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]

The forward/lower area of the passenger side quarter panel is rusted pretty thin from the backside, but it is salvageable. However, the portion that joins up with the sill plate was gonzo. So I cut a new piece out of 18 gauge, formed it and began the fabrication process while installing the new sill and sill triangles. Here is a pic of the fabricated piece, tacked in place.



Here is a pic of the triangles that I got from AA. One of them had one of the two "steps" about 1/8" off from the other one, which wouldn't allow the sill to sit tight against it. So I added a 1/8" piece of flat stock (look at the foward triangle).



Here is the sill installed, which I also got from AA. Again, I rosette welded a hole, cooled it with compressed air until I couldn't feel any heat with my hand, then moved on to another hole approximately half the length of the sill away. Takes a long time, but that method will hopefully ensure a straight/true tub when I'm done. Fingers crossed!



And here it is ground smooth prior to primer. Again, I would grind a rosette, cool it with air, then move onto another rosette, to avoid warpage.



I need to make a couple more small patches on the passenger side sail, fill in the trim holes on both sides, weld in the passenger side lower quarter panel, and then I'll be ready to attack the rust holes in the windshield frame and the frunk seal channel.

During my hip recovery, I was bored silly so I spent many hours scraping away the undercoating on the floor bottom and the wheel wells (gotta love a rotisserie!). I also welded up the 911 parking brake solution that Paul Sayegh demonstrated in Excellence Magazine. Someday soon I'll be ready to weld in the GT flares and begin the turbo Subaru engine/trans fitment...