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]

My hip replacement surgery went well, and I've got about 75% range of motion back. I am not supposed to do much heavy lifting, so I've been puttering around the garage and staring longingly at my teener. So I couldn't take it anymore and dove back in yesterday and part of today.

First up is the rust on the driver side sail panel. As you can see, it rusted through...



Once the nasty piece was cut out, you can see things were pretty corroded inside. What the picture doesn't show is the foam strips that sit right behind this area. What were the Porsche engineers thinking!



I sandblasted the area as best I could, then did the POR-15 thing on the inside, as well as the back side of the patch. Here is the patch waiting for welding.



Next up is the patch welded in. To avoid warpage, I made a tack weld, blew compressed air on it until I couldn't feel any heat with my bare hand, then tacked about an inch away, and then repeated about a gazillion times. Here is the finished piece.



And here it is smoothed down prior to primering.



Next up is the area right behind above the driver side door handle...