when I owned 914s, which is now more than 30 years ago . . . For that matter, California has as a method of operation the goal of further reducing total statewide emissions always, so they are constantly attempting and actually eventually legislating older vehicles and engines out of existence. . . As for the differences between a stock 1.7 and a 2.0, it's all about the horsepower. The two liter has more power, so it's more capable when power comes to play, but all 914s have awesome handling, so they are great fun to drive on twisty mountain roads. You can still spin out with any 914 though because of the rear weight bias, so never over estimate the cornering ability. The biggest improvements that can be done with stock 914s are front and rear sway bars, bigger (911-T) front brakes, and tires, and if you have a tail-shifter transmission, to convert it to side-shifter. Beyond those things, it's all about money and engine changes. Take Care.

It had the highest compression ratio of any of the factory Type 4 engines, so it loved to rev up.

Glad you enjoyed it!

With that combo and a new Type4 Store camshaft, you could easily get 120HP and still have a bullet proof engine.

It's the perfect combination because it does not stress the basic engine design or require any additional oil cooling or air cooling modifications.

That means the cooling fans are in the fully open position when the thermostat fails. Good German engineering back in the day.

Sodium cooled valves came in the 914 2 litre.

No one uses sodium filled valves anymore. Stainless steel valves are better

He is still working on it, we haven't stopped asking him!