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.

[Van B]

@wonkipop how many US spec ‘74 1.8s do you think we’re made? Ball park

[wonkipop]

@wonkipop how many US spec ‘74 1.8s do you think we’re made? Ball park

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

6 months ago i would probably not be able to work it out.
there is production info on the website here in the 914 info section.
its been broken down into calendar years not model years.

and the problem is that the 74MY 1.8s are mixed in with the 75MY 1.8s for calendar year 74.

but given our research i am pretty sure that for 75 MY the 1.8 L jet is going in no other VW car except the 914 as the 412 ceased production. so i reckon a figure on 75s might be possible going off engine numbers. there is a separate number for 75 1,8s made in calendar year 75 so the maths is possible. that would get me to the subtracted number of 74 1.8s made in 1974. so i reckon i could get a real number. when i get time i might give it a try.

i think approx just over 20,000 MY 74 cars get made.
i'd guess its probably 2/3 1.8 to 1/3 2.0. say 13,000-14,000.
but i reckon i can get an actual figure for the model year which i have not seen elsewhere in my travels researching.

@Van B and @StarBear . i'm still laughing at the label. wallabies are real slow.
they just stand in the middle of the road and wait to get run over. don't even hop off.
was down in tasmania 4 years ago doing a combat drop job mission and had an audi a-3 sportback to drive. there are no roos in tasmania, just wallabies. i was hooking it back from lake pedder right in the middle of tas, a fantastic high class road that tasmania hydro built that goes nowhere except to the dam in the middle of the wilderness. one of the best drives in the world you can still do. no police. no speed cameras. lets just say i had the audi wound out. i could see a black spot on the road ahead. then i realised what it was. a fricken wallaby. the ABS was outstanding. i pulled up about 6 feet from the wallaby. it looked at me and stood there for about 10 seconds then slowly loped off the road doing that weird walk that roos and wallabies do where they put their little short arms down and kind of move their back legs through. couldn't even be bothered hopping off the road.