1974 Porsche 914 2.0 Resurrection

[justjoelagain]

Ok. I found this 1974 Porsche 914 2.0L from FB Marketplace that has been neglected and parked an estimated 10-15 years. Had a massive Hell Hole rot issue that got into the longitudinal on the passenger side. I really tried to walk away but he lowered the price to $1500 and I figured I could just part it out and make some money as a worst case. Well... I started digging into repairs and after a few months of cutting, grinding and welding I repaired all the rot and installed a frame strengthening kit.

After all that I had to rebuild all the brakes and replace a caliper because they were all leaking and one was totally seized up.

Then I swapped the fuel injection to dual 34 ICT carbs... I know these are undersized for the 2.0 but I got them for $100 on FB marketplace and I just want to get it running and driving. This is after I replaced all the fuel injectors for the FI system but could not find a reasonably priced MPS anywhere. I literally bought 6 MPSs from FB and eBay... none of them would hold a vacuum - even asking specifically if they did prior to purchase... I gave up on the D-Jet system.

Now, I'm facing an issue where it is only running on #2 and #4 cylinders. While it's running if I pull the spark plug wires on #1 or #3 there is no change to the engine running. They are getting spark and they have compression (although the compression values are lower than what was observed on #2 and #4). I adjusted the valves according to the book (.006 intake and .008 exhaust), I found a slightly bent exhaust push rod on cylinder #1 when changing the push rod tube seals... could this be contributing?

Has anyone seen this before? Could I have been on #3 compression stroke and done the valve adjustment 90 degrees out? I could not see the timing marks on the fan through the peep hole but the mark on the flywheel was on top and the dist. rotor was point to plug wire #1... I'm getting project fatigue because this project is fighting me so much... I just want to drive the damn thing but it doesn't seem to want to live.

So, if anyone has any advice.... I am all ears. I don't want to give up on this but a 3.0 Flat 6 from a Subaru sounds pretty good at this point...

[Root_Werks]

Establish a good baseline, do a compression check. If you have a low cylinder or two, double check the valve adjustment.

If it's a true GA case 2.0, that's worth money right there.

-Dan
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When I set my timing, why do I flush, then take a pee?