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

[charliew]

I have never came across a brazed tube in a aluminum casting. On my 02 wrx coolant crossover the tube is pressed in with a sealant it seems. Also the turbo version crossovers are bigger to carry more coolant than the na versions. Grimspeed and others carry a spacer that is to prevent the engine heat from moving into the intake manifold from the head, I think it's a phoenolic material. You can get them in 7mm or maybe 13mm thicknesses. On my son's sti they work great. With the thicker ones you will need longer bolts.

The only way I can get easygrind is either buy a case at 55.00 a roll or for just one 10lb roll it's 66.00 locally.

[strawman]

I have never came across a brazed tube in a aluminum casting. On my 02 wrx coolant crossover the tube is pressed in with a sealant it seems. Also the turbo version crossovers are bigger to carry more coolant than the na versions. Grimspeed and others carry a spacer that is to prevent the engine heat from moving into the intake manifold from the head, I think it's a phoenolic material. You can get them in 7mm or maybe 13mm thicknesses. On my son's sti they work great. With the thicker ones you will need longer bolts.

The only way I can get easygrind is either buy a case at 55.00 a roll or for just one 10lb roll it's 66.00 locally.

Hi Charlie --

Your suggestion that the turbo'd coolant crossover pipes might be true for EJ20 or the 2.5 engines, but it certainly is not true for the EJ22T or EJ22 engine -- the crossover is virtually the same, only with different bosses drilled/tapped for placement of the sensors. At least my naked eye suggests it. Guess I'll have to check it out with my calipers.

You may be right that the heater hose "extension" is pressed in with a sealant -- but I couldn't get it out without heat. That is why I presumed it was brazed...

I have looked at the Grimspeed spacers, and I might end up using them. I like the idea of a cooler intake charge!

Which engine are you using in your Suby conversion? Is your engine ready to go?

Geoff