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]

Here are some pics of the suspension stuff I picked up from Elephant Racing Products yesterday. Chuck is a really nice and knowledgeable guy, and I had fun looking around his shop in Santa Clara. Like many hot rod shops, it is pretty unassuming from the outside, and I drove by it twice looking for a great big neon sign...

I also ordered some Bilstein (pronounced Bil-Stine, I now know) rear shocks, front Bilstein linear bushings, and front strut wiper seals that ERP will ship in the coming days.



Besides the stuff listed in the post above, I also bought new bearing seats for my Bilstein strut housings. I already have new wheel bearings and seals for when I put the front end back together.

This weekend I plan to weld in stiffening tubes in the spare trailing arms I have, similar to Eric Shea's modifications (the wrap-around stiffening kits really make the arms really HEAVY, I've found!). I also plan to weld on the rear trailing arm e-brake pivots, raise the spindles 19mm on the front Bilstein strut housings, weld on the A-arm sway bar mounts, sandblast all suspension pieces, and I hope to find time to take the lot to a powder coating firm in Sacramento next week.

Time permitting, I'll also tear into the Suby trans this weekend to install the OBX limited slip. I'll take pics as I go for anyone interested in the guts of these boxes. I've never been inside this box before, but I've had experience setting up ring-n-pinions when I was into four-wheeling so I'm not too escairt.

Below is a pic of the Suby trans mount, as bolted to the stock 914 location using 911 engine mounts. I've also attached a pic of the trans mount bolted on the Suby trans. This mount will provide a nice "canvas" for mounting the cable shifting system...