914 engine replacement options - Advice and Opinions please, What are my best and easiest options? Options

[UberElectricEagle]

Greetings,
I'm new to the 914's so please forgive my ignorance.
I have a 1972 1.7 with dual carbs (weber 34) that is slowly giving up the ghost. I'm going to keep driving it until it quits or I find a replacement motor. I'm trying to figure out what my best and cheapest option is to put a good and solid running engine in my 914. Yes, more power would be awesome, but just a working motor would be great too.
What I was thinking I would like to find is a decent and solid running engine that someone has removed from their car for whatever reason.
-What are my plain stock options? 1.7 1.8 2.0 ?
--Can all my 1.7 components switch over into a 1.8 or 2.0 or would I have to get some different items like bigger carbs or a different distributor?
-What kind of fair price can I expect to pay for a fairly complete and running motor?
-What could I expect to pay for a rebuild if I went with that option?
-Can I just use any type 4 engine (say from a VW whatever) and switch all my tins and components over, or are they set up differently for the 914?

I'm looking for all opinions or what you would think you would do so I can look at every angle here. Any guidance in the right direction or ideas would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Sam

[tat2dphreak]

1st... find out what's wrong with your 1.7... maybe you just need rings, or the heads freshened, or something simple as timing... what is it doing? low compression? back fire?

-What kind of fair price can I expect to pay for a fairly complete and running motor?

depends, but I have been in your shoes, and I can honestly say unless you hear it running and can do a compression test, a used motor is a CORE and should be priced and treated as such. for that reason, I recommend 1 of 2 routes... that you can be safe on... a raby kit(you build your own engine) IIRC the prices are starting around 4k. or get an original customs 2056 longblock and be done... 125hp for 5k and you are done. you aren't in Texas so I don't know who near you would be trustworthy to rebuild, as a 3rd option, but maybe someone here does know someone.

-Can I just use any type 4 engine (say from a VW whatever) and switch all my tins and components over, or are they set up differently for the 914?

72+ BUS engines are a low-compression version, and will work, but not great.

--Can all my 1.7 components switch over into a 1.8 or 2.0 or would I have to get some different items like bigger carbs or a different distributor?

depends on what's wrong with the 1.7, but yea, you can use the heads and even the 34icts on a 1.8, 34s are too small for a 2.0 the crank on a 1.7 is the same as the 1.8. distributor? depends on what you have, a stock djet or ljet carb will work fine, a 009 or 050 isn't optimum, but will work in a pinch (pm if you need a 009, I have 2 with pertronix installed) but basically all the dizzys will work. anything more than the 1.8 will probably want new carbs, or you will want it to have 100% of all the FI parts in working order to swap back to FI.

-What could I expect to pay for a rebuild if I went with that option?

depends on the shop, but if you want to DIY, then raby's kit is a good deal if you aren't familiar with these engines. if you've rebuilt type 1s and type 4s before...

it's been my experience with these cars is it's usually cheaper in the long run to do it right the first time, that said, you might find a good running 1.7 or 1.8 that someone is ready to pull close to you for under 1000, and that would be a wise choice if you aren't ready to drop several grand...

good luck on the search!!

[UberElectricEagle]

Thanks for the reply and all the info. My 1.7 has a few issues and has some internal knocking or clacking noises. Smokes real bad at 4K. I've checked everything I can and think the motor needs to come out to truly know what's wrong inside.

What do you think a 2.0 should run price wise if it's the situation is like you say?
Motor was removed and was supposedly running type thing. No info on compression and Complete minus the fuel injection.


I'd love to go the pro kit or rebuild route, but I just can't stomach those prices. I'm sure it's worth it though.
I'm going to try and keep this project under or around 1000$, if possible.

[hydroliftin]

Thanks for the reply and all the info. My 1.7 has a few issues and has some internal knocking or clacking noises. Smokes real bad at 4K. I've checked everything I can and think the motor needs to come out to truly know what's wrong inside.

What do you think a 2.0 should run price wise if it's the situation is like you say?
Motor was removed and was supposedly running type thing. No info on compression and Complete minus the fuel injection.


I'd love to go the pro kit or rebuild route, but I just can't stomach those prices. I'm sure it's worth it though.
I'm going to try and keep this project under or around 1000$, if possible.

For under $1,000 your best bet is another 1.7. Getting a decent 2.0 for that price is a long shot. If you want to be a true 914 owner, you put that thing up on jack stands for a few years while you rebuild the 1.7 you got. You would be able to increase the displacement to 2.0 that way and keep the same heads and even carbs, maybe replace the cam while you are in there.

[UberElectricEagle]

Thanks for the reply and all the info. My 1.7 has a few issues and has some internal knocking or clacking noises. Smokes real bad at 4K. I've checked everything I can and think the motor needs to come out to truly know what's wrong inside.

What do you think a 2.0 should run price wise if it's the situation is like you say?
Motor was removed and was supposedly running type thing. No info on compression and Complete minus the fuel injection.


I'd love to go the pro kit or rebuild route, but I just can't stomach those prices. I'm sure it's worth it though.
I'm going to try and keep this project under or around 1000$, if possible.

For under $1,000 your best bet is another 1.7. Getting a decent 2.0 for that price is a long shot. If you want to be a true 914 owner, you put that thing up on jack stands for a few years while you rebuild the 1.7 you got. You would be able to increase the displacement to 2.0 that way and keep the same heads and even carbs, maybe replace the cam while you are in there.

Yah, that is an option, but I don't want another lump of metal sitting in my garage while I struggle through bouts of laziness. I just did that with another car and I would like to drive this one. I would like to take the motor that's in it apart just to see what went wrong and to learn a bit more about rebuilding. I'd just like to have a working car while I do it.
I want to eat the whole cake.