Hey new 914 owner looking for parts and info. MY new toy doesn't have the bellows that heats and exspands ,pulls cable to lift open flaps to cool the engine. Heck the manuals don;t even talk about this part. Can I just wire open the flaps? Yeah it will take longer to warm up. Any help out there???

Generally you want the car to heat up to temp as quick as possible. The part you're talking about is called a thermostat. Some people have used a thermostat from other VW engines (Type 1 Beetle, etc) with some success.

There is also a version that many refer to as a "Mexican" thermostat, though it was never on Mexican beetles, I believe it's an aftermarket part from Brazil or Argentina. This part does not "fail-safe" but there are also no reports of them ever failing. Take it as you will.

The system is set up so that the thermostat fails in the "safe" position, a spring should open the flaps if the thermostat looses it's thermostat-ing ability.

I recommend buying a new German one from this guy:

http://awesomepowdercoat.com/thermostat_ne...ed_rebuilt.html

He has the cable as well.

I bought one last winter & I'm quite happy with it.

I got one from him it was good quality and works fine, can reccomend

It's pretty hard to outsmart a German engineer. I got lucky and the cable had hopped off the pulley. It warms up faster, the heater works sooner, and engine wear should be reduced.

As mentioned above, the flaps are pulled closed by the thermostat against spring tension and if the thermostat fails, the spring opens the flaps. Assuming the flaps and spring are still in there.

Hey thanks for the info guys. Mine still has the springs in there holding them open!! Heck I thought they were closed!! I found a thermosat wire and jumped on it.