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 the engine cradle, built out of 1"x2"x 0.120" wall tubing. This bolts directly to the stock Subaru motor mounts, and barely clears the turbo up-pipe. I built it so that it will be the lowest point and can provide some oil pan protection (although the previous pics don't show it, I will ultimately shorten the pan about 2"). Here is a pic:



The cradle will bolt to mounting ears that I'll weld on gussets that I've installed on the upper longs (see below). I believe the cradle will help tie together the rearward portions of the longs, and the gussets that I've fabricated will tie in the lower portion of the GT kit and the inner potion of the longs. Below are a couple pictures of the gussets that I fabricated out of 16 ga. steel -- prior to welding and then after rosette welds / grinding smooth.





Here is the clearance and mock-up of the transaxle:



Finally, here is a pic of the engine bay, showing where the turbo will be mounted. Obviously, I need to cut out a portion of the rear firewall/trunk floor, and construct a box for the turbo. I also need to box in clearance for the hydraulically-controlled clutch and possibly the starter. With regard to the starter, I'm still investigating the gear-reduction WRX starter, which is "clocked" such that it might fit under the stock rear firewall. More to come on that.



Next up is completing the seam welding of the driver-side gusset, fabricating/welding the passenger side long gusset, completion of the mounting ears for long-to-cradle, and completion of the cradle. Then I'll fabricate the transaxle mount. I hope to tie the cradle to the transaxle mount to keep the tail of my teener connected to middle of the car.

In terms of fore-aft location of the engine/trans, I tried to keep the engine located as far back as possible to keep a slight rearward weight bias and to line up the output flange-to-hubs to the extent possible. According to my measurements, the angle is ~0.50" off (output flange is slightly forward of the hub) -- which is less than the angle of the stock Subaru output-to-hub setup (~1.0" offset).

Stay tuned...