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Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:32 am

I bought this engine from someone who said it is a "Vanogan Engine".

I think it might be from a 914, but I can't find the engine code on the breather like I expected. But the dipstick location and the marking on the ECU make me think it is a 914.

Also, it is set up for an automatic, with a flex plate and the Auto decel valve. The FI looks complete. Engine turns over 3/4 of the way, then stops.

Can anyone confirm/deny that this is a 914 engine? If it is, how appropriate is it to rebuild this for a bus?

Thanks!

Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:49 am

yes it is 914 for sure. engine code is stamped on top of the left case half (left with respect to the photos shown) in front of the intake plenum.

Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:29 am

yes its a 1975 914 1.8L but there weren't any 914 auto's made. There was 25 1970 sportomatics made but all a lost....
What did it come out of?

Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:45 am

No idea what it came out of. I was looking for parts to prepare an engine for an Auto '76 camper and started looking.

I found this for sale here on the Samba, but the seller had no clue what it was. It was in the classifieds under Vanagon parts. The seller said a friend had bought it to put into a '80 Vanagon, but never did.

The engine intrigued me, and the seller was local enough to deliver, so I bought it.
At the price I paid for it, I will come out ok due to the FI, decel valve, flex plate, and tin even if the engine is a complete waste.

I have seen some stuff about putting a 914 in a bus, but remember mixed messages about it. If I used it in a bus I would probably be upgrading it to 2.0 and also upgrading the cam / valve train (as I heard the cam is different in a 914).

Any opinions?

Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:04 am

914 and a bus engine are really identical

differences:
different flywheels, doesn't matter cause yours didnt come with one
2.0s have different heads, the 914 flows better and has bigger vavles, obvious due to 3 studs holding on the intake instead of 4
different disptick location in the case, and where the fill tube bolts on is not drilled out, the casting is still solid there.
some or all 914s used higher comp pistons but the same cylinders

cam is the same, crank rods lifters etc. just tear this one down and use it, it will be fine. tip though, when you tear it down grind out the opening where the fill tube should go so you can use the bus style filler. the 914 works, I used it on my bus, but the dipstick is akward to remove when installed in the car, without opening the top hatch. however it CAN be done, you just need to flex the dipstck a bit as you do it. easier to just open up the hole while you can.

I wonder what that tin goes to? I can never recocnigze the difference in the pics, do you have a good set of tins?
are you planning on building a 1.8 or a 20?

Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:06 am

If the engine code is not on the front edge of the square oil chimney....its a 914. If it is....then its from a 1974 412 with L-jet and could have easily had an automatic. Ray

Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:09 am

I would be upgrading it to 2.0. I hope the heads are serviceable, or at least can be rebuilt.

I don't know where the tin came from, but it is complete except for the bottom pieces (under the push rod tubes). I don't know what that "918" marking means.

I need to compare this tin to that from a normal bus. My hope is that I can use most of it easily. I also hope the tin would be useable with '72 - '74 heat exchangers.

Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:27 am

fusername wrote: 914 and a bus engine are really identical

differences:
different flywheels, doesn't matter cause yours didnt come with one
2.0s have different heads, the 914 flows better and has bigger vavles, obvious due to 3 studs holding on the intake instead of 4
different disptick location in the case, and where the fill tube bolts on is not drilled out, the casting is still solid there.
some or all 914s used higher comp pistons but the same cylinders

cam is the same, crank rods lifters etc. just tear this one down and use it, it will be fine. tip though, when you tear it down grind out the opening where the fill tube should go so you can use the bus style filler. the 914 works, I used it on my bus, but the dipstick is akward to remove when installed in the car, without opening the top hatch. however it CAN be done, you just need to flex the dipstck a bit as you do it. easier to just open up the hole while you can.

I wonder what that tin goes to? I can never recocnigze the difference in the pics, do you have a good set of tins?
are you planning on building a 1.8 or a 20?

The 914 and bus are the same for block cam( see below) and crank. 1.7 and 1.8 heads are the same. The cylinders however are quite different on 1.7 between 914 and bus. Domes versus dishes.

The forward firewall tin looks like 411/412....but the exhaust headers look like that crappy bus "Y" pipe...so it looks like its been in a bus.

I have never gotten a definitive answer on the cam. I do know this for sure though:
In the first type 4 engines (1968 411) the cam was optimized to operate with D-jet and twin carbs. In was kind of an in-between issue with respect to the intake valve timing. That was teh early model "V" timing code IIRC. Most everything on this continet got the later timing code (411 and 412, both 1.7 and 1.8). All 1.7, 1.8 and 2.0 914's on the continent had this same cam (the later 411 cam that was better optimized in intake valve timing for D-jet).
I had thought that there was actually a different cam for the carbed busses ....but for the injected busses...it was indeed the same cam as the 411 cam.
The only other fcatory cam I know of was a Europe only cam for the 2.0 914 an/or 1.8.
Was there another cam for the carbed busses? Ray