Suby-engined rustoration, 21-Sep-2024 update: more racing-related carnage! Options

[strawman]

Hi All --

This is my second post, but I've been lurking on this fine website for a while now. I've wanted a 914 since I was in high school, but always seemed to stumble upon other projects... until recently.

My neighbor gave me this 1973 Porsche 914 about a month ago. He told me he blew a head gasket and parked it in his parents' driveway in 1992. When his parents finally told him to move it or they were calling a local junkyard, he offered it to me since he knows I'm a gearhead. In for a penny, in for a pound...

I hauled it home, knowing that it has some rust issues in the battery area and rear trunk. But it appears to have never been in a wreck and it is complete. It turns out that an exhaust stud pulled, so he coulda fixed it for a couple hundred and probably kept another 914 from languishing but I guess all things happen for a reason (namely, so I would undertake this project!).

I sold the engine to a local Craigslister for use in his Meyers Manx dune buggy, and bought a wrecked but running 1993 Subaru Legacy turbo wagon. This is the closed-deck 2.2 liter engine, and 250 hp is easy with boost control and an open exhaust. I've already done a Subaru into a VW Vanagon and my daily driver is a 1992 Suby Legacy, so this won't be too much of a stretch for me. I plan to use the Suby 5-speed transmission (out of a 1998 Suby Forester) with the Aussie-sourced RWD elimination coupler and custom-mated 914/Suby axles.

I've got a suburban home with a crowded two-car garage (my 125 shifter kart and my daughter's FJA kart will likely get lonely!), a MIG welder, and a wide assortment of air/power/hand tools -- so the adventure begins! This project will likely take a year to finish, so please be patient.

I've attached some pics of the car as found in the driveway, some rust areas and the rear trunk repairs I've started. I'll chronicle the build as I go, so feel free to chime in!

Geoff

[strawman]

Next up is a pic of the jack post, followed by the inner (outer?) piece sourced from AA. The second pic also shows the jack post support, as well as the hole cut into the forward section just below the door hinge area.





The inner piece was sectioned in just below/behind the door hinge area. I used a Miller spot welder to make the joins along the upper and lower seam. Use of that device was a godsend -- it made quick work of it and kept heat input into the chassis less intense in comparison to if I had to rosette weld that sucker on.

Gotta love the mid-November heat wave in NorCal -- it was over 70 yesterday and today, and I was sweating!!

I welded in a patch for the hole forward of the AA piece, but it got too dark for good pics. Next up is welding in the Engman chassis stiffening kit, and then the GT chassis stiffening kit and trailing arm reinforcement kit (from Desert Hybrids). I'll need to read up on the GT stiffening kit, as a couple of the pieces that tie into the suspension console look like a bear to correctly form. Anyone have a suggested thread to peruse?

BTW, I picked up a complete 911 suspension last weekend. I got it for $600, including Bilstein sports, alloy calipers, 1" wheel spacers and stock torsion bars -- it came off a late 70's turbo.

I also bought a bunch of paint supplies from Rainbow Supply in Woodland, CA to strip the paint, epoxy primer the chassis, and to practice a full paint job (PPG Omni 2-stage) on my Subaru Legacy daily driver. I won a fire fighter breathing apparatus on Ebay a few weeks ago that I'll use as a basis for a home-brewed fresh air system while painting the nasty isocynates.