Notes from the mechanic

Car stalls when hot—also difficult to restart
Hotter is harder!

Found engine running ultra lean when cold.
@ warm up—stalled. Adjusted A/F meter wiper (*)

Check valve adjustments
all valves tight zero clearance

(*) To enrichen mixture—set timing & CO.
Many air leaks in intake system!

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2 valve cover gaskets
1 oil cap seal
1 oil cap O-ring
2 feet 9mm hose

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@ $125/hr * 2.75 hrs
+ $16.80 (parts)
+ $1.36 (sales tax)
+ $3 (environmental surcharge)
= $364.93

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Brakes are soft, unsafe. (They were worse before my recent brake work, pumping the pedal helps.)

Could be: (1) front brake lines (old rubber), (2) front calipers (have leaks), (3) air in the master cylinder from recent brake work.

Note: Haynes manual says, if air enters the master cylinder you must bleed all four wheels. Larry says, if air enters the master cylinder you must bleed the master cylinder. There are no bleed valves on the master cylinder, you have to disconnect brake lines directly from the cylinder.

Clutch cable needs adjustment.

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Now I can start the car easily, hot or cold. Still stalls occasionally when hot (probably due to vacuum leaks), but much better than before. AWESOME.

Somehow between starting the brake/fuel-line work and taking it in to HPH, the tachometer decided to start working. Cool.

Rich suggests re-checking the valve-clearances in 500 miles (because the clearance was zero, adjustments will need rechecking); the speed-o-meter and odometer still do not work.

Still smells like coffee and sour milk.

Re: Engine starts

I cut back two inches of the cracked plastic fuel-supply line. It was listed as a $20 part but they're no longer available and Rich at HPH says that this is the usual method, adding "the plastic hoses are normally very durable."

Turn. Squeek. Turn. Squeek. Vroom!

Step 3 is complete.

Re: More fuel-line work

I reinstalled the fuel-pump, filter, and rubber hose assembly, poured in a half-gallon of gas, reconnected the battery, and tried starting the engine. Turn. Squeek. Turn. Squeek. Smell gasoline.

The plastic fuel line between the fuel pump and the engine is cracked and leaking fuel at 28 psi. The engine would not start.

Re: Fuel hoses and clamps

Under the right rear of the car, above the heat-exchanger and hot-air supply ducting sits a Bosch fuel pump with three hose attachments (in, out, return). My 1974 Porsche 914 (the last year without a catalytic converter) has Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, uses 7mm inner-diameter hose, except for a special two-diameter hose which reduces the fuel supply line from 11mm to 7mm (at the fuel filter).

Because of the unusual OEM part, whoever last replaced the fuel hoses had changed everything around. There was a different tee in the return line, and two hose diameters. One of the return hoses was original, everything was badly deteriorated.

Parts needed: 3 feet 7mm fuel hose ($6/per), one OEM 99918002950 part ($30), 12 clamps ($1.50/per), 1 7mm tee (free), 1 new fuel filter ($36). Rich sold me the "high-quality", swedish-manufactured clamps (which don't pinch the rubber, but are really difficult to fit). Larry gave me the tee for free (Rich wasn't there, don't tell).

Remove the fuel pump first. This was made easier for me, because my car was missing its right-side flexible aluminum duct, which connects the hot-air supply to the exhaust-heat exchanger. Larry suggests finding an appropriately-sized cap (e.g., from a can of brake cleaner or hair spray) and clamp it on. Without this duct engine fumes can enter the cabin, he says.

Time estimate: 4-5 hours.

Step 3: Fuel line repair

Yes, I am repairing fuel lines on a future electric car, but this has to be done because the sound recording (step 1) is not yet complete. I needed to repair the rear brakes (step 2) first because driving was unsafe, and now I need to replace some fuel lines because they were "impacted" by the brake work.

Problem: as I was wrenching and prying around with the right-rear brake-line clip, I broke a fuel line. Gasoline is dripping onto the floor from somewhere between the fuel pump and the fuel filter.

This was really not fun. I placed an open gas can underneath the drip and left my garage door partly open to vent overnight. I needed to drain the gas tank before I could replace the fuel lines.

Tools applied: 1 gas mask, 2.5 gallon gas can, something to plug the fuel-supply line (e.g., a 21/64" drill bit) after you've cut the hose, lots of disposable gloves, and another car ready to accept more than 10 gallons of gasoline.