1974 914 1.8, the mystery of the EC-A and EC-B Options

[wonkipop]

i'll be dropping the information we have gathered over Dec 2021 in with a set of posts.

the material was prompted by mr b ( @JeffBowlsby ) who observed that for the 74 MY there was an EC-A and an EC-B engine. mr b's thought was that the EC-A was a 49 states car and and EC-B was a californian car for emissions.

mr b's view was rational and reasoned. 73 EA engines are 49 states. 73 EB engines are california. 75 engines are documented in factory literature as EC-a (49 states) and EC-b (california). the logic should follow?

BUT

as per the mystery of the 914, the truth about 74 1.8s turns out stranger than fiction (or common sense?).

the material is not necessary to running a 1.8 or having fun with a 14. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

its for historical purposes and as information to 74 1.8 owners to assist with restoration if they want it.

[StarBear]

Yep, I'm convinced. Probably (?) not a single date as you said, all cars weren't produced/finished in precise sequence. Wonder, though, why the change not at the MY beginning - parts supply availability? using up existing parts inventory (my bet)? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[wonkipop]

Yep, I'm convinced. Probably (?) not a single date as you said, all cars weren't produced/finished in precise sequence. Wonder, though, why the change not at the MY beginning - parts supply availability? using up existing parts inventory (my bet)? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

yep. they would be using up inventory of pressed panels.
the engine bay rear firewall has a little pressed indentation with the drilled hole to mount the cannister and the front firewall area no longer has the holes for the hoses to a front mounted can. they would have been using up the panels they had before moving on.

an ideal date for factory purposes would have been a monday.
i assume they would have been counting stock and fine turning scheduling date to remaining stocks. given what i found above i'd call it as that fell on a tuesday.

i believe the change in position of the can is a deliberate move to alter the whole system and to ensure that previous practices on hose hook ups are relearnt afresh.
as you know i am sticking to my view that the can hook up is reversed with the charcoal can in the engine bay. all the evidence says so including our cars which were/are in original condition. also they changed the 911s in 74. a similar deliberate move was made and the cans were moved to the rear of 911s at that time as well as altering the hose connection hook up. as to why not the start of the model year, the answer is connected to the late commencement of production of 1.8s. its got something to do with coming under scrutiny of the EPA for cheat devices. you can bet your life that the EPA put VW under the microscope in mid 73 and examined all their emission devices. they would have went through everything with a fine tooth and comb.

all the evidence (all of it reputable factory literature) indicates VW plumbed up their evap system the way it is done on engine bay can 914s from nov 73. VW had been doing it that way on their cars since 1970. only the 914 (and the 911) were plumbed up the opposite way up to MY 74. you can bet your life the EPA would have picked up that discrepancy because the 914 was essentially a VW model with a VW engine. i think what happened is that VW and porsche at that point brought their emission systems into consistency across the range. (to note porsche were using VW evap system components on the 911 lock stock and barrel). it would have been a bit confusing argueing it worked either way? the 914 had the same set up as the 911 (a porsche design) until that moment in 1973 when it changed over.

be interesting to know the exact date when porsche changed it over on 911s.
my bet is on around about the same time, part way into MY 74.
and as a result of EPA negotiations.


a further clue to this would be original glove box manuals that came with the cars new.
i would expect all the early 74 MY 2.0L cars to have had a emissions warranty booklet that reflected the other plumbing set up of earlier cars.

i would expect all 1.8s after the change to have the emission warranty like the one i have which correctly shows the change in the plumbing.

i would expect all the 2.0s that come after feb 74 to also have that emission warranty booklet that would be like the one i have with my 1.8 (engine bay can).

the check would have to be done with emission warranties that were known to have come with the car new.

part of the problem with restored cars and reprint material or booklets purchased separately is that fine grain of detail gets lost.